Every day, as part of my sensory care routine, I like to brush my arms & legs with a skin brush. It exfoliates the skin, helps with circulation, and makes me feel more awake & connected to my body. When I engage in this soothing ritual, I think about how taking care of my nervous system is also a way to connect with my ancestors. After all, each of our nervous systems is an ancestral inheritance. The human meat-suit that you’re living in right now, didn’t just come from nowhere. Every cell in...
8 days ago • 2 min read
One of my budding special interests is permaculture (pun intended 🌱), and a common saying in the permaculture world is as follows: The problem is the solution. or: The solution is inside of the problem. It reads like a riddle, but there’s so much truth & wisdom behind it. For example: the accumulation of waste on earth is a problem. A solution is to compost the waste so that it regenerates into a valuable resource. The problem (we don’t know what to do with all this waste 💩) guides us to the...
15 days ago • 3 min read
This article caught my attention (& my heart) recently: She invited her friends to come together to make her casket. In a nutshell: the article is about a woman who receives a terminal diagnosis, knows that she wants to make her own casket, and invites her friends to help her. They spend hours weaving a burial tray made of willow & pine, under the guidance of a basket weaver. It is a profound story of friendship, love, & mortality. Here’s what stood out to me (& the intentions they invite...
22 days ago • 3 min read
Every once in a while, I find myself revising my self-care plan. After all, our nervous systems change across time (as a result of healing work, new life experiences, changing seasons, and the increase or decrease of stressors in our lives)… and our usual self-care tools may not work in the same way as before. For example, songs that I used to play on an infinite loop to soothe my soul after a long day, don’t have quite the same impact as before – probably because I played them on an infinite...
30 days ago • 3 min read
This week finds me in the forest of the Pacific Northwest, enjoying pine trees and birdsong. As I soak in the beauty of this land, I’m reflecting on the teachings that nature imparts on us – the cycles of life, the reminder to slow down and simply be, and the value of living in connection & harmony with each other. Just look at the trees and fungi — they need each other to survive, existing in symbiotic relationship. Each plays a role in the other’s survival and thriving. 🌲 The...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
❤️ As a gentle heads-up, this week’s newsletter covers themes like mortality, death, and end-of-life care, through a loving, curious, and life-affirming lens. You are invited to read as you feel called, and take care of your nervous system during & after, by attending to sensory needs, pausing, breathing mindfully, or moving your body. As a kid, I loved books. Books were my friends. Every time I’d get my hands on a new title, I had the odd habit of flipping to the last page, reading the final...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
While scrolling on my phone last night, I counted 26 tabs / apps open and running the background. 26!!! Favorites include: my beloved astrology app; my YNAB (You Need a Budget) app that I swear by; recipes ambitiously bookmarked for “later”; and my clock app, where I set alarms to prepare me for the next alarm. (8:00am - soft wake up, 9:00am - seriously, wake up now.) The sheer number of tabs made me realize just how many directions my attention is pulled these days. It also made me reflect...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
When do you feel most like yourself? 😹 When you’re laughing with friends over an inside joke? 📚 When your nose is buried in a book, making the hours pass by like minutes? 👐🏽 When you’re creating something beautiful/messy/tactile with your hands? 🗺️ When you’re at home? Or on the road? Or waiting at airports, the ultimate in-between space? What I find fascinating is that I could ask 1,000 people this same question, when do you feel most like yourself?, and I would hear 1,000 different answers....
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “nervous system regulation”? 🧘🏻♀️ Maybe you think about breathing techniques or mindfulness skills. 🍵 Or all the teas we’re told to drink, and supplements we’re encouraged to take. 🛁 Or bubble baths, self-care products, and spa appointments. All of the above are valid, and potentially extremely helpful, options for nervous system regulation. Different things work for different people. (I, for one, love my weighted pillow that smells like...
2 months ago • 2 min read