Greetings, Reader! We have a lot of idioms in the English language that describe the tipping point between something that is manageable and the moment it becomes too much, such as, "the last straw," or "the straw that broke the camel's back." I was listening to an interview with Brene Brown on the 10% Happier podcast, and she was talking about the Above the Line/Below the Line concept. This framework is based on the premise that the nervous system is hardwired to monitor for threat, and when...
11 days ago • 4 min read
Greetings, Reader! On the eve of the first real frost this week, I was at the Intervale Community Farm picking the last of the peppers, tomatoes, and flowers of the season and I was flooded with unexpected grief. I've loved this weekly ritual, and it has brought me great joy this summer to fill my home with freshly picked flowers that I lovingly arrange into whimsical bouquets each week. As much as I embrace the seasonal transitions and have been looking forward to the stillness of winter,...
18 days ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! How are you meeting the changing of the seasons? It is unseasonably warm and dry here in Vermont, but the trees are changing colors and the light is fading. Yesterday, I took a tractor ride to pick two gigantic pumpkins from an adorable pumpkin patch, and this morning I snacked on apples picked from the orchard down the street. It is unmistakably autumn, even if it is 80 degrees out. We cannot escape the rhythms of nature, no matter how hard we try to resist. And yet, even...
25 days ago • 4 min read
Greetings, Reader! I was diagnosed with asthma at age 29 in the most dramatic fashion. My lungs have always been my weak spot, and I used to get bronchitis multiple times a year as a young adult. It felt like I always had a cold, and when I didn't have a cold, I was plagued with allergies. After one particularly bad respiratory illness, my PCP sent me home with an inhaler hoping it would clear my airways and prevent another relapse. I lived in Philadelphia at the time in an apartment that...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Greetings, Reader! When I was young, my Italian grandmother would make these epic feasts for Sunday dinner. The food was always delicious and excessive. Grandma always prepared more than enough. We'd start with heaping bowls of pasta, and she always expected everyone to have multiple helpings, even though there were eight more courses coming! To refuse would be a serious insult to my grandmother's cooking and hard work. By the end of dinner, everyone would be uncomfortably overstuffed, and my...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! I love the paradox of late summer. The withering vines are dripping with tomatoes as sweet as candy, and I'm picking massive bouquets of flowers from the farm off of plants that are shriveling and drying out. Abundance and decay coexist in this liminal space between seasons, reminding us that the plentiful feast of the harvest is not unlimited and perpetual. The word abundance comes from a Latin word, abundare, which means "to overflow like a wave," but it is important to...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! When pain persists over time, your nervous system becomes more efficient at producing pain, keeping you stuck in a pain cycle. This is due to neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s remarkable ability to change and adapt. Neuroplasticity is the reason you’re still in pain, but it’s also the key to healing. When you learn a new skill, have a new experience, or repeat a task or pattern over and over again, the brain builds new neural pathways to support learning and memory....
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! I'm popping into your inbox a bit early this week because the Early Bird Discount for the Break the Pain Cycle course ends today and I don't want you to miss out. There are only a few spots left in this cohort! In the info session I held earlier this week, two previous course participants shared their success stories, and it was so powerful to hear about how they were able to rewrite their pain stories by taking this program. 🏆 Previous Participants' Big Wins Moving from...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! Imagine you are walking alone in the woods and you hear a rustling in the trees and a low rumble that makes the hairs on your arms stand on end. Is it a bear? Or maybe a moose? You pause and get really quiet to try to tell where the sound is coming from. Your eyes open wide and all of your senses are on alert. You try not to make a sound as you scan the forest trying to decide quickly whether you need to run or hide. In that moment, your nervous system is gathering...
2 months ago • 3 min read