As the weather continues to heat up the coronavirus shows no signs of slowing down or letting up anytime soon with over 100,000 confirmed cases in North Carolina and over 4 million confirmed in the entire U.S. With that in mind, our summer plans are certain to change. Gone are the days of large family gatherings and cookouts with our...[ read more ]

By Shanna Dickens Toxic stress, chronic illness and trauma can cause many symptoms, but one that I hear most often from my clients is mental fog. Mental fog can be our body's way of communicating that we have a need that isn’t being met. It can feel terrifying for your brain to suddenly feel like it doesn’t work when the...[ read more ]

Do you meditate? According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, “meditation is a mind and body practice that has a long history of use for increasing calmness and physical relaxation, improving psychological balance, coping with illness, and enhancing overall health and well-being”. Meditation, yoga and mindfulness have been the topic of discussion for some time now and...[ read more ]

If you and your partner are self-isolating you may be spending a lot more time together than normal, or trying to navigate both of you working from home or simply learning to cohabitate in general. It’s no surprise that some tensions may rise while you both try to navigate this new ‘normal’. Although this is a strange and uncertain time,...[ read more ]

  by Amanda Smith, LCSW As you can imagine, many people are currently experiencing a rise in anxious symptoms related to the COVID-19 health crisis. It has been the topic of concern in almost all of my recent talks with both adults and kids. When a first-grader casually (and accurately) uses the word "epidemiology," in their everyday conversations, I think...[ read more ]

Over the last few weeks, the way we live has done a complete 180. Although the situation is still developing in the United States, everyone is feeling the effects COVID-19 is having on our community. We’re sure you’re aware by now North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has issued a Stay at Home Executive Order beginning today March 30th at 5...[ read more ]

This week marks the end of February and we are officially two months into the new decade. During December and January, we talk a lot about our hopes and dreams for the new year, what our goals are, what we want to accomplish and how we’re going to better ourselves. But what happens after January is over and the idea...[ read more ]

I made a post last week about “Chakra Rights” and hosted a “Chakra Balancing Flow” in early January.  I thought a blog post for those people not as familiar with the chakras may be helpful. First, the chakras are a system of psychological energy centers that run from the bottom of the spine to the crown of the head.  Understanding...[ read more ]

The holiday season is often a time when people reflect on the things that they appreciate most in life. Research suggests that gratitude has a variety of benefits including improved mental and physical health as well as more satisfying social relationships. A recent article published by the Greater Good Magazine suggests that gratitude may also help individuals cope with stress...[ read more ]

​One of my biggest pet peeves is reading articles on self-care with a strong allegiance to one particular activity or hobby that is supposed to be a miraculous cure-all. If we were all identically wired, that would make sense. But just because something works for one person does not mean it will do the same for everyone. We tend to...[ read more ]