“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” — Thich Nhat Hanh Thich Nhat Hanh spent a lifetime teaching this… that love is not primarily a feeling but a practice. That to love someone is, in a very real and daily sense, to show up for them. To set down the distraction, the to-do list, the half-presence. And to look at them. really look, and let them know they are seen. He says this so simply: the most precious gift is your attention. Not your gifts, not your plans, not your effort to fix things. Your attention. Your presence. The act of being right here with them. And that second sentence about mindfulness embracing those we love, and them blooming like flowers is one of the most quietly beautiful things I’ve ever read about what love actually does. When people feel truly seen, something in them opens. They relax. They trust. They become more themselves. That’s what presence does in relationships. It creates the conditions for someone to bloom.

I felt out of control. People were backing away from me when I talked to them. I thought I was expressing myself in a clear and quiet way. Turns out I had an angry look on my face and my words were said harshly. The self-awareness I had worked so hard on throughout my adult life went out the window. Perimenopause stepped in and turned me into someone I didn't recognize. To save my sanity, my marriage, and my relationships with colleagues, I paid close attention to what I was eating, drinking, and feeling every day. Within a month I had changed a few things and they helped me live in the world ... a bit easier. I didn't sweat as much at night, my hot flashes stopped, my emotional rollercoaster was reduced to occasional spikes. --- I stopped caffeine. All caffeine. Replaced it with water. Sometimes with lemonade. After a few months I brought coffee back to my mornings. Only 2 cups. --- Whole foods with occasional sweet treats. Didn't take long for me to feel the emotional change when I ate too much sugar or drank too much caffeine. Sugar = ice cream, cookies, candy, packaged foods, in my coffee, in my tea. Removed for a while and slowly introduced to be in my coffee. --- Deep body scan meditation before I went to sleep. I started at my toes and worked my way up to the top of my head, imagining a healing light as I scanned. Once again, I knew my body - inside and out - intimately. --- 3 Breath Count - anytime I felt a strong emotion, I took 3 deep breaths. Through each one I thought about what had happened, I took the time to get clarity on how I was feeling. Was it appropriate for the situation? Was it important enough to risk saying what I thought? Most often than not, the answer was no. --- Stationery bike for 15-20 minute rides each day. Sometimes quite vigorous (great way to get the aggression out). --- Holding up my finger, asking the person to wait a moment, as I turned away long enough to deep breathe. --- Watching and reading comedy. Laughter at others and myself, even when I wasn't sure I felt like laughing, increased my endorphin levels and relieved the stress/aggression I felt.

Today we celebrate your body. Not for how it looks, but for how it carries you. You know what we don’t celebrate enough? Our bodies… just doing their thing. Not how they look. How they carry us through the day. Because while we spend a lot of time noticing our thoughts and feelings (which matters, of course)… our bodies are doing a lot of heavy lifting. 🤱 Breathing. 🧖 Healing. 🚶‍♀️ Moving. 🫩 Holding us up when we’re tired. Getting us through days that feel like a lot. And most of the time? We don’t even say thank you. So today feels like a good day to shift that. Not in a forced “I love everything about my body” kind of way. In a real, grounded, I see you kind of way. Maybe your body got you out of bed when you didn’t feel like it. Maybe it digested a meal, took a deep breath, or let you stretch for a second of relief. Maybe it simply kept going… even when you were running on empty. That counts. It all counts. 🌿 So today, we celebrate your body for how it carries you. 💬 What’s something your body did right today?

hi all. I have had a very busy summer, and now back into the swing of things and I have something to ponder for you: ✋Stop designing your health routine for your best week. Design it for your hardest one. During a recent conversation with Dr. Ardeshir Mehran on his podcast, I found myself saying something that I often share with new clients when they are wondering whether or not it's the right time to start or get back on track with their health: Design for the hard week first. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how many health plans are built around an ideal life. A perfect schedule. Plenty of energy. No work deadlines. No sick kids. No travel. No unexpected interruptions. Real life doesn't work like that. Yet when the plan falls apart, we tend to blame ourselves instead of questioning whether the plan ever fit our life in the first place. If your health routine only works during your best weeks... It's not really a system. It's a temporary strategy. A sustainable system should still work when life gets messy because it leaves room for flexibility and adaptability. Maybe the workout is shorter. Maybe dinner is simpler. Maybe you only have 20 minutes to move your body. That's okay. The goal isn't to have perfect weeks. The goal is to build habits that can survive imperfect ones. Ironically, that's where consistency is built. I'm curious... What's one health habit you've adjusted to better fit your real life instead of your ideal life? Comment below, I would love to hear! and here's the link to the full episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-ardeshir-mehrans-podcast/id1896879195?i=1000771168910