Relatively Normal

One of the greatest things I learn from the guests on this show is all the ways we can help ourselves and help others.  On this episode, I chat with Yoga Therapist, Annisa Hudak, on the ways she uses Yoga Therapy to guide others in the use of effective, science based methods and other holistic techniques for the management/healing of symptoms relating to PTSD and trauma for people who want to control their PTSD - not allow it to control them.

Anissa's life has been intertwined with PTSD/Trauma and the military. Not only is she the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran, she was also married to an active duty member (and Iraq/Afghanistan Veteran) for over 20 years. For 3 years, she volunteered at the Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Riley, Kansas providing yoga therapy, meditation, and other holistic treatments to the soldiers, family members, and staff. After seeing others struggle, and having her own personal struggles with trauma/PTSD, she was inspired to create the Trauma Healing Yoga Therapy Program.
 

Recently, she has focused her efforts to working with women who have been sexually traumatized to help them heal their PTSD (and other trauma related issues) with yoga therapy. As a 2x rape survivor, she intimately understand the needs these women face, and help them navigate their healing journeys.

Please support what she does by visiting her website https://www.traumahealingyoga.com/

This show is brought to you by 6am Run & 6amrun.com: "6AM Run believes in improving everyone's physical ability to not only have motion, but STAY IN MOTION. All this while creating an amazing supportive, surrounding community.” Use the link http://6amrun.refr.cc/relativelynormal for 20% off of your order!

This show is owned and produced under Relatively Normal LLC, control #22174610. Guest are found through podmatch.com and recorded through riverside.fm.

What does it mean to be a Man? Are we allowed to show weakness? Fear? Vulnerability? Can we utter the words, "I just don't have it today?" A lot of us think we can't say or do these things because that goes against everything we have been taught.  

That is why I wanted to speak to Keith.

Keith Gilmore writes primarily on culture, ethics, psychology, spirituality, philosophy, and psychedelics. His interest lies in understanding and addressing the tendency of our age towards cynicism, nihilism, finger-pointing, and disconnection, and discovering and exploring methods for interconnection, healing, and reinvigorating culture with spirit.  He is the co-founder of Texture Life Coaching, one of the top ranked psychedelic integration coaching programs in the country. 

Keith also co-created The Integrated Man, a community-oriented program for helping men get into alignment and reconnecting them with their purpose. He facilitates the men's support group for the Portland Psychedelic Society, the largest psychedelic community in North America.

Please support what he does by visiting his website @ https://keithgilmore.com/

This show is brought to you by 6am Run & 6amrun.com: "6AM Run believes in improving everyone's physical ability to not only have motion, but STAY IN MOTION. All this while creating an amazing supportive, surrounding community.” Use the link http://6amrun.refr.cc/relativelynormal for 20% off of your order!

This show is owned and produced under Relatively Normal LLC, control #22174610. Guest are found through podmatch.com and recorded through riverside.fm.

In 1974, Dr. Herbert J. Freudenberger, a German-born American psychoanalyst, coined the term Burnout to describe symptoms of exhaustion and mental malaise. He delved into the underlying roots of burnout and outlined proven methods to alleviate the condition. Unfortunately, in 2022, some people still don't believe it exists.  Some people will just complain that people aren't working hard enough or that they don't really understand the sacrifice it takes to be a valued employee.  That is where my guest this week, Dr. Hollie Sturgeon, comes in. 

Dr. Sturgeon is an Orlando-based clinical pharmacist and author with over a decade of helping patients & colleagues overcome symptoms of burnout.  She uses a combination of self-discovery and the science of play to guide people from burnout to baseline & beyond - one quest at a time. She is an experienced and compassionate guide for those on a recovery journey, having experienced and overcome burnout herself.

Please support what she does by visiting her website @ https://www.burnoutdrhollie.com/

This show is brought to you by 6am Run & 6amrun.com: "6AM Run believes in improving everyone's physical ability to not only have motion, but STAY IN MOTION. All this while creating an amazing supportive, surrounding community.” Use the link http://6amrun.refr.cc/relativelynormal for 20% off of your order!

This show is owned and produced under Relatively Normal LLC, control #22174610. Guest are found through podmatch.com and recorded through riverside.fm.

Two simple words Everyone Struggles.  Easy to understand; hard to quantify.  When we start to understand that everyone on this planet has their bad days - you know, those days when the dryer eats one of our favorite socks, those days when we leave the house 5 minutes early but somehow arrive 15 minutes late, those days when your dog ACTUALLY eats your homework - you know, just one of THOSE days.  When we understand that regardless of your lease in life, you will struggle, it is then that people, especially leaders, can flex those empathy muscles and treat people with the respect and care they deserve.

And that is where my guest this week comes in. 

Jason Hopcus is a motivator and catalyst for cultural change within organizations. He believes that connection to one’s self, one’s transparency and one’s passion to connect, allows individuals to live a wholly authentic, full life. He creates systems of people working to deepen their relationships to their work, their play, and ultimately our world. He presently serves as non-profit President/CEO of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) of Arapahoe/Douglas Counties and is Founder of the Connection Project, a for-profit company.

Jason’s mission is to advance human connection by embracing the conversation of fighters; the folks whose journeys from black to light give hope to those that deserve a 2nd or even a 3rd chance to be the ambassadors of conversation. The present narrative about mental health is often perpetuated through sad, scary, or traumatic events, which typically overlooks individuals who are simply struggling with functional life issues. The Connection Project takes a fresh approach by focusing on those who have turned their personal struggle around to champion for a community-driven cause. Through the raw focus on the individual, Jason nourishes honest conversation to birth a system of ‘next level’ social responsibility.

Please support what he does by visiting his website @ https://realpeoplereallife.org/

This show is brought to you by 6am Run & 6amrun.com: "6AM Run believes in improving everyone's physical ability to not only have motion, but STAY IN MOTION. All this while creating an amazing supportive, surrounding community.” Use the link http://6amrun.refr.cc/relativelynormal for 20% off of your order!

This show is owned and produced under Relatively Normal LLC, control #22174610. Guest are found through podmatch.com and recorded through riverside.fm.

How do you describe yourself to others? Do you lead with your job title? Your generational title? Your race, gender or ethnicity? The reason I ask is because how we describe ourselves says a lot about what is important to us.  I would like to introduce you to Dai Manuel.  This is how he describes himself:

Dai Manuel is a super dad, dating his wife, with a lead by example way of living and a contagious personality, who is on a mission to positively impact one million role models around the globe to lead a FUN-ctionally fit life through education, encouragement, and community.  He is an award-winning digital thought leader and author, Distinguished Toastmaster & keynote speaker, former partner and Chief Operating Officer of a multi-million dollar retail company, and a sought after lifestyle mentor and executive performance coach.

He knows the struggle of the juggle and keeping his health and happiness a priority. He models his work based on 5 F’s: Fitness, Family, Faith, and Finances with an overarching roof of FUN, built on a rock-solid foundation of Health. Nuggets of wisdom and inspiration to take action to be your best self are guaranteed when you connect with Dai!

Let me say this, Dai is a ball of energy.  He decided a long time ago that he was going to live life to the fullest, be the best dad and husband he could be and do everything in his power to leave this world a better place than it was when he got here.  He wants to create open spaces for men to be vulnerable - just as I do with this show. 

Please listen to his TEDx Talk "Why Vulnerability is a Human Thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUZc_fNNCV0&t=4s

And visit his youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/wholelifefitnessmanifesto

This show is brought to you by 6am Run & 6amrun.com: "6AM Run believes in improving everyone's physical ability to not only have motion, but STAY IN MOTION. All this while creating an amazing supportive, surrounding community.” Use the link http://6amrun.refr.cc/relativelynormal for 20% off of your order!

This show is owned and produced under Relatively Normal LLC, control #22174610. Guest are found through podmatch.com and recorded through riverside.fm.

What do you really know about Schizophrenia? Have you used incorrectly in a sentence or phrase in your life?  Do you just throw it out there to describe the mental state of your favorite movie or TV villian?  Have you ever known anyone with the disease?  Well, that is why I invited Matthew Dickson to be a guest on the show. 

Matthew led an average childhood, and during his university years, unbeknownst to him, he was developing schizophrenia. Now that he has lived with the disease for over 20 years, he is helping people with mental illness in developing countries so they can get access to basic mental health care. His organization, Mind Aid, steers people towards 7 nonprofits using these models of basic mental health care, which are low-cost, proven effective, and scalable. Some of these groups are promoted by Zak Williams (son of Robin Williams), Bill Clinton, Forest Whitaker (of "Star Wars"), Ashley Judd, and Tim Shriver (founder of the Special Olympics). Highlights of Matthew's inspirational story include bicycling across Canada and successfully recovering from schizophrenia.

Please follow and support what Matthew is doing by visiting https://www.mindaid.ca/ 

This show is brought to you by 6am Run & 6amrun.com: "6AM Run believes in improving everyone's physical ability to not only have motion, but STAY IN MOTION. All this while creating an amazing supportive, surrounding community.” Use the link http://6amrun.refr.cc/relativelynormal for 20% off of your order! 

This show is owned and produced under Relatively Normal LLC, control #22174610. Guest are found through podmatch.com and recorded through riverside.fm.

One of the biggest issues facing our children is bullying.  A recent study found that 1 in 5 kids are the victims of bullying.  That is why my guest, Dr. Nghi Dang, decided to write and illustrate the book series, The Adventures of Max and Friends, to assist kids and parents with talking about this important topic. The series follows Max as he navigates through school, friendships, bullying and trying to speak to his parents about it. 

Dr. Dang was born in Vietnam but grew up in Southern California. His family moved to the states when he was 7 years old. As an immigrant, he shared the same struggles as many other immigrants with adjusting to a new norm and dealing with bullying, discrimination, and constantly having to self-validate while fighting off depression.  Having been in practice for over 10 years as a Family Physician, he realized that his struggles are shared by many of his patients.

You can support him and read his message by purchasing his book and visiting https://www.theadventuresofmaxandfriends.org/

This show is brought to you by 6am Run & 6amrun.com: "6AM Run believes in improving everyone's physical ability to not only have motion, but STAY IN MOTION. All this while creating an amazing supportive, surrounding community.” Use the link http://6amrun.refr.cc/relativelynormal for 20% off of your order!

This show is owned and produced under Relatively Normal LLC, control #22174610. Guest are found through podmatch.com and recorded through riverside.fm.

For many people who have mental health difficulties and struggle to work, Social Security disability benefits can be an enormous help. However, getting those benefits can often present a big hurdle to overcome. That is where my guest, Spencer Bishins, comes in. Bishins recently published a book about the Social Security Disability Process called “Social Security Disability Revealed: Why it’s so hard to access benefits and what you can do about it”. 

After working for the Social Security Administration for 10 years, writing and reviewing thousands of disability decisions, he wanted to make the process easier for claimants and their families.  The SSA disability process is intentionally confusing and the deck is stacked against claimants at every step of the process, especially those claimants with mental health struggles. This is why he wrote a plain language book with the hope that everyone can understand. His book can be found at www.bishinspublishing.com and hopefully, reading this book will demystify the complicated system for applicants, advocates, and policy makers, so they can understand how to improve the delivery of these vital public benefits.

This show is brought to you by 6am Run & 6amrun.com: "6AM Run believes in improving everyone's physical ability to not only have motion, but STAY IN MOTION. All this while creating an amazing supportive, surrounding community.” Use the link http://6amrun.refr.cc/relativelynormal for 20% off of your order! 

This show is owned and produced under Relatively Normal LLC, control #22174610. Guest are found through podmatch.com and recorded through riverside.fm.