Cortex Rehabilitation, Maple Grove, MN (2025)

12/16/2023

Fun Christmas lunch at the

08/03/2023

Are you feeling overwhelmed by back to school prep for your kid with POTS?

Are you looking for some guidance on how to successfully get your kid back to school?

You’re gonna want to keep reading…free training details at the bottom! ⬇️

August is here, and the Target aisles are stocked with back to school supplies

Not only are you busy buying those #2 pencils, new backpacks, and fresh notebooks–you’re also spending your free moments trying to figure out how the heck your kid is actually going to make it through the school day. Right?

This transition from summer break to school can be a daunting one for teens and parents, so I decided to put together a free live training to help parents get clear on how they can help their kid with POTS get back to school with confidence (and not crash after week one)

In the training we will cover my 3 biggest tips to help you get clear on what you can do now to ease the transition for your kid, yourself, and the school so you can go back to work without being glued to your phone wondering when you’re going to get a sick call

If you’re looking for more support to help get your kid back to school successfully, then I invite you to join my for my FREE live training on Saturday August 12th at 10 AM Central / 11AM Eastern

👀 To register for this free training, click the link in the comments!

Once you’ve registered, drop the word “school” in the comments!

07/18/2023

I just got back from a continuing ed course in Texas and holy moley –

🥵 It was stinking hot!

I love summertime heat, but 106 was a bit much – even for me!

I know that people with POTS can REALLY struggle with summer heat, so I want to share what’s working for my clients and hopefully it helps you too

People who are heat sensitive usually know all the quick tips/tricks to cool off –

❄️ Like going in the AC, using a cooling towel, buying a neck fan, staying in the shade, etc.

These are great for the moment

But when your family takes a trip to Orlando and you’re riding the shaded bench by the misting fan while everyone else is riding Space Mountain–

It can leave you feeling really lonely and frustrated

🙌 If that sounds like you–you’re not alone in this AND there is hope!!

If you’re dealing with heat intolerance right now–then those quick fixes will be your best bet to get some short term relief

AND you can also implement some long-term strategies to help you actually improve your temp tolerance

To get back to having fun in the sun–you can try this…

💪 Create a consistent exercise routine that helps you improve the function of your autonomic nervous system (which controls temp regulation!)

🌊 Stay hydrated using a hydration and electrolyte schedule that works for you – and find a routine that continues WHILE you’re on vacay

🌳 Get outdoors in small doses. Don’t shock your body and go from indoors 24/7 to a week long beach trip. Get outside in small chunks and gradually build up!

When you use these strategies with consistency in a way that works for you and your body, then you’ll be on track to spending more time enjoying the great outdoors and less time sitting inside alone by the AC.

Ready to fine tune your tools so you can handle the rest of the summer heat?

☀️ Drop the word SUN and I’ll reach out to you!

07/05/2023

👀 The #1 thing I see holding people with POTS back is getting stuck during a POTS flare

When you’re having a streak of good days–keeping up with exercise, making it to work 2 weeks in a row, actually attending an after work happy hour–that leaves you feeling really proud of the work you’ve put in and optimistic about your recovery

When you’re seeing consistent improvements, it’s super motivating to keep up with your routine of water, salt, exercise, meditation

But the trouble is, inevitably you end up having a bad day

Maybe you get sick with a cold, wake up and feel extra exhausted, or maybe it happens after you push yourself a little further than normal when you were out with your friends over the weekend

No matter the cause, the outcome generally looks the same
- Fatigue levels are through the roof
- Can’t make it out of bed to even think about going to work 🛌
- Cancel all your plans this week and sit on the couch feeling super guilty for missing your kid’s 3rd soccer game in a row this season

All this leaves you feeling frustrated and wondering what you need to do differently to prevent this from happening in the first place!

I know I used to wonder that same thing, and my clients ask me that all the time too

Sometimes we can pinpoint the bad day to something specific, but sometimes there is no identifiable cause (which can feel super frustrating)

But the great thing is that you don’t actually have to find a cause to have a solution and reroute the flare!

What you actually need instead is a plan for what to do when these bad days inevitably strike – I like to call it a 🆘 plan

Planning for the good days is a no brainer, and planning for how you can handle the bad days can be just as helpful (if not MORE helpful!)

If you have a plan for how you can support yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally on those bad days, it actually helps you move through them with more ease

Sometimes those bad days can’t be avoided, but we can do our best to plan ahead and make them have as little impact as possible! 🙂

Ready to learn more about how to plan for the bad days?

Drop a READY in the comments below!

06/28/2023

If you’re a parent of a kid with POTS, you’re probably swimming in information about all the things you “should” do for you kid 🏊

You’re told you should
- Force them to go to school
- Get them exercising every day 💪
- Make sure they drink more water
- Eat all the salt they can handle

But despite having all of that information from your healthcare providers–your kid is still struggling, and you’re feeling overwhelmed and confused!

📜 That might lead you to seek out more information, but you and I both know getting 3 more info packets from your doctors office or off-handed recommendations from your Aunt Becky’s third cousin who had POTS just isn’t going to be helpful

You’re already swimming in information, maybe even drowning in it

You don’t need more information

👓 What you need is CLARITY

You need to be clear on what information actually applies to you as a unique person, in what circumstances it applies to you, and how you can use it to achieve the results you desire

Once you’re clear on what to use, when to use it, and how to use it–then you’ll see more efficient improvements in your child’s health with wayyyy more ease on your part as a parent

🙋‍♀️ If that sounds like you–check out this short clip from my training to help parents of kids with POTS find *clarity*

And if you want to learn more–drop the word CLARITY for access to the full recording!

06/21/2023

Exercise may be a prescription, but it doesn’t have to be rigid and boring.

So often, I talk with clients who are told by their doctors to
- Ride a recumbent bike for 30 minutes every day
- Stick to the basics – planks, squats, and curls
- Use the rowing machine 🚣

But that’s so BORING!!!

🙅‍♀️ If I were your teen, I would hate that kind of exercise routine

Which is probably why your real teen with POTS *does* hate that routine or tells you that they feel terrible while they’re doing it…

🚀 It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess that teens aren’t going to love the idea of staring at a wall while riding a bike for an hour a day

And when teens are bored while exercising, their minds will wander and gravitate toward everything that’s happening within their bodies–like feeling light headed, noticing their heart is racing, and feeling more nauseous

Then this increased attention on symptoms just snowballs into them feeling worse for the rest of the day, and laying in bed scrolling Facebook instead of joining you for family dinner and game night 🍲

Here’s the thing–While a perfectly curated exercise plan may be necessary for baselines and research, chances are it isn’t necessary for your child’s ultimate recovery of POTS

It certainly didn’t work for me

When I was first diagnosed with POTS in high school, my doctors told me to just walk on the treadmill 🚶‍♀️

I was so bored and uncomfortable–I STILL remember the feeling of my heart rate skyrocketing to 200+ and my vision blurring while walking at 1 mile an hour!

That led me to hate exercise, and to avoid it like the plague

When I shifted away from the forced exercise routine, and instead did activities that were actually fun – like dance and swimming – my health finally started to improve 👍

This movement wasn’t rigid and didn’t follow a set plan, but it was fun and it kept me moving!

Meaningful movement - this was my snowball into fully recovering from POTS.

🤷‍♀️ Have you or your kid ever been prescribed a rigid exercise routine?

Is that working for you or are you looking to find more meaningful movement?

Send me a DM and let’s brainstorm together!

05/25/2023

Is your kid sick with POTS and going stir crazy at home?

Are you wondering how you can capitalize on summer break to help your kid feel better over summer break and get back to school and sports this Fall?

You’re gonna want to keep reading…free training details at the bottom! ⬇️

The most common thing I hear from parents of kids with POTS is “I want to help my child get better, I just don’t know how! I’m not sure when I should push them to do more, and when to let them rest.”

I’ve heard this SO often that I decided to create a free live training to help parents of teens with POTS demystify this topic and get clear on the TOP 3 things you can do this summer to help your kid improve their energy and eliminate their POTS symptoms.

As someone who has fully recovered from POTS as a teen, and now supports teens with POTS, I know how confusing it can be to sift through all the information you’ve received and to figure out how to apply it to your life and make it work for your family.

And I know that reading through endless pages of protocols and articles trying to figure out what to do is not how you actually want to spend your summer (I can think of WAYYYY better beach reads than the CHOP protocol) 😉

So, If you’d like to cut through the clutter and get clear on how you can support your kid this summer and actually see results, then I invite you to join my for my FREE live training on Sunday June 4th at 1PM Central / 2PM Eastern to hear more about how you can

GO FROM
- Seeing your kid riding a symptom rollercoaster
- Feeling unclear on when to push your kid and when to lay off
- Trying SO HARD to help and seeing little or no improvements

TO INSTEAD

✔️Helping your kid have more good days & less crashes
✔️Feeling confident you’re doing the right thing at the right time
✔️Having strategies you can implement to see more consistent improvements with greater ease

👀 To register for this free training, click the link in the comments!

Once you’ve registered, drop a 🥳 in the comments!

04/13/2023

🍝 “Let me noodle on that!”

At a meeting on Monday, I was (lovingly) called out for saying “I’m gonna noodle about that.”

🤷‍♀️ Apparently (and unknowingly to me!!) this isn’t what you would consider a “normal” phrase

I had no idea!

I’ve been saying “I’m going to noodle on it” ever since I can remember!

It’s just my version of saying, give me a bit to think about it 🤔

And this got me thinking

That I used to do a looooot more noodling than I do now

Especially when it came to my health 🏥

👩‍⚕️ Get a recommendation from a doctor? Let me noodle on it

Have a friend suggest a gentle, but effective, exercise routine? I’m going to noodle on that one

Try working with a coach and get access to incredible support? Gonna have to noodle on it

You see

😳 I couldn’t commit

And not because I wasn’t ready or I didn’t think I needed support

No

I couldn’t commit because

😬 There was an underlying fear

A fear that
- Getting help meant I couldn’t fix things on my own
- I would try what they recommend but it still wouldn’t help 🤦‍♀️
- I didn’t want to spend any more resources trying to feel better

So instead of owning up to these fears

I bought myself time by saying, “Let me noodle on it.”

Have you ever done that? 😅

Maybe you didn’t use “noodle” specifically – maybe you said “let me think about it” instead

⏳ But are you just trying to buy yourself time so you don’t have to face your fears?

I have a new way of viewing my health

And I’d love to share it with you!

Instead of letting fear run my health decisions 🏃‍♀️

I have a different way to frame things:

- Fear of not fixing it by myself? → everyone needs support! That’s why Ted Lasso has Coach Beard 🧔 (IYKYK)! And just because you need help, doesn’t reduce your worth
- What if it doesn’t help? → what if it does? What if it’s exactly what you’ve been missing?
- Fear of spending money? → I just spent $172 on Amazon. I deserve to spend and invest in myself

Does that make sense?

It’s okay to noodle about something to make sure it’s the best fit for you

💪 But don’t let fear decide how you’re going to live your life

Don’t let fear dictate your health!

Do you have any underlying fears that encourage you to spend more time “noodling” and less time actually taking control? ✋

Drop them below or send me a DM!

Let’s work through those fears together! (:

04/10/2023

🙃 “I know, I know”

This is your response

When you’re sharing with a friend

About how you’ve been feeling lately
- Stressed about finishing a work project on time ⏲️
- Overwhelmed with your kiddo’s school and spring sports schedule
- Disconnected from your partner. You live in the same house but you only see each other when you’re asleep at night 😪
- Tired – All. The. Time.

🧘‍♀️ And your friend gives you some advice to try yoga because it worked for her

And you say, “I know, I know.”

You feel like you know what you should be doing

🤦‍♀️ Her advice is incredibly sweet and caring, but it’s stuff you already know!

You know
- That you should try exercising to help with stress
- That you should set up a carpool schedule with the neighbor so you aren’t driving to 3 different fields per night 🚗
- That you should wake up 30 minutes earlier in the morning to have connection and coffee time with your husband
- That you should stop doom scrolling on Instagram before bed so you’re able to fall asleep quicker 📵

You have a solid tool box when it comes to taking care of YOU

So why is it so hard to actually DO these things?

You know what to do, so why not do it?

Because it can be hard

🪄 I’m here to tell you that, even though you know these tips and tricks

It’s okay that you haven’t done them

The first thing you need to do is give yourself some grace

🥊 Stop beating yourself up for not going to yoga

Stop feeling guilty for spending 15 minutes on Instagram instead of asking your husband about his day

It’s okay! You are doing the best that you can

And the tricky thing is…

You might know WHAT to do

🤷‍♀️ But do you know HOW?

Do you know WHY?

Saying that you are going to spend 30 minutes a day journaling and relaxing is very different than actually knowing
- HOW to build this into your schedule 📆
- HOW to center your brain’s focus for 30 minutes
- WHY you need to even journal and relax in the first place!

⚒️ So you have the tools, but now you need to be taught how to use them

You need support!

You could try at it alone (like you’ve been doing for awhile) and see how that goes for the next few months

Or

You can take action TODAY and turn your stress, overwhelm, and frustration around ↪️

You are worth it. You are allowed to do things for yourself

Let’s connect! Send me a DM to start learning HOW to use the amazing tools that you’ve collected!

04/06/2023

My four legged coworker has officially declared that our work is done ✅

04/06/2023

😴 Nap Guilt

I can’t be alone here

When I used to lay down to take a nap or a rest

It felt impossible

🧑‍💻 I would literally be falling asleep at my computer

But the minute I laid down, my brain somehow woke up and began firing on more cylinders than I knew I had 🚂

I’m not alone, right?

Sometimes it’s hard to turn off

Even when you KNOW you should be resting and recovering

😓 It can feel like you should be doing something 24/7 to aid in your recovery

And, just like my failed nap times, when you take time to rest, a little voice in your head says “but you should be doing ____”

Your brain might say
- You should be vacuuming right now - this house is a mess! 🧹
- You could use this time to finish that training that needs to be done for work
- You should run to the store and pick up a card and gift for your coworkers birthday 💌
- Oh my gosh – how long has it been since Fido’s been to the vet? I should call them

Without fail, the moment you take time to rest is when your brain turns on and you suddenly remember everything that was on your to-do list from 2008

And then you start making yourself “in trouble” for forgetting things or not being “productive” with your free time 😤

This makes it pretty hard to actually rest, right?!

🏎️ Even if you are physically still, your mind and heart are racing

Which doesn’t bode well for recovery

You lead a busy life, there’s no doubt about it

🛌 But you should also listen to your body and be able to lay down for a rest if that’s what you are craving!

But Sarah, how do I just “turn my brain off?”

Here’s 1 thing that worked wonders for my nap game:

Block rest time into your schedule 🗓️

That’s it

Schedules and calendars run our lives – Google Calendar is my BFF

💯 We put work, events, date nights, kiddo activities, and EVERYTHING else onto our calendars

So why not time for rest?

When you schedule a block of time for rest, it ensures that nothing else is going on at that time

So there’s no “shoulds” or “coulds” that go through your brain 🧠

If you schedule a rest time from 2-3:30 on Tuesdays, then nothing else should be scheduled during that time!

Oh, it’s 2 o’clock on Tuesday? You should be getting your taxes ready in your free time?

🙅‍♀️ Nope. This isn't free time. It’s REST time. Block off another time for your taxes and eliminate the possibility of any shoulds and coulds

This felt a little silly for me at first

But now, I take time on Mondays to find a few rest blocks throughout the week – and it has been a total game changer

🥳 I no longer feel guilty for taking a nap

Drop a ⭐ below if this sounds like something you might try!

04/03/2023

🛋️ We have this lamp in our house

And when we bought it, it was like the best thing we owned

This lamp allowed my husband and I to believe we were interior designers…it was that good

Well, fast forward a few years and this once timeless lamp is no longer timeless ⌛

In fact it has timed out – both it’s style factor and it’s actual workability

⚒️ My husband still wanted to get it working

Even though we had a new lamp on the horizon (one that he claimed to like even more than the OG), he was determined to fix the old one

It turned into a bigger project than anticipated, but he kept trying to fix it ☝️

Despite me needing help doing other things (like getting dinner ready or washing our kid’s clothes that he needed for tomorrow)

But he was distracted with the lamp, and determined to finish what he started

🙋‍♀️ If you’ve ever got caught up in a project, then I’m sure you can relate

It can be incredibly hard to stop something that you have invested in

But sometimes when you finish things just for the sake of getting the job done, it is distracting you from doing things that will actually move your life and your health forward ⏭️

Sometimes it’s more than a lamp

😶‍🌫️ If you’re struggling with chronic fatigue and brain fog, you might be distracting yourself with
- Little projects at work because the end-of-month project approaching is too much to think about and you just can’t concentrate
- Going to a weekly rehab appointment even though you don’t want to/don’t look forward to it and honestly, you just don’t find it helpful anymore
- Doing your home exercises that you hate because they make you feel like garbage afterward—but pushing through because you’re “supposed to” 🙄

Even though in the moment, these things can seem so important–they are taking up your precious time and energy AND they’re leaving you feeling totally frustrated and depleted with little or nothing to show for it

Just like the efforts to restore our non-functional and outdated lamp

🗣️ I’ll be the first to admit

Even though it was obvious (at least to me) that it was time to toss our lamp, it can be REALLY hard to figure out where to put your time and efforts when it comes to trying to overhaul your health

🤷‍♀️ How do you decide what can be let go of vs. what to actually do

And of that stuff that you need to do, which do you prioritize?

I get it. It’s a lot to figure out! 🔢

But, good news!

You don’t have to do it alone! I can help! (:

👓 Let’s get clear on what is a distraction and what is an actual action item

Drop a 👋 below and I’ll send you a message with how to get started!!

Cortex Rehabilitation

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