If your brain feels like it has 47 tabs open, this episode is for you.

We’re talking about mental wellness, not productivity, not performance, just clear thinking. Hanna shares about the mental load of motherhood and her slow breakup with the scroll. Zach gets into why clarity is a gift to the people you love, not just something that makes you more efficient.

We talk about real habits that help: brain dumps, no-scroll mornings, Sabbath, silence, movement, phone-free time, and more. If you’re ready for a quieter mind and a more grounded life, this one’s for you.

Key Takeaways:

1. Mental ≠ Emotional: Mental wellness is about your thoughts, overwhelm, decision fatigue, open loops. Emotional wellness is about feelings. Both matter, but they need different tools.
2. Your Brain Needs White Space: You’re not designed for constant input. Silence, stillness, and solitude are great.
3. Use What Works: Brain dumping, phone-free time, Sabbath, journaling, and tech boundaries help you clear space and get your focus back.
4. Start Small: You don’t need to fix everything. Try one rhythm that brings a little more peace.

Action Steps:

• Brain Dump: Write everything on your mind at the end of the day. 
• No-Scroll Mornings: Avoid your phone for the first hour. 
• Media Fast: Try a dopamine detox, no digital input.
• Cancel Something: Choose peace this week. Protect your mental bandwidth.

Resources Mentioned:

• Monk Manual: for journaling, planning, and reflecting with clarity
• Focus Mode / Do Not Disturb: protect your brain from constant pings
• Brick Phone: a physical alternative to stop scrolling

• Sabbath Practice: one day of rest to reset your soul
• Gratitude Lists & End-of-Day Questions : simple but powerful reflection tools

Books We Recommend on Mental Wellness

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport: Use tech intentionally, not automatically.
How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price: A practical reset for your screen life and brain fog.
Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Right Now by Jaron Lanier: A punchy takedown of how social media shapes your behavior.
The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch: Make better tech decisions at home with wisdom, not guilt.
The Shallows by Nicholas Carr: Understand how the internet rewires your brain—and how to get your depth back.
Reconnected by Carlos Whittaker: Find real-life connection in a world of digital distraction.
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer: A call to slow down, unplug, and follow Jesus at the pace of peace.
Relaxed by Megan Fate Marshman: Let go of pressure and receive the peace God already offers.
Rhythms of Renewal by Rebekah Lyons: Create life-giving rhythms for rest, connection, and creativity.
Building a Non-Anxious Life by Dr. John Delony: Build practical rhythms for emotional and mental stability.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown: Eliminate what doesn’t matter so you can focus on what does.
Effortless by Greg McKeown: Make important things easier by removing friction and mental overload.
Things That Matter by Joshua Becker: Declutter your calendar, mind, and life to focus on what actually matters.
At Your Best by Carey Nieuwhof: Design your day around your energy—not exhaustion or expectations.

We’d love to hear what habits you’re trying, what’s helping, and where you’re still feeling stuck.

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Chapters: 

00:00 Welcome to the Way Family Podcast

00:16 Catching Up: Life Updates and New Adventures

02:04 Reflecting on the Past Six Months

04:59 The Kitten Story: A New Furry Friend

18:52 Mental Wellness: Recognizing and Coping

32:15 Password Management Solutions

33:26 Dealing with Open Loops

37:36 Importance of Margin and White Space

42:57 Morning Routines and Mental Wellness

48:40 Physical Activities and Hobbies

53:58 Digital Minimalism and Mental Clarity

55:46 Book Recommendations for Mental Wellness

01:01:40 Concluding Thoughts on Mental Wellness

Creating a peaceful, functional environment isn’t about becoming a hippy, minimalist, tree-hugging, eco-warrior freak (but hey, if that’s your thing, more power to you). It’s really about making your surroundings work for you, not against you. In today’s episode, we discuss environmental wellness and how simple changes in your surroundings can make a huge difference. Zach talks about his love of organization, Hanna shares tips on keeping the home functional with five kids, and we discuss ways to make your environment life-giving. 

Key Takeaways:

We would love to hear your thoughts! Please leave a review!

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Chapters: 

01:18 Weekly Updates and Family Stories
06:42 What is Environmental Wellness?
18:04 The Impact of Clutter on Our Minds
27:35 How to Create a Peaceful, Productive Space
45:10 Practical Tips for Setting Up Functional Family Spaces
55:07 Environmental Wellness Recommendations and Final Thoughts

Let’s be real, getting exercise, enough sleep, and eating healthy can feel impossible some days. Today we share some personal stories, practical tips, and useful recommendations to help physical health. Zach nerds out about sleep while Hanna touches on the challenges of sleep, then we ramble about different types of exercise, and the importance of a nutritious diet and the 80% rule. Plus, Forest drops in with a joke that’ll make your day.

Key Takeaways:

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 Recommendations:

Action Steps:

Chapters:

01:26 Weekly Updates and Family Stories

04:15 Let’s Talk About Physical Wellness

14:03 Exploring Nutrition and Healthy Eating

39:44 Way of Eating>Diet

41:05 Overcoming Gym Intimidation

50:27 The Importance of Sleep: Tips and Insights

01:01:47 Wellness Recommendations and Final Thoughts

Today, we’re talking about emotional wellness and how it works in our everyday lives. We talk about how emotions act like warning lights, signaling that something deeper might be going on. Zach shares his struggles with big emotions and practical tools that help, and Hanna talks about the challenges of managing emotions as a parent. From learning how to calm ourselves down to teaching our kids how to do the same, we cover it all.

Here’s what we cover:

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Recommendations:

Chapters:

10:00 Emotions as Warning Lights

20:30 Tools for Managing Emotions

35:00 Emotional Health in Parenting

45:00 Healthy Habits for Emotional Regulation

55:00 Closing Thoughts on Emotional Wellness

58:11 Practical Tips and Recommendations

Today we talk about the importance of hobbies and how they impact daily life. Zach has a Karen moment and rants about content creators. We talk about different hobbies and how they bring joy, foster creativity, and provide balance in a busy household. From sewing and leatherwork to baking, we cover how hobbies help us stay engaged and avoid the pitfalls of low-quality leisure.

Here’s what we cover:

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Recommendations:

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to the Way Family Podcast

00:12 Introduction to Hobbies and Their Importance

05:00 The Difference Between High and Low-Quality Leisure

15:30 Discovering Personal Hobbies and Interests

28:00 Engaging in Hands-On Activities

40:00 Managing Digital Distractions and Staying Present

50:00 The Influence of Social Media on Hobbies

It’s been 4 years since we were into the podcasting game, a lot has changed since then. We’ve changed and podcasting has changed, and we're sure you and your season of life and interests have changed.

We want your feedback, it’s important to us and we would love for you to reach out and share your thoughts on content, length, and topics. Help us settle the debate between structured outlines and spontaneous conversations or find a middle ground. 

We would love to hear your thoughts! Please leave a review! 

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Feel free to send us your questions, feedback, or even your favorite jokes to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Chapters: 

00:00 Welcome to the Way Family Podcast

00:53 Listener Feedback and Engagement

02:42 Podcast Evolution and Changes

10:00 Future Plans and Audience Interaction

Parenting is one of the hardest and most rewarding area of our lives, even if it doesn’t feel rewarding in the moment. In this episode, we discuss parental wellness and how it looks for us. We share our experiences and the strategies we’ve developed over the years to ensure we’re staying on track as parents. From one-on-one time with our kids to maintaining a structured daily routine, we explore the steps we’ve taken to not be a grumpy stinky parent and provide opportunities for our kids to learn and grow.

Here’s what we cover:

We would love to hear your thoughts! Please leave a review! 

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Feel free to send us your questions, feedback, or even your favorite jokes to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Recommendations: 

Chapters: 

00:00 Welcome to the Way Family Podcast

00:09 Discussing Social Wellness

00:41 Parental Wellness Introduction

01:44 Homeschooling and Family Adventures

03:15 Camping Trip Highlights

08:29 Parenting Strategies and Challenges

11:31 One-on-One Time with Kids

16:12 Teaching Responsibility and Independence

28:42 Emotional Attunement and Apologies

35:20 Providing Structure and Checkpoints

45:05 The Overflow Principle

45:59 Managing Bedtime Routines

49:33 Parenting Insights from 'Hunt, Gather, Parent'

50:59 Encouraging Independence and Responsibility

54:40 The Importance of Family Involvement

01:05:21 Long-Term Parenting Vision

01:11:10 Book and Podcast Recommendations

01:25:48 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

What is and social wellness and how important is it? This episode covers the challenge of making and maintaining deep, meaningful friendships as adults. We explore why social connections are essential for longevity and mental health and share practical tips for fostering social wellness.

This episode also touches on the concept of self-stewardship and how it benefits others and honors God by managing yourself and your relationships responsibly.

We would love to hear your thoughts! Please leave a review! 

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Feel free to send us your questions, feedback, or even your favorite jokes to ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview

00:47 The Car Analogy of Life

01:58 Breaking Down Relational Wellness

03:19 The Importance of Social Wellness

04:18 Challenges of Making Friends as Adults

08:30 Statistics on Social Connections

10:12 Self Stewardship and Social Wellness

14:19 Impact of Social Wellness on Other Life Areas

18:45 Tips for Building and Maintaining Friendships

35:21 Balancing Real Life and Digital Friendships

40:47 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Over the past 3 years we created a system to help us avoid falling in the pit and becoming troll humans. We use this evaluation to help grow and be more self-aware in our lives and family. In this episode, we share why we started this practice, some insights from doing it regularly, and why we do it quarterly instead of an annual review. Here’s what we cover:

We would love to hear your thoughts! Please leave a review!

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Feel free to send us your questions, feedback, or even your favorite jokes to ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠.

Recommendations:

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to the Way Family Podcast

00:09 Introduction to Our Rating System

00:28 Why We Do the Ratings

01:27 Weekly Recap

04:42 The Concept of Self-Evaluation

07:10 Breaking Down the Evaluation Areas

10:26 Rating Each Other: The Process

16:57 Implementing Changes and Habits

20:24 Physical and Mental Health Habits

21:44 Handling Criticism in Relationships

23:12 The Ostrich Effect and Self-Awareness

27:55 Developing and Implementing Habits

In today’s episode we talk about the birth of our fifth kiddo, how we felt when we found out, choosing a new midwife, and our second home birth experience. We also catch up on recent family news like a new dog, work challenges, and some fun stuff we've done together. Then we talk about the plans for the next podcast season, focusing on personal growth and parenting.

We would love to hear your thoughts! Please leave a review!

Follow on: ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠

Feel free to send us your questions, feedback, or even your favorite jokes to ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠.

Recommendations:

Chapters: 

00:00 Welcome to the Way Family Podcast

02:28 Weekly Catch-Up: Stress and New Additions

05:00 Parenting and Family Dynamics

10:17 Homeschool Market Adventures

12:43 Soccer Season Highlights

14:10 Unexpected Pregnancy and Initial Reactions

29:17 Reflecting on a Special Midwife

30:35 A Peaceful Homebirth Experience

31:46 The Birth of River

35:55 Introducing River to the Family

39:14 Book and Lifestyle Recommendations

56:12 Final Thoughts and Farewell