When I decided regularly practicing yoga would be good for me, I went out and bought yoga pants and a new mat. I was all set...but never went to a single yoga class. Sound familiar? Even if you’re a dedicated yogi, I’m sure you’ve probably had a similar experience with something else.

Our current landscape is strange, but you’re handling things well, right? Or maybe you thought you were, but you’ve recently hit a wall. Believe me, I get it. When the COVID-19 restrictions started, I was determined to handle the stress of the situation thoughtfully. I told myself that I would not buy into conversations, news, or social media posts that would feed my propensity to feel stressors and emotions intensely. I tried to carefully reserve my cortisol (stress hormone) so I could calmly manage situations as they arose—rather than spiraling or letting the stress catastrophically flood my life.

We all know how this story goes. You are one of two people. You think about chocolate all day long, finally you cave and buy a chocolate bar. You eat it in a few short bites, and it feels amazing. Everything feels good, your mood is better, you’re nicer, and life is good. Or, you’re like me, and you just can’t have one chip… before you know it, the entire bag is empty and you’re ashamed. You start to notice people don’t put peanuts or popcorn in front of you at parties because they know you will wolf them all down.