Have you ever noticed how anxiety can keep you trying to solve a problem even when there’s nothing more you can actually do?
Persistence is a strength, but in midlife it can sometimes fuel anxiety and keep you searching, clicking and trying long after you’ve reached your limit.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1.    How to recognize when problem-solving has shifted into anxious, compulsive trying so you can step away, reconnect with your body and create more calm.
 Take 3 minutes to stop feeding anxiety with endless trying and create more calm in the wild—you’re worth it.

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About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Do insurance, financial and other unresolved problems keep taking up space in your head and suck energy from your day?

When you’re still responsible for a problem you can’t resolve, it can quietly drain your time, energy and calm.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why unresolved problems keep popping back into your mind even when there’s nothing more you can do today.
2. A simple brain-based coping skill that helps you put the problem down until it’s time to deal with it again.
3. How being the capable one can leave you carrying too much responsibility and how to begin lightening that load.

Take 11 minutes to learn how to stay responsible for what needs your attention without carrying it around all day. You’re worth it.

Want to learn more about my Inner Challenge Master Class on Mental Wellness? Email me at [email protected].

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Are unresolved  admin problems with insurance, pharmacies, credit cards, airlines, or other companies taking more time and energy than you realize?
What looks like an everyday annoyance can become a real source of stress when you’re responsible for solving the problem.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why problems you may dismiss as annoyances can actually be real sources of stress and overwhelm.
2. How unresolved problems can steal your time and leave you responsible for an outcome you can influence but can’t control.
3. How to recognize the hidden weight you may be carrying long after you’ve hung up the phone or walked away from the problem.

Take 11 minutes to recognize the unresolved stress you may be carrying and give yourself a little more compassion. You’re worth it.
Want to learn more about my Inner Challenge Master Class on Mental Wellness? Email me at [email protected].

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Could doing something completely unproductive actually help you feel less stressed, anxious and overwhelmed?
When life is full, the answer may not always be doing less.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1. How purposeless activity may help you experience less internal resistance—even when you have more to do than usual.
 
 Take 3 minutes to discover how making room for purposeless play might help your busy life feel a little easier—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

What if one of the most important questions about retirement has less to do with what you'll do next and more to do with how you want to live now?

Whether retirement is years away, right in front of you, or already part of your life, changing roles can bring unexpected stress, anxiety and questions about who you are.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why retirement can feel unsettling even when you’re looking forward to the freedom it brings.
2. How your skills, strengths and experience can remain part of your life without productivity having to organize your days.
3. Why making more room for what you want—not only what life requires—can help you cultivate calm before and after retirement.

If you’re interested in going deeper, this is also the kind of work we do in my Inner Challenge Master Class. Email me at [email protected] for more information.
 Take 11 minutes to discover a different way to think about retirement—and create more calm in the life you’re living now.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Has thinking about retirement suddenly made getting older feel a lot more real?
You’re not alone if retirement is beginning to feel surprisingly personal long before you’re ready to stop working.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1.    Why retirement can trigger stress and anxiety in midlife that goes much deeper than money.
2.    Why it can be difficult to picture your older self and how that affects the way you care for your future.
3.    A simple coping skill to help you become curious about the person you’re becoming without becoming anxious about the future.
 Take 10 minutes to look toward your future without leaving the life you’re living today—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Can a trip to the grocery store actually help you become calmer when someone else is rude or stressed?
Everyday moments give us opportunities to practice responding differently to stress.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. How one ordinary moment in the tortilla aisle reminded of how good growth feels.  

 Take 5 minutes to practice creating your own calm right in the middle of the wild.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

What if doing the very thing you’re trying to change doesn’t mean you’re failing?
Emotional growth is often happening before it feels like progress.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why noticing an old pattern may actually be one of the first signs that you’re changing.
2. How internal self-awareness can help you recognize anxiety, stress, and overwhelm sooner.
3. Why responding to setbacks with kindness and repair can help you keep moving forward instead of giving up.

Want to learn more about the Inner Challenge Master Class? Email me at [email protected].
 Take 9 minutes to see your emotional growth differently—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Could the quick fixes you use to help yourself or someone you love actually be making everyone’s anxiety and overwhelm worse?
Wanting to quickly fix someone’s distress can sometimes create more stress for everyone even you!
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1.    Why distress can quickly trigger your urge to jump in, take over, or make an uncomfortable situation go away.
2.    How to recognize the physical signs that tell you you’ve moved into quick fix mode before anxiety and overwhelm take over.
3.    A simple way to slow down and figure out whether the moment actually needs action, advice, support, or simply a little time.
 Take 10 minutes to respond to anxiety and overwhelm with greater clarity and calm. You’re worth it.
Want to learn more about my Inner Challenge Master Class on Mental Wellness? Email me at [email protected].

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

What if one of your most powerful coping skills for anxiety, stress & overwhelm  isn’t something you do alone?

If you’ve been trying to calm yourself through willpower alone, you’re not the only one.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. The surprising coping skill you have always had.

🎧 Take 3 minutes to discover why calm is sometimes created simply by being with another calm person—you're worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.