Kimberlee Bow 6/15/26 Kimberlee Bow 6/15/26

Summer Solstice! Welcome Summer!

This year the solstice happens on Sunday, June 21, at 4:24 A.M. EDT when the Earth is at the point in its orbit where the North Pole reaches its maximum tilt (approximately 23.5 degrees) toward the Sun (Almanac, 2025). This is also the time when the Northern Hemisphere is exposed to the Sun at the most direct angle of the year. This time of year has some profound implications for neurobiology and psychological well-being. These are what we are going to explore in preparation for June 21st!

Kimberlee Bow 6/8/26 Kimberlee Bow 6/8/26

Boundaries! Spiritual Boundaries

When we are looking through the lens of mental health, spiritual boundaries are the protective limits that we set for ourselves around our core beliefs, values, and practices that give our lives meaning and purpose. These boundaries help define our right to follow our own internally developed compass and protect our connections to a higher power or purpose, nature, or our inner self from being coerced, shamed, or diminished by others. Spiritual boundaries are necessary for existential safety or the feeling that we are allowed to exist as our amazing, authentic selves in a world with many different perspectives. With all that said, let’s dive into a deeper discussion.

Kimberlee Bow 6/1/26 Kimberlee Bow 6/1/26

Boundaries! Social Boundaries

The focus for this post brings our awareness to social boundaries. Social boundaries are the boundaries or limits that we set regarding our time, energy, and availability within the context of our relationships and community. These boundaries help us moderate how much energy we use to engage with the world around us in both the in-person and digital contexts. The goal here is to be able to ensure our social life nourishes us rather than depletes us overall. Before we dive in, it is worth clarifying something about emotional boundaries and social boundaries. While our emotional boundaries help protect our feelings, social boundaries help us protect our capacity. Social boundaries function like gatekeepers of our schedules and our social batteries.

Kimberlee Bow 5/25/26 Kimberlee Bow 5/25/26

Boundaries! Emotional Boundaries

We have covered mental and physical boundaries thus far in the series. Today we arrive at emotional boundaries. Emotional boundaries address the invisible line that distinguishes our feelings and internal experiences from the feelings and experiences of those around us. They help us understand how much emotional energy that we are willing to share and even receive to ensure that we don’t get lost in others’ emotional worlds. Simply stated emotional boundaries help protect our inner peace and emotional stamina and allow us to take responsibility for our own feelings.

Kimberlee Bow 5/18/26 Kimberlee Bow 5/18/26

Boundaries! Mental Boundaries

When we talk about mental boundaries in the context of mental health, we are looking at our cognitive space that contains your thoughts, values, opinions, and beliefs. Unlike physical boundaries where we can potentially see or touch them, think about our body boundaries, mental boundaries are invisible. They separate our internal world and experiences from the experiences and thoughts of others. Our mental boundaries guard our intellectual autonomy and psychological sovereignty just like our physical boundaries protect our bodies.

Kimberlee Bow 5/11/26 Kimberlee Bow 5/11/26

Boundaries! Physical Boundaries

Because they set personal limits that help us feel safe, and they help us negotiate our behavior and choices in relationships outside of ourselves. Boundaries also help us prevent burnout and reduce stress because they allow us to establish clear guard rails about our time and energy. Ultimately, boundaries serve many purposes in our lives, and the above sentences only cover a few of the many. If an argument was to be made, though, boundaries as safety stands out as one of the most important reasons for them.

Kimberlee Bow 5/4/26 Kimberlee Bow 5/4/26

Mental Health Awareness Month: Why Do We Need to Care About Our Mental Health?

Welcome to May, Mental Health Awareness Month! This is a special month in the year where mental health professionals and organizations take additional time to remind us all about the importance of mental health. That is not to say that professionals and organizations don’t do this all year long because of the importance of mental health in our life. And, yes, our mental health is essential in our daily lives, and that is what this post will focus on. This post will serve as a gentle reminder about why we need to care about mental health, not just our physical health. While we will not be able to cover every reason in depth, nor can we cover every possible topic, hopefully, everyone reading this post renews their commitment to take care of their mental health.

Kimberlee Bow 12/15/25 Kimberlee Bow 12/15/25

Interoception

Interoception is the sense of your body's internal state, providing awareness of things like your heartbeat, bodily sensations, or thirst. Simply put, interoception is our ability to sense and be aware of what is happening within our own bodies. Why is it so important to us? Let’s dive in and find out why.

Kimberlee Bow 12/8/25 Kimberlee Bow 12/8/25

Embodiment

Is embodiment a noun or a verb? Embodiment may be considered a verb because it is a process that is both deliberate and engaging, rather than a static concept. Humans have a choice as to whether we fully engage in our experiences, partial engage, or complete check out.

Kimberlee Bow 12/1/25 Kimberlee Bow 12/1/25

Mind-Body Connection

The mind-body connection is the intricate, bi-directional relationship that exists between our thoughts, emotions, and physical health and the body. What is important to note here is that we are talking about a connection. The mind and the body are not two separate entities, rather they are interconnected and influence each other. There is growing research that is now demonstrating how both the mind and the body have the potential to impact cardiovascular health negatively and positively (Levine, 2019).

Kimberlee Bow 9/29/25 Kimberlee Bow 9/29/25

The Shades of Advocacy in Mental Health

Advocacy is a choice. We do not have to be advocates. We need to decide for ourselves whether that is something that we want in our lives.