Melissa Ruehl

02/26/2021

February is almost over, and I would be remiss if I didn’t give a tribute to Heart Month. These pics are actually from Mother’s Day last year. I love our red dresses.

Ok. Let me be honest here. So many times we do not really care about an issue until it affects us directly. Amiright? That’s definitely how I was about heart health. It did not feel like a big deal until my dad almost died. Until he survived a triple bypass. Just like mental illness. It didn’t really concern me that much until perinatal depression became postpartum depression became bipolar disorder.

All that to say I definitely need to take all health disorders seriously. You never know when “family history” will start with your, your parents’, or God-forbid your kids’ generation.

Take care of yourselves. Keep an eye on your loved ones. Respect the need to go to the doctor or take medication.

10/22/2020

Thursday!!!! 🙌🏽
Or as I call it T.G.I. almost F. 😎
Anyone else have a week?! 🙋🏻‍♀️
I’m ready for the weekend. I’m ready for cooler weather. I’m ready to finish October strong!! How about you?

04/24/2020

In honor of the Class of 2020. My heart goes out to you!! 😔❤️🙏 May this quarantine impart even more patience, perseverance, compassion, and resilience to you. May you look back on this experience and recognize the strength you have gained.

Second Baptist High School class of 1994

04/23/2020

I absolutely love giving back! I love saying thank you! It’s how I’m hard wired. I love doing service projects and fund raisers. So when some people in our company started making free mini care packages for health heroes and first responders, well it was obvious what we needed to do. (I did NOT receive donations for these care packages, and I gave them with zero obligation to buy anything.) My kids made cards and helped me fill the bags with protein powder, protein bars, hydration, and energy packets. So far we’ve been able to bless 15 firefighters and 30 nurses. Next up - some local law enforcement officers! @ Harris County, Texas

04/22/2020

Can I be honest? Earth Day is important, yet I feel like sometimes it overshadows the day before - Holocaust Remembrance Day. I’m a history buff. But the Holocaust is honestly my least favorite historical event along with the slave trade out of Africa and today’s current human trafficking crisis. Let us not forget. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This implies we know how to love ourselves so we can love others. I’ll talk more about it in future posts.

04/21/2020

04/20/2020

I’m posting about Earth Day today instead of Wednesday. I took this photo at ZooLights at The Houston Zoo last Christmastime. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the elephant sculpture highlights various enviro-related causes that the Zoo supports. I’ve come a long way in my thinking about the planet! I used to scoff at “tree huggers.” Re-use things? Why? Isn’t it about convenience? That’s how I used to think decades ago. It’s interesting how people CAN change. What is one thing you do consistently to protect the Earth? What is a change you’re making (small or big) to reduce your environmental impact? Our family consistently recycles; however, we are making the switch to re-using more. Things like re-usable bento boxes in the kids’ lunches, NO disposable water bottles, and reusable produce bags.

04/16/2020

As promised - one of my favorite and in my opinion one of the easiest techniques from Dialectical Behavior Therapy. A little background: in 2015 I was experiencing a severe mental health crisis. I’ll go into more details next month during Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month. One of the symptoms I had was panic attacks. They came out of nowhere - completely unpredictable. The goal was to get me off of the anxiety medication. Finally my psychiatrist and I found an LPC who specializes in DBT. This was good because, no other therapy had worked so far, and the medications I was on were not touching the insomnia and racing thoughts. It was hell. Fast forward to today. Distraction! Distraction allows your brain to shift it’s focus away from whatever is causing anxiety. Here’s how you can use distraction to help calm your nerves during the quarantine or any time. Find a household object or an object in nature with a pattern or interesting design. A pillow, curtain, coffee mug, tree trunk, whatever. Now focus on the colors. Describe them in detail. Next focus on the design or pattern itself. Describe it in detail. If it has a scent, describe that. If it elicits any memories, detail those. Finally notice any emotions you feel. Take your time on this exercise. This could take 20 minutes. It’s way more than just a quick glance. In future posts I’ll give examples of mindfulness, and we’ll take a look at breathing techniques. On a different note: I’ll be here LIVE at 3:00PM and 9:00PM United States Central Standard Time. Be the first to know about our new products designed to support the mind-body connection for wellness! See you soon!

04/14/2020

So much for not being spammy! 😆 Seriously though our Global Training Conference is every year in Vegas. So much training and education. So much FUN! This year I’m watching it virtually as will everyone else in our company. They’ve been hyping the new products for several months and all about how they support gut health as it pertains to skin health and emotional health. Plus all sorts of other mind body connection health support. The only other time I’ve attended virtually was two years ago when I was having significant complications with my pregnancy. I’ve never tried to do an IG Live while watching the virtual conference. If it doesn’t work, I’ll do a Live later in the evening featuring our new products. I’ll basically be a talking head, but I’ll work to keep it fun and interesting of course. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I hope you’ll tune in! 😀

04/11/2020

Easter Eve activities included: a backyard Easter Egg hunt and dying eggs! We are forecast to have severe weather tonight and tomorrow morning. So we completed some of our activities today. Sunday is coming!

04/09/2020

Post-run pic. I don’t know about you, but these days I don’t always get to shower up immediately after my run, stretching, and recovery shake. Sometimes I have to change out of my sweaty running clothes and deal with three kids, the household, and my business. I get to shower and wash my hair hours later. 😳 Not ideal. Not my usual. But hey, quarantine. This is why I am so glad I have Arbonne’s micellar water. It’s almost like a magnet for dirt. At least my face and neck are clean and feel fresh until I can finally get cleaned up. It has also helped me keep breakouts at bay. Micellar water for the win!

04/08/2020

I never want to come across as spammy. So that’s why I don’t mention my business as often as I should. Honestly I owe it to everyone to at least share why I love my business. First of all I work for a 40 year old company that is now a certified B Corp. Our products are Vegan Certified and gluten-free. We use fair trade ingredients when possible and have a partnership with Terracycle to recycle our packaging. During Hurricane Harvey we donated hundreds of thousands of shampoo, conditioner, and protein. Swipe to see how my family is blessing some first responders and nurses during the quarantine.) So what does this all mean? If you are interested in trying our products, I can get free samples to you. If you want to buy, I can help you get discounts. If you want to host a virtual event, I can get you generous Host Rewards. If you want to take a look at a sustainable stream of income, let’s talk. If this is a fit for you, fantastic. If not, no worries. I check DMs daily.