Kickass Life Project

A pep talk podcast that will leave you feeling more hopeful, seeing things a little differently, or maybe, just maybe, believing everything will be ok. Plus practical, actionable things you can do to start feeling better when things don't seem ok. There's also a fun exercise to prove how strong your mind/body connection really is and the power you have over your own body just using your thoughts. 

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HRV improves with exercise. Improved HRV means improved vagal tone. It is like a beacon signal to our nervous system that we are ok, that we are safe, that we are capable. These are all things that light the way back to the ventral vagal beach.

Now I am not saying exercise is a magic cure for trauma, but it sure as heck is a useful tool. And it is a tool we can use to communicate from body to brain.

Please listen to episodes one through four to get full value from this one.

Courses I mentioned in the episode:

Fierce AF Fitness Design

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What insights are you having about your own fitness? Let me know :)

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If you want a relationship that looks and feels like the most amazing thing on earth, you have to treat it like the most amazing thing on earth. This 5 part Polyvagal informed fitness mini series is all about the relationship you have with your body - what relationship is more important and amazing than that?

The key here is autonomy (choosing to vs having to). Part one, two and three of this mini series will help make sense of this episode

Courses I mentioned in the episode:

Organic Fitness Masterclass (free)

Fierce AF Fitness Design

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What insights are you having about your own fitness? Let me know :)

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From a fitness perspective, all movement is the creation and then resolution of tension (or stress). Which kind leads nicely into something I said I’d talk about in the last episode - how to resolve the sympathetic energy in a way that doesn’t automatically drop you back down into dorsal.

This episode is about the movement that matches a sympathetic state, how to move around the ladder using fitness movement, and how to find cues of safety in a fitness setting so you can strengthen your vagal brake.

Part one and two of this mini series will help make sense of this episode

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What insights are you having about your own fitness? Let me know :)

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Other podcasts I recommend for Polyvagal Theory

The Rachel Sellers podcast 

Stuck Not Broken

If we are in a Dorsal Vagal state of energy conservation, in order to get back to ventral, we must pass through the sympathetic system. You’ll remember the sympathetic system is fight/flight energy - it’s mobilization. So if we add energy into dorsal, it pushes us up the ladder a bit.

Now some of you brilliant listeners might be thinking, “then why don’t we just force ourselves to go for a jog and be done with it?” Great question

There’s a few reasons slamming into cardio based exercise doesn’t usually turn out so well if you’re coming from a dorsal ventral state. This episode will talk about why that is and what to do instead.

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Do you know the name of the movie I quoted? Do you have examples of fitness prescribed for mental health? Let me know :)

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Other podcasts I recommend for Polyvagal Theory

The Rachel Sellers podcast 

Stuck Not Broken

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

This really sums up what we are going to cover in the next few episodes on the Kickass Life Project podcast which is the long ago promised topic of Polyvaqal theory and Trauma Informed Fitness.

I have been using trauma informed fitness practices for 20 years - but without knowing what I was doing - trial and error - and I cannot tell you how validating it is to now be learning the science behind why it works - so you’ll forgive me when I get waaaay too excited over this stuff!!

Connect with me on the socials: 

Do you know the name of the movie I quoted? Do you have examples of fitness prescribed for mental health? Let me know :)

Comment on this episode specifically

Connect with me on IG

Connect with me on FB

Other podcasts I recommend for Polyvagal Theory

The Rachel Sellers podcast 

Stuck Not Broken

I know what it's like to be lonely, worried, & fed up with trying. That's exactly why I created the DATE YOURSELF journey - to take you from discouraged & disenchanted to finally understanding how to make yourself fairytale happy. The Date Yourself Journey is a FREE and SECRET... one of the ways you can find it is by listening to this podcast. 

This episode will give you 5 dates you can take yourself on... NOT so you can love yourself enough for someone else to love you, but so you can remember how very worth it you already are!

Start the Date Yourself journey here

Body Confidence Crash Course Episode

Solo Date Adventure Book

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Sassy Sexy Strong Squad

Who knew these Automatic Negative Thoughts are not only running around in our heads, they are so common that mental health peeps around the world have named them all - like biologists have named whale species! From Zebra and Telescope ANTs to the Blaming and Shaming Twins, there is  a transfiguration formula for neutralizing them that doesn't involve forcing positive affirmations that feel like lies down your own throat. 

Links to Pretty PDFs

Field Guide to ANT's 

Transfiguration Book of ANT Spells

Coping Mantras

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How to worry better. I’ve got 5 worry strategies I’m going to give you that you can apply to almost anything -  some of them will be applicable to big things, some of them will be applicable to little things. All worries are valid! All worries impact us.

You'll get ways to calm your body and disarm the alarm signals it is sending, plus ways to deal with worries that will free up your time, your brain space, and your ability to have more fun.

Worry Better Cheatsheet

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Victim and survivor are not a one way linear path. They exist on a sliding continuum within the same person... two labels that must exist together in order for either to exist.

Yet, we use the word survivor like we're putting someone on a pedestal and the the word victim like we're victim blaming... and it needs to stop. (IMO) I’m willing to bet that if the label of victim gets slapped on you, it doesn’t make you feel anything good - and that is EXACTLY the point!!

We think victim is a dirty word because we tag a fuck ton of negative crap onto it when it should just be a benign description.

IMAGINE if victim wasn’t a dirty word that made you want to deny any association with it?? What if accepting victim status didn’t automatically align you with negative personality traits? What if it was just like being called Canadian because you live in Canada or pregnant because you’re with child? 

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