Letters for Girls Podcast

Tune into this episode for a brief update on the podcast and Tara and Jess' plans moving forward.

As always, thank you for being here.

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/snowy-road

License code: J005HG4QTETD3GUM

#podcast #canadianpodcast #podcaststolistento

Pour a hot drink, snuggle up with your favourite treats, and join us for a cozy holiday special!

A couple things to note from the hosts:

- We chat Santa so be aware of little ears!

- We recorded this episode virtually, so sound quality is a little lower than usual.

- We are both sick and don't feel 100% but couldn't pass up the opportunity to send to out a holiday special to our lovely listeners. We hope you enjoy.

Tara and Jess chat about all things from gifting, to their favourite holiday traditions. Are they pro real tree or fake tree? Who is the best at holiday decorating?! (Spoiler alert... it's Tara). How do we approach gift giving and doing acts of kindness this time of year? (Hands down Jess wins the award for kindest gestures.)

Tune in to find out what traditions we each embrace!

What do you celebrate at this time of year? Tell us your favourite or least favourite festive traditions in the comments.

Sending all our love to anyone who struggles with the holiday season.

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/snowy-road

License code: J005HG4QTETD3GUM

#holidayspecial #holidaytraditions #joy #holidayjoy #traditions

In this mini.chat Jess shares with us the concept of Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) a danish word and tradition.

"In brief, hygge is about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about - or even by yourself - to relax and enjoy life's quieter pleasures."

Jess and Tara share different ways they are trying to care for themselves and find more joy during the winter months in Canada.

Let us know in the comments what you do to slow down and find more joy, wherever you live!

https://denmark.dk/people-and-culture/hygge

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

#hygge #selfcare #theseasonofrest #maketimeforrest #winterincanada #canadianwinters

Join us for this three animal question game.

Optional opportunity to participate!: As Tara asks Jess each question, pause the episode so that you can have a moment to answer for yourself!

As always, be prepared for tangents.

Let us know how you like the episode and if you have any fun games like this, please send them to us.

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

#podcastsforwomen #canadianpodcasts #womensharingstories #sillyquestiongame #psychologyquestiongame #minichat

Join Tara and Jess well they sip some delicious apple cider, that has a kick (thanks to Jess!) and talk all things Halloween. From their most memorable costumes, to their experiences with ghost stories, to some thoughts on recent spooky movies and documentaries.

As always, Tara and Jess hope you enjoy this episode! It was probably the most fun to record yet.

Here's a list of all the spooky, seasonal, or scary movies we mentioned, if you feel like getting in the spirit! Tell us your favourite October movies in the comments ♥

• Hocus Pocus
• Practical Magic
• Casper
• The Craft
• The Craft: Legacy
• Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey
• Halloweentown
• The Woman in Cabin 10 (movie & book - Ruth Ware)
• Talk to Me
• True Haunting: Eerie Hall (documentary)

This episode is a milestone episode because it's our 20th! We are thankful to have wonderful listeners who continue to support us and stream our episodes every week. Thank you for being here!

Please send us any episode requests to [email protected]

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/pecan-pie/pumpkin-hollow

License code: AYKDVJHWKV4BJXD5

#sharingspookystories #ghosts #costumes

#halloweenspecial #ghosties #hauntedhouses #funnyepisode

#comeforthelaughs #comeforthestories

Join us for an episode request about marriage! Thank you to the person who submitted this request! If you would like to submit your own anonymous episode request, visit our linktree here: https://linktr.ee/lettersforgirlspodcast or send us a message on Instagram: @lettersforgirlspod

Quotes from this episode: 

"Values are the foundation for our relationship." - Tara

"Choose to be on the same team." - Jess

We start our chat with Frank Sinatra’s Love and Marriage swirling in our minds (AKA the theme to Married... with Children), and making the discovery that Tara has never seen The Princess Bride!

We discuss making the choice to grow with another person throughout life changes and challenges, and the ways we've done this in our own marriages.

What about continuing to date your partner? We share our favourite ways to date throughout different phases of life. At this stage, Tara loves finding opportunities to dance together or get some movement (like joining local pick-up basketball). Currently Jess is loving making time for lowkey but intentional hangs at home, with no need for baby-sitters!

How about navigating conflict? How can we process changes as individuals and as a couple? Tara shares some of the changes she's been experiencing in recent years, and how it's impacted her marriage. Jess shares her perspective that it is also okay to still love someone, and decide not to stay together. Do what's right for yourself, and your partner.

Tara mentions her obsession with Jefferson Fisher, a communication expert. His Instagram page @jeffersonfisher and his podcast: The Jefferson Fisher Podcast. She also shares the concept of checking in with yourself and others, to know if it is a safe time for a difficult conversation. 

***Tara mentions reading about being in fight or flight mode. In the episode she says "parasympathetic" but it is "sympathetic".

References for fight flight mode: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-happens-to-your-body-during-the-fight-or-flight-response

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMFhqbfnIfQ *In this podcast episode Dr. K talks about fight or flight mode, among many other great subjects.*

Tara thinks understanding others should be considered a kind of love language… Jess brings up that knowing and truly seeing someone is the best way to love them, in ways big and small (like knowing how your partner takes their coffee). 

Round up of strategies for finding joy & resolving conflict, and additional topics referenced in this episode:

-Ben Platt's song "Grow as we Go" about the ebb and flow of relationships

-Alphabet dates 

-Journal prompts together each day as a reflective practice

-Be a thermostat not a thermometer (set the temperature in the room, rather than simply reading & reacting to the temperature)

-Blaming "Susan"

-Come up with the silly pet-names for each other when you ask for something

-Emma Watson’s recent interview on Jay Shetty's “On Purpose” podcast (intimacy is revealing deeper and deeper truths to somebody about yourself over time)

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

#marriage #relationships #dating #exercise #fun #hobbies #navigatingmarriage #navigatingrelationships #fighting #intimacy

*Episode Malfunction Alert!: We had an accidental re-release of our first ever episode, our introduction, yesterday on September 22. Feel free to delete it or ignore it. Thanks for your understanding.*

On todays mini.chat, we're discussing some unconventional life tips pulled from a graduation speech. Jess loves a commencement speech once in a while, for a generous dose of idealistic motivation. Today she shared a few points from Tim Minchin’s 2013 speech at the University of Western Australia (linked below if you would like to listen or read the speech in full).

Points discussed: 

• • “You don’t have to have a dream” 

We discuss the idea of being micro-ambitious and our own approaches to living in pursuit of big dreams or the little things in between. 

• “Be hard on your opinions” (opinions are like arse-holes)

We chat about the importance of acknowledging nuance. Tara mentions how it's important to her to be introspective and to acknowledge biases and privilege when considering world-issues and different ways of living. Jess brings up the the value in also being open to perspectives that are different from your own.

• “Define yourself by what you love” (be pro-stuff, not just anti-stuff) 

Instead of jumping to all the reasons you don’t like something, Jess is trying to work on asking questions about what other people love. (AKA: Don’t yuck someone’s yum!) Tara brings up the longing humans feel for finding a community of like-minded people. 

We hope you enjoyed todays chat - talk, soon!  

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day⁠⁠⁠⁠

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day⁠⁠⁠⁠

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

Content Warning: This letter and episode focuses on women' s intuition, but pregnancy loss is mentioned and discussed.

*Here’s a time stamp to skip the parts of this episode that mention pregnancy loss:

16:00 - 18:56 (A portion of the letter)

20:19 - 32:59 (Tara and Jess’ discussion about pregnancy loss and grief)

What do you do or say when someone you know experiences pregnancy loss or grief? How and when to reach out, or when to give someone space? 

Is déjà vu a form of intuition? What about dreams, clairvoyance, and coincidences? We discuss our own perceptions of these concepts and how we interpret them. 

Tara shares her experiences with feeling the intuitive need to connect with a friend in a moment they were struggling.

Tara reads an article based on a study about the science behind women's intuition.

Some topics the article mentioned:

-Women's corpus callosum is thicker which allows for better & faster access between the left and right hemisphere of the brain

-Gut acts as your "second brain" 

-There are neurotransmitters in the gut

-It's possible to confuse strong emotions for intuition 

Jess confronts her own struggles with knowing how to trust her intuition in moments of uncertainty. When is fear of the unknown disguising itself as intuition? 

Risky play as a tool for practicing trusting your body... And in turn, a tool for practicing listening to your intuition. 

What are other ways we can practice noticing & listening to our intuition? Do we tune out our intuition as we age?

Tara shares how she listens to, and trusts, the signals her body sends her.

We chat about deciding when to defer for input from others, and when to make choices without any outside noise.

Asking your mind, heart and then gut (known as The Head-Heart-Gut Check In) is a helpful exercise that Tara has used several times. Find the link below for that information.

Thank you to Shell for writing this letter.

Miscarriage Information: https://www.jogc.com/article/S1701-2163(24)00545-0/fulltext

Women's Intuition: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-genius-of-empathy/202406/the-neuroscience-of-womens-intuition/amp

The Head-Heart-Gut check in: https://melliobrien.com/the-head-heart-gut-check-in/

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day⁠⁠⁠⁠

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

This episode is the first topic request from a listener!

Please send your topic requests to [email protected]

**Tara and Jess will be on holiday for the month of August, 2025, so episodes will be paused for the month. Tune back into the podcast in September. We have some exciting things coming!**

Are you new to parenting? Expecting? Or just want to know more about Tara and Jess' thoughts on parenting in the early days?

You're in the right place.

Tara and Jess received their first topic request via email from a listener who is expecting with their partner. They share their experience and knowledge on the subject, a long with some research and personal preferences.

Topics surrounding babies in the first year that they talked about:

-Tickling

-Touch

-Being soothed by dad/ hearing dad's voice too

-90's TV shows for infants and young children are slower paced, less stimulating than today's cartoons

-Jess' favourite 90's TV shows are: The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Little Bear. When they're a little bit older Franklin, Miss Rachel (very educational for both parents and kids, but can be stimulating. Jess likes to watch with her kid and interacts during the show!) Mr Rogers, Sherry Louise and Bran. Things with music are great.

-Books: Welcome Baby by Barbara Reid, Welcome to Your World. Jess has a goal to read 1,000 books before age 4.

-Continue reading with your kids for years! Tara used to read to her kids every night at bedtime, they started reading to her and her husband and today they still read to their teenagers periodically. When they get to the age they can read to you, they have so much pride! Content in books sparks a lot of conversation as the kids get older.

-Bedtime routines are important! Kids often like to open up and have conversation at bedtime. So starting those routines when they're really little is helpful to cultivate that safe space for kids.

-Making time for one-on-one connection with your kid(s)

-Talk to your infants even though they don't respond, they can hear you and it's good for their little brains and hearts.

-Bath time: Introduce babies to water slowly, get a little water on their face to prevent fear of water later. Be mindful of temperature, check temperature thresholds online. You can also get a water thermometer for baby bath time.

-Don't be afraid to ask professionals questions for things you're not sure of. No question is stupid.

-Talk with your partner before the baby comes about night time feedings, changes and night time routines so that everyone is on the same page.

-There's only so much you can plan with a baby. Things change and everyone has to adapt.

-Post partum Depression

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519070/

-Purple crying

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25134950/

Tickle/touch resources: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/young-infants-have-no-clue-whos-tickling-their-feet

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/7309/1/AJBremner_accepted.pdf

https://theconversation.com/do-babies-feel-tickles-in-a-different-way-to-adults-49256

https://www.memorialcare.org/blog/what-happens-babys-brain-when-theyre-getting-tickled-experts-explain#:~:text=As%20a%20parent%20you%20should,tell%20you%20when%20to%20stop.

Thank you to the lovely human who sent Tara and Jess an email asking for this episode!

Follow us on Instagram + TikTok + Threads here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: [email protected]

Submit a letter completely anonymously: ⁠⁠⁠https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy⁠⁠⁠

Music from #Uppbeat

⁠⁠⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day⁠⁠⁠

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9