Last week was pretty crazy, both at work and at home. I’ve been on an editing bender after a wonderfully busy October full of photo sessions, have tried to pack in a few last autumn shoots before all of the leaves have fully disappeared (and the snow has arrived!), Gurmeet and I have planned and enjoyed a birthday party for our now 10 year old daughter Kyra, we had a stranger than usual Halloween, and I had a surprise trip to the hospital (kidney stones are just zero fun), plus - an anxiety-inducing election day (ok, week).

It’s been a lot, not just for me, but for everyone. When talking to friends and clients one of the first topics that tends to come up are levels of anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and general overwhelm. With all of these inside and outside stressors it feels like a herculean task to ask our bodies to run at 100%. Even if we are doing things to keep them as healthy as possible.

I’ve found that trying to stay consistent about taking care of myself always helps. I try every week to do one pilates class, a couple of tabata classes, a few walks, and a hike or a longer walk on the weekends, and to remind myself to stretch every once in a while! Those few things every week add up to some good time for just me. It would always be nice to do more, but it’s what I can fit into my schedule consistently.

While it has been a challenging couple of weeks, it’s been a good reminder to be gentle with myself. That slowing down is okay. That having to cancel some things sometimes is okay. That hurdles happen and even if I stumble over them, I’m strong enough to get back up and keep on moving forward. We can all afford to give ourselves a little bit of grace!

I’ve also been able to draw a lot of parallels with the election. No matter what side you’re voting on, or where your values/policies land, everyone both lost and won some things in the election. And that’s just how life goes, you’ll clear some hurdles, and others you’ll knock down as you try to leap over. But we’ll keep running - as individuals, as families, as friends, as neighbors, and as a nation.