Wellness Podcast

This week, I talk about what I did to help me get through what turned out to be a tough week: 1) Dance in the kitchen (or wherever) 2) Limit news (or at least read news that you trust) 3) Do something each week to take care of the world/your community 4) Take care of yourself in any way that you can (take a nap if you need it, a bath, watch funny TV, even sometimes stress eat chocolate and then forgive yourself afterward), 5) Keep a morning pages journal for your feelings and include gratefuls in there each day 6) Meditate if you possibly can 7) Get some strong woman/person fighting energy to get through (in other words, fall apart a little every day if you must but pull yourself up every time). We got this (somehow).

In this episode, I talk about the why and how of making small connections with people in your life every single day. I explain a study that was presented on the Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos, where commuters in Chicago were asked to either talk or not talk with other people on the train on the way to work. And surprisingly, the group who had (even somewhat awkward) conversations on the way to work reported being happier at the end of the day than the no talking group! I give some examples of ways to connect with others, from family to friends to whoever you live with to making random small talk with people (tip: compliment people!). Action item: try to connect with someone in your life each day even for 20 seconds (ideally, a random person you see out in the world) and see how much better you feel!

In this week's episode, I talk about the things I am doing right now that I consider to be my "next right thing." This is from Frozen 2 when Anna is in a literal cold, dark cave, but just picks herself up and starts putting one foot in front of the other to just keep moving and figure out what to do. This is how the world feels to me right now but this advice works in times of sadness (losing someone we love) or just high stress situations as well. Some of the things I am doing right now is 1) checking in on my people (friends, family, even the random guy that works at the breakfast place I frequent), 2) finding ways to help- donating money to causes I care about, giving my time, supporting my faculty and students with information, conversations, etc., 3) limiting my screen and news time, only reading news that I trust 4) leaning into taking care of myself through writing, exercise., etc, 5) "being a butterfly" (they have a very short memory span)- trying to really BE wherever I am and not worrying about the future (or ruminating on the past), and 6) feeling my feelings- crying, or dancing to Don't Stop Believing, or laughing while watching a hilarious TV show, all of it. I hope this helps all, and let's just keep doing the next right thing every single day. We got this (whatever it is).

In this week's episode, I talk about Part 2 of the book How to Break up with your Phone, by Catherine Price. I talk about first checking the data on how long you use your phone each day, to make you understand where you are at to begin, and also coming up with the answer to Guiding Questions including "What do you want to pay attention to?" Some tips include 1) sorting through your apps and putting them into folders so that you can't see each individual app, 2) charging your phone out of your bedroom and keeping your phone out of your bedroom, 3) getting rid of social media apps and just checking social media on your phone's browsers or computer, 4) getting rid of as many notifications as possible. I've only done a few of these but even this has hugely changed my life in the past few weeks. I've relapsed a lot (and brought my phone into the bathroom or "woken up" after checking Facebook for 45 minutes) but I'm getting there. Good luck to you all and I hope this helps!

In this episode, I briefly discuss the first half of the book I read over the break, called How to Break up with Your Phone, by Catherine Price. The first half of this book touches on why to break up with your phone. Some of the reasons include: they increase our anxiety, impulsivity, stress, depression, sleep problems, hurt our memory, focus, ability to think deeply and even our ability to form long term memories. Action item: just come back next week for the HOW part of how to break up with your phone.

In this final episode of 2024, I talk about a new definition of bravery/courage. The one we often think of is "being scared but doing the thing you are scared of anyway". I talk about an alternate definition by Glennon Doyle, that bravery is really "doing the thing that you know is the right thing, even if/when it is hard, even if/when you feel judged by others, even if/when you feel like you are letting others down." I actually think both are true sometimes and it depends on WHY we are or are not doing the thing we are scared of doing. If we are anxious but we need or want to do the thing, then bravery and the right thing IS doing the thing. But if we neither want nor need to do the thing, then bravery can be walking away/quitting the thing (if/when it is physically and psychologically safe for us to do so). Action item: when you are called to do scary things, think about if you need or want to do the thing. If so, do it. If not, maybe consider not doing it.

In this week's episode, I talk about the 4 main benefits of asking for help, from Brene Brown and Dr. Laurie Santos of the Happiness Lab. 1) True friendship involves reciprocal helping (not just one-sided help). 2) Evolutionarily, we were made to help each other, to live in tribes, and if we were alone and did not help others and accept help from others, we died. 3) When we help others, it makes us feel better which means that when we ask others for help, it also makes them feel better. Win/win! 4) asking for help helps avoid burnout and resentment, like the time when I refused to ask my husband to get me some bread when I had no time (last week) and instead just grumbled all week about having no bread. Resentment city. Action item: try to ask for help today or this week!

In this week's episode, I talk about what to do when you feel like you cannot do anything at all, which is really just an episode on processing difficult emotions in real time (in this case, right after the 2024 presidential election in the US). I talk about using creativity, completing your stress cycle (hugs, laughter, crying, exercise), being with our people and checking up on them/showing up for them, listening to my "smart women" as I like to call them (Dr. Brene Brown, Glennon Doyle, Dr. Laurie Santos and Anne Lamott) and giving ourselves a break when we just can't get anything done. Also, feeling our feelings instead of just burying them in work or alcohol or Tetris or chocolate or whatever. I also have a disclaimer that if you ever need more help, please stop listening to me and seek professional help since I am a linguist by trade, not a psychiatrist or therapist or social worker. Hang in there, everyone.

In this week's episode, I talk about the 4 ways that I have found have worked for me in terms of loving my job over 20+ years (though this works for all jobs, not just ones we've had for years). 1) Never stop learning, 2) change, grow and tailor your job to what you love, 3) have multiple parts/components to your job (and think of them as such) and 4) having freedom of thought. Action item: think of the 4 components to loving a job and determine if a job you currently have can benefit from a change in your actions or a change in your attitude. Mentioned in this episode: Adam Grant's book: Think Again: The Power of Knowing what you Don't Know.

In this episode, I talk about some of the things I did this week to take care of myself after the worst week ever. Oh I forgot to mention in the episode that tonight (Friday, the day I am recording) is Friday night Movie Night and we are watching Coco! I talk about the difference between moving through our emotions in a healing way rather than numbing them, and my action item is to think about some of the ways that you can help yourself to feel better without numbing your feelings. My favorite examples are bike riding (or anything outside), laughing so hard it hurts, dancing in my kitchen and a hot bath with Epsom salt. Also, I know I am not the only one who has ever had the worst week ever, and now you know that you are not either.