The Freedom From Empty Podcast

Sometimes we get exactly what we asked for. And sometimes we have to live through things we didn't know how to live through to get to the other side. From the time I was no longer able to work in 2015, I have known I was exorcising some of my demons and fears around money even as I lived through the most harrowing financial journey of my life. This episode reflects back on that journey, and what I...

We may be conditioned to believe that life is an upward trajectory. And that if it isn’t, we are doing it wrong. But that construct just isn’t true. Often life feels like two steps forward and one step back. Throughout our lives, in the face of setbacks and detours and full stops, we have the opportunity to choose to begin again. But that isn't the same thing as starting over. We may not be where...

Toward the end of 2018, more than half of all employees were going to leave vacation time on the table at the end of the year. In fact only 23% of employees were using up all of their vacation time. And 10% weren’t using any time at all. We aren’t taking our vacations for a variety of reasons . . .  But research shows that taking time away from the stresses of work and daily life can improve our h...

It is easy to get caught up in all of the goals, resolutions, "to dos" and the big aspirations a new year can bring. I know I have. But what about all of the things we need to hold space for in our lives? The things that represent our values and priorities. The things that help us show up as our best self? The things that help us stay well so that we actually have the capacity to "perform" and to...

Do you struggle to find peace in stillness? There was a time when I was completely unable to be still without becoming overwhelmed with anxiety. I missed being present in my life and with my little people. And living on anxiety and adrenaline for years cost me my health. Ironically perhaps, or as wake-up calls tend to do, my journey through severe mental illness taught me the beauty of stillness....

Self-care seems to have become synonymous with acts of indulgence. But the truth is, that self-care doesn't have to cost a thing. A quick recap: chronic stress leads to chronic inflammation which leads to chronic disease. If we do not learn to mitigate stress in our lives through recovery activities, then we are not giving our bodies the chance to recover from the onslaught of stressors we face ev...

Are we there yet? Am I there yet??? This healing and becoming more human business is hard work. And sometimes, we wonder if we can't just be DONE already! Like, really. Why can't life be easier?!?! This episode explores dynamic of healing as I have come to understand it, and teases a healing journey I am about to embark on by choice. Because I can. And because my path to becoming more fully myself...

A significant part of my healing journey has been learning to listen to my body, to heed its signals, and to take more gentle care of my body in response to its messages. For those of us who are used to demanding that our bodies show up the way we want them to, having our bodies start to struggle to meet those demands can be fearful and unnerving. We fear that we are broken. That we are going to f...

Self-compassion is a critical component of self-care and resilience. And yet, many of us struggle to speak kindly to ourselves in the face of our perceived mistakes and shortcomings. In this episode, I explore how we can intercede on our own behalf to build our resilience through self-compassion, and to extend grace to ourselves through the seasons of our lives. 

Instead of living our lives on autopilot (or entrenched in long-held beliefs, habits and behaviors that no longer serve us), we can choose a different path. On a short vacation with my family, I had the opportunity to practice choosing to be present instead of defaulting to "productivity" or disappearing into my Instagram feed. My reflections on the experience are in this episode.

Emotions are a messenger from our body to our brain; designed to keep us safe. And if we ignore these signals when they are a whisper, they will get louder and more pronounced; ultimately resulting in illness and injury. So, how do we create the conditions to support the healthy processing and discharge of emotions? This podcast explores 4 steps to validating and releasing our own emotions (and pr...

Often the more stressful, overwhelming and out of control things feel, we hold on too tightly. And in doing so, we separate ourselves from other people and from a larger power in the world that both have our best interest and well-being at heart. When I was brought to my knees by mental illness, I lost my financial independence and my ability to rely only on myself for survival. And still, I was h...

The truth is, our energy levels are rarely, if ever, constant. Our energy fluctuates throughout the day, week, months, and seasons; subject to circumstances both in and out of our control. The lyrics from Mary Chapin song come to mind . . . "Some days you're the windshield. Some days you're the bug." Life can leave us feeling energized or battered from day to day and sometimes even minute to minut...

Five years ago, I had no idea that there was any such thing as operating from heartspace (as compared to headspace). Now I know that when I am feeling lost, overwhelmed, anxious or untethered, my heartspace is where I will find grounding and guidance. Learn more about the difference between headspace and heartspace, and how to cultivate your connection to your heartspace. Resources: https://kajalp...

As they say, the only constant, is change. All change, whether perceived as "good" or "bad" requires us to move through the grief cycle. And there is a direct correlation between our movement through the stages of the grief cycle and our real-time productivity and performance at work. By being aware of the emotions we all share as we navigate the stages of the Change Cycle, and the impact of these...

Sometimes we hold on so tight to what we think should be that we lose the magic in accepting things as they are. When we release into and accept what is, we can find it easier to move through the world with ease and grace. We also have the opportunity to see that the Universe is sending us information, guiding us along our path, and opening our way before us, before we even realize what is happeni...

There is a bit of a debate around whether or not self-care IS or ISN'T selfish. This episode explores the potentially devastating consequences of waiting until we hit our very wits' end before we say, "No." If we aren't selfish sometimes, then we might erupt or throw a grenade when we hit our breaking point. When we throw a grenade into the middle of relationships, teams or organizations, we canno...

This episode is the fifth and final installment in a 5-part series exploring some of the signs that stress is starting to wear away at your effectiveness, health and overall well-being. Based on my own experience, the symptoms I explore in this episode would indicate prolonged exposure to stress without adequate recovery. If the indicators I review in this episode havve become frequent or constant...

This episode is the fourth in a five-part series exploring signs that stress is starting to wear away at your effectiveness, health and overall well-being as reflected in different areas of life and health. Each episode also presents one, research-based recovery practice that can help you start to restore your equilibrium. Consider that your body and its symptoms may be indicative of the health of...

This episode is the third in a series exploring signs that stress is starting to wear away at your effectiveness, health and overall well-being as reflected in different areas of life and health. Each episode also presents one, research-based recovery practice that can help you start to restore your equilibrium. This episode explores life circumstances that can shift the balance of well-being towa...

The episode is the second in a series exploring signs that stress is starting to wear away at your effectiveness, health and overall well-being as reflected in different areas of life and health. Each episode also presents one, research-based recovery practice that can help you start to restore your equilibrium. In this episode, I explore running on empty in relationship to work. I also discuss th...

This episode launches a 5-part series in which we will explore signs and symptoms of Running on Empty in five different areas of life and work. In each episode I also share one research-based healing and coping strategy to improve effectiveness, resilience and well-being. This first episode describes some of the ways leaders begin to struggle when they are running on empty. You may recognize some...

While it is true that there may not be an “Easy Button” for life as a whole, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t easy buttons available throughout each day or each week or each year. And sometimes, I think we forget to press the easy button. This podcast explores learning to find and press the easy buttons that are available to us so that we can reserve our energy for the things that really matter...

Our body processes "good" stress and "bad" stress the same way. In other words, it cannot tell the difference. And some would say that stress is neither inherently good OR bad. Toxic stress isn't actually about the source of the stress, but about the chronic and ongoing nature of the stress. When the body does not have the opportunity to adequately recover from the physiological stress response, b...

When things are "too good to be true" do you start looking for the other shoe to drop? I know I do. In this episode, I share an experience with self-sabotage that started with things feeling too good to be true. Counter-intuitively, feeling good can sometimes be uncomfortable and scary. How can we develop comfort with the good and awareness of the choices we have in response to the fear that thing...