If you’ve ever looked around at your life and thought, “Why does everything feel so hard and why am I handling it better than I expected?” — this conversation is going to feel like a long exhale.

Today, I’m joined by my friend Kara Riska, host of The Special Needs Mom Podcast and a seasoned coach who helps mothers navigate the emotional load of raising children with disabilities. What started as a totally different recording plan (long story) turned into a deeply honest conversation about stress, shifting seasons, burnout, identity, and what it actually looks like to feel grounded when life is objectively… a lot.

In this episode, we walk through:

• The kind of stress that builds slowly — across medical uncertainty, school challenges, family transitions, and the invisible emotional load
• Why you can feel the most overwhelmed and the most grounded at the exact same time
• How chronic stress shows up physically (hello, hot flashes, migraines, fatigue, and adrenal burnout)
• Kara’s perspective on what coping actually looks like when your nervous system is constantly asked to stretch beyond its limits
• The difference between “fixing your life” and changing the way you relate to it
• The role of control — why some of us grip everything tightly, and how loosening that grip changes everything
• The turning point: giving yourself permission to slow down, let go, and build a life that doesn’t run on adrenaline and achievement
• How community, connection, and coaching provide the scaffolding most of us don’t realize we need

This episode is messy, real, heartfelt, and full of those “oh wow… me too” moments that make you feel less alone in motherhood, advocacy, and the unpredictable seasons of life.

If you’re navigating stress you can’t simply “opt out” of — but you want to feel more grounded, more whole, and more like yourself again — this conversation may  be a welcome companion.

Connect With Kara

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