I love using essential oils – drops of frankincense oil mixed with whipped organic shea butter as a topical ointment has provided me with relief from swelling caused by lymphedema; lavender oil mixed in a carrier oil and rubbed on my pressure points eases my anxiety as do drops of lavender oil in my diffuser to induce relaxation and calm;…
Health & Wellness
A focus on health and wellness.
In previous blog posts I have talked a lot about how journaling has always kept me grounded. It gives me a safe place to express intense emotions/thoughts/anxieties without judgment. Expressing my thoughts on paper helps to centre me, calm me, and allow me to reflect on my current life and life situations; and to find gratitude within the mess of…
It is exactly three years to the day since I penned my blog post Cloudy, reflecting upon my physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. And here I am, three years later, finding myself in that similar state. Cloudy – all around and within me feels cloudy. I feel scattered, anxious, and irritable; and I struggle to maintain focus, clarity, and patience….
I have spent the final days of 2021 reading through blogs with the tagged post This Time Next Year. The idea of this tag is to write a post outlining your resolutions for the new year, how you are going to achieve those resolutions, and then, 365 days later write a post about whether or not you were successful. It’s…
’Twas the week before Christmas,when all through the landOmicron was threateningWhile closures expand. Travel was cancelled,To people’s dismayOmicron was prevalentIt was here to stay. Work from home ordersCame down through the ranks,While schedules were changingMany people’s hearts sank. It had been two years since weenjoyed Christmas timeThis COVID pandemicIs this century’s crime. When out in the worldHealthcare workers keep giving,Their…
Over these past few days I have kept busy diligently deep cleaning our home, and reorganizing as well as decluttering our space. I still have much to do, and I am trying to balance the tasks between my husband’s work-from-home schedule, my child’s school schedule, and my own work schedule. What would normally take four full days of deep cleaning…
Good-bye grade two. Adieu. Adieu. It has been a very challenging year for our little one. To have missed the final three months of school in grade one due to the onset of the pandemic [in Canada]; and then find himself in a tumultuous, inconsistent grade two school year because of our provincial government’s decision to open, then close, then…
As the warm weather settles upon us, a common [social media] post I often find in my breast cancer support groups, is the search for an effective, natural deodorant. Wishing to eliminate potential risks by applying harsh and potentially hazardous chemicals to our tender armpits we – breast cancer warriors and survivors – want something that is safe for our…
Postmastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) – a chronic pain that does not go away over time. It is a very real condition that can affect women who have had a radical mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, or breast-conserving surgery. Symptoms can vary from feeling persistent or intermittent pain in the chest, armpit, arm, and/or shoulder. In addition to the chronic pain, there…
We are only 20 days into the third provincial lockdown, yet it feels like months. Probably because here in TO, life has not changed much since November 23, 2020. We have remained in some variation of lockdown for 22 weeks and counting… In the past seven days, Ontario has reported 27,215 new COVID-19 cases, making the rolling average 3,887. Of…