I remember nursing Zoe when she was just a few weeks old in May 2020. We had just moved into our house after a cross-country move, COVID was taking the world by storm, Zoe had colic and was crying/ screaming all day long, the boys’ schools just shut down and I was exhausted.

When I looked down at Zoe, however, tenderness filled my whole body and despite all the chaos, fear and unknowns in that current climate, I felt a sense of sweet satisfaction and gratitude that our family was complete.

It was in that moment that I realized that birthing and raising these three little humans would be the biggest, greatest and most important thing I’d ever do in my life.

We often think of our habits as the things we DO or ENGAGE in regularly.

It’s important to look at our habits, because these simple –often small and unconscious things– that we do consistently dictate so many of the outcomes and prevalent feelings in our lives.

Habits can be positive and nourishing or negative and destructive, so increasing your awareness for them is one way to step into greater self-leadership in your life.

Are you showing up WHOLE? Or, are parts of you staying hidden or neglected?

The concept of wholeness first occurred to me in my mid 20s when I discovered herniated disks in my spine. Through them I realized that I was operating my life from a masculine, disembodied, accomplishment driven place that left me feeling exhausted, uninspired, and empty.

Many of my conversations with my private clients are about feeling exhausted, stressed, anxious, like there’s never a break, they are always on…

As a result, many experience feeling angry, frustrated, easily irritated, flustered, all over the place, claustrophobic in their own lives…

And as a result of that, many eventually have something physical come up –examples include cysts, fibroids, hernias, wrist or shoulder injuries, debilitating migraines, neck or lower back pain… or chronic, autoimmune conditions where your own immune system turns against you– that quite literally forces them to stop everything and ask for help.

Not liking who you are can feel like one of the loneliest places.

That is why I want to approach this topic with a lot of love and sensitivity, but also honesty, encouragement, and optimism.

Here are my thoughts:

If you don’t like who you are, it’s either because you haven’t really met yourself yet, OR because you are not allowing who you really are out into the open.

Those are the primary –possibly even the ONLY– two reason.

If you have met yourself in this season of your life…

I was cleaning up my office last night and came across some of my husband and my engagement pictures from a little over 6 years ago.

As I was looking at the photos, something deep in me stirred. I sat there inspecting each photograph, holding them in my hands like precious jewels.

If you’re wondering where I have been, the glamorous answer is “at home with my kids” … you know, classic 2020 style ;)

(If you’ve missed connecting, I have been a bit more active on my instagram simply because it’s a more on-the-go platform.)

That said, I am so very excited to be back here, creating content, and connecting with you.

Today, I made a video for you instead of just writing.

One of the most common themes in my work with women is the feeling that you are out of touch with yourself, like they’ve lost yourself, and you are not sure of what you want (or knowing what you ideally want but feeling like it’s impossible anyways, so why should you talk about it).

Sound familiar?

A few days ago I looked at my oldest son, Felix, who is 5 years old.

I let my thoughts wander and remembered when I was pregnant with him, when I gave birth to him, when I looked at him for the first time.

I remembered how I felt as a new mom, what our life looked like living in Brooklyn.

I remembered how my work changed and adjusted to make space for Felix and motherhood.

I remembered how my marriage began to shift to accommodate a new being into our family.

I remembered how I felt in my own body.

I think that one of the greatest, most generous gifts we can give to ourselves is to allow ourselves to be multi-layered, to remain in exploration and evolution of our own width, depth, and height. To give ourselves space to change our minds and decisions and remain curious.

Across the US, social scientists are pointing to a loneliness epidemic.

Recent studies claim that people have fewer close relationships now than they did in previous generations. Part of the reason could be that we’re relying on social media for more of our interactions or expecting more out of partners or spouses for the kinds of things we used to rely on outside friendships, like intimacy and connection.

Why is this a problem? Because it’s proven that the nature of our close relationships is what ultimately makes us happy, fulfilled human beings.

Let’s talk about relationships, dating, and marriages today, shall we?

When I got my MA in Counseling Psychology, I learned an immense amount about the intricacies of family dynamics and how our growing up years unconsciously impact who we become as adults: our relationships with ourselves, what careers we choose, how we act professionally, how we behave in friendships, how we parent and yes, who we choose to marry and how we act in our romantic relationships.

I also met my husband while I was getting my MA, so yes, I basically analyzed the crap out of him, myself and our relationship LOL… fun times ;)

The most helpful exercise my then newish boyfriend and I did together was drawing big family genograms of our families of origin and how we (and everyone else) acted in a time of difficulty.

I feel compelled to share something with you. It is a personal realization I had since giving birth to Zoe. I want to offer it to you because it plays a role in all of our relationships, whether you are conscious of it or not.

Over the last weeks since Zoe was born, our life has been in a transition phase where we are learning to be a family of 5. While it’s been immensely joyous for me to hold my sweet daughter in my arms and my heart is full of love for her, it has also been challenging at times.

Zoe was given an antibiotic when she was 8 days old because we suspected that her navel was infected, which can be very dangerous for infants since it is the place where her umbilical cord, her lifeline, attached when she was in utero.

After she was given the antibiotic, she became super fussy, spit up all the time, cried a ton, and refused to be anywhere but on me.

Today, I want to introduce you to Kelly Nolan, an attorney-turned-time-management strategist.

I don’t know about you, but managing my time has been crucial in order for me to do all (or let’s be honest, most!) of the things I want to do.

I first really thought about time management when I was getting my Masters in Counseling Psychology and had a ton of reading to do, papers to write, clients to see, supervisors to meet and still wanted to maintain my physical health and emotional well-being, not to mention my friendships and new relationship (with my now husband ;)).

Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to Tejal Patel as part of my Spotlight Series while I am on maternity leave. Tejal V Patel is a former divorce attorney turned mindfulness, meditation and Ayurveda advocate for moms and kids and I am so excited to pick her brain today on how to establish a meditation practice with your kids.

Personally, I have found it so incredibly important to have mindfulness in my own life and it has been amazing to pass some of these tools on to my boys.

Honestly, I notice how busy their lives already are and they are only (almost) 5 and (almost) 3. We live in a busy world and I am huge believer that one of the biggest gifts we can give to our children is the ability to cultivate a quiet, peaceful mind.

I hope you enjoy Tejal’s article as much as I did.

Your perspective is YOUR POINT OF VIEW. In other words, you can choose from where you are looking.

This matters because as long as you have a choice, you have power.

In today’s motherhood spotlight series, I am thrilled to introduce you to my friend and colleague Annie Nogg. Annie will share with you how her perspective has changed and evolved throughout the COVID pandemic and walk you through a 4 step process for how you can change and choose your perspective on any situation.

In today’s maternity spotlight series, I am introducing you to Elle Erickson, a matrimonial attorney with Warshaw Burstein, LLP in Manhattan. Through her varied experiences in all facets of family law practice and matrimonial litigation, Elle has developed a sophisticated and creative approach to marital disputes.

I am excited to feature this post during my Maternity Leave Spotlight Series because I know how taxing divorces are on couples, children and families. I was excited to hear that Elle is taking a new approach to looking at what needs to be addressed when custody arrangements are made so that the family has the greatest chance of divorcing successfully!

Through my coaching work and personal friendships I have seen both mothers and fathers suffer deeply after their divorces were final because a very important part that holds the family together is not addressed: THE MENTAL LOAD mothers take on in families. In her brilliant article below, Elle suggests simple steps to address and divide the mental load so that post-divorce life can thrive.

I'm writing today to introduce you to my third baby, my daughter, Zoe Lena Caroline.

Zoe was born on April 27th, so she is just a little over 2 weeks old and Raz, the boys, and I are head over heels in love with her 🥰💗

If you've been with me for a while (or if you follow me on instagram) you have heard me share a bit about my pregnancy, our recent move from SF to Connecticut, and other things about my life as a woman, mom, wife, and coach.

The reason I share some of these things with you is because that is were I learn my own lessons that are actually grounded in LIFE (versus in theory).

Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to Dr. Rachel Riley Fancher, a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder and director of Fancher Psychology & Assessment, LLC.

I am so glad that Dr. Fancher agreed to write this article for my spotlight series, because -for obvious pandemic driven reasons- many of us are dealing with more responsibilities (hello childcare + house work + work from home job), more pressures and definitely more anxieties than in our regular lives.

I think that the fact that we don’t know when life will go back to “more normal” makes dealing with stressors and anxieties even more difficult. That uncertainty is what I have seen to be the most troubling for people.

Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to Meredith Anne, a holistic business coach who works with women on creating and furthering businesses without burning out. Meredith will show you exactly how you can have or host your own Full Moon Ceremony - it’s so much simpler than you thought!

Personally, I have found that having a spiritual practice that nourishes me and gives me a ritual to play with to tune in and get into touch with my intuition is key for ALL areas of my life. It makes me better in my work as a coach, a better mom, a better wife, a better friend (to my friends and myself). Literally, everything becomes better when I feel connected, tuned in, and alive spiritually.

Enjoy this first Spotlight, love :)