We talk about "feeling good" all the time. We often say to ourselves: " I just want to feel good" or "I just want to feel better." Or maybe we say: "I just want to be happy." In each of these instances, we're asking for the same state of well-being. Yet, what does this "feel good" state really consist of? I've realized that self-love is the primary ingredient to "feeling good." Self-love is based in self-acceptance and results in self-care. If you want to feel good, you must first be willing to accept every part of yourself. You then must...
You are sitting in the office; it’s a busy week at work. There’s an important meeting you’ve to prepare for, a social media campaign that you’ve to spearhead, loads of paperwork, and your calendar is jam-packed with tasks and events. So, how do you make room for all these things? You overwork, cancel your yoga session, cut back on socializing, and even skip a few meals. To keep up with this roadrunner form of living, we don’t think twice before putting self-care on the back burner. More often than not, it takes a wake-up call to notice the toll this...
Like many girls, I grew up absorbing the message that in order to be liked and accepted, I had to be thin. A perfect storm of voices—from family, media, and even my doctor—combined into one declaration: You're a fat kid. Lose weight. Or else. The thought of being unloved and not enough because my thighs were thick and I wasn't as small as other girls was enough to kick off a decades-long obsession about my body. In middle school, it meant trying to hide my body and feeling crippling self-consciousness. By the time I finished high school, hating my body...
Anyone who has had experience with mental illness, personally or professionally, can tell you that despite advances in psychiatry and psychology, there is a great deal of stigma that remains. One needs to only think of the book and movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to get a feel for that stigma. The field of mental health has made some distance since that time, but the stigma continues to be a reality. Types of Stigma The stigma associated with mental illness can be divided into two types: social stigma, which involves the prejudiced attitudes that others have around mental...
As busy business owners, leaders, and professionals (often with lives of work, volunteering, and family), it can be challenging to prioritize much less actually follow through when it comes to truly taking care of yourself. Sometimes this topic is blown off as a fluffy, feminine issue. However, while men don't often get manicures or pedicures or schedule coffee chats with friends, both men and women both need to make sure they are resting and restoring their own energy. This is taking care of themselves. When we don't take care of ourselves, we put ourselves in a position of increased vulnerability...
