The Heart is an audio art project about power and love. From CBC Podcasts, Mermaid Palace and Radiotopia. SISTERS is a 5 episode series that follows the journey of an older and younger sister from birth to adulthood. Natalie and Kaitlin went from being childhood rivals to being best friends. When the sisters decide to work together to create the very podcast series you are about to listen to, they face challenges they never anticipated. Sibling rivalry, mental health struggles and the daunting task of creating an audio series about it all: can these women overcome the patterns they learned in childhood and live in harmony as adults? More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/uBFkn9uI

A COVID scare in the kids’ group Patti manages wakes up the perfectionist inside her — the part of her that feels she needs to be perfect in order to deserve connection with others. She and Dr. Hillary trace this feeling back to her younger years, and help Patti draw from her personal growth to comfort that version of herself.

Kristin recognizes she feels isolated and alone, at least in part because she’s kept people at a distance to protect herself from getting hurt. Dr. Hillary uses her own relationship with Kristin to model friendship and the excitement that can come from deep connection.

Dr. Hillary needs to tell her longtime client Vanessa that she’s pregnant and that they'll soon need to take a break, when Hillary goes on maternity leave. This is hard to hear for Vanessa, who has been left, physically and emotionally, by important people in her life when she needed them most. Hillary helps Vanessa navigate the pain of feeling abandoned while also assuring her: although their situation will change, their bond is secure.

Hannah has found a range of ways to earn love and protect herself from getting hurt. In Dr. Hillary McBride’s words, she “has found a way to stay connected to people by figuring out who they want her to be, and then being that.” The two work to help Hannah trust that she can show up as her authentic self, and to believe that she is lovable as she is.

Ethan’s parents have become committed to extreme right wing ideologies, which they keep pushing on Ethan. He has tried and failed to explain to them why their views are harmful. Now, in the midst of helping his wife deal with a health crisis, Ethan has decided to step away from his relationship with his parents, despite how much it hurts. Dr. Hillary helps him navigate his grief.

Kristin’s brother died when she was very young and she blamed herself, the way children sometimes do. She has carried that unresolved shame for decades. As the anniversary of his death stirs up hard feelings, Dr. Hillary helps Kristin begin to heal this deep wound. She also guides adult Kristin, now a parent herself, toward saying the words she needed to hear as a child.

As someone who has struggled with addiction and a bipolar diagnosis, Julia carefully hides away parts of herself. Dr. Hillary McBride helps her embrace her complexity, and reconcile it with her new identity as mom. “Your identity was never in addiction, was never in illness, your identity has always been something much deeper.”

Slow down today and join Dr. Hillary for five minutes of mindfulness. This meditation, which she wrote, is intended to help you feel grounded and more at ease.

(If you're too busy today, then you may want to play it twice.)