Optimus ATL

08/13/2023

The service list got an update today! We're going to be running a leaner but meaner operation now! The offerings have been narrowed to represent only the most highly sought-after services to ensure quality and consistency.

In-home/office massage is now available!

Fall is coming and it's about to be beautiful in Central and North Georgia. There's no time like autumn to schedule some Wander Therapy sessions!

06/21/2023

I know Brené’s message so well. I have read all of the books and listened to every podcast, but this talk still shook me to my core. Especially the last bit. Ooof.

I also know that the algorithm isn’t very kind to posts with embedded links… particularly if they are posted by a page that has been completely inactive for months. Still, if one person watches this today, I believe their life will change, and that sliver of possibility makes it worth my time to share it.

Life got crazy for a minute (heck, it’s still crazy), but I’m still here and I still want to do everything I can to spread impactful ideas and to support people who are on a journey of self-understanding and growth. I hope to find more time to devote to Optimus in the coming weeks and months, but if I don’t, at least there is this.

🖤

A great client favorite - Brené Brown breaks down and explains the building blocks of trust - from her bestselling book, Dare to Lead.

04/14/2023

“To want to prohibit a man from error is to forbid him to fulfill his own existence, it is to deprive him of his life.” -Simone de Beauvoir

03/30/2023

💪🏽🖤

03/23/2023

Potential TMI, but the content is important. Caution for those who are squirmish about bodily functions. 

I was so busy running around today trying to get everything together so I can leave to go play these big shows in Florida. I hardly had time to exercise. I was able to do some push-ups and sit ups in between errands, but nothing significant.

I was debating just going to bed, but no. I needed some exercise. So, I got my running gear on and headed out. It was nearly midnight when I left the house and I had a long day so I didn’t push my pace, I just kept it nice and steady for a little bit over 2 miles. Just as I was finishing up I started to feel some acid reflux happening to the point where I knew I was going to throw up. I managed to hold out until after I finished my run but then it all came up. All of it. My dinner. Not only that, it wasn’t even digested.

What the hell?

Without thinking, I said out loud to myself, “How the hell is it not digested? I ate at like 5:30.” How could a normal portion of food that I am so used to eating sit undigested in my stomach from 6 PM until after midnight?

Almost as quickly as the words came out of my mouth, I answered my own question.

Stress.

I have been so nervous about this entire trip and the shows that we’re playing that I haven’t even really felt any deep excitement. I’ve just felt anxiety. I have to make sure I don’t forget anything and that I am prepared for all of our sets and that I’ve taken care of all of the last-minute details and finished all of my homework ahead of time and watered all of my plants and turned down the thermostat. 

The body doesn’t do its jobs correctly when it is stressed out. Fight or flight mode kicks in and shuts down things like the digestive system. It’s not the food that I ate or the fact that I went out running, it’s the fact that my body is on high alert. It’s poised to protect me from threats - not to break down nutrients.

I’ve been insatiably hungry for a week. Until tonight I couldn’t figure out why I was having such intense cravings that I felt almost completely helpless to control. Now I get it. When the body isn’t getting the nutrients it needs it’s going to keep asking for food. I’ve been eating all of the right things but my body has been so panicked that it hasn’t digested any of them. There are other clues that I could have picked up on, but I’ll spare you the details. 

What do you do when you’re busy? You eliminate things from your routine. Can you guess what I eliminated this week? First of all? Meditation. Next? Yoga. And after that? Most of the rest of my exercise routine.

I know better.

When life is like this, the very most important thing is to continue to take care of your body and your mind. 

I didn’t. And I learned my lesson.

Now I’m off to sleep, much later than I intended, and I have to get up early to get on the road. But I can tell you this, I’m not skipping my self-care tomorrow. And I’m going to take some nice deep breaths before bed. 

💪🏽🖤😌

03/22/2023

“There are really incredible things coming down the road, but in the meantime eat well, sleep well, meditate once in a while, exercise a whole lot, and surround yourself with really smart people who make you happy.” -Guy McKhann

03/20/2023

03/19/2023

It’s MF veggie time.
💪🏽💚

03/18/2023

Avocado oil. Get it nice and hot. Add fresh cut yellow plantain. Sprinkle with salt and cinnamon and drizzle with honey while cooking. Not exactly my healthiest recipe, but a super delicious and not-too-sinful indulgence. 😋

03/16/2023

I can’t lie, I have fallen backwards a bit over the past couple of weeks. I have plenty of excuses that I could put forth, but the truth is I have relinquished my self control.

The bad news is the things that we tend to do when we stop exercising self-control can make it difficult to get back on track. For instance, I have been allowing myself to sleep in very late, I’ve been eating outside of my values, and I haven’t been keeping up with my usual exercise regimen. As a result, I feel very disoriented and taking that first step back towards having some self control seems difficult.

The good news is that it’s still possible. It’s always possible. Tomorrow is always a new day and there’s always something, no matter how small, that you can do.

It was a difficult lesson that took me the better part of four decades to figure out, but true freedom lives on the other side of self discipline. Lacking self control results in being backed into certain kinds of corners where you have fewer options. It’s paradoxical, counterintuitive, but it’s true.

And so tomorrow, I move back in the direction of freedom, back in the direction of self control. 

And so can you.

💪🏽🖤