Plan Simple with Mia Moran

I love the consent of anti-racism because it's not just choices, but it's action.

–Brandyn Campbell

On this episode of the PlanSimple Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Brandyn Campbell, a consultant who helps companies build and articulate their commitment to racial justice. That means building inclusive environments and fleshing out their values and how those can align with being anti-racist. 

This is not an easy conversation. I’ve realized over the past year ways that I am not anti-racist, ways I am not inclusive. There is a part of me that worries I could make a mistake, say the wrong thing to Brandyn in this conversation, or others. I know I am not alone in this fear, but it’s really important to have these conversations as part of change. 

We talk about putting this into practice in our businesses. Brandyn says it can be easier for small business or solopreneurs because there are fewer layers of politics to navigate. It starts with identifying core values. 

We talk about: 

• How to handle making mistakes and how to use them to move forward
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• Ways to identify core values or brand values, decisions to make based on your values and how that can be hard in the short term, and the power of being values aligned and how it sets you apart from your competition
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• Aspirational values and steps we take that move us further into alignment with our values (we talk specifically about being inclusive as a value) 
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• Little steps you can take, like buying books from a Black-owned independent bookstore instead of Amazon
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• Remembering that actions, like pointing out to an event organizer that their panel should be more diverse, don’t have to be a big controversy
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• Talking with our kids about racism and also setting and living values as a family
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BIO

Brandyn Campbell combines her passions for communications and diversity to help businesses build and articulate their commitment to racial justice. The founder of Brandyn Campbell Communications, she draws on 15 years of experience providing training and strategy on multiculturalism and cultural competence. Brandyn has worked with clients around the world to provide actionable solutions to infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout their communications and cultures. Brandyn lives in suburban Philadelphia and loves reading, laughing, music, hiking, and going on adventures with her two children.

LINKS

• www.brandyncampbell.com
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• https://www.instagram.com/brandyncampbellcomms/
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Doable Changes from this episode:

• PRACTICE MAKING MISTAKES. Making mistakes is part of learning and change. Practice not getting defensive when you get called out or called in. Practice saying, “I didn’t know that. Thank you for telling me.”
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• IDENTIFY CORE VALUES. Journal about your core values. Think about this as an internal exercise, not something you will put on your website. Just define for yourself what you believe and why. You can choose to make these public, but doing it as a private exercise takes away the pressure to find the right words and lets you focus on the belief.
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• PICK ONE SMALL WAY TO LIVE YOUR VALUES. We discussed some of the ways we can live our values. It can be as simple as buying the books that we would buy anyway from a Black-owned independent bookseller instead of Amazon. Or sending a message to an event organizer pointing out a lack of diversity in their panel or making an effort to bring different perspectives to our own panels or podcasts. Pick one way and lean into that for the next month.
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If you can turn and look at any spot in your home and feel good about yourself, then your home is giving you good feedback. 

–Moni Castaneda

On this episode of the PlanSimple Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Moni Castaneda, about Feng Shui and how to set up our homes so that we can be more relaxed, more productive and get along with others better. If you do a lot of tidying and decluttering, we’re going to take a step back here to what comes before that — and the beauty and energy of it!

We talk about the two things we avoid: the things we really should be doing but don’t want to do and the things we would love to do but deprive ourselves from doing because of the thing we think we should do. So we talk about permission and what we learn and what we do for others. 

Moni shares some of the nine principles of transformations people need to go through and then connects those to things we can do in the home to make change. 

We talk about: 

• Pouring a lot of love and energy into our kids and how to shift that as they grow or have even moved out on their own
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• Living a life of strategy, balance, and not wearing yourself out
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• Harmonizing the elements of your life
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• Changing the language you use to bring about change
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• How windows, mirrors, and artwork reflect our relationships 
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• The way changes in the home support the transformation of us as people
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BIO

Moni Castaneda is a Feng Shui Consultant, Speaker and Author. Feng Shui is the ancient Asian art that teaches us how to live in harmony with our surroundings. Moni has integrated modern Western architecture (for which she trained) with ancient Feng Shui knowledge to create the Nine Steps to Feng Shui® System, a step-by-step method to study and practice this art. With this method, Moni helps clients turn their current homes into dream homes, where they may live happy lives and realize their full potential.

LINKS

• https://www.ninestepstofengshui.com/
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• @fengshuiforus
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Doable Changes from this episode:

• FIND YOUR BEAUTY. Moni says that it’s amazing how beauty transforms clutter. So start with beauty. She gives the example of having a beautiful couch that is always covered with stuff so you can’t see it. Clear the stuff. Look around your house for things that are already beautiful. How can you make the beauty shine? It might mean putting things away or clearing things or changing things (maybe using a basket instead of a plastic bin)? But instead of looking at the clutter, look at bringing out the beauty of one thing. 
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• CHANGE YOUR WORDS. Our words have power, and when we keep using negative language it impacts our lives. Start by noticing your negative language, things like I’m so disorganized or I’m a terrible mother because the toys aren’t picked up. Start eliminating negative language or bringing in more positive language. 
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• START WITH WHAT CLICKS. Journal on the ideas Moni talks about—different kinds of transformation, the relationship between home and ourselves, the idea of beauty, whatever else you heard. What really stands out for you? Why is it important?  
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Listen to the rest of my talk with Moni, including her Feng shui tips and ideas for transforming your home to transform your life (along with so much other wisdom and goodness) at CAMP! 

http://plansimple.com/camp

“If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.”  ― Michelle Obama

The past year was no joke. We became teachers that were never trained to teach, were asked to get the same quantity of work completed with more consistent interruption, and many of us were simultaneously surrounded by kids, family and community members in crisis. 

We rolled up our sleeves and we got to work. There may have been pieces of our new normal that almost seemed better — way less driving, less transitions, a slower calmer pace, Zoom calls with grandmas and aunties, a clarity of what matters most. But there were also pieces that were really hard — being far away from loved ones, kids bouncing off walls, masks, no alone time, so much cooking, stressful and time-consuming grocery runs, sickness, tight money. It was a bit different for each one of us, but it was easy for no mom.

And now, as the world opens back up and we release kids back into their worlds of elementary school, middle school, high school or even college, I am hoping we can all slow down enough to remember who we have become.

Camp covers 5 themes — body, presence, money, motherhood and play

Camp offers us some tools, some practice, some community to navigate these areas. 

It is virtual, but designed to be more than you stuck in front of a computer. 

You will move, plan and take action.

You will rest, reset and flow — which is what we need now more than ever!

If you upgrade, we also will give you audios, so you can listen from your phone for the rest of summer and into fall… It’s all content that you will want to dive into.

My dream would be for you to gather a group of friends and do this together!

Here is a listing of the CAMP offerings!

Monday, July 12 – Friday, July 16

Live classes will be so FUN live, but will also be posted as the finish, and the recording will be up for 24 hours….

Monday: BODY

10 AM ET— Meal Planning for Your Week with Mia

1 PM ET — Amazing Salads with Tess Masters

3 PM ET — Q and A with Tara

You schedule your time…

• All About Hormones with Dr. Anna Cabeca
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• Navigating the Healthcare Sysytem with Kyana Brathwaite
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• Cravings with with Jennifer Philips
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• Pilates with Tara Frederickson
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• JourneyDance with Toni Bergins
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• A Meditation with Heather Dressel
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• Kitchen Tools with Mary Lummerding
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Tuesday: PRESENCE

10 AM ET— Sacred Circle with Julie Hannon

12 PM ET— JourneyDance  with Toni Bergins 

3 PM ET — 90-Minute Get-Something-Done Session with Mia

You schedule your time…

• The Enneagram with Christina Granahan
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• Being Present in Your Home with Moni Castaneda
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• Intention and Candles with Prsha Calmers
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• Writing your spiritual stories with Becky Sims and Shuana’h Fuegan
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Wednesday: MONEY

10 AM ET — Create Two Weeks of Social Media with Christine McShane

12 PM ET  — Your Money Vibe with Jackie Woodside

4 PM ET — Create a Budget with Shay McMillan

You schedule your time…

• VisionMaker Process with Jennifer Zweibel
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• Get Systems Set Up So Taxes Are Easier with LuSundra Gass Everett
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• Tapping with Jill Wener
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• Radical Self-Care: Confronting Your Online Order History with Kristin Ivey
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• Be Anti-Racist with Your Money with Brandyn Campbell
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Thursday: MOTHERHOOD

1 PM ET— Easeful Motherhood with Sil Reynolds

2 PM ET — Moving your Nervous System from Surviving into Thriving with Kelly Lubeck

You schedule your time…

• How to Raise Happy Humans with Jenny Warner
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• Who Are the Women Who Came Before You? with Dana Jones
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• The Gift of Alternative Adventures with Evelyn Castro
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Friday: PLAY

10 AM — Playing with Manifesting with Jen Mazer

2 PM — Self: Nurturing: Permission to Play with Kelley Grimes

4 PM — Q and A about the Enneagram and Oracle

You schedule your time…

• Astrology 101 with Wanica, aka Ms Astrology
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• Fun with Oracle Cards with Heather Dressel
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• Collage with Jody Camarra
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Sign up and stay tuned for info on how to schedule your sessions. Fit what resonates most into your week, or upgrade and spread it out over a month. 

These tools will support you.

The speakers and community members will hold you.

Think of camp as a big hog that you absolutely do not want to miss!

Sign-up here »

Tapping gives a regimented way to process negative emotions. And then you feel amazing afterwards. 

–Jill Wener

On this episode of the PlanSimple Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Jill Wener, the meditating doctor. Facing stress and burnout herself, Jill found mediation. She overcame her initial skepticism and learned the science behind Conscious Health Mediation. In 2017, she learned another technique—Emotional Freedom Technique, also known as EFT or tapping—that helped her overcome limiting beliefs.

We talk about really feeling your emotions and giving ourselves permission to have more positive feelings. Along with this Jill talks about reframing thoughts, so that we are focusing on what we want to grow. Tapping becomes a modality for processing your emotions. 

Jill briefly explains how tapping works: You say things out loud as you tap on different points on your face and chest. And then you can embody that feeling and sit in it and allow it and embrace it. Then you allow it to pass and to integrate and shift. Then there is a cognitive shift. And you feel amazing after. 

We talk about: 

• How flexible and adaptive tapping is — and how easy it is to start
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• Learning tools that you can use on your own (they may take time and practice, but you can get ongoing benefits on your own)
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• Meditation and how it perks you up better than Starbucks
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• Mediation being more preventative, while tapping is more like a spot cleaner
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• Seeing negative emotions as a gift
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• Tapping with your kids
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Tapping is one of those tools that can bend time, but making you feel amazing in a short time and helping you release negative thoughts and emotions getting in your way. Jill will walk us through tapping during CAMP! 

Are you signed up yet? Do that now so you have time to plan your amazing week. https://plansimple.com/camp

BIO

After 10+ years practicing Internal Medicine in a busy urban hospital, Jill knows firsthand what severe stress and burnout feel like. In the midst of her own emotional turmoil, she was introduced to Conscious Health Meditation, and it had a profound effect on her well-being. Due to her medical background, Jill was initially skeptical of spiritual practices. However, as she learned the science behind Conscious Health Meditation, she embraced the training and marveled at the results of her efforts. The only Conscious Health (also known as Vedic) Meditation instructor in Georgia, Jill completed her training in Rishikesh, India in April, 2016. 

Jill strongly believes that there is no 'quick fix'; no singular technique can address all of the physical and emotional challenges of today's society. When she discovered the evidence-based technique of tapping (also called the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT) at a conference for women physicians in 2017 and began using it herself, she was amazed at how well it complemented her meditation practice and helped her to let go of long-held limiting beliefs. She became a tapping practitioner in 2019, and finds tremendous joy facilitating incredible growth and benefits with her tapping clients. 

A nationally-renowned expert in physician wellness, Jill has published several articles on KevinMD, led physician wellness programs around the country, and lectured at the national level on stress and the benefits of meditation and tapping. She has been interviewed on multiple TV and radio shows as well as podcasts (in the medical community and beyond). In addition to her online and in-person meditation and tapping programs, Jill leads meditation retreats all over the world and is the co-founder and Chief Wellness Officer of the TransforMD Mastery Retreat for Women Physicians. An (always aspiring) anti-racist, Jill is the creator of the Conscious Anti-Racism curriculum, in which she (along with her business partner Dr. Maiysha Clairborne) combines her insights as a white woman on her own anti-racism journey with her mind-body expertise and her 10 years of experience practicing medicine. Jill is also the host of the Conscious Anti-Racism podcast, and she is also the author of the Conscious Anti-Racism book with Dr. Clairborne. 

LINKS

• www.jillwener.com
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• https://www.instagram.com/jillwenermd/
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Doable Changes from this episode:

• NOTICE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. Most of us were taught that emotions like anger and sadness were bad, but learning to feel and process all emotions is important. Start by simply noticing your emotions without judgement. Name how you are feeling.
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• TRY MEDITATION. Jill notes that meditation is preventative. It’s a practice that over time makes a difference—just like all of our doable changes. Start by doing a very short meditation. If you think mediation isn’t for you, try Conscious Health Mediation, a specific modality that Jill teaches.
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• EXPLORE TAPPING. Learn more about Tapping on Jill’s site—or come to CAMP—to learn tapping from Jill! This technique is simple to learn, and you can get something out of it whenever you do it, even if you don’t practice regularly.
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I want to create a marriage where we're both growing and where we speak the same language.

–Sarah Jenks

On this episode of the PlanSimple Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with my good friend Sarah Jenks again! Sarah has been in the personal development space, empowering women around their bodies and spirituality and empowerment and feminism for 12 years. Today, we’re talking about marriage. 

Sarah discusses her fear of outgrowing her husband because of the personal development work she was doing, while he was staying stuck. She dispels the myth that she could do all the work for both of them. In talking about the need for both partners to do inner work and work on their marriage, she explains its not just about the marriage but also about not undoing all the inner work women do for themselves. 

We talk about an imbalance of money and how that affects the dynamic in a couple along with other antiquated ideas about marriage that people often get stuck in.

We talk about: 

• Rethinking how we think about money, including spending and who has the right to it
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• Our partner not being the problem, the marriage being the problem
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• Creating new agreements and dynamics and standards for how you show up with each other in your marriage
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• Why both partners need to be invested at the beginning of a marriage course
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• Different ways to talk about wanting to do this marriage work
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• How conflict shows up in our other relationships and our bodies
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BIO

Sarah Jenks is the mother of three, a woman who has struggled with body image and lack of direction, and someone who knows what it’s like to feel flat, overwhelmed, frumpy and exhausted. Through her own transformation and years of study in the Sacred Feminine, emotional eating and life coaching, she has been guiding thousands of women for over 10 years through the process of remembering their brilliance and their unique mission in this lifetime.

LINKS

• https://sarahjenks.com/
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• Living in Your Box with Sarah Jenks
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• It Only Takes One with Stacey Martino
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Doable Changes from this episode:

• ADDRESS “I CAN’T AFFORD IT.” If you find yourself saying, you can’t afford something that might shift your personal experience, like working on your marriage or getting a babysitter so you can have conversations, look at where you are spending money. Start with a list of recent purchases and monthly expenses. Consider whether you could afford something that could make a real difference in your life.
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• RETHINK WHO MAKES MONEY. If you fall into the paradigm of one person making the money and thus having control over the money. Start to factor in the value of the work done by the partner who makes less or no money. Start to factor in how taking care of the kids, driving them to school, being home at night with them helps the other person make money. Start to shift the paradigm.
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• SAY WHAT YOU NEED. If you are unhappy in your marriage, if you want to work toward change, say how you feel and what you need. Sarah talks about a few different ways she tried this conversation and acknowledges that she had to say it several times before it sunk in or connected. If you aren’t ready to say it, think through what it is you need to say.
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The more that we do this, the more I realize it's just a matter of how you reach the people that want what you have.

–Dan Morris

On this episode of the PlanSimple Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Dan Morris, one of the founders of BC Stack, the ultimate A-Z Resource on what’s working in today's digital marketing, bundled together for an amazing price. I love the way BC Stack helps entrepreneurs in so many ways. If you are already running an online business or thinking about starting one, you’re going to want to hear more about this.

In addition to a thriving entrepreneurial business, Dan has 11 kids, yes, eleven. We talk about parenting and the things he learned to do for his kids. We also talk about how he's adopted simple living and less stuff—plus selling with his kids. 

I’ve talked to Dan’s wife and co-founder of BC Stack, Rachel Martin, about motherhood previously on the podcast. Now it’s Dan’s turn. Join us as we dive into online business entrepreneurship.

We talk about: 

• Being a single dad and rethinking division of labor
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• Not wanting to go back to a job or trying to make entrepreneurship work after last year, and how Dan got into online business as the result of a recession
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• Using a hub and spoke format online in different kinds of business and building an audience with a free offer
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• How they started BC Stack and how they avoid freebie seekers
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• The win-win-win of BC Stack for entrepreneurs
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• Tools for finding good business ideas and getting things done
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BIO

CEO of Audience Industries and BC Stack. Dan also runs the Tracing The Path Podcast, a series of stories from the 20th Century in the style of Paul Harvey and Charles Kuralt.

LINKS

• Grab your copy of BC Stack
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• The Brave Art of Motherhood with Rachel Martin
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• Join us for Camp!
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Doable Changes from this episode:

• TRY BC STACK. This one is time sensitive because it only happens once a year, but check it out. There is SO much value in there for $47 if you are starting an online business or trying to grow one you’ve already created. (Plus you get a new course we created now!)
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• KNOW YOUR TENDENCIES. Are you like Dan? Do you follow the path of least resistance? Do you put off things because you don’t know how to do them or think they’ll take a long time to do or learn. Start by noticing your tendencies. Then see if you can find a fix or workaround—could you hire somebody to do something? Take a course (maybe in BC Stack)? Just try it and maybe see it’s not that hard?
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• CREATE A SYSTEM. It could be meals and shopping. It could be a “do the thing you don’t want to do” system. Set it up so you don’t have to think about it. 
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• DO SOMETHING YOUR PARTNER USUALLY DOES. Really see what it is like to be in their shoes. If you have never taken out the trash, be on trash duty. If you never make dinner on Friday night then make dinner on Friday night.
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You have to make sure that your spending plan and your savings plan match your personal beliefs and values. 

–Shay Budgets

On this episode of the PlanSimple Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Shay about a topic that isn’t sexy and hasn’t always been interesting to me, but that I think is really important—budgeting. Talking about money is a little taboo, but so important. 

We talk about how most of us don’t learn about money or budgeting. And because most people are so uncomfortable talking about it, we don’t learn about money or budgeting. That really needs to change. Getting comfortable with our money stories and knowing where our money is going is so important to feeling in flow. 

Shay’s going to teach us to create a budget at Camp—and you might be thinking, that’s not what I want to do in the middle of the summer, but doing this work together can be truly nurturing, an act of self-care. 

We talk about: 

• How making and sticking to a budget is a lot more than math
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• Flip-flopping the idea of buying on credit and paying off with saving up to buy with cash
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• Patience and gratitude in money work
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• Focusing on permission rather than restriction
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• Overcompensating and other reasons for spending
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• Connecting our thoughts and intentions with our actions and values
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BIO

Shay McMillan is a wife, full-time employee, business owner, social media influencer, planner, goal setting expert, organizer, budget coach and more. 

She is determined to create and lead a life that she absolutely loves and enjoys. She currently works in a helping profession and thoroughly enjoys her work. However, she feel she has a duty to do more – to help more. That’s where her social media influencer career comes in. She created a budget-centered YouTube channel in 2017 and then created other social media accounts too. 

While her financial freedom journey is going relatively well, she also includes everyday, real-life struggles and successes, that impact her financial situation. 

Shay’s current obsessions include her husband, budgeting, planning, organizing and decorating/furnishing her new house and her new pup. You can expect to see a ton of each on all of her social media profiles.

LINKS

Shay Budgets on YouTube

@shaybudges on Instagram

Shay’s Facebook page

https://www.shaybudgets.com/

Doable Changes from this episode:

• PRACTICE GRATITUDE. Recognizing and appreciating what you have is a piece of the “money work.”  Make a list of things you have that you are grateful for.
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• PRACTICE PATIENCE & SAVING. Choose one thing that you want but do not need right now. Practice putting aside money each month for that thing. You could even calculate how much more you would spend if you bought it on credit now and paid the same amount you would save to pay it off.
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• CONNECT TO YOUR VALUES. Connecting to values can help you figure out where you want to spend money — and where you don’t. Just because other people spend money on date night out, expensive gifts, the latest phone, or daily coffee, doesn’t mean you have to. And it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t spend money on those things if they are things you truly love and want in your life. Start by making a list of values. Then when you are going to make a purchase, ask, Does this align with my values? 
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Shay will be one of the “camp counselor” at Camp FLOW July 12–16. Shay will teach us how to make a personal budget. We’ll also have cooking classes and meal planning; yoga, mediation, and breathwork; a day focused on motherhood; and lots of play including oracle cards, art projects, and a dance party … and SO much more. You can do it from your backyard—and it’s free!

Come create a healthier happier you! https://plansimple.com/camp

The beautiful thing is relationships really only ever take one person to shift things.

–Stacey Martino

On this episode of the PlanSimple Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Stacey Martino about relationships. She has had such a powerful impact on me and my family. What would happen if you focused 90 days on your relationship? That’s what we are here to find out. 

The result that comes from focusing on relationships is the higher version of yourself, more peace within, and a real level of authentic happiness that you feel during the day. When you think about your partner, your children, what you're creating … when you think about the legacy that you're leaving with them and how you are a role model for your kids, when you think about the passion that you have with your partner and how that fuels you up, you feel rock solid, unshakeable, fueled up. The version of you is happier than you even thought possible. 

We talk about the kerfuffles and struggles of daily life. When we are in these places, we get stuck on asking: How could we make this better? How can I get them to change or finally listen to me? Stacey suggests switching focus: What’s working? How can I elevate our relationship so that we reduce struggle in a way that feels good? This isn’t about pleasing everybody, but it is a shift in how we think and approach things. 

We talk about: 

• Working on your relationship even when things don’t feel that bad
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• How you can do the work on your own
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• The idea that your response to someone is always causing the next reaction in a cycle 
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• Learning to understand the differences in how you and your partner are wired (understanding how your kids are wired helps too)
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• Taking the time to learn and rethink so you have more productive time and energy with your family
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• Removing judgment and seeing the world with more appreciation
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BIO

Stacey and Paul Martino have proven that it only takes ONE partner to transform a relationship... ANY relationship!

The Martino’s are on a mission to empower people to get the Unshakeable Love and Unleashed Passion they want in their relationship... even if their partner REFUSES to change!

Stacey and Paul, are the creators of Relationship Development®️ and their 8-Step Relationship Transformation System®️. Through their strategic coaching, online programs and sold-out live events, Stacey and Paul have helped save thousands of marriages around the world (by working with only one spouse).

While the divorce rate averaging 50 – 70% and couple’s work resulting in about an 80% divorce rate... the Martino’s RelationshipU program results in a 1% Divorce rate and a 99% SUCCESS rate over the last six years.

Those amazing results are unheard of! And that’s because the Martino’s have cracked the code on relationship with their Relationship Development methodology.

Stacey and Paul have created hundreds of proven tools to empower real people to reclaim their happiness and create a transformation, even in relationships that looked hopeless.

The Martino’s are changing the way relationship is done®️!

LINKS

https://relationshipdevelopment.org/

Rock Solid Synergy with Stacey Martino

Doable Changes from this episode:

• PRACTICE DROPPING JUDGMENT. One of the biggest changes you can make is to stop judging. Drop your nagging or chirping voice. When we stop judging, we allow ourselves to appreciate more. We can feel more peaceful. This can be a big change, but you can start small. Work on it for 10–15 minutes a day.
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• MAKE A LIST OF THINGS THAT BOTHER YOU. Start making a list of the things that bother you. (This can work hand in hand with dropping judgment. Things that bring up your judgment voice belong on the list.) This is a list of things that you might need a system about or to make a decision about. The things that go on the list are things you will work on creating a plan over the next 12 months.
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• CREATE SYSTEMS. Usually, kerfuffles are over something that isn’t working. These are indicators where you need a system — and need everyone to operate with the same system. Set up time on your calendar to create systems for things you’ve identified as problems. 
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“ Yoga was one of the only places I didn't feel like I had to be an overachiever. ”

– Linda Wells

On this episode of the PlanSimple Podcast, I’m so excited to talk with The Wellness Warrior Linda Wells. Linda is a yoga teacher who believes wellness is your birthright and is on a mission to create a wellness rebellion. She uses yoga to help students develop resilience. 

Linda says that yoga found her in the most stressful times of her life, even when she didn’t know it was yoga. As a young adult, trying to find her way, she discovered Virupa yoga, a kind of restorative yoga that taught her to sleep. She didn’t practice yoga for a while, but rediscovered it with Leslie Salmon Jones. She loved the energy of Afro flow yoga and realized she could become a yoga teacher and wellness coach. 

Although yoga has been part of my journey for about 20 years, I’ve never had an in depth conversation about it on the podcast, until now. In part that is a sense of privilege related to yoga. I felt like I was sneaking off to 90-minute yoga classes when I should have been mothering or working. We unpack that idea and how yoga can be more accessible

We talk about: 

• making yoga accessible for different bodies, abilities, and time and financial availability
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• teaching love, kindness, and compassion (including to yourself)
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• befriending your body despite what dominant culture tries to tell and sell you
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• practicing so you can age gracefully
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• yoga as a quest to trust yourself
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• checking assumptions about race, body size, wellness, and who can do yoga
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BIO

Linda N. Wells, M.Ed., E-RYT 500 is The Wellness Warrior. Her mission is to create a wellness rebellion by teaching people how to assert personal agency by reclaiming themselves through adaptable yoga. Recognizing that stress may be an unavoidable part of our lives, Linda draws upon her in-depth study to help her students develop resilience in the face of modern life demands.

Linda is certified to teach yoga at the 500-hour level. She holds multiple training certificates, including Trauma-informed yoga for youth and teens, Accessible Yoga for people with disabilities, living with chronic pain, and larger bodies. She teaches in various settings, from Boston and Brookline Public Schools, studios, to her highly-attended summer outdoor series, to universities and notable appearances in New England.  Linda's formal education includes an M.Ed. specializing in Curriculum and Instruction from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and BA in Political Science and Economics from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Linda is also a trainer for Resilient Schools and Youth with the Benson Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine. Additional certifications include The Institute of Nonprofit Management from Boston University and Reiki Usui Level 2. She is an alum of Northeastern University Community Enrichment Fellows, Citizen Schools Teaching Fellowship and the South End/Lower Roxbury Youth Workers Alliance Steering Committee.

LINKS

https://www.lindawellnesswarrior.com/

MENTIONED LINK

https://melissawest.com/

Invitation to Brave Space by Micky Scottbey Jones

Doable Changes from this episode:

• TRY 5 MINUTES. It’s easy to get stuck in the idea that to do yoga you need an hour or more to go to a class. Linda says that you can do yoga wherever you are in a few minutes. If you’ve practiced yoga before, try a breath exercise or a simple pose for five minutes or less. If you’ve never done yoga there are lots of online tools to help you learn. Check out 5-minute practice and fit that into your day—it can be an energizing start to the day or a great way to unwind at the end of the day.
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• STAY ON YOUR OWN MAT. I love the idea of your yoga mat being your space, and what’s happening off it being somebody else’s stuff. What happens if you just keep pulling yourself back to your mat? If you stop worrying about what other people are doing, how you compare, or what they think about you on your mat?
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• PRACTICE COMING BACK. Linda teaches people to come back to your breath, come back to loving on your body, come back to saying, “Hey, I can do this.” When you start to get angry or stressed or frustrated, practice coming back to your breath. When you start to get down on yourself, practice loving on your body. When you get overwhelmed, come back to “Hey, I can do this.” Notice what you are feeling in your body, and practice coming back.
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Health is a direct reflection of self-love and self-esteem.

–Tess Masters

On this episode of the Plan Simple Podcast, I’m really excited to talk to my friend Tess Masters about using food to feel really good. 

If you’ve been around for a while, you know that changing food changed my life. It’s really how I started on my journey years ago. I had things really dialed in … and then I hit 45 and I found myself moody and hormonal. I thought maybe this was just how I was supposed to be, but I didn’t like it. Tess convinced me there was a new level, a new food place for me where I could feel good again. And she was right. 

Tess’s program the Skinny 60 helped me right away. It wasn’t a lot of “new” stuff. It was nuances of what I knew. It was putting together different strategies in different ways. As Tess said, it’s “finding the perfect blend of those strategies and of those foods for you and your needs at this time.” Our bodies change, and understanding what you need, now, makes a difference! 

We talk about: 

• The importance of gathering information as a our needs, our hormones, our stress levels, and other things change
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• Better markers than weight, like digestion, energy throughout the day, sleep patterns, how your skin looks
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• The importance of a digestive tune up
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• Making truly sustainable changes focused on balance and feeling better and loving the food you are eating
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• Four principles: priming your digestion, nourishing yourself with balanced nutrition, pacing what you eat throughout the day and your exercise, and restoring
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• Cooking as a gift to yourself and your family
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BIO

Tess Masters is an actor, lifestyle personality, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend. She is also the creator of The Decadent Detox™ cleanses and Skinny60™ weight loss program. You can find hundreds of easy recipes at theblendergirl.com.

Tess and her delicious healthy food have been featured in the L.A Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Real Simple, Prevention, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Glamour, Clean Eating, Yoga Journal, Vegetarian Times, Yahoo Living, the Today show, Fox, Home & Family, WGN, and many others.

Away from the blender, Tess enjoys a diverse performance career. She has toured internationally with acclaimed theater productions, worked in film and TV, and lent her voice to commercial campaigns, audiobooks, and popular video game characters. She lives in Los Angeles.

LINKS

• Tess’s program: Skinny60™  (If you sign up through this link, you also get to plan with Mia)
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• Theblendergirl.com
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Books

• The Blender Girl
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• The Blender Girl Smoothies
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• The Perfect Blend
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• The Decadent Detox™ 
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Other PlanSimple Podcasts with Tess

• The Skinny with Tess Masters
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• Blend It with Tess Masters
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Doable Changes from this episode:

• GET SUPPORT. While a lot of healthy changes may be common sense or things you know, getting support to put the right pieces together for you now, can save you a lot of time. Find an accountability friend and see if the two of you can support eachother to drink more water or make smoothies or ditch something that’s not serving you. You can check out Tess’s Skinny60 with the link above.
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• ADD VEGETABLES. We all know we should eat more vegetables. Start where you are and pick one thing. Add a salad to lunch. Try green smoothies. If you are getting more veggies already, revision one meal to center around vegetables with other quality foods supplementing. Search my site or Tess’s for recipes and ideas for delicious and easy ways to make vegetables more central.  
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• NOTICE HOW YOU FEEL. Pay attention to how you feel after eating different foods. Write down what you ate and how you felt—gassy, bloated, foggy, energetic… Look for patterns to help you think about what foods you may want to cut back on or eliminate and what you might want more of.
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