Dehydrated? There’s a wrong way to drink water. If you’re like most people I’ve spoken to, you wait to drink water until you feel thirsty. Then you chug a bottle of water, make that AHHHH noise, and then call it a day. This doesn’t work to rehydrate you. Why?! Because you’re going to pee it back out in a hot minute.

If your medical provider has put you (or someone you care about) on a fluid restriction, listen up! Living with a fluid restriction means that there is a limit to the total amount of liquid you can consume in a day. It seems to go against everything you’ve ever heard or been told about being healthy and well, but for fluid restricted people, that extra bottle of water is an extra spicy bad no-go.

We can do it together - ESPECIALLY if you feel you are a medically marginalized group! Let me help you access the services you need. I’m on your team.

Now I’m going to transcribe this conversation I am having with a random man following this initial encounter before I break it all down, okay? We’ll call him Hero since I didn’t catch his name. He had been sitting in his big truck at an adjacent pump this whole time and is now standing at my window.

Truth is, emotions are indicators. They’re just signals from your biology - like a notification pop up on your phone. It’s trying to grab your attention.

Your muscles are how you move. If you have no mobility, quality of life really suffers. Mobility is tied to independence. For our aging parents (and also ourselves!) this is a huge issue.

Social wellness is a huge part of our overall wellness. The hit to our social lives during this pandemic has been a solid chunk of why we have felt so terrible.

My working definition of fear is “the anticipation of pain.” That is very real for people who have had a bad experience with healthcare. So what can we DO?! Are there things we could do to make our own healthcare experience more pleasant? ABSOLUTELY. I’m glad you asked!

Good news! This is NOT a post trying to get you to buy a program or sign up for any multi-level-marketing drudgery. This is about dreaming bigger than you are right now.

We’re in a pandemic - but, because of that fact, finding a good balance is more important than ever. Every day is blursday. What month is it even?! 2022?! That has to be a typo.

Curiosity doesn’t get enough credit. You accidentally kill one cat and suddenly that’s all anyone can talk about. Use your curiosity. It is your friend. It could lead to amazing new things and discoveries.

Let’s talk about Environmental Wellness - and I don’t mean climate change. That’s a whole different issue. Your environment is the physical place you’re in. The University of Lynchburg defines environmental wellness as “the livability of your surroundings.” This could be anything from letting dishes pile up at home to a hostile work environment. What is it about your physical environment that is stealing your Peace?

My medical provider says I have a “high sympathetic tone” - which is a polite way to say I’m high strung. This manifests day-to-day as anxiety. When I don’t keep it under control, I can end up in a full blown panic attack. But how DOES one just “get it under control?!” (Said with as little snark as I can muster.) My problem had been WHAT DO I DO with the physical symptoms when I feel like I’m coming out of my skin?

I couldn’t stop thinking about how access to that information could’ve saved her days of agony and worry. The hospital staff *thought* they communicated the situation. Sometimes, the simplest medical terminology a physician can give is still over the head of the average lay person. That’s where I come in. Think of me as bilingual, in that way.

Why is focus such an unobtainable commodity? Here are some science-backed tips to help.

So, if you’re paying attention up to this point, you know that we’re all getting exactly what we wanted and that I’m having a panic attack about it.