Dr. Rita Burlingame-Toppen, OT : Well Aware Wellness

01/01/2024

I had originally intended to start the year off with lifting some weights, painting my room, going out and about, let’s go go go!! However, I practiced some yoga and meditation after a truly stressful end of year, and my body said to me, “I just want you to be easier on yourself.”

So that’s what I’m doing today. I’m pretty sure my weights will still be there, ready to be picked up tomorrow 🩵💚🩵 Let’s be easy on ourselves this year

10/29/2023

Made the best smoothie of my life this morning, thanks to .funktional.nutritionist podcast! It was so good she deserves a place on the feed 💚🧡

10/11/2023

Did I make this reel because I needed this advice? Absolutely, yes. I hope it helps 💜

08/01/2023

Let’s do ONE minute of yoga together! 🌚🌝

07/30/2023

Great advice!
Reshare from Foundation Chiropractic

Starting a regular practice doesn’t have to be hard — it can take as little as five minutes as soon as you wake up.

07/10/2023

I spent the last week up north in a cabin at the woods with good, good, great friends! We slowed to the rhythms of the earth, and really just let her guide us. Walking slowly, observing the flowers, amphibians, turtle eggs, learning from a toddler and two dogs who set our pace for our daily explorations, walks, meals and river floats.

Since we’ve been back, I’ve tried to keep some of that goodness with me. Sitting outside observing the flowers, adding in a little more tea, taking some helpful plant adaptogen tinctures daily, bringing more herbs into the kitchen. is studying to be an herbalist and gifted me some tinctures!

And I just feel a little shift. Taking a few extra moments to soak in the sun instead of immediately shift to the next task. Waking up a little later, as I fortunately have that luxury in the Summer.

I’ve made no major changes: if I could sum it up it’s been - slow down, drink tea, eat plants. And I feel SO good! I’m even having a flare of back pain at the moment from sleeping on a s**t mattress for a week 😂 and I still feel great. Maybe it’s mostly my mindset that has shifted.

Anyway. If you can, I’ll encourage you this week to contemplate what tiny shifts you might make that could help you to feel great, or at least good, despite some pain or city livin, or just general pace of life these days. Can we get a list of “less than 5 minute shifts” in the comments below? 💚 Love ya!

06/17/2023

Wellness is often sold to us as a $30 drop in yoga class, or a new supplements we need to buy, or waking up at 5am to exercise for an hour, journal, make a smoothie, and visualize your ideal life. Hey! Nothing wrong with doing those things if they bring you joy… but what if I told you that isn’t wellness (necessarily) but Capitalism’s ideal of wellness.

What if you redefined wellness to include: sleeping and resting as the ultimate medicine, moving in the sun as you’re able, buying fresh food from your neighborhood market, snuggling pets, giving people compliments. How would that feel? What is achieving your wellness goals and dreams was as simple as checking in to make sure they are YOUR goals and dreams, and not the ones marketed to you?

Today, I chose community and rest over perfectionism and overwork… and it filled my cup!!

Love y’all! How are you filling your wellness cup today? 🍵 ☕️ 🍹

06/07/2023

How often have you started a healthy habit incredibly motivated, ready to change, only to fall out of the habit in less than a week?

🙋🏻‍♀️ let me tell you about the 500,000 times I’ve tried to quit coffee 😆 ☕️ IYKYK

Most of us can get motivated when we feel that internal or external push, which sometimes comes from a bit of a crisis moment. However, when we start to feel better, or when life gets too busy, it’s not uncommon for us to drop that healthy habit and shortly find ourselves back where we started.

The next time you find yourself ready to make a health change - like in this example - adding meditation into your life. Consider these three tips.

Tell me what else you’ve found helpful when making a positive change? What is missing from my list? ⬇️