The Freedom From Empty Podcast

What is my "superhero origin story"? What happens when we cannot rest until everyone and everything else is taken care of? What happens when we believe if we could just do enough, be enough, get "there", earn all of the awards and promotions and titles and money and accumulate all of the things, that somehow we will no longer be afraid. Or desperately lonely? What happens when we have to choose--w...

Our adaptations keep us alive. But not without cost. While my conscious beliefs were definitely problematic and contributed to my descent into burnout and mental illness, I have come to understand that underneath those conscious beliefs was nervous system patterning that fueled my capacity to run myself into the wall over and over and over again until my body and mind broke under the assault. In t...

It turns out that resting is hard (in this culture). And the truth is, I didn't really give myself permission to rest until I was literally no longer able to function. Until I had exhausted my body and mind almost beyond repair. In this episode I share some of the unhelpful and downright destructive beliefs, fears and patterning around rest that I have wrestled with and succumbed to in the past, a...

I had no idea that my inability to rest and recover from the stress and overwhelm of life was going to push me to a breaking point. But it did. Rest is THE foundational practice that allows our body to support us in reaching for our dreams, caring for others, and staying connected to the full experience of being human. In this episode I explain what I mean by "rest" and make the case for why your...

Welcome to Season 2 of the Freedom from Empty Podcast! In this episode I share a little behind the scenes of some of the events that prompted an unplanned 20-month hiatus from the podcast, how my journey continues to evolve, and I also include some business and podcast updates. Join me now for this new season. 

I have come to believe that our unadulterated voice is an expression of the divine. But there are a million reasons why you may have lost (pieces of) your voice on your journey to where you are now. In this episode I share when I first lost my voice, what it has been like to reclaim it so far, and the steps I continue to take to heal and reintegrate my voice with my whole being. I also offer some...

What are some mythperceptions we all hold about what self-care, wellness and wellbeing "look like" vs. what they actually can mean for us? Are movement and exercise the same thing and can exercise be bad for you? What if listening to your body could save your life? What would it look like if you learned to be kind to your body instead of punishing it for its faults and failures? And what if we che...

Letting go of what we know can be terrifying. But holding on too tightly to things that are no longer for us can keep us stuck and ultimately make us sick. In this episode I share how surrender has been a gateway in my life. This gateway not only sent me along the path to professional opportunities but also has been the recurring theme in my reclamation of my health and well-being after decades sp...

"Owning a business that is based on my purpose allows me to be who I am, not what I do." Join me for this interview with Erika Biddix, Founder of Biddix Meetings and Events and Aught LLC, to hear the story of how she went from outsourcing her life so that she could do more work for her corporate boss to creating a thriving community for female entrepreneurs that also allows her to be present with...

There are moments in our lives when, for whatever reason, we find ourselves with clear(er) calendars and fewer to-dos or perhaps a moment or a season when our priorities are turned on their head. If we don’t pause from time to time (or honor the pause that finds it way to us) and ask ourselves whether the way we are living is actually giving us life, we may find ourselves at the end wondering how...

My conversation with Kate Brosnan, a weight-neutral, non-diet, Registered Dietician, continues in this episode as we challenge some of the commonly held beliefs about the association between weight and health, weight stigma in healthcare, and the truth about weight cycling. We also explore the dangers of applying hyper-performance behaviors to our attempts to manage weight. 

In this first of two interview episodes with Kate Brosnan, a weight neutral, non diet, registered dietician, Kate shares about the journey she has been on as a mother and dietician who realized that the beliefs and behaviors about food she was passing down to her daughter were having unintended consequences. Fatphobia is a harmful, socially acceptable form of discrimination that is keeping many of...

What if YOU were born a badass? I think we arrived here with the capacity to be total badasses. And then the world gets a hold of us. So for many, the journey back to self and soul is a journey of unlearning, of unbecoming, of ceasing to resist. It’s the gooey middle of the caterpillar’s transmutation into a butterfly. We keep dissolving and peeling back the layers until we come to the root of our...

From a very young age, we have been inundated with messages that we can only trust those authorities and institutions that are outside of us. We have been taught not to trust ourselves. I sat down with Bonnie Casamassima as she shared her story. Listen in to hear what prompted her to go on a journey of "unlearning" and how she is translating her journey (and the juxtaposition of both the seen and...

So much of our culture is focused on quick fixes, magic bullets, and hacks. But healing cannot be hacked. And some of the most significant milestones--the ones that announce that healing has happened or is still happening--aren’t loud, demonstrative or performative. Listen in to hear more about how quiet wins can be powerful reminders that we are making progress on our healing journey. 

Just over five years ago, at 19 years old, Bailey Rose was forced to choose between freedom and financial support from her parents. She chose freedom. In this episode, Bailey shares the story of what it took to break free from a narcissistic parent and the unexpected ripple effects of her decision. Bailey also offers validation and hope to others who may be caught in a narcissistic relationship. 

Our culture has come to celebrate performing and persisting at all costs. But what if some of those costs are actually way too high? What if not quitting could cost us our lives, families, relationships, careers . . . everything? Maybe we should break the stigma around quitting. Maybe we should learn to quit more and to celebrate others when they do the same. What are you going to quit?

I have come to believe that many of us are just out here living our lives, unwittingly playing out our (unresolved) traumas on each other because we don’t fully understand or appreciate what is actually playing out in our bodies and minds or the impact that traumatic energy is having on us and the people around us. In this episode, I explore symptoms of unresolved trauma and make the case for taki...

Last week something occurred to me that hadn’t hit me in quite the same way before. Some of us may not have our self-preservation button engaged. Or, we are so accustomed to overriding the warning signs, that we don’t take reasonable steps to stop and fuel ourselves when the need is imminent.

I see you. You think if you are struggling you must not be “doing it right.” If you could just be a “better” version of yourself, life wouldn’t feel so overwhelming or challenging. What if I told you that this isn’t about self-improvement?! What if I told you that this is about nurturing the person you already are? The person who gives life your all, and who is UNDERSTANDABLY exhausted?!?

Dreaming of a better future is a key ingredient to well-being and our ability to realize our full potential. But somewhere along the way, you may have forgotten how to dream. In this episode I share more about my own experience with finding, losing, and then rediscovering my capacity to dream. I also issue an invitation for you to explore your dreams (or the obstacles that might be standing in you...

Many of us have been conditioned to “just do it” or go out and make things happen. And if we don’t? We must not want “it” badly enough. But what if holding on too tight and forcing things leads to poor results (at best) and injury or illness (at worst). In this episode I explore what I am learning about letting go. 

What does it mean to make ourselves whole and not perfect? We put human beings on a perfection pedestal to look up to but we may not even have an image of what it means to be whole. We will dive into imagining what being whole means from positive and negative emotions and behaviors to sustaining our spiritual, mental, & physical energies as well. 

Warning signs are messages from our body that something isn’t right. If we learn to listen to them sooner rather than later, we can avoid a crash. I recently came face to face with a warning sign I ignored for too long.  

With a deep-seated awareness of the one-year anniversary of pandemic shutdowns across the United States, and the fatigue many of us are feeling, I am bringing back the most downloaded episode of the podcast to date “7 Tips for Coping with Anxiety and Supporting Your Well-Being in a Crisis and Beyond.” These simple, no-cost tips are immediately accessible for you to calm your nervous system, regain...