Kidspace Adaptive Play and Wellness

01/26/2025

Trying new things, building good habits, and doing hard things requires a facility with “failure.”

If you’re struggling to get traction with goals or practices here are some ideas to consider. Take good care 💓

01/21/2025

I ended 2024 with 957 hours and 9 minutes spent outside.

My goal was #1000 but as I’ve said repeatedly, if someone owed me $1000 and paid me $957.09 I’d feel fine about it :)

Things I noticed:

❣️Mood, sleep, and energy were more consistently great
😍Less eye strain and need for glasses
🧠Increased mental clarity

I started the year with the least amount of hours in Jan (22.07) and ended with the most in Dec (141.20) thanks to 10 days in Mexico.

My favorite things to do outside were:
☀️Morning meditation
🧖🏽‍♀️Sauna’ing with a good friend
💅🏽Painting my nails

Since age 25 I’ve been pretty consistent about having a goal or intention for the year. Over the years I’ve focused on joy, hydration, and physical fitness. I had a “no buy” year and have tracked my books read for almost a decade.

Each goal has seeped its way into my person so that now life is a generous compilation of all these intentions.

Each goal helps me prioritize a practice that helps better nourish who I already am.

Here’s to goals that help you be more of who you are.

01/20/2025

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Abby Sauerhoefer. Abby was a beacon of light and love that touched all who knew her. Abby's Helping Hand has touched so many people and her legacy will live on through the efforts of this wonderful organization and her amazing family.
https://abbyshelpinghand.com/

Share Memories of Abigail & Support the Sauerhoefer Family

01/02/2025

Bringing back a favorite from .

12/12/2024

Is been 10 years since graduation. What a humbling and gratifying journey.

10/21/2024

Consistently good sleep matters a lot to health and well-being.
🌚🌞Cycles of light and dark matter to hormonal regulation and most of our cellular processes.
🩹Sleep is emotional first aid.
🧠Sleep is when our glymphatic system in the brain goes to work eliminating waste and distributing helpful compounds.

Above are a few of my favorite practices for good quality sleep.

What helps you sleep well?

10/10/2024

☀️ Daily bare skin and eye exposure to the sun throughout the day has myriad benefits to our physiology:
- Morning sun, midday sun, and sunset have special concentrations of different wavelengths of light that sync our body clock with the light and dark cycles of each day and season and cue ideal physiology.
- Daily sun exposure matters to hormonal and blood sugar regulation; mitochondrial and microbiome health; and supports mood and cognitive function. It not just vitamin D we’re after!

👃🏽Breathing in and out through the nose when you’re not talking or taking in food or drink:
- Gives your body advance warning of pathogens circulating and readies your immune system to defend.
- Stimulates the production of endogenous nitric oxide which dilates blood vessels, increases oxygen uptake, and can lower blood pressure. 
- Can be really helpful to relax the body and decrease symptoms of anxiety.

🦴Chewing makes a big difference:
- Saliva production releases amylase to break down carbohydrates and creates an alkaline environment and contains minerals to support tooth health.
- Jaw action is an important sensory stimulus develop a symmetric cranium and patent airway, and as we get older has been correlated with increased cognitive function!

Don’t sleep on the simple stuff ❣️

09/22/2024

I been eating the bounties from our farm share; watching the squirrels and chipmunks scurrying around and sequestering their winter foods; and reflecting on the year thus far.

It helps when we align with the season:

🍂When we allow our bodies to be cued by our environment.

🍂When we appreciate and model nature’s pace and resilience.

🍂When we nourish our bodies with what is plentiful in season.

I’d love to hear your seasonal reflections in the comments 🍂

09/02/2024

On the day we honor workers, and work rest balance 💓

I heard this quote the other day:

“The shaping of the body is brought about by subtraction, not addition.”

And I thought: tell that to grind culture.

Our cellular and developmental processes are actually made more effective by pruning and elimination.

Cellular apoptosis removes cells that are damaged beyond repair.

Synaptic pruning removes damaged synapses from the brain’s cerebral cortex and allows us to deepen our learning and skill.

And of course failure to undergo this process leads to disease and dysfunction.

Where do we need pull back in order to let something else come forth?

08/21/2024

I spent yesterday at ’s Nerve Tour.

What an incredible labor of love❣️

Hours of dissection, research, filming, and photography to share with us the nervous system in its entirety.

We saw the brain; the cranial nerves; the connections between heart and brain; the cutaneous nerves embedded in and surrounding skin, fascia, lymph, and muscle; the ever present relationships between blood flow and nerve supply; and the variations in each body; and all of it continuous, contiguous, interconnected, a reflection of the world around us.

I’d done gross dissection in school, but to revisit these images at this point in my career was really fun.

The reverence with which Gil regards and shares his donors; the diligence and holism with which he honors the body; and the joy and intention with which he offers his findings made for such an incredible, educational, and inspiring afternoon.

If you’re interested in learning about the body in this way, via images of his gross dissection - check out his website for the remainder of the tour or some of his other educational materials.

Thank you Gil, Rachel, your many helpers, sponsors, and donors for creating and sharing this experience.

Thank you, for letting me know about it, and for gifting it to me.

What a gift to share this experience with most of my health team and some of my favorite colleagues.

08/12/2024

I’ll go first:
☀️Morning sun with my bare feet in dew-kissed grass
💪🏽Pilates with
💃🏽Prepped outfits for the week
🧩Visited @ and got a new puzzle for the littles who see me
✨Met my dear friend’s son for the first time
🍽️Ordered enough take out to take to lunch tomorrow

Small intentional actions often yield big results 💓

08/08/2024

The more I learn, the more I’m able take good care of myself.

The more I learn about light therapy and the many helpful things initiated, powered, and resolved by simply exposing my eyes and skin to the the sun; the more intentionally I seek opportunities to be outside.

I’ve always loved how I felt during the summer and after time spent outside but learning about the affects of light on our mitochondria, in support of Circadian rhythm, hormonal signaling and production, brain and eye health, inflammation, digestion....has made me appreciate that it is one of the most available and effective medicines I have.

It’s like this with all the basics.

The more you appreciate, the more you’ll do.

Take good care.