High functioning friends with anxiety, I have a message for us.  When you’re worried about what other people are thinking about you, the thoughts you are worried about them thinking about you are actually just thoughts you are thinking about yourself.  Okay, that was a mouthful. Let me give an example of what I’m talking about.  I was talking to a client the other day, and she shared that recently a few new people who she’s met through work have told her that she looks young.   The way that she interpreted them sharing that with her is that they think she comes off as n ..read more

Perfectionists (hey, friends!), please remove the following three phrases from your vocabulary:    “I’m wasting time” “I should be getting more done” “I’m running out of time”   The case has been heard. The jury has deliberated. And a verdict has been reached…   These phrases are not actually helpful for 1) getting more done or 2) working towards your goals.   Here is what The Research has shown:   The phrases “I’m wasting time” and “I’m running out of time” provoke an anxious internal response.   To experiment with this say to yourself silently now, “I shoul ..read more

For the same experience, our minds can view it as painful or uncomfortable, or as neutral or even pleasant.   (Prefer video? View a 90 second video I made about this here).    Here’s an example of this:   One of my clients who started a few weeks ago shared with me on a coaching call that when she started her training program, she experienced the hamstring stretches as tight and painful. Now she is experiencing them as satisfying, and like a great release for her.   Here’s what I find fascinating about that:   Nothing about the actual sensation of the stretch has ..read more

I have.  When I stopped teaching group stretching classes and started 1:1 online coaching in 2021, I also started being really consistent with a routine of cardio and stretching multiple times a week.  This routine made me feel so relaxed, calm, and energized after I did it that I thought,  “This is awesome! As long as I do this routine, I feel relaxed, focused, and I can manage my day to day smoothly.”  And then…if I didn’t do my routine, or felt anything less than relaxed, calm, and energized on a given day, I would beat myself up because that meant I wouldn’t be in the r ..read more

This is for those of you out there who are waking up “pretty stiff and sore”   Who feel like your body is “not the same as it used to be”   Who are NOT octogenarians, but physically feel like you are much older than you actually are due to how achey you feel on a regular basis   I’M TALKING TO Y’ALL   Yes…sure as we age, we do experience a natural decline in flexibility.   But are you aware that chronic stress can lead to tight muscles nearly all the time?   And furthermore, are you aware of which thoughts, words, and actions you are choosing on a regular basis th ..read more

2020! What a year to say goodbye to…between lots of us losing our jobs and seeing people fight over toilet paper on Instagram, I can truly say I will always look back on 2020 just like It’s safe to say 2020 realllyyy handed us our asses, and made us super uncomfortable on several different fronts. Despite that most of us are coming out of last year a little (or a lot) beat up though, the discomfort 2020 imposed on us also undeniably caused us to learn and grow in ways that will serve us for a lifetime. That growth is the reward on the other side of the Discomfort Zone, which is what we get th ..read more

Back in the day —aka 2017— I used to work at a rehab center for teenagers. One day one of the kids said to the therapist, “You keep telling us that if we stop trying to control things we can’t control, life will be so much better — but you’re not telling us how to do that!”  A fair point from an angsty teenager. It reminds me of how I see sooo many videos circulating the internet on stretches you should do to relieve back pain, to get your splits, etc., but what’s missing is an explanation of how to actually stretch! And guys, the key to building flexibility is not just doing the right st ..read more

Here’s how stretching helps you learn to handle your emotions better… Especially the hard ones. CLINICALLY PROVEN! By clinically proven, I mean in the clinic of my own life. Here’s what I’ve learned: Stretching helps you learn to how to deal with emotional discomfort by learning to deal with physical discomfort.  Here are a few steps to dealing with physical discomfort in stretching that also apply to dealing with emotional discomfort:   #1) Feel it  Step one is to literally just allow yourself to actually feel the discomfort that comes with stretching.  Most of the t ..read more

Since I have been teaching stretching classes, one of the most frequent questions I get is, “Oh, like yoga?” At the point when I first became an instructor, I hadn’t done too much yoga, so I knew I wasn’t teaching it lol but I also didn’t really know what the differences were between stretching classes and yoga were. Recently I’ve had the chance to take some amazing virtual yoga classes with @corepoweryoga, and I have learned sooo much. I now understand the differences between stretching and yoga much better, and if I can try to put into words what I feel one difference is, I would say this: Y ..read more

Have you ever taken a yoga class, and left feeling calm and blissful…but then gone back out into regular life, had your parking spot stolen, got cut off on the road, spilled coffee all over your freshly washed shirt, and before you know it you’re all wound up again?   This is the importance of continuity of practice. Continuity of practice is a fancy phrase for bringing the skills you learn in yoga class (your “practice”) back into daily life… Because why do you feel blissful in yoga class?  Well, your mind is busy only doing what it’s doing, that’s why!  You’re focusing on brea ..read more