So many of us are running on empty, and we have been running that way so long we have forgotten what full feels like.
Modern life doesn’t build in recovery. It rewards output and ignores the cost until the cost is impossible to ignore. Stress builds, sleep suffers, and when our bodies tell us something is wrong, most of us either push through or reach for a quick fix that treats the symptom and never touches the root.
What if there were a gentler way? No dramatic overhaul, just a few intentional practices that bring body, mind and spirit back into balance, one small shift at a time.
That’s why I was so grateful when Rhonda Harris Slota joined me on Turning Point. Rhonda is a yoga teacher, Ayurvedic practitioner, yoga therapist and Reiki Master. She founded The Journey to Wellness and teaches yoga, meditation and wellness practices through Vallejo Yoga. She didn’t come to lecture us. She came to guide us, and it became one of the most practical, grounding conversations we’ve had on the show.
Listen to the full episode here.
Photo by Valeriia Bugaiova on Unsplash
Start With the Breath
Everything Rhonda teaches starts with something you already have: your breath. You don’t need a class or a certification. You just need to use the breath you’re already taking with a little more intention. Simple breathing quiets the mind in a way very little else can. It interrupts the loop of anxious thoughts so many of us live in and brings us back to the present moment, which is the only place calm is ever found.
Try it with me right now. Slow the inhale down. Make the exhale a little longer than the inhale. Do it three times, and notice what shifts.
That’s the doorway Rhonda offers to anyone who thinks wellness is for people with more time, more money or more flexibility. It doesn’t start with a gym membership or a retreat. It starts with paying attention to what your body is already doing and making small adjustments that add up over time.
I care about this as your council member, too. I’ve written about mental health resources in Fairfield because emotional wellness is a community issue. When people have tools to manage stress, they show up better for their families, their work and their neighbors. Wellness isn’t separate from community health. It’s part of it.
Move Gently. Release What You Are Carrying.
Emotional stress and physical tension feel different, but they live in the same place. Grief tightens the chest. Anxiety settles in the shoulders. Long hours of sitting compress the spine and drain our energy in ways that feel like emotional flatness but respond to movement.
Rhonda teaches gentle movement as a form of release: slow, mindful stretches that give the body permission to let go of what it’s been holding, instead of high-intensity exercise that adds more stress to an already stressed system.
After a long meeting, after hours at a computer, after a day that left you heavier than when it started, a few minutes of gentle movement changes something. It won’t solve the underlying problem, but it interrupts the buildup and gives your nervous system a chance to reset.
I think especially of the women I advocate for: caregivers, working mothers, women navigating economic hardship or housing instability, women pouring out for everyone around them with nothing coming back in. Through Hazel’s Tranquility Place and Solano Impact Care, we work on the outside conditions that make life harder for them. Rhonda’s work speaks to what’s happening on the inside. Both matter, and both are part of the same picture.
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Small Practices Create Real Change
When people hear “meditation,” they picture sitting perfectly still for forty minutes with an empty mind. When they hear “Ayurveda,” they think it means overhauling their whole diet and routine. When they hear “yoga,” they picture poses their body has never attempted.
Rhonda teaches something different. Real change doesn’t require a dramatic overhaul. It requires consistency with small, intentional practices that fit inside the life you already have.
Slow down while you eat. That one practice changes digestion, changes your relationship with food and gives you a moment of presence in a day that otherwise never pauses. Take a few conscious breaths before a difficult conversation. Do a brief body scan before sleep, notice where the tension lives, and let it go. None of this is complicated. These small practices add up to a different baseline over time.
Rhonda also introduced us to Ayurveda, an ancient system of wellness that looks at the whole person: your constitution, your tendencies, how you respond to different seasons and times of day. It recognizes something Western medicine sometimes misses. We’re all different, and what brings one person into balance can throw another off.
Visit thejourneytowellness.com to learn more about Rhonda’s work and the programs she offers for every stage of the wellness journey.
Why I Bring These Conversations to Turning Point
I could keep my public conversations to policy and council votes. But I created Turning Point because our community deserves conversations that serve the whole person: financial literacy, emergency preparedness, mental and emotional wellness, small business development, youth empowerment and community giving.
You deserve more than a summary of what the council decided last Tuesday. You deserve tools, practices and perspectives that help you build a fuller, more resilient life.
That belief guides my work on the council, through the organizations I’ve built, and on this platform, which I started long before any election was on the horizon. Turning Point is how I meet our community where you are and bring you something useful.
Listen to Finding Calm with Rhonda Harris Slota here, and share it with someone who could use a little more calm in their day.
Before You Move On
One: Try the breathing exercise right now, before you open the next tab. Three slow breaths, with the exhale longer than the inhale. Notice what happens.
Two: Visit thejourneytowellness.com and explore the classes and programs Rhonda offers. Vallejo Yoga is another way to connect with her teaching directly.
Three: Check in on someone you love who has been carrying a lot lately, and pass this episode along.
Follow @imkpatrice on social media for more conversations like this one.
For campaign and election information, visit ElectKPatriceWilliams.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Rhonda Harris Slota and what is The Journey to Wellness?
Rhonda Harris Slota is a yoga teacher, Ayurvedic practitioner, yoga therapist, and Reiki Master who founded The Journey to Wellness. She also teaches through Vallejo Yoga. Learn more at thejourneytowellness.com.
What is Ayurveda and why does it matter for everyday wellness?
Ayurveda is an ancient system of wellness that addresses the whole person, their constitution, tendencies, and relationship with different seasons and environments, offering individualized guidance for living in better alignment with their own nature. It recognizes that what creates balance for one person may not work for another.
Where can I listen to this episode of Turning Point?
Listen to the full episode here, along with more Turning Point episodes.