Shame has got to be one of the most uncomfortable experiences of human life. When I’m working with my clients on shame and I ask them what shame feels like, they might tell me it’s a sickness in their stomach or a thick, sludge-like energy that makes them want to crawl out of their skin. Shame has the power to make you want to do almost anything to get away from that feeling.

And yet, every feeling that we are capable of feeling has a purpose and a reason. Sometimes that reason goes back to our very survival. So, what could be the upside of shame?

Anxiety is one of the most common experiences we have as human beings. It can be a natural reaction to occasional stressful events, but for some of us it is a constant state. Many think of it as a version of fear, and fear may certainly be present with anxiety, but anxiety is more complicated than that. Anxiety has a few functions that can be helpful to understand. When we understand that anxiety can be a teacher, we may be able to soften it a little bit and find out what it’s trying to teach us.

Explore how what we eat and how we feel are connected, and discover new tips for supporting your relationship with food.

When we talk about self-care, we often think of activities like taking a hot bath or going to a yoga class. But self-care truly refers to the most basic aspects of tending to the animals that are our bodies, and one of those aspects is food. There is an intimate relationship between food and mood, and it’s one we often take for granted. The kind of food we eat, how much of it we eat, and when we eat it can greatly affect our resilience, ability to rest, hormonal rhythm, and more.

This year, loss has been a major theme, not only in terms of the mortality of a long pandemic season but also in terms of our everyday routines and the many things we took for granted before. As the days get shorter and darker, we are moving into the fall and winter seasons, which are natural times to think about grief and loss.