Have you ever heard the expression, “she walked in like she owned the place”? Descriptions like this are referring the way someone carries themselves. Either with confidence or on the flip side, timid and shy. Either way, you can see the difference in mere seconds of being around someone. The way you carry your happiness and your stress affects every part of you and how you show up. 

Every situation and emotion we experience is carried in a specific place or way in the body. For example, tension is usually carried in our neck and shoulders, and that leads to tension headaches. Stress, carried in our gut,  leads to ulcers. Both of these are fairly well known. But did you know that the way you carry the stress of your obligations or your to-do list, can cause pelvic pain? 

As busy women, we all have to-do lists and they never quite seem to be complete. That is a stressor all in itself, but not the one that I want to explore today. March is...

Let’s Celebrate! This is the 100th Purely You Blog! 

I remember in 6th grade we had to write one paragraph, at least 5 sentences, for homework every night. While I didn’t mind writing, that seemed exhausting. Here I am now choosing to write every week for the last 100 weeks! And every week for a few hundred more… Today we’ll take a beat to reflect on the most popular posts in the first 100. One dozen of them to be exact. So here we go…

Starting at the 12th most popular post

#12 Protect Your Space. This one is all about preventing people from sucking the life out of you and knowing how to protect your good mood even when you’re around a bunch of negative Nancy’s! “Listen, someone else's rain doesn't have to fall on your parade.”

#11 Hard Conversations. This chat is a reminder that we are the examples for our daughters and our daughters will have opportunities to make big changes in our world....

Have you ever considered the four phases of your menstrual cycle? If you’re not trying to get pregnant (or avoid pregnancy) you might be totally unaware of the phases, with the exception of the week you bleed. Let me tell you why we need to change that. 

You know that each month your hormones fluctuate through each of the phases and each time the change, they create different desires in you. Just like Mother Nature shows off her four seasons throughout the year, you experience similar seasons throughout the month. Let’s break it down. 

Spring/Follicular phase: In this phase your body is preparing an egg for ovulation. The hormones responsible for this will make you want to plan things and create to-do lists. This would be an optimal time to create your monthly menu, shopping list, or create daycare plans for your kids. 

Summer/Ovulation: In this phase, your body releases that egg. You are now fertile. All the hormones required to allow...

We are seeing so many shifts in our society right now. Shifts in inclusivity; shifts in how we use technology; shifts in how our kids receive their education; shifts in what social gatherings look like... Many things are shifting. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable to change. It’s uncomfortable to see new, to embrace new, to like new. However, it’s sitting in that discomfort that we grow and evolve. It’s how change becomes everlasting, not just in society but in us as individuals as well. 

Throughout history, women have had to fight for equality and the same freedoms or rights that men have. For instance, the right to vote (Wyoming Territory, 1869. USA, 1920), the right to equal pay in the workplace (1963), right to obtain your own bank account without a man’s name on it (the 1960s, credit cards 1974), right to participate in education and school-sponsored extra circulars: Title IX (1972), right to take birth control as an unmarried woman (1972),...

Do you deserve peace? Happiness? Joy? Love? Financial freedom? Health? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. You absolutely do. Some would even say this is your birthright. You might even be willing to fight for it or support those that do. Do you support the American Military that fights to keep our country free? Do you support groups that encourage more love in our schools like an anti-bullying campaign? Do you support scholarship funds that help people pay for college? I’m sure at one point or another you have supported many causes that encourage these values. Now I ask you again, do you think you’re deserving of the same values? This is a yes or no answer. Not a yes/no BUT... answer. There’s no but’s here. 

One of the hardest parts about being on this journey to your best self is thinking everyone else deserves to get there before you do. Everyone else deserves a little easier go at life than you do. You will support other people the best you can and in...

I see you out there, thinking your superwoman. Telling yourself you can do it all. You WILL do it all. "No" is not a word in your vocabulary. Of course, neither is sleep, but hey you'll have those 4 dozen cookies to the school bake sale tomorrow. I can pick you out of the crowd, because that used to be me.

We have created a society that prides itself on busyness. We have trapped ourselves in the belief that to be busy is to be successful, that to be busy is where we find our happiness. That by saying no and honoring our time, we are somehow failing. I used to take it ALL on. Do it all. I was tough enough to handle it. I was able to survive. I was strong... and I was miserable. I had given every ounce of myself to please those around me and told myself it was all from a place of service and love. Now, that's not entirely wrong, but what my young self failed to realize is that by never saying no, I was exhausting all my resources. I wasn't getting enough sleep, or eating right or...