The Freedom From Empty Podcast

Our brains fill in gaps in information with fear and bias based on old data. We often ascribe meaning to the present based on the past. We can become consumed and overwrought by our own thoughts. And if we get too caught up in the stories in our mind, we can actually create and perpetuate interactions and outcomes that are the exact opposite of what we say we want or even what our heart and well-b...

Wake-up calls are often thought to be life-threatening and dramatic. And sometimes, they are. But, they don't have to be. Every day, we have the opportunity to consider whether the way we are living our lives is worth the price we are paying for it. We can choose to chart a new path at any moment in our lives. How do we begin? What are some of the components of the change process? What might we ex...

According to the National Institute of Health, an estimated 26% of Americans ages 18 and older -- about 1 in 4 adults -- suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. We tend to act as though mental health and physical health are two different things, but they are actually inextricably linked. Creating a safe space to talk about mental health is critical to breaking the stigma which...

When is the last time you played? When did you last do something just for the fun of it? Has it been a while? Are you squinting quizzically at the question as if it doesn't compute? As adults, we sometimes come to think of play as a waste of time. What if I told you that play is good for your health? What if I told you that play is a critical component of a innovative, creative, resilient humans a...

Many of us approach the New Year as a time to reflect and consider the changes we want to make in our lives. We set resolutions. We start strong. And then, we often lose momentum, become discouraged, and sometimes give up altogether. When we decide to make positive change in our lives, how do we set ourselves up for success? And how do we get out of our own way? In this episode I share lessons lea...

We hear a lot about listening to our teams, co-workers, and perhaps even our kids. But what about listening to ourselves? When we listen well, to the messages our body is sending to us, we have the opportunity to support ourselves in a way that builds our health, strength, resilience, and ultimately, performance. When we listen well, we build connections (as opposed to barriers and disconnect). Wh...

Our human capacity for denial is a survival mechanism that sometimes serves us well; holding unimaginable pain or seemingly unbearable things somewhere away from our hearts and minds until we are able to process them safely. And yet, unprocessed emotions also make us sick--physically and mentally ill. In a world where we are taught to fear the "other" and in fact encouraged to do so by people who...

We may have a sneaking suspicion that something in our lives isn’t working for us, and yet we are afraid to ask ourselves what that might be. We have to give ourselves space to breathe into the question--what in our lives may no longer be serving us? If we aren’t willing to ask that question, we will be unable to identify and create the changes in our lives that will better align the way we live a...

Many of us are operating from a space of feeling like we are never enough--not good enough, or worthy enough, or that we haven’t “earned” the right to be loved and valued by others. These beliefs are often ingrained in us from a very early age. The fear of never being enough can drive us to push ourselves to the point that we are Running on Empty; trying to fill a bucket that has holes in the bott...

Many of us don’t make major changes in our lives until we are faced with a “wake-up call.” Before the wake-up call, there are often red flags that we miss or we may see, but ignore (or just fail to adequately address) along the way.  In this episode, I share the story of my personal crash, together with some of the red flags that I now understand were warning signs. This story fuels my passion for...