On the Sunday before Rowan was about to start school on Tuesday, I got text confirmation that I’d be subbing two hatha yoga classes at a multi-franchise fitness centre. Two different locations, actually, in two different Metro Vancouver cities. My first subbing, procured through a Facebook call out. Yes! I can do it, I reply….
Category: mental health
Visualize a butterfly birthday for 6-year-olds…
As my mother and husband will tell you (they’re always in cahoots) I’ve got a tonne of creative ideas, but often fall short on execution. So that means that whenever I propose something fantastic like turning our large balcony into a mini-golf course or painting the concrete with a pretty mandala (cheap and chic, right?),…
Chard makes my spirit level
Today’s happiness is the kind that feels like floating. Internally my spirit is level. There’s a little buoy inside me, bobbing about on a sea of incidents. Sometimes it’s pummelled by waves of children who hate my parenting, or knocked up against the rocks of an empty bank account, or just squeezed into a shrinking air…
Money mucking blues
The trouble is that I said, ‘Above all I will write authentically.’ I will not be afraid to admit I am broken or lost or failing, because then others will know its okay to admit their failings too. Only, when I said that, I was feeling pretty together. I was surveying my failures from a…
3 weird ways to spot anxiety
My old companion Anxiety turned up this week. It’s interesting because through yoga and therapy with a naturopath i’ve learned how to spot anxiety even when i don’t consciously feel worried about anything. My three weird anxiety symptoms Gnawing hunger. I feel gnawing deep in my gut, even if I’ve just eaten. Before I started medication…
The rush of knowing you’re not (that) Crazy anymore
One of the coolest benefits of mental health is that remembering yourself crazy can give you quick hit of endorphins, a kind of hindsight superpower. What I mean is that nowadays, no matter what is going on or wrong, I can easily call up a memory from Before – i.e. before I found the medication,…
Saying ‘So what?’ to flaws
(Halfway through our 9-hour flight home. Looking tired, but still smiling) One reason I keep comparing this recent family holiday to England with the one four years ago is because the similar circumstances let me compare the real-world effects of my work to deal with depression and anxiety. The first trip I was just about…
Teacher training
Since graduating from yoga teacher training at Langara College and trying to find yoga work, I struggle regularly with my “right” to teach yoga. What makes me any better than the zillions of other yoga teachers in Vancouver? I can’t even do a headstand or an arm balance, or even a full forward fold. (Damn…
Cure by Ocean
Mental health feels endless sometimes. I never really win. Even after therapy, meds, yoga, meditation, the weepies still come upon me sometimes. When that happens, the answer is a good dose of nature. The wilder the better. The Weepies The night before my husband and I were to take our first childfree weekend away in…
Wendy's House 