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heather edwards mindfulness

Racing in a New York Taxi: A lesson in mindfulness

Yesterday, I was taking a taxi cab across town to Penn Station with my dad. Our driver grunted and mumbled about gridlock the whole way. Clearly, he was frustrated and angry.   When we arrived at our destination, he barked, “No tip? Get out of the car!”. I showed him the $2 in my hand intended for him when he said, “Forget it! Get out! I have to go to work!”. I calmly and perplexedly replied, “You ARE at work. You’re already there.”. I got out of the car and wondered what I tend to rush through. You know that sense of urgency and pressure that compels you to hurry? It fuels impatience and frustration. It short circuits your effectiveness. It’s the focus on what’s next...

heather edwards anxiety fear

Anxiety Reduction: Tips from the experts

De-stressing Tips for Every Scenario Joanna Powell interviewed me for tips to manage performance anxiety - specifically, public speaking. Check out the article published in Pilates Style Magazine. Americans are the most anxious people on earth. But experts say arming yourself with natural ways to calm the chaos is easier than you might think. It can come without warning -- or reason. Suddenly you're woozy with dread, your breath gets short and quick, and your heart thrums in your ears like a low-flying helicopter. Anxiety. Panic. The mean reds. Whatever you call it, everyone suffers that queasy, uneasy feeling of angst and trepidation at some point in life. Since the turn of the millennium, anxiety has surpassed depression as the most prominent mental-health issue in America, according to the...

heather edwards, psychotherapist, mindfulness

Your Friends Have It All! 7 Steps to catch up.

Your friends are getting married and having babies. Some are moving to the burbs. Others are advancing in their careers making beaucoup bucks. Status, love, money, and recognition abound for everybody else. But what about you? You’re feeling lost. Your head swirls with uncertainty and doubt. You wonder if you’ll ever get what you want or feel satisfied with your life. You hear the clock ticking as the abyss between you and accomplishment widens. You wonder if you’ll ever catch up to those who seem to have it all. What happened? And where do you begin? Start with stopping. Just “drop in” to yourself and the moment. When your mind is racing and your heart is breaking, you’re probably spending too much time focusing on...

Is Fear Your Driver? Pump the brakes. Take the wheel.

How to conquer a phobia: The psychology behind phobias and how you can face them Jackson A. Thomas interviewed me for tips on managing anxiety and panic. Check out the article published in Chicago's Community Health Magazine. They often come out when it rains and they’re used as fish bait. But Candace Tucker isn’t going anywhere near them. “I used to fish with my dad and sisters a lot, so naturally worms were involved,” says Tucker, a resolution specialist in Parma, Ohio. “The more I looked at them I started noticing how nasty they are. It’s the smell of them, how they wiggle and the nastiest part: They can grow another head if one is cut off.” This fear of worms, called vermiphobia or scoleciphobia, has inflicted Tucker since...

Waiting for the Solar Eclipse

An hour before the eclipse, my eldest cat jumped into the windowsill. She seemed to know we were on the cusp of an astrological anomaly.  Oregon would be the first to experience it. Since I’m in NYC, I turned on the news and watched. Then, headed to my rooftop and awaited the northeast reveal. Wary to look directly at the sun because of warnings about permanent retinal damage, I wondered how I could see something I can’t look at. So I positioned my iphone camera toward the sun and it became my eyes. I took many photographs hoping for a brief separation in the clouds to capture this unusual phenomenon. Others were on their rooftops and balconies also awaiting a glimpse of the partial sun....

When Romance Dies: 7 Steps to Bounce Back

Someone yanked the carpet out from under you. You’re flabbergasted, broken-hearted, and wondering if you’ll ever love again.  You thought this was the one. It’s hard to imagine life without him. You were already thinking about next steps - marriage and children. What will you tell your friends and family? What will they think of you? Where did you go wrong? Your mind races as the tears flow. It hurts. Yet, as much as you wanted it to work, it wasn’t a perfect relationship anyway. In fact, there’s no perfect relationship. But, what now? Allow yourself to cry. The loss of a relationship - even if YOU did the breaking up - is a loss. It can feel like a mini grief cycle. Your feelings will...

The Art of Non-Attachment – Learning to let go

I heard the crash of my beloved pottery as it shattered on the cement floor. It jolted me. It freed me. 17 years ago when I was starting out as a potter (one of my passions), I toiled endlessly to make each piece perfect. The walls needed to be straight. The mouth perfectly circular, and the form of the body exact - that's the beauty and the art of it. My instructor painfully witnessed my labor and determination for perfection everyday. I attended every open studio session and took multiple classes per week. I knew if I worked hard enough, I'd get it. One night that instructor suggested non-attachment to the work. I had no idea of what he meant. He might as well have been speaking a foreign language...

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...

Scarcity to Abundance – Healing from loss

“How do you want to die?” These are the haunting words spoken by her doctor after being diagnosed with stage four cancer. Three months after her passing, I’ve turned toward and through my grief and loss seeking peace. Grief takes time. It can feel overwhelming and eternal. But it eventually changes. The cloud lifts. Clarity and lightness return. Our love for those who have passed before us never dies and perhaps that’s what keeps us moving forward. They’re never really gone. They live on in memories, moments, and a felt sense of connection to them. While sitting on the edge of loss and wholeness, I’m struck by the flood of ideas about cultivating a robust authentic life. It’s an integration of real science from multiple areas of...