Big T, little t…

What begins with T?  According to Dr. Seuss, “Ten tired turtles on a tuttle tuttle tree,” (Seuss, Dr. Dr. Seuss's ABC. New York: Beginner Books, 1963.)

When I completed my first well check-up 5 years ago, I resonated with the description “tired turtle” 🐢😞. I had lost a good amount of weight (again) over the late winter/early spring  months through good habits that were working for me. Though I was feeling pretty good about my Physical Wellness, I was fearful about being able to sustain progress as my new self. I had been on the weight loss rollercoaster too many times. But to my surprise, the well check-up revealed something unexpected.  Of the 8 Wellness Dimensions, my Emotional Wellness lagged behind. Why?

Trauma isn’t just stored in memories—it embeds itself in the body. It rewires our nervous system, disrupts our sleep, and heightens our stress response. Over time, it can make us feel unsafe in our own skin.

In the bestselling book The Body Keeps the Score, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk writes:

“Trauma is not just an event that took place in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on the mind, brain and body.”

He emphasizes that while cognitive approaches like therapy are helpful, they often don’t fully address the physical imprint trauma leaves behind.

Insert: movement.

Six months ago, in December 2024, I began a personal experiment. One rooted in curiosity, healing, and a desire for something deeper. I wasn’t drinking every day, and I would never have called it a problem. But alcohol had become a social norm in my life - something I turned to out of habit, routine, or simply to fit in. And somewhere along the way, it stopped feeling aligned with the version of myself I was working hard to become.

If you are here, I have something so important to share with you that perhaps no one else ever has. 

You are enough. You are loved. If you are seeking your best self, it is right within you. You are smart enough, disciplined enough, organized enough and you do have enough time to be who you are meant to be. You may just not know how to find it. And what you think your best self looks like, I promise you are not thinking big enough. It is more than you can even imagine.

I never lost sight of her, that twenty-something girl in the mirror. I was in my early twenties when my wellness journey would begin. Plagued with infertility and hormone imbalances, there was little to know and understand. With no such innovation called “the internet”, you saw doctors and talked to family and friends about your struggles. All you could know was that you weren’t “normal”. As the girl in the mirror aged and took on various shapes and sizes, I was driven, consumed with finding her again. Where did she go, and why was this so hard to understand and “fix”?

After a long stretch focused mostly on strength training, I’ve decided it’s time to switch things up, and I’m officially back in race training mode! I’ve signed up for a 5K in May and a Half Marathon in October! I’ve completed a 5K, 10K, and Half in the past, but running hasn’t been a regular part of my training for a while.

Travel season is upon us, and while hitting the road can be exciting, it often throws our healthy habits off track. Rest stops, airport kiosks, and roadside diners rarely offer food that leaves you feeling your best.

Fueling your body right while traveling takes intentional effort, but with a little planning ahead, it’s totally doable. In my latest blog post, I’m sharing a real moment I had on the road (hello, fast food overload) and the steps I took to stay nourished and avoid the regret that often follows those quick-fix meal.

But I have learned more recently that slowing down and looking around brings an even richer adventure. Blooming where we are planted means to be intentional about embracing the season you are in and resist the urge to look ahead. This is easiest to do when, “everything is coming us roses” in our lives and we want to soak it in.  However, slowing down is most difficult when we are in a challenging season. We just want to get through it and move on to happier times. But always looking ahead dulls our senses and lures us away from sharpening and enriching ourselves.  Intentionally being present, even during hardship is a gift. When the headwinds are strong, and the waves are crashing down around us we can take a lesson from nature.  

I’ll admit, the word “No” has a bad rap. It carries a lot of negative baggage. Our first encounters with it go back to early childhood when we are learning about our environment and how we are to behave in it. It set limits on our actions and often squelched our desires. And if challenged, usually came with some unpleasant consequence. As toddlers, it became one of our favorite words to express ourselves and try often not met with a good outcome. 

But as adults, “No” can be one of the best tactics for supporting your overall well-being by helping to create space for your mind body spirit balance.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s so easy to get caught up in the rush to do, be and achieve more. You’re running errands, attending meetings or squeezing in that workout, ending the day feeling like it was all a blur. But what if the secret to improving your health was really to slow down?

Mindful stretching has entered the chat

Nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler you keep it, the easier it is to make healthy choices that fit into your lifestyle. Here are five practical tips to help you stay on track and make better food choices without overthinking it.

Living your best self requires understanding the mind-body-spirit connection.  Your body is a physical presence and your mind controls how your body moves and functions. We teach a lot about fitness and nutritional habits to support your physical health. Your mind also controls how you think, which is a powerful force.

One of the biggest obstacles we face on our health and fitness journey is motivation. It’s constantly shifting: some days you’ll feel unstoppable, like you’re on top of the world, and other days you’ll feel completely drained and question why you ever set such ambitious goals in the first place. When those low moments hit, it’s crucial to remember two things: 1) it’s a temporary feeling, and 2) you need to ground yourself in a deeper why – a reason that can anchor you when motivation fails.

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee is one of Europe’s most influential doctors with more than two decades of treating patients as a General Practitioner in the UK. In addition to hosting a successful podcast and widely viewed TED Talk, he has authored 5 Sunday Times bestsellers including The 4 Pillar Plan where he explains that simple small changes can have significant impact on health and happiness. At @Well, we couldn’t agree more! Chatterjee believes there are 4 focus areas that are as important to your health as any medication and encourages his patients to choose one area to begin improving their health and happiness:  Food, Sleep, Movement, Relaxation.

It’s officially March, and if you've already had one of those “mirror reflection” heart-to-hearts about yet another year of failed New Year’s resolutions, I want to encourage you today with a little life hack that’ll help you get back on track. No, it’s not too late! You’ve still got three-quarters of 2025 to go, and with a bit of intentionality, we’re gonna crush those goals together.

Mel Robbins is brilliant! Her white hot book, The Let Them Theory is a game changer. She has discovered a simple truth, based upon ancient philosophies and offers tools and practical advice that will change your life and improve your health and your relationships with others.

One of the greatest downfalls of social media today is the obsession with comparison. We do it consciously and unconsciously, constantly measuring every detail of our lives against what we see on our screens - whether it's home decor, the food we eat, our hobbies, interests, or family traditions. It's as if we’re all striving to be carbon copies of one another. But let’s be real…what kind of boring world would that be?

I was diagnosed with PCOS in January 2024. I had done enough research beforehand to suspect this might be the case, but hearing it from my doctor still hit me like a ton of bricks. Within minutes of our first meeting, after reviewing my bloodwork, she handed me a sheet with "PCOS" written across the top. I knew things were about to change.

These days, as I turn each new jar of healthy peanut butter upside down, I’m reminded that unity and perspective are choices. Every day, I choose to envision a better world—a world where we blend our differences into something that works for everyone. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible. And sometimes, all it takes is a little shift in perspective—just like with that jar of peanut butter.

So the next time you grab a jar, remember: we all have the power to stir things up and make something better. Whether it’s in the jar, or in the world around us, the choice to blend our differences into something good is ours to make. It’s that simple.

I was thumbing through my bible in the early morning hours this week and was prompted by my daily devotional to spend some time in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3. The chapter opens with, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).