Erin McCarthy, PhD: Mindfulness. Balance. Resilience

Erin McCarthy, PhD: Mindfulness. Balance. Resilience Mindful life coaching for curious humans.

May you be kind to yourself. May you feel supported. May you be patient with yourself.
05/20/2026

May you be kind to yourself.

May you feel supported.

May you be patient with yourself.

05/19/2026

The short version of this long reel 😊:

Mindful Self Compassion supports maternal mental health!

There's a resource on slide 7 I want every new mom (and every person who loves one) to know about 🤍
05/18/2026

There's a resource on slide 7 I want every new mom (and every person who loves one) to know about 🤍

05/14/2026

May is maternal mental health month and so I am here this month to share some of my own postpartum experience as well as resources to support maternal mental health.

First up, Dr. Sona Dimidjian and Dr. Sheryl Goodman’s book Expecting Mindfully. This book is rooted in the evidence based Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for the Prevention of Perinatal Depression program.

Studies of this program showed that women who were at risk of postpartum depression showed significantly improved depressive symptoms compared to the treatment as usual group who participated in the pilot randomized controlled trial.

Many people think that to be a good practitioner, a good teacher, a good woman, you have to soften the rage until only t...
05/11/2026

Many people think that to be a good practitioner, a good teacher, a good woman, you have to soften the rage until only the love remains...

That is a version of mindfulness we hear a lot about, where nothing is wrong with the world and a candle is always lit somewhere. (I have plenty of candles. I also have plenty of feelings about this.)

Non-attachment means feeling ALL of our feelings in their complete range, but not letting them drive the bus.

When we practice non-attachment, we allow the feelings to move through us instead of getting gripped by them.

This creates spaciousness in our lives, allows us to move through the difficult times with more ease because we know they won't last forever, and we soak up the joyful moments because we know they won't last forever either.

Feeling my difficult feelings instead of pushing them away means they have less of a grip on me and they are shorter in duration. This one is a hard lesson, because who wants to feel the difficult feelings, but it's true.

05/08/2026

Mindfulness isn’t about becoming a perfectly calm person who never gets triggered.

It’s about developing the skills to work skillfully with whatever arises – stress, joy, fear, excitement – with greater awareness and choice.

The skill of equanimity allows us to do exactly that — the ability to not get pushed and pulled around by our experiences.

It’s that inner balance that allows us to stay present and responsive, instead of reactive, even in challenging circumstances.

Some of you have been following me for a while and know parts of this story. Some of you are newer here and don't.So I w...
05/07/2026

Some of you have been following me for a while and know parts of this story. Some of you are newer here and don't.

So I want to say it plainly, for anyone who needs to hear it today:

You can be at the top of your career, with a beautiful family, doing every single thing "right" on paper, and still be falling apart.

Looking like a superwoman is not the same thing as being well.

If you're somewhere on that road right now, please hear me: there is nothing wrong with you! xo

05/06/2026

Your most powerful mindfulness practice is one you DO and enjoy.

It might not look like sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed.

It can be as simple as looking around you exactly where you are, right now.

Mindfulness is about presence! It does not have to be complicated.

Let your practice support you, not become another thing you "should" be better at.

✨ What’s one small, nourishing pause you can gift yourself today?

You are allowed to be furious at things that are genuinely wrong.You are allowed to be sad about things that are genuine...
05/05/2026

You are allowed to be furious at things that are genuinely wrong.

You are allowed to be sad about things that are genuinely sad.

You are allowed to be tired because what you're carrying is genuinely heavy.

That's not a failure of practice. That's practice.

05/04/2026

Ever gotten to the end of the day and realized you're starving because you forgot to eat?

Same thing happens with mindfulness. ;)

A lot of people believe that being hard on themselves is what will get them places. The inner critic (the one telling yo...
04/30/2026

A lot of people believe that being hard on themselves is what will get them places.

The inner critic (the one telling you you're not doing enough, not going fast enough, not being enough)... you assume she's the one driving the whole operation.

But what if I told you she wasn't the engine of your success and achievements?

What if your inner critic has been riding in the passenger seat the whole time (narrating, warning, criticizing...) while the real engine has always been your values, your love for the work, and your actual grit?

The research on self-compassion backs this up: people who motivate themselves with kindness don't have lower standards. They have less performance anxiety, less fear of failure, and more resilience when things don't go to plan.

Your success isn't proof your inner critic works (!!)

It's proof you kept going anyway and succeeded IN SPITE of the criticism.

There is nothing wrong with you. 🌱

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Ottawa, ON

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+16136991138

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