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What is your relationship with anger? Were you told from an early age that it wasn’t okay to get angry? Or have you made a habit of leading with anger, while the more subtle emotions lurk below the surface? Today’s guest is committed to helping you to manage your anger in an appropriate way. As women, our anger often shows up in our womb space. Today’s guest is the creator of Womb Space, and she is passionate about helping you find your own way to healing. She is a certified womb health and trauma-informed practitioner, who uses her own experience and her training to guide others through a process of healing the mind, the body, and the spirit, layer by layer. Join us to hear her story, and her introduction to the interconnected nature of healing, starting with Womb Reiki. Thanks for tuning in to hear all this and more today! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to today’s topic: healing your relationship with anger through the womb.
• Shanti’s three names and how each of them came to her.
• What her personal relationship with anger looks like: living between the extremes. 
• How suppressing her anger caused others to take advantage of her.
• Understanding anger as a pathway to healing.
• Where her anger came from as a child: women making excuses for men’s behavior.
• How her body internalized anger as an adult within romantic relationships.
• What happened when she accepted that she was dealing with anger.
• The role of women’s circles in helping her recognize the emotional component.
• How the physical repercussions of her anger emerged once she had uncovered the spiritual.
• The interconnected nature of healing the body and the emotions.
• Womb Reiki, getting certified as a reiki practitioner, and the beginning of the journey.
• What her journey of learning about herbalism looked like with Amanda from People’s Medicine School.
• Dr. Carina Lopez, naturopathic and homeopathic doctor, and her role as a mentor.
• How Shanti sees herself: as a guide to help you navigate your own journey.
• What people usually come to Womb Shanti with: suppressed anger. 
• How she begins to work with clients who are emotionally disconnected.
• How community can act as the source of your issues, and usually expands or shrinks when you go on a healing journey.
• Why quality is more important than quantity when it comes to relationships.
• How she encourages people to come to any event she is hosting and feel her energy to see if they are interested in working with her.
• Where to find Shanti online and her treatment options online, and in your home.
• The number one thing to know on your journey: it never ends, this is a lifetime.
• The layer-by-layer process of healing your mind, body, and spirit.

Tweetables:

“You cannot heal the body if  you are not healing the emotion, and you cannot heal the emotion unless you are healing the body.” — Womb Shanti [0:17:02]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Womb Shanti

Womb Shanti on Instagram
Dr. Carina Lopez on LinkedIn

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Mindfulness and Self-Compassion with Shonda Moralis

The holiday season is almost with us! This is the time of year when our schedules tend to get out of whack, our to-do lists become never-ending, and difficult family dynamics tend to come out of the woodwork. The key to navigating all of this? Mindfulness! Joining us today is author and psychotherapist Shonda Moralis. She’s here to give us some mindfulness tips to help us get through the holidays. Join us as she shares some simple but powerful tips on how to navigate the holiday season with grace and self-compassion. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• The key to navigating holiday stress: mindfulness!
• How our expectations around the holidays can make things worse for us.
• Reminding ourselves why we want to have an amazing holiday season.
• Finding self-compassion as we experience the stress of the holiday season.
• A powerful tip to help you to expect and accept disappointments.
• The importance of taking some time for yourself.
• Why Shonda is such a big proponent of five minutes of meditation per day.
• The power of taking a pause and having a little grace for yourself!

Tweetables:

“It’s really important that we get clear on why we want to do this, and it’s because we love our kids, we love our families, and we want to create beautiful memories for them. So having a little compassion for ourselves helps.” — @shonda_moralis [0:02:15]

“If we sprinkle our day with those mindful moments it’s that really powerful 1-2-punch!” —  @shonda_moralis [0:05:30]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Shonda Moralis

Shonda Moralis on Instagram 

Shonda Moralis on Facebook

Shonda Moralis on Twitter

Shonda Moralis on LinkedIn

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Welcome to another episode of The Zen(ish) Mommy Podcast! This month is adoption month and we have a very special guest joining us today, JT Harding. JT is a songwriter who has had an incredible rollercoaster of a life; from being adopted at birth, to traveling the US trying to get his music career off the ground, and experiencing incredible loss. In this inspirational discussion, you’ll hear all about how JT’s adoption impacted his life, career, and success, meeting his biological parents, JT’s opinions on nature versus nurture, and adoption stories he has heard and experienced. He also tells us how he kept going in the rejection-filled music industry, the differences between being a musician in LA and Nashville, meeting celebrities, songwriting contests, and what his book, Party Like a Rockstar is all about. We discuss what JT hopes people will take away from the book before he tells us all about how he eventually found the courage to talk about the death of his brother. Finally, JT shares some advice for people experiencing rejection and teaches us how he separates that from his self-worth in order to be successful! You don’t want to miss out on this colorful conversation! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Introducing today’s guest, JT Harding. 
• How JT’s adoption has impacted his life, career, and success. 
• Why adoption stories can either be amazing or not so great. 
• What it was like for JT to meet his biological parents. 
• What JT feels about nature versus nurture. 
• What kept JT going in the tumultuous music industry. 
• How many songs JT has written versus how many are hits: the rejection ratio. 
• Why JT prefers living in Nashville over Los Angeles. 
• What Party Like a Rockstar is about. 
• JT’s most exciting celebrity encounter and what they are like. 
• All about the contest JT held: Write Like a Rockstar. 
• What JT hopes people get out of his book. 
• The trauma JT went through when his brother died and how he managed to talk about it.
• The advice JT would give to someone going through rejection.
• How JT has managed to compartmentalize rejection and not equate it with self-worth.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

JT Harding on Instagram

JT Harding on Twitter

Party Like a Rockstar

The Zen Mommy

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Zen Mommy Youtube

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Welcome back to the Zen(ish) Mommy Podcast! During today’s mini conversation, we are exploring the relationship between mindfulness and productivity. How many times a day do you find yourself going through the motions? Clearly, we are more productive when our mind has the strength and ability to focus on the task at hand. Meditation and a mindfulness practice is simply a tool to help us bring the mind into laser focus. During today’s conversation, we explore the role of meditation and mindfulness in reaching mental clarity, as endorsed by a long list of well-respected celebrities. Jessica unpacks the difference between mindfulness and meditation, and reminds listeners that there is really no right or wrong way to meditate. Join us today as we answer some burning questions about this powerful paradigm shift. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Today’s topic: how a mindfulness practice can affect your productivity.
• How productivity improves when you have the ability to focus on the task at hand.
• The role of meditation and mindfulness in bringing the mind into laser focus.
• Celebrities who swear by a mindfulness practice: Madonna, Lady Gaga, Sting, and more.
• What differentiates mindfulness from meditation: mindfulness is a state of mind while meditation is a practice.
• Why there is really no way to do meditation incorrectly.
• Thinking of meditation as a technique to invite mindfulness into your daily life.
• An invitation to tune in next week, and all month, as we talk about mindfulness and mornings.

Tweetables:

“When we are able to bring our minds back to the present moment, we are more focused, and more productive.” — Jessica Gershman [0:01:28]

“The great thing about meditation: you cannot screw it up! It’s not a pass fail, there’s no way to do it wrong, you’re really just exerting the most minimal amount of effort.” — Jessica Gershman [0:02:58]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Zen Mommy

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Zen Mommy Youtube

Zen Mommy Facebook

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Welcome back to the Zen(ish) Mommy Podcast! On this podcast, we try to cover a wide range of topics. When Roe v Wade was overturned earlier this year, we all understood its implications to varying degrees. Here today to demystify what we need to understand about the Supreme Court, what we can do to let our voices be heard, and what is left up to the state. Here to share her insights is geopolitical advisor, commentator, and social entrepreneur, Rina Shah, who works as the Senior Fellow for Inclusive Governance at the Rainey Center for Public Policy. Join us as Rina talks us through the original implications of Roe v Wade, and the fallout of its overturn. You’ll hear why Rina believes we should all educate ourselves on the rights enshrined in our constitution, and why the conversation about abortion is all about the Right to Freedom that can be viewed through the lens of democracy. We unpack Rina’s role at Represent Women, and hear why the political complacency shown by many Americans is a problem. In closing, Rina reminds us that we have far more power than we think we do in effecting change. Join us to hear all this and more today! 
 
 Please note that today’s episode carries a trigger warning for human rights loss, baby loss, and pregnancy termination. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Geopolitical advisor, commentator, social entrepreneur, among other titles, Rina Shah.
• A brief history of women’s rights in the USA.
• The role of not having bodily autonomy in feeling as though we are not fully part of civic society.
• The details of Roe v Wade’s initial ruling, and why it centered around the right to privacy.
• What we know as American women today in terms of the rights enshrined in our constitution.
• Why the conversation is rooted in the Right to Freedom. 
• What the conversation about human rights needs to encompass.
• Why Rina views the conversation around abortion through a lens of democracy.
• The lie told to the public by the Justices during the process of overturning Roe v Wade.
• Why it’s so important for each citizen to know their state laws.
• Rina’s perspective that it is possible to be a republic and a democracy.
• The reality that this was the longtime goal of the Evangelical Right.
• How the right to terminate a pregnancy ties in with the constitutional right to freedom. 
• Advocating for the separation of church and state as an individual woman.
• Rina’s work on the board at Represent Women. 
• The complacency that many Americans show towards governance, and why it is unnecessary.
• Why Rina still believes in systemic reform, despite being a fiscal conservative.
• Why you should take the time to know what’s on the ballot and do your own research.
• What Rina would say to any woman who pushes back and says that she is just one person.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 Rina Shah

Rina Shah on LinkedIn

Rina Shah on Instagram 

Rina Shah on Twitter

Represent Women

Rainey Center for Public Policy

The Week 

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Hey Mamas! Welcome to another episode, where we introduce you to mindfulness tips you can incorporate into your daily life. Today, we talk about the pitfalls of black and white thinking, and the beauty of embracing the gray space in between. You’ll hear how Jessica’s mindfulness practice led her to realize the harmfulness of her rigid thought patterns, and how she checks in with herself on a daily basis to adjust her thinking. Join us today to learn how you can find more balance through incorporating quick and easy mindfulness techniques into your daily life today. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Introducing today’s episode which includes another quick and easy mindfulness tip.
• Jessica’s history of black and white thinking.
• How she would finish the day analyzing her wins and fails and feeling empty as a result.
• How her mindfulness practice led her to realize the harmfulness of her rigid way of thinking.
• The beauty of the gray area between black and white.
• What it means to bring your best self to the day. 
• An example of Jessica’s rigid thinking in the context of exercise.
• How we can bring the beauty of the gray to our parenting, relationships, work, and lives.
• Accepting that you don’t have the same resources to work with every day. 
• What the shift in perspective has done for Jessica: self-compassion, grace, and permission to rest.
• How Jessica takes moments to take inventory, notice her surroundings, and live in the gray.
• Her invitation to tune in to your own black and white thinking and see what can change.

Tweetables:

“Through my mindfulness practice, I started thinking about the way that my mind works. I started thinking about the rigidity in my thinking, and I came up with the idea and concept of just about living in the gray.” — Jessica Gershman [0:01:44]

“Between black and white there is this beautiful area of the gray, and it’s beautiful there! There are so many possibilities, it’s inclusive, so what does it mean to live in the gray?” — Jessica Gershman [0:01:57]

“This idea of living in the gray means that something doesn’t have to be pass or fail.” — Jessica Gershman [0:02:40]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Zen Mommy

Zen Mommy Instagram

Zen Mommy Youtube

Zen Mommy Facebook

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As mamas, many of us are trying to take back our mental health. Many of the ways that mental health disorders are treated today are both outdated and ineffective. Some are turning to the use of psychedelic drugs as an alternative form of therapy. Is this the future of treatment? Today’s guest, Christina Thomas, believes greatly in the healing power of ketamine, which can be received through in-person treatments at her clinic in Florida. Christina shares that her team often joke that you can achieve what a Buddhist monk can in a single session, and that’s the basis of their mind, body, spirit approach to healing, where ketamine acts as the catalyst. During today’s episode, she talks us through the step-by-step process that patients go through when they book an appointment at the clinic, and the role of each of the key service providers when they take you through the treatment. Drawing on her own experience and her observation of how patients change, Christina lets us in on the plethora of benefits that this unique healing modality can bring to you. Her clinic stands as a beacon of hope and healing to anyone struggling with mental health issues of any kind. Join us to hear her story. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to Christina Thomas, and her ketamine clinic in Florida.
• Christina shares her story of opening the clinic two weeks before lockdown happened.
• Her fiance’s success using psychedelics to heal addiction.
• The mental health journey Christina went on, and how ketamine has helped her.
• What ketamine is: a dissociative psychedelic drug producing a dreamlike experience.
• How new clients are assessed and guided with the help of a psychiatrist and meditator on site.
• The on-site psychologist, Hannah, and her method of preparing patients for treatment.
• Why it is important to have clear intentions as you enter the experience. 
• An example of how the treatment can uncover an experience that is blocking you.
• How a ketamine session can act as a shortcut.
• Their mind, body, spirit approach and how it goes beyond medicine.
• The importance of taking what you learn with ketamine into your daily life.
• Why they are currently using ketamine off-label, and why it is not covered by most insurance.
• What ketamine can treat: depression, anxiety, PTSD, Crohn’s, neuropathy, and more.
• How ketamine creates neurogenesis and neuroplasticity supporting dendrites as they grow.
• Reducing the stigma around alternative therapy.
• The film they are working on which follows the journey of different ketamine patients.
• How she observes people changing when they experience the treatment. 
• How her experience with ketamine made her a better parent.
• Why it is so important, as a mom, to keep a little focus on yourself.
• The step-by-step of how the process unfolds, twice a week over a three week period.
• Where to find My Self Wellness online to book your treatment. 

Tweetables:

“We never just throw anybody off of a ledge. We work the doses up.” — Christina Thomas [0:08:32]

“It’s kind of a shortcut. We joke around and say that you can achieve what a Buddhist monk can achieve through one ketamine session. And that’s really powerful.” — Christina Thomas [0:11:22]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 My Self Wellness

Christina Thomas on LinkedIn

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It’s easy to forget to check in with yourself, but the good news is that getting started is easier than you may think! Join us today to learn how you can tap into what you are feeling by assessing the sensations in your body. This technique also helps you to drop out of the busyness of your mind and become more mindful in your day-to-day life. You’ll hear how cultivating emotional awareness can help us to catch our moments of overwhelm before they escalate, and how doing so has supported Jessica’s wellbeing. Tune in to hear more today! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Today’s topic: checking in with yourself.
• Step one: starting to feel your body, rubbing your fingers together, and noticing sensations in your body.
• How noticing things about your body can help you to drop out of the busyness of your mind.
• Noticing which emotions come in once you have assessed where your body is at.
• Making a note of where in the body these emotions arise.
• A reminder that it’s okay to be stressed and to feel overwhelmed. 
• How emotional check-ins enable us to catch our moments of overwhelm before they escalate.
• Jessica’s recommendation that we check in with ourselves regularly.
• Why Jessica likes to start her day by checking in on the body.

Tweetables:

“We start to notice these things about our body and we’re able to drop out of the busyness of our mind. It’s easier said than done, but that’s the point!” — Jessica Gershman [0:01:26]

“It’s okay not to be fine, to be stressed, to be overwhelmed. When we do these little emotional check-ins we’re able to catch these moments of overwhelm before we get to the point where we are screaming at our children and lying in a bathtub with no water.” — Jessica Gershman [0:03:01]

“Zen is a continuum, it’s a process, we can have a little bit of zen in our lives even when so many things are crazy.” —Jessica Gershman [0:03:57]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Zen Mommy

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Zen Mommy Youtube

Zen Mommy Facebook

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As a synthetic opioid, fentanyl is flooding America’s drug market with overdose deaths on the rise. There is hardly a family in America that hasn’t been touched in some way by addiction. How do we begin to heal as individuals, families, and a nation? Bobby Newman is an interventionist with a 99 percent success rate in getting people into treatment. As a former addict, he knows all the barriers that prevent addicts from getting clean and sober. Having come from a strong moral upbringing to a drug-related downfall later in life, he understands what those dealing with addiction feel and think and he has educated more than 100,000 youth on the dangers of drug abuse and helped thousands more with drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Today’s episode is an informative conversation that will help you identify the symptoms that indicate that a loved one is in need, and what to do. Join us to hear from Bobby today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• 2021 drug overdose stats, which reach nearly 108,000.
• A brief history of Bobby’s relationship with substances, starting with drinking as a teenager.
• How he almost ended up in federal prison at the age of 35 for drug-related reasons.
• The long-term recovery program that focused on health first and helped Bobby heal.
• His entry into drug prevention 21 years ago.
• How Bobby’s drug use impacted his relationships, leading to failed marriages.
• Realizing the gravity of what you have done as a path towards taking responsibility.
• Leaving the treatment program and encountering tests along the way.
• The importance of creating an environment alongside other people committed to growth.
• Why you need to surround yourself with people who support your sobriety.
• Signs that someone in your life is falling into addiction.
• The first step if you suspect your child is using: make it safe to talk to you.
• Setting your pride aside and providing a safe adult for them to talk to, even if it isn’t you.
• Three things that make an intervention successful: a desire to change, the threat of a loss of loved ones, and environmental pressure.
• What makes a good treatment facility: one that will get to the core problem.
• Why it’s so essential to restore nutritional health before seeking out the core problem.
• Handling cravings, depression, anxiety, and guilt.
• Bobby’s belief that you need to take at least 90 days to heal.
• His current coping mechanisms, including friendship, physical health, family, and gratitude!

Tweetables:

“The majority of addicts, you see them everyday. They’re going to work, you’ll see them in the mornings, you’ll see them at night doing normal things. They’re addicted to drugs.” — Bobby Newman [0:05:50]

“I always tell people: when they leave a program, you are going to get tested when you leave. There’s going to be a test, so don’t waste your time. Stay in treatment long enough to be able to handle what you need to handle.” — Bobby Newman [0:12:48]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Newman Interventions
Call the Hotline
Bobby Newman Email
Bobby Newman on LinkedIn

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Many of us are ditching prescription medicine and becoming more open to alternative methods. If you aren’t interested in spending years in talk therapy, ayahuasca promises to send its users on a life-affirming trip to connect with their soul and cleanse them from deep rooted trauma. Tracy Fields is a two-time Iraq War veteran who tried for years to combat his PTSD and childhood trauma through traditional therapy. After a single encounter with ayahuasca almost completely eradicated symptoms that had been plaguing him for almost a decade, Tracy started on a journey of extreme healing, which included more than 20 ayahuasca experiences. Today, he is a huge advocate for breaking down the misconceptions around this magical South American brew and facilitating others as they use it to find their own healing. If you’ve been wondering if this experience is for you, make sure to tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Tracy's experience of being in the military twice before witnessing an extreme road accident.
• Healing modalities he tried, including talk therapy, hypnosis, reiki healing, and EMDR.
• How he heard about ayahuasca from some friends after being diagnosed with PTSD.
• Coping mechanisms, including partying, drinking, sleeping around, and bad choices.
• The period of time he spent in traditional talk therapy supplemented by other modalities.
• How Tracy prepared for his first ayahuasca ceremony through a plant-based diet and abstaining from sex, medication, and alcohol.
• How a good practitioner sets the conditions for success during an ayahuasca ceremony.
• The ceremonial portion of the experience, which entails sitting in absolute silence.
• What happens next: you lie on your mat, and do very little, before it comes on.
• Why the feeling of being completely in tune with your feelings is what is most important.
• The conversation that ensues with the spirit of ayahuasca.
• Comparisons between near death experiences and ayahuasca. 
• Historical mentions and uses of ayahuasca.
• The integration piece of the ayahuasca experience, which happens in conversation.
• How the energy that hasn’t been serving you is released.
• Why Tracy believes that the minimum threshold should be three ceremonies.
• Why he has chosen to do the ceremony more than 20 times and chooses to facilitate it.
• The importance of transitioning off SSRIs before doing an ayahuasca ceremony.
• Why you should always do the research and find a true, experienced Shaman.
• One thing he wants listeners to know about his experience: anything is possible!
• Why ayahuasca has been categorized as a Schedule 1 drug and how you can experience it legally through a church as your right to freedom of religion.
• Why Tracy loves to share the magic he has been blessed with.
• How lessons appear in daily life well after the ayahuasca experience.
• The reaction from Tracy’s parents and stepdaughter after he started using ayahuasca.
  
  

Tweetables:

“You can work out the body, you can work out the mind but, sometimes, where we lack is that we don’t work out the spirit and the soul.” — Tracy Fields [0:07:59]

“Any good practitioner will work to set the conditions for success; it’s safe, it’s comfortable, you’ll have what you need but, more importantly, you have the space available to do the work.” — Tracy Fields [0:11:46]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

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