Healthy Illness

By Kelly MarieSociety & Culture Health & Fitness Mental Health Education Self-Improvement Personal Journals

Healthy Illness episodes

October 12 Shift Happens: The Moment Therapy Stopped Feeling Like Punishment
Ep.166 "I don't wanna eat at the table!" 😩 In this episode of Healthy Illness, Kelly gets real about her complicated relationship with food, unexpected emotional triggers, and the therapy homework that brought her to tears.
But here's the plot twist: The assignment didn't change. Her perspective did.
Discover how one conversation transformed feelings of punishment into an opportunity for mindfulness and how reframing a situation can change the way we experience it.
Plus: Join Kelly Marie for Mindful AF (Awareness & Flow), a free monthly mindfulness session held the first Monday of every month at 7 PM ET.
Resources:
Register at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Dial 988 if you’re in a mental health crisis
Use 211 as the helpline for resources
🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]
🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal
Healthy Illness: Building healthier relationships while living with mental health conditions.

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20 min
September 21Can’t Concentrate? Try Focusing Instead
Ep. 165 Have you ever told yourself, “I just need to lock in,” but your brain, your environment, and every distraction around you had other plans?
Maybe the problem isn’t your ability to concentrate. Maybe you need to focus differently.
In this episode of Healthy Illness, Kelly Marie explores the difference between concentration and focus—and how changing the way we think about attention can make it easier to get things done without waiting for the “perfect” environment.
Concentration can feel like trying to eliminate every distraction: no noise, no interruptions, no wandering thoughts. But real life rarely gives us those conditions. Focus allows the noise to exist while intentionally bringing our attention back to what matters.
Using mindfulness, breathwork, and the analogy of a camera lens, Kelly shares how she’s learning to narrow her attention without fighting everything happening around her. The distractions may still be there—you’re simply choosing what gets the spotlight.
In this episode:
Why concentration and focus don’t have to mean the same thing

How trying to create the perfect environment can leave us feeling defeated

What mindfulness teaches us about distracted minds

How to use your breath to practice focused attention

Why acknowledging distractions can work better than fighting them

How to bring your attention back to work, conversations, cooking, walking—or whatever needs you in the moment
You may not be able to control the noise around you, but you can practice choosing where your attention goes.
Resources:
Register for Mindful AF Free Webinar at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Every 1st Monday 7pm - 8pm est
Dial 988 if you’re in a mental health crisis
Use 211 as the helpline for resources
🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]
🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
22 min
September 08Finding Micro Moments for Mindfulness
Ep. 164 For so many of us, everyday life feels like an endless series of tasks and obligations. The idea of carving out an hour for mindfulness or meditation sometimes seems like a luxury we can't afford.
In the latest episode of "Healthy Illness," Kelly Marie suggests an approach that dismantles this barrier: engaging in micro moments of mindfulness.
Practical strategies for incorporating mindfulness into a busy schedule, even amid the chaos of daily life. Kelly shares insights from mindfulness expert Z. Clark and highlights the significance of intentionality without judgment in cultivating a mindful practice. This episode also touches on suicide awareness and provides essential resources for those in crisis, emphasizing the supportive power of community and self-care.
Discover transformative tips and shared experiences that can help nurture your mental health journey.
Quotes:
"You are not alone...Hope is real." – Kelly Marie

"Mindfulness is the act and journey of being present without expectation and without judgment." – Kelly Marie
"Three breaths of mindfulness, we will spend some more time in this space." – Kelly Marie
Resources:

Book: "Black People Breathe" by Z. Clark
Register for Mindful AF Free Webinar at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Every 1st Monday 7pm - 8pm est
Dial 988 if you’re in a mental health crisis
Use 211 as the helpline for resources

🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]
🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
20 min
August 24 Managing Mental Health Through Back-to-School
Ep.163 The backpacks are packed. The dorm rooms are set up. But while we spend so much time preparing our kids for what’s next…who’s preparing us for the change?
Back-to-school season brings transitions for the entire family. Maybe you're putting your child on the school bus for the first time. Maybe they're starting high school, heading across the country to college, returning to campus after a summer at home, or stepping into adulthood in a completely different way.
And sometimes their transition forces us to ask a few questions of our own:
Who am I in this new season?
What does my day look like now?
How do I support them without losing myself in the process?

In this episode of Healthy Illness, Kelly Marie shares practical ways to protect your mental health during seasons of change: acknowledge the transition instead of pretending it isn't happening, make room for both the excitement and the difficult emotions, and create new routines that help your brain adjust to a new normal.
Resources:
Register for Mindful AF Free Webinar at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Every 1st Monday 7pm - 8pm est
Dial 988 if you’re in a mental health crisis
Use 211 as the helpline for resources
🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]
🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
19 min
August 17 Self-Compassion Meditation: Letting Go of Shame and Guilt
Ep. 162 Shame has a way of convincing us that we have to keep paying for our mistakes, our choices, our needs, even the things we had no control over. And sometimes, we carry that weight for so long that we forget what life feels like without it.
In this week’s episode of Healthy Illness, Kelly Marie explores the emotional weight of shame and guilt and how those feelings can shape our mental health, our relationships, and even the messages we pass down from one generation to the next.
But this episode isn’t just about identifying the burden. It’s about putting some of it down.
Kelly guides you through a self-compassion meditation designed to help quiet the inner critic, release guilt, and replace judgment with the same patience and kindness you so freely offer other people.
Because your worth isn’t something you have to earn by being perfect. You’re allowed to rest. You’re allowed to forgive yourself. You’re allowed to love yourself without apologizing for it.
As Kelly reminds us:
"You deserve the same compassion you so freely give to everybody else."
Take a few minutes for yourself, find a quiet place, press play, and allow this meditation to meet you exactly where you are. ❤️

Resources:
Register for Mindful AF Free Webinar at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Every 1st Monday 7pm - 8pm est
Dial 988 if you’re in a mental health crisis
Use 211 as the helpline for resources

🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]

🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal
Chapters:
00:00 Intro Working Through Shame and Guilt for Better Mental Health
04:52 Journey from Guilt to Self Compassion and Peace
6:21 Meditation
7:46Embracing Self-Compassion and Rest in a Demanding World
16:59 Invite to Free Monthly Mindfulness Virtual Event

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20 min
August 02 How to Find Yourself After Divorce | Grief, Celebrating & Starting Over
Ep. 161 Your story doesn't end because a relationship does. Sometimes the greatest relationship you'll ever build is the one you have with yourself.
Be gentle with yourself. Honor your journey. Celebrate your growth.
Because healing isn't about forgetting who you were.
It's about finally discovering who you've always been.
Hi, I'm your host Kelly Marie and for years, I identified myself by the roles I filled: wife, mother, caregiver, partner. I was so focused on taking care of everyone else that I never stopped to ask one important question:
Who am I?
This week on Healthy Illness podcast, I'm opening up about my divorce—not to relive the pain, assign blame, or celebrate the end of a marriage, but to talk about something we don't discuss nearly enough: finding yourself after it's over.
Healing isn't pretending the relationship didn't matter. It's honoring what was good, grieving what was lost, accepting your own role in the story, and giving yourself permission to grow into the person you're becoming.
Whether you're navigating a divorce, a separation, the end of a long-term relationship, or simply rediscovering yourself after years of putting everyone else first, I hope this conversation reminds you that healing is possible.
Chapters:
00:00 – Can You Celebrate the End of a Marriage?
00:31 – Why I'm Sharing My Divorce Story
01:54 – Six Years of Separation & Finding Myself Again
03:22 – Rediscovering Life After Marriage
04:10 – Holding Space for Your Own Healing
05:06 – Who Am I Outside This Relationship?
06:29 – Owning My Part Without Blame
07:45 – Honoring Marriage While Accepting the Past
08:29 – Healing Instead of Living in Yesterday
09:49 – Choosing Healing Over Hurt
10:31 – It's Okay to Mourn What You Lost
11:50 – Celebrate Your Growth, Not the Divorce
12:32 – You Don't Owe Anyone an Explanation
13:45 – Finding Joy After Heartbreak
14:20 – When Therapy & Support Can Help
15:28 – You Can Heal. You Can Change. You Can Grow.

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18 min
July 20Can You Have PTSD Without Going to War?
Ep. 160 When you hear "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," who comes to mind? For many of us, the first image is a military veteran returning home from combat. But what if your war looked different?
What if your battlefield was an abusive relationship...
a traumatic childhood, a medical emergency, community violence or years spent living in survival mode?
This week, Kelly Marie continues the conversation from "Feeling Triggered? How to Pause, Process & Protect Your Peace" by exploring one powerful question: What does the brain consider war?
Drawing from her own experience living with Complex PTSD, Kelly explains how mental health professionals define trauma, why everyone's nervous system responds differently, and how understanding the difference between everyday emotional activations and clinical PTSD can help us build more compassionate relationships—with ourselves and others.
Want to learn more about soft triggers? Listen to episode 158
Feeling Triggered? How to Pause, Process & Protect your Peace | Podcasts
Key Takeaways:
Why PTSD isn't exclusive to military veterans
How the brain defines traumatic experiences
The difference between activations and true clinical trauma triggers
Why childhood trauma, emotional abuse, medical trauma, workplace trauma, and toxic relationships can contribute to Complex PTSD
How PTSD symptoms often include physical responses like panic attacks, hypervigilance, dissociation, and intrusive memories
Why two people can experience the same event but have completely different trauma responses
Why a licensed mental health professional—not social media—is the right place to seek answers about a diagnosis
💚 Healing begins with understanding.
Sometimes the first step isn't asking, "What's wrong with me?" It's asking, "What has my brain survived?"
Resources:
Dial 988 for immediate mental health support

Register for Mindful AF Free Webinar at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Every 1st Monday 7pm - 8pm est

Diagnostic criteria reference: DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition)

Episode mentioned: Feeling Triggered? How to Pause, Process & Protect your Peace | Podcasts
🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]

🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal

For those eager to gain a deeper understanding of mental health issues such as PTSD, this episode of the "Healthy Illness Podcast" is a must-listen.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:25 What Is War?
02:11 Can You Have PTSD Without Going to War?
03:39 Triggers vs. Activations Explained
05:01 What Causes PTSD?
07:32 Why Everyone Responds to Trauma Differently
08:27 PTSD Beyond the Battlefield
09:06 Everyday Experiences That Can Feel Like War
10:12 How PTSD Is Diagnosed
12:03 Watch the Companion Episode on Triggers
12:40 Coping with PTSD & Finding Support
13:56 Be Careful Who You Take Mental Health Advice From
14:51 Kelly's Mental Health Update
15:34 Congratulations, Calie!
16:08 Final Thoughts

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19 min
July 06Mindfulness + Medication: Choosing Prevention Over Crisis
Ep. 159 Is it time to go back on antidepressants? Kelly Marie gets real about why she made the decision to restart medication after years without it and why choosing support is never a sign of failure.
Key Takeaways:
How to recognize when your mental health is beginning to slip.

Why being proactive is easier than recovering from a crisis.

The role medication can play alongside CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and boundaries.

Why your healing journey doesn't have to look like anyone else's.
If you've been quietly asking yourself, "Should I go back on meds?" this conversation may be exactly what you needed to hear.

Resources:
Register for Mindful AF Free Webinar at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Every 1st Monday 7pm - 8pm est
Dial 988 if you’re in a mental health crisis
Use 211 as the helpline for resources

🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]
🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
19 min
June 30Feeling Triggered? How to Pause, Process & Protect your Peace
Ep. 158 Not every trigger leads to a panic attack. Sometimes it's the tone of someone's voice. Being ignored. A comment that hits a little too close to home. Or that familiar feeling that makes your heart race before your brain has time to catch up.
In this episode of Healthy Illness, we're talking about what I call soft triggers—the everyday emotional reactions that can quietly damage our relationships, careers, and peace of mind if we don't learn how to recognize them.
I'll share some of my own personal triggers and walk you through a simple strategy to pause, process, and protect your peace before your emotions take over.
Because healing isn't about pretending you don't get triggered. It's about making sure your triggers don't make your decisions for you
Resources
Dial 988 for immediate mental health support
Register for Mindful AF Free Webinar at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Every 1st Monday 7pm - 8pm est

🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]

🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal
Tools for Managing Soft Triggers
Name the thing. Identify exactly what triggered your emotional response instead of reacting on autopilot.

Take up space. Use a physical grounding technique—a worry stone, pen, stress ball, fidget tool, or simply rubbing your hands together—to redirect your focus.

Practice deep breathing. A quick inhale followed by a slow, intentional exhale helps calm your nervous system before responding.

Shift your mindset. Move from "Why did they say that?" to "How do I want to respond?" Give yourself permission to pause before speaking.

Respond with intention. You don't have to address everything immediately. Sometimes the healthiest response is to revisit the conversation once you've had time to process.

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21 min
June 22 End of the Soft Girl Era
Ep 257 The Soft Girl Era is over. Now what? Kelly Marie explores what comes after the trend of girlie aesthetics, luxury, or living a carefree life.
For Kelly, the Soft Girl Era became a personal journey of learning how to extend grace to herself in the same way she extends it to everyone else.
Embracing simple acts of self-care, she shares how keeping her nails done became a daily reminder to slow down, be intentional, and move through life with greater mindfulness.
This conversation is for anyone who has been hard on themselves, carrying the weight of impossible expectations, or struggling to celebrate their own progress.
The trend may be fading, but the practice of giving yourself grace is timeless.
Register for Mindful AF Free Webinar at www.FrontSeatLife.com/events
Every 1st Monday of the Month 7pm - 8pm est

Crisis helpline phone numbers:
Dial 988 for immediate assistance or 741741 for text support
Use 211 as the helpline for resources
🎙️ Hosted by Coach Kelly Marie, founder of Front Seat Life LLC
📲 Instagram @‌thefrontseatlife
FB @‌thefrontseatlife, Email [email protected]
🎧 Produced & edited by JazzCast Pros
🔗 Click Here to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
🚀 Rate & Share this Podcast from Spotify
🔐 Add this show to your collection on Pandora.
💪 Support the Show with a one-time donation on PayPal

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
18 min

About Healthy Illness

From the publisher's feed

A weekly podcast to help you build healthy relationships while living with mental health conditions. Hosted by Kelly Marie, an advocate and peer who uses her own life experiences with anxiety, depression and borderline personality disorder to empower you to defy the limitations of your diagnosis and create the life you deserve.