Written by Genna Barbara Zimmel, Founder of Torus Solutions Genna Barbara Zimmel is an AI implementation strategist, Technical Project Manager, and founder of Torus Solutions, a company that builds intelligent AI systems, CRM automation, and conversational AI products. She is also the creator of Sibyl, an AI companion designed to enhance human self-understanding and relationships. There are some conversations most people never have, not because they do not matter, but because they are difficult to admit, even to ourselves. The attraction you cannot explain. The relationship you cannot let go of. The message you keep rereading. The loneliness that hides behind being “busy.” The fear that you are asking for too much or settling for too little. These are not questions that can always be answered with generic advice or ten-step relationship guides. They require reflection, curiosity, and honesty. That is why we built Sibyl, not as another AI chatbot, but as an AI companion designed to help people explore the emotional patterns, relationship dynamics, and internal conflicts that shape their lives without judgement or a filter. That is Sibyl’s job. More than a chatbot Sibyl does not pretend to be human. She is not a therapist, an AI girlfriend, or someone who is here to tell you what you want to hear. Instead, she helps you slow down, look beneath the surface, and understand what may be driving the situation you are experiencing. Every conversation begins with one question: “What is on your mind?” Whether you are navigating dating, long-term relationships, attachment, desire, communication, rejection, self-worth, or uncertainty, Sibyl looks beyond the immediate problem to explore the emotional patterns beneath it. People rarely struggle with the event itself. They struggle with what it means. Designed around emotional intelligence Every conversation with Sibyl follows the same philosophy. She observes before she interprets and looks for patterns before offering perspective. She challenges assumptions rather than reinforcing them and encourages curiosity instead of certainty. The goal is not to provide answers. It is to help you ask better questions because the conversations that change us are rarely the ones that give us certainty. They are the ones that help us see ourselves more clearly. Built with modern AI Behind every conversation is an evolving AI platform that combines carefully engineered prompts, contextual memory, behavioural design, and conversational architecture. Sibyl is not simply responding to messages. She is being designed to understand context, recognise recurring emotional patterns, maintain continuity across conversations, and create an experience that feels thoughtful rather than transactional. Every feature is guided by one simple belief: AI should help people understand themselves better, not replace genuine human connection. This is just the beginning Today marks the public launch of the Sibyl web app, and what you are seeing today is the foundation of a much larger vision. Over the coming months, we will continue expanding Sibyl with richer conversational memory, deeper contextual understanding, Founder Memberships, community experiences, and new capabilities that help people better understand themselves and the relationships that matter most. Alongside the product, we will also be documenting the entire journey publicly, from prompt engineering and AI architecture to product strategy, automation, memory systems, and what it really takes to build a modern AI companion from the ground up. Sibyl is not a finished product, though she is pretty damn good as she is. She is an evolving conversation, one that will continue to learn, improve, and grow with the people who choose to be part of it. If you have ever wished there were somewhere to untangle your thoughts without judgement, wanted to understand your relationships more deeply, or simply felt curious about what emotionally intelligent AI can become, we would love to meet you. Start your first conversation today here. Your first 10 messages are free. Follow me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Genna Barbara Zimmel Genna Barbara Zimmel, Founder of Torus Solutions Genna Zimmel is the founder of Torus Solutions and creator of Sibyl, an AI companion built on the principle of Support Over Dependency. She designs and implements conversational AI systems, CRM automation, and multi-agent workflows for organizations navigating the next generation of AI adoption. Genna builds in public, documents the real work behind intelligent systems, and is currently completing formal training in Cloud Computing and Python for AI.

Written by Barbara Suigo, HR Consultant, Author & Independent Researcher in Organisational Behaviour Barbara Suigo is an Italian-French author, HR consultant, and independent researcher specialising in power dynamics and organisational behaviour. She is the author of five books and explores topics including charisma, organisational psychology, and the abuse of power in the workplace through articles, podcasts, and books. In organizations, something that appears difficult to explain can happen more often than we might think: a manager begins to create problems, the people around them notice, the signals become increasingly difficult to dismiss over time, and despite this, those with the power to intervene continue to support them. The most immediate explanation is that senior leaders simply do not know what is happening. Sometimes that is certainly the case, but not always, because there are situations in which the information reaches them, is heard, and yet fails to produce the change one would expect. This is the aspect I want to explore here. I have already written extensively about the behavior of toxic managers and the consequences they can produce. This time, I would like to shift the focus to the other side and try to understand what happens in the minds of those who protect them. Because recognizing that you are dealing with a bad manager can mean something far more difficult, especially for the person who chose them: recognizing that you were wrong. When a first impression becomes a conviction One possible starting point is the halo effect, described by psychologist Edward L. Thorndike as early as 1920. The principle is well known: a positive judgment about one characteristic tends to influence the overall judgment we form about a person, and it is something that can happen to any of us. In a company, this can carry considerable weight. A senior manager who is initially perceived as brilliant, reliable, or particularly effective does not simply receive a positive evaluation. A reputation gradually begins to form around them. Reputations have an interesting quality: once they have been established, they are not necessarily reconsidered every time new information appears. The issue, then, does not concern only the initial impression, but what happens afterward, when evidence begins to emerge that no longer fits that image. Admitting that we were wrong is harder than we think In the 1950s, American social psychologist Leon Festinger, then a professor at Stanford University and regarded as one of the most influential social psychologists of the twentieth century, developed the theory of cognitive dissonance. According to Festinger, when we are faced with beliefs or information that are incompatible with one another, we experience psychological tension that we tend, in one way or another, to reduce. In 1959, Festinger and fellow social psychologist James M. Carlsmith carried out an experiment that became a classic in the study of cognitive dissonance. Participants were assigned deliberately monotonous and tedious tasks. Some were then asked to convince the next participant that the experiment had actually been interesting and enjoyable. One group received 1 dollar for doing so, while another received 20 dollars, a considerable difference at the time. The most interesting result concerned those who had received only one dollar: afterward, they rated the activity as more enjoyable than those who had received twenty. The explanation proposed by the researchers was that 20 dollars provided sufficient external justification for saying something they did not believe, whereas a single dollar did not. This created greater dissonance between "the task was boring" and "I told someone else it was interesting." One way of reducing that tension was to alter, at least partly, their own attitude towards the experience. Now consider someone who has personally supported a manager's career for several years. They chose that person, backed them, and probably defended them through difficult moments, perhaps even presenting them as one of the strongest people in the organization. Then different information begins to emerge: some employees describe troubling incidents, while others question the way the manager leads the team. At that point, the information no longer concerns only the manager because it inevitably begins to involve the judgment of the person who selected them. Taking it fully seriously may require revisiting a decision in which a great deal has already been invested, perhaps on a personal level as well. This is precisely when we may begin, often without realizing it, to look for explanations that are less destabilizing. A conflict that initially appeared to reveal a management problem may be reinterpreted in light of the employee's personality, or questionable behavior may be treated as an isolated incident, not significant enough to alter the overall judgment formed over the years. In this way, the original conviction remains largely intact, while the new information is gradually adjusted until it becomes compatible with what was already believed. Another particularly interesting psychological mechanism comes into play here. In the 1990s, Ziva Kunda, a social psychologist and professor at the University of Waterloo, published a study that became a key reference in the field of motivated reasoning. Kunda showed that the way we reason is not always independent of the conclusion we would prefer to reach. When we have an interest in believing that a certain conclusion is true, we may become more receptive to the arguments that support it and more demanding towards the information that challenges it. This does not necessarily mean consciously distorting reality. We may continue to see ourselves as entirely rational because the conclusion we reach still has to appear justifiable to us. Applied to this case, motivated reasoning helps explain why someone who has supported a manager for years may not assess all the information concerning that person by the same standard. Information consistent with the positive judgment built over time may be accepted relatively easily, precisely because it confirms something already believed to be true. A negative report, by contrast, challenges that conviction and may be examined much more severely: greater attention is given to its reliability, to the circumstances in which the problem arose, or to the credibility of the person reporting it. This is exactly what makes the phenomenon so interesting: we can be entirely sincere while finding excellent reasons not to change our minds. Protecting a manager or protecting a decision? In the 1970s, organizational behavior scholar Barry Staw began studying a phenomenon that would become central to research on decision making: escalation of commitment. The concept describes the tendency to continue investing in a decision already made even when evidence begins to suggest that it should be reconsidered. The issue becomes even more interesting when the person deciding whether to continue is the same person who supported the original choice. In the years that followed, social psychologist Joel Brockner expanded the literature on escalation of commitment, focusing in part on the role of self-justification. Abandoning a decision in which we have invested does not simply mean giving up what we have built. It may also mean admitting that our initial judgment was wrong. Applied to managerial careers, this mechanism takes on particular significance. An important promotion rarely depends on one isolated decision. Over the years, a person may be selected for increasingly important roles, supported through successive career steps, and presented as deserving of further trust. Each advancement strengthens the previous one and at the same time, draws in the credibility of those who approved it. When serious concerns later emerge about that manager's behavior, removing them means more than replacing someone who is not working out. It may require acknowledging that a choice supported over time should have been questioned earlier. This is where escalation of commitment becomes particularly useful to our argument: continuing to defend the manager may become, at least in part, a way of continuing to defend the decision to believe in them. "They have always behaved perfectly well with me" There is a phrase that often appears when problematic behavior is reported about people who enjoy an excellent reputation: "It has never happened with me." The fact that someone behaves appropriately with a person who holds more power does not necessarily tell us how they behave with those who hold less. The unequal distribution of power should, in fact, make us cautious about generalizing from personal experience. A superior may know a very different version of the manager from the one known by that manager's employees, without either experience necessarily being false. If, however, the person responsible for judging the situation gives greater weight to their own direct experience, "I know them well," accounts coming from lower levels of the organization risk being treated as exceptions to the person they believe they know. This is how a reputation can become surprisingly resistant to evidence. When bad news travels up the hierarchy There is another issue to consider: negative information does not always circulate within an organization as easily as positive information. “In social psychology, this is known as the MUM effect, or keeping mum about unwanted messages.” It describes the reluctance to communicate bad news, particularly when doing so may have unpleasant consequences for the person delivering it. Later studies observed the same mechanism within organizational hierarchies, where the difference in power between the person holding the information and the person meant to receive it can influence how that information is communicated. This becomes especially relevant when the problem concerns a manager who already enjoys a strong reputation at senior levels. What employees experience every day may travel up the hierarchy in increasingly cautious language, reaching the top in a much more diluted form. The process can unfold without any deliberate attempt to conceal what is happening because the person delivering the bad news knows they are speaking about someone more powerful, perhaps someone supported by the very person to whom the problem must be reported. That alone may be enough to shape how the situation is described. A curious distance then begins to emerge: what is already regarded as an obvious problem at lower levels may appear far less serious as it moves upward through the hierarchy. If that softened information then clashes with a positive judgment built over years, we return to the motivated reasoning discussed earlier. It becomes easier to understand how the same manager can be perceived in radically different ways depending on the position from which they are observed. What if the problem also lies with the person who made the choice? This brings us to an issue that receives far less attention in discussions of toxic leadership. When an organization keeps someone in a position of power despite repeated problems, concentrating all attention on that manager's characteristics risks making us overlook an important part of the story because, sooner or later, we also need to examine those who continue to support them. When an organization protects a manager it has many reasons to question, it may not be protecting only that person. It may also be protecting the belief that choosing them was the right decision. This is probably one of the hardest aspects to recognize because it shifts the problem from the behavior of one individual to the organization's ability to revisit its own decisions. Identifying a problematic manager is relatively simple when we observe them from the outside. It becomes far more difficult when that person was selected, promoted, and supported by the very people now expected to judge them. Ultimately, the quality of an organization is not measured only by its ability to choose the right people. It is also measured by the freedom it preserves to recognize when a choice was wrong and to correct it before the most competent people are the ones who pay the price. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Barbara Suigo Barbara Suigo, HR Consultant, Author & Independent Researcher in Organisational Behaviour Barbara Suigo is an Italian-French author, HR consultant, and independent researcher specialising in power dynamics and organisational behaviour. She is the author of five books. Her work explores charisma, organisational psychology, manipulation, and the abuse of power in the workplace, making complex international research accessible through books, articles, interviews, and podcasts.

Written by Louise Chapman, Author, Creator of the Embodied Identity™ Method, and Trauma-Informed Life Coach Louise is the author of You Are the Cause and creator of the Embodied Identity™ Method, a framework built on one radical premise: that identity, not effort, is the true engine of transformation. She draws on 7+ years in healing service roles and certifications in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), somatic therapy, hypnotherapy, Compassion Key, and Akashic Record Reading. My father died recently. I have sat with that sentence for a while now, turning it over, feeling its weight and its strange lightness. My father died. A former pastry chef and guitarist who achieved some fame in his day as “El Ron”. A man who shaped the earliest years of my life in ways I am still understanding. A man who, by the end, was barely recognisable, his body hollowed out by throat cancer, unable to eat solid food, reduced to skin stretched over bone in a way that made it difficult to reconcile the person in front of me with the person who had loomed so large in my childhood. He is gone. What I feel is not what I expected to feel. Or rather, it is more than I expected. More complicated, more layered, more simultaneously contradictory than grief has any right to be. There is sadness. There is anger, old anger, the kind that has been living in my body for decades, suddenly with nowhere left to go. There is something I am almost ashamed to name: relief. I am naming it anyway. Because I think many of you reading this know exactly what I mean. Because the shame that attaches itself to that relief is itself something worth examining. “Grief is supposed to be simple. We are supposed to lose someone we loved and mourn that loss. But what happens when the relationship you are mourning never gave you what it was supposed to?” The childhood I am still grieving My father had narcissistic personality disorder. I did not understand that when I was a child. I only understood the effects of it: the way his hatred of my mother became, at times, a hatred of the parts of me that reminded him of her. The way his need for control expressed itself as cruelty. The way love, in our household, was always conditional, something to be earned and just as easily revoked. When my parents divorced, my father fought for custody of my sister and me to spite our mother. When I was eight years old, he moved us to Australia, to the other side of the world. He did it to put an ocean between my mother and her children. To take from her the thing he knew she loved most. We were collateral in a war we did not start and did not understand. We were told our mother did not want to see us. That she was dangerous. That she had chosen to leave us behind. Of course, it was all a lie. My mother spent years trying to reach us. My father spent those same years ensuring she could not. My sister and I grew up on the other side of the world, inside a story about ourselves and our mother that was constructed entirely to serve one man’s need for revenge. What followed those years in Australia was eight years of physical and psychological abuse. Not the dramatic, recognisable kind that is easy to name and easy for others to validate. The quieter, more insidious kind. The daily erosion. The messages embedded so deeply into a child’s developing sense of self that by the time I was old enough to question them, they felt like truth. The man at the end By the time my father was dying, the man who had scared me as a child was gone in a different way. Cancer had done what decades of living had not. It had taken his power. Not just his physical power, though that was ravaged. His presence. His capacity to dominate a room, to make you feel small with a look or a silence. That person had retreated somewhere, leaving behind a body I did not recognise. Skin and bone. That is not a metaphor. He could not eat. The throat cancer had taken that from him, and with it the substance of him, until what remained seemed barely tethered to the man I remembered. I would look at him and feel the dissonance of it, this frail, diminished body and the enormous shadow it had once cast over my entire childhood. There is something deeply disorienting about watching someone who frightened you become frightened themselves. About watching someone who wielded power become powerless. I did not feel the triumph I might have once imagined I would feel. I felt something closer to sorrow, not for the loss of him, exactly, but for everything that had been lost long before this moment. For the father he could have been. For the childhood I could have had. For the relationship that never existed and now never would. “There is something deeply disorienting about watching someone who frightened you become frightened themselves.” The anger that has nowhere to go Grief after losing a difficult parent is strange because it is not only grief for the person who died. It is grief for the parent you never had. Grief for the childhood that was taken. Grief for the version of yourself that might have existed if things had been different. Underneath all of that, in my case, is anger. Real, legitimate anger that is decades old. The anger that a child could not feel safely. The anger that got buried under survival, under the fawning and the freezing and the trying to be good enough that abuse teaches children to perform. The anger that I have been doing healing work around for years, but that his death has stirred up with a force I did not entirely anticipate. Because here is what nobody tells you about the death of an abusive parent: the anger does not get resolved by the death. In some ways, the death makes it harder. When they are alive, there is at least the theoretical possibility of an apology. Of acknowledgement. Of the conversation you always knew you needed but never got. Death closes that door permanently. The anger, which was always, underneath, a grief for what you deserved and did not receive, has nowhere left to go except inward. Unless you give it somewhere to go. In my work with the Embodied Identity™ Method, I have come to understand anger not as a problem to manage but as information to read. Anger is what arises when a boundary was violated and not defended. When something that mattered was taken without consent. When love was owed and withheld. My anger at my father is not pathological. It is the appropriate response of a child, and then an adult, to what actually happened. It deserves to be felt. It deserves to be honoured. It deserves, eventually, to be released, not for his sake, but for mine. The relief, and the guilt about the relief Then there is the relief. I notice it and immediately want to qualify it, to make it more palatable, to explain it in a way that doesn’t make me sound like a bad person. But I am going to resist that impulse, because I think the impulse itself is worth examining. The relief is real. It is not relief that he suffered. It is not relief that he is gone as a person. It is relief that a particular kind of threat, one that existed in my body as a low, constant hum for my entire life, even after I had done years of healing work, is no longer present in the world. The nervous system is remarkably honest about these things. Mine knew, even when my mind had done a great deal of processing and integrating, that he was still there. Still existing. Still capable, theoretically, of the things he had once done. He is no longer capable. Something in me has exhaled. The guilt about the relief is, I think, a conditioned response. We are taught that we should love our parents. We are taught that death deserves mourning. We are taught that speaking ill of the dead, or feeling relief at their passing, is a moral failure. But these teachings were written for uncomplicated losses. They were not written for those of us who are grieving a relationship that was never what it should have been, and a person who caused genuine harm. Relief is not the opposite of grief. It can coexist with grief. It can coexist with love, even the complicated, painful love that can exist for someone who hurt you. These feelings are not contradictions. They are the honest emotional landscape of a complicated loss. You are allowed to inhabit all of it. “Relief is not the opposite of grief. It can coexist with grief. It can coexist with love, even the complicated, painful love that can exist for someone who hurt you.” How to process grief that is also anger that is also relief If you are reading this and recognising your own experience in it, the tangled, contradictory, socially unsanctioned mess of losing a parent who caused you harm, I want to offer you what I am offering myself. First: let all of it be true at the same time. Do not make yourself choose between grief and anger and relief. Do not decide that feeling one means you shouldn’t be feeling the others. The emotional reality of a complicated loss is not meant to be tidy. Trying to force it into tidiness is itself a form of abandoning yourself. Second: understand that the grief you are feeling is probably not only for the person who died. It is for the parent they never were. For the relationship you deserved and did not have. For the child you were, who needed something different and did not get it. That grief is real and it is old. It deserves as much space as the grief for the person themselves, probably more. Third: give the anger somewhere honest to go. Not suppressed, not performed, not directed at people who don’t deserve it. Write it. Speak it into a voice note. Move it through your body. Bring it into a therapeutic relationship where it can be witnessed without judgment. Anger held in the body becomes a wound. Anger expressed and acknowledged becomes a completion. Fourth: do not let anyone, including yourself, shame you for the relief. You are allowed to feel safe now. You are allowed to breathe out. You are allowed to acknowledge, quietly or loudly, that something in your life has become less heavy. That is not a character flaw. That is your nervous system telling the truth. Fifth: know that grief like this does not have a clear endpoint. It does not resolve itself on a timeline that other people’s condolences are designed for. It will surface in unexpected moments. It will ask things of you that simpler losses do not ask. It will, if you let it, become part of what deepens your understanding of yourself and the work you are here to do. What I know, today My father is gone. The man who moved his two girls to the other side of the world to punish their mother. The man who spent years ensuring we did not know she was looking for us. The man who was cruel in the ways that frightened, withdrawn people can be cruel, not always in dramatic gestures, but in the daily atmosphere of a home where love was rationed and safety was conditional. He was also, somewhere, a person in pain. A person whose own wounds were so unexamined, so defended against, that he passed them on to his children rather than face them himself. I am not offering that as an excuse. I am offering it as the truth of how harm travels, from person to person, generation to generation, until someone decides to stop and look at it directly. I decided to stop and look at it. That decision became my healing work. It became the Embodied Identity™ Method. It became my book, and my life’s work, and the reason I sit with people in their most complicated emotional places and say: all of this is allowed. All of it makes sense. All of it can change. My father is gone. I am still here. I am, in ways I could not have imagined as the eight-year-old on that plane leaving her mother behind, finally free. That is not a betrayal of grief. That is its most honest completion. As a thank you for reading this article to the very end, I’m offering my eight-week, one-to-one Embodied Identity™ program at half the regular price, with a free global holiday accommodation voucher worth $1,000 for completing it. The program is for you if you're a driven person who wants to overcome past traumas that are threatening to destroy your career and relationships, increase your confidence, earning power, and visibility, and become the most empowered version of yourself using my proprietary Embodied Identity™ Method. It's $2,222 AUD for the first 10 people who direct message me on my socials with “I'm In” only, then the price reverts to $4,444 AUD. Why am I doing this for such a low price? Because I'm passionate about helping people who need the help. I'm not the biggest name in trauma-informed, somatic hypnotherapy out there, and I may be just like you. I used to sabotage myself for years without understanding why and used anything to numb the pain, so I know where you're coming from. The half-price offer is genuinely a one-time thing. The free global holiday accommodation voucher worth $1,000, just for participating, comes standard with the eight-week program. Direct message me “I'm In” to reserve your spot and have a blessed day. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more info! Read more from Louise Chapman Louise Chapman, Author, Creator of the Embodied Identity™ Method and Trauma-Informed Life Coach Louise is the author of You Are the Cause and creator of the Embodied Identity™ Method, the framework that proves identity, not effort, is what actually changes your life. A trauma-informed spiritual life coach with seven years in healing and certifications across NLP, somatic therapy, hypnotherapy, and the Compassion Key Method, she has spent her career doing one thing: orienting people back to the truth that they are the cause of their experience and, therefore, the only one with the power to change it.

Written by Anne Wallen, Director and Founder of MaternityWise International Anne Wallen is a respected figure in women’s health with over 30 years of experience and is a leading voice on global change in maternity care, particularly for those at greatest risk. Preeclampsia remains one of the most serious complications of pregnancy and one of the leading contributors to maternal and infant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Along with obstetric hemorrhage, infection, thromboembolic disease, and cardiomyopathy, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy account for a substantial proportion of maternal deaths. Even when not fatal, preeclampsia can lead to stroke, placental abruption, acute kidney injury, pulmonary edema, liver dysfunction, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), fetal growth restriction, medically indicated preterm birth, and lifelong cardiovascular disease for the mother. The tragedy is that many cases develop gradually, with warning signs that can be recognized if mothers and their support teams know what to look for. Unfortunately, the problem is worsening. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's newly released National Vital Statistics Report, the rate of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy has increased dramatically over the past decade. More than one in ten women giving birth in the United States now experience gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, representing an increase of more than 70 percent since 2016. Researchers note that maternal age and obesity alone do not account for the rise, indicating that the causes are likely multifactorial and deserving of much deeper investigation. As maternity professionals, educators, and advocates, we should certainly pay attention to these statistics. But rather than responding with fear, we should respond with knowledge. Beyond the blood pressure cuff "Preeclampsia is far more complex than just elevated blood pressure." It is a multisystem disorder involving abnormal placental development, endothelial dysfunction, immune system alterations, systemic inflammation, vascular changes, oxidative stress, and impaired maternal cardiovascular adaptation. While medicine has made remarkable advances in recognizing and managing severe disease, our healthcare system often remains focused on identifying complications after they begin rather than maximizing maternal wellness before they occur. Fortunately, there is growing recognition that improving maternal health before and throughout pregnancy matters. Evidence supports optimizing chronic medical conditions before conception, maintaining appropriate prenatal care, managing diabetes and chronic hypertension, encouraging regular physical activity, obtaining sufficient sleep, reducing tobacco exposure, and identifying women who may benefit from interventions such as low-dose aspirin based on established clinical guidelines. These measures cannot eliminate every case of preeclampsia, but they represent meaningful opportunities to reduce risk and improve overall pregnancy health. Nutrition is more than calories "One of the most overlooked aspects of prenatal care is nutritional education." Pregnancy dramatically increases physiological demands on nearly every organ system. Blood volume expands by approximately 40 to 50 percent. The placenta becomes a metabolically active organ requiring substantial nutrient delivery. Maternal kidneys, liver, cardiovascular system, endocrine system, and immune system all adapt to support the developing baby. "These remarkable changes require adequate nutritional reserves." Research has associated poor dietary quality with increased inflammation, insulin resistance, vascular dysfunction, and metabolic disease, factors that are also implicated in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. While no single nutrient prevents preeclampsia, evidence suggests that a balanced diet rich in high-quality protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and appropriate micronutrients, especially a complex of methylated B vitamins along with adequate magnesium, supports maternal cardiovascular and metabolic health. Addressing deficiencies when identified, promoting hydration, supporting healthy blood sugar regulation, and encouraging individualized nutrition planning are all practical ways to strengthen maternal wellbeing. At MaternityWise International, we believe nutrition deserves to be discussed long before labor begins, not as a restrictive set of rules, but as one of the foundational ways families can nourish both mother and baby. Since doulas are influential throughout their client families’ journeys through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, and are able to spend much more time prenatally educating and supporting them through these changes, they have the opportunity to make a profoundly positive impact. Lifestyle matters because physiology matters Modern pregnancy exists within an increasingly demanding environment. Chronic stress, inadequate sleep, highly processed foods, sedentary lifestyles, environmental exposures, financial insecurity, and limited access to nutritious foods all influence maternal physiology. Although none of these factors alone explains preeclampsia, together they create a landscape in which inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and cardiovascular strain may become more likely. Supporting maternal health therefore requires a broader conversation, and doulas are in a fantastic position to have that conversation. They can get to know the client’s current status, give advice, educate, and support healthy changes as needed. Simple practices such as regular movement, restorative sleep, hydration, stress reduction techniques, mindfulness, appropriate weight management, and emotional support contribute to healthier pregnancies. Equally important is ensuring that women feel heard, respected, and empowered to seek medical evaluation whenever something feels wrong. A mother who understands her body is not "difficult." She is engaged in her own healthcare, and that is powerfully positive. Recognizing the symptoms of preeclampsia that save lives Education is most powerful when it prepares families to recognize danger early. Every pregnant woman should know that the following symptoms require prompt medical assessment: Persistent or severe headache Visual disturbances such as blurred vision or flashing lights Right upper quadrant or epigastric pain Sudden swelling of the hands, face, or eyes Rapid weight gain caused by fluid retention Shortness of breath Elevated blood pressure Decreased fetal movement Far too often, these symptoms are minimized, dismissed, or attributed to "normal pregnancy." While many pregnancy discomforts are indeed benign, hypertensive disorders can progress rapidly. Timely evaluation can mean the difference between routine treatment and life-threatening complications. The unique role of the doula This is where professional doulas provide tremendous value. Doulas are not medical providers. They do not diagnose disease, prescribe treatment, or replace physicians or midwives. Instead, they become trusted educators, compassionate observers, skilled communicators, and consistent sources of support throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Because doulas often spend significantly more uninterrupted time with families than any other member of the healthcare team, they are uniquely positioned to reinforce healthy habits, encourage prenatal attendance, facilitate informed conversations, and help parents recognize when symptoms deserve immediate medical attention. This is not practicing medicine. It is practicing vigilance, education, and compassionate support. How MaternityWise helps change the trajectory At MaternityWise International, we believe reducing maternal mortality begins long before an emergency room visit or labor admission. Our curriculum intentionally prepares doulas to understand the physiology of pregnancy, the pathophysiology of hypertensive disorders, and the evidence-informed strategies that support healthier pregnancies. Students receive comprehensive education in maternal nutrition, hydration, appropriate weight gain, blood sugar balance, inflammation, sleep health, stress physiology, prenatal exercise, and the social determinants of health that influence pregnancy outcomes. "Just as importantly, they learn professional accountability." Our doulas are taught never to dismiss concerning symptoms or reassure a client when medical evaluation is warranted. Instead, they learn to recognize red flags within their scope of practice, encourage immediate communication with physicians or midwives, reinforce adherence to clinical recommendations, document observations appropriately, and remain a calm, compassionate presence throughout the process. We also teach something equally important: "Education is not about creating fear. It is about creating confidence." When families understand why healthy nutrition matters, how lifestyle influences pregnancy, what symptoms deserve attention, and when to seek medical care, they become empowered partners in protecting maternal health rather than passive recipients of healthcare. A shared responsibility No single profession will solve the maternal mortality crisis. Physicians, midwives, nurses, dietitians, public health professionals, doulas, childbirth educators, policymakers, researchers, and families each hold an important piece of the solution. Education alone cannot eliminate preeclampsia, but education changes behaviors. It improves communication. It strengthens partnerships between families and healthcare providers. It promotes earlier recognition of complications. It supports healthier pregnancies from the very beginning. Most importantly, it reminds every expectant mother that her body deserves nourishment, her concerns deserve to be heard, and her symptoms deserve to be taken seriously. If we hope to change the future of maternal health, we must begin where lasting change always begins, with knowledge, compassion, accountability, and a commitment to helping families thrive long before complications arise. Follow me on Facebook Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Anne Wallen Anne Wallen, Director and Founder of MaternityWise International Anne Wallen is a respected figure in women’s health with over 30 years of experience and is a leading voice on global change in maternity care, particularly for those at greatest risk. She continues to educate and empower birth professionals in more than 20 countries, contributes to a variety of curricula, and shapes the future of maternal health through her impactful role as a speaker and mentor. Anne is the Director and founder of MaternityWise International, and her legacy lies in inspiring generational changes and elevating women's healthcare worldwide. References: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Gestational Hypertension and Preeclampsia. Practice Bulletin No. 222. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Hypertension and Preeclampsia in Pregnancy. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Vital Statistics Reports. Births: Provisional Data for 2025. Volume 75, Number 4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System. American Heart Association. High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy. The New York Times. Belluck, P. (July 29, 2026). High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy Has Surged in the U.S.

Written by Katja Christine Strube, Grief Counselor & Author Katja's compassionate and innovative approach to grief, loss, and trauma offers clients hope and renewed purpose. She authored "Dealing with Grief," a practical guide explaining why death remains taboo and how to break free from grief's grip. Generational trauma is real. Mothers raise their daughters the way their mothers raised them. Even if this means teaching their daughters to suffer in silence in a relationship and to obey instead of choosing freedom and love. It might also mean neglecting or abusing their children the same way they were treated by their parents. Or it might mean fathers teaching their sons to be strong and to suck it up when it comes to emotions. Sometimes, they may teach them that ignoring their feelings and being the family's provider is the only true way to go. Even further, if they do not get things the way they want, drinking or other substance use, neglect, or abuse is considered okay to keep order in the family.[1] As an example, my ex-husband and I both grew up in households where love was shown only when we excelled or proved useful to the family. Meanwhile, our families were unhappy, faced financial difficulties, and harboured resentment towards the world. So, to simplify it, the way our parents, and probably their parents before them, portrayed the definition of family to us was reflected in our relationship. Diving a bit deeper, we have two people who meet at one point. They are fully attracted to each other, and there was love at the beginning, no doubt about it. Two people escaping their lives to form a new unit. Now you are combining their trauma. Because that never leaves. It is part of your soul blueprint. You take that baggage into your new relationship. That is the moment when you create a disaster if one or both partners did not experience unconditional love at home. One day in your relationship, a death happens, and those are the moments when you are faced with the reality of life. A person dies, and that exact moment brings up all the memories and emotions we might have parked in the back of our minds while living our lives before our relationship. The feelings and behaviours we learned when we were younger around death. Coping mechanisms around grief and sadness, healthy or unhealthy, you name it. We apply those to the current loss. We might openly express them by crying or talking about the loss, or we might try to avoid those heavy emotions, pretending to have control over the situation. Different emotions surface as we try to deal with the situation. Family dynamics that seemed healthy are now destroyed, almost in an instant. We break apart, mourning not only a loved one but also ourselves for enduring the inevitable. This is where relationships not only suffer or become strained but also become a ticking time bomb if no healing occurs. We might grow into angry, resentful, depressed individuals who wake each morning hating our lives and ourselves for losing control. What most of us do not realize is that those learned patterns are not truly ours. Feeling undeserving, unworthy, or perhaps as though we do not belong feels almost normal in our society. Many of us were born and raised in a society that shaped us without our even noticing. Finding out your soul blueprint does not happen overnight. Sometimes, people feel relieved for a short period when trying out certain coping styles or changing their lifestyle, but that relief is only short-lived. Numbing ourselves with substances or seeking the ultimate rush by trying new things, such as hobbies, buying excessive amounts of new clothing, or moving to different locations, may provide temporary relief. We might even hoard things to feel connected, only to find that none of it fixes the deep emotional pain. Peace can arise when we learn to connect with our higher self. It feels like the holy grail, our true purpose here on Earth. Breaking free from the generational karmic cycle can be frightening. Sometimes, once we begin, we may feel compelled to leave everything behind. I experienced this. It was unavoidable. There was nothing more to fix, maintain, or invest in within that marriage. I left my marriage, my home, my family, and some friends. It was scary at first. I don’t view this as failure now. Instead, I see it as mourning a relationship that had been broken for nearly 35 years, even before it truly began. I emerged with a sense of relief and pride. I finally felt genuinely connected, connected with my higher self. When we grieve and mourn relationships, we forget that they were never truly ours to hold onto and that they are never meant to be fixed by us alone. Instead, we need to heal ourselves, listen to our soul, and align with our true values and beliefs. Once that realization settles in, loving ourselves becomes natural. Love fills our hearts, and authentic peace eventually anchors within us. This is our birthright: being happy, loving ourselves, and living in peace. Not forced, not bought, not dependent on someone else. It has always been ours from the beginning. We just need to listen to what we truly want. When you genuinely reconnect with yourself, you'll see that you can mourn any kind of loss because it's part of life's journey on Earth. You will be sad and mourn, but it will not destroy you. Meeting people, places, and situations, sometimes for a lifetime, sometimes as mirrors or signs, and other times only briefly, guides your growth. When you understand your higher self, your purpose on Earth naturally emerges without effort. Because of this understanding, you will always have the confidence and peace to know that everything will be okay, even in the face of death or trauma. Our lives are not meant to punish us. Deep down, we know happiness and peace exist. Sometimes, we just need to begin our journey to rediscover them. I sincerely hope you have found your happiness and peace, and if not, that you start your journey towards awakening. Visit my website for more info! Read more from Katja Christine Strube Katja Christine Strube, Grief Counselor & Author Katja has dedicated her life to helping others overcome feelings of disconnect and not belonging. After experiencing personal trauma and loss, she found renewed purpose through volunteering with a local Hospice, offering support to clients facing difficult life challenges. Her extensive academic achievements and personal experiences allow her to understand her clients' struggles from multiple perspectives. Her compassion and empathy make her guidance impactful. Through unwavering commitment, she transforms counseling into a healing and empowering experience. Reference: [1] Bowe, C., Thomas, C., & Mackey, P. (2025). Perspective to Practice: Theoretical frameworks explaining intergenerational trauma, violence, and maltreatment and implications for the therapeutic response. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(3), 321.

Written by Davida Shensky, Career & Personal Development Strategy Coach As the founder of Career Performance Institute, I have spent over 40 years creating coaching, training, and business development programs that empower entrepreneurs, speakers, podcasters, and people with disabilities to build sustainable businesses, increase visibility, and create lasting financial success. Many entrepreneurs assume that securing a corporate sponsor comes down to having a large audience or delivering the perfect sales pitch. While those factors matter, they are only part of the equation. Behind every sponsorship agreement is a series of psychological and business decisions made by marketing professionals whose primary responsibility is reducing risk while achieving measurable results. When you understand how marketing departments think, how procurement teams evaluate vendors, and what motivates companies to invest in sponsorships, you will stop chasing sponsors and start positioning yourself as a valuable marketing partner. Marketing departments aren't buying exposure, they're buying results One of the biggest mistakes creators make is selling airtime, stage time, or podcast downloads. Marketing departments rarely think in those terms. Their goal is to support broader business objectives. Before approving any sponsorship, marketers typically ask questions such as: Will this help us reach our ideal customer? Does this strengthen our brand? Can this generate qualified leads? Will this increase awareness? Does this fit our current marketing strategy? Can we measure success? Instead of saying, “I have 5,000 listeners,” position your opportunity around outcomes such as reaching highly targeted business owners, increasing brand visibility among decision makers, building trust through authentic host endorsements, generating qualified leads from an engaged audience, and positioning the company as an industry leader. Sponsors invest in solutions, not simply audiences. Every sponsorship must support a business goal Corporate marketing teams usually have defined objectives for the year, which often include increasing brand awareness, launching a new product, entering a new market, driving website traffic, generating qualified leads, improving customer retention, supporting recruiting efforts, and enhancing community engagement. Your sponsorship proposal should clearly explain how partnering with you helps accomplish one or more of these goals. Understanding procurement, the department that protects company money Even after a marketing team wants to work with you, another group may become involved: procurement. Procurement professionals are responsible for ensuring the company spends money wisely. Their focus is different from that of marketing. They evaluate questions like: Is the pricing reasonable? Have we worked with this vendor before? Are contracts complete? Are deliverables clearly defined? What happens if expectations are not met? Are there legal or compliance concerns? This means your professionalism matters just as much as your audience size. Having a polished media kit, sponsorship agreement, clear pricing, defined deliverables, and professional communication process can significantly increase your credibility. Budget cycles matter more than most people realize Many creators contact companies only when they need sponsors. Successful sponsorship sales, however, often depend on timing. Large organizations typically establish marketing budgets months before they spend them. Many plan quarterly or annually, and some finalize budgets six to twelve months before campaigns begin. If you approach a company after its budget has been fully allocated, the answer may be “not now” rather than “never.” A better strategy is to build relationships throughout the year, ask when sponsorship budgets are planned, stay visible through consistent follow-up, and reconnect before the next planning cycle. Understanding budget timing helps you approach companies when they are actually in a position to invest. The buying triggers that create sponsorship opportunities Companies are far more likely to invest when something important is happening. Common buying triggers include a new product launch, expansion into a new market, rebranding efforts, major company anniversaries, industry conferences, seasonal promotions, holiday campaigns, new leadership initiatives, recruiting campaigns, and corporate social responsibility programs. Researching these events before reaching out allows you to present sponsorship opportunities that align with the company’s immediate priorities. The psychology of risk reduction Every sponsorship decision carries risk. If a campaign performs poorly, the marketing manager may have to explain why company funds were spent. Because of this, decision-makers naturally look for evidence that reduces uncertainty. You can lower perceived risk by providing professional branding, high-quality media kits, audience demographics, performance statistics, case studies, listener testimonials, sponsor success stories, clear deliverables, transparent pricing, and realistic expectations. The easier you make it for someone to justify saying “yes,” the more likely they are to approve your proposal. Trust is often the biggest influencer People do business with organizations they trust. Trust is built through consistency and professionalism. Simple actions that increase confidence include responding promptly to emails, delivering polished proposals, meeting deadlines, following through on commitments, communicating clearly, providing regular updates, and reporting campaign results. These habits demonstrate reliability, one of the most valuable qualities a sponsor looks for in a long-term partner. Think like a marketing partner, not a salesperson The most successful podcasters and speakers do not simply ask companies to buy sponsorships. They position themselves as partners who help solve marketing challenges. Instead of asking, “Would you like to sponsor my podcast?” try asking, “What marketing goals are most important for your team this year?”, “Who is your ideal customer?”, “How do you currently measure campaign success?”, and “What types of partnerships have worked well for your brand?” These conversations shift the focus from selling to collaborating. Final thoughts Corporate sponsorship decisions are rarely based on emotion alone. They are influenced by strategic planning, budget availability, internal approval processes, measurable objectives, and a strong desire to minimize risk. When you understand how marketing departments think, respect procurement requirements, approach companies during the right budget cycles, recognize buying triggers, and present yourself as a low-risk, high-value partner, you will dramatically improve your ability to secure sponsorships. Remember, sponsors are not looking for the biggest podcast or the most famous speaker. They are looking for trusted partners who understand their business, reach the right audience, and consistently deliver value. Ready to win more sponsorships? If you want to stop guessing and start approaching sponsors with confidence, the Get Sponsored! Podcast & Speaker Sponsorship Blueprint provides the complete system. You will learn how to identify ideal sponsors, create compelling media kits, build sponsorship packages, negotiate agreements, and develop long-term partnerships that generate recurring revenue. The more you understand the psychology behind corporate sponsorship decisions, the easier it becomes to position yourself as the obvious choice for companies ready to invest. If paired with your other sponsorship articles, this makes an excellent educational piece that helps establish you as an authority on sponsorship strategy while naturally leading readers into your training programs. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Davida Shensky Davida Shensky, Career & Personal Development Strategy Coach With more than 40 years of experience in career development, entrepreneurship, speaking, and personal success coaching, I help entrepreneurs, professionals, and people with disabilities build successful businesses, strengthen their personal brands, and create greater financial independence and impact.

Written by Prudence Hatchett, Leadership Resilience Strategist Prudence Hatchett is an award-winning entrepreneur, international speaker, bestselling author, and Leadership Resilience Strategist helping leaders transform burnout into sustainable influence and high performance. There is a dangerous assumption happening in workplaces today. Leaders are calling everything "stress." Long day? Stress. Difficult employee? Stress. Endless meetings? Stress. Loss of motivation? Stress. But what if it isn't stress anymore? What if the problem isn't that you're carrying too much but that you've been carrying it for too long? The truth is that stress and burnout are not the same thing. Yet I continue to see high-performing leaders treating burnout with stress management techniques that were never designed to solve it. They take a vacation, schedule another self-care day, or promise themselves that next month will be easier. It rarely is. The distinction between stress and burnout is more than semantics. It has significant implications for leaders and organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, distinguishing it from everyday stress. Gallup reports that employees who are thriving in their overall well-being are substantially less likely to experience frequent burnout, highlighting why resilience must become a proactive leadership competency rather than a reactive coping strategy. If we continue treating burnout like ordinary stress, we'll continue applying the wrong solutions. Because burnout isn't simply an overload problem. It's a resilience problem. As a licensed therapist, leadership resilience strategist, and executive coach, I've learned that resilience isn't about enduring more responsibilities. It's about maintaining your ability to think clearly, lead confidently, and recover effectively while challenges exist. Understanding the difference between stress and burnout is where that transformation begins. Stress says, "I have too much to do." Burnout says, "I don't care anymore." Stress is usually connected to overload. Your calendar is full. Deadlines are approaching. Decisions are piling up. You still care. You simply don't have enough capacity. Burnout is different. The emotional investment begins to disappear. Work that once energized you now feels meaningless. Your passion quietly becomes indifference. That emotional detachment is one of the earliest warning signs that your nervous system has moved from temporary activation into long-term depletion. Resilience helps leaders recognize these shifts before emotional exhaustion becomes their new normal. Stress feels temporary, burnout feels permanent Stress has an ending. Once the project is completed or the crisis passes, most people begin recovering naturally. Burnout doesn't operate that way. Even after the workload decreases, the exhaustion often remains. Leaders tell me they take a week off and return feeling exactly the same. That's because burnout changes more than your schedule. It changes how your brain and body respond to demands. Resilience creates the internal capacity to recover instead of simply surviving. Stress increases energy, burnout drains it Stress can actually sharpen performance for short periods. Your focus increases. Your adrenaline rises. You solve problems quickly. Burnout removes that fuel entirely. Simple decisions become overwhelming. Creative thinking declines. Patience disappears. Confidence slowly erodes. Many leaders mistake this for laziness or poor motivation when, in reality, their internal operating system has been depleted. Resilience restores energy by strengthening recovery, not by asking you to push harder. Stress is about external pressure, burnout becomes internal Stress usually begins with something happening around us. Deadlines. Conflict. Financial pressure. Organizational change. Burnout eventually becomes internal. Negative thinking increases. Self-doubt grows louder. Decision fatigue becomes constant. Emotional regulation becomes more difficult. At this stage, removing one stressful event rarely fixes the problem because your nervous system has learned to remain in survival mode. This is why resilience must become an internal skill instead of an external strategy. Stress can be managed, and burnout can be rebuilt This is perhaps the biggest misconception. Stress management and burnout recovery are not interchangeable. Managing stress may include: Better boundaries Improved time management Delegation Exercise Vacation These are valuable practices. But burnout requires rebuilding your emotional endurance, mental flexibility, cognitive recovery, and nervous system regulation. In other words, burnout requires resilience. Not the version of resilience that simply tells people to "be stronger." Strategic resilience. The kind that allows leaders to recover without disconnecting from their purpose, regulate emotions without suppressing them, and continue leading without sacrificing themselves in the process. Resilience changes everything The healthiest leaders I know aren't the ones with the least amount of stress. They're the ones who know how to recover. They recognize early warning signs. They understand how pressure affects their thinking. They regulate their emotions before they react. They protect their energy instead of constantly spending it. Most importantly, they understand that resilience is not something you use after burnout. It is what prevents burnout from taking over in the first place. Final thoughts Stress is part of leadership. Burnout doesn't have to be. Leadership will always involve difficult decisions, uncertainty, and responsibility. The goal is to build the internal resilience that allows you to navigate those demands without losing yourself in the process. Because resilience isn't simply about bouncing back. It's about leading forward with clarity, endurance, and purpose, even when the pressure never completely disappears. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Prudence Hatchett Prudence Hatchett, Leadership Resilience Strategist Prudence Hatchett is an award-winning entrepreneur, international speaker, executive coach, Leadership Resilience Strategist, and bestselling author. With over 20 years of experience in mental health, education, and leadership development, she helps leaders eliminate burnout, strengthen resilience, and elevate their influence. As the founder of PH Counseling, LLC® and Learn with Prudence®, Prudence combines neuroscience, psychology, and leadership strategy to deliver transformative, actionable insights. Her engaging presentations empower audiences to lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose while creating psychologically safe, high-performing cultures that thrive in today's demanding environment.

The saying “you are what you eat” is true. Research has shown that diet plays a critical role in shaping a person’s health and well-being. Unhealthy diets can pose a major risk for disease and disability. Similarly, movement and regular physical activity are crucial for overall well-being. Exercise can provide significant physical and mental benefits and actively contributes to the prevention and management of diseases, such as diabetes. Mental health is also critical to overall well-being and leading a better life. An individual’s emotional state can have a direct impact on their physical health and nutrition. For example, poor mental health can increase the likelihood of chronic physical conditions. For readers interested in advancing their understanding of complex patient care and health systems, online AGACNP programs can offer a pathway to developing more advanced clinical knowledge while staying engaged with evolving wellness-focused approaches in healthcare. What is integrative health? Before delving into how nutrition, movement, and mental health are all connected, it’s important to understand integrative health. The term describes a patient-centered style of delivering healthcare that considers a more holistic approach. Instead of treating all components of an individual’s health separately, an integrative approach considers the whole person’s physical, emotional, mental, and social factors when treating a patient. Healthcare professionals employing an integrative health approach will focus on the person as a whole, not just the specific disease or illness. It is an evidence-based practice that considers how different aspects of a person’s health, such as their mental state, can affect their physical health. How does it work? A healthcare professional employing an integrative approach will complement conventional Western medicine with lifestyle changes and therapies that have been scientifically validated. Examples of these include: Lifestyle changes (e.g., food, exercise) Dietary supplements Body-based therapy (e.g., massages) Psychological treatment Psychotherapy Meditation or mindfulness activities It’s important to understand that these should never replace conventional medicine. Healthcare professionals employing an integrated approach will only use these alongside formal treatment options. How is it different from a holistic approach? Despite the terms often being used interchangeably, there is a difference between integrative and holistic health. Understanding the difference is crucial for anyone navigating the modern healthcare landscape. The concept of holistic health is over 2000 years old and has strong roots in ancient history and traditional Chinese medicine. In Chinese Medicine, practitioners believed that the body, mind, and spirit were all interconnected and must work harmoniously for balance and well-being. Traditionally, practitioners of holistic health would include alternative treatments, such as acupuncture and herbal medicine. On the other hand, while integrative health takes the holistic philosophy of treating the whole person, it is rooted in evidence-based practice supported by research. The importance of nutrition The link between nutrition and physical health has been known for years, but it also has a significant impact on mental health and overall well-being. As the American Psychological Association states: “We are what we eat”. Growing evidence reveals that what we eat influences more than just physical health. It can have an impact on a person’s mood and emotions, as well as decrease the risk for mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Research indicates that a diet with minimal processed foods and a focus on fruits and vegetables is associated with positive mental health outcomes. One study of 45,000 people found that individuals with high amounts of fruit and vegetables in their diet were linked to significantly reduced psychological distress. How movement affects health Recent data from the American Heart Association reveals that only one in five adults and teens get enough exercise to maintain good health. It’s recommended that individuals fit in at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week. Examples of moderate-intensity activities include: Fast-paced walking Water aerobics Gardening Dancing Physical activity is directly connected to a person’s physical and mental health. Exercise has a scientifically proven influence on a person’s mental well-being and emotional state. Several positive outcomes include: Reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression Enhances sleep and cognitive function Meeting exercise goals can improve self-esteem and confidence Mental health and overall wellness Mental health can impact physical health and a person’s body through biological, behavioral, and neurological pathways. People living with poor mental health are more likely to experience poorer physical health than the general population. People living with mental illness are also more likely to experience comorbidity – two or more – of physical conditions. This is a connection that goes both ways. It’s also more likely that a person living with a physical illness is more likely to develop a mental illness, as poor health can be stress-inducing and raise the risk of conditions such as depression. Poor mental health can impact physical health and overall well-being directly and indirectly. For example, depression can affect a person’s willingness to complete activities that promote good health, such as brushing their teeth, exercising, or cooking healthy meals – impacting nutrition and physical health. Research also reveals that positive mental health has a wealth of benefits for physical well-being. These include: Reduced risk of heart disease and stroke Make chronic illness or pain more manageable Studies suggest that people with good mental health have a higher life expectancy If you’re looking to shift towards better living, it’s important to focus on all aspects of your life and health. Making small steps to improve in all areas, including our mental health, physical health, and diet, is easier than singling out just one.

Los Angeles, CA, United States – For millions of Americans, each day is a struggle against anxiety, grief, stress, and overwhelming negative thoughts. While many search for lasting answers, wellness expert and transformation coach Miriam Putnam believes hope begins with a new perspective. Through her RESET and RISE framework, she and her team help individuals move beyond emotional overwhelm, rediscover their purpose, and create meaningful, lasting change. More than one in five U.S. adults experiences a mental health challenge each year, underscoring the growing demand for approaches that help people heal, build resilience, and thrive. It is easy to see that the traditional mental health system isn’t currently working. "RESET and RISE is the result of years of advocacy, research, and personal experience. I've watched it help many individuals overcome anxiety, grief, negative thought patterns, and the everyday pressures that keep so many people from living the life they envision. True transformation is possible, and if it has helped so many others reclaim their peace, purpose, and confidence, I believe it can help you too," says Putnam. The RESET and RISE framework combines practical tools with personalized guidance to help individuals overcome anxiety, grief, and limiting beliefs to step into the power of their true selves. Participants learn strategies to build resilience, find balance, and create healthier, more fulfilling lives. One client, Dave, credits the framework with helping him discover a new way of living after years of searching for balance. "I wanted a way to balance life's pressures, find peace of mind, and live according to my vision," he says. "Through RESET and RISE, I found practical tools that created meaningful and lasting transformation. It wasn't about temporary motivation- it was about changing how I approached life." For Putnam, the work is deeply personal. Losing her mother after a struggle and failure with the mental health system became the turning point that inspired Putnam's lifelong mission to help others find hope and healing and avoid the unfortunately broken system. "All I ever wanted was someone who truly understood how to help people experience genuine happiness and restore their well-being," says Putnam. "When I couldn't find that person, I decided to become the person I had once been searching for." Today, Putnam works with clients seeking sustainable transformation rather than temporary solutions, empowering them to replace limiting beliefs with confidence, resilience, and renewed purpose. "I hope more people have access to approaches that honor the whole person and provide meaningful, lasting solutions," Putnam says. "Until then, my team and I will continue serving individuals who are ready to reclaim their lives and create a future filled with hope, balance, and purpose." Putnam encourages those facing mental health challenges to remember they do not have to navigate recovery alone or in a failed mental health system. Through the RESET and RISE framework, individuals develop practical tools that foster resilience, renewed purpose, and lasting personal growth. The genuine transformation clients experience demonstrates what is possible for anyone willing to embrace the journey toward a better life. About Miriam Putnam Miriam Putnam is a wellness expert, transformation specialist, holistic mental health advocate, and founder of the RESET and RISE framework. Inspired by her personal journey and years of advocacy, she helps individuals overcome emotional barriers, build resilience, and create lives rooted in purpose, balance, and lasting well-being. For more information about Miriam Putnam and the RESET and RISE framework, visit here. Miriam Putnam is available for interviews.

Written by Laura McCann, Founder & CEO of Auratherapy Laura McCann is the Founder & CEO of Auratherapy, a luxury wellness brand helping people reclaim their breath and remember they are vibrational beings. A 30-year CPG + tech founder, she’s building a modern movement at the intersection of scent, energy, and self-mastery, turning daily rituals into transformation. After more than thirty years as an entrepreneur, people often assume I’ve seen it all. The truth is almost the opposite. Every stage of building a business has required me to become a student again. When I launched my first company, I didn’t need to understand ecommerce because ecommerce wasn’t part of my business. I didn’t need to think about SEO, customer journey mapping, lifecycle email marketing, affiliate programs, user-generated content, AI prompting, conversion optimization, or software product design because those disciplines either didn’t exist or weren’t relevant to the company I was building. Today’s CEO is expected to understand an entirely different business landscape than the one I entered three decades ago. That’s why I believe one of the greatest skills an entrepreneur can develop isn’t knowing everything. It’s knowing how to rapidly acquire expertise in subjects you’ve never had to master before. The mistake I see many bootstrapped entrepreneurs make is believing they have to acquire that expertise entirely on their own. I’ve never believed in shortcuts. But I absolutely believe in compression. If someone has already spent twenty years mastering a discipline, why would I spend the next five reinventing what they’ve already learned? Every time my business reached a new chapter, I found myself needing a new operating system. When Auratherapy became an ecommerce business, I needed to understand ecommerce as a discipline, not just as a sales channel. I hired a coach because I wanted to compress years of learning into months. I didn’t just learn tactics. I learned the language, customer lifetime value, flywheels, retention, acquisition, and conversion optimization. Suddenly, I wasn’t just making decisions, I understood the framework behind those decisions. The same thing happened when I hired a mindset coach. One question changed how I built my company: “Is there a Standard Operating Procedures for that?” At first, I thought we were talking about documentation. Instead, we were talking about scale. That one idea fundamentally changed the way I think about business. Every recurring problem should eventually become a repeatable solution. Every repeatable solution should become a system. Every system should be documented. SOP stopped feeling like corporate paperwork and became the foundation that allowed my company to grow without constantly reinventing itself. Later, branding became its own discipline. By then, I had already built multiple businesses, but this one required creating a consumer brand from the ground up. That meant learning an entirely different skill set: positioning, messaging, voice, story architecture, customer perception, and brand strategy. What I thought I was buying was branding. What I was actually acquiring was a way of thinking that continues to influence every decision I make today. When I hired a Chief Revenue Officer as a coach, the lesson wasn’t sales. It was systems. I realized that high-performing sales organizations don’t rely on charisma. They rely on architecture. Every conversation has a sequence. Every objection has a pattern. Every customer journey has friction that can be measured and improved. Once again, I wasn’t simply hiring expertise. I was borrowing a framework until it became my own. Not every engagement was a home run. I hired a packaging agency expecting them to develop our next generation of product packaging. It wasn’t the right fit, and ultimately, we went in a different direction. But I don’t consider the investment wasted. Working alongside talented people helped me narrow down options, clarify my instincts, and gain confidence in decisions I might have otherwise second-guessed. The packaging we ultimately launched wasn’t created by that agency, but the process absolutely sharpened my thinking. Sometimes the greatest value isn’t the deliverable. It’s becoming a better decision-maker. More recently, I hired a team to rethink the strategy behind our Miami retail experience. For years, I had been immersed in the mechanics of running a retail business: products, fixtures, staffing, operations, inventory. They continually brought me back to something much bigger- the customer journey. That shift changed everything. Founders naturally become experts in how a business operates. Customers experience how a business feels. Those aren’t always the same thing. Today, we’re building our next-generation website alongside our ATOS software platform, and once again, I’ve found myself learning from specialists. Watching experienced product strategists work has been one of the most educational experiences of my career. They don’t begin with features. They begin with use cases. They map customer behavior, organize visual inspiration, document workflows, challenge assumptions, and create enormous collaborative canvases where everyone can literally see the strategy unfolding in real time. We’ve since adopted that way of working across other parts of our business because the framework itself is valuable. The same thing happened when I was accepted into the Fixer Advisory Program, a brand accelerator for beauty, wellness, and CPG companies. As part of the program, I was introduced to a series of AI-powered strategic tools designed to excavate ideas around our brand’s value proposition, mission, positioning, and long-term vision. What surprised me most wasn’t the technology itself, it was the quality of the questions. The tools didn’t simply generate answers. They systematically uncovered information I already possessed but hadn’t yet organized. They challenged me to articulate who we serve, why we exist, what differentiates us, and even what kind of CEO I am. Those insights became the foundation for refining our strategy, our investor narrative, and our future roadmap. Once again, I realized that the real value wasn’t AI. It was the framework behind the questions. The technology simply made that framework more accessible and dramatically faster than I could have achieved on my own. Looking back over three decades, I realize that every one of these investments had something in common. I wasn’t collecting consultants. I was collecting ways of thinking. Every coach taught me a mental model. Every agency introduced a methodology. Every strategist revealed another blueprint. Every project expanded my own operating system as a CEO. I’ve often joked that entrepreneurship has been like earning five different master’s degrees without ever receiving the diploma. The joke isn’t really a joke. Between the money I’ve invested, the projects I’ve led, the mentors I’ve worked with, and the frameworks I’ve absorbed, I could probably claim a master’s degree in branding, another in ecommerce, another in sales, another in operations, another in finance, another in product development, and another in leadership. The tuition was certainly real. The classroom just happened to be my own business. The biggest lesson, however, had nothing to do with marketing or branding. It had everything to do with abundance. Bootstrapped entrepreneurs often wear their resourcefulness as a badge of honor. We pride ourselves on figuring things out. We stretch every dollar, solve problems creatively, and build with whatever resources we have available. Resourcefulness is one of the greatest strengths an entrepreneur can possess. Scarcity is not. There’s a profound difference between creatively solving problems and believing you don’t deserve access to world-class thinking. Too many founders eliminate opportunities before anyone else has the chance to. They assume the best agency won’t take their call. They assume the consultant is too expensive. They assume the mentor is out of reach. They decide they can’t afford the investment before they’ve explored what might be possible. I’ve learned the opposite is often true. Some firms will phase projects. Some advisors will coach instead of consult. Some experts will generously share how they think before you ever become a client. Some will surprise you simply because you had the courage to ask. Today, AI has fundamentally changed the economics of learning. For the first time in history, entrepreneurs have access to strategic frameworks that were once reserved for the world’s largest companies. AI won’t replace great advisors, but it can dramatically amplify what you learn from them. It can help you organize your thinking, pressure-test your assumptions, accelerate your learning, and build upon the frameworks you’ve collected throughout your career. Perhaps that’s the biggest shift I’ve experienced as a CEO. I no longer see these investments as projects. I see them as designing my own executive education. Every time my business requires a new capability, I don’t ask myself, “Can I figure this out alone?” I ask a different question: “Who already knows how to think about this better than I do, and how can I learn from them?” That isn’t weakness. It’s leadership. Because the greatest return on investment isn’t the website, the packaging, the software, or the marketing campaign. It’s the CEO you become in the process. Perhaps that’s the real framework advantage. Not collecting deliverables. Collecting ways of thinking. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve just built businesses. I think I’ve spent the last thirty years designing my own executive MBA, one project, one mentor, one framework, and one lesson at a time. If only someone would finally send me the diploma. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Laura McCann Laura McCann, Founder & CEO of Auratherapy Laura McCann, a former child star, France-raised creative, NY fashion alum, and tech entrepreneur, now leads Auratherapy as Founder & CEO. With 30 years as a founder across CPG and tech, she’s bringing luxury and innovation to functional fragrance through breathable, essential oil-based Aroma Perfumes and water-based aura sprays. Auratherapy pairs this with data-driven aura and chakra diagnostics that translate energy into personalized rituals. Her mission is to help people reclaim their breath, remember they are vibrational beings, and transform through the practice of adoring yourself.

Written by Jennifer Stewart, Technology & Productivity Trainer Jennifer Stewart is a Technology and Productivity Trainer and owner of Gateway Productivity, known for patiently helping clients overcome technology frustration and work more efficiently. She has trained individuals and businesses since 2011 and creates accessible learning content through her “Tuesday Tech Training” video series on YouTube. Most people can recognize clutter when it fills a closet, garage, or junk drawer. Digital clutter, however, is much harder to see. It hides in overflowing inboxes, crowded Downloads folders, duplicate photos, outdated files, and cloud storage accounts packed with information you will likely never use again. At first, saving everything seems harmless. Storage is cheap, search is powerful, and deleting something feels riskier than keeping it. But over time, those thousands of files create a different kind of burden, one that impacts your focus, productivity, and peace of mind. Researchers have even identified digital hoarding as a growing behavior with personal and organizational consequences, linking excessive digital accumulation to stress, disorganization, and reduced performance. Just because something does not take up physical space does not mean it is not taking up mental space. Recognize the hidden cost Many people keep digital files for the same reason they keep items in an overstuffed basement, they might need them someday. Unfortunately, that mindset often creates more problems than it solves. Every unnecessary file adds noise to your digital environment, making it harder to find what actually matters. The cost of digital hoarding is not just storage. Studies show that employees spend an average of 1.8 hours per day searching for information, which equals nearly a quarter of the workday. When your files, emails, and documents lack structure, finding what you need becomes increasingly difficult. Digital clutter creates friction every time you open a folder, search for a document, or try to remember where something was saved. The more information we accumulate, the harder it becomes to navigate efficiently. Stop treating storage as unlimited Cloud storage has made it incredibly easy to save everything. In many ways, that is a blessing. In others, it has become an invitation to avoid making decisions. Research on digital hoarding found that 60% of people never delete photos, while vast amounts of outdated files continue to accumulate unchecked in cloud storage systems. Instead of asking, “Do I have room to keep this?” try asking whether you will realistically use it again, whether you could easily find it online if you needed it, and whether the version you are saving still has value. Building the habit of evaluating information before saving it prevents clutter from accumulating in the first place. Create simple rules for keeping files One reason digital clutter grows so quickly is that most people do not have clear criteria for what stays and what goes. Every decision becomes emotional or situational rather than systematic. Creating a few simple rules removes that uncertainty. For example, delete duplicate files immediately, keep only the final version of completed projects, archive documents with legal or historical value, and remove screenshots once they have served their purpose. The goal is not perfection. It is reducing the number of decisions you will have to make later. When every file has a purpose, your storage becomes significantly easier to manage. Schedule digital cleanup time Most people do not wake up one day with a cluttered digital environment. It happens gradually through hundreds of small decisions made over months or years. That is why decluttering works best when it becomes a routine rather than a major project. Consider scheduling a monthly Digital Cleanup Day when you review your Downloads folders, desktop files, screenshots, archived documents, email folders, and cloud storage accounts. Small maintenance sessions prevent the overwhelming feeling that comes with tackling years of accumulated information all at once. A little consistency goes much further than a massive annual purge. Reduce information overload Digital hoarding is not only about the files you save. It is also about the information you consume. Today’s professionals face a constant stream of emails, notifications, articles, videos, and messages competing for attention. According to research on information overload, 63% of employees report that too much information is a problem at work, while knowledge workers spend 19% of their time searching for information instead of using it. A few simple habits can help. Unsubscribe from newsletters you no longer read, leave inactive Teams and Slack channels, turn off unnecessary notifications, and stop saving articles you know you will never revisit. Sometimes, the best way to organize information is to stop collecting so much of it. Organize around retrieval Many people organize files based on where they think something belongs. A better approach is to organize around how you will find it later. Ask yourself what you would search for, which keywords you would remember, and which folder you would expect the file to be in. The purpose of organization is retrieval, not categorization. If you cannot find something quickly, the system is not serving you, no matter how neatly organized it appears. Simple folder structures, consistent naming conventions, and fewer storage locations often outperform complicated systems. Let go of “just in case” The phrase “just in case” may be the biggest driver of digital hoarding. We save documents just in case we need them. We keep emails just in case someone asks. We hold on to presentations, screenshots, and downloads just in case they become useful someday. But most of those someday scenarios never arrive. In fact, research on workplace digital hoarding suggests that the ease of modern storage technology encourages excessive retention that often exceeds actual operational needs. The more intentional you become about what you keep, the easier it becomes to manage what remains. Sometimes, deleting a file is less about freeing storage space and more about freeing mental space. Keep what matters Digital minimalism is not about deleting everything. It is about creating room for information that genuinely supports your work and life. The best digital environments are not empty. They are purposeful. When your files are organized, your inbox is manageable, and your storage contains only what matters, you spend less time searching, less time feeling overwhelmed, and more time focusing on meaningful work. Just as we occasionally clean our homes, vehicles, and workspaces, our digital lives deserve the same attention. Take the next step If your desktop is crowded, your Downloads folder is overflowing, or your cloud storage feels impossible to navigate, start small. Choose one folder, one device, or one inbox and spend fifteen minutes clearing out what no longer serves you. The goal is not perfection. It is progress. By making small, intentional decisions today, you can create a digital environment that supports clarity instead of chaos and gives you back time, focus, and peace of mind. Ready to create a more organized digital life? Schedule a consultation today to learn practical strategies for managing files, email, tasks, and digital workflows. Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Jennifer Stewart Jennifer Stewart, Technology & Productivity Trainer Jennifer Stewart is a Technology and Productivity Trainer, and the owner of Gateway Productivity, dedicated to helping individuals and businesses reduce overwhelm and work more efficiently with their digital tools. Since 2011, she has empowered clients to overcome technology frustration through clear, patient, and practical training that creates real “lightbulb” moments. Jennifer is a recognized industry leader, an active member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO), and a national speaker who brings both expertise and approachability to every session. Through her popular “Tuesday Tech Training” video series on YouTube, she continues to make technology simple, accessible, and even enjoyable.

Written by Heather Higgins, Counsellor & Grief Coach With extensive experience supporting people through grief, and the professionals who work with them, Heather delivers practical, compassionate insights grounded in counselling, psychology, and emotional wellbeing. Her work focuses on helping individuals and organisations navigate grief with confidence and care. When someone we care about is grieving, our natural instinct is often to make their pain better. We search for the right words, offer advice, or try to find solutions that might ease their suffering. Yet grief is not a problem to be solved or something that can be fixed. More often than not, what grieving people need is not answers but understanding, compassion, and the reassurance that they do not have to face their loss alone. In this article, we'll explore the difference between supporting someone's grief and trying to fix it, and why simply being present can be one of the most meaningful gifts we can offer. Why do we feel the need to "fix" grief? When someone we care about is grieving, it is natural to want to ease their pain. Seeing another person suffer can leave us feeling helpless, prompting us to search for the "right" words or offer advice in the hope of making things better for them. In many areas of life, we are taught to solve problems, find solutions, and focus on moving forward, so it is understandable that we approach grief in the same way. However, grief is not a problem to be solved or an emotion to be fixed. It is a deeply personal response to loss that deserves to be acknowledged rather than hurried away. By recognising our instinct to fix grief, we can begin to shift our focus from trying to remove someone's pain to simply walking alongside them with empathy, patience, and compassion. When good intentions cause harm Most people who support someone after a loss do so with genuine care and compassion. However, comments offered with good intentions can sometimes leave a grieving person feeling misunderstood or as though their emotions need to be minimised. Phrases such as "Everything happens for a reason," "They're in a better place," or "At least they're no longer suffering" are often said in an attempt to offer comfort, but they can unintentionally dismiss the depth of someone's grief. Likewise, encouraging someone to "stay strong" or "move on" may create pressure to hide emotions rather than express them, which can be harmful. Instead of searching for reassuring words, it is often more meaningful to acknowledge the person's loss, validate their feelings, and allow them the space to grieve in whatever way feels right for them. This helps people feel seen, heard, and accepted, reducing the isolation that so often accompanies grief and reinforcing the fact that they do not have to hide or justify their emotions. What grieving people really need While every person's grief is unique, there are some universal needs that many grieving people share. More than advice or solutions, they often need to feel listened to, understood, and accepted without judgement. Grief can bring a wide range of emotions, from sadness and anger to guilt, relief, confusion, or even moments of laughter. Having the freedom to express these feelings without fear of criticism can be incredibly healing. Grieving people also benefit from patience and ongoing support, as grief does not end after the funeral or within a set timeframe. Sometimes, one of the most meaningful things we can do is acknowledge their loved one by name, share a memory, or simply ask how they are coping or what they need. These small acts of compassion remind people that their loss has not been forgotten and that they do not have to carry their grief alone. The power of simply being present One of the greatest misconceptions about supporting someone through grief is believing that we need to have the perfect words. In reality, our presence is often far more valuable than anything we could say. Simply sitting with someone, listening without interrupting, allowing silence, and acknowledging their emotions without trying to change them can provide a profound sense of comfort. Being present communicates, "You don't have to go through this alone," even when there are no answers or solutions. Grief cannot be taken away, but knowing that someone is willing to stay alongside us in our pain can reduce feelings of loneliness and help us feel supported, understood, and connected during one of life's most difficult experiences. Practical ways to support someone who is grieving Supporting someone through grief is rarely about finding the perfect words, it is about showing up with compassion, consistency, and a willingness to listen. While every person's experience of grief is different, small, thoughtful actions can have a lasting impact. Rather than trying to take away their pain, focus on creating a space where they feel safe to express it. Here are some simple but meaningful ways to support someone who is grieving: Avoid clichés or trying to find the "right" words: Comments such as "Everything happens for a reason" or "They're in a better place" are usually offered with good intentions, but they can unintentionally minimise someone's pain. Rather than searching for the perfect response, acknowledge the person's loss with honesty and compassion. A simple "I'm so sorry" or "I'm here for you" is often far more meaningful. Listen more than you speak: When someone is grieving, they rarely need us to have all the answers. Most often, they need someone who is willing to listen without interrupting, judging, or trying to change how they feel. Active listening communicates that their thoughts and emotions matter, helping them feel heard, understood, and less alone. Acknowledge their loved one by name: Many grieving people fear that their loved one will be forgotten. Saying their name, sharing a memory, or asking about them shows that their life continues to matter. While some worry that this may upset someone, most grieving people are already thinking about the person they have lost and often appreciate the opportunity to speak about them. Accept that grief has no timeline: Grief does not follow a schedule, and there is no point at which someone should be expected to have "moved on." Everyone experiences loss differently, influenced by their relationship, personality, previous experiences, and the circumstances surrounding the death. Allowing people to grieve at their own pace helps reduce pressure and validates their individual experience. Check in long after the funeral: Support often surrounds someone immediately after a bereavement, but it gradually fades as life returns to normal for everyone else. For the person grieving, however, the loss remains part of their everyday life. A message or phone call weeks or months later can remind someone that they are still thought of and supported when they may need it most. Offer specific help: Instead of saying, "Let me know if you need anything," which is so broad that someone in the depths of bereavement may not respond, offer practical support that requires little effort from the grieving person. Suggestions such as dropping off a meal, collecting children from school, walking the dog, or accompanying someone to an appointment remove the burden of having to ask for help at a time when decision making can feel overwhelming. Respect that everyone grieves differently: There is no universal way to grieve. Some people openly express their emotions, while others process them more privately. Some may return to work quickly, while others need more time. Avoid comparing grief experiences or making assumptions about how someone "should" cope. Instead, respect their individual way of responding to loss. Be comfortable with silence: Not every moment needs to be filled with conversation. Sitting quietly beside someone, offering a hug if appropriate, or simply being present can provide immense comfort. Silence can create space for reflection and emotion, reminding someone that they do not have to carry their grief alone. Remember important dates: Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and significant milestones can reignite feelings of grief, even years after a loss. Remembering these dates with a thoughtful message or gesture lets someone know that neither they nor their loved one has been forgotten. Small acts of remembrance can have a lasting impact and will mean more to the person who is grieving than you may ever know. Simply be present: Above all, remember that your presence is more valuable than perfection. You do not need to fix grief or make the pain disappear. That is not your job. By showing up consistently with kindness, empathy, and patience, you offer something that no advice ever can: the reassurance that someone does not have to face their grief alone. Supporting without trying to take the pain away One of the greatest acts of compassion we can offer someone who is grieving is to accept that we cannot take their pain away. They know you can’t fix it for them, and they don’t expect you to. Grief is a natural response to losing someone or something deeply meaningful, and while we may wish we could make it disappear, our role is not to fix it but to walk alongside the person experiencing it. By listening without judgement, acknowledging their loss, and remaining present through the difficult moments, we help reduce the loneliness and isolation that grief can bring. In the end, people are unlikely to remember the perfect words we said, but they will remember who showed up for them and how we made them feel. Sometimes, the most meaningful support comes not from trying to change someone's grief, but from showing them that they don't have to carry it alone. A final reflection Supporting someone through grief is not about having all the answers or finding the perfect words. It is about choosing connection over comfort, presence over solutions, and compassion over the need to fix what cannot be fixed. Every conversation we have about grief has the potential to remind someone that their pain is valid, their loved one is remembered, and they are not alone in carrying their loss. If we can become more comfortable sitting alongside grief rather than trying to remove it, we can create a culture where people feel safe to express their emotions without fear of judgement. Perhaps the greatest gift we can offer someone who is grieving is not the promise that things will get better, but the reassurance that they do not have to face their grief alone. If this article has resonated with you and you'd like to continue the conversation, you may also enjoy my article, Why Conversations About Grief Matter More Than Ever, where I explore how open dialogue can help create a more grief-informed society. You can also read my interview, How Parental Loss Shaped My Work With Grief, to learn more about the personal experiences that inspired my work. For a deeper exploration of grief, healing, and finding purpose after loss, my book, Guided by Grief, is available now. I also share practical guidance, education, and reflections on grief and bereavement through my Instagram community. I invite you to connect, continue learning, and help create a world where no one needs to navigate grief alone. Follow me on Facebook and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Heather Higgins Heather Higgins, Counsellor & Grief Coach Heather is a grief specialist, counsellor, author and facilitator with extensive experience supporting children, young people, adults and the professionals who care for them. After loosing both parents at a young age, she now uses her lived experience to support others through bereavement. Her work focuses on helping individuals and organisations better understand grief, loss, and emotional resilience through practical, compassionate approaches. Through her writing and teaching, she aims to make conversations around grief more informed, accessible, and human.