Category: Emotions

The Tom Brady Syndrome

The Tom Brady Syndrome

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

In my personal life I have been studying a lot about loss. In the next couple months I have some big changes coming up in my life as I have known it. I have felt such angst and stress about choosing these changes and implementing them that they have caused a lack of sleep and an inability to function well as a mother and coach. 

For one thing, these future changes are my choice instead of something that is forced and two, I have never really done well with change. whenever we would go on an extended break or Holiday from school like Christmas, the first week back of school I would always get sick. This happened a lot in college. When the semesters changed and my routine needed to change, my body would get some sort of cold or flu, and I’d be down for the count and miss days of school. Even though I’m not in school now, whenever there are big changes or big events in my life or family life, I ramp up to them and then afterwards I get sick either mentally or physically. 

On a side note, doesn’t this example show that our mental state can affect our physical state. More to come on those thoughts in an article soon. 

So with me loving routine these changes have been ridiculously difficult to fathom and make. Therefore I have taken it to some of the doctors that I work with to talk to them about which changes and how much change I need to be able to heal and balance that with keeping myself mentally happy.  I love where I’m at right now, but I recognize that some change is good and change will allow me to grow but also heal some health issues I am experiencing. 

As I have talked with professionals about these changes my therapist brought to light a syndrome that we want to call the Tom Brady syndrome. It’s something I want to share with you today because it rang so true and felt was easily relatable. 

mental health and coaching the mind
training the mind

I’m going to assume that you know who Tom Brady is and if you don’t go and Google him. In a very short sentence he, being an amazing football player, retired from football and after a short time unretired from football and went back into the game.

As a top football player and a high-performance achiever I can only understand why he went back to football. He loves the dopamine rush and the 100% for filament that he gets from winning a game and being the top performer in his industry and Sport. One can only understand that retiring from that was a severe loss for him and probably caused mental sadness and emotions that he wasn’t used to having because he was so used to all the good emotions that he experienced while playing football and winning.

Interestingly enough, what has happened since he has gone back to the game are also interesting losses. his wife and he have gotten a divorce. His wife was his biggest fan and was a key contributor to his success as a football player. For example, she monitored every little bit of food that went into his mouth so that he was fueled properly and also was in charge of making sure he had boundaries so he could recover.Something else that has happened since coming back to the game, he’s losing.

So I want to discuss 3 points about the Tom Brady syndrome that you can see in what Tom Brady is going through right now.

The Tank

The first point is called the tank. The tank is where a professional is at the top of their career and due to age, injury, circumstances or other professionals coming into the same industry, etc, this professional starts to tank in their success rate and is not at the top of their game or career anymore. 

With Tom Brady coming back out of retirement and losing all of these games is showing that he is starting to tank.

So the question for you is: should Tom Brady finish his career of football at the high or should he continue in football as he tanks and finish at a low? What do you think that would do to his mental health as well as the story that people will tell about him for years to come?

The next question there would be where are you at and your career? Do you think you have reached your Peak do you think you still have room to grow or do you think you are in the tank?

 I have noticed in my personal Journey that due to the injuries and health problems I’m experiencing, I am in the tank. I have not been able to give what I used to be able to give and it has been discouraging and sad. I appreciated the advice that I received to not tank fully and exit at the low but to exit at the high.Honestly I think when we exit at a high we can look back with fond memories and there is closure.

The Acceptance

The second point is called acceptance. The acceptance is the concept that after we leave or turn away from our original trajectory and goal we might experience loss in the manner that whatever we do instead might not be as fulfilling as the thing we did first.

For Tom Brady, he probably should go out and buy a football team. That’s the closest thing that he could do to recreate the happiness that he experienced as the football player. However he probably will only be able to receive 90% of his fulfillment back compared to the 100% that he might have gotten as a player himself. That is part of loss.

It is good for us to recognize that in Los we may not be able to get back to the hundred percent fulfillment that we had. Very rarely will somebody experience  something that is better than what they were originally doing when they were at the top of their game.

If you are aware of this you would be grasping for straws and probably looking outside of yourself for inner peace. Just like Tom Brady coming back out of retirement. He probably couldn’t find something that would fulfill him just as much as playing football did and he didn’t know how to handle that and sit with that. Then he has the consequence of losing his wife now because he chose to come back out of retirement and that is not what she wanted or was told would happen.

For me, I don’t know what is coming next after my changes but I do appreciate this concept. I used to dance ballroom at BYU and competed professionally and was doing very well. I stopped dancing because my body could not get pregnant due to how much physical work I was putting in to dance every day. When I stopped I experienced a severe depression for a long time. For years I couldn’t even watch the progress of my fellow dancers because I knew where I “should have been” in the dance world. I don’t think anything I have done in the dance realm since has been as fulfilling as being a competitor on the dance floor and winning. It still hurts 13 years later and now having an understanding that fulfillment might not reach capacity has helped me release the pain because of those expectations being replaced with acceptance.

The Vacuum

The final concept of the Tom Brady syndrome is the vacuum. And on a side note, I’m grateful for spell check, because I still don’t know how to spell vacuum without help. LOL. 

The vacuum is where when you take something out of your life it will put a force into the universe that will pull something new into that empty space.

Tom Brady had a really big empty space because he had a very big, successful, Limelight career. Again oh, he didn’t have the tools nor the patience to wait for something else to come along to fill that space.

Along with that I feel like if we understand that there will be a vacuum we can be looking for opportunities and we can recognize that some opportunities will be good ones and some will be bad ones or destructive ones that will not help us. 

When covid shut my job down as a group fitness instructor there was a big loss there. I was tumbled into this space that created a vacuum and needed to be filled. Some of the things that filled that space were good and I’ll talk about those in a second, but some of them were not so good. I didn’t eat well. I lost a lot of my discipline and my hope for the future. In fact, I think that I am still recovering from what that vacuum brought to me and what I chose. Now like I said, some of those opportunities were good ones. I ended up taking clients virtually during covid and really laid a good foundation to be a personal trainer and nutrition coach online. if it weren’t for covid and that loss I would not have had that space replaced.

Right now I don’t know what is going to fill the space from the loss that I am going to incur in the next couple of months. I was feeling anxious about that. There are a lot of what-ifs. But I am finding that because of the awareness that there is a vacuum I am handling the unknown a lot better. In fact, there’s a part of me that is really looking forward to what might open up for me in opportunities that are constructive and helpful to me and the next season of My Life.

So finishing up, let’s review the Tom Brady syndrome. The Tom Brady syndrome has three main facets. The first facet is the tank, the second is the acceptance, And the third is the vacuum.

Maybe you can look back on a couple of your losses and think about these three aspects. Then, being aware of these three aspects when you go into a new loss, which will happen because we are all mortal and human, maybe, because you have awareness of them you will be able to more gracefully and strongly handle your next loss in a way that will help you come out of that more refined and better. 

At least that is my hope because I am seeing that work in my own life.

20 BODY & MIND TOOLS TO OVERCOME ANXIETY

20 BODY & MIND TOOLS TO OVERCOME ANXIETY

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

These tools are taken from Emiliya Zhivotovskaya. I first heard of these while I was mowing my lawn and had to stop, run in the house and spent the next 30 minutes writing furiously to take notes of each of these tools. Then I found them on her site, much better explained and written out. You can learn more from the website below.

I find that I like the body ones and then can move on to the mind tools. With all my studies on anxiety, I felt this finally helped a more broad population, like me, that feels anxiety really fast and really hard.

https://theflourishingcenter.com/20tools/

The following is written by: Emiliya Zhivotovskaya but simplified slightly for reading purposes.

BODY TOOLS:

1. EXERCISE

There are thousands of research studies that support the impact of exercise in completing the stress cycle.  Engaging your muscles use up the chemicals that your body releases. A 2014 study by Wegner et al., aggregated data of over 37 meta-analyses and research on 42,264 people and identified that exercise made a significant impact on  anxiety.

Cardiovascular exercise like running is great as our evolutionary ancestors were often running from something when they were anxious.  But, if you don’t have anywhere to run to escape the tiger in your mind, exercises such as progressive muscle relaxation can work too. Tense all of your muscles and hold for a slow count of ten and then relaxing.

2. TOUCH

Whether you’re petting an animal or receiving a hug… touch releases oxytocin.  This feel good chemical is responsible for bonding, connection and a sense of trust. 

3. SELF-HAVENING

Havening is a psycho-sensory therapy that utilizes physical touch to down-regulate the nervous system. 

4. BUTTERFLY TAP

This is one of my favorite techniques for creating calm utilizing bilateral stimulation of the brain. This is the use of visual, auditory, or tactile external stimuli occurring in a rhythmic side-to-side pattern which if frequently used as a core element of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

5. TAPPING & EFT

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping, is a novel treatment of stress related conditions using a step by step process of self-stimulating acupressure points throughout the body while repeating a statement. While research on EFT is in it’s infancy, the data is promising and the self-reported uses and impact is strong, including this research summary Medical News Today which offers the EFT steps, along with a summary of the most recent research.

6. FORWARD FOLDING

Benefit from the impact of gravity on blood flow to slow your beating heart with forward fold poses. Consider some of these simple possess for 5-7 breathes.  Inhale and fill your body with breath. Exhale slowly and mindfully ease into the stretch.

7. SING, CHANT OR HUM

The vagus nerve passes through by the vocal cords and the inner ear and the vibrations of humming is a free and easy way to influence your nervous system states.  In particular, chanting the sound “OM” or anything with a “mmm” sound stimulates the vagus nerve as it is connected to the vocal cords. Consider the bumble breathe (bhramari), it’s one of my favorites. The first time I ever did bhramari in yoga class, was also the first time I had ever experienced a “silent mind.” (Even though it only lasted 2 seconds :-).

8. WATER THERAPY

As water flows, the crashing of water particles creates negative ions which when inhaled and felt on our skin has been shown to lift mood and decrease stress.  And what’s better than listening to the sound of running water? Getting in!  A 2018 study by Goto and colleagues examined the impact of showering versus bathing on the well-being of 38 participants. They found that while both are beneficial, bathing led to significantly lower stress, tension-anxiety, anger-hostility, and depression-dejection.  According to the authors, “Immersion bathing, but not shower bathing, exerts hyperthermic action that induces increased blood flow and metabolic waste elimination, which may afford physical refreshment. Immersion bathing should improve both physical and emotional aspects of quality of life.”

9. BREATHING

Breathing is the only autonomic function that you have direct control over. Every inhale stimulates your sympathetic nervous system, your body’s gas pedal. Every exhale stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system. Use these techniques to  drive the car of your body.  To decrease the experience of anxiety and stress, make your exhale longer than your inhale.  To stimulate the body, make your inhale significantly longer than you’re exhale. To relax the body, make your exhale significantly longer than your inhale.

The simplest and safest way to start is to notice your breath and count what a natural breath cycle feels like.  Then try to match the length of your inhale and exhale. Then, to create calm, keep breathing with your inhale count the same but slowly extend your exhale count until the exhale is twice as long as your inhale.

Here are the many ways that breathing impacts your mind-body health:

10. SOFT BELLY BREATHING

The vagus nerve is one of the primary nerves of the relaxation response. It innervates the most in the stomach region. When you practice abdominal breathing you slow the breath down and relax the muscles around your stomach, you further stimulate the vagus nerve.  

MIND TOOLS:

1. CATCH THE CHATTER

Set a timer to go off. When it does, write down your thoughts. Knowing what types of thoughts you’re working with will give you greater mastery over the process below. You may notice that there are a handful of core worries that you have and everything else is on loop.

2. TALKBACK TO THE THOUGHTS 

Reminder yourself that you are not your thoughts. You are not worried. You are you, having the experience of worry. Reperceiving is defined as the ability to “disidentify from the contents of consciousness (i.e., one’s thoughts) and view moment-by-moment experience with greater clarity and objectivity” (Shapiro et al., 2006, p. 377).  Mindfully witnessing your thoughts helps you separate yourself from the thinker.

3. THANK YOUR PROTECTIVE BRAIN

Instead of wrestling your thoughts, recognize that they are trying to protect you. Appreciate your worrying mind doesn’tWhamean you have to give in to the thoughts. Remember that worrying interrupts long-term problem solving. If there is actual threat, then what you need is problem solving and action. Worry makes you want to run away instead of leaning and doing something about it.

4. MANAGE YOUR “WHAT IFS”

Your neo-cortex is the human, rational thinking part of your brain. It is the part of your brain that has the capacity to use reason and logic to make decisions about the future. Your emotional limbic system in your brain, is the part of our brain that is wired for survival. In a relaxed state, the emotional brain is aware of “what is happening” and the rational brain is capable of planning into the future of “what will happen” with “what if” scenarios. When you’re in threat mode your worrying brain decides it should be responsible for “What Iffing”. It does so with worst case scenario thoughts and makes you think it’s real. Remember, the emotional brain treats the “what ifs” as though they are happening now.

5. DESIGNATE WORRY TIME

Setting aside time to worry creates a container. I suggest picking a daily time and writing for at least 15-20 minutes. Most people find they max out around 5-10 minutes. Then when you’re brain offers worries at other times throughout the day, remind it that it can wait till the next time. 

6. “I’VE HANDLED IT BEFORE. I’LL HANDLE IT.”

7. WORST CASE, BEST CASE, MOST LIKELY

Check out the step-by-step process at GoZen.com

8. MINDFULNESS

9. 5 SENSES & NOUNS

10. CERTAINTY ANCHORS

Check out Jonathan Field’s description of the Certainty Anchors and how to use them to find calm in a stormy world. Use these anchors to center you and calm the brain. Create rituals that bring meaning to the simple actions of day to day life.

Strategies to Breakthrough PMDD Luteal Phase Episodes + Addictions

Strategies to Breakthrough PMDD Luteal Phase Episodes + Addictions

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

***We do not claim to be a doctor or anything of the like. This document is for educational purposes only. Any action taken by the reader is their sole responsibility and should be done with discretion. No claim can be made against Adagio FIT or its employees. If you ever have any questions, take them to your primary care doctor.***

There is a fine balance between what is in my heart that I want to share and what you need for your journey. I question and ponder until those two overlap and can share that overlap. 

Here’s my overlap today…

Women with PMDD go through a point each month in which behaviors are very “addict” like. What does this mean?

Well, our frontal lobe is the rational decision making and emotional regulation area of our brain. During PMDD episodes (usually around days 13-15 and 23-28 or a female cycle) the frontal lobe checks out. The cause is unknown to why this happens but it is like neurotransmitters to not make it past that synapse. Either way, it happens and the frontal lobe becomes a mass of lazy tissue for lack of a better explanation. 

Because of this, our Limbic system then takes over or at least most to solo operation mode… this is the emotion and hormone driven area of the brain (to simplify). That need for a dopamine hit overrides everything. 

This can lead, as I am sure you can deduct already, to behaviors and decisions that aren’t in line with a true, whole self. Usually compulsiveness in myriads of ways – from emotional outbursts to binge eating of junk foods to frantic cleaning of house and home to overspending. It has been related to me like someone being addicted to drugs, alcohol or pronography. Ever had those insatiable cravings for anything? Oreos? Oh the whole sleeve? Oh just one more? Ugh, might as well finish the whole package. Sound familiar?

Now, for me, I really dislike being placed with those kinds of people. Why? I am not addicted to anything via choices I made and I didn’t choose to have PMDD, but being honest, my actions, left unchecked, will show the same behaviors 100%. 

In the Book of Mormon (a book of scripture in my religion), there is a passage that says “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” Ether 12:27

Why do we have weakness? Weakness requires us to reach out to other people, rely on a higher being/plan, and to help us grow into our full, truest self. Not that I want to have a weakness or anything. I am super independent, full of determination, and excellence… those don’t line up with being weak in any area.

But having weakness requires us to surrender and accept. To work with it, not against it. PMDD won’t magically disappear as I prayed for so long.

How do I, and you, work with PMDD? 

I tell you, it is SO painful to come out on the other side of a PMDD week and realize you have to start back at square one and even to deal with the consequences of my simply stupid choices — like the stomach ache, 5lbs, lethargy and bloat from ALL the sweets I could get my hands on. Yikes. So as much as I don’t want to, I do need a plan to manage symptoms. So do you!

A successful plan requires three things —

  1. Help
  2. Spirituality
  3. Strategies

First, help. 

Help is hard. Yep. Mic drop. LOL. 

Ask for help from trusted sources – family, friends, therapist, doctors, etc. 

Having a conversation with my hubby and kids and laying out the help I needed from them was not easy the first time. In fact, my hubby and I went to bed on opposite sides that first time. But with practice, it has become routine and a bit easier at times. I have more courage through taking accountability instead of avoiding and expecting. 

Every month before my luteal phase I tell them next week I won’t feel good. Then I ask my kids and hubby for help to keep things extra clean, make dinners, and pretty much take care of eachother. Also, that instead of always relying on mom, there is a dad home (especially on weekends). 

I’ve also asked friends to take my kids for a couple of hours to allow me to have quiet time and peace. And, yes, I have asked technology to give me some quiet time too 🙂 Either way, asking can be hard but if you don’t ask, the answer is always NO. 

Second is spirituality. Another word could be the value of faith. This is a belief that there is a plan for you and that there are powers or a being who can see the whole picture. That all will workout for your good. You can find this helpful by connecting to those powers. That may be yoga, scripture reading, meditation, getting out in the mountains, etc. 

Finally we hit strategies. This gets the biggest portion from me today. Probably because it is what I am working on. 

You MUST plan and prepare these strategies BEFORE you hit your PMDD days or any sort of issue you want to work on, right? This is so applicable to more than just PMDD. 

Get out a piece of paper and fill out the following strategies. I have included some prompt questions and examples to get you thinking. 

  1. Goals
    1. Make a list of goals you want to accomplish when you come out of your week or past your trigger time. Examples could be:
      1. Staying the same weight
      2. Not going into CC debt
      3. Staying off of social media
  2. Restriction Strategies
    1. These are strategies of abstinence. Not even one. Nope. Not you. 
    2. What do you need to remove from your vision and mind?
    3. What are your triggers? 
      1. Credit card autofill?
      2. Leftover Halloween Candy?
      3. The weekly cookie shop email?
      4. Walking into the kitchen?
  3. Replacement Strategies
    1. What can you allow yourself instead?
    2. What behaviors does your higher self implement when the days are good?
    3. What can you do to be productive and useful to give you a sense of purpose?
      1. Call 4 friends
      2. Pre-packaged salads
      3. Some fresh berries for a snack
      4. A new book or class online for the time
      5. More exercise
      6. Walking on the treadmill while watching a movie
  4. Mindset Strategies
    1. Cravings of any kind can narrow your focus to all that you don’t have. 
    2. How can you broaden your view to bring peace and settling?
      1. Any practice of gratitude
      2. Move to what you have and not what you lack
      3. Look at good times in your life — chatbooks, phone images, etc?
  5. Structure Strategies
    1. Some people need to have structure to be able to keep their thinking clear. So weekends with a different schedule can put a wedge in your ability to stay true to your goals. 
    2. What rituals and routines help you feel accomplished at the end of the day? 
      1. Making your bed
      2. Exercising
      3. Getting ALL cleaned up
      4. A good breakfast for yourself
    3. I asked my hubby to not plan anything or ask anything of me on Saturdays until noon. This allows me to accomplish what my mind and body need to feel even just a bit more focused and better. 

This paper is now your plan and now you can write out the next things you need to do in a preparation list. 

This is my general list for each month and I tweak where needed.

Preparations:

  • Remind my family days in advance and ask for help where needed
  • Set goals for the week
  • Tell my family those goals
  • Have them check in with me often to see if I am staying strong
  • Allow them to remind me about my goals
  • Meal plan and prep snack boxes before day 23
  • Find a good book or find a class to take
  • Plan an artistic project to undertake

As you can kind of see, you want to create a space that you feel productive, useful, contributive, and peaceful during the luteal phase. You want to come out not needing to pick up shattered pieces and you want to feel dignified and accomplished that you made it through. 

This may take practice to find what works and what balance you need for your family circumstances…. I mean, I’d like to just go to a resort for 5 days a month and have my own chef. But that isn’t in our cards right now… 

This takes accountability and action NOW instead of waiting. It takes communication and preparation. It is hard work but really worth it. It may save your marriage, your relationships with your kids, and especially with yourself. 

If you have any questions about this or would like to sort this out with help, I am happy to schedule a coaching call with you. Shoot me an inquiry at https://adagiofit.com/trainwithme/contact-us/

#30 - Rewrite Your Thoughts

#30 – Rewrite Your Thoughts

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

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Looking for specific results in your life or getting results you aren’t satisfied with? You’ll definitely want to listen to this podcast. We are discussing the model from Brooke Castillo that I use in my coaching. It truly is the magic sauce to every problem or result you want to have. CTFAR for the WIN! Listen to learn more.

We talk about an emotion wheel during this cast. Click below to get the free download. Like I said in the podcast, I love to use this to decode what I am really feeling and I use it for my kids too!

Thank you for listening. Because of you, we keep this podcast up and running. We would love to know what you think about the podcast and you can share that with us below in the comments.

#24 - Urges + Cravings

#24 – Urges + Cravings

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

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Related image

In the podcast today we are talking all about urges and cravings. What does it take to make a craving and answer a craving – the science of our brains is amazing. We also chat about tools we can use to rewire our brains to answer our cravings differently using the PAZ technique.

After you listen, leave us some feedback right below here in our show notes! We’d love to start a conversation. Also, I mentioned in the podcast about a free mini session… those sign ups are in the link below!

#17 - Take-a-ways from This Messy Magnificent Life

#17 – Take-a-ways from This Messy Magnificent Life

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

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On the podcast I am talking about all the wonderful things I learned when I ready Geneen Roth’s book This Messy Magnificent Life. I was first introduced to Geneen when I heard her on a favorite podcast of mine The Good Life Project called You Don’t Need to Be Fixed – and OH! the peace she spoke to my soul made my eyes well up with tears. For the first time in my life someone put into words what I felt had been inside me since day one. That no matter how much I do meditation and other means to sooth my “upstairs aunts” or critical thoughts in my head, those aunts will always speak.

For years I have searched ways to quiet those thoughts, but Geneen teaches us to stand proudly in our imperfections and that those imperfections are what make us magnificent and amazing. Embracing what we think should be shamed and using it to stand out and shine. It was just what I needed to hear. Amazing book!

I share my favorite quotes, wishing I could read you the whole book, and how it applies to what I teach my clients in health coaching.

Listen to the podcast below and make sure you listen to the interview with her in the above link AND grab yourself a copy of the book.

Some final things from the show—

First, if you leave the podcast an iTunes review I will send you my 4 weehttp://erp.american-stone.com:8069/?db=american_stonek workout plan for weights and cardio at home PERSONALIZED for you! – to make it easy, click here to link to us. Leave the podcast review and then shoot me an email at clarissa@adagiofit.com with a screenshot of your review and I will reply with the workouts!

Second, if you have questions or thoughts about any of these topics from today leave them below in the comments. I would truly love to hear from you.

Finally, we have two more opportunities for online classes and you can still sign up for any of them. Click below for more information about our classes — PS – they are free until one week before class and are filled with freebies too so sign up today!

#11 Self Love

#11 Self Love

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

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What if we chose to love ourselves just a little bit more today? What would change in your world?

Self Love is an unconditional acceptance and love for who you are – a regard and respect for one’s self and happiness. However, we tend to put a limit on how much self love we can offer ourselves. Like it comes across as self centered if we show ourselves too much love and respect.

In this podcast we talk about self love and why we fall from it. We talk about what we need to do to get back to it and then apply it to some examples and give you some tools you can use to grow and flourish in self love.

Click below to print off the 25 things printable and download the self love phone background that we talk about and use in this podcast!

If you are interested in catching us for the next online coaching class – click below to find out more!

#10- Mental Health with PMDD

#10- Mental Health with PMDD

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

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May is Mental Health Awareness month so today I am getting vulnerable with you as we talk about PMDD – Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder – a mental illness I was diagnosed with after 20 years of not knowing what was “wrong” with me. PMDD is a hormone-based mental illness that is an uncommon reaction to normal fluctuating hormones. It is not an imbalance of hormones nor is dictated by hormones, but a miscommunication within the brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex, that follows the luteal phase of a menstrual cycle – from ovulation until the period starts. Still such a new disorder with research coming out weekly! Only 2-8% of women experience PMDD and out of that percent only 3% of those have heavy and painful periods. I am that 3%.

I share with you my story and the details of what it is like to live as this illness comes around each month. What happens with in my body and also how the view of my world changes pretty much overnight. PMDD affects me two times a month – during ovulation and then again about 5-7 days before my period starts and lasts until my period starts. So between PMDD and a painful period, I get about 10 days a month feeling amazing. However, with lifestyle changes of diet, exercise, sleep, and planning, I have been able to minimize symptoms to live a good, healthy life and I am usually not crippled by its effects.

There is so much information about PMDD that I couldn’t fit it all into this podcast. If you would like to know more check out the site below or you can also drop me a comment below or email me at clarissa@adagiofit.com and I’d love to listen to your questions, comments, or concerns.

https://giaallemandfoundation.org/

#09 - Six Dimensions of Wellness Part 4 - Emotional & Spiritual

#09 – Six Dimensions of Wellness Part 4 – Emotional & Spiritual

Posted on by Clarissa Thomas

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The final part in our series on the dimensions of wellness. Today I am talking about emotional and spiritual wellness. We’ll take a look at some ways to see if you are thriving in these dimensions and what it will look like when you are. Emotional wellness is your ability to be aware of and accept your feelings,rather than deny them. It is having an optimistic approach to life, and enjoy life despite its occasional disappointments and frustrations. Spiritual wellness is a personal matter and really different for every individual. However it is generally considered to be the search for meaning and purpose in human existence. Spiritual wellness leads one to strive for a state of harmony and truth within our core but also harmony with others while working to balance both inner needs and the rest of the world.

I am offering a coaching class on Wednesday, May 23 of this month! This month the class is free too! If you want to read more about the class click below. It is the last week to sign up or it – I’d love to have you come!