Runa’s Ruminations

Runa’s Ruminations

By Runa SannaSociety & Culture
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Runa’s Ruminations episodes

  • Trust & Surrender

    This chat got yoga-heavy but give it a listen whether you’re into yoga or not! I promise you won’t regret it.


    The underlying reason for stress in our lives lies in us trying to control everything. So, where does this need to control things come from?

    In some ways this will require inner child work. You’ll have to sort through stuff that happened in your childhood. Maybe you were neglected in some way in your early childhood - it can be something as small as your parents being late one day and you thinking you had been forgotten by them.

    We also control out of worry. And how is worry created? By thinking about the future or the past. Worry doesn’t live in the present. Worry is placed on something in the future or past (usually it’s forward thinking). We create worst-case scenarios, unnecessary worries flood in, and so on.

    So, how do we stop that?
    Take a breath.
    Ground yourself.
    Move it from the head into the body.
    Drop shoulders.
    Loosen your jaw.
    Then ask yourself some rational questions.

    @rosalie.hochstetter shared that she likes to go for a run, or takes a warm shower, cuddles her adorable dog, and so on.
    I like to do vinyasa yoga, and give my body what it needs. Usually, a walk in nature will do the trick.

    15 min
  • The Power of Receiving: Tapping into Your Feminine Energy
    This one’s all about receiving and letting go of taking responsibility for everything. Learning to receive is something a lot of people, and especially women, struggle with. What we’re often unaware of is: when you don’t accept another person’s help, compliments, or other acts of kindness - you’re taking away their joy. So, tap into your feminine energy and learn to receive through this episode.
    We’ll also be talking about authenticity. I have often regulated how I act around certain people, not wanting to be insensitive to someone’s insecurities. Ultimately, this ain’t your job. Your only job is to be kind and show up as yourself authentically. Do not take responsibility for other people’s insecurities. Don’t play small to not overshadow another person. When you show up authentically, you provide the space for others to also be authentically themselves. And THAT is a beautiful thing.
    9 min
  • How to Manage Stress and Anxiety

    We can all relate to feeling stressed or anxious about situations in life. So, how do we get rid of this drain on our energy resources. How do we stop stressing and worrying?

    Rosalie runs her own business so I thought she’d be the perfect person to ask. There's no one who takes care of what she does, it's a one-woman show and with that come responsibilities. This can be freeing in a lot of ways, but daunting in others. Taxes and legal stuff, anyone?
    Even if you aren't running a business, you probably have experienced the overthinking when you haven't gotten back to someone and worried that they're now mad at you. Or, hey, we just had exams, and many of you were probably stressing out about those. The only constant in life is change, as they say. And that can feel like too much to handle at times.
    Both @rosalie.hochstetter and I are big fans of conscious breathing or pranayama, so we'll be talking about that- amongst other things- in this episode.
    Listen to this episode to learn all sorts of tricks to calm yourself.

    10 min
  • Therapy: Breaking The Stigma
    I just recorded a new podcast episode with my friend Maddie. She studied Psychology at the University of Aberdeen and has now moved onto her MA, which she will be graduating from in September. 
    In this episode, we touched on the stigmata surrounding therapy and will be sharing some useful resources and ways to get help if you are struggling mentally. This one's especially catered to students who might not have the resources to afford a therapist. You’ll learn here, wehere you can ask for help, how to find the right therapist, and how to get help when you don’t have any money to spare. 
    Maddie also wanted me to add some links that might be helpful for some of you:
    https://www.nightline.ac.uk
    https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support
    https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk
    https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health
    15 min
  • The Key to Confidence
    The second episode with Rosalie is out. This one's about all things confidence and self love.
    You can expect anything from how to get through a "bad" day to how to stop keeping yourself from going after what you deserve. We'll also be discussing self-acceptance in relation to the menstrual cycle (aka. how to accept that sometimes there's less energy and allow yourself to rest without feeling lazy or guilty).
    Rosalie will be touching on societal conditioning and "playing small" due to lacking confidence.
    In short, if you've ever struggled with confidence and self-love, this one's for you.
    14 min
  • Finding Your Purpose

    Episode 50 of Runa's Ruminations. A special one, and here's the audio version for those who prefer that to the igtv.

    My life coach and friend Rosalie and I sat down as part of my Mental Health Awareness week content.
    You'll get to know Rosalie in this first of four episodes, and learn what you can expect from your life coach (and what not).
    We primarily discussed how being misaligned with your purpose, or dharma, can lead to friction within you. I feel a lot of people struggle mentally because they aren’t happy with their life, due to not really knowing where their strengths lie and what makes them happy. I asked Rosalie how she figure out what she really wanted from life, and also shared a time when I noticed things weren't working out whatsoever.
    I hope this episode will spark some form of motivation and also a sense of not being alone in this. In other words, I hope this will resonate with a lot of you.

    12 min
  • Faith and Mental Health

    This episode is part of my content for mental health awareness week. I find it really important to discuss mental health related topics more, in order to normalise them. Most of us will have struggled mentally at some point or another, and all I want is for people to feel less abnormal & less alone. For this episode, I invited Ruth. She'll be answering faith-based questions in relation to mental health. Such as: 

    If and how religious beliefs can help when coping with stressful life circumstances, and 

    If religious faith can give humans a sense of comfort, meaning, a sense of control, or hope.

    But we'll also be looking at topics like if there is a stigma against therapy in the church. 


    12 min
  • Monday Meditation: The Wise Man

    Welcome to Monday Meditation. This is a new format I’m introducing to bring calm into your week. Mondays can be filled with stress and anxiety. This is an opportunity to unwind with me and listen to a short meditative story. So grab some tea, a pillow, a blanket, whatever makes you comfortable, and take a few minutes to decompress. 

    2 min
  • On Polyamory

    I loved interviewing Nia on the concept of polyamory. It pushed me as the interviewer, since it was completely out of my comfort zone. It's moments like these that teach me how to expand my horizon, and hopefully it will do the same for some of you. For the first time, I really struggled to word questions properly. In the end, I realised: to create a good atmosphere and make it a powerful episode, I have to allow myself to be authentic. I was so worried to sound unaccepting or overly traditional- when in reality, I just didn't understand a lot of things. So I owned up to it. I said: I don't understand this, please explain. And she did. At the end of the day, all we can do is try to remain open-minded, curious individuals and educate ourselves. 

    36 min
  • How To Start A Business

    In this episode, Tristan taught me, and will teach all you guys, how to go about starting a business. There truly are some nuggets of wisdom in this episode, so I encourage anyone who's keen to dip their toes into startup culture to listen. Most of us have ideas and dreams, but what we lack are the resources - whether they'd be mentors or financial support - to realise them.  This episode will guide you toward the resources around you, so you can successfully realise your ambitions!

    25 min

About Runa’s Ruminations

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to Runa’s Ruminations, a podcast discussing all the questions 20-somethings ask themselves. Over here, nothing is taboo. The aim of this podcast is to engage with topics that concern, confuse, or excite us. I want to hear people’s stories, thoughts, and provide educational material.