"When you're depressed, you're living in the past. When you're anxious, you're living in the future. When you're at peace, you're living in the present."-Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher.Practicing mindfulness is living in the present, focusing on what you're doing, when you're doing it, and doing things in the correct order.*********************************"Facing Fears and Shifting Gears" is a podcast about mental health, neurodiversity, and changing our perspective when life brings us challenges, in order to heal and thrive!My name is Leslie Reyes, and I'm the author of the IndieBRAG award-winning Amazon best-seller, "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle: How I Faced My Fears, Shifted Gears, and Found Healing from Anxiety, Codependency, and Depression."I have worked as a psychiatric and chemical dependency nurse, yoga teacher, and I'm also a motorcycle enthusiast. I have seen mental illness up close, first as the daughter of a schizophrenic mother and later through my own personal mental health struggles.I never expected a motorcycle would one day be the guru I needed to change my life habits and finally learn to trust myself. I live with my husband, our five motorcycles, and two dogs in Northern California. This is a podcast about mental health, neurodiversity, and changing our perspective when life brings us challenges, in order to heal and thrive! (This podcast is not a substitute for mental health care or autism treatment).Website: https://www.lesliereyesauthor.comBuy my audiobook here: https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Learning-Ride-Motorcycle-Codependency/dp/B0BL2HBP56/Thank you for joining me!

Something about dropping a motorcycle makes you feel so stupid, even if you are not hurt, and even if it is not broken. There were so many times, while I was shopping for my first bike, that I saw motorcycles at the dealership with about 50 miles on them, and one scratch on one side. It was obvious, someone had fallen and not gotten back up.When we fall down, and give up, most of the time it is our ego that prevents us from moving forward. But when we make mistakes or fail at something in life, we can look at it as an opportunity to practice recovering from a fall. We can use these opportunities to practice recovering from challenges and difficulties in life. And every time we practice getting back up, it makes recovering from mistakes and falls easier to recover from.*********************************"Facing Fears and Shifting Gears" is a podcast about mental health, neurodiversity, and changing our perspective when life brings us challenges, in order to heal and thrive!My name is Leslie Reyes, and I'm the author of the IndieBRAG award-winning Amazon best-seller, "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle: How I Faced My Fears, Shifted Gears, and Found Healing from Anxiety, Codependency, and Depression."I have worked as a psychiatric and chemical dependency nurse, yoga teacher, and I'm also a motorcycle enthusiast. I have seen mental illness up close, first as the daughter of a schizophrenic mother and later through my own personal mental health struggles.I never expected a motorcycle would one day be the guru I needed to change my life habits and finally learn to trust myself. I live with my husband, our five motorcycles, and two dogs in Northern California. This is a podcast about mental health, neurodiversity, and changing our perspective when life brings us challenges, in order to heal and thrive! (This podcast is not a substitute for mental health care or autism treatment).Website: https://www.lesliereyesauthor.comBuy my audiobook here: https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Learning-Ride-Motorcycle-Codependency/dp/B0BL2HBP56/Thank you for joining me!

In this week's episode, I'm discussing chapter three of my book "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle", which is the #3 Zen Principle of Good Motorcycle Riding Habits: To Think and Plan Ahead, and Take Care of Your Future Self.When we do thing like use credit cards, leave dirty dishes in the sink, or when we don't wear all of our motorcycle gear, we are "stealing from our future selves". When we take care of our daily responsibilities, and when we wear our motorcycle gear, we are taking care of our future selves, and we can fully enjoy the present moment.I'm both in the process of taking care of my future and present self. I had come to realize I've been the most miserable, depressed, angry person since I became a nurse and found, that if I want to look back and thank my past-self in the future, it may be time to leave nursing in the present."Facing Fears and Shifting Gears" is a podcast about mental health, neurodiversity, and changing our perspective when life brings us challenges, in order to heal and thrive!My name is Leslie Reyes, and I'm a mental health nurse, yoga teacher, motorcycle and astrology enthusiast, and the author of the indieBRAG award-winning Amazon best-seller, "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle: How I Faced My Fears, Shifted Gears, and Found Healing from Anxiety, Codependency, and Depression."Thank you for joining me!Buy "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle" here! https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Learning-Ride-Motorcycle-Codependency/dp/B09X49TBYN/Available on Audiobook at Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Learning-Ride-Motorcycle-Codependency/dp/B0BL2HBP56/About me: https://www.LeslieReyesAuthor.comMy other obsession: https://www.astrologyreadingsbyleslie.com

Respect where you are on your journey, and go at your own pace. Easier said than done, right?

Starting when we were kids in grammar school, our learning and growth processes were monitored by standardized milestones, and if we didn't reach those milestones at the same time our peers did, it seemed to be a problem, and something that we carried with ourselves into adulthood.

"Facing Fears and Shifting Gears" is a podcast about mental health, neurodiversity, and changing our perspective when life brings us challenges, in order to heal and thrive!

My name is Leslie Reyes, and I'm a mental health nurse, yoga teacher, motorcycle and astrology enthusiast, and the author of the indieBRAG award-winning Amazon best-seller, "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle: How I Faced My Fears, Shifted Gears, and Found Healing from Anxiety, Codependency, and Depression."

Thank you for joining me!

Buy "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle" here! https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Learning-Ride-Motorcycle-Codependency/dp/B09X49TBYN/

Available on Audiobook at Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Learning-Ride-Motorcycle-Codependency/dp/B0BL2HBP56/

About me: https://www.LeslieReyesAuthor.com

Reacting Versus Responding: What is the difference? Reacting is a prehistoric instinct. Responding is a cultivated skill. How does it benefit us to retrain our brain to learn to pause to respond, and put our prefrontal cortex in charge.

"Facing Fears and Shifting Gears" is a podcast about mental health, neurodiversity, and changing our perspective when life brings us challenges, in order to heal and thrive!

My name is Leslie Reyes, and I'm a mental health nurse, yoga teacher, motorcycle enthusiast, and the author of the indieBRAG award-winning Amazon best-seller, "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle: How I Faced My Fears, Shifted Gears, and Found Healing from Anxiety, Codependency, and Depression." Thank you for joining me! Buy "The Zen of Learning to Ride a Motorcycle" here! https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Learning-Ride-Motorcycle-Codependency/dp/B09X49TBYN/

Available on Audiobook at Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Learning-Ride-Motorcycle-Codependency/dp/B0BL2HBP56/

About me: https://www.LeslieReyesAuthor.com