Wellness Podcast

This week, I talk about my tiniest possible rebellion, blue nail polish. I also talk about how I don't wash my hair everyday, I don't wear makeup, I am super pro crying (I forgot to mention in the episode but if you don't feel your feelings, whatever they are, they will come out anyway- you can't hide from them so you might as well ride the wave and let it pass), and all the other tiny rules that I decided were not serving me. My action item for this week: figure out what unspoken "rules" of life are just not serving you anymore, that no one even cares about, that you can drop to make your life better. 

In this episode, I talk about what actual happy people do (and don't do) - and give 3 of the main actions/attitudes of happy people, so we can all start to work on being a little bit happier! I also talk about the Happiness Lab by Dr. Laurie Santos (which I highly recommend) and that even happy people aren't happy all the time, and that's OK.

In this episode, I talk about how I am (attempting/failing at) getting through omicron. I am trying to reset, go back to exercise, sleep and healthy food, drink tea and stare out the window, and journal a lot. I am trying to also hide the holiday chocolate, check the news one time a day, and most importantly, forgive myself a lot when I fail to do all these things. I also talk about feeling overwhelmed, ruminating and worrying, what these mean (from Brene Brown's Atlas of the Heart) and how knowing what these things mean can help us. Also, welcome any new students listening! :)

In this episode, I talk about the definition of disappointment from Brene Brown's Atlas of the Heart, about unexpressed and unmet expectations, how to express our expectations, how to let go of more expectations to help ourselves have a better holiday season, and how to move expectations from others to ourselves (since we only control ourselves!). This will be my last episode until the 2nd week of January, stay safe out there everyone.

In this episode, I talk about starting with goals (get strong!) but then building those goals into habits (run on Tues/Thurs and walk M/W/F) and making those habits into a collection of daily habits (a system) which can help us to achieve our goals. I talk about my current exercise system and how it helps to think of myself as a "healthy person" when making decisions about exercise, food and even sleep.

In this episode, I talk about finals week/the holidays/stressful times of the year and how to make time to sleep, eat and exercise during this time. I talk about cooking a big batch of something over the weekend (or whenever you aren't working), quinoa and polenta (grits), two of my favorite things to eat that are also pretty cheap and good for you, and building sleep and exercise into your schedule (to help you study, be nice to your family, etc.).

I came up with this idea of "emotion balls" to help my son out with dealing with some mean kids at school, but it is also important for adults. This episode is about when people take their emotion...balls? and throw them at you, instead of just showing them to you (ha ha balls, OK let's get over it now). I also discuss some action items for dealing with when you do this to others as well as when others do this to you. Also, you don't have to be friends with mean kids (or adults) if you don't want to. Also, if you know me and have a better metaphor for this other than balls, feel free to let me know!

In this episode, I talk about how everyone's Thanksgivings will look different this year- some people will be with their families as usual but others still will not be, or anything in between. Remembering our toolkit of things that help us feel better as we go into the holidays will help. Also, I talk about making the holidays either in a very small way (go for a walk or a run or drop 1 food item from the menu) or a large way (I made no Thanksgiving dinner last year and my kids ate chicken nuggets!), less stressful for you.

In this follow-up episode to the Zoom Out episode, I talk about how the most important things in life are just the tiny moments that lead up to a good or bad day (or life?). It is (maybe?) a paradox that the big things change our lives but the small things do just as much, and we have to remember that THIS is our real life, right now. Action item: pay attention to the all the little things in your day that make up your day, because those tiny things are making up your life.

In this episode, I talk about how this time, right now, is just shit. It's just hard, for everyone, for so many reasons. But, you are not alone. Whatever is happening to you is unique but also is shared, right? I also talk about comparative suffering (Brene Brown) and how it is not helpful and in fact hurst us, and also Glennon Doyle's We Can Do Hard Things podcast which is providing me with a community and also teaching me that all the strange awful thoughts in my head are things other people think too.