Melissa Fredric is a mental health advocate who is passionate about you taking care of yourself. In today’s episode she gives three ideas on how we can be mindful of our own physical and mental health so we can be prepared for what life throws at us.

Connect With Melissa!

Instagram - @timeout.for.cake

Power Of Moms Articles

“Try Resting Instead”

“Reconnecting With Yourself After Kids”

#createjoychallenge

Find 10 minutes in your day TODAY and do something you LOVE to do. Not a task on your list. Not for others. Just for you.

This can be anything. You can make it as complicated or as simple as you want. Melissa loves painting her nails. I love taking a bath. You can make a cup of tea, read a good book, dance all by yourself. Whatever it is that you feel will spark a little joy and make you feel like a human again… do that.

Quotes

"Depression, conflict, or negativism is often a message to us that we are not growing toward the full measure for what God has created us. Our pain, emotional pain is a demand that we stop and take time for change in our life because we may be getting off course.” - Patricia Holland

Resources Mentioned

To Mothers - Carrying the Torch of Faith and Family - Book by Patricia Holland

Happiness, Your Heritage - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Connect With Us!

Website - createjoypodcast.com

Instagram - @createjoypodcast

Facebook Group - Create Joy Podcast

In this episode I share 3 free or cost effective ways to celebrate valentines day in a way that will truly make your family feel loved. The quick version is: 

1. Do a spin on the 12 days of Christmas 

2. Write Love letters

3. Heart Attack

Episode Resources

To find Cami's ideas on the love letters: 

Cami's Podcast

Cami's Instagram

Find Cami's Highlight Bubble

#createjoychallenge

This week’s create joy challenge is to think about a way to make valentines day meaningful and special and really show our loved ones how much we love them. 

Heart Hole Punch

Buy the 3 inch hole punch here. 

Connect With Us!

Website - createjoypodcast.com

Instagram - @createjoypodcast

Facebook Group - Create Joy Podcast

Our bodies are amazing, wonderful creations, and they know exactly what they need! They usually start to tell us subtly, and if we don't listen, they get louder and louder.

In this episode, Julie helps us start to understand what our bodies are trying to tell us and how we can work with them, instead of against them.

Connect with Julie

Instagram - @posturemassage_ct

Website - posturemassage.net

#createjoychallenge

This week’s create joy challenge is to work on figuring out what your body is trying to tell you.

Julie shared an amazing tip of using kind of the Marie Kondo method with your body. Getting in tune with it and figuring out, does this feel good, or “spark joy”. Don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t feel like it is working at first. Like all good things, it is going to take some time and practice.

Forget about what all the experts are telling you, and focus on what your body needs. Involve it in your prayers, if that feels right to you. Ask, what does my body need from me today? In my own experience, sometimes it is drink a lot of water… sometimes it is yoga, and sometimes it is go for a run. The hope is that little by little we will become more in tune with what our bodies need and become better at drowning out the outside influences. This is going to be amazing!

Resources Shared on Podcast

Your Inner Physician and You: Craniosacral Therapy and Somatoemotional Release

Feelings Buried Alive Never Die

The Happiness Advantage - Shawn Achor

TED Talk by Shawn Achor

Quotes

I have learned that you need to be nice and say hi to your body and ask it where it wants to be and then just help direct it.

As soon as you can start to connect with what your body is saying to you, you really start to pick up on the small ways it is communicating with you daily.

The body is amazing when you give it what it needs, and it usually knows what it needs.

Everything that happens to us gets recorded in our bodies.

Our bodies are always trying to preserve themselves.

Pay attention to the patterns of when you are feeling your symptoms. Your body is crying out at that very moment.

Your body is going to change to the degree that you are ready. So if you are ready for big change, welcome to the journey.

The power of positivity really does change things in your body.

Positivity and gratitude change bodies.

Emotions are information. They are not good or bad. They are just information.

You can mold your children so that they do not take on the patterns of the generations past.

Connect With Us!

Website - createjoypodcast.com

Instagram - @createjoypodcast

Facebook Group - Create Joy Podcast

There are industries worth millions and billions of dollars who are banking on the hope that you and I will think we are not good enough the way we are. When we feel bad about themselves, they make money. Let’s learn who they are, and how we can fight back.

#createjoychallenge

Find 5 people that we can compliment - on anything BUT their size.

Find something that is ACTUALLY important. I promise those compliments are going to mean so much more to them than anything about their shape. My favorite compliments are the really weird ones. Ask my husband. It literally makes me so happy inside when he gets creative with his compliments. If he can get in deep and compliment something that I could easily think was overlooked, it totally makes my day. Be creative, and you might just make someone’s day, which could have the coolest ripple effect. If you want to, you can also compliment someone publicly on social media!

I would love to hear about what you are learning with your challenge this week. If you have an amazing experience, I would love to hear about it! Just send me an email, send me a DM on instagram @createjoypodcast, or even better tag me in a share and use the hashtag so we can inspire others to compliment more creatively.

Quotes

“Many, if not most of the temptations that he puts in our paths cause us to abuse our bodies or the bodies of others. Because Satan is miserable without a body, he wants us to be miserable because of ours.” Russell M. Nelson

“Your value is not determined by a number on a tag or on a scale.”

“They can’t sell us things if we love ourselves.”

“Let’s use food as fuel - not as a moral compass.”

“Imagine how much good we could do if we used all the time we spend thinking about making our bodies smaller, and put it towards something actually meaningful.”

Connect With Us!

Website - createjoypodcast.com

Instagram - @createjoypodcast

Facebook Group - Create Joy Podcast

This is the last episode of the season! Thank you so much for all your support. We will be back on the podcast with the very first episode of season 2 on January 13th, but until then I will still be hanging out on Instagram every so often.

In elementary school my teachers had this poster on the wall that said “Everything I need to know, I learned in Kindergarten.” I think I only got a tenth of the way through it, because there were just so many words on it, but today I applied that same message to episode 15 as I talked about how I applied 1st grade lessons to Christmas. Here is a spoiler: you deserve to enjoy Christmas too.

Here are the top 3 tips:

1. Edit Down to the Most important

Remember when you (or your kids) tried to learn how to write? This point is based on that (fun) experience.

2. There is a difference between a want and a need

Stick to the needs - appreciate the wants.

3. There is a difference between a fact and an opinion

Don’t let other’s opinions of what you “should” do control your happiness.

The Create Joy challenge for the next few weeks it to do what you need to do to have the best Holiday Season ever - your way.

Thank you

Thank you again for all of your support and love as we wrap up Season 1 of the podcast. It has been so fun to spend this time with you and to be a part of a growing community. I appreciate you more than I have the words to describe.

This is part 2 of my interview with Javier Gandara. Just a quick recap… in part 1, epsiode 13, he talked about his upbringing, about how life is not fair, and that’s OK, and about walking 6 hours home from school passing out resumes because he did not have the equivalent of $0.25 to pay for a bus ticket back home. He talked about how his family of 7 all shared one mattress on a concrete floor, and about some really key moments in his life that helped him to set a different path for his future.

This week we get to see all of those struggles start to pay off, as we learn why rejection is important, how an outburst from a teacher changed everything, and some motivation for reaching our own big dreams. I am so excited for you to learn from him.

Create Joy Challenge

This week’s create joy challenge is to dream big.

Your present does not define your future… unless you let it. It may not feel like you have all the advantages necessary to do those big things, and you probably don’t. But that is OK. You know why? I think Thomas S. Monson said it best: “The future is as bright as your faith.” You may not have the resources or the connections or whatever you are telling yourself that is keeping you from your dream… but you have something bigger. You have the potential to have God on your side, and “with God all things are possible.” Mathew 19:26

So Dream Big, Pray Hard, and Work towards that goal every single day. Then reach the top of that mountain and enjoy the view while you set your next goal. You can do this!

Connect with Create Joy Podcast on

Website createjoypodcast.com

Instagram @createjoypodcast

Facebook Group - Create Joy Podcast

Quotes from Episode

“Do not make small goals because they do not have the magic to stir men's souls.” - Spencer W. Kimball

“The future is as bright as your faith.” - Thomas S. Monson

“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Mathew 19:26

“Success is not a matter of luck. Success is a matter of numbers, probability, and statistics.” - Javier Gandara

In part 1 of 2 of Javier’s story, he shares about  growing up with very little in Mexico. He talks about the hard times, his parent’s sacrifices, some turning points, and why the word “mushroom” plays a big part in his life story.

Create Joy Challenge

This week’s #createjoychallenge is to resist the urge to become discouraged and instead find the “areas of opportunity” in your hardships

LIfe might seem unfair… in many ways, but as Javier mentions, it is not only unfair for you. It is unfair for everyone. Realize this, and do what you can to move your life in the direction that you want it to go. You might be amazed at what you can accomplish when you stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Connect with Create Joy Podcast on

Website createjoypodcast.com

Instagram @createjoypodcast

Facebook Group - Create Joy Podcast

”The earlier you realize that life is not fair, that things are not just going to be rosy for everyone and that it is up to you to change the situation and to make things better… the easier it is to empower yourself.” - Javier Gandara

“Hard work beats everything.” - Javier Gandara

“The more you learn how to learn, the more you love to learn.” - Javier Gandara

As of January 2019, Minimum wage in Mexico is 102.67 pesos per day, which with the exchange rate on the day of recording is

$5.28 per day. =

$31.68 per week (working 6 days a week)

$136.224 per month

$1,635 per year

According to the INEGI, National Institute of Statistics and Geography, only 269,000 Mexicans earn $16 or more per hour.

For reference, Scottsdale, AZ has a population of 249,950. Mesa, AZ has a population of 496,000 people. So the amount of Mexicans who make equal to or more than 33,000 per year could fit in the city of Scottsdale, AZ. Everyone else is living on much less than that.  How many other people? I am glad you asked.

There are 124.6 million people living in Mexico. Which means that 124,331,000 people live on less. This makes up a mere 0.22% Of Mexican. Which is a crazy statistic when you compare it to the top 1% in the United States making $1.32 million.

Have you ever had a dream that just felt too big and too scary? And the thought of it was almost paralyzing? 

I hope today’s story helps to inspire you to reach for your own dream. To dig a little deeper and try a little harder, and accomplish those great things that God has prepared for you. Because He has something prepared for each of us.

Create Joy Challenge

This week’s #createjoychallenge is to ask God every day, what He needs you to do today. The answers might surprise you. Some days they are big things, some days they are scary things, and some days it is ice cream with your daughter, which I am OK with. Whatever it is, I encourage you to do it! As scary or silly as it may seem, it is definitely worth it! You know how I know? Because God knows our situation so much better than we do, and He loves us enough to take care of the things we do not even see.

Quotes from Episode

"If you are feeling massive resistance, the good news is that it means there's tremendous love there too." - Steven Pressfield

"Don’t let a day go by without doing something to act on the promptings of the Spirit." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf April 2011 General Conference - "Your Potential, Your Privilege"

Connect with Audra 

Connect on instagram @audraelkington

Connect on her website www.audraelkington.com

Connect with Create Joy Podcast on

Instagram @createjoypodcast

Facebook Group - Create Joy Podcast

Website createjoypodcast.com

Create Joy Challenge

This week’s create joy challenge is to focus on your extraordinary ordinary life. Slow down and focus on the GOOD, focus on the Beautiful. Look past the hard things and see the light inside of it. Find peace, love, and joy in the turmoil, and turn off as much of the noise as you possibly can.

Connect with Create Joy Podcast on

Instagram @createjoypodcast

Facebook Group - Create Joy Podcast

Quotes from Episode

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. "Don't worry." I say to myself every morning. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God and move forward with faith and confidence in the future." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"Carry on. Things will work out. If you keep trying and praying and working, things will work out. They always do. If you want to die an early age, dwell on the negative. Accentuate the positive and you'll be around for a while." - Gordon B. Hinckley

"In my ninety plus years, I have learned a revert. I have learned that when good men and good women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out! Truly, things always work out! Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out." - Gordon B. Hinckley