01 Wellness Spotlight

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY: The Power of PAUSE

It’s officially the pre-season…to the holidays that is. Many of us feel the shift of chill in the air, the halloween decorations abound and with it a fresh set of hard-hitting anxiety: holidays plans and travel, the economic stress of gift-giving, packed and planned weekends to the gills and, oh yeah, just the chaos of the upcoming Election and fearing those “powder-keg” dinner conversations with some friend/family who may be quite verbose in sharing their personal opinions. Even after typing this my heart is racing…yes the final 3 months of the year are here and we all know how this turns out: a whirl of non-stop events, social gatherings, expectations and STRESS resulting in an ambivalent “happy new year?!” welcome to 2025.

Maybe, just maybe, we consider doing things a little DIFFERENT this year. If the effects of pandemic taught us anything it’s that we can survive in completely new circumstances and that the world continues to turn and all things too shall pass. So rather than waiting for a global pandemic or an act of God to be the catalyst to reframe and PAUSE, I think it might be time for us to try that ourselves.

“BUT KENDALL, WHAT ABOUT THE CRIPPLING GUILT AND SHAME I WILL FEEL BY SAYING NO TO MY USUAL PLANS AND PERSONAL EXPECTATIONS?!” To that, I remind you that YOU and only YOU are capable and beholden to controlling yourself, not others (I mean shoot who can even fully control their kids let alone their pets—-newsflash: ya can’t) thus, you CAN control if you allow the concept of guilt and expectation to enter you self-identity.

I mean I am one to talk. I let you all down last week: I was so overwhelmed with the wonderful and also ironically stressful week of advocacy for World Mental Health Day with our initiative with NAMI x lululemon that when it came time to produce this newsletter…I was burnt out. Couldn't find the words, the brain-space or the time to squeeze out some helpful and personally connected correspondence after cross country travel 12-16 hours days back to back with a multitude of outfit changes, interviews, legal meetings to finalize The NKO Fund (sharing next!) and non-profit galas. I was a husk of myself (ironic after World Mental Health Day) and all that echoed in my brain was that I let all of you DOWN as this newsletter that has become so important to me since leaving Peloton back in July— it’s still that weekly connection we can share even when we aren’t currently sweating together in class.

Graciously, many of the impeccable voices I met and reconnected with this week, like Dan Gillian CEO of NAMI, echoed in my mind about the importance of not only pause but PLAY and how in their lululemon’s 2024 Global Wellbeing Report created in conjunction with NAMI, resilience increased 23% when play is introduced into our daily routine. Further, in this 2020 study of medical professionals and the importance of “pausing” during times of high cognitive load and stress found “ that both cognitive load and performance were higher in the condition with pauses than in the one without. The act of pausing, however, temporarily lowered cognitive load, especially during intense moments. Two different manifestations of the pause effect were identified: (1) by stimulating additional cognitive and meta-cognitive processes, pauses increased overall cognitive load; and (2) through relaxation, the act of pausing temporarily decreased heightened cognitive load.” link to study 

Remember this as we embark on what will surely be more “unprecedented” times that we can CHOOSE was we say yes and no to and can always get present to pause and then play BEFORE we add more load to our days.

EVERY “NO” STRENGTHENS YOUR “YES” & EVERY “PAUSE” POWERS UP YOUR “GO”.

Redefine what the holidays look like this year, take a note form Mila Kunis’ character in “Bad Mom’s Christmas” and shape these final 3 months with PLAY & PAUSE as the priority, nothing more. Holiday magic doesn’t come from a perfectly curated experience, but connected, human and honest experiences…together. So let’s not fret too much in the 2024 holiday season if the house looks perfect or we say no to that extra holiday work outing…let’s remember to rather prioritize LESS than more. We will all be better off for it.

INTRODUCING: THE NKO FUND

One of the first actions I was so looking forward to taking when I had the freedom to write my own chapter was to finally take my passion for Mental Health Advocacy to the NEXT LEVEL. Our 1st year goal is to fundraise and provide grants through portions of proceeds from my brand partnerships, merch, speaking engagements and in-person events (wink wink) as well as through community crowd-giving to provide to non-profits providing direct “boots on the ground” to a multitude of communities in need of Mental Health Access and support. Our goal for year 2, to raise enough to endow a scholarship to support BIPOC students looking to obtain a degree/certificate in Mental Health to pour back into their communities and cultures. Representation within the mental health field is very limited and ensuring we can start to make a change in cultural narratives regarding access and efficacy of mental health support is essential for the vitality of our society to come.

Below is a little more about our work as well as our donation link (a fancier one coming soon)! Please know we would love to learn and connect to both corporate sponsors as well as obtain information on more communities who we can help and support!

03 Nutrition

Lemon Butter Scallops & Pistachio Pesto Pasta

Quick, protein-packed and DELICIOUS this can change the weeknight round up

Lemon Butter Scallops & Pistachio Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 cup shelled roasted pistachios

• 3-5 cloves garlic

• 1 cup fresh basil

• 1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 1 lemon juiced

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

• 1 lbs scallops

• 1 box of Barilla protein + pasta

• 3 tbs butter

• paprika opt

Instructions

• In the food processor and being sure to take your time, pulse a cup of shelled, roasted pistachios until coarsely chopped.

• Add the garlic cloves, basil and parsley and pulse until everything is mixed well.

• With the food processor running, slowly add a half cup of olive oil until combined well.

• Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and combine until well mixed. Depending on your desired consistency, add more olive oil 2 tablespoons at a time.

• Use immediately or store in an airtight container.

• Boil your water and add 1 tbs of salt to the boil. Cook the pasta until al dente (follow instructions on box) and reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.

• Next, while the pasta is cooking, heat a knob of butter and 2 tbs of olive oil oil in a skillet on medium/high heat

• While warming the butter, dry the room-temperate scallops and season with salt and pepper

• Once the butter oil mixture is combined and the skillet is properly heated place the seasoned scallops down

• After 2-3 minutes, or until the bottoms have a golden char/ are opaque, flip the scallops and carefully squeeze half a lemon’s juice to the skillet. Season this side with some crushed pepper and paprika to taste. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and immediately remove from the skillet and transfer to a plate with the excess lemon butter on top.

• Strain the pasta and return to the pot mixing in 1/2 cup of the pistachio pesto as well as a little pasta water as needed to create a creamy consistency

• Serve the pasta and place the 4-6 scallops atop. ENJOY!

04 Shopping
LOTS of transitional athleisure and lululemon favorites, some holiday attire inso as well as THE sunglasses & Trench coach I keep getting so many DM’s about!

Shop my LTK site for EVEN MORE!

05 FITNESS

Repeat each superset 4 times (single-leg work that means 2 of the four sets for each leg) and let me know how it goes!!! I support all pics post workout

This workout is a wonderful mix of high-intensity weighted movements into moderate intensity movements in this glute focused scorcher!

06 ANNOUNCEMENT!

WANT TO NOMINATE SOMEONE FOR THE SPOTLIGHT?

Follow @NKOclub on IG and fill out this NKO Club Nomination form to submit a friend and fellow club member for their rightful place in the spotlight!