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Heather Edwards psychotherapy coach

SAD AF: Slay the happiness vampire

This is for the dreamers, overachievers, procrastinators, and perfectionists. It’s a the middle of winter. A time that can be bleak and isolative. The days are fleeting. The nights are long. Gray skies blanket the possibilities and stifle your mood like a punch in the gut. SAD knocks at your door like the vampire of happiness. Your bed looks more and more inviting. Your motivation escapes you. You’re tired, a little somber, and you worry about your future. This is S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder). S.A.D. resembles a mild depression and typically occurs in winter. It challenges many of us - the creatives, the empaths, and everyone in between. In case you’re wondering if you have S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) here are a few symptoms: decreased energy increased appetite (for...

Is Shame Holding You Back? You are worthy.

Let’s go alternate reality. Yes, AR. What’s your biggest wish for this year? Five years from now? Or for your lifetime? Tap into the full experience of that image. Be the hero in your own game. One where you make the rules. You tell the story. You determine the outcome. What’s there? Who’s there? Smell the scents, see the colors, connect to the people, hear the sounds, engage with your surroundings. Notice the energy that fills you up. Close your eyes. Lock it in. Wait. Did I hear the voice of self doubt? Disbelief? Uncertainty? It’s okay. It’s what we do. Notice it and dismiss it. Shift your focus to what you want. The nasty little self critic gremlin works hard at sabotaging your dreams. It’s...

8 Tips for Combatting SAD – Preserve your energy and spirit

Welcome to daylight savings time! It’s that time of year when days get shorter, darkness grows longer, and your energy and spirit can be eclipsed. SAD abounds. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, “About 4 to 6 percent of people may have winter depression. Another 10 to 20 percent may have mild SAD. SAD is four times more common in women than in men. Although some children and teenagers get SAD, it usually doesn't start in people younger than age 20.” That equals a whopping up to 63,780,000 people in the U.S.A. with SAD and/or mild depression in the winter! In case you’re wondering if you have S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) here are a few symptoms: decreased energy increased appetite (for sweets & starches)   weight gain reduced socialization increased sleep lower productivity less...

Fear Sucks. Doubt Debilitates. Stress Kills.

Fear sucks, doubt debilitates and stress kills. Loneliness isolates and worry permeates. Anger enrages and sorrow depletes. Yearning drives and hope transcends. Joy eases - all or most of the pain, at least for a moment. Darkness and light. Greatness and shame. Brilliance and defeat. Ecstasy and despair. Two sides of the same coin, right? They're separated only by a the velocity of a spin or gravitational pull from our Mother Earth. Unavoidable. Unmanageable. Unimaginable. Or not? These are the feelings you will inevitably experience as a living, loving, breathing, growing, evolving human being. They're scary. They're jarring. They're life changing. They're normal. At times, they force you to look them in the eye and realize the limits of your comfort zone. They reveal the distinction between being passenger...

Start Your Day Right: 3 Tips for the Perfect Journal Entry

Start your morning right with a journal entry. They say the day is shaped by the tone of your morning ritual. So make it productive, uplifting, and grounding. There are many benefits of journaling. It's an emotional cleanse, a refocusing on the positive, and a reminder of your purpose and vision.  Try these tips to maximize the potential for your day and to keep you on target with your goals...

4 Steps to Bump Up Your Life

Why is it so difficult, and so important, to know the difference between thoughts and feelings? Sometimes thoughts happen so fast that they go unnoticed.   Instead, what we experience is a pit in the stomach, a racing heart and mind, or a sense of hopelessness that things will get better. It’s true that negative emotions seem instantaneous. They're automatic and natural consequences of events, right? Wrong!  That’s just not the case!   Although they can wash over us like a tidal wave, leaving us helplessly drowning in sorrow, fear, or numbness - there is a choice you can make between stressful events and negative feelings. Except for those real life fight or flight situations, where your safety or life is in actual danger, or in some post traumatic stress...

Feelings are Your Deeper Truth

Don’t you hate it when you’re having a good day then you’re T-boned by loneliness, fear, or guilt? Pump the brakes! What just happened? In the intersection of a pretty decent life, you’re suddenly reeling with negativity. If you are a living, breathing, wanting, moving, evolving human being - negative emotions will be part of the fully-wakeful-ever-expanding-consciousness-raising-life-experience-package. They can stop you in your tracks, or at least slow you down a bit.  But you can choose to take a closer look and use them as fuel to motivate and inspire you. Emotions are cues from your soul to make necessary changes in your life. When you pause to acknowledge them, back up and say hello to them, you can see them as such. They are internal informants that something...

Confidence Coaching – Empowering You

[caption id="attachment_1931" align="alignleft" width="300"] New York Psychotherapy and Life Coaching[/caption] Who hasn't experienced a knot in the stomach, a lightheaded feeling, or tunnel vision in the moments before a performance, important meeting, or unfamiliar situation? Nobody!  Whether you’re giving a talk, playing a song, or simply networking – stage fright is a very real thing.  Self confidence is at risk.  It is stifling to believe you didn't measure up or worse, you let someone down.  It can stop you from stretching to new heights and leave you longing for your safe zone – which might prompt a counterproductive step back to avoid the new challenge. Create your intention.  Recall moments you felt fully competent.  Tap into that feeling emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and viscerally.  Allow your consciousness to absorb all those positive thoughts, feelings,...

Putting the Brakes on Stress

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing seems to go right?  Maybe you’re rushed in the morning and get a flat tire on your way to work, making you late and stuck in traffic.  Perhaps your bicycle chain pops off in a busy intersection and you miss yoga class due to the time spent fixing it on the sidewalk, you’re stressed and your fingers are covered in black grease.  Or much worse, you get the bad news that a friend is sick and facing the uncertainty of an unknown diagnosis and unclear prognosis. You want to help but aren’t sure how. Sometimes a series of unfortunate events unfold before your eyes, face, and entire being. I won’t bore you with the details of...

Psychology Today: When Media Becomes Exploitation

This article was written by Heather Edwards and published during the 2014 Winter Olympics by Mark Banschick, M.D. in Psychology Today.  It summarizes the exploitive media interview with Bode Miller about the loss of his brother at the completion of his run, and the impact of grief.   This Olympics featured a phenomenal performance of the competitors in the men's super-G. Many of us were riveted and delighted by the competition. In the end, Norway's Kjetil Jansrud won the gold medal, Andrew Weibrecht brought home the silver, and Bode Miller rounded out the podium tied for the bronze with Canadian, Jan Hudek.  It was an awe inspiring show of the world's best athletes. Finding Pain in Victory: At the end of Bode Miller’s run, in the moment of victory and realizing that the sacrifice, sweat, and...