Overnight success stories are like mirages in the desert: they seem real at first, but everything is not as it seems. “Overnight success” is a misleading phrase. A more accurate phrase would be an “overtime success.” As in, over a certain period of time—days, months, years—success is achieved. The idea of an overnight success is...Read More

Lily (not her real name), a member of BSP NOVA, has been struggling. The current COVID-19 situation had, like it has for most of us, significantly impacted her life and routine. Some days were good, other days bad. She felt lost. When she was working, she felt a sense of purpose and meaning in what...Read More

“Don’t be ashamed to need help. Like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish. And if you’ve been wounded and need a comrade to pull you up? So what?” -Marcus Aurelius In the spring of 2015, the spring break of my junior year at JMU, I was sitting on the coach...Read More

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” -Mark Twain If I asked you, “Did you know that Australia is a continent?” then you’d most likely answer “yes” with ease.   What if I asked you this: “How do you know Australia...Read More

Do you want this COVID-19 situation to be over with? I know I do. It’s easy to find ourselves lost in thought dreaming of a coronavirus-less future. One where the virus hasn’t twirled our lives round and round like clothes in a drier. “The only thing that is truly significant about today, or any other...Read More

“Anything worth worrying about is worth problem solving.” -Dr. Reid Wilson The world is a little crazy at the moment, huh? With COVID-19 spreading like it is, and life getting flipped upside down as it is—well, it’s easier than ever to worry, to be riddled with anxiety, to let our minds wander into scary territory...Read More

A few weeks ago, I was approached by a client who seemed upset. Not knowing what was going on, I asked how she was doing. This client, who I’ll call Emma, was frustrated, upset, and feeling discouraged; she was in pain. You see, her main goal was to lose body fat; she was upset that...Read More

Does a morning like the following sound familiar to you? It’s early when you hear the familiar buzzing of your alarm clock—and there it is again, back pain. From the moment your day starts, lower back pain is there; it hurts to play with your kids, sit at your desk, even tie your shoes, and...Read More

“ ‘Variety is the spice of life.’ But notice it does not say, ‘variety is the entrée of life.’ ” -Chip and Dan Heath   In the fitness world there is an emphasis placed on change, that is, changing up exercises; changing up sets and reps; or changing up entire workouts. Variation in fitness is...Read More

Most people grasp the main technique points of squatting rather quickly. That is, they initiate a squat by reaching their hips back slightly, “spread the floor apart” on the way down, and “drive the ground away” to stand back up; there are other technique points of course, but those are the big ones. Sometimes though,...Read More