STICKY NOTES

Tucked away in a tiny cabin in Prescott, AZ, I unfurled a three-foot-long 12-month moon calendar and carefully pinned the corners to the side of my closet door. The year was 1995, and I was overcome with feelings of fascination, curiosity, and shyness. Only 20 years old at the time, I had never formally tracked…

This week, my daughter turned ten, and my oldest son turned twenty. Talk about milestones! Both my family and my husband’s have instilled many threads to our family rituals of celebrating birthdays. One particular ritual that we have woven together has become a cornerstone; it is the tradition of sharing the Birth Story with the…

Driving shotgun on the highway with my 15 year old at the wheel is one of my least favorite parenting jobs. In fact, hands down, if we were going to pick out my three least favorite parenting jobs, they would have to be: Parenting related to Drivers Ed Managing sleepovers after 8:30 pm for any…

As the days cool off and the sun sets earlier, we adjust bedtimes and re-imagine morning routines. This season of transition is complex enough as we adapt our rhythms to incorporate the new schedules of childcare, school, and work. Adjusting to the new routines may feel chaotic and in these times we wonder, “What do…

Two and a half decades ago, I learned how to “cancel anxiety ” and it has became an important strategy for my my mental health. It all started when I was a 21-year-old nanny of a 4-year-old girl who loved The Wizard of Oz.  We spent countless days playing and stretching our imaginations in the great…

As you settle in, I invite you to do a quick check, consider what creating calm means and feels like as you take a breath. What is the quality of your breath? Is it deep or shallow, slow or quick? Are you inhaling and exhaling through your nose or your mouth? And what do you…

Over the past week, our sessions have touched on a myriad of tender moments: the unknown terrain of labor, the exhausting new baby time, potty training, navigating toddler sleep, sudden loss of a dear one, work transitions, life transitions, grieving a pet, heart ache. All of these – often varied – human experiences still feel,…

Many of us recognize that the food we eat affects our bodies in different ways. We may feel nourished, energized, overfull, depleted, etc. based on what we choose to eat, what our body needs, and how it is metabolized. For many of our clients (and ourselves), the same theory applies when it comes to intake…

Watching my daughter determinedly draw and write all over a page one afternoon, I asked her, “What are you doing, Ila”? Looking up distracted she responded, “I’m ‘mind-braining’ mama, I have a lot to get out.” “Oh, got it,” I responded with a tiny laugh.  In that moment, I realized how many times she must…

Of all of the essential aspects of self-care, one theme stands out. It’s so important that a large portion of our time with clients is spent discussing and working through this one critical component. Can you guess what it is? The 8 to 8 Rule helps support this essential component. In the perinatal time period, sleep is in…