🌕 Tonight 8/19 at 8pm ET, I'm hosting a spontaneous, pop-up Full Moon Circle, and you are invited to join live on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9373884312?omn=84911165154 🌕 ​
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At 2:26pm ET, we began a rare Super Blue Moon in Aquarius ♒️

This has been a particularly powerful month for me, given my Leo ascendant + Aquarius sun & moon signs... I'm no astrology expert, but I've been paying attention to skies as a way to connect with the cycles of the Moon and the wisdom she has to share with us. ✨ 

♌️ Leo is all about radical self-expression, self-confidence, and self-love. ❤️‍🔥

♒️ Aquarius is all about the collective vision, and a unique bird's eye view of the future. 🪬 

Today's energy has felt so potent for me, that I've decided to try something new, something a little bold, and something outside of my usual functional medicine box...

🌕 I'm hosting a spontaneous, pop-up Full Moon Circle tonight at 8pm ET. 🌕 ​

If you've never participated in a Moon Circle, here's what to expect:

1. About 15 minutes before the call, take time to prepare and gather the following items:
Bring a cozy beverage (cacao, tea, water, etc.) 🫖 
Bring a jar or container of pure water with a lid (we'll set this outside or by a window) 🫙 
Bring a journal and your favorite writing utensils (I love colored pens) 🖊️ 📓 
Find a quiet spot, free from distractions, and tidy up the space to feel peaceful. 🛋️ 
Light a candle, incense, sage, or palo santo, or diffuse some oils to set the stage. 🕯️ 
Bring any other crystals, tokens, talismans, coins, or sentimental objects or photos that remind you of your purpose, what's important to you, and what matters most in life. 💎 
2. Plan to join on time; we'll be closing the doors at 8:05pm to respect the container. ⏳ 

3. We recommend that you be on camera to get the most out of this experience and connect with one another. Get comfortable in showing up for yourself. 😁
If you aren't on camera, you can still join, but I'm going to assume that you are on "listen only mode" and observing quietly. 🤫 

4. We'll dismiss promptly at 9:00pm ET.  🛌

I know it's relatively short notice, so I'm so curious to see who shows up for this. 
Depending on how it goes, I might host these more often and schedule them in advance. 
Whether it's 1 person or 100, it's going to be a magical experience. 💞

🌒🌓🌕🌗🌘
See you tonight at 8pm ET on Zoom.
💕 Lauren

Since I've decided to take a break from instagram and go "off the grid" this year per my co-star horoscope recommendations, I've found myself wanting a place to reflect, remember and share key moments and updates in my life... and what better place than getting back to my blog. 
I'm also still in the process of figuring out exactly how I want to leverage the internet and social media to still create a living for myself... so with that in mind, this month's recap is brought to you by Fly By Jing. I did return to Instagram in order to make a post about this product because it was one of the requirements from the awesome influencer company that I've been working with. And truth be told, I'm actually writing this post in March because I'm gonna post my next "sponsored blog" for February with another new product that I got to try. All very meta, but I'm here for it! Hopefully you are too.
So what all did January entail for me? Keep reading to find out...

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​Raise you hand if you feel like you struggle with time management. 🙋‍♀️

All throughout school and even into adulthood, I always joked that I was the World's Worst Procrastinator. I'd wait until the last day to cram and pull all-nighters in pharmacy school. I'd wait until the last hour to complete my weekly forum posts during my online Master's degree. They were due on Thursday at 3am ET (midnight PT), so I'd literally stay up until 3am to finish them, when I knew I had to be at work at 8am the next day. 

Becoming a Market Director for my previous employer forced me to be a bit better with time management, because I physically had to visit 11 stores every quarter to complete my compliance tours. But I was also completely overwhelmed at that point in my career, since I was also leading FMPhA while being a caregiver for my mom. It was like working 3 full times jobs and left me with very little time for myself. It wasn't sustainable, and in the Fall of 2021 after my mom passed away, I officially I burned out. 

After that, I switched roles to a remote social media & influencer marketing management job, which was a nice change of pace at first, but I soon found myself back to working all hours of the day, and within 9 months, that familiar feeling of anxiety and stress started creeping back in. I ultimately left that position because I truly needed cut back my hours to make more time for travel for FMPhA. In Fall 2022, I became a part-time staff pharmacist 3 days a week and thought I had finally found my balance. Then I started to have the opposite problem: too much time on my hands and not enough discipline to work on FMPhA (or so I thought.) I continued procrastinating, struggling to accomplish everything I wanted to achieve, and mentally beating myself up every day as to why I just couldn't get it together. Then one day that fall, while I was doomscrolling on instagram, I came across a free masterclass taught by Marie Forleo... and now she's teaching it again. The best part is that it's totally free and you can sign up to watch it right now.

This masterclass changed everything for me. 
And I bet it will change a lot for you, too.

​Sign up HERE.

I'd love to hear your biggest takeaway from the masterclass! Leave a comment below to share your insights.

Today, September 26th, I’m sharing my story with Natural Cycles for World Contraception Day. 🌍 If there's one thing we’ve learned from looking back at the history of contraception, it’s that the ability to make an informed decision about your birth control method is absolutely crucial. 

​In pharmacy school, we learned about all the options for contraception, but at the time, I didn’t want an IUD or implant, I was tired of trying to remember a pill every day, there was no way I’d leave anything up to chance with condoms or “FAM” so I felt like the only option I could trust was...

It's been a while since I've updated the blog, but a lot has changed in a year! If you follow me on social, you'll know that after my mom passed, I took some time away from work to focus on my mental health. I then transitioned from my role as a Market Health & Wellness Director to being a part-time pharmacist with Walmart, and I started a new position as an Ambassador Program Manager with Brand Networks, the company that powers Walmart's Local Social and Spotlight programs. Some of my first blogs were all about being a Spotlight ambassador, and now I get to help grow this program for the entire company! 

So far, it's been incredibly exciting. There have been two projects I've worked on recently that I wanted to highlight here: Associate-Led Shoppable Livestreams and the first Associate-curated walmart.com pages!

I am so excited to share this super easy way for you all to literally "shop my feed!" Whether you saw my post on instagram or facebook, with this nifty LikeToKnow.it widget, you can now click any photo below in this post or on the Shop page, and it will pop up with with the featured items linked for you to purchase! Happy shopping! ?
Or, if you want to download the LIKEtoKNOW.it app and follow me there, it’s even easier! Just visit liketoknow.it/drlaurencastle
PS - Some of these are "commissionable links" which help fund this blog, but rest assured, they are the same every day low prices that you love and expect! Thank you for your support!

I had so much fun chatting with Bobbi about Evolution_18 and Wellness at Walmart! Here are links to all of the amazing products and topics that we talked about! Just log into your walmart.com account and click through these links to add them to your cart!

When I first started @DrLaurenCastle on Instagram and Facebook for #WalmartSocialChamps, I couldn't wait to share about my favorite products and brands at Walmart that made wellness accessible and affordable. One of the very first brands I ever posted about was Evolution_18, "a collection of highly effective, simple formulas that are designed to target a wide range of beauty concerns. Formulated with clean, high-quality ingredients, these supplements have everything you need for a beauty boost from within. Get ready for gorgeous skin, strong nails, and shinier hair. Created by Bobbi Brown."