How To Be Your Own Advocate In 5 Steps

Learning how to advocate for yourself or someone you’re taking care of is one of the hardest things to do. From providers who don’t believe you, to insurance companies making your life difficult, it takes real skill to make sure you’re getting the care you need. I’ve experienced this struggle myself, and I see it all the time in my clients. Here are 5 steps to help you figure out who the right providers are for you.

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Easy Self-Care for Smoky Weather

If you're anywhere in the west of the US right now, you're probably living under smokey skies. Depending on your sensitivity to smoke, you might be experiencing itchy eyes, congestion, sore throat, headaches, sore or heavy lungs, fatigue, or difficulty breathing. After a bad case of bronchitis in my mid-20s, I've had every one of these symptoms this week, so I speak from experience. Here are some easy things you can do to protect your lungs and ease congestion.

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Degrees of Awareness

The question of how much physical awareness one needs to get by has been on my mind a lot lately, and the variety person to person and day to day is astonishing. Think about it for yourself... How much attention do you need to give your feet as you walk down the street? How much does that change if the sidewalk is bumpy? What if you have a sprained ankle or some other foot injury? Are you someone who can walk while looking at your phone or reading a book?

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How To Be Kind To Your Neck

A recent conversation with a client:

Me: Try letting your shoulders turn with your head and see how that feels.
Client: Wait... is that an okay thing to do? I thought I needed to turn my head by itself for some reason...
Me: It's absolutely an okay thing to do.

Pop quiz: If you think about your neck and the rest of your spine, do you think of them as A) discrete sections of your body, or B) both as part of your spine?

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Moving On From Injury and Trauma

It's a universal desire when we have a problem to want an easy fix and a solution. We all look for easy fixes for all kinds of problems, and often there is one. When it comes to somatic questions, however, there isn't always a fix. I don't mean for that to sound depressing. Instead, I'm offering a perspective shift.

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