Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t know how bad you felt until you started to feel better?

For the first time in a long time, I started to feel how different foods affected my digestive system. I didn’t know how bad I felt until I started to feel better. After taking gluten out of my diet I could literally feel how reactive my gut was when I did eat it. I’ve always been lactose intolerant so the way dairy affected me was no surprise. When I would eat sugar I could feel it the next day in my joints.

When you are dealing with autoimmune issues your mental health is often impacted immensely. For most people being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease can take weeks, months, or even years. You are battling an invisible invader and often you will hear doctors tell you that they can’t find anything wrong with you.

Many people I know have been to multiple doctors before they finally received a diagnosis. Often, unless you have autoimmune disease, it is hard to understand the frustration and hopelessness that accompany it.

So what do you do when your thought pattern is so old and comfortable that it is like a favorite blanket? You just start by noticing it. If you are not aware of the thought pattern then you don’t have the power to change it.

Dealing with fatigue is one of the hardest parts of having autoimmune disease for me. Waking up in the morning feeling completely exhausted is not my favorite way to start the day.

While fatigue may be a part of life for those with autoimmune disease, it doesn't have to control your life. There are plenty of things you can do to help you deal with fatigue.

Whether you are working with autoimmune disease or are just trying to create healthier patterns in your life, there is often one area that people forget to address; environmental toxins. Environmental toxins can be found in the supplies you use to clean your house, your skin and hair care products, your dental fillings, preservatives, the pans you use to cook your food, the water you drink, the air you breathe, and pesticides on the food you eat, just to name a few.

When we strive for perfectionism we will inevitably fall short. Then any practice we do will only feel like yet another way to judge ourselves or feel like we are not enough.

If we approach our meditation and ourselves with an attitude of friendliness, openness, acceptance, and kindness then our thoughts won’t take over our lives. We can witness what is happening and develop a deeper understanding and sense of connectedness in our life.

For each person what increases and decreases inflammation will be different. But there are also things that will help anyone with autoimmune disease. Removing all refined, processed, and manufactured food. Basically, if it comes in a package, has words you can’t pronounce, or more than 5 ingredients, don’t eat it.

As we head into a new year the slogan, New Year, New You, seems to pop up all over the place. On the surface New Year, New You seems encouraging, motivating, and uplifting. The question that always enters my mind is what’s so wrong with me in the first place? I’m not broken, so why do I need to be fixed?

2020 has taught me a lot. It has showed me the importance of slowing down, breathing, and enjoying my life. It certainly has not been an easy year. Through all the ups and downs I have focused on being able to find moments of joy.

I have daily habits in place to help me mitigate stress throughout the year. As the holidays approach, I find that I have to cling to them much harder so I can stay on track. When I keep up with all my daily practices I find that I don’t wake up in the middle of the night with anxiety, or find myself running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I am able to stay calm and know that everything that needs to get done will.

I had been introduced to seated meditation many times by many different teachers. I would practice it for a little while and then I would get frustrated because I could not for the life of me figure out how to quiet my mind. When I was in a class I would peek at everyone else while we were supposed to be meditating. They all looked so peaceful and serene and I was sure they were able to quiet their minds. So the question became, why do I suck so bad at this?!? I would inevitably lose interest quickly.

If 2020 has had anything going for it, it’s that it is perfectly unpredictable. Whether it’s work, school, vacations, or the holidays, we have had to constantly change our plans and adapt to the circumstances presented.

As our daily habits fall off and we take on others that don’t serve us we end up compromising our immune systems. There are things you can do to reduce your chances of getting a cold or the flu during the holiday season.

If you’ve ever looked at a recipe I’ve posted or someone else has and you think, I can’t make that, just know I’ve thought the exact same thing. What works for me currently is not necessarily going to work for you. Finding acceptance of where we are in life makes the journey much smoother.

For many people, the seasonal decrease in sunlight affects their mind and body. Light helps regulate the natural rhythms of our body and mind so when you are not getting enough your health can suffer. This is often referred to as SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder.

I remember someone once saying to me, “If you don’t take care of yourself then who will.”

All of our thoughts and words matter because our mind and body are directly connected. Thoughts, positive or negative, accumulate and can contribute to our health or to illness.

What is the first thing you think about when you think about health and wellness? Is it your sleep cycle? My guess is probably not. However, sleep is actually considered one of the pillars of health.

…the only way I could deal with fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, inflammation, anxiety, and being bloated was to find what the root of all of these problems were. They all led back to one thing. My gut health.

Looking at other people and comparing my life to their life only wastes my energy. Typically when I compare myself to others I am comparing their best to my worst.