Conversations With Cinthia

Our thoughts shape us.  When we confuse our own self-criticism with the concept of a healthy conscience, we may think that our self-condemnation is appropriate, important, even crucial to keeping us from worse mistakes and behaviors.  Negative self-talk, however, often works against the very improvements we want to make, keeping us stuck in cycles of shame and frustration.  Today Cinthia considers Proverbs 23:7 and encourages awareness, intentionality, and kindness regarding the messages we continually program into ourselves just by thinking. To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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How old do you feel inside?  Today’s discussion is not primarily about extreme dissociative symptoms but about the common circumstance of having internalized who we were as children and carried it into adulthood with us.  Lots of us have parts that feel younger, parts we might think of as an “inner child” or “teen-aged self” that are still part of us.  These can be fun and can help us with our sense of play, spontaneity, etc., and this situation works well as long as our adult selves are in charge of our lives, making adult decisions and performing adult tasks.  But problems appear when our child-like parts are running the show, leading us to act like emotional children in adult roles and bodies; in fact, many people are so unaware of the possibility of emotional adulthood that they don’t even realize they are functioning as emotional children.  Conversely, we may so repress our younger places that we have trouble playing, having fun, or being silly even when it is appropriate to do so.  Do you have an inner child who is trying to protect you and function in the adult world?  Or have you squelched the younger parts of yourself to survive in a world where it is not always safe to be little?  Join Cinthia to look at what it might be like to develop your adult self and put that adult in charge of your life while also allowing your younger pieces to do what they do best.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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Can yoga help us celebrate our bodies as creations of God?  Can meditation help us have healthier minds?  Some Christians are uncomfortable with yoga and meditation because these can be associated with other religions or New Age philosophies.  Today yoga therapist Jessica Goulding discusses yoga and meditation as sciences of the mind that can be practiced by followers of Jesus with great benefit.  Cinthia engages with her in a discussion about the importance of getting accurate information about practices like these, especially since they have such benefit for calming the central nervous system.  Together, they encourage listeners to consider yoga and meditation as tools that can be used for various purposes, including seeking God and opening ourselves to His grace.  Jessica has even created a way for listeners to experience meditating on Scripture at www.jessgoulding.com/respite.  Whether or not you make yoga and/or meditation part of your life, today’s episode can help you explore what makes something spiritually dangerous or healthy for your body, mind, and spirit.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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“Religion,” “spirituality,” and “relationship with God” can be such loaded words and phrases, words that hint at something valuable, even crucial, but also trigger lots of complex memories, opinions, and associations.  Today Cinthia explains that science is finding the human brain changed by belief in the Divine and interaction with it.  She also states that the relationship God wants with each of us is (like all relationships) unique to the parties involved.  So, if there is a God and that God wants a relationship with you, it might not look like someone else thinks it should.  It might not even look like you expect.  What fears, memories, concerns, or other ideas tend to get in the way of you exploring what relationship between you and God might look like?  Join Cinthia to consider how principles of healthy relationship apply if you choose to engage in a relationship with God.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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There are sins we cannot justify or undo, errors that change the course of our lives, mistakes that harm others deeply.  Some regrets wash over us again and again, causing our stomachs that familiar drop and dashing the hopes we had started to rebuild.  What does it mean to come back from mistakes like that?  What is the difference between hiding from those realities and genuinely seeking resolution?  Today Cinthia discusses our responses to our own failures and what it means to acknowledge, forgive, learn, and grow after a fall.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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Do you get frustrated when standards are too weak?  Or do you tend to be annoyed with people who are too rigid?  Flexibility and strength regarding our own value systems can both be assets, but getting the proportions right can be tricky.  Sometimes we elevate our personal tendencies in either direction to the level of biblical standard, which often leads us to judge those who are more flexible or firm than we are.  We may also judge ourselves in ways that keep us stuck rather than helping us to move forward.  Today Cinthia discusses what it means to bend appropriately so we don’t break (at least not over something that isn’t worth it) and to give each other grace as we learn how to balance.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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Lisa Beth Thomas was successful in business, a picture of strength as she helped famous people navigate their marketing needs.  In her personal life, however, she felt intimidated and overwhelmed by the fallout of an unhealthy marriage and the ongoing financial and familial consequences left behind.  Today she talks with Cinthia about the process she undertook as she found her voice, navigated major life changes, and identified the core fears that had made it so difficult to do what she needed to do.  She discusses her discoveries regarding blame, responsibility, acceptance, and courage.  Today, Lisa Beth helps others through her Outwitting Fear course (www.outwittingfear.com).  Join Cinthia and Lisa Beth to examine ways you can identify and confront the fears that are holding you back.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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Watermelon is delicious, but what to do with those pesky seeds?  Cinthia recently read about a town in which people seed-spit competitively, and today she explores this as a metaphor for life:  In order to enjoy life’s fruit, we have to deal with the seeds – plant them, spit them, discard them…  Each of us is responsible for tending the garden of our own lives and learning how to enjoy the fruit as much as possible.  What are you going to do with the seeds?  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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Have you ever over-reacted to a situation?  Have you ever gone into fighting stance, survival mode, or panic mentality when, in fact, you probably didn’t need to go there?  Today Cinthia encourages us to take a look at our threat-level assessment mechanisms and consider how learning to avoid going straight to “Defcon 1” can improve our lives, relationships, self-image, and impact on those around us.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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We are what we think.  Our brains actually change in response to our thought patterns, and, while we may not be able to choose every thought that enters our minds, we have a lot of power to control those thoughts we continue to nurture.  Today Cinthia discusses research about the way our thoughts, including the specific word choices we use in our thoughts, impact our brains.  She also discusses ways we can begin to craft our thoughts more carefully to make the changes we want to make in ourselves.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

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