Link Love April: I’m Sorry to Bother You

April 29, 2019Leave a comment

Image Credit: The Breeze (breezejmu.org)

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small compensation.

I can’t believe we are roughly a third of the way through the year! With the month of April coming to a close, I’m pleased to share that it will end on a happier note than March did. This month, I:

Accepted my university’s 30 Under 30 award for outstanding alumni. (Go Knights!)
Spoke to a sold-out crowd of students about my career and my company’s new brand.
Experienced my first on-camera media interview — I will see it live on TV tomorrow!
Booked flights for an upcoming vacation. (It’s about time!)
Had an impactful psychic reading in Cassadaga (read more about the Psychic Capital of the World here).
And more!

As always, I’d love to share some interesting links from around the web on this month’s Link Love. Share your own in the comments section below!

We say sorry too much — and yes, I’m incredibly guilty of this one. Find out what we should be saying instead.
How should you be spending your paycheck? Pop over to MindBodyGreen for personal finance coach Nicole Lapin’s tips.
TopGolf is on my bucket list for this year! Read The Orlando Duo’s guide to the Orlando location of this fun attraction.
Planning a trip to the west coast of Florida? Here’s why the Brooksville and the Chinsegut Retreat Center are not to be missed.
While you’re in the Brooksville area, be sure to check out the upcoming May programs hosted at the Chinsegut Conservation Center.
I’m only about 100 pages in, but Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski has been an incredible read so far. If you’re experiencing burnout and sick of being told that a green smoothie is the cure-all, I highly recommend this book!
I’m in love with these murals by Jonas Never that capture Central Florida history.
If you love the great outdoors, you’ll want to check out these five ways to celebrate nature and wildlife in Central Florida.
I absolutely love to read, and am appalled that I haven’t made my way to the Orlando Public Library yet. Check out CityWhit’s guide to the stunning Instagrammable spots in this beautiful downtown landmark!
Trying to create more work-life balance? Best Life Babe has an awesome quiz and guide for doing exactly that!
Is the future of glass art in St. Petersburg? Signs point to yes.
One artist creates beautiful carvings out of everyday foods. Click for the awe-inspiring masterpieces!

What links are you loving lately? Sound off in the comments!

Your Health in Action: 5 Wellness Books Worth Reading

February 20, 20192 Comments

As a writer, I constantly try to prioritize reading as a part of my daily life. (Some years, I’m more successful than others!) From fiction and poetry to nonfiction and memoirs, I try to vary my genres as much as possible to broaden my perspective and inspire my own creativity. Of course, because wellness is a huge focus for me and my blog, I often gravitate toward personal development books and podcasts.

For tonight’s edition of Your Health in Action, I wanted to share a few favorite wellness and personal development books worth exploring! As always, please feel free to share your suggestions in the comments below. I’m constantly looking for my next great read. 🙂

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small compensation.

Your Health in Action: 5 Wellness Books Worth Reading | WellnessAndWanderlust.net

1. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Okay, let’s be real: unless this is the first time you’ve stumbled upon my blog, you had to suspect this book was going to be on the list! For those who are unfamiliar with The Happiness Project, author Gretchen Rubin incorporates scientific research on happiness to undergo a year-long experiment to live a happier life. Each month takes on a different theme, such as boosting energy, focusing on her marriage, learning something new, etc. The book provides practical, easy-to-implement tips for readers, as Gretchen shares what worked for her. Inspired by her work, I ended up creating my own happiness project for 2019. (You can read about my progress for the month of January here.) Be sure to check out Gretchen’s podcast as well!

2. Food Freedom Forever by Melissa Hartwig
As a fan of The Whole30, I was especially excited when co-creator Melissa Hartwig released Food Freedom Forever. This book focuses on what to do after you’ve tackled the intense elimination diet. How do you let go of your bad habits and baggage around food? Melissa provides a lot of well-researched tips for habit change and creating a healthier relationship with food and body-image. My copy has about a million Post-It notes inside, and is back at the top of my list for required reading in 2019.

3. The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein
If you believe in the law of attraction, The Universe Has Your Back is for you. Gabby Bernstein’s book on transforming fear to faith is worth exploring if you’re experiencing any major obstacles in your life right now. The book also provides several meditative practices to help you listen to your intuition and learn to trust yourself, while quieting those negative voices.

4. The Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda by Sahara Rose
Ayurveda is an ancient system of Eastern medicine and the sister science to yoga. Thanks to Sahara Rose’s book The Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda, non-practitioners like me can learn all about Ayurveda and how we can incorporate it into our daily lives. You’ll be able to identify your mind-body type (or “dosha”) and learn the best foods, routines, and other practices to achieve mind-body balance.

5. Rising Strong by Brené Brown
Brené Brown is a renowned social worker known for her research on shame and vulnerability (check out her TED Talk!), and as someone who struggles with opening up about her feelings, I was excited to finally pick up one of her books. Rising Strong focuses on resiliency, coming back from a perceived failure, and changing the narratives we tell ourselves. If you’re struggling to reset after a fall, I highly recommend this book!

What personal development books do you recommend for 2019? Share your favorites in the comments below!

Your Health in Action: 5 Podcasts to Make Your Life Happier and Healthier, Part 2

January 27, 2019February 20, 20192 Comments

Back in 2017, I wrote about my (then) newfound love for podcasts, and shared my five favorites in the health and wellness space. Since that time, the podcast medium has really blown up, and it seems as though nearly everyone I know has become a podcast junkie. From lightening up a long drive or workday commute to giving us something fun to listen to when tidying up around the house, listening to podcasts can be a great way to let off steam — and learn something along the way. 🙂

Over time, as I began to subscribing to the shows mentioned in my previous post, I began to discover other wellness personalities and business owners whose stories inspired me. Because of that, I’m excited to share PART TWO of my favorite podcasts that will make your life happier and healthier! (Don’t worry, at some point I’ll share my favorite Bachelor recaps and other guilty pleasure podcasts on a future blog post.)

5 Podcasts to Make Your Life Happier & Healthier | WellnessAndWanderlust.net

1. By The Book
Ever hear about a trendy new self-help book and wonder if you should try it out? On By The Book, hosts Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg do the hard work for you! In each episode, Kristen and Jolenta choose a self-help book, live by the book for two weeks, and share their verdicts. These ladies poke fun at the self-help genre while exploring the privilege inherent in many of these books, and their husbands often make cameos in the episodes as they go along with the hosts’ temporary new lifestyles. By The Book introduced me to the concept of hygge (we’ll talk about that more in Month 4 of my 2019 Happiness Project), helped me identify my love language, and made me never want to read French Women Don’t Get Fat.

A few favorite episodes: Men Are From Mars, Women are From Venus. The Little Book of Hygge. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. French Women Don’t Get Fat. Year of Yes.

2. The Goop Podcast
You probably associate Goop with Gwyneth Paltrow and extremely expensive lifestyle products, but her company’s new podcast does not disappoint. Gwyneth and Goop’s Chief Content Officer, Elise Loehnen, take turns interviewing doctors, researchers, authors, and celebrities on a variety of wellness-related topics. Although Gwyneth is obviously the more famous of the two, Elise’s interviews are especially engaging — she is a talented interviewer whose episodes dive deep. From functional medicine to hormone imbalance to the power of the unconscious mind, the show focuses on a variety of subjects that are relevant to listeners.

A few favorite episodes: Why We Use Food to Shame Ourselves. The Anxious Mind. How to Defeat Your Inner Critic. Herbs, Spices, and Proteins to Live By. The Autoimmune Spectrum.

3. The Living Experiment
Hosted by Dallas Hartwig (co-founder of The Whole30) and Pilar Gerasimo, The Living Experiment explores ways to live happily and more consciously by implementing real-life “experiments” to shift your lifestyle. Their living experiments are practical and relatively simple to incorporate, and the research cited in these episodes will really make you think. The show is currently on a break, so it’s the perfect time to catch up on the existing 100 episodes as Dallas and Pilar both work on their respective book deals!

A few favorite episodes: Imposter Syndrome. Introvert Extrovert. Declutter. Coping. Healthy vs. Hot.

4. Light and Life Live with Danika Brysha
I’ve been a longtime fan of Danika Brysha, the body positive model and self-care activist who runs Model Meals, so I was especially excited when she began hosting a podcast. Light and Life Live is a weekly one-hour live Instagram series, which is also available through podcast apps. Danika features various thought leaders, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and other wellness personalities about their self-care routines, passions, life paths, and how they bring light into the world. Although there are occasionally some sound/technical issues, Danika’s interviews are well worth the listen.

A few favorite episodes: Shut The Kale Up. Celebrity Nutritionist Kelly Leveque. Almost 30’s Lindsey Simcik and Krista Williams. Whole30’s Melissa Hartwig. PooPourri Creator Suzy Batiz.

5. Highest Self Podcast with Sahara Rose
Sahara Rose is a leading voice in Ayurveda, an ancient Indian holistic healing science, and the author of The Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda. In her Highest Self Podcast, Sahara makes Ayurvedic concepts easy to understand and incorporate into your daily life, and I absolutely love to learn from her podcast. Her podcast focuses mainly on modern Ayurveda and how knowing your dosha (mind-body type) can make all the difference in various aspects of your life. If you’ve ever been curious about eastern medicine, I highly recommend her podcast!

A few favorite episodes: How to Heal From Adrenal Fatigue the Holistic Way. Creating More By Doing Less. Food Emotionality with Amanda Skelley. New Year’s Resolutions for Kaphas. How to Be More Confident.

What are some of your favorite wellness podcasts? Sound off in the comments below!

2018 Book Challenge Results

January 5, 2019Leave a comment

Happy New Year! I hope everyone is having a great start to 2019. In spite of a few hiccups, I’m happy to say that so far my 2019 Happiness Project has been going well! How are you sticking to your resolutions?

Every year, I aim to make time for reading. My perfect weekend day involves a trip to the river walk by my apartment with a cup of tea and a good book. Because of graduate school (and then my subsequent recovery from graduate school), reading was sadly not as big of a priority for me in 2018. However, I did reread an old childhood favorite and discover some amazing new page turners. I’ll mark the best books of 2018 with a * below!

Books I Read in 2018

Negotiation Genius by Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman (3/8/18)
Every Day by David Levithan (4/7/18)*
Total Leadership by Steward D. Friedman (4/14/18)
Woman Enters Left by Jessica Brockmole (4/20/18)*
The Diary of Darcy J. Rhone by Emily Giffin (4/22/18)
Damned by Chuck Palahniuk (4/30/18)
How To Be Well by Frank Lipman (5/26/18)
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (6/9/18)
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis (7/4/18) – Girl, Wash Your Face: Three Lies We Need to Stop Telling Ourselves
Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen (7/31/18)*
The Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda by Sahara Rose Ketabi (9/8/18)
The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron (11/16/18)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (11/30/18)*

To keep up with my current reading list for 2019, visit the Book Challenge page on my top menu or click here. (Click for recaps from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017!)

Have you read anything good lately? Share your recommendations in the comments!

Rainy Day Adventures: Downtown DeLand & Museum of Art

December 9, 20182 Comments

Why let a rainy day stop us from having a good time? For months, my friend and I have been looking forward to visiting Bok Towers for the Christmas tour of Pinewood Estates (read about our summer visit here), but when we checked the forecast this morning, we realized that a nearly 2-hour drive to a botanical garden was probably not the best idea for the day. Instead, we decided to stick a little closer to home with a trip to Downtown DeLand.