May Newsletter
Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time dedicated to increasing understanding, reducing stigma, and encouraging open conversations about mental health and wellness. First established in 1949 by Mental Health America, this month reminds us that mental health is just as important as physical health and that seeking support is a sign of strength, not weakness. At Kaiun Wellness, we recognize that mental health does not exist in isolation. We see it as one interconnected part of a larger whole system that includes our physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual wellbeing. When one area of life is struggling, it often impacts the others, and healing can happen more fully when we care for the whole person with compassion, balance, and connection. We believe that anyone and everyone can benefit from counseling! You do not have to be coping with grief, trauma, or a mental health crisis to seek support. Counseling can also be a space to reflect on personal values, explore career goals, improve communication or time management, strengthen relationships, or simply dedicate intentional time to slow down and unwind the business of the mind. At Kaiun, we are proud to offer a range of options, including interns who provide counseling services at flexible pay ranges with both in-person and telehealth availability throughout the week, helping make care more accessible to our community.
Book of the Month
Amanda Montell’s The Age of Magical Overthinking is a sharp, funny, and deeply compassionate look at what happens when our very human need for meaning, certainty, and control meets the chaos of modern life. Blending cultural criticism, personal narrative, linguistic insight, and psychological curiosity, Montell explores magical thinking: the belief that our thoughts, hopes, rituals, loyalty, or sheer will can shape outcomes beyond our control. Rather than mocking this impulse, she helps us understand it as an attempt to feel steady when life feels wildly unsteady.
With wit, warmth, and emotional generosity, Montell unpacks the cognitive biases that shape our choices, from celebrity worship to staying too long in relationships because we have already invested so much. The book feels less like a critique of irrationality and more like an invitation to soften toward our anxious, meaning-making minds. For anyone interested in psychology, culture, relationships, anxiety, and how we make sense of the senseless, The Age of Magical Overthinking opens a window, lets in some fresh air, and reminds us there may still be a melody beneath the noise.
Recipe of the Month
Watermelon Lime Mint Cortisol Mocktail
https://sofreshnsogreen.com/recipes/beverages/watermelon-mint-cortisol-mocktail/
A bright, hydrating spring sip with lime, watermelon, coconut water, mint, and a little sea salt—light, refreshing, and grounding.
Ingredients - *Makes 2 large servings or 4 smaller servings
1 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup cubed watermelon, fresh or frozen
2 cups coconut water
2–4 tbsp maple syrup or honey, to taste
½ tsp Celtic sea salt
2–4 tbsp fresh mint
Optional: edible pink glitter or sugar for a little joy
Directions
Add watermelon, lime juice, coconut water, sweetener, and sea salt to a blender. Blend until smooth, then strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove pulp or seeds. Pour over ice, stir in fresh mint, and enjoy.
Art Walk
Thank you for joining us during last month’s Art Walk! We’re excited to continue featuring the vibrant work ofMonique Shelton at Kaiun! Stop by on June 5 from 6-8pm to experience her unique perspective and celebrate creativity in the heart of the community.
Monique Shelton is an abstract artist working in encaustic and mixed media, exploring the relationship between stillness, structure, and flow. Her work is guided by the discipline of stillness—a practice of slowing down to reveal clarity, depth, and intention.
As a longtime swim coach (she is the head coach of Bainbridge Island Swim Club, where Katherine also coaches), Shelton brings the concept of threshold into her work—the space where effort meets alignment. This balance is reflected in her paintings, where layered materials and controlled movement create a sense of both strength and calm.
Her work reflects this balance: grounded yet fluid, structured yet expansive. At Kaiun Wellness, her work is presented as an extension of the environment itself—inviting pause, presence, and a return to alignment.
