Mary Antonucci, Integrative Health Coach

Girl, same. Here for it either way, 🐻❤️

Things that brought me joy today: a nice buttery Chardonnay, teeny tiny Seckel sugar pears, and a renewed membership to What’s on your list?

Girl, same. There’s freedom in honoring your boundaries and saying no to things you are not okay with, and the things (and the people) you will ultimately resent if you give into. Practice saying no. And practice being okay with it. ❤️

Who can relate? For those of us who already experience this pandemic certainly hasn’t helped and has maybe even made it worse.

I’m reeeeally good at catastrophizing so I’ve had to learn how to navigate around that. One of the things I find helpful is to step back, acknowledge the possibility of the other shoe dropping, and then assess the likelihood of it happening. For example:

⚠️ Body perceives a threat! Fight or Flight response kicks in! ⚠️

Anxiety: OMG it’s actually the end of the world! This pandemic is going to go on forever!

Rational Me: Sure, I guess that’s a possibility…

Anxiety: We’re all doomed!

Rational Me: Okay, but mankind has seen this kind of thing before. Remember bubonic plague, Spanish flu…?

Anxiety: No, for real this time!

Rational Me: It hasn’t happened yet. How likely is it to happen now, when we actually understand germ theory and have vaccines, etc.?

Anxiety: …it could happen.

Rational Me: Okay sure, it could happen but it probably won’t. Can we calm the f**k down a little bit?

Anxiety: FINE. 😒

Just knowing that our brains do not like the unknown and that’s why we sometimes fill in the gaps, is helpful. Try to remember that the next time you feel impending doom creeping in. It’s probably going to be okay. ❤️

Where my at? 🙌🏻😂 In all seriousness, don’t feel obligated to make plans if you know ahead of time you’ll just end up canceling. It’s okay to set boundaries and say no. Or, you can agree to go for a set amount of time and then do a check to see how you’re feeling. I usually find myself having more fun than I’d expected and stay longer. Social engagements should be fun and not stressful. ❤️ (thanks .velv for sharing this!)

Seems like a reasonable response.

How do you say “I love you”?

Just know—you’re doing great.

to that time I went to prom with my bestie and my mom cut off the tops of our heads in the obligatory pre-prom photo.

I’m sharing this because today I am grateful for community. I am fortunate to have several lifelong friends, including this guy. We met when I was 13 years old and maaaaaaany years later, we still have each other’s back. Community is so important to our wellbeing (I’ll talk about the health benefits in another post!), so hold on to your people and keep nurturing those relationships. ♥️

BMI (outdated and racist, and not an accurate measure of health) was used in the handful of studies done, and not a single one of them accounted for race, socioeconomic status or access to quality healthcare. Structural racism has been linked to worse health outcomes, such as hypertension and diabetes, and the health disparities that exist in this country have been made painfully obvious during this pandemic, which is disproportionately affecting the Black community. Stop people.

Just wanted to start the week with a little encouragement. Life feels a little heavy right now for many of us and I want you to know—I see you, and you’re doing great. ♥️