Send Mara a quick text love note here!

If you’ve ever wondered about how to bring your whole self to your workplace, this conversation is for you. 

On today’s episode, I interview Liz Wiltsie. Liz supports people to become sustainably human at work by naming their needs, becoming accountable, and practicing generative feedback. Liz reminds us that while we might be infinite, our capacity is finite -- meaning, we only have a certain amount of energy to use each day. She shares more about choices that you can make to guard your capacity, particularly in the workplace. She urges us to ask ourselves the question, "How do you want to feel at the end of the day?" and work backwards to make decisions about how to care for ourselves, what to ask for, and what support we might need over the course of the day. 

I just adore Liz's work and am so excited to share her with you. Tune in to hear more about the 4 elemental needs in the workplace (and what you can do to get yours met), the 3 aspects of becoming sustainably human at work, and Liz’s back story to creating her new Field Guide.

Tune in to hear more about:

• Beginning to name your needs at work
• What percent capacity is right and good for you specifically (because EVERYTHING takes capacity)
• Liz’s tool for evaluating skills, desire and capacity to determine the best ways to use your energy at work
• The 4 elemental needs in the workplace (and what you can do to get yours met)
• Ways to approach bringing more generative and supportive conversations into your work day via accountability and feedback loops
• The 3 aspects of becoming sustainably human at work, and Liz’s back story to creating her Field Guide To Becoming Sustainably Human at Work

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

Recently, I saw a meme that said “Your mind set is a skill set” and I thought, “Yes, and/but…”. There are so many layers to cultivating a supportive and nourishing mindset. In today’s episode I pull back the curtain on the multitude of ways we can practice developing a supportive mindset, how our social and cultural conditioning impacts our self-image, and creating optimal conditions for this work because it requires ENERGY!

Tune into today’s episode to hear more about…

• The foundational physical building blocks of a supportive mindset
• Why it’s so important to validate and affirm yourself when reclaiming your meaning making
• Why a chaotic inner environment (mindset) is a symptom of your burnout and not an indication of your lack of worth / a failing on your part
• Why you don’t need to figure out your entire life before you start taking care of yourself
• How to bring compassion and kindness into your mindset shifts
• Ways to support new fledgling beliefs

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

I am so excited to bring you this conversation with Nina Manolson, M.A. NBC-HWC.

Nina is a Body-Peace® coach. She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body – as it is. She brings her 30 years experience as a therapist, Body-Trust ® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a positive relationship with their food and body.

Nina’s work and body-poems – are all in service of helping women get off the diet roller-coaster and into a compassionate, nourishing and powerful way of eating, living & walking through the world.

Nina bubbles with strong beliefs about building and trusting our relationship with our bodies, being anti anti-aging, asking for support and centering pleasure. 

Tune in to hear us explore…

• Nina’s brilliant take on aging
• How diet culture interrupts our relationship with our bodies
• Why your body isn’t the problem (and doesn’t need fixing)
• How to add nourishing, joyful activities to your own life
• Bringing what Nina calls the “deluxness of life” into our (pandemic) days
• And yes, you’re allowed to give yourself flowers

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

Marlee Grace is a dancer and writer whose work focuses on the self, devotion, ritual, creativity, and art making. Her practice is rooted in improvisation as a compositional form that takes shape in movement videos, books, quilting, online courses, and hosting artists. Marlee’s Instagram dance project Personal Practice has been featured in the New York Times, Dance Magazine, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, and more. You can find her zines, things she makes, artists she hosts, and more at marleegrace.space/home

In this episode, Marlee shares her thoughts about social media, being intentional with her attention, and a current experiment with a four month Instagram holiday. We discuss Marlee’s changing relationship with social media and what she’s doing with her days now that Instagram is not a part of them. Our conversation showcases how Marlee loves to bring joy and clarity to others by being herself. I so enjoyed speaking with her about the nuances of being an online entrepreneur who is reevaluating her digital spaces. 

Tune in to hear us explore…

• How Marlee prepared for her social media holiday as an online entrepreneur
• Understanding your own needs and gaining clarity before negotiating for your needs in relationship
• Why constant input on social media is not the same as inviting constructive feedback
• What is looks like to navigate assumed intimacy in online spaces
• Where to begin if you’re curious about being more intentional about your own intention

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

The Needy podcast is back with season 4 today! HUZZAH!

Did you know that your energy isn’t actually meant to be constant each and every day over the course of the year? What might be different for you if you understood how to organize your efforts over the course of the year to best align with your energy instead of constantly feeling like you are working against yourself?

Today’s episode delves into the inner workings of how I run my  pro-human and anti-hustle for hustle’s sake business. I pull back the curtain on how I organize my projects and efforts over the course of the year by asking, what is this season/cycle/moon phase BEST-SUITED for? This episodes is a deep sigh of relief and lightening bolt of inspiration for business owners, but is certain to inspire all of us to reimagine how we are organizing our lives to give us more space and a greater sense of alignment.

Tune in to hear me explore…

• Aligning with your energy seasons and cycles (and using that data to plan your business year ahead)
• How to care for yourself proactively instead of reactively
• How my sustainable, compassionate approach to self-leadership works in real life
• Pro-human boundaries & business practices

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

The Needy podcast is on a much-needed hiatus as I prepare for season 4. During this time I am bringing you my very favorite episodes from the last four years, including today’s podcast episode, “Advocating for Your Needs in Your Relationships ” featuring the brilliant Pace Smith.

Pace is co-host of The Dervish and the Mermaid, a podcast about living wholeheartedly, pathfinding, the Enneagram, feminism & activism for sensitive people, self-love & body love, and plenty more! Pace is a Sufi, a bridger, a pan poly trans Beat Saber player, and a 3. Download her free eBook, Find Your Path Now, to STOP living on autopilot and START living the wholehearted, unconventional life you were meant to live.

Pace and I had a fantastic conversation about figuring out what you need and determining how to advocate for those needs in your relationships. I am so grateful to her for how much she shared, because I had a ton of lightbulb moments for how to show up in my relationship with greater clarity! Throughout the episode, Pace shares personal anecdotes and tangible tools that help us connect with others more deeply and live with greater intention.

Tune in to hear us explore…

• Decision fatigue & creating routines to help you meet your needs
• Figuring out how to advocate for – and not minimize – your needs in your relationships
• Subtle vs. direct communication and how your style impacts your need advocacy
• Boundaries, feeling safe & what happens when our needs are in conflict with one another
• Creating a spiritual practice that supports you

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

The Needy podcast is on a much-needed hiatus as I prepare for season 4. During this time I am bringing you my very favorite episodes from the last four years, including today’s podcast episode, “Emergency Self-Care vs. Consistent Self-Care” with yours truly!

Have you been using every last drop of your energy without giving any thought to how you are replenishing yourself?

In today’s episode, I talk about why we resist taking care of ourselves when things are going well. This is a huge problem that so many humans face, pushing themselves to their energetic brink only to find themselves swinging back and forth from lots of energy to no energy. Tune in to learn how and WHY to tend to your needs on a more consistent basis, so you have sustainable energy to do the things you love most.

Tune in to hear me explore…

• The cycle of rest and creation
• Why using every last bit of your energy without giving a thought to replenishing it hurts you every time
• Consistency in self-care and not being a fair weather friend to yourself

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

The Needy podcast is on a much-needed hiatus as I prepare for season 4. During this time I am bringing you my very favorite episodes from the last four years, including today’s podcast episode, “Self-Care & The Creative Life” writer, editor, and creativity mentor Anna Lovind.

Anna helps feminist creatives and change-makers go from dreaming to doing – without the striving and overwhelm. She is the author of The Creative Doer, and hosts a beautiful online course and community where women from all over the world gather to make good stuff happen. Anna lives with her two daughters, two cats and a dog in rural Sweden, where forests are deep, winter is dark and summer nights last forever.

In today’s episode, Anna and I discuss the laughable concept of finding “balance” between creativity and taking care of ourselves, practical negotiations in getting your needs met on a more oft occurring basis, and trusting your body to let you know what you need. This deeply rich conversation delves into the heart of what it means to be a driven, ambitious creator with a human body in need to tending and a hunger to live life well.

Tune in to hear us explore…

• doing the work you are called to do instead of what you think you should do
• saying no — even and especially when that means saying no to yourself
• worthiness and believing you deserve to maintain your own boundaries
• where to begin in cultivating your creative life

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

The Needy podcast is on a much-needed hiatus as I prepare for season 4. During this time I am bringing you my very favorite episodes from the last four years, including today’s podcast episode, “The Self-Care You Need vs. The Self-Care You’re Sold'” with yours truly!

Are you exhausted of quick fixes and one-sized fits all solutions when it comes to your care? ME TOO.

In today’s episode, I talk about the real reason why the self-care industry on the whole is so supremely ineffective and disappointing. The truth is, you may need so much more than what we are being sold, but are routinely being blamed for your exhaustion. This is an episode for anyone who has ever thought, “If it’s so easy, why am I not doing it?”

Tune in to hear me explore…

• The cozy connection between the self-care industry and the diet industry
• Having the compassion for yourself that grieves the loss of a quick fix option
• What actually works – and helps you feel more well rested, nourished, and supported

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.

Send Mara a quick text love note here!

The Needy podcast is on a much-needed hiatus as I prepare for season 4. During this time I am bringing you my very favorite episodes from the last four years, including today’s podcast episode, “Motherhood, Connection & Self-Care” with Tara Pringle Jeffereson.

Tara is a writer, speaker, and self-care coach with a lifelong passion for creating community. She’s the founder of the Self Care Suite, a wellness community for black women and other women of color to unlearn exhaustion as their default and develop self-care rituals to sustain themselves. Her work has been featured in Essence, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, The Grio, Babble, Buzzfeed, The Happy Black Woman podcast, and on Sirius XM radio. Born and raised in the Midwest, she lives in Ohio with her husband and two children.

Sharing Tara’s wisdom is such a treat, because she is one of MY favorite self-care leaders to follow. During this episode, Tara shares her personal story of creating a dynamic system of self-care for herself as a mother, wife, and entrepreneur. She describes a feeling of having lost herself beneath her many identities in a way that I think everyone listening in will be able to relate to. Tune in to hear her best practical tools for cultivating daily self-care and powerful anecdotes about turning points in her journey to caring for herself more deeply.

Tune in to hear us explore…

• Energy management as self-care (& the cellphone battery analogy)
• Tuning in to yourself throughout the day and permission to change your mind
• Motherhood, boundaries, and modeling the type of life that you want your children to know is possible
• Letting people know (and love) you, even when it’s uncomfortable

Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review.

Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.