Michelle Pettengill, LCSW

Hello Hello!!! Catching up here for our August blog!  To recap, we have learned how self care relates to our anxiety, hormones, cortisol, adrenals, and stress. In addition, we have learned about next steps in taking a pause to ask ourselves what the best for you right now, as well as you were given tools to track your food, mood, and stool. So now with this blog and upcoming blogs, we will dive into daily tools that you can use to increase self care, and to help you regulate your moods, so that you can feel more balanced, nurtured, and energized!!  We will start with nutrition.  It is not a secret that what we eat can have a significant impact on our mental health. I have done a ton of research and have found that there is a strong connection between nutrition and mental health, with certain foods being so important for our brain function, gut health, and mood regulation. Now, what I am saying does not mean that you have to go cold turkey and eat all fruits and vegetables...

Hello All!  My apologies for the MONTH long delay in my next blog! Where did July go?!! Hope you are all doing well and becoming more and more aware of your bodies and how they respond to different things, most importantly, stress.  One of the most important things we can do as humans, is keep learning and growing forward by listening to our bodies and asking ourselves, what is the best way for ME to respond. For example, if I eat this really mouth watering chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream, it is going to taste amazing, however I know, that my tummy is going to grow big like I am 3mo pregnant, its going to hurt, and I know I will not sleep well. SOOO, is it worth it? Another example, let's say is at work, and you have just received feedback that your project you finished didn't complete the requested criteria and you need to re do it. Before reacting and wanting to defend yourself, ask yourself, what is the best response for me right now? It may be taking a pause, ta...