Meet Caitlin McBee, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones Financial Services and this week's Well 52 feature. 

Life can be challenging, and at times, we may find ourselves feeling disconnected to who we truly are.  We may put on masks or layer on emotional armor to navigate difficult people and situations.  We may feel the weight of emotional baggage, experience burnout, or feel lost in our journey. However, there is hope. By following a three-step process of RESTORE, RENEW, and RECALIBRATE, we can embark on a journey of healing, personal growth, and self-improvement. Today, we will explore each step in detail, uncovering how it can empower us to overcome trauma, renew our perspectives, and realign our lives with our values, strengths, and vision to become anchored in who we are meant to be.

One way to characterize brain fog is slow or sluggish thinking. Another might be
the feeling of being spaced out or a lack of focus. There are many different reasons why someone may experience brain fog. It could be from a high amount of stress, a poor night of sleep, or side effects from various medicines. Most of the time brain fog gets better on its own and is not a long-term challenge. In contrast, there are times where it may last longer and influence various parts of the brain including your attention and memory.

It's Black History Month, Heart Awareness Month and WISe Wellness Guild’s month to talk about all things brain health & longevity. While it seems most are regularly exercising their bodies to stay healthy on the inside and out, more people need to tap into brain exercises and activities for a longer life and a sharper mind. 

After the cookies, the Christmas cocktails and cheesy potatoes, mixed with little sleep and out-of-routine exercise, we’re more than excited to recover this January. We’re not looking to drastically change our lives in this new year, but instead focus on small habits that will sustainably make our wellness better. 

The definition of healing is the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again. For me, a piece is missing from this definition. The human body needs to become whole again to be healthy and sound. It is divinely designed to work as a whole or holistically – mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, in order for the human body to be fully healed, it must become whole again.

Tis the season to be…. Diligent! I love the holiday season, from Halloween to
New Year’s, the hustle and bustle, the decorations, the shopping, the family time, it’s a wonderful time of the year. You know who else loves the holiday season? Fraudsters, who we are going to refer to as the Grinch for this post.
The Grinch is becoming increasingly more clever and not in a good way for consumers. Credit card fraud is on the rise, in many ways, from Grinches stealing your card number on the web to opening new credit card accounts with your information. It’s important to arm yourself with the knowledge to help combat these Grinches. I’d like to take some time to share some tips and tricks you can follow this holiday season to mitigate the heartache and headache of credit card fraud.

I find moments of joy within each day and create healthy boundaries! This helps me balance work, play, and family. This means I have to integrate micro mindfulness and micro meditation practices often throughout my life.

Economic trends have a major impact on the change in interest rates. HELLO Covid! In an emergency response to the 2020 global pandemic, the Federal Reserve cut rates to historic lows to encourage spending and keep our economy afloat. Think lower mortgage rates, lower car loans, lower credit card APR rate, zero interest offers etc. – this translates to more money in consumers’ pockets to spend! All of this spending, translated to higher demand. Higher demand ultimately kicks prices up – that’s economics, baby!

When life doesn’t quite make sense, where do you turn for inspiration? For some it’s scripture, for others it’s literature or motivational quotes. For me, it’s music. There isn’t anything quite as satisfying to me as hearing a lyric that completely nails how I’m feeling in a moment or shifts my perspective to help me see things more clearly.

Sometimes the old adage “the only constant in life is change,” feels painfully appropriate. Especially since the start of the pandemic, change has been the norm and each subsequent transition feels incrementally harder. Although I would prefer to be alone in this, the conversations I have with women (and men!) in our workshops highlight that this is a reality so many of us are facing.

What happened to the stock market this year? Why?

Over the last year, I have learned that my mental health is #1. As a woman, the world may strongly encourage me to alway put my physical health and appearance first, but I know if I'm not tending to my mental health needs nothing on the outside will change.

Relationship conflict, just like internal conflict, is a sign that we are growing and developing. It may be a sign that we are out of alignment, in need of change, or our voice needs to be heard. However, many of us avoid conflict, leading to a plethora of other issues.

Do you have a business problem or goal that you need help with?

The most important thing I do for my wellness is I exercise 3-4 times a week. Non-negotiable! I primarily go to my gym and do strength training. I also meditate about 5 out of 7 days a week. My favorite app is Headspace

In my years working at an eating disorder clinic, this was a topic that repeatedly came up: “how do we help someone love their body?“ From a clinical perspective, there isn’t one strategy or therapeutic modality that has proven to be effective in improving body image. This is a very individual journey. That being said, there are strategies we can implement and actions we can take to help us with body acceptance and to learn to truly appreciate the bodies we are in.

Teresa Tanner is the Founder and CEO of Reserve Squad, a premier human resources consulting business catered to women's needs – needs often not met in working America. After 30 years in the corporate world, ending as a C-Suite executive, Tanner made the tough but brave decision to leave her executive career to create something entirely of her own. Reserve Squad, founded in October of 2020, was created for women to “find work that works for them, and to finally allow women flexibility in their leadership in their workplace and home.”

Have you ever called someone in a time of need, asking for help, and left the conversation feeling worse? Thinking that they really weren't listening, and sensing that they just didn't see you? When we reach out in moments of shame, grief, or hurt, we need empathy to help us return to wholeness. But what exactly is empathy?

My morning routine of meditation, journaling and self-care.