Islay Sarah Wellness

Islay Sarah Wellness ✨ Wellness for your actual brain, body & life
🧠 Evidence-based • ND-friendly • no wellness BS
🦄 MSc • RYT-500 • CFT • ADHDer

09/02/2026

Sometimes it feels like the easiest option is what your nervous system wants… but sometimes what feels easiest in the moment isn’t what makes us feel best afterward.

Getting yourself outside, into the sunshine, into the water—even when your first instinct is to stay put, do nothing, keep scrolling, or what I call “cocoon” in the house lol—can really shift things in a powerful way.

Being outside in nature is a proven stress relief and nervous system regulation strategy, as is reducing screen time! Getting outside also in known to boost mood, and support our overall wellbeing. 🍃😊✨ And there’s something especially powerful about being near (or in) water. 🌊

Did you know that water therapy, ocean therapy, and forest therapy are traditional health modalities with ancient roots across multiple cultures? And today, there is promising research supporting them!

So when it feels tough to get yourself out of the house and away from your screen, remember: you don’t have to do anything huge.

Step outside. Feel the sun. Put your feet in the water or sand or grass or even mud (ok messy and a little weird I know, but also therapeutic and oddly satisfying 😂). Or just go for a little walk. Get some fresh air (old but solid advice haha).

Sometimes your nervous system just needs a different kind of input.

And it will pretty much always thank you for choosing the water instead of the doom scroll. 😊💕✨❤️

Follow for simple ways to support your nervous system and your wellbeing. Plus you can find free resources, workshops, classes, and more through the link in my bio. 🦄✨

Every week, I am apparently convinced that THIS will be the week I effortlessly fit 47 things into the capacity of appro...
08/31/2026

Every week, I am apparently convinced that THIS will be the week I effortlessly fit 47 things into the capacity of approximately 12. 😅

And while I fully support the optimism… let’s chat about capacity…

Because our capacity isn’t a fixed number.

How much we have available on any given day or week is not static. It’s affected by sleep, stress, sensory input, emotional load, executive functioning demands, social demands, movement, recovery — and just, you know… life… and being a human with a nervous system.

(And for neurodivergent folks in particular, accurately predicting how much energy, focus, and bandwidth something will require can be tricky sometimes.)

So sometimes we make plans based on the capacity we hope we’ll have… rather than the capacity that actually exists.

Then when we can’t do everything we planned, it’s very easy to turn that into:

“I need to be more disciplined.”
“I should be able to handle this.”
“Why can’t I just keep up?”

When maybe the more useful question is:

“Was I asking more of myself than I realistically had available?”

I’m not saying we should get rid of the optimism. 💛

We just need to make sure we’re building a version of wellness that leaves room for fluctuating capacity, imperfect weeks, changing needs, and the occasional wildly ambitious Monday-morning version of ourselves. 😆

If you’re looking for a more realistic, flexible approach to wellness, you can find free resources, workshops, classes, and ways to work with me through the link in my bio.

Feeling stuck in a stress response? 💜Try these 3 simple nervous system regulation tools: slow breathing, grounding throu...
08/27/2026

Feeling stuck in a stress response? 💜

Try these 3 simple nervous system regulation tools: slow breathing, grounding through the senses, and mindfulness.

Simple doesn’t always mean easy — but small moments of regulation can help us reconnect with the present and create a little more space between stress and response.

✨ Save this for the next time your nervous system needs some support.

The nervous system can be a little dramatic sometimes. 😅Because here’s the thing about our stress response: it isn’t sit...
08/25/2026

The nervous system can be a little dramatic sometimes. 😅

Because here’s the thing about our stress response: it isn’t sitting there thoughtfully assessing the situation like, “Hmm, yes, technically this leaf blower poses no meaningful threat to my survival.”

It’s designed to detect potential danger and respond — fast.

And sometimes the “danger” is a lion (or a real threat that requires an immediate stress response to overcome).

But most of the time, in today’s world, it’s not.

It’s a sudden loud noise. Or an overflowing inbox. Or being late. Or conflict. Or too many demands. Or plans changing unexpectedly. Or a sensory environment that’s just a little too much.

Either way, the body can kick into a fight-or-flight response: heart rate increases, muscles tense, breathing changes, attention narrows, as your system prepares to deal with a threat.

Even when your thinking brain knows you’re safe.

For people with particularly sensitive nervous systems — like many neurodivergent people — sensory input and everyday stressors can often create a disproportionately large, but very real physiological stress response.

That doesn’t mean a leaf blower IS a lion. 🥲

It means our bodies don’t always know the difference.

Our mental and physical state influences how sensitive the nervous system is. 🚨 And that’s an important piece to acknowledge…

Because nervous system regulation ISN’T about shaming ourselves into believing something “shouldn’t” bother us.

Instead of asking, “Why am I reacting so much to something so small?” we can get curious about what our system is experiencing — and what might help it feel a little safer.

Even if we do occasionally have to remind it:

No, really. It’s just landscaping. We’re okay. 😅😆🌿

And if your nervous system could use a little more support navigating wellness in a way that actually works with your real life (and your real brain), I have free wellness guides, workshops, and other resources waiting for you on my website! 🦄💖✨

Head to the link in my bio to explore.

08/24/2026

I’m being silly…but I’m also not joking. 😂

Moving your body, getting outside, playing, laughing, doing something just because it feels good—these things count, too!

We have a tendency to make wellness, fitness, and health just another thing we have to be good at. The perfect workout. The perfect morning routine. “Get your steps!” “Drink more water!” “Meditate every day!” Another list of things we’re SUPPOSED to do.

But listen up! For real: taking care of yourself doesn’t always have to look so serious!

Sometimes it looks like a workout.

Sometimes it looks like a walk outside.

And sometimes it looks like being a grown woman doing something mildly ridiculous in public because it made you happy. 😆

🚨✨Because guess what? Movement (and not just the kind that involves activewear 😂), being outside in nature, social connection, play, laughter—all have proven benefits to your physical and mental health. And joyful self-expression can be a beautiful way to support nervous system regulation and wellbeing. ✨

It all counts. 💛

If you’re looking for ways to make health and wellness feel easier, more realistic, and actually doable in your real life—that’s kind of my whole thing. 💖✨

You can find free wellness guides, free monthly workshops, and more on my website!

Missin my bestie! ❤️
08/21/2026

Missin my bestie! ❤️

😂😂😂 But seriously though… what would it be like? 🤔 … ⬇️You drank some water?“OH MY GOD, LOOK AT YOU!!! WHO’S HYDRATED?! ...
08/19/2026

😂😂😂 But seriously though… what would it be like? 🤔 … ⬇️

You drank some water?

“OH MY GOD, LOOK AT YOU!!! WHO’S HYDRATED?! YOU ARE!!!” 🥹👏

You went for a 10-minute walk?

“SUCH A GOOD GIRL. LOOK AT YOU GO.”

You ate a real meal instead of accidentally surviving on caffeine and vibes until 4pm? 😅

“WHO DID SUCH A GOOD JOB TAKING CARE OF HERSELF?!”

And if you messed up?

You probably wouldn’t spend the next three days reminding yourself what a failure you are.

You’d give yourself the emotional equivalent of a little head pat and move on. 😂

Which is funny because so many of us have spent YEARS trying to shame ourselves into better fitness, healthier habits, and more self-discipline.

Missed the workout → “I’m so lazy.”
Ate differently than planned → “I have no self-control.”
Fell out of your routine → “Why can’t I ever stick with anything?”
Had a rough week → “Welp. I ruined everything.”

That harsh inner critic can make one imperfect choice feel like evidence that you’re somehow bad at taking care of yourself.

So you start over Monday.
Again.
And again.
And again.

We’ve somehow learned that being harder on ourselves would make us better at taking care of ourselves.

But what if building healthy habits didn’t require hating yourself into them?

What if the voice in your head sounded less like a disappointed drill sergeant…

…and more like someone who was genuinely DELIGHTED that you’re trying? ❤️

Look at you drinking your water.
Look at you feeding yourself.
Look at you moving your body.
Look at you resting when you need it.
Look at you trying again instead of giving up.

WHO’S A GOOD GIRL?!

You are. Obviously. 😂🐶

And yes, it feels ridiculous.

Practicing self-compassion is also super weird when you’re used to motivating yourself with criticism.

But if bullying yourself into wellness was going to work…

wouldn’t it have worked by now?

Maybe being kinder to yourself isn’t letting yourself off the hook.

Maybe it’s how you finally build a relationship with fitness, food, healthy habits—and yourself—that you don’t constantly need to start over. ❤️

1. Your worth is not defined by your productivity, your weight, size or shape, or other people’s opinions.2. Food is fue...
08/17/2026

1. Your worth is not defined by your productivity, your weight, size or shape, or other people’s opinions.

2. Food is fuel — but it can also be comfort, connection, culture and enjoyment.

3. Movement is medicine, and it doesn’t have to mean going to the gym. A walk counts. Stretching counts. Dancing around the kitchen counts.

4. Fresh air, sunshine and spending time outside can do wonders for your wellbeing. ☀️

5. Rest is productive.

6. Hydration and quality sleep are self-care.

7. Connection is part of wellness too. Make time for the people who make you feel supported, seen and loved.

Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean perfection.

Sometimes, wellness is simply making the next good choice. 🤍

08/10/2026

If life has been feeling like a lot lately (or if you want to be prepared for next time it does), this one’s for you. 💛

This Wednesday I’m hosting Meditation for Stressful Times, a free virtual workshop where we’ll talk a little about what stress does to the brain and nervous system—and, more importantly, practice some simple meditation tools that can help.

No experience needed. Just come as you are. 💕

✨ Free + virtual
Wednesday 6PM Pacific | Link in bio

Anyone else’s nervous system trying its absolute best while the rest of you keeps making… questionable decisions? 😅No sh...
08/07/2026

Anyone else’s nervous system trying its absolute best while the rest of you keeps making… questionable decisions? 😅

No shame here—I have definitely made this mistake more than once.

Sometimes wellness isn’t about doing something extraordinary. Sometimes it’s just listening to the quiet voice that says, “Maybe not tonight.” 💛

And sometimes… wellness is laughing when you didn’t listen to that voice. 😅

It’s okay. We don’t have to get it right every time. We just take things one moment at a time. 💕

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Laguna Niguel, CA
92607, 92677

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