February 2025 Newsletter

Connections are precious.

The struggle is real

What is one activity you might not be good at, yet you keep doing it over and over? 

Maybe you’re getting better at it, but it doesn’t show right now. 

Maybe it’s not your favorite thing (mine is skiing!), but you keep doing it. 

What are the benefits of repetition? 

• Information gets imprinted on your brain

• Mastery of the task 

• Building confidence 

• Increasing fluency 

• Active recall

How can we see the positive aspects of doing something hard? While skiing, I focus on my breath, notice the beauty of nature, and relish knowing that I continue to ski and have a little fun, even though it’s hard. 

What frustrates you about your activity? I remind my clients that mindfulness increases when they repeat an activity. Remember to be mindful when doing challenging things; your heart rate can slow, and your breath can deepen.

How do we get through winter with ease? Chatting wi...

January 2025 newsletter

What urges you to reach your triumphant moment? 🏅 🎉

💃🏽 💃🏽 Thank you for celebrating my sweet triumph as a recently nationally board-certified Health and Wellness (H&W) coach.

This journey was not just mine but ours, as I learned so much from the coaches in the Emory program. I can't wait to share evidence-based techniques, action planning, goal-setting, and attainment practices with my clients, present and future, who are the central part of this journey. 

🫶🏼 💐Except for giving birth, the nationally board-certified H&W exam I took in November was my life's most challenging four hours. 

To sit for the exam, I completed a 26-week program through Emory University's continuing education program, conducted 50 coaching sessions, and started prepping in August. I proudly passed the exam and am now a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach. After only five months of training, describing myself as a certified H&W coach seemed silly. I've been o...

December 2024 Newsletter

Design Deeper Bonds

Let’s continue to create harmony and balance on body, mind, and spiritual levels. As we close out the year, let’s reflect on what’s worked in the last twelve months or years (!) and design the healthiest 2025.

How are your organizational skills? Do you love an Excel spreadsheet? Is a to-do list close at hand? When was the last time you organized a closet or two? When there’s order in one part of your life, seeing the best path forward in other parts is more accessible. I love collecting presents all year for loved ones. Recently, I bought two 54”x36”x14” shelves and a few baskets and organized knitting projects, wrapping paper, and gifts. What a sense of accomplishment. I didn’t need the second shelf that I bought. Last week, I drove into my garage. The gardening tools and pots on the floor practically asked to be given a home. I put the second shelf together, and the positive feng shui energy from an empty garage walkway is palpable. ...

November 2024 Newsletter

How can we be authentic with our words?

🦃 🌲 🎆 The holidays are fast approaching. 

Explore your authentic self through the lens of friends and family. 

These are opportunities to spread peace and create genuine connections. 

As we warmly head into the holiday season, let’s explore how to stay genuine and authentic during a tricky time of year. 

I love to have a few questions ready for when there’s a lag in the discussion. 

Or when the conversation is begging for a new direction. 

“What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?”

"What's the most beautiful place you've ever been?"

Let's direct the dialogue into places of honest whole-heartedness.

Soul-centering adventures

🌵 🏞️ 🎒 When was your last one? Who was it with? Where were you? 

As we settle into the darker months, reflect on past years. 

What brought a sense of calm to your life? 

Have you taken on a corn maze in your area to test your spatial skills? 

I received my dear ...

October 2024 Newsletter

Are you ready to take on a task with long-haul implications? Do you love a challenge? 

Here’s one: reduce or eliminate sick days this winter!

What are your secret ways to get ready for autumn and winter? 

Balance: Rest and Effort

A question that has been coming up in the past few weeks while I’m quiet, hiking, or both is, “Am I trying hard enough while resting and rejuvenating when necessary?” There’s such a fine line between the two ways of being. Summer can leave time to connect with friends. Who did you visit with that helped fill your cup? It takes organization and dedication to make gatherings happen (effort), and the reward fills my heart (rest and regroup). I visited with dear friends. When was the last time you connected and picked up a conversation where you last left it? 

Connections with friends and loved ones in the summer can prepare us for the darker months of the year when we might not have as many opportunities to see our commun...

September 2024 Newsletter

Three whys of wellness. 

What in your life helps you check the boxes? 

Thought-provoking and calming accountability

A spicy perspective and outlet to lifelong learning

It’s easier to do hard things when there's variety in life

The Payoff

Health statistics can scare me. However, the news and social media are full of suggestions and advice on living your best life. Somehow, these healthy lifestyle choices get lost in translation. The payoff of making healthful decisions is slow. Dedication can be as shaky as a bowl of, well, jelly. It’s been a hard day. Stress levels skyrocket for any number of reasons. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. I’m here for my clients when their dedication droops like a forgotten flower in the noonday sun. Accountability creates impact. 

Intellectual challenge

Over the years, we have evolved into different versions of ourselves. ARAY Wellness ignites my passion for helping women foster health through min...

How do you describe yourself to others? We define ourselves partly by sharing what we find astonishing. Engaging in personal reflection, whether through books or experiences, deepens our wisdom. Contributing our deep knowing to the collective not only heals the self and others but also invites us to be introspective and contemplative. 

As an adult, I deepened my love affair with plants through plant identification books and herbals, both modern and ancient. I became a gardener, clocking 10,000 hours on a bent knee, becoming intimate with the seasonal cycles in a garden. 

There are a myriad of ways to embrace the unknown. Have you ever gone on a blindfolded trust walk through the woods? How many trees have you hugged? When did you last sit by a green growing thing and listen for the wisdom? 

Little did I know that I had changed on a cellular level. I knew on body, mind, and soul levels which plants were the best remedies for various ailments. This understanding of my potent all...

Now that the fast is over, I can only think of good things about it and cannot think of one negative aspect. 

I love to share new perspectives on the world and health with my community. I’ve been fasting for decades. Now that I have mastered my schedule, I try to fit in four fasts each year. Who knew that the simple act of not eating could yield so many benefits? 

May 15, 2001 ~ Fasted for five days.

I started fasting on returning from a mother-daughter trip with dear cousins in Toronto. I kept up my routine. This maintenance taught me that I can incorporate this form of spirituality into my life without disrupting it too much.  

Forgetting about food is easy while fasting.  The day becomes one long work/play session without being dictated to by mealtime/my stomach. It was a great week to fast because the weather was getting hot—85 degrees on some days. The heat makes fasting so much easier for me, who quickly gets cold.  

Coming off the fast, I started exercising and realiz...

I have a gift for you. 

Relax and be present. How do you listen to your heart? What will it say? 

Listening is one of the first steps in making dreams come true. 

I welcome you to the 'Mindfully Renew Your Energy Retreat' at the Rocky Wold Deep Haven Camps, a serene and picturesque venue nestled on the shores of Squam Lake. The retreat will run from September 7 to 11, Saturday to Wednesday. 

During the retreat, you will have time to notice what you long for and gain skills and practices to build your energy, meet your goals, and listen to your heart. Each day will be structured with morning meditation, wellness workshops, outdoor activities, and evening reflection sessions. 

So many shades of green at this time of year! Blossoms reveal both scent and color. All of this was unseen a few months ago. What talents do you have that are waiting to unfurl? What do you need to birth your future spirit? 

How deeply do you desire a unique journey of self-discovery and growth?

🔬 🌠    In a ...

May 2024 Newsletter 

Do you feel your voice gets lost? Is the feeling of being truly heard a fading memory? As a woman with decades of wisdom and experience, do you know the narrative but are still determining who will listen?

In the symphony of “Elderhood,” Louise Aronson reminds us that it’s a new act when we’re 60 or 70. This is not just an encore but our opportunity to reflect, satisfy, and live life to the fullest.

Assuring our place at the table can be like finding the path through a labyrinth (did you know the first Saturday in May is National Labyrinth Day?). It’s essential to rewrite the tropes of the past and give voice to our diverse and vibrant elder experiences.

As a wholehearted health and accountability coach specializing in empowering women aged 55 and beyond, I aim to break up old paradigms, excite conversations, and cultivate safe spaces where all are heard and celebrated. We all deserve to be on the stage.

Are you prepared to use the wisdom of your decades...