Pandemic, elections, working from home while homeschooling kids… worries about your job, your health, whether or not you’ll ever leave the house again… No matter which way you turn, stress rules our lives these days. And as hard as we try, we just can’t fake our way through it anymore - nor should we.

​Chronic stress doesn’t just harm our mental health, it takes a toll on our physical health - particularly our immune system. And if there’s one thing none of us need right now, it’s to further compromise our immune system. 
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Click below for a few tips on how you can calm those frazzled nerves and to learn why variety is the spice of life. And don't forget to leave your favorite stress relief practices in the comments below!

Here's the free webinar referenced in the video:

FREE Webinar: Debunking Stress Myths with Lisa Machala of The Collaborative Body
When: Nov 19, 2020 |  07:00  PM America/Detroit

Tomorrow I turn 50 and I’m simply floored. Thirty was no no biggie, forty felt mature, but fifty? That feels like something - like a long time. Like half a century. How did that happen?!

But don’t get me wrong - I don’t mind aging one bit. I’ll take my wise brain over my young body any day.

In fact, 25 was the only age that ever gave me pause. I was so full of anxiety - sure I hadn’t accomplished enough. Looking back now - TWENTY FIVE years into the future, it’s laughable. What could I have possibly expected to accomplish at 25? I was a baby who had so much more to experience!

I’ve taken some time this week to reflect on what I would tell that 25 year old today if I could talk to her. Read on for 50 truths for my younger self.

Nice women don’t have honest conversations with each other. Well, they don’t have honest conversations when they are most needed… when they are hurt, when they are angry, or when they disagree. Nice women grin and bare the pain and disappointment. Nice women are taught that it isn’t polite to make waves.

​But truth be told, we all know that nice women still usually have the conversations - just not with the women they need to have them with. When we are hurt or angry, us nice women gather our allies and tell them our woes in hopes that they’ll take up the fight on our behalf. Or, at the very least, validate our feelings.

On Monday I attended the Be Your Own Best Friend class at the SheHive led by Lisa Machala of The Collaborative Body. The purpose of the class was to help you replace your negative self-talk with self-leadership.

At one point in the class Lisa asked how we knew someone was our friend. I jotted down a few notes… a friend is someone who is kind to me, challenges me with love, laughs at my jokes, has long, brave talks with me and performs acts of service for me.

I stared at the page as tears started to well up in my eyes.