How Journaling Can Boost Your Mental Health
The sun was just beginning to dip behind the cypress trees in Sonoma, casting long, amber shadows across my latest site plan, when I felt that familiar, suffocating tightness in my chest. I had spent the entire day wrestling with a drainage issue for a client, but my mind wasn’t on the topography; it was […]
Yoga for Beginners: Poses to Start With Today
I was sitting on a mossy stone in a small courtyard outside Florence last spring, sketching a new trellis design, when I realized my own body felt as stiff as a dried hydrangea. I’d spent the morning hunched over my travel journal, and my spine felt less like a living thing and more like a […]
Desk Stretches to Undo a Day of Sitting
I was hunched over my drafting table last Tuesday, trying to finalize the irrigation layout for a new rooftop sanctuary, when I realized I had become as rigid and unyielding as a piece of weathered teak. My neck was locked in a permanent tilt, and my lower back felt like it had been trampled by […]
Simple Ways to Move More Without Going to the Gym
I was sitting on a weathered stone bench in a small courtyard in Florence last spring, my sketchbook open and my charcoal pencil poised, when I realized how much we’ve been lied to about fitness. We’ve been sold this high-octane myth that if you aren’t sweating through an expensive HIIT session or sprinting on a […]
Meditation for Beginners: a Simple 5-minute Start
I was sitting on a weathered cedar bench in a small, tucked-away courtyard in Florence last spring, surrounded by the scent of damp earth and rosemary, when I realized I was doing everything wrong. I had a premium silk cushion, a curated playlist of “zen” forest sounds, and a stack of expensive books, yet my […]
How to Actually Drink More Water Every Day
I was hunched over my drafting table last Tuesday, trying to finalize the irrigation layout for a new rooftop garden in Oakland, when I realized I felt as parched and brittle as a neglected fern. I reached for my coffee—my third—only to realize I was running on empty, much like the soil in a poorly […]
Simple Mindfulness Exercises for Busy People
I was hunched over my sketchbook in a tiny, rain-slicked courtyard in Florence last spring, trying to capture the exact way the light hit a cluster of lavender I’d named Barnaby. My mind was a chaotic storm of deadlines and structural calculations, completely disconnected from the damp, fragrant air around me. I realized then that […]
How to Build a Healthy Routine You Can Keep
I was sitting on a weathered stone bench in a small courtyard in Florence last spring, sketching a new layout for a rooftop garden, when I realized I was staring blankly at my journal. My mind was a chaotic thicket of unorganized thoughts, a stark contrast to the intentional, flowing lines of the Tuscan landscape […]
Self-care Ideas That Don’t Cost a Thing
I was sitting in my studio this morning, sketching a new layout for a rooftop terrace, when I realized my hands were trembling just a little from the sheer weight of the city’s relentless pace. We often treat our lives like paved concrete—hard, unyielding, and prone to cracking under pressure—forgetting that even the most resilient […]
How to Stay Consistent With Exercise
I was hunched over my sketchbook last Tuesday, trying to figure out why “Barnaby,” my stubborn little Japanese Maple, refused to take root despite my best efforts, when it hit me: I was treating my own fitness exactly like a poorly planned landscape. We’ve been sold this lie that fitness requires high-tech gadgets or a […]