Stride Wellness

I have hesitated to write about anxiety for a while because it is a complex issue with many layers. I don’t want to minimize or trivialize the topic by writing a short post. So what I’m going to do in the next few paragraphs is discuss the stress response in hopes of explaining why anxiety occurs while providing you with two ways to reduce it. Keep in mind this is simplified for the sake of brevity and I am available to talk about this in more detail upon request. Anxiety can

I think most of us can say that we’ve heard of Random Acts of Kindness. It’s when we are out and about in the community and see an opportunity to show kindness to someone around us. That may be buying a coffee for the person behind us in a drive thru. It might be filling a parking meter when we see it’s expired and the parking attendant is roaming around. It can also be holding the door open for a stranger, a wave, a smile, a cheery, “Hello,” or basically anything that shows

I never really thought of myself as living with any guilt but upon closer examination, I do. Then I thought, maybe it’s just a me thing. But I do remember lots of times hearing my friends talk about “mom guilt,” so I thought it must be a mom thing. Yet, I also know a lot of women without children that experience the weight of guilt. That got me thinking, maybe it’s a female thing. Now, I don’t mean to be exclusionary. Perhaps this is a human thing. Maybe men feel a lot of gui

Social media has made public our private lives like never before. People share pictures of food, family, pets and trips, openly and often. We rant about politics, religion and who has done us wrong. We share our lives with our friends as it’s happening. Even live! But what are we sharing? Are we being transparent or are we over sharing the positive depiction of our lives? When we go through our camera roll we select the best photos about the happiest moments in our lives to s

I am the Queen of Procrastination. Do you know how I know? Because I left my Monday blog writing for so long that I couldn’t come up with a topic and am now reworking a Masters presentation into a blog post. I procrastinate. It’s a dirty little secret but it’s out there now. From a fellow-procrastinator, I hope you find this helpful. Here are 8 things that may be behind your procrastination: 1. I don’t know how to do it! There are people who procrastinate because they don’t k

It’s June and summer is right around the corner. Maybe it’s the stage of my life or perhaps because seasons are switching but I’ve found myself seeking change. Often when I look to do something new, I set goals. Now, there is a difference between goals and blanket resolution statements. I avoid the latter as the success rate is poor (8-13% of people achieve and maintain their New Year’s resolutions, for example). Here is a commonly used but effective way to set goals. It’s ca

It’s the time of the year when students are being recognized for their achievements. Today, as a coach at one of the local high schools, I have been asked to present four separate awards to female student athletes. With this comes a short speech. I will be giving out one award for athletics, two for scholar athletes and one memorial award. Should be easy right? Get up, say a few nice things about each of the young female recipients and then I can sit down and enjoy my free lu

A few months ago I took some training on Trauma Informed Practice through Manitoba’s New Directions. It was here that I was introduced to the topic of getting stuck and I found it not only extremely interesting but helpful as well. I will use this opportunity to share what I learned. Getting “unstuck” might have a couple of different connotations so I am going to clarify what I mean through an example. Child: Mom!!! Moooooooommmmm. Me: Yes? Why are you yelling? Child: Mom! Ca

In my blog post yesterday I talked about work-life balance which segues nicely into today’s post as I expand on the topic of burnout. Who hasn’t had a boss that constantly micromanages staff to the point where the perception of control is effectively nil? What about a workplace bully that makes work so dreadful it forces everyone to engage in social isolation? These unhealthy workplace dynamics, along with many other factors, can result in burnout. As I mentioned yesterday, a

I took a 30 day blogging challenge on Thursday. I wrote my first blog on Friday and today is Monday when I’m writing day two. Today I was thinking, should I have worked over the weekend? Then I thought about how awesome my weekend was. I spent time watching my kids play soccer, attended a BBQ and spent time with some girlfriends. Do you know what I didn’t do? I didn’t check or send any emails. I didn’t write any blog posts for my business. In fact,I didn’t think about work or