• Lifestyle

    How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life

    Mindfulness has been a bit of a buzz-word in the last few years, but what is it exactly and what can it do for your health and well-being?  Well, I’ll tell you what learning and practicing it did for me, and how mindfulness can change your life. What is mindfulness? Basically, mindfulness is living in the present, the here and now – and not worrying about the future or past.  It is being aware of our thoughts, feelings and surroundings, while being “in the moment”.  Being mindful allows us to be fully aware of our senses during the moment, an connects us fully to the people we are with and…

  • Wellness

    How Having Fun Keeps You Healthy

      Having fun keeps us healthy, both psychologically and physically.  It improves mood, self esteem, and has a positive effect on our body as well. When we think about starting an exercise routine, we often think about activities such as running, cycling, aerobics.  Many enjoy these activities and find the “fun” in them.  I do not.  In fact, I might say that I hate these kinds of exercise and don’t find the fun in them at all.  I’ve tried all of them at one point or another in my life, but I’ve never stuck with them for very long.  Why keep doing something that you despise?  I’d sooner clean every…

  • Wellness

    Managing Stress During a Pandemic

      Midife can be taxing with all the changes that we have going on around us and of course to us.  Throwing a pandemic on top of all these changes can push us right to the edge.  A bit of stress in our lives helps to protect us in life by engaging our fight or flight response.  However, continuous stress can aggravate that response and have a negative effect on our body.  It’s important to recognize what stress is, the effects it has on our body, and what to do to mitigate those effects.  This post is all about how to manage your stress during a pandemic. A recent review…

  • Wellness

    A Year of Wellness Series- January 2021 Health Assessment

      This last year has prioritized health and well-being for many people, including myself.  I want to be as healthy as I can be to ensure that my body can fight illnesses such as Covid-19, if I happen to get the virus.  There are also many diseases that can start to develop at midlife that I am trying to reduce my risk for.  So, I am looking at improving my overall health in the first of “A Year of Wellness Series”.  Prepare yourself – this is a lengthy post! Being healthy means having balance physically, mentally and spiritually in your life. Health is determined by genetics, diet, exercise, and other…

  • Travel

    22 Tips to Stay Healthy While on Vacation

      Being a nurse makes me always consider the health and wellbeing of my family and myself, especially when travelling.  One of the great joys in my life is visiting new places and experiencing the culture, people, landscape, food, and drink.  Over the years I’ve developed many tips to stay healthy while on vacation . I so miss travelling and can’t wait to get back to it when Covid is finally gone from our daily vocabulary.  Living in Canada, each year I look forward to a winter vacation from the bitter cold.  And this year, I am happy that we haven’t had any -30 degree days (yet).  That comment likely…