We are working our way through 5 categories of health with our Cat 5 challenge and today we’re diving into category 4 the nervous system. Last week we discussed the overlap of the nervous system and sleep and how we’re looking for ways to help the body feel safe enough to be able to relax into that parasympathetic so we can rest and be close to other people. Today I want to discuss how playing it safe ALL the time can actually keep you in a state of protection, hypervigilance and anxiety.

Today let’s limit our discussion to how the stress and obligations of this time of year can affect our exercise and nutrition patterns. Here are 3 ways we can use awareness, boundaries and connection to help maintain a healthy balance with movement, nutrition and sleep through the holidays even for sugar addicts like me. 

If there’s one thing that every woman I know complains about, it's sleep deprivation. There’s a reason they use it for torture, oops I mean enhanced interrogation. Sleep disturbance every once in a while, a night or 2 here and there, is not a problem. More than 3 nights a week might be. Now I thought it was just me but apparently waking between 2 and 4 AM every night like clock work is pretty common for women in perimenopause and menopause. So today we’re going to take a look at why that happens and what you do about it.

Anatomically, the pelvic floor is a web of muscles woven through and around the most intimate vulnerable parts of the body. At best it’s misunderstood at worst it’s tangled up in a mess of sexual shame and trauma history. Especially for women. Today we’re going to demystify the pelvic floor and open the door for women to reclaim a sense of trust and reverence for this part of themselves.

Taylor Byrer is a holistic nurse coach and owner of Byrer Integrative Wellness . She is a former ICU nurse who after suffering from burnout for years, shifted to travel nurse and finally left the ICU to be a post surgical recovery nurse in an attempt to try to escape chronic stress and physical dysfunction in her body.

She was forced to take a step back and truly listen to her body. During the process of healing herself through many different modalities, Taylor discovered integrative wellness coaching. Her background and experience as an ICU nurse, journey of self healing and her passion for serving others has given her a unique perspective and mission of advocacy for her clients helping them become their own best advocate.

This is just for fun. My top 10 life lessons from RAGBRAI. How to win the unwinnable.