I strive to keep my tone light and bright, but as the cliché goes, life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. So while I’m feeling a bit vulnerable writing this, I hope you take something helpful and positive from it. 

With the start of the New Year just a few days away, many of us are scrambling to come up with our resolutions to better ourselves for a new beginning. Perhaps it’s shedding off some weight or rekindling a lost relationship.  Or maybe we’re going for the extremes and demanding ourselves with expectations that ultimately add more stress and anxiety before we even ring in the New Year. 

We’re right in the middle of the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Social gatherings are fun, but they can get overwhelming when added to our already busy schedules. We spread ourselves thin between work, trying to find the right gift for everyone, showing up at every party (so no one gets upset with us), all while keeping up with our everyday responsibilities. Being around family can also be stressful at times. Besides, we tend to eat and drink more than usual which means we have less time for self-care, making us feel sluggish, tired, anxious, stressed, and guilty.

We’re cruising head-on into the holiday season and with that comes glassfuls of merriment, sprinkles of overindulgence and an ounce (or two) of guilt, often served with a sidecar of a morning hangover. Hmph.

Are you familiar with feelings of overwhelm, underwhelm and anywhere in between where you simply don’t feel like – or act like yourself anymore? Women over the age of 35 is likely well-acquainted with not being able to get a handle on her “hormotions” because a few key hormones have started to play tricks with her body as well as her mind

No matter how busy we are, there are several ways to practice self-care everyday. These are the moments we put ourselves first. It’s not necessarily about getting a mani-pedi ahead of a an event or having time for a cup of coffee. In addition to taking care of our basic needs, we also need to decompress, centre, and check-in with ourselves to make happiness a priority.

Women in particular are known for running around after everyone else. We put people, situations and work before ourselves on a daily basis. It’s in our nature.  We don’t like to let others down and constantly feel pressured to keep “producing the goods.”

You're exercising regularly...but you just seem to run out of steam before the end of the workout. It's basically taking every ounce of your energy just to squeeze that workout in, then you're spent for the rest of the day, dragging your arse around work and schlepping the kids around is an even bigger chore.

You take longer to recover than you used to.  Maybe even several days, instead of just a quick 24-hour turn-around. Your muscles are tight and sore, and not the “rewarding” kind of soreness, like "I-just-did-a-kick-ass-superwoman-workout" sore. It seems like you always have a 'bum knee' or cranky hips as well.

They’re stinky, hairy and slobbery- and no, I’m not talking about your lover. I’m talking about your real partner in life, Mr.Puppy. Dogs, just like children, are mirrors of all that is sweet, innocent, natural, wild, playful and curious in each of us. They can be our greatest teachers, if we just get over the difference in our physical makeup. They don’t speak our language, which means we have the opportunity to truly observe without judgment and listen with an open mind. We can observe as they do, see what they see, and love as they love.