Ends with Z

We continue the discussion on how we adjust and readjust as we emerge from our homes and re-enter society. LA-based Psychotherapist, John Tsilimparis, MFT, joins the conversation to help us navigate the post-pandemic path to a new reality with less restrictions, masks, and mandates in a safer way that nurtures and supports our mental health and well-being.

In this podcast, we’re diving into how many of us are moving forward in the wake of COVID-19 and redefining the new normal. Do we hug again? How about just an elbow bump? We explore what our worlds are looking like now that we’re emerging from COVID-19 and discuss why it’s okay if you’re not okay in part one of this two-part podcast!

In a follow up to our last episode, we continue the discussion on the effects the pandemic has had on personal and professional relationships from a millennial mindset as special guest, Ashley Hall, joins the conversation. Are the societal changes we are seeing permanent or just temporary? How are these changes experienced differently by each generation? Ashely shares her views as we unpack some of what she and her peers are experiencing and get their perspectives on personal relating, digital dating, hook up culture, “adulting”, and work/life balance/imbalance in this time of COVID, and what life might look like when we emerge from this forced hibernation and reset our lives on the other side.

Living through a pandemic has changed how we date, and even who we date. The very way we are relating to each other as humans has shifted and changed. A year, and more, of isolation forced us all to slow down, giving us time to focus on what truly matters. Time to think about what we want, how we want to be loved, lusted for in our relationships. So how has this year of almost no human contact affected us as individuals and in our relationships, both, casual and intimate? How has the act of finding the “one” or just “someone” or going on an actual date changed and have those changes permanently changed us? As more people are vaccinated and things open up more this Spring, are we going to rush back into our relationships, are we going to see them in a different light, or will we be looking for more? In this episode, hosts Juan and Cecile get personal as they address these questions while discussing how the pandemic has affected some of their most personal relationships.

One thing that life continues to teach us is the contrast that is inherent in it. Good and bad. Dark and light. You cannot truly appreciate one without knowing the other. We made it through 2020 of what felt like a year of never-ending darkness, but just like plants, we grow towards the light. The vaccine rollout is bringing us hope in conquering COVID-19 as a new administration takes office and a new sense of optimism begins to take shape as we return to the life we've missed. Executive Producer, Shawn Meaux, joins the podcast conversation as we discuss the holidays, the insurrection, the inauguration, and other events that we experienced during our hiatus, as well as our hopes and takeaways as move forward into the light of 2021.

2020 has been one for the history books. Literally. No one would have imagined when we rang in the New Year on January 1 that we would be in for such a wild ride. As we reflect on all that has happened this year, we immediately think about all the things that we didn’t get to do, the things we were allowed to do, all we witnessed, participated in, modified, and canceled. We all experienced just about every possible emotion – almost daily. What lessons have we learned this year that will make us better human beings? We know will be dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic when we toast in 2021. How do we find more strength, hope, and happiness to keep us moving forward? In this podcast we highlight some of the lessons we have learned, changes we made, and behaviors we adapted in 2020 that we can use to help us better navigate our journey through and beyond this pandemic.

“What are you doing for the holidays?” makes some people feel like downright Grinchy while others are giddy with joy, and that is in a normal year. The holiday season this year will be very different for all, and painfully tough for many. Unimaginable losses, fear, uncertainty, and loneliness are creating levels of anxiety and depression, in even for the strongest among us. For others, the pain and effects will be much deeper and longer lasting. None of us have gone through this before – ever! How can we set ourselves to not only survive but thrive through this holiday season? John Tsilimparis, MFT is back this week with great advice and tools we can use today to preempt the shock of how different, and weird, the holidays will be and helps us refocus on the true spirit of the season.

With the holidays quickly approaching, we thought that now is the perfect time to start to envision what the holidays can and will be, when so many of the traditions and gatherings that we are used may not be available to us this year. We have a unique opportunity to work from a clean slate to destress the entirety of the holiday season and to reimagine what our holiday happiness looks in 2020, starting with Halloween. In this podcast, we discuss our own plans for the upcoming holidays, new traditions that we are planning to start this year, and tips that we all can use to help make this holiday season one we will remember despite the pandemic.

As children, we dream big and believe that we can be so many things when we grow up. Gameshow host, doctor, lawyer, nun, a Jackson. The fearless optimism that we possess innately when we are young seems to fade away for many of us as we mature. As life unfolds, our dreams are pushed away or put on hold. But what happens to a dream deferred or to the desires that led to our dreams? Did “I want to be and I believe I can” shrivel up and die like a raisin in the sun? Or did life’s journey change their course? The loss and uncertainty we are experiencing from the pandemic has prompted many of us to look inward to examine our lives, our work, our values and our dreams and to make some major life changes. While the challenges we are experiencing now are great, this new reality has giving us a tremendous opportunity to make necessary mental changes to reimagine. What are your dreams? What would you change, do, or try if you believed your dream can be your reality? How do we get back to that childlike state of wonder?

We are all living with massive uncertainty and fear every day caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented unemployment, and civil unrest. Our minds are overwhelmed with the stress and anxiety at the upending of every aspect of our lives. This COVID Mind has kicked us out of our comfort zone and our life as we knew it. What is all this doing to our minds and our bodies? In this podcast, Los Angeles-based Psychotherapist, John Tsilimparis, MFT, joins us once again to help us understand what is the COVID Mind; what the short- and long-term effects all of this stress is having on us. How do we help ourselves and our children cope with uncertainty? He gives us tips and tools he uses to help us focus and calm our fears and emotions. He also walks us through a mindfulness exercise we can all use anytime to access and activate our “boss mind” to create our new comfort zone where our mind and body can get through even the most fearful times.