Letter From The Editor, Jan/Feb 2025
While I always get a bit nostalgic as the holiday season recedes, I also love New Year energy.
I LOVE the chance to zoom out, to look at my life from a broader perspective and make sure I’m headed in the right direction.
I love the opportunity to recommit to my health goals, and make sure they’re balanced out with my personal and life goals. As a recovering Type A personality, I’ve come to understand where I have sacrificed my health and instead stayed stuck in stress.
But building better habits takes time, and breaking up with my own stress response isn’t easy. Years ago, I used to drink diet Coke. I don’t remember feeling like I needed it, but I do remember the withdrawal dreams I had when I gave it up. That’s because diet Coke does crazy things to your brain.
So does stress. The stress response is intimately wired to our survival response, and detoxing from stress hormones is a big deal.
Maybe you’re like me, a recovering Type A personality, ready to trade in your need for overachievement and have a bit more balance instead. The road isn’t always easy, because those neural connections are wired to the deepest, most fundamental parts of your brain (that’s why stress raises heart rate and blood pressure and makes you breathe faster, without your even knowing it).
So have patience. Have grace. Take rests. Let go. Find moments to do things you love, not just things you think you have to or should do. Honor yourself. I’ll be over here, practicing the same thing.
Happy New Year,