Live Well Bipolar ™

Today’s episode  will  be a conversation between my guest, Michelle  Miranda, and I about  the creation of her magazine: Miranda Girl and the events that led to the birth of the magazine. Michelle explains how she combined her love for English literature and writing along with empowering others to create her magazine. We discuss the ways the magazine helps identify the commonalities people share  rather than focusing on differences. Michelle offers great insight on what the power of being vulnerable has done for her life, the evolution of her magazine and what it can do for you.

It's with great pleasure that I welcome Dr. Robb Kelly to the podcast! Dr. Kelly is a triple threat against the disease of addiction because of the 20 years experience he has working with addicts and alcoholics, the knowledge he gained from receiving his PhD in psychology from  Oxford University and being a recovered alcoholic himself. Some refer to him as "The Gordon Ramsay of the Addiction World" because of his direct, no-nonsense, and candid approach to recovery. He talks about the power of self-belief, the importance  of how we talk to ourselves and how to live the life you've only dreamt about right now.

Is there an area of your life that you know you lack confidence in and that you want to change? I get into how I used to lack confidence in sharing my podcast when I first started it. I break  down all the reasons behind this along with how I overcame that. We can lack  confidence in how we look physically, how we manage finances, asking for help,  sharing things with others and even trying something new. I describe how becoming more confident in yourself and your abilities you make you feel better, happier and open more doors for opportunities to connect with others on an authentic and meaningful level.

The idea for this topic stemmed from a conversation I had with a really good friend of mine about life after college. If you have gone to college, are in college, or have not gone to college, you will most likely be able to relate to a few things I talk about here. The way I always saw it was that there were two types of people. The ones who graduate and know what their next moves are and the ones who graduate and have no clue what their next steps are. I get into how both are totally normal and totally okay. I describe the way comparing ourselves to others never ends well along with how we learn through experience and the value  we gain from that experience. 

Joining me to share his story related to the title of this episode is my guest, Nick Lechnir. Nick is an author, speaker, photographer and the founder of Leapfrogging Success. Leapfrogging Success is a business that aims to help anxious, analytical introverts become confident and powerful speakers. Nick is joining me today to share his story on how he used his experiences related to addiction, abuse, trauma and mental health struggles to become an accomplished speaker. He offers exceptional tips on how you can overcome your fear of public speaking, why we struggle with this and how to prepare before giving big talks. 

Episode 29 features an incredible, returning guest of mine. His name is Ryan Stanley and he was on my episode titled, “Utilizing Curiosity over Judgement to Empower a Creative Mindset,” where he spoke about  the ways in which we can shift the view we have of ourselves and others in order to move away from judgement and more toward a nature of compassion and understanding. The reason I wanted to make this episode with Ryan today is to discuss his book, which is the title of this episode, “Be Patient, Be Present, Be Joyful.” In this book, Ryan provides the tools to patch up those feelings of stress, overwhelming moments and anxiety that we all experience, so we can heal on our own. He shares with me where he got the inspiration for the book, the meaning behind certain messages within it and how you can apply the messages in this book in your own life.

Do you struggle with anxiety, know someone who does or just want to learn more about anxiety? Then this episode is perfect for you. In episode 28, I am joined by Jesse Harless who shares with me something he discovered that helped him overcome his anxiety. Jesse is an advocate, trainer, author, and the founder of Entrepreneurs in Recovery®. Entrepreneurs in Recovery® consists of in-person and online events and workshops that empower individuals and groups to unlock their highest potential. Jesse speaks about his work and the experiment he did for 30 days to conquer his crippling anxiety. 

In episode 27, Anissa Hudak joins me to talk about how yoga therapy can help heal PTSD. Anissa is a certified yoga therapist and founder of the Trauma Healing Yoga Therapy Program. She is a 2x rape survivor with an intimate understanding of the complex issues traumatized women face and created her program to help them navigate their healing journeys. She works with people with all types of physical conditions, but she specializes in working with those suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injuries and all trauma-related issues and has been for the past 5 years. The episode features a description of what got Anissa interested in starting her own Trauma Healing Yoga Therapy Program and how it relates to healing PTSD. Anissa also describes how PTSD/trauma starts in the body and how yoga therapy can be an option to release it. Anissa's focus is healing the whole person physically, not just the parts that seem to need the most immediate attention. 

check out the work she does on her website: https://www.traumahealingyoga.com/

In episode 26, Jay Shifman joins me to discuss what stigma is, what it means and how to overcome it. Jay is a Mental Health and Substance Misuse & Recovery Speaker, Coach, and Advocate, and the host of the "Choose Your Struggle" podcast. He is ten years in recovery and survived multiple suicide attempts and an overdose. As a result of these experiences he made it his mission to fight to end stigma by telling his recovery story and advocating for opportunities for others to do the same.  This episode features tips on how Jay overcame stigma and advice for those struggling to overcome stigma associated with mental illness or addiction. 

In episode 25, I am joined by Dr. Kenneth Blum to discuss what the connection between genetics and addiction is and what it means. Dr. Blum is an American scientist who is considered to be the father of “Psychiatric Genetics.” He has published over 550 peer– reviewed articles and written 17 books concerning genetics and addiction. In addition to this, he has been the recipient of many grants and awards including a Life-Time Achievement in Addiction Medicine and the Presidential Award for Scientific Excellence. The episode features a conversation on what interested Dr. Blum in getting into this field along with highlights of his key research findings. Dr. Blum describes research he has done to discover better treatment options for those suffering with various addictions.