Sweat & Reflect

hi friend!

welcome back! thank you so much for being here!  

on today's episode i'm walking you through the 5 things you can do to support yourself this season, especially if you're like me & struggle with seasonal depression.

listen, i get it! between the cold weather & the time change, i'm ready for bed at 530 pm, but alas, crawling into bed then is not a viable solution for the coming months; & so, here are the top 5 things that will definitely improve your winter blues/holiday hustle/seasonal depression.

1) light therapy -- hop on over to amazon & get yourself a light therapy.  plug it in as soon as you get up & let the light do it's magic.  it is an actual game changer.
https://www.amazon.com/Therapy-Adjustable-Brightness-Function-Rotatable/dp/B08HV89TVQ/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3JDH3UJ0MZ3QQ&keywords=light+therapy&qid=1701223351&sprefix=light+thera%2Caps%2C457&sr=8-8

2) stick to a sleep schedule -- i know you're not a newborn, but sticking to a consistent wake up time & a bedtime will help to ensure that your cortisol levels are doing what they should be doing & in turn, helping to stabilize your moods.  

3) get outside -- i swear i'm not crazy! getting outside for 10 - 15 minutes will not only ensure that you get some fresh air after being cooped up in your office all day, but it will also benefit your cortisol levels & seasonal depression.  we're meant to interact with whatever sunlight we can get, so get out & there & move.

4) move your body -- yes, we just talked about getting outside, but moving your body for a longer period of time is so important! it doesn't matter what you do - stretch, yoga, run, lift weights, whatever - but get those endorphins pumping! you're seasonal depression will have a hard time resisting the benefits of that daily movement. 

5) finally, add in vitamin d to your supplement rotation! vitamin d is always important, but it's extra important during the winter months when it feels like the sun is always hiding & our moods are taking a dip.  head over to gut personal & snag your vitamin d, now! you can grab it in liquid or capsule form, & i promise it will do you a world of good.  
https://www.gutpersonal.com/products/the-sunshine-plus-vitamin-d-supplement
use my code SWEATANDREFLECT10 to save

i know this season can be a lot for a multitude of reasons, but i hope you know that not only are you not alone, but you've got this! take it one day at a time & build in a support system for yourself, starting with these 5 items.

i'm here for you always! xoxo 

hi friend!

happy thanksgiving eve! i hope you're doing well!

on today's episode we're chatting about social media & how it can often make us feel guilty about choices we're making, especially when it comes to our health.  

while these platforms are often credible & mean well - at least the ones that i follow - i recently found that their posts about treating anxiety & depression made me feel guilty about how i am choosing to treat my anxiety & depression. 

what it comes down to is that there is no one size fits all & we need to support ourselves in whatever way we see fit, especially if we are getting sound advice & support from doctors &/or therapists. 

press play & let me know what you think about today's episode.  remember, you know how to support you best.  everyone else has great advice & insight but you have to go with your gut. 

& as always, if there's any way i can support you, or if there's a topic you want me to cover, head over to instagram @meredith.coviello & let me know. 

xoxoxo 

hi friend!

welcome back! on today's episode we're chatting about my top 5 tips for taking care of yourself during the holiday season!

as we know, the holidays are full  of love, laughter & growth, but we also know that they can be overwhelming, overstimulating & can negatively impact the way we view ourselves.

let's commit to taking care of ourselves & supporting ourselves the best we can this year.

here are the top 5 tips for taking care of yourself this holiday season:

1) schedule time just for you - morning, mid-celebrations or at night
2) don't feel pressure to over indulge in food, alcohol or family 
3) put yourself in situations that benefit you - & if you can't avoid those situations (or people) set a time limit 
4) remember this time of year does not definite you 
5) grief is okay

i'm here for you. i support you. i'm sending you love & light.  you've got this xoxo 

hi friend!

welcome back! on today's episode i thought it would be a great idea to chat about emdr therapy, what it is, why i'm doing it, & how this conversation connects to you.

for those of you who don't know, emdr is a form of therapy to help individuals process trauma through the desensitization of memories associated with the trauma.  it is a therapy that was initially designed to help war veterans process their traumatic memories. 

throughout the episode i go through why i decided to start emdr & what the process looks like.  i even connect the conversation back to one of the promises i made to myself back in october - in the 90 days left in 2023 episode - as starting this form of therapy this year was really important to me.

it's a quick & informative episode, & if it resonates with you, i'll keep you in the loop as to how this form of therapy is going!

as always, let me know what you think over on instagram @meredith.coviello & to let me know what else you want to hear on the pod! xoxo 

hi friend!

welcome back & happy november! can you even believe it?

on today's episode we're jumping back into the healing series with the gut guru herself, jillian smith, a registered dietitian & the lead dietitian for gut personal.

throughout the episode we chat about why you should get a gut test, how you can invest in yourself regardless of a gut test & so much more.

it's a fun, informative, & as jillian said, "juicy" episode that you're going to want to hear!

& for those of you interested in learning more about how you can support yourself - your own gut health - connect with jillian here: @jilliansmith.rd on instagram!

you can also head over to gutpersonal.com & take their personalized supplement quiz to see what you need now!

what's even better, you can use my code: SWEATANDREFLECT10 or this link: www.gutpersonal.com/sweatandreflect10 to save $$ on your supplements, testing & more! 

hi friend!

welcome back! on today's episode we're diving into body image - specifically what that often looks like for women, how we speak to ourselves & what we can do about it.

i've been there - the fad diets, the calorie counting; the mindset that you're fat when now - looking back, you realize that couldn't be farther from the truth.  

hell, i'm there right now.  in a few hours i'm going to take my engagement pictures & i can't believe how uncomfortable i feel in my body.  so why am i taking them now?  i want to do something to celebrate our upcoming wedding & i don't want how i feel about my body to dictate what i do.

can you relate? 

here's the thing -- we need to stop doing this.  we need to change the way we talk to ourselves & talk to our bodies.  we need to celebrate all that our bodies have done & are currently doing.

yes, it's going to take a daily reminder, but our bodies deserve this recognition.  our bodies deserve to be celebrated.

head over to instagram & let me know what you're doing to celebrate your body. 

i'm rooting for you! xoxo 

hi friend!

thank you so much for being here.  before we move forward, know that today's episode does have a trigger warning (TW) because we will be discussing depression & anxiety.

please do not listen to today's episode if you find the title of the episode to be triggering. 

if you need immediate help, please dial 988 to speak to someone.
you can also reach out to your primary care physician or someone on betterhelp.com  

we will be chatting about the magnitude of those feelings & how we often don't even know we're in a depressive state until we're out of it; at least that has been my experience over the past few months. 

we will also be chatting about what i'm doing to receive help & how i plan to support myself going forward. 

it's never easy to admit that you are/have been in a depressive state, but i hope that this transparency helps you in some way. 

know that you are not alone.  i am so grateful for you. xoxo

hi friend!

welcome back! on today's episode i'm so excited to welcome cristina nicolau back to the podcast! cristina was first here back in october 2021 where we just began to scratch the surface of her mission to truly hear & see people feel no matter where they're at in their own healing journeys.

today, we're diving deeper into yoga therapy & how cristina continues to hold space for others, especially when it's necessary to sit in the discomfort.  

cristina has an incredibly beautiful way of guiding clients through that discomfort while helping them tow the line of their self proclaimed cliff. 

we also chat about cristina's self-published journal: "mindful embodiment - a daily reflection journal" & the power that this journal has.

honestly, this was a beautiful conversation - one of my favorites - & i cannot wait for you to listen! i know you will walk away with some major takeaways about your own ability to sit in discomfort & what you're doing to support yourself.

to connect with cristina, you can find her:
on instagram @mindful_embodiment 
through her website: mindful-embodiment.com
on amazon: a.co/d/aU6ud6s

you can also listen to cristina's first episode here: episode 21 (what?!) https://www.buzzsprout.com/1754571/9319839

as always, so grateful to have you here! xoxo

hi friend!

happy october! as always i cannot believe we're already in a new month, but alas, here we are!

on today's episode, we're chatting about the version of yourself you strive to be by the end of 2023.

what do i mean? well, if you've been on social media lately you've probably seen the posts about there only being 90 days left in the year (well, a few less at this point) & so that begs that question, "what are you going to do with those 90 days?"

instead of getting all stressed out & falling victim to the hamster wheel or the game of comparison, i have 4 questions that I want you to reflect on before finalizing the version of yourself you envision stepping into by the end of the year.

ask yourself the following questions to help you clearly envision the version of you you want to step into at the end of 2023:

1) how do i want to feel?
2) who do i see myself being at the end of 2023? 
3) what is one goal i want to accomplish?
4) what is one thing i can do every day to support myself?

these questions are not meant to stress you out & they're not meant to guide you to setting large & unattainable goals.

press play to hear what i hope these questions provide you & then head over to instagram @meredith.coviello, & let me know the goal you are setting for the next 90 days!

can't wait to cheer you on! xoxo 

hi friend!
 
welcome back! on today's episode we're chatting about the importance of two key things:

1) making sure you find moments to celebrate yourself, especially if you have a tendency - like me - to go nuclear & focus on all of the things you didn't do

2) the need to breakdown in order to break through

it's the end of the month & obviously that means it's time to reflect & think about what we've done & how we feel about what we've done.

maybe you're like me & your mind immediately started to focus on what you didn't do this month that you wanted to do.

guess what? we're going to stop right there, & we're going to pick 3 things that we did accomplish this month & we're going to celebrate that. 

why?  because we need to feed our brains positivity & the reframe will help guide us to our break through.

press play on today's episode to get a deeper look as to what i'm talking about.  

i promise you won't want to miss it! xoxo