Jodi Brichta-Coyne, Coach/Author/Speaker

      Yesterday, I was scrolling down in a couple of local mom groups and I could not believe what I was seeing (or maybe I could). A lot of posts were moms  bitching and moaning about their daily struggles and everything on their plate-- in other words...STRESS!    So then, last night I was flipping through Netflix and came across the documentary, Stress: the silent killer. I decided to watch it and found it interesting. It showed how one nuerobiologist studied a tribe of baboons in Africa for over a decade and how stress affected the entire tribe. It seemed as though the dominate,aggressive males brought much of the stress to the entire community.    When the dominate males were around,fights would break out and other baboons cortisol (stress) levels would go up. Then something remarkable happened. The monkeys were plagued with tuberculosis. However, only the dominate males died but the rest survived (interesting). After these monkeys...

Someone recently asked me what I do and I paused  for a brief moment, I replied with: I inspire moms to be an imperfectly perfect role model to their children by creating harmony and calmness in their own lives.  How does one do this in this crazy, fast paced, stressful and demanding world? Let's look at this prime example:   "There are days where I am so tired, I get so overwhelmed and can't pull it all together.  I have in my head exactly what it is all supposed to look like, but I never get there.  I get stressed and start wondering if I will ever catch up, my anxiety builds and then I take my anger out on my children. I feel guilty and horrible afterwards."   I hear this kind of example a lot. We all are rushing to get somewhere and never stop to think about the moment we are in. It is in that space, [the present], where one must seek out that calmness or see it for what it is, so as not to get overwhelmed about the future. I realize this is easie...

"Pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain." wizard of Oz I recently read an article that referred to that line and it starting me thinking....Who is behind your curtain?who's in control of your time, health and life? It made me stop to reflect and think.  As a mom, with so many balls juggled everyday, most of us are too overwhelmed to see who's in control. We put on our masks and we let overbooked schedules, day-to-day activities and energy drainers dictate when and where we should be ( let alone how we should think, act and respond to life's challenges and circumstance). When is it time to just say "ENOUGH",  I am in control.     It is very much like the line from Pretty woman when she refers to her prostitution, "I Say who, I say when, I say how much!".. It makes you think we, in a (demented) sense, are doing the very same thing.  We are losing ourselves because we are letting everything and everyone dictate to us who we a...

  As winter storm Athena draws near, I can't help but compare this goddess's qualities with the valuable lessons we have learned from Hurricane Sandy.  Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast hard and furious.  She was a large mass that covered the east coast causing devastation and leaving most of us in the dark struggling with day to day activities that we had oh so taken for granted in the past.  As each day was a struggle for most, we saw emotions flare as anger and bitterness shined its' ugly face.  People started to believe it was their right to have power as it seemed that they turned a blind eye to the ones that had lost everything.  I think as time went on and people learned about the devastation in other area's something shifted.  Hearts started opening up and people starting helping and contributing.  The attitude of most changed from "so what I have no power, these people have nothing." People in my area started donating anything and ever...

   It has been 6 days since Hurricane Sandy has come and gone.  She wreaked havoc here in the tri-state area (where I am from), and we still have a long recovery and healing process to go through.  However, It's hard not to succumb to all the doom and gloom when it's constantly in your face, news,  and at the gas stations etc.  Hurricane Sandy made it real--- it is now that NY has turned into a really screwed up dysfunctional family, (not that we weren't before).  Sandy came into our homes unannounced, caused havoc and decided to stay.  We all thought we were prepared---we weren't.  How can we blame mother nature? we can't punch her in the face but, we can turn on our neighbors and slap them.  The whole thing is so messed up.  At least when it was 9/11, we all banned together and we had an enemy to blame.  Again, can't hate mother nature.  This to me, is everyone's wake up call. Sandy is saying "NY WAKE THE F@^* UP, IT'S ...

In a recent conversation with several women, I couldn't help but notice a pattern that has developed in all their stories and how much we feed off of each others frustrations.  Why is it that we have become so hard, so rough and masculine in order to feel we can cope in today's world? Why can't we not only vision our cupcake, but design it and eat it too all the while  savoring the aroma,  enjoying each bite, right down to the "mmnnn" sound? why can't we?  Have we forgot what's important?  and in this competitive world, where we strive to have more, and be more, are we ignoring the process that got us here in the first place?  Too many of us are not aligning our core values with our true "authentic"self .  As we succumb to stress it is taking its toll and it's effecting our health --we are we ignoring these warning signs?    This was me 2 years ago.  I wake up on a cold January morning just like any other day.  But this time i...