Starting Now | Blog

STARTING NOW

self care, self compassion, yoga, body positive, coach, wellness, health, body image, stress, self criticism

Beginning again

Beginning again

Back in November, I took a break from my daily cup of coffee and was a little surprised to find that within just a few days, my vocabulary had halved and my ability to finish a sentence seemed to be on the fritz. I’ve always been sensitive, so it made sense that caffeine withdrawal could make me feel fuzzy and tired. But months later, my brain fog hadn’t gotten even a bit better and I was still super tired. Mid-sentence I lost my train of thought, never to catch it agai

Can positive thinking "cure" your negative emotions?

Can positive thinking "cure" your negative emotions?

There's a weird self improvement philosophy that takes positive thinking to the extreme by suggesting that we only experience negative feelings because our mindset is messed up. The idea is that if you can just look at the world through a positive lens, you can be done with negative feelings and transform your life for the better! That simplicity sounds tempting, right? Unfortunately, the positivity-or-bust approach can start to look less like stepping into a transformed li

Hot lava, forts in the living room, and other, totally grown-up fun

Hot lava, forts in the living room, and other, totally grown-up fun

Prefer to listen? Click here. Maybe the rug in the living room was always hot lava and you had to leap onto the couch to keep from burning your feet. Maybe you had a mischievous invisible friend to blame for losing library books or trimming off the cat’s whiskers. Perhaps Barbie and Ken selflessly gave up their dream house to nomad My Little Ponies. Maybe you enlisted your neighbors to help you protect the backyard from the attack of nearby pirate ships. Hours could be los

What's one word to describe your body?

What's one word to describe your body?

Quick: describe your body in one word! Don’t think too hard, just spit it out. Now that it’s out in the open, how do you feel about how you described your body? Does it feel like a celebration of what it can do? A criticism of how it looks? Neutral? I’ve asked this question on Facebook more than once, and the public comments are mostly positive words. But later, in private, I hear words of struggle and resignation. If that’s the case for you, know that you aren’t

How to stop dreading exercise

How to stop dreading exercise

Exercise used to be my unhealthy obsession. It usually felt joyless, but I gave it hours every day. I’d jog alone at night and lift weights so aggressively that I was nearly always sore. If someone delayed my "workout" (a term I rarely use now!), I would get so anxious that I wanted to cry. My friends called me a health nut, but when I was honest with myself, I wasn’t exercising for my health. I was willingly sacrificing my safety and mental health to shrink my body into OK-n

The energy drain of body hate

The energy drain of body hate

Pssst: If you're signed up for my newsletter, please note that I have a new email address! Please add emily@emilyburrows.com to your contacts. We miss out a lot when we're preoccupied with hating our bodies. I'm not only talking about the pictures we duck out of, the pools we don't swim, and the adventures we don't take. I also mean the day-to-day energy drain of tearing down our bodies, our physical homes, that makes it really hard to care for ourselves (and others). You

Compassion can make you brave

Compassion can make you brave

I love watching improv and have always wanted to try it. So, in an effort to expand my creative life and take on new adventures, I recently signed up for a beginners’ improv class. My first class was not a huge success. A few minutes in, my face started twitching from nervousness, and I stumbled over my words. Everytime it was my turn to speak, my mind, which can get jumpy in large groups of strangers and likes having plenty of time to process thoughts before words can

Your worth isn't defined by a pedometer

Your worth isn't defined by a pedometer

Recently, I came across a box of some of my many old journals. The last time I stumbled upon them, I found some embarrassing relics of my past, including a love letter to New Kids on the Block and a photo of my face pasted onto a model posing with Chris O’Donnell. This time, I found a notebook of mostly tables and numbers. I flipped through a couple of pages before I recognized it as one of my old “health tracking” notebooks. From high school through public health grad

There's time for bravery and your bucket list

There's time for bravery and your bucket list

Here’s the thing about 2015. Despite appearances, there’s still time to bring a little of this year’s bucket list to life! OK, so maybe there isn’t time to hang glide over Switzerland, holding hands with Beyonce, before the clock strikes midnight. But if that’s your kind of daydream, you’ve still got a chance to get at the core of that feeling you’re chasing. So, what is it? Are you looking for adventure? Purpose? Gratitude? Excitement? You can absolutely grab a litt

"Why should I have self compassion when others hurt more?"

"Why should I have self compassion when others hurt more?"

I have the great privilege of working with and being cared for by some truly big-hearted people. They are parents, siblings, caregivers, service workers, social justice advocates, volunteers, environmentalists, and animal lovers. They’re attuned to the world and care deeply for its inhabitants. Sometimes they can be painfully awake to the suffering of others. That sensitivity is a superpower that can make the world a better place. It can also be a source of great heartache. A

How to cope with emotional emergencies

How to cope with emotional emergencies

I vividly remember how itchy and lonely I was during my first bout of depression. Nothing appealed to me. I didn't want to be awake but I didn't want to go to bed. I felt isolated but I didn't want to talk to anyone. Work both distracted and frustrated me. It was a struggle to remember things I liked, and for the life of me, I couldn't think of anyone who would be willing to spend time with me. Feeling good seemed like a distant, unattainable memory. Emotional emergencies lik

The discomfort of disappointing others

The discomfort of disappointing others

Confession time: I'm a people pleaser in recovery. Even as a shy little kid I wanted to do what would make those around me happiest, even if it didn't feel comfortable or enjoyable. This happened in little ways, like going to a sleepover even though little introverted Emily hated being with any strangers for even a brief time, let alone an entire night with my stomach tied in knots. It also happened in larger ways, like befriending someone because they seemed lonely, even if

Celebrating the angry inner critic

Celebrating the angry inner critic

It took me years of pondering to sign up for a yoga teacher training. I'd loved informally teaching friends and kids at camp, and yet every time I started to think seriously about making it official, my inner critic would jump up and start hurling insults! "You can't stand on your head, and if you can't do the impressive arm balances, you have no business being a yoga teacher!" "There are too many yoga teachers in this area already. What you offer isn't needed." "You don't lo

Why I quit trying to feel beautiful and got on with my life

Why I quit trying to feel beautiful and got on with my life

When I was younger, I spent a lot of time thinking about my body. I wanted to be shorter and thinner, with shinier hair and whiter teeth. As early as elementary school, my friends and I would stress over how wrong our bodies looked. "UGH! I can't believe I ate that entire sandwich. I feel huge and disgusting." "You aren't fat! You're so pretty. I am waaay fatter than you." The fear of fat was so all-encompassing that on days when my pants felt tight, all of the qualities I li

The first person to cry is the strongest

The first person to cry is the strongest

Some of you have followed my writing since I started a little Tumblr blog in 2010 to connect with students and friends who were curious about yoga for depression and body image issues. It was amazing to read your comments and have deep conversations about mental health with you. Thank you so much for your support! A few of you actually met me through my MySpace blog over a decade ago. I feel like I owe more than a word of thanks to you brave souls. I owe you a drink! One of t

What yoga teacher training taught me about change

What yoga teacher training taught me about change

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” – Gail Sheehy One of the most tumultuous times of change in my life was when I embarked on yoga teacher training. I’d deliberated over teacher training for years and was determined and passionate to teach classes that felt safe and accessible to people whose bodies didn’t match the stereotypical yogi physique. When I showed up to the studio on day 1, I may as well have had my eyes tightly scrunche

Why crying it out to "Fire and Rain" is good for you

Why crying it out to "Fire and Rain" is good for you

Without fail, James Taylor’s music always makes me tear up. The first couple chords of “Shower the People” transport me to my family’s Volvo station wagon on the way to the beach, or dancing around the living room with a tape cassette player clutched in my 5th grade hands. It doesn’t matter where I am when I hear him—the bus, a wedding reception, a crowded coffee shop, or the produce section at Harris Teeter—it’s an instant, sweet kind of nostalgia, and it always brings my fe

Living for the weekend

Living for the weekend

I was miserable in my first job out of graduate school. It’s not that the job itself was awful—I was working on meaningful research, had a short commute, and was surrounded by nice coworkers—I was miserable with the way I felt during the workweek. Over weekends I was able to recover some energy for activities I loved, like seeing bands with friends, learning new songs on guitar, and walking on a nearby trail. But Sunday afternoon the anxiety started creeping in. I’d fantastiz

6 quick fixes for a lousy day

6 quick fixes for a lousy day

Image source Having a truly crappy day? Give yourself a break with these turnarounds: Connect. When something really painful happens, I immediately reach out to two people: my partner, Mark, and my best friend. I can always count on Mark to give me a hug and put a cat on my lap, and my best friend will sit on the phone with me while I cry, and offer to exact revenge on anyone who has wronged me. Even if I’m not ready to talk about it and my best friend (probably) won't public

Rediscovering joy

Rediscovering joy

Over the past few months I’ve developed tendonitis in my ankle, most likely from wearing shoes with poor support while dancing (please learn from my mistakes, fellow dancers!). I’ve had to put my favorite hobby on hold while my ankle heals, and I really miss walking, which is where I do a lot of thinking and processing. One of my loved ones has been experiencing a lot of back pain, so he’s been sidelined from his active lifestyle as well. He’s clearly mourning the loss of tim

1

2

Free Guide

self care, wellness coach, yoga, busy

Say Hello

Featured

Search By Tags

No tags yet.