Blog
Reflecting on my 50th birthday
It was my birthday last week and it was a "big" one ... I turned 50! Each decade I’ve moved through has had its own unique flavour and tone. At fifty, there’s a lovely feeling of deepening and settling in. I trust myself more, and there’s an inner steadiness that keeps growing. I know what matters, what’s worth my energy, and what’s not. There’s such freedom in that. A lightness. Not because life is without [...]
The gift of listening to snow
Mountain time is such good soul food and we're looking forward to being at Mt.Washington again this weekend. Everyone I know downhill skis, and while I miss the adrenaline of it, the upside of no longer feeling inclined toward speed (I blew out my knee and can’t fathom doing it again) is that I get to enjoy some solo time. I absolutely love heading off into the mountains by myself on snowshoes. It feels a [...]
Rethinking New Year’s Resolutions
As the holiday season winds down, one more holiday tradition remains: pondering those pesky New Year’s resolutions. It’s interesting that this tradition continues when research says only 8% of people actually achieve them! One of the problems with resolutions is that they can create effort mode, obsession with outcomes & notions of success & failure. The hazard of expectations on specific outcomes is that we live in a world where internal & external conditions constantly [...]
Low Back Pain? Try These Simple Physiotherapy Exercises
Are you experiencing low back pain that just won’t go away on its own? If so, you are not alone. Did you know that low back pain is common and affects 60-80% of people at some point during their lifetime? There is strong evidence to support physiotherapy for the management of low back pain. A combination of exercises and manual therapy can help to manage or improve the symptoms associated with acute, subacute, and chronic [...]
Navigating Thanksgiving
For many of us, gathering with family over the holidays is stressful and on a fertility journey, there can be the added stressor of unwanted questions from relatives about "When are you going to have children?" I remember one participant in my Fertility Well-Being class last year bravely sharing that she was dreading Thanksgiving because she simply did not feel grateful. She was in the midst of grieving a pregnancy loss, and gratitude wasn’t accessible [...]
Summer Reading
Lounging with a book in the warmth of these beautiful summer days is just glorious, isn’t it?! Here are some titles of fiction and non-fiction books that we are enjoying this summer: Stephanie: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness - by Jonathan Haidt This book provides an overview of the latest research in an easy to digest way. Truly a must read for everyone who lives and/or [...]
The best place to relax is near water
Have you ever wondered why many of us seem to have a natural affinity for oceans, rivers, and lakes? Or why a palpable sense of peace and calm washes over us when we’re near larger bodies of water? A couple of recent scientific studies may further our understanding into the nature of this phenomenon. I happened across a post by @adamgrant and was happy to have something backed by science that I’ve long intuited: The mere sight [...]
The “knack” to beating stress incontinence
Do you ever leak urine when you cough, lift, laugh, or sneeze? Stress urinary incontinence is when leakage occurs when doing an activity that increases downward pressure on your bladder and pelvic floor. “The Knack” is a strategy you can use to re-train your pelvic floor and improve your bladder control. It is an intentional and timed pelvic floor contraction that you do before and during an action that you know normally causes you to [...]
How to Break Free from Dopamine Culture
Despite having watched documentaries such as the Social Dilemma and Lo and Behold which highlight the pitfalls of social media and endless scrolling, I still find myself occasionally getting caught up in the small hits of dopamine mainlined via the smartphone. Eventually, this digital sugar-high wears off and is replaced by the crushing realization that my attention has been stolen, even if only for a short time. In this era of constant connectivity and dopamine-driven tech habits, [...]
Managing urinary urge incontinence
Urge incontinence is when leakage occurs after you experience a strong and sudden need to urinate without enough time to make it to a washroom. It is often associated with a frequent need to urinate. These 5 urge delay tips can help to minimize leakage: Take slow deep breaths when you feel the urge Walk slowly to the washroom. Don’t rush! Distract yourself by counting backwards from 100 Visualize a favourite person or place that [...]