PeakConnection

On this episode of PeakConnection writer, blogger, and sober mom of three Jessica Guerrieri is back. This time she discusses the importance of vulnerability as a means to emotionally connect during a time of isolation, especially as it pertains to addiction and maintaining sobriety. Ultimately our stories of struggle and grit empower others to continue with their resolve, even when it becomes uncomfortable.

"Whether or not you struggle with addiction, you are also sitting in these deeply uncomfortable feelings within the pandemic and spending way too much time in our own heads. I don't know a single person who hasn't had some sort of emotional breakdown during this time, but this bottoming out that we've done, this hitting rock bottom, I think has made people more willing and vulnerable to whatever it is their struggle is and wanting to connect with other people. We're so far away from each other, that we are going to emotionally connect in whatever way we can. And sometimes that's by sharing our truth." --Jessica Guerrieri

Audio Engineered by: Blaise Douros 

Grief is a lonely journey. It's easy to become stuck. Unable to move forward. Unable to continue living fully. Incapable of finding joy. In 2012, Lisa Herrington experienced an unimaginable loss. Eight years later, she's channeled her experiences with living through profound grief into her new book, Your Amazing Itty Bitty Grief Book. On this episode of PeakConnection, Lisa discusses how she eventually was able to intentionally create joy in the midst of her grief, helping guide her back to living a big beautiful life.  A life that is now filled with deeper more meaningful connections because of her continued willingness to be vulnerable and share her inspiring personal journey through grief and back into joy.

"And so there has to come a point where you take that big step and decide to get unstuck and decide to start moving forward, and know it's not going to be easy moving forward, but it's a huge step to say I'm going to go into this holiday season and I don't feel like celebrating it, but I'm going to do something that makes me feel little joy, that brings my family joy, because I don't want to stay here. I don't want to stay in grief. I want to move towards joy. I want to move towards light. That's where the living happens." --Lisa Herrington

Audio Engineered by: Blaise Douros 

The human mind does not assess risk very accurately. Our emotions and preconceptions often color our ability to understand the most relevant factors. On this episode of PeakConnection, Dr. Toni Brayer, one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most respected physicians, discusses what we should consider when assessing risk of Covid-19 infection, when it comes to family, friends, colleagues or employers, and how to maintain our physical and mental health in the process.

"...if there's anything that this pandemic has taught us, it's that there are no guarantees. We know this, life is filled with uncertainty. So we take the information that we have and we try and make ourselves as safe and certain as we can...Focus on what you can control because if there's anything this COVID virus has taught us is that we don't have control over life. The only thing that's certain is uncertainty, right? Things change, we can't predict day-to-day, but there are things that we can control."--Dr. Toni Brayer

Covid-19 has made the work-home-life balance more disproportionate than ever before. What has arguably been one of the most difficult periods to navigate has been downright impossible for some--mainly mothers. For decades, women have fought for equality--equal pay, equal rights, an equal seat at the table. However, within a few short months, and with school and childcare closures, many women find themselves utterly exhausted and burned out from trying to achieve the impossible task set before them. The ugly truth is that they cannot in fact do it all. Something has to give, and that something is often a career before family. On this episode of PeakConnection, sociologist and renowned author Dr. Jessica Calarco discusses her research on social and economic inequalities and how this is affecting women specifically during the pandemic.

"I'm very concerned about how this not only sets women back career-wise but also exposes them to levels of stress and to levels of physical harm, in some cases, those mothers who are sacrificing sleep to get work done. I'm worried about the long-term impact on women's health, and relationships, and careers..." --Dr. Jessica Calarco

We live in a success-obsessed world. The perception of success often requires the pursuit of more traditionally stable career paths, leaving behind our dreams. But for MNT Pilates Studio founder and CEO Elaine Hayes, she's spent the past decade devoting herself to building a business out of her passion, centered around community. On this episode of PeakConnection, Elaine discusses the importance in creating a community-driven business, the success she's experienced because of it, and her relentless spirit of resiliency in the process. 

"I found that for anything to be sustainable and just enjoyable, I need a community around it for it to just stick. I mean, that goes with pretty much like anything. I think it's the reason why so many of us, gravitate towards...different communities, because it's like there's power in having a group of like-minded people who are kind of on the same journey as you."  --Elaine Hayes

Audio Engineered by: Blaise Douros

Feelings can be hurt and emotions triggered no matter what age. So, how do we teach our children to weather bullying, when we're struggling to do the same? On this episode of PeakConnection, renowned  resilience educator, author,  and sociologist Dr. Brooks Gibbs discusses the importance of regulating emotional responses to intentionally aggressive behavior and building a kinder more resilient future together.

"So resilience education is the solution for bullying on campus or online, or any aggression for that matter. It's teaching kids why someone's being mean, how to control their emotions from being wounded by it and resolving it by responding to the person in an appropriate way." -- Dr. Brooks Gibbs 

The holiday season presents us with its own set of challenges to navigate in any normal year. However, 2020 is not a normal year. Families everywhere are feeling the pinch of a growing political divide and Covid-19. So, regardless if its over Zoom or in person, how do we navigate already complex relationships with the added stressors of the past year? Clinical social worker and therapist Stephanie Bagley discusses the importance of maintaining and setting healthy boundaries for ourselves and others.  Our families and friends are complex and nuanced, not reducible to a single set of views or actions. We are capable of having meaningful conversations with those we love but disagree with, so long as we put effort into ground rules and a plan ahead of time.

"And the dialect that I like to say to myself is that people are doing the best that they can, but also people need to do better. So two opposing things can be true at the same time. Your parents could have voted for someone that you disagree with, and they could also still be good parents." --Stephanie Bagley

Audio engineered by Blaise Douros

Clinical Psychologist Maggie Stagg shares her journey with her unexpected Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, and the equally unexpected opportunities for creating connections with others who share it. More specifically, PeakConnection host Lindsey Douros, who was recently diagnosed with the same chronic illness. In this episode, Stagg and Douros talk about how choosing to embrace their shared MS diagnosis has led to a more meaningful connection with each other, and makes the heavy load a little easier to bear.

“This is my thing, right? Everyone's born with their thing, their thing to carry...It becomes empowering. And then, when you connect with other people who are going through the same thing, you can give them a little bit of your power, right? It's like, ‘I've done hard things. I do hard things. I feel hard things. And you can too.’" --Maggie Stagg 

Audio Engineered by: Blaise Douros

Prominent author, speaker, and human behavior researcher Alfie Kohn is known for challenging widely-held beliefs about parenting and education. On this episode, Kohn discusses the importance of working with children to understand their perspective, rather than trying to buy their obedience with bribery or punishment, whether at home or inside the classroom. He shares radical steps for creating collaborative approaches to both education and parenting, where adults talk less and listen more.

"...we have to stop ourselves from simply figuring out new tricks and techniques to get kids to obey whatever we're telling them to do. And that's what takes enormous courage, as well as skills and talent and time. ..an important related, but distinct point about both families and classrooms, is that bribes are as bad as threats. Both are instances of what I call a 'doing to' approach. Whereas the only thing that can help us meet our long-term goals for our kids is a 'working with' approach." --Alfie Kohn

In a world filled with division and uncertainty, parents and caretakers are feeling especially overwhelmed and hopeless as to what the future may hold, not just for themselves but for the next generation they're raising. Nationally renowned psychologist, author, and speaker Dr. Robert Brooks discusses coping mechanisms and strategies to help adults maintain hope and resiliency, while also encouraging the children in their care to do the same.

"I view resilience as really the capacity to cope with past and present adversity, and a key word there is cope. It's not that resilient people are not going to face problems. It's not that they're not going to feel stress." --Dr. Robert Brooks