Joyful Love

This week we continue the conversation about fear and love. How do we let love lead when fear is the overwhelming emotion? How do you calm the animal brain so you can relax and take action from love? The truth is fear rises in many situations - whether it's actual danger, perceived danger, or even the fear of judgment. So you need a process to take you from fear to peace. From fear to calm. From f...

In today's episode, I get personal and record on the fly in my car. I feel like for the past 6 months our family life has been in constant change. So much newness and change and wonder. And with change can come fear. So what do we do with fear? Is it helpful? Is it necessary? Or is there a balance to bring in .... with Love and Trust? Tune into today's episode for a raw, imperfect, driving-in-my-c...

Are you feeling numb about your relationship? Maybe you're apathetic about creating a connection with your partner… maybe you'd rather be alone than have a date night.  Most long-term couples feel a little apathy during different phases of their relationship. Sometimes our brain just wants to take a break because we've got a lot going on! And sometimes it chooses our relationship to take a break f...

Low energy, intense cravings, mood swings, waking up in the middle of the night - they're all symptoms of hormones shifting! It can be enough to cause you to question everything in life! When you reach your 40's and 50's (and sometimes even earlier), you start to notice a difference in how you feel. Is there anything you can do about it? What does your body need? Can you protect yourself and your...

When one or more partners in a relationship are neurodivergent, it can add unique challenges to a marriage. Neurodiversity refers to a variation in how one's neurology (their brain and nervous system) operate. It includes autism, ADHD, OCD, sensory processing difficulties, and other brain variations.  This means your brain (or your partner's brain) processes the world differently than the majority...

We live in an information age. There are tons of books, classes, and programs that guide us with great advice - advice we try hard to listen to. But when your brain avoids the discomfort of change or is met with confusion, you don't implement the great advice you've learned.  This is normal. Don't beat yourself up for one more day about it! You just need to learn how to use your brain (and your em...

On this episode of Joyful Love, I talk about asking the right questions to get better results in your life and relationships. Our brains want to focus on the negative, so it's natural to think there are problems where there are not.  When we focus on the wrong issue, it distracts us from making the changes we do need to make.  In this episode, I share how I thought my desire for alone time was a p...

If your personal self-concept is low it's going to show up in every area of life.   Low self-concept can make you feel shame if others compliment you or do something nice for you. It can hold you back from genuine connection in your relationships. And it will prevent you from creating a life that you love living.  So it's time to raise your self-concept. It's time to start believing that you are w...

When you're married to an alcoholic or an addict, it adds a whole new dynamic to your relationship. It brings up frustration, exhaustion, and loneliness, as you try to figure out the next best steps. Should you stay? Or should you go? Sometimes the answer isn't as black and white as we'd like it to be. That's where Deanna Marie comes in. She's a life coach for people who are married to alcoholics....

If you don't have confidence, there's no doubt that you're holding yourself back from having the life and marriage you want. We often think confidence will come easy once we achieve our goals. We thing that when we're more fit (or skinny, or curvy, or strong), then we'll feel more confident. But if you wait for your goals to be achieved to embrace total love, appreciation, and trust in yourself …...

Have you ever made a commitment to make a serious change in your life and then given up on it after a day or two of struggle? Of course, you have. You're a human being with a brain that doesn't like change or anything uncomfortable. We've all been there - over and over again.  So with any shift that you're serious about making - whether it's eating healthier, cutting back on alcohol, exercising, o...

If you're a woman, you've been socialized to believe that the main reason for getting healthy is to look good in a bikini. You've also been told the lie that you have to be super thin to be healthy.  This puts an enormous amount of pressure on us.    Our self-confidence is often tied to our weight and dieting becomes something that takes up a lot of our thinking. It's exhausting. And we give up. ...

Most of us have a seriously hard time loving and valuing ourselves if we don't feel productive. We tie our worth and lovability to how much we accomplish in a day, a week, a year.  So in this episode, I invite you into my inner world this week while I'm recovering from Covid. I was on a forced rest - and my brain was having a fit! I didn't feel like myself. I questioned my worth. I even questioned...

As I move into year two of the Joyful Love Podcast, I'll dive even deeper into some of the concepts I've just scratched the surface on so far. The truth is that our health, energy, and our ability to slow down affects everything we do in life. They affect our relationships and our well-being. They affect our nervous system and our mental health. Humans are made up of mind, body, and soul. And I do...

On this episode of Joyful Love, I introduce you to my friend and colleague Julie Merrill. Julie is a Midlife Sexual Wellness Coach who brings all the juiciness to this episode! Julie's own story takes her from being misdiagnosed as asexual to discovering sexual pleasure for herself. We discuss how our past can influence our current sex stories and how we view ourselves … and how to begin creating...

What do we want? Rest. When do we want it? Now. How do we get it? Well, it's simple, we have to stop thinking everything needs to be done before we're allowed to rest. We have to stop the deep-seeded belief that everything around us needs to be done better and/or perfect.   And we need to stop people-pleasing those around us to the point of feeling resentful about it.  In today's episode, I talk a...

Our emotions are here for a reason. They teach us. They give us important information. They shine a flashlight on what we need to change. And yet, they get brushed aside or buried so that we can quickly move on to the next important task. We tell ourselves, "I'm just being too sensitive." Yet when we do this, we miss important lessons. We miss an opportunity to listen to our souls. So when my 16-y...

Women bear the weight of having a family. From keeping the home running smoothly to planning holidays, choosing doctors, and keeping everyone healthy and whole - 90% of this responsibility falls on us. Patriarchal systems have set it up this way. It's put men in power and women in the supporting role of that power. Although we've come a long way as women to overcome this - we've got a long way to...

Face your fears! Step out of your comfort zone! If you've been in the self-help world for long, you've definitely heard these 2 phrases - over and over. And you've also been told to stop hustling and to let go of stress. As women, we want both. We want peace in our lives and we want the freedom to go after our big dreams and the courage to face our fears. So what gives? How can we do both? How can...

You can spin in confusion for years about whether or not you're just irritated with your partner,  or if it's time to end your relationship. If you're constantly annoyed and irritated, it's time to take your power back and start creating your own joy in life again. All those petty annoyances don't have to take up your valuable brain space and they don't have to stop you from creating a life and re...

The personal benefits of welcoming more humor into your life are enormous. Laughter has been shown to light up the brain's neurons, increase pleasure, and decrease overall stress. And when you bring more laughter and light-heartedness into your relationship it benefits every aspect of your marriage. Laughter is the healing balm that you and your partner need! So it's time to bring some good ol' be...

So many women want more intimacy and pleasure in their relationship. They want to be able to enjoy connection - emotional and physical with their partner. It can feel like so much is in the way of that. With our own busy lives and our partner's busy lives, raising kids, and dealing with the emotional weight of keeping things running smoothly, is there space for pleasure? Is there time for joy? Is...

Mothering is the hardest job in the world. At least it was for me. Building my own business is a piece of cake when it compares to the exhaustion and sheer desperation I felt at times with loving my 3 kids so intensely. And because mothering can be difficult, it's normal to want a break from it all. It's normal to feel overwhelmed and question yourself constantly. And unfortunately, it's normal fo...

Have you ever wanted to make a change in your life so bad that you thought about it nearly non-stop? Yet that's as far as you get … The dream never left your mind - for long anyway. Because you're waiting for the motivation to get started. So you continue to wish you were already at the goal. The effort to get there just seems like too much. But wait! Finally, motivation hits! And for a full week...

In today's episode, you'll hear Day 5 of The Rekindle Your Marriage Workshop. Y ou'll hear the importance of investing in two of your most important assets: Your mind and your marriage. Studies have shown the best use of one's time and money is in their own emotional wellness and relationships. Your mind and marriage are more important than any material items or experience you could buy ... becaus...