What a spider (and all of nature) taught me about resilience and adapting to adversity and pain

I have lived with chronic pain from dystonia, a neurological movement disorder, for 20 years. When it first began in 2001, it completely changed my life. I had to...

Read More

Slow down to manage your pain

How many of you find yourself rushing around and it’s causing you stress and pain? And if you already have pain, does it add to your pain? Are you...

Read More

Embrace the suck of life

Most of us are familiar with the Latin term, carpe diem, which means “seize the day.” This phrase became especially popular in the movie Dead Poets Society with the...

Read More

Don’t let your obnoxious pain get under your skin

If you live with pain, you know how debilitating and life changing it can be, and how it can dictate your entire days’ activities, as well as your moods....

Read More

Are you turning your gizmo into a gremlin? Understanding and managing anxiety

When I think of anxiety, I think of the movie, Gremlins (1984). For those of you who have seen this movie, you know that feeding a gremlin after midnight...

Read More

NEW BOOK RELEASE — Beyond Pain and Suffering: Adapting to Adversity and Life Challenges

In 2015, I published my first book, Diagnosis Dystonia: Navigating the Journey. It is a combination autobiography, self-help, education book that provides treatment options, coping strategies, skills for daily...

Read More

THE TOWER – What my husband’s cancer diagnosis taught us about perspective

This is a guest blog from an old friend who shares how her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis changed his and their perspective about life. This is so well written...

Read More

The impact stress and emotions have on our health

25 years ago, I developed a painful neurological movement disorder called dystonia. I was 30 years old at the time. It totally turned my life upside down where I...

Read More

Managing excessive worry and fear to avoid health consequences

I think it would be safe to say that everyone is afraid of something. Sometimes the fear is justified and sometimes not. In this article, I want to focus...

Read More

My typical day managing my dystonia and chronic pain

I have lived with dystonia and chronic pain for 21 years. The first 5 of those years were the worst of my life. The pain from the involuntary muscle...

Read More

After the diagnosis/Self harming thoughts

After being diagnosed with dystonia, or any other chronic health condition, and learning it is not a temporary problem (or if you have lived with it for years and...

Read More

How healthy is your information diet? Is it stressing you out?

We are all of course aware of diets for food, but what about diets for other aspects of our life, such as those that feed our emotional health? I...

Read More

Take a break for your health when your world is spinning out of control

For the past few months, I have been running around doing a lot of things that I have no interest doing. Life was just extra busy with so many...

Read More

Dealing with uncertainty in life and health: Sometimes trees fall on cars

Even when we think we are fully prepared for something, life can throw us a surprise. If you have followed my blogs over the years, this one may sound...

Read More

Finding meaning and purpose in our pain and suffering

Life is ever evolving so it is important to remember that the storms in our lives do not always last forever. When I developed dystonia in 2001, I lost...

Read More