Self-Regard

Get to know Nicole Cardoza on Instagram @nicoleacardoza. Learn more about Woke Beauty at www.wokebeauty.com.

Thank you Gucci Equilibrium for supporting this live recording at SXSW.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is part two of demystifying mental health medicine. Please note, I am not licensed. My knowledge is derived from social psychology education, personal experience, medical consulting and persistent research. While listening keep in mind. I am just a resource, a well read girl with a story. If you need help beyond this podcast, please contact a certified professional.

I recently heard a great quote about patience in a newsletter I receive every week from Farnam Street. It says:

“Patience is not passive, on the contrary, it is concentrated strength.” ― Bruce Lee

"People wait in different ways. Some are passive. Others are active. These two approaches are as different as the results they yield.

Passive patience is waiting for the world to give you the thing you want. A lot of people live their life with passive patience. Rather than go after the promotion at work they expect it to fall in their lap. Rather than go after the love of their life, they sit back and expect to be courted. Rather than chase their dreams, they wait for just the right opening that always seems around the corner but never comes. These people have the wrong kind of patience.

Active patience is different. Active patience demands action and intention, even while waiting for results. Active patience means not only applying for the promotion but taking your time to build the skills you need to put yourself in the best position to succeed. Active patience means starting the business, writing the book, going after the love of your life.

Active patience puts you in the best position to get what you want. There is almost always an action you can take to improve the odds.

Active in the moment but patient with the results.

Active patience."

In many ways, my relationship with my therapist is the medicine. She has taught me how to have a personal connection that has strong boundaries, feels safe, involves respect, care, understanding, maturity, and has the power to grow which maintaining its foundation. I am keenly aware of the cost of therapy and I do my best to prepare deeply for every session. However, oftentimes, as soon as I end up sitting in front of her, I am flooded with all of the things I might otherwise neglect in my usual conversations. Still in those instances she knows how to reel me in, distill, and focus so that I leave our time together feeling at ease and well equipped to move through pressing issues. Though I leave the room, I find that, in many ways, she remains with me. I am able to directly apply her lessons, reconfigure thought patterns in my mind, and find healthy ways to feel better.

Oftentimes, we concern ourselves with the minute details. Like, we have to get up at 5am on the dot or else. I think rituals become more fluid, more possible, when they are less strict. Maybe it’s just earlier. Maybe it’s a timeframe. Or maybe it’s altering another aspect in your life to incentivize an earlier day. For me, building little routines in my life that have positive effect is one of the most effective ways I create rituals that support me.

A while back I learned a really great lesson. I must, no matter what, carve out time in the morning just for myself. Once I get going, even if I solo-task, I really get going. Other things. Other people. They will undoubtedly come first. Which makes me less happy, less fulfilled, less of my best self. So, I have 2 hours carved out in my calendar, everyday, from 6-8am that are labeled: “I am focused on me.” It is a non-negotiable time frame that I’ve set aside for me to sleep, do nothing, walk, read, drink coffee, lift weights, talk to a friend, literally whatever. It doesn’t matter so long as it is not work related, so long as it is purely a form of therapy. Let this serve as your reminder: take care of you first.

Resources: Remedy Place, Psychology Today

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While listening, please keep in mind: I am just a resource, a well-read girl with a story. If you need help beyond this podcast, please contact a certified professional.

You can meet me on Instagram @rileyblanksreed, learn more about Woke Beauty at wokebeauty.com. And you can always drop some feedback in my inbox at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode serves as a recap of what this show is all about, an introduction to what’s head, and a vulnerable share of the mental health disorder I struggle with.

Notable Quotes:

"Ultimately, whatever is in your reality is your responsibility." -Nisandeh Neta

"You do not have to be a fire for every mountain blocking you. You could be a water and soft river your way to freedom too." -Nayyirah Weed

Truths to Remember:

Your perspective determines your reality.

Authenticity comes down to integrity, responsibility, and alignment.

Mental health is the health of the mind. Everyone has it.

Bipolar II is characterized by two poles: hypomania and depression. Hypomania is marked by elation and hyperactivity.

Though bravery is a bridge to the other side of fear, it does not mean the fear goes away. And it is not a badge of honor. You do not have to be brave. You do not have to be certain. You do not have to share. There is no obligation. This is only my choice, my authenticity. It does not have to be yours.

Follow @rileyblanksreed and @wokebeauty. Learn more at wokebeauty.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Allegra Moet Brantly is on a mission to lead 1 million women to $1 million in net worth. To do so, she founded Factora Wealth, an online course & community that educates and empowers women to build real wealth, together. A serial entrepreneur, real estate investor, dog lover, and Texan since 2017, Allegra’s deeply passionate about helping women learn how to invest in financial freedom.

Learn more at www.factorawealth.com and follow on Instagram @factorawealth.

Check out our new site (!!!) at www.wokebeauty.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Read Arielle's feature on the Beyond Skin Deep column: https://camillestyles.com/wellness/poet-arielle-estoria/

Read my post on why I changed my last name: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIeIW8YM1BI/

Follow @arielleestoria

Keep in touch @wokebeauty @rileyblanksreed and learn more at www.wokebeauty.com

Notable quotes from Arielle:

"My brain responds in poetic form. It's how I process everything I experience."

"Words not for the ears but for the soul."

"If anything, gratitude is more of an action than it is a word."

"For a lot of us, where you were first rooted stays a part of you, no matter how much you uproot as you change. That place will always be the place that 'grew you'."

"Purpose is: you see a void and everything in you has a desire to fill it with something. What is it? Usually it's not what we went to school for or what we were told we would become. But rather, this innate existence and ability to fill something that we have been made and designed to fulfill."

"To truly embody words creates a whole different appreciation for them. Being able to memorize and take in words like that is a way of paying gratitude to the word itself."

"Other people will have ideas of who you are. We need to have our view, and to own it entirely, especially as Black people."

"The whole process of failure starts with reframing. What is failure to begin with? The moment you said 'failure', I heard 'pivot'. It's: that didn't work. What else could work? Especially in the creative world, if we just sat in every failure, we would be buried by it. The reframing of words is really important. Ask yourself, what is this word? And why do we give it so much power?"

The book she loves: Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leah Thomas is an intersectional environmental activist and eco-communicator based in Southern California. She's passionate about advocating for and exploring the relationship between social justice and environmentalism. She graduated from Chapman University in 2017 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Policy with a cluster in Comparative World Religions. Leah is the founder of eco-lifestyle blog @greengirlleah and The Intersectional Environmentalist Platform, which is a resource + media hub that aims to advocate for environmental justice + inclusivity within environmental education + movements. Her articles on this topic have appeared in Vogue, Elle, The Good Trade and Youth to the People. Before pursuing environmentalism full time, Leah worked for the National Park Service and Patagonia headquarters. Her mission is to inspire others to explore new places, live more sustainably and practice radical self acceptance.

This conversation was recorded last Fall on a rainy day in Austin while the sun shone brightly in Ventura.

That was intersectional environmental activist and eco-communicator Leah Thomas. You can find Leah on Instagram @greengirlleah .

Follow @wokebeauty @rileyblanksreed

"For me, the pen and paper... that is my microphone. I want to show the younger generation that activism doesn't need to look a certain way. We can all contribute whatever our strengths might be. It takes all of us."

"I am just one small expression of Blackness. My methods are not the only way to practice activism. Just because I have a certain outlook doesn't mean other perspectives aren't valid."

"I think joy is an act of radical resistance to the world that we live in."

"I learned to appreciate failure because it taught me so much about myself—who I want to be and who I don't want to be. And I know the person I want to be isn't perfect."

"I would rather see a million imperfect sustainability enthusiasts than five militant people living perfectly and existing off of sunshine and water alone. That's just not healthy."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Keon Saghari is a roller skating dancer extraordinaire. She thrives off of connecting with people in her community through movement, joy and liberation. From roller skating in Venice Beach to making incredible dance films for her thriving Instagram audience…well that’s not all. Keon also manages to find time to work a 9 to 5 on the employee experience team for a tech company, developing and curating their wellness program and planning events. She recently proposed to her now fiancé (he said yes!) and continues to shine like the sun. At the end of our interview she reminisced on where she was in her career just 1 year ago…it was so beautiful to hear her expand on her evolution, I just had to throw it here at the beginning.

Follow @neonkeon @rileyblanksreed @wokebeauty

Learn more at www.wokebeauty.com

Read the feature at https://camillestyles.com/wellness/roller-skate-dancing-keon-saghari/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy New Year! A few notes...

“I once heard Pema Chodron explain that no emotion lasts longer than 90 seconds. You heard that right: no emotion we feel lasts longer than a minute and a half if we let it run its course without interference. Emotions, the result of chemical response to a thought, appear, intensify, de-intensify, and subside: and they do this in less time than it takes to microwave a frozen burrito. What prolongs them isn’t emotional wiring gone awry but the stories we lay on top of them that keep our brains dumping more of those chemicals into our system. A prolonged emotional experience is the result of the stories we keep alive in our heads.” -from Holly Whitaker’s book, Quit Like A Woman

“I don’t think we talk enough about the sadness and the grief that can come when we set boundaries with those we love.” -unknown

Book mentioned:The Writing Life, Annie Dillard

Follow @wokebeauty @rileyblanksreed

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.