Creating Midlife Calm: Coping Skills for Stress & Anxiety in Family, Work & Relationships

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.

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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. 

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. 

Has overwhelm ever hijacked your brain and suddenly taken over the rest of your day?

You’re not the only one who can go from handling life just fine to feeling completely overwhelmed.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. How to recognize the early signs of overwhelm in your body before it takes over your thinking and your day.
2. Two easy ways to help you set realistic expectations and prevent unnecessary overwhelm.
3. Simple coping skills to calm your nervous system, get your brain back online, and figure out the next thing to do.

🎧 Take 12 minutes to learn how to move through overwhelm without losing your whole day—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. 

Do you ever wonder why you feel overwhelmed when your life doesn't seem any more demanding than everyone else's?

There may be more happening beneath your overwhelm than how much you have to do.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why stress, anxiety, and overwhelm are different—and why you may reach overwhelm more easily than someone else. 
2.  How what you do and achieve can quietly become connected to your overwhelm.
3. How a sensitive nervous system can add meaning to everyday interactions and leave you carrying more emotionally than you realize. 

🎧 Take 11 minutes to understand your overwhelm with more curiosity and less self-judgment—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 some of your everyday stress comes not from what you have to do but from fighting the fact that you have to do it?
Sometimes we create extra stress by fighting what needs to happen.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1.    How two simple words can help you notice resistance, settle your mind, and move through the ordinary tasks of life with a little more calm.
 Take 3 minutes to stop fighting the inevitable and create a little more calm in the wild—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. 

Does your mind keep replaying the same story even though you know it isn’t helping you feel better?
Anxiety, stress, and overwhelm can leave your mind stuck but noticing what your mind is doing can help you find your way back.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1.    Why your mind can become rigid or chaotic when life doesn’t go the way you expected.
2.    How to recognize when your mind has moved away from its natural state of calm.
3.    One question you can use when anxiety, stress, and overwhelm leave you emotionally stuck.
 Take 12 minutes to notice what’s keeping your mind stuck and begin finding your way back to calm—you’re worth it.
Want my one-pager What Is Mental Wellness? Email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you a copy.

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. 

When your day gets emotionally hijacked, what is anxiety quietly trying to do?
You’re not weak or overreacting—anxiety may be trying to protect you in a way that’s actually keeping you emotionally stuck.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why anxiety quietly creates invisible mental contracts that can hijack your entire day.
2. How one client’s birthday party became a powerful lesson in emotional flexibility and emotional resilience.
3. A simple coping skill to help you recognize when anxiety is trying to control reality instead of helping you trust yourself through it.

 Take 12 minutes to discover why one moment doesn’t have to become the story of your entire day—you’re worth it.

Want info on The Inner Challenge Master Class: Email MJ:[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 some of the little things disrupting your calm aren’t worth giving your energy to?
Sometimes creating more calm begins by noticing what unnecessarily pulls you out of it.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. How looking back at what disrupted your calm can help you practice letting go of what you can’t control.

 Take 4 minutes to notice what’s rocking your calm and practice letting it go—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.