Don’t Let Vacation Derail Your Mental Health: The Consequences of Skipping Medication
Vacation should be a time to relax and recharge, but don’t let it compromise your mental health. Skipping medication can have unforeseen consequences.
Making the Most of 2023: Refocusing Priorities for a Better Future
Happy 2023 my friends! Into the new year we bravely venture, looking back only to reminisce and reflect for the benefit of the future… This time of year brings with it so much talk of goals and ambitions. Very naturally the passing on of the old year and birth of the new reminds us that time continues to march on – something we can easily lose sight of in the middle of our daily routine. This remembrance shocks us back into proper priorities for a time. But usually, only for a short time. One...
The Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids: A Journey to Better Health
Happy new year, friend! All the best from mine to yours at the start of a brand new season. How were your holidays? How were your health choices? Are you feeling good, ready to conquer the new year, or is your 2023 off to a sluggish, sleepy, and bloated beginning? That’s how I was feeling not long after I moved away from my family… I was far away from my home, where meals made from scratch were a whole family affair. We would spend many evenings making an event out of preparing our meals, and...
Your second brain
To my friends celebrating today, happy Christmas Eve! I hope that you enjoy the day and that you spend it warm and surrounded by your loved ones. In the spirit of the season, I want to give you a gift today… the gift of knowledge (if you haven’t received this knowledge already). Did you know that you have a second brain? I have often talked about just how crucial it is to treat your brain right because you’ve only got one – and in a very real sense, that is true. Your brain drives you; it is...
6 brain-boosting spices to keep you sharp this winter
What do you wake up to? Maybe you have heard the old saying: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” It means that you should focus your daily intake on the first meal of your day – how you rise determines whether or not you will shine! So, what do you wake up to? I love a good spiced latte, personally. Every morning, my husband helps me start my day right. He sprinkles half a teaspoon of cinnamon, cardamom, and saffron into a glass, fills it with steamed...
5 Ways to Stay Happy and Healthy Around the Holidays
English philosopher Jeremy Bentham defined happiness as “the experience of pleasure and absence of pain.” And this time of year – this sacred, sentimental time of year – we often uphold this definition of happiness. We go to parties. We make plans to see family and friends. We give and receive gifts. We seek out the special people, places, and things that give us pleasure. But when I read Jeremy Bentham’s words, I wonder… what is pleasure, and what is pain? We think of these things like they...
Can you relate to Camille’s story?
When I first met Camille, no one in her life would have guessed she was struggling. She had done well throughout her schooling. She had a husband she loved, a job she found fulfilling, and a strong support circle of close friends and family. If you saw her life from the outside, you would probably think she “had it all together.” Certainly, if there was one word that came to mind when you saw her life, it was not “unstable.” And yet, when she first walked into my office, that was the very word...
What’s your brain type?
122 years ago, biologist Karl Landsteiner was working at the Pathological-Anatomical Institute of the University of Vienna when he made an odd observation – an observation that no human had made before. He was combining blood samples when he saw them becoming thick with little clumps. He noticed this would happen when samples from two different donors were mixed together. This piqued his interest, so he decided to follow up. He had not been experimenting with this idea long when he noticed...
What you DON’T do, matters.
Do you know that your body is a machine? I have said this before, but it bears repeating. We often forget. Your body lifts. It lunges. It computes. It flexes, darts, dashes, drives… Your body is a beautiful machine – a multitalented, multifunctional tool that allows you to do everything you’ve ever done. Every happy memory, every photo-worthy smile, your brain and body made possible. What makes us different from other machines, though, is that we choose what we put inside ourselves. Cars run...
Be wary of “muddy” thoughts
What do you think your life would be like if you spent every day in a muddy hole in the ground? Each day you would wake up in the mud. You would do your work in the mud and eat your meals in the mud. When work was done, you would rest in the mud. And then, at the end of the day, you would lay down to sleep in the mud. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, you are in this hole, surrounded by mud and muck. What do you think your life would be like? It’s easy to think that your clothes would be dirty....
You know the feeling…
Your stomach hurts. It is grumbling so loud, they can hear it in the next room over. You are watching the clock but time has slowed down to a crawl. There’s a sharp pain that comes and goes, but a dull ache that’s there at all times, reminding you it’s been a long time since your last snack. You know what that feels like… I’ll bet you even know what it tastes like! Hunger is not a pleasant feeling. There is a reason it’s not a pleasant feeling – it is supposed to remind us to refuel! But...
5 ways to stay hydrated for optimal brain performance
Today, I want to share with you how to do one of the most important things you can do for your brain… In my recent posts, I have been covering 7 cheap, simple ways to boost your brain performance. Eating healthy, exercising, getting better sleep – these activities are foundational to your brain’s wellness. But just as important as what you fuel your brain, how you refresh it, and how you move so that it stays fit, is how you hydrate your brain. It is one of the best things you can do for your...
Your brain on sleep
Finally, it’s 10 PM. The last few customers are filing out of the restaurant and when they’re outside, you lock up the front door. It’s closing time. Then, you turn around and look at the whole dining room. After a full, bustling day of serving customers, the dining room is looking run-down and needs to be prepared for tomorrow. Even though the restaurant is closed, the work is far from over. Now, this scenario may not be familiar to you. But whether or not you have ever worked in a dining...
How All-or-Nothing thinking cripples so many’s brains and mental health. Do you think like this?
Does a small mistake ruin your whole day? Do you feel best about yourself when you’ve been making all the right choices? Would you call yourself a perfectionist, obsessing over tiny details to get them all, each and every one, just right? This kind of thinking is called “all or nothing thinking.” And it is the enemy of progress. “Perfectionism” is a word we hear thrown around a lot – we think it just means that someone has high standards for themselves. But believe it or not, all or nothing...
“Why” matters more than “what”
Let’s do a quick exercise that will offer you some important insight… Take a pencil and a piece of paper and write down everything you’ve eaten today – meals, snacks, and even beverages, too – from the time you woke up to now. If you’re reading this in the morning, try writing down what you ate yesterday. Don’t leave anything out. Then, next to each item, write down why you ate that thing. Now, you might be tempted to write down, “I was hungry,” or, “It was lunchtime.” But that’s not what I...
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