Mindfulness for PMDD with Diane

You know the feeling...

You're in your luteal phase and along comes some negative thought--about yourself, your life, your PMDD--and before you even know what is happening you are getting swept up in that thought and down an endless spiral of ruminating on this thought. You are now going down the rabbit hole with this thought, unable to let it go, and maybe even believing whatever awful thing this thought is telling you. In this process, you may be starting to feel uncomfortable sensations in your body. (For me, it was often a shaky, 'zinging' or anxious feeling.)

So what can we do to start putting a little space between our thoughts and feelings? To practice becoming less hooked by them...Or less attached?

The meditation offered in this episode (Leaves on a Stream) is one way to start building this skill. I invite you to join me in this practice.

Also, this is the final episode of Season 1 but you can still find me:

In previous episodes
In my newsletter
On Instagram
On Insight Timer (Free meditation app)

And you can always reach out to learn more about my PMDD Coaching & Support program!

xo
Diane

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

I discovered Nikki Wilson’s Mindfulness work when I was in the throes of my own birth trauma drama, which ultimately led to a diagnosis of PTSD. While I was searching for help & support and seeking out a diagnosis, I needed something to help me survive and get through the difficult early days of new motherhood. At that time, Nikki had created, and was single-handedly running, a Mindfulness for Mums program, called 10 of Zen. I joined this group and felt so seen, so normal, and also, got some really valuable tools and tricks and developed skills, in the process, that helped me manage through anxiety, panic attacks, dissociating from my body, etc. etc., so that I could ‘stress less, and love more’ as Nikki would always say.  

Nikki Wilson has a strong passion for driving social change. Her third sector career has focused on solving strategic challenges and building organisations from scratch including Make Birth Better, 10 of Zen, Wings for Life UK and Read International. Based in the UK, Nikki runs the ship and shapes the strategy for Make Birth Better and her deep drive comes from her lived experience of birth trauma.

In our chat, Nikki and I discuss…

-The charade of perfection

• Being present, not perfect
• That the full spectrum of emotions is normal
• That the aim is not to feel better, but to get better at feeling

-The single nugget of mindfulness wisdom that Nikki still carries with her every day

-And her own experiences with birth trauma, dyslexia, and ADHD

Find Nikki and Make Birth Better here

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

I like this meditation for helping to align body and mind, so you can use this one if:

• you're feeling disconnected from your body
• you're feeling up in your head with your thoughts
• you're experiencing some uncomfortable sensations in your body
• you want to explore trying to bring some ease and more comfort into your body

It can be nice in the luteal phase of your menstrual cycle or anytime, PMDD or otherwise!

So I invite you to check it out and see what you think about this one.

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

Do you find it hard to take care of yourself when you've also got kids to parent, a demanding job, a partner to show up for, and bills to pay? Then you need to listen to this interview with Ali Cornish.

I reached out to Ali because I wanted to talk to another chronic illness warrior who has embraced simple living, minimalism, and mindfulness. Because I've learned that while we may have different diagnoses, often those of us living with chronic illness will have very similar experiences and challenges and desires for our own lives.

 Ali very generously shares with us:

• Her chronic illness journey
• Some of the traumas she has experienced in her life 
• How she got her first taste of minimalism while still in high school 
• How her relationship with minimalism and simple living evolved over time with her changing experiences and needs as she moved through different seasons of life

We also reflect on the difficulty of making time for self care when we have demanding jobs, people who need us, and bills to pay.

Ali Cornish is a freelance writer and founder of Ever Thrive, who lives in Northern Colorado with her husband and two young sons. She was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 2016, but has been living with its symptoms since 2011. Ali has lived mostly pain free since adopting a minimalist lifestyle, as well as an anti inflammatory plant based diet.

An advocate for naturopathic healing, she's also found relief from debilitating pain by drastically reducing stress in her life and work. Since her diagnosis, she has shared her story through Everthrive, a website dedicated to simple and essential living.

Ali is inspired by nature, mindful living, and living a low tech lifestyle. She weaves this ethos into her minimalist way of life, all of which have assisted in managing her AS symptoms.

Here's where you can find Ali:

Everthrive website

Instagram @everthrive

Mentioned in this episode:

The PMDD Stress Cycle - Hear about it in Episode 2:

Managing PMDD Stress with Mindfulness

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

So much of my resistance to PMDD came from trying to maintain the charade of perfection that I'd been trying to keep up my whole life!

Mindfulness and Acceptance taught me to be present, not perfect. That the full spectrum of emotions is normal. That the aim is not to feel better, but to get better at feeling.

And here's the crazy thing that happened when I let those ideas in...not ONLY did I feel so much better in my life with PMDD, but I also, finally, felt willing and able to open up to other challenges I'd been resisting my entire life!

In this episode, I reflect on a recent interview I did with my first mindfulness teacher, Nikki Wilson. I thought I had lost the episode and wanted to capture my experience and my thoughts before the memory of it became diluted in my mind. Good news though: the files were saved and that interview will be featured in an upcoming episode!

So, listen in as I discuss how my mindfulness and acceptance journey has helped to break me free from the impossible (and thus, never-ending) quest to be "perfect"...and get it all right...and not make mistakes. (Ugh, just thinking about it is exhausting!)

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

Have you thought: "Is this grief? Am I going through grief right now?"

Have you wondered why your experiences don't quite match up with the 5 Stages of Grief model we've all heard about?

If you've got PMDD or any other chronic illness, chances are that, yea, you very well may have experienced grief as a result or are going through grief right now.

Sarah McCauley LMFT is here to validate our feelings of grief and explain why they don't fit the 5 Stages of Grief model.

She also shares 3 Questions to Ask Yourself When Grieving What PMDD Has Taken. 

And we discuss:

• Ambiguous grief, what it is, and how it relates to chronic illness.
• How grief is messy and non-linear.
• The 3 Questions we can ask ourselves as we move through grief.
• What you can do to support yourself in your own grief journey.

Sarah McCauley is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist working in private practice in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, and has been in the mental health field since 2017. Sarah focuses primarily on working with individuals, couples, and families through significant life changes, stressors, traumas, and grief. She has been in a caregiving role personally and professionally, and worked alongside chronic and terminal illnesses. She has worked in a wide variety of settings to advocate for and collaborate with individuals navigating health concerns, both mental or physical. Outside of therapist life, she is a knitter, a mom, and an avid coffee mug collector.

Website: www.ncfcmn.com

Sarah is available to do virtual trainings about trauma informed medical care and collaborative care meetings, educational talks about chronic illness and grief, and is also available to work with Minnesota based clients for individual, couples, or family therapy.

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

If you feel like you have tried all the PMDD treatments and suggested self-management tools and strategies and STILL feel like you're trapped in a vicious cycle with PMDD, you need to listen to this episode.

I was there. That was me. Literally doing EVERYTHING I could to take care of myself--to optimize my health and minimize my symptoms--and guess what??

No matter how good of a place I got myself to, no matter how much I'd decreased my symptoms...whenever life took a new turn or some new stress came up in my life, PMDD came right back, HARD. 

I was convinced I just hadn't found the right cocktail of self-management tools and when I found that last key ingredient--That last item of self-care rituals and healthy habits to add to my never-ending daily self-care to-do list--THEN I was going to finally feel better.

I was convinced...UNTIL I realized it was just too exhausting and completely unsustainable to keep fighting this battle in this way. To put so much of my time, effort, energy, and literal blood, sweat, and tears, into FIGHTING PMDD with a full-time job's worth of self-care tasks.

That's when I realized I needed a new strategy and that's when EVERYTHING turned around...my outlook AND my symptoms!

And now I'm sharing that new strategy with you. The strategy of opening up to mindfulness and acceptance in order to reunite with yourself and the life you really want to live, even as you acknowledge your PMDD struggles and bring them along for the ride...the beautiful NEW ride!

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

I cannot stop seeing the commonalities between Minimalism and Mindfulness!

In this episode, Emily and I chat about:

• Minimalism and Simple Living and their relevance to living with PMDD and Chronic Illness
• How my relationships with minimalism and mindfulness are connected
• Unexplained fertility and in vitro fertilization
• Motherhood
• The science behind clutter and stress
• How to simplify to decrease decision fatigue
• The impact of routines and resets
• Minimizing how much stuff we need to manage, clean, clean around, maintain, etc.
• How you can begin your decluttering journey
• How it's not just about the STUFF but also about your thoughts, time and energy
• Living WITHIN your capacity
• The impact of just a 1% shift
• and more!

Bonus Challenge:

See if you can hear when my stomach growls and count how many times I say "I love that so much!" Enjoy :)

Emily McDermott

Emily McDermott is a wife, mother of two energetic boys, and simplicity seeker. She is also the host of the top 1% globally ranked podcast Moms Overcoming Overwhelm, where she helps moms declutter their homes, heads, and hearts. Emily enjoys writing poetry, dancing, and eating peanut butter out of the jar.

Connect with Emily:

Moms Overcoming Overwhelm Podcast 

Simple by Emmy

Emily on Instagram

Emily on Facebook

Facebook Group - Decluttering Tips and Support for Overwhelmed Moms

Freebie: 5 Mindset Shifts To Help you Let Go of Clutter

Contact E-mail: [email protected] 

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

Does PMDD make it really tough to be around other people?

Do you deal with feelings of isolation and anxiety in even the simplest of interactions? 

I used to hide from my landscapers, no joke!

Classic kindness helps us to take a step back and see the common humanity we all share. 

You are not alone in your struggles. When you are reminded of this, it may feel a bit easier to navigate the challenging feelings that PMDD can stir up when we're interacting with others...even the ones we love!

Check out today's featured meditation if you want to feel less like a self-conscious, anxious island unto yourself every time you get around another person.

(Because, trust me, I've been there...and this one has really helped me!)

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane

Does your PMDD lead you feel isolated, alone and misunderstood around others...even with friends, family and colleagues? Do you suffer with social anxiety over chatting with a neighbor or making a routine phone call? Does feeling unseen, unheard, and sensitive to rejection cause tension between you and your partner?

This is all super common in PMDD. I myself have experienced every one of these issues!

Then, I found a mindfulness practice that helped me to feel less alone in my struggles and more compassionate with myself and with others. It leveled the 'playing field' in a way, because I no longer saw myself as uniquely broken and suffering.

Over time, I was able to show up as myself around other people, without feeling so anxious and misunderstood!

In this episode I share:

• The practice that helped me to  feel less anxious, different, and alone around others.
• How this practice helped me to show up as myself again, with more ease.

I believe that you can get there too and I'll be sharing this guided meditation next week, before taking a holiday break!

Connect with me!

DM me on Instagram @mindfulnessforpmdd

FREE Meditations for PMDD for You from Me! (Insight Timer)

Thanks for listening! <3

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe.

And if you know someone with PMDD, please share this podcast.

And remember ... Stop. Take a breath. And observe. 

xo
Diane