Craving All the Dopamine? Me Too. Here's What Helped.🧠☕💨🎯
🏈🎃🍂 Fall Is Coming… HOT.
It’s August and we are all hot. But the air is changing, kids are going back to school, Football games. Tailgates. School events. Holidays. Pumpkin-flavored everything…it’s just on the horizone.
We are all looking for that very first fall day when you wake up and the weather is so crisp. You can actually smell a hint of fall in the air. I LOVE that day.
It’s also a time where The calendar’s about to get full—and we will ALL feel the pull to say yes to all of it. FOMO is real. No one wants to be left out. But dang…I am tired.
and so the question I had to start asking myself:
❝Am I planning a season I can actually enjoy?? Can I find that perfect balance we have all been searching for. The balance between work and fun, self-disciple vs self-compassion, indulgence vs restriction. 🤔🤔”
✨ Caffeine, Nicotine & The Need for Speed 👏🏻
There was a time in my life when I was running on:
☕ Caffeine to get going
🚬 Nicotine to stay upright
🍨 Sugar to feel pleasure
🏃♀️ Busyness to keep from feeling anything at all
I didn’t think of it as chasing dopamine—I thought of it as “getting it done.” Productivity at its finest.
But the truth is, I was trying to feel something that resembled peace, joy, or control.
🔍 Why Understanding Your Story Changes Everything
Let’s be clear: overscheduling isn’t always about time management.
It’s often about the beliefs underneath it. Needing to ‘earn’ people’s approval, lack of boundaries, and yes unresolved trauma. (So annoying that it always goes back to childhood) 🙄
The pressure to always be productive.
The fear of being still and becoming aware of all the chatter of the mind.
Letting go of trying to ‘earn’ your worth.
And until I took time to understand my story, I couldn’t understand WHY I was making choices that were quietly burning me out. I recently got to sit down with my coach Courtney Townley of Grace and Grit, and got to share a LOT of things I have never shared in public.
🎧 You can listen to that conversation here → Click to hear the full episode
Make it stand out
We talked all about my season of caffeine, nicotine, and how I thought faster was better.
—and how I finally began to unravel those habits with compassion, not judgment.
Because here’s what happens when you tell your story:
1️⃣ It builds self-awareness.
You begin to notice your patterns—not with shame, but with clarity.
2️⃣ It grows self-compassion.
You stop judging the ways you coped in the past, and start caring for the version of you who didn’t know another way.
3️⃣ It makes space for healthier leadership.
Not just for your family or job—but for you. When you stop operating from urgency, you can actually start living with intention.
🧬 Why This Feels Harder During Menopause (And PLEASE quit calling yourself Crazy)
As estrogen and progesterone decline during perimenopause and menopause, your brain’s chemistry changes. (memorize that)
These hormones don’t just manage your period—they also support serotonin and GABA, neurotransmitters that help regulate mood, anxiety, and sleep.
📚 A 2015 study in JAMA Psychiatry found that women in the menopause transition are 2–4x more likely to experience depressive symptoms—even if they’ve never had depression before.
Combine that with cortisol, blood sugar dips, poor sleep, and never-ending obligations?
It’s a recipe for overwhelm. Black and white thinking. The need to ‘push through’ Promising yourself (yet again) that you PROMISE you will rest after…(fill in the blank)
The GOOD NEWS??
🌱 Lifestyle changes work. YES…You CAN make Small, bite-size, but CONSISTENT changes without overwhelming your nervous system even MORE than it already is.
You are going to have to learn a new way of doing things. Rest, breath work, movement, boundaries, blood sugar balance—it’s not fluff. It’s how we help our nervous system feel safe again. The world does NOT need you stressed ALL the time.
🗓️ Fall Can Be Full and Supportive
If you’re coming in HOT for fall- already feeling depleted, overscheduled, overtired, and secretly holding your breath…
👉🏼👉🏼the fun stuff starts to feel like just more stuff on a to do list.
So before the calendar takes over, ask yourself:
💬 What do I need to feel like myself this fall? Where can I plan little places for peace and joy. How can I keep the promises I make to myself? How can I stay connected to the people I hold near and dear? How can I gently hold myself in a place of “whelm” not underwhelmed or overwhelmed but just right…🥰
Not perfect. Not productive. Just present.
🙌 This Week, Try Starting Here:
🧘♀️ Come sweat with me at MH Yoga.
Movement and community are two of the best tools to boost dopamine naturally—especially if you’ve been stuck indoors all week.
🗓️ Schedule:
Tuesday – 5:45 PM (heated)
Friday – 9 AM (non-heated)
Saturday (August 9th) – Heated (90°, infrared panels)
🔥 Heated yoga helps:
✔ Support your lymphatic detox
✔ Boost circulation and mood
✔ Calm your nervous system from the inside out
🎟️ Click here to reserve your spot (While your there check out my Sunday once a month workshops. ALL 4 for $200 if you sign up before Sept 1. DONT wait spaces are so limited.
