fclicsw

By Cari Shane (USA Today/Modern Woman magazine 2026) “I felt trapped in my head, overwhelmed with everything,” says Jen Lancaster of the anxiety that plagued her since she was a child. “I couldn’t control the racing thoughts, because I didn’t know racing thoughts were a thing.” While one-third of Americans will have an anxiety disorder in their lifetime, anxiety will affect nearly two times more women than men, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. One in three women will...

In reality, hormones are powerful messengers linking the body, brain, and emotions. Understanding this helps us approach the connection between menstrual cycles and mood with compassion, clarity, and a deeper sense of self-awareness.

Busy women carry countless responsibilities nurturing families, managing careers, supporting loved ones, and holding everything together. In this nonstop pace, self-care often slips to the bottom of the list, replaced by guilt, exhaustion, and the pressure to “do it all.” But true self-care doesn’t require perfection or elaborate routines. It’s about small, compassionate choices that create space to breathe, rest, and reconnect with yourself.