A sort-of part 2 to last week's episode, as I delve a little deeper into "the pause," which I believe is the key to getting ourselves out of the seemingly endless inner- automation that ends with us breaking promises to ourselves.

I really hope to drive home the point that what I want for us is the ability to make a choice before engaging in whatever habit/behavior we keep repeating despite endless promises to change. 

Take a few deep breaths, and give a listen!

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

Remember when Chandler proposed to Monica (the first time)... because he was sorry? Thank goodness she said no, right?

In this episode, I'm talking about rock bottom promises, a.k.a. those changes you swear you'll make... because you're sorry. And we do this all the time! Even when it's a great promise with positive potential, the motivation of "sorry" or any type of short-lived pain is unlikely to make it stick.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why motivation matters 
• The cycle of regret → promise → repeat (especially in addiction and relationships)
• How subconscious triggers quietly run the show
• How subconscious work like hypnosis can help interrupt automatic responses at the actual cause

This episode is about moving from reactive regret to conscious choice, and learning how to change in a way that actually lasts. I hope you enjoy!

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

Today I come to you as my messy, sick, overwhelmed, very human, and ever-hopeful real-life self!

And oh hey- I have a new Instagram page! It is barely birthed but I hope you follow along. Just look for the handle @starfishhypnosis (or click the link). I plan to share more in depth hypnosis & how-to-feel-better content in this new space, and I can't wait to connect with you there.

(I'll still post on @starfishyoga with more general life things and, well, mostly my dog.)

Back to the pod! In this episode, we explore:

• Doing your best is enough!
• Why focusing on what’s right in front of us can be grounding when the world feels heavy (and heavy it is)
• The difference between ignoring hard things vs. tending to yourself inside them
• How joy and struggle can exist at the same time, and must.

Things I hope you remember:

• You don’t have to be “fine” and if the best you can do is work on feeling better in this moment, that's perfect
• Feeling overwhelmed is a valid response to living in this world
• Nothing’s forever. Even this.
• We can do hard things, we can feel joy- and we must.

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

We're digging into emotions- why they are good, when they are hard and how they are forever inconvenient. 

• The wild and wide distance between a real life problem and the body’s reaction to it
• Why an out-of-proportion panic response is not personal failure, it's actually incredibly wise (albeit terribly inconvenient)
• A Kumail Nanjiani joke that perfectly frames this emotional mismatch (his Netflix special is fabulous btw- not affiliated btw)
• Lessons from therapy in the realm of feeling the real emotion as opposed to intellectualizing it (rude)
• The lifelong, LOUD messages we absorb, all demanding we tone down and tidy up our feelings
• How numbing keeps us from the full spectrum of being alive, and how critical it is to feel it all, especially now.

Here's to feeling it all. I'll be on my bedroom floor, crying to my "big feelings" playlist. 

Love ya.

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

Holy crap we're 21 episodes in! 

Today I'm digging back in to the topic of identity, how cool and also frustrating that our brains make rules to keep us safe... and more things like this:

• identity (and how much of mine was wrapped up in a job title)
• what happens emotionally when you step away from something that once defined you
• the subconscious “rules” that decide whether we feel worthy or safe
• why re-programming those rules matters, and is totally possible
• what it means to choose authenticity, presence, and self-given permission over external validation

The world is better because you’re in it my friend.

Let's talk about change, self-acceptance, and remembering that who you are is So. Much. Bigger. than what you do.

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

Are you sweet, soft, and flexible? Or strong, stable, and rigid? 

Spoiler... we're all both. We need both. Physically, emotionally, mentally, we need the sukha and the sthira. 

That's the focus of my convo today- hope you enjoy!

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

It’s the obligatory New Year episode of Starfish Diaries! Dropping this one early in case you want to hang out with me in your ears before the ball drops. Or after. Or anytime!

But we don't do the "new year, new you" nonsense up in here. We lean in to reflection, grace, and permission to be human. ...All of which are counterintuitive to my natural brain chemistry, which is why a discussion is warranted.

In this episode, we talk about these nuggets and more:

• What old journals/checklists/photos (including screenshots) can teach us about how far we’ve come
• Why we’re so hard on past versions of ourselves (and how I am working to soften that, cringe-worthy moments and all)
• How “shoulds” are weighing us down.... and a practice I found that is grounded in I can and I AM instead of I should

A few things I hope you take from this convo:

• We’re just so eternally, embarrassingly, and yet perfectly human. 
• We all do the best we can with what we have. You, me, everybody.
• Everything is made up. All of it. So might as well be you, do you, love you.

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

In this episode of Starfish Diaries, I’m talking about uniqueness; how deeply individual our bodies, minds, needs, and paths to feeling better actually are… and why honoring that matters so much.

In this episode, we'll explore:

• Why we all experience anxiety, addiction, and healing incredibly differently
• What happens when our true need are overridden by societal expectations
• How addiction (of any kind) can quietly shrink where joy is allowed to live
• Why “feeling better” doesn’t have a universal formula
• The role of yoga and hypnosis in reconnecting with your body and inner wisdom 
• What it looks like to choose your path instead of forcing yourself into someone else’s
• Why self-acceptance often requires unlearning what we’ve been taught

Reminders I want you to hear clearly:

• Your body is for you
• You are incredibly unique
• You get to decide
• You deserve to feel better

This episode is an invitation to stop comparing, stop overriding yourself, and start honoring the truth that your body and your life belong to you.

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

In this episode of Starfish Diaries, I’m getting honest about anxiety, ADHD, and the particular heaviness that tends to show up in a big way on Sundays and Mondays. Even in seasons of my life when I haven’t worked a traditional Monday through Friday schedule, those days have always carried extra weight for me, and I wanted to talk about why. From my kitchen. In my bathrobe. At 1pm on a Monday!

I share what it’s been like learning to trust myself more, soften self-judgment, and approach these not-as-expected days with compassion instead of pressure. 

I talk through the tools I actually use when anxiety tightens like a vise, why showing up imperfectly still matters, and how powerful it’s been for me to remember that I have choice in how I respond to what I’m feeling.

If you hear yourself saying/thinking, “I didn’t do enough,” with some frequency, or start many-a-week already overwhelmed, I hope this episode feels like a reminder that we are doing the best we can and it IS enough.

In this episode, I chat about:

• Why Mondays can feel emotionally charged for me (regardless of whether or not I have a traditional schedule)
• What it’s looked like to trust myself to get things done (eventually) without shame or panic
• How self-compassion has become one of my most important mental health tools
• Letting go of perfection and honoring effort, flow, and the unique way my brain works

As always, this episode is offered with all my love and some self-reassurance that I hope helps you as well!

And if you'd like to try out the tools I mention on the show, let's do a holiday hypnosis sesh! Deep discount until end of year.

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]

Holiday Hypnosis sessions are deeply discounted until December 31st! Grab one here while they last.

In today’s episode, I’m talking honestly about my experience with anxiety and panic- how it shows up in my body, and how it can make even the smallest moments feel impossible. But not only do I share what anxiety feels like for me, and why it sometimes spirals so quickly, I'm sharing the tools I use to interrupt the cycle before it carries me away.

I'll chat about

• the difference between knowing what helps and actually being able to access it when we’re overwhelmed
• the role self-hypnosis has played in rewiring my brain to respond differently, and what that process entails
• the power of taking even the smallest action (like a walk or a deep breath) as a way to break out of a spiral
• how hypnosis 

If anxiety is something you live with, or something you’re trying to understand and navigate with more self-compassion, I hope you take a listen.

Learn more at LizMcKean.com.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @liz.mckean, or send me an email at [email protected].  I'd love to hear from you!

All my love and gratitude for this podcast's beautiful cover design, created by the very best & most magical Mo Houston of JoyScout Studio 

And podcast production/editing masterfully done by Sean Gritters. You can reach Sean by emailing [email protected]