Life By Design Therapy

  At Life By Design Therapy ™, we often meet clients who believe mindfulness is something you have to “get right.” They assume it means sitting perfectly still, silencing their thoughts, or instantly accessing calm. And when that doesn’t happen, they worry they’re failing the practice. But the truth we share often is this: mindfulness isn’t about controlling your mind or emotion. It’s about noticing what’s happening inside you with curiosity instead of judgment. In session, it sounds like: “I just realized my shoulders are tense.” “I’m feeling overwhelmed, and I didn’t notice until now.” “My breath got shallow when I started talking about that memory.” Those moments matter. They’re signs that the nervous system is speaking, and that you’re tuning in instead of pushing through. Mindfulness doesn’t always look like long meditations or perfect focus. Sometimes it’s a brief pause before reacting. A deeper breath during a stressful moment. Or simply naming the emotion you feel without t...

  The week after the holidays has a way of feeling strangely quiet. The decorations are still up, the house feels lived-in, and yet… something in the air is different. Heavier. Slower. A little emptier. Many people notice themselves moving through the days with less energy, motivation, or clarity than they expected heading into the new year. And naturally, the question comes up: “Why do I feel this way?” From a therapeutic lens, this is a completely normal response — because the body has been through a lot. ❄️ Weeks of overstimulation catch up. The noise, gatherings, rushing, travel, and emotional load of the season put the nervous system into overdrive. When the pace slows, that “come down” can feel like a slump. ❄️ The end of the holidays can stir up quiet grief. Not in the way we normally think about grief, but rather, the subtle ache of noticing who’s missing, what’s changed, or the difference between what you hoped for and what happened. ❄️ The pressure to “start fresh” arrive...

  If you’ve been feeling down, unmotivated, or emotionally off after the holidays, it’s not because you’re doing January “wrong.” For weeks, your body was in a heightened state; navigating busy schedules, social demands, emotional labor, disrupted routines, and constant stimulation. When the season ends, your nervous system finally gets a chance to slow down… and that drop can feel heavy. Add in quiet grief, unmet expectations, pressure to “start fresh,” and rhythms that are still out of sync, and it makes sense that motivation feels hard to access right now. This isn’t a personal failure. It’s a nervous system response. Instead of pushing yourself to snap back, try offering your body what it actually needs: 💚 Slower mornings 💚 Steadier routines 💚 Rest without guilt 💚 A little grace And if you want support understanding what’s happening beneath the surface, therapy can help you gently reset and find your footing again. 💛 You don’t have to do this season alone. https://www.lif...

  Every January, we see the same pattern in our therapy space: So many people hope to start the new year feeling energized and motivated… But instead, they find themselves tired, unfocused, or discouraged. And this response is far more common than most people realize. From a therapeutic perspective, there are clear reasons why the New Year push can feel so heavy: ✨ Your body is still recovering from the holidays. Your nervous system doesn’t move from overstimulation to clarity overnight. It needs time to settle and regulate. ✨ Big goals feel overwhelming when your energy is low. When your system is depleted, your capacity naturally shrinks. We know it can feel like a lack of discipline, but it’s not; it’s just biology. ✨ The pressure to “start fresh” can create discouragement. External expectations for productivity can clash with your internal need for rest, making motivation harder to access. ✨ Your body needs rest, nourishment, and routine. Sustainable momentum comes after you r...

  At Life By Design Therapy ™, we often remind our clients that healing starts with the way you speak to yourself. Because the words you use aren’t just words, your brain registers them as truth. Phrases like “I should be over this” or “I just need to get it together” might seem small, but your brain hears pressure, and your nervous system feels that as unsafe. Reframing your thoughts isn’t about toxic positivity. It’s about creating language that helps your body feel supported instead of criticized. When you shift from “I need to fix this” to “I’m learning to care for myself,” your body can finally relax enough to heal. Change begins in the way you speak to yourself, and we’re here to help you start. Follow for more body-based tools and gentle reframes — and save this for the days your self-talk feels heavy. 💛 https://www.lifebydesigntherapy.com/

  Every year, right after the holidays, we start to notice a familiar pattern in the clients who walk through our doors. They sit down and share the same kinds of feelings: “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” “I thought I’d feel motivated by now.” “I feel heavy… tired… disconnected.” And one of the first things we remind them is this: Nothing is wrong. What you’re feeling is often your body coming back online after a demanding season. For weeks, most people move through the holidays on adrenaline — juggling plans, navigating emotions, managing family dynamics, adapting to disrupted routines, and trying to hold everything together. When January arrives and life finally slows down, the body has space to feel the weight of all that effort. Sometimes what surfaces is grief. Sometimes it’s burnout. Sometimes it’s pressure to set goals or “start fresh” while the nervous system is still exhausted. And very often, daily rhythms and self-care habits have been completely thrown off, which m...