If you ever find yourself daydreaming about walking away from it all and moving to the woods, or maybe you spend evenings doom scrolling on real estate sites, looking for land and farm houses — this is the episode for you!

My dear friend and actual woodland fairy, Hannah Regier, actually did it when she left her job as a user researcher traveling the world, living in big cities, and moved her life into an 1800's schoolhouse, deep in rural Vermont.

Hannah tells her story behind why she changed her path, what her new life looks like, the things that are more wonderful, the things that are harder, and what she’d say to anyone thinking about finding their way to the woods.

Sit back, grab your tea, and get excited people, this is the person you’ve been dying to meet!

About Hannah

• Bull Creek Common Lands

• Sky Like Snow - Fiber Art from the Land

• Follow Sky Like Snow on Instagram >

Hannah’s recommendations

• Field guides for wherever you live

• Local histories (including of BIPOC people in their own voices) for wherever you live

• Audubon Regional Field Guides

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• About Doughnut Economics | DEAL

• Fibershed

• Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit

• Emergence Magazine

• FOR THE WILD Podcast

Episode recap on Medium - Photos and videos of Hanna's schoolhouse, studio, and fiber arts process

If you’re in your 40’s, maybe even your 50’s…I’ll bet you Sunday brunch at Taco Deli that for at large portion of your life, maybe even to this day, you only feel like you’ve done a good workout if you’re puking and ready to collapse at the end of it.I approached every workout with that mindset for 20+ years and yes, exercising my butt off at the gym in my 20’s and 30’s definitely kept me at a low weight and helped with stress and anxiety. But it wasn’t sustainable for me beyond 39. THE DAY I turned 40, I instantly gained 20 pounds.

• Worked out harder, weight stayed.

• Variables changed, my mindset did not.

• Self-confidence, -100, self-examination, +1,000,000,000,000.

And then, y’know, strokey fun times didn’t help, but there’s a happy ending to this! After loads of research and trying all the diet, fitness, and cycle-tracking apps — I can now share what finally got me back on track. After loads of research and trying all the diet, fitness, and cycle-tracking apps — I can now share what finally got me back on track.

Her name is Alayna Brenchley and people, let me tell you ,  she is NOT your average personal trainer! This woman has been the ballerina I dreamed of being as a girl, was knocked off course by her own health struggles, found a new path to a better-than-ever life, and has showed me that counting calories and hours on the treadmill were never going to give me sustainable results — it has to start with my mindset.

Functional neurology episode 3 flashbacks anyone???

You guessed it, it’s functional fitness time!!!

I am crazy thrilled to have Alayna here to tell you about her journey and her unique, holistic approach because folks, we all need a coach who teaches us how to take care of and love our bodies. It’s just MORE FUN.

Alayna’s links

• Alayna Marie Pilates and GYROTONIC® are movement methodologies designed to help you build balanced strength, proper breathing, and…www.alaynamarie.me

• Instagram @ inspirited_alayna

• Meet Alayna Brenchley of Alayna Marie Pilates, Voyage Austin 2021

Alayna’s recommendations

• ‎Sam Miller Science on Apple Podcasts A Podcast Designed to Bridge the Gap Between Macros, Metabolism, and Functional Medicine. Here we focus on translating…podcasts.apple.com

• ‎What The Funk on Apple Podcasts Welcome to What The Funk! I'm Elena, a certified nutrition coach, personal trainer, and hormone specialist. I'm a…podcasts.apple.com

• Lymphloveclub on Instagram — Austin based lymphatic massage therapist that creates online courses about lymph and just fabulous info overall

I am so grateful and excited to introduce you someone who has been such an important part of my healing process — the amazing human being and functional neurologist, Dr. Karla Mehlenbacher!

Karla walks us through how she treats the many, many people she sees suffering from anxiety, stress, fatigue, burnout, and other nervous system disorders including…

• her personal health journey that changed her career path from pediatrics to neurology

• what functional medicine is and how it differs and works in tandem with western medicine

• what kinds of symptoms and treatments she provides as a functional neurologist

I learned SO much about how to listen to my body, recognize what it needs, and have simple tools on hand to help myself because of Karla and her team at Alive + Well. Making the time to learn and use these practices has made a huge difference in keeping my energy balanced, my brain functioning, and my body feeling strong and healthy. Hope you enjoy!

About Karla and her practice

• Alive + Well

• Exploring Life & Business with Karla Mehlenbacher, Voyage Austin, 2021

Karla’s functional medicine recommendations

• Karla’s Top 5 Stress Relief Techniques PDF >

• Huberman Lab Podcast

• Stephen Porgest and the Polyvagal Institute

• ‎Trauma Rewired Podcast

• Somatic Therapy

• Dr. Joe Dispenza

• Find a Chiropractic Neurologist

Undesign the Grind

• Follow on Medium for more articles, resources, and show notes

• Lee's creative stuff on the Instagrams >
• Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy >
• Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships >

The what and why behind Undesign the Grind, an introduction to my own experiences with stress-related health issues, and a bit about the journey I've been on to heal all the things that brought me to this point.Undesign the Grind Medium blog >