Wellness Podcast

In this week's episode, I talk about 3 more characteristics of ADHD, what they look like, what they actually are, and some ways we've been working on these at my house. 1) ADHD can look like difficulty with transitions 2) ADHD can look like rudeness and 3) ADHD can look like carelessness. I give examples of each from my life, what these things actually are (hyperfocus/executive functioning...

In this week's episode, I talk about "hustle culture" or the idea that our value as a person is directly tied to how much work we can get done in any given moment. That value does not carry over to tomorrow or next week (so as soon as we finish a big project or get a ton of work done, great, let's get started on the next big thing right away!). But this is not how our actual anim...

We often talk about "taking the edge off" as sort of numbing our feelings through alcohol, drugs, mindless social media scrolling, or online shopping (among other things). But this week, I wanted to talk about some of the healthy ways I've been "taking the edge off" this week- through exercise, creativity, hilarious TV shows, even fake wrestling with my 7-year old and of co...

In this episode, I talk about how gratitude can help us particularly in tough times, but how there are also ways that gratitude cannot help us during tough times. Gratitude always helps during all times, and keeping a gratitude journal or just thinking of things we are grateful for before bed can help a lot. And delights can help too, when you need something a little less serious- a peach straight...

This week, I talk about how to make hard decisions a little easier. I discuss 4 steps, including 1) pause and give yourself some time before jumping in to make a decision too quickly, 2) vent (feel your feelings, complain, maybe even wallow a bit in your sadness etc. for just a little bit) to get those feelings out of you and don't worry about trying to find a solution yet while you are still...

This week, as promised, I am talking about how to get through tough transition times with 4 pieces of advice from my own experience. 1) Have a secure/solid "home base" to return to- whether it is a place in your house/apartment/dorm room where you feel safe, re-watching/reading old TV shows/books you love, looking at pictures of things/people you love, a daily/weekly FaceTime with someon...

In this episode, I talk about the FUN I had at the pool (Playful, connected flow, by Catherine Price from her book The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again) swimming around the pool with my kids this summer! I talk about how, even if we don't have kids, we can remember what we used to like as kids and try it to see if we can't have a little more fun in our lives now. Bike riding, playing...

This week's episode is NOT to listen to around children! The episode starts with a story about my children and Santa/the Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy etc., which led my child to say, "well I guess there is sort of still magic in the world?" To which I said, of course there is! In this episode, I give some of my own examples of magic in the world, a definition of magic and also of awe and wonder (from...

In this week's episode, I give my 4 favorite pieces of advice from previous episodes on how to make it through a particularly busy/stressful/transitional period. If you are not a teacher or student, this advice can help for any busy or transitional period in your life, but for me, it's the end of the spring semester and summer break is almost here. 1) Quit what and where you can, from epis...

This epsiode is a continuation of week 145, where I talked about 3 things that ADHD can look liks vs what is actually going on. In this episode, I do the same and talk about 3 more things: ADHD can look like 1) risky behavior/impulsivity, 2) hyperactivity/fidgeting, and 3) forgetfulness. In each of the 3 parts, I give examples from my own life of my experiences with my child and a few things that...

In this episode, I define both "numbing" and "real comfort" and give examples of each. I talk about the lessons we can learn from Anne of Green Gables, who felt all her feelings all the time and why that is important to do (at least most of the time). Action item: if you find yourself doing something that doesn't feel right, just pause and think about how you feel and why y...

In this episode, I tell a story about past me in graduate school during an interview, feeling bad for the middle aged man who was driving me around in his old minivan. But now, I am that man, and let me tell you, don't feel bad for me! I talk in this episode about how middle age is not the worst time, and for me, the time of middle parenting (parenting kids who are school-aged, not toddlers an...

In this episode, I talk about 4 of my favorite ways to save money. Although this may seem like it's not related to wellness, I still think that spending more money than we plan to spend (or more money than we actually have) can really hurt our mental health, too. So, my 4 ways are 1) use the public library! For books, DVDs, etc. as much as possible 2) Use those memberships! From Costco to the...

In this episode, I define "hope" using Brene Brown's definition from Atlas of the Heart: Hope is a way of thinking or a cognitive process, not an emotion, that's made up of three components: goals, pathways and agency. I give an example of my own: my goal is to keep promoting what I want to see more of in the world: kindness, compassion, understanding, and strength that is not ab...

In this episode, I talk about how creativity can help us in troubled times, about what creativity is (loosely defined), how it can help us (flow, community/connection, etc.) and give a few examples of some creative things I did this past week! Even if you don't think of yourself as a "creative" person, there are a ton of different creative things you can do (that don't even have...

In this episode, I talk about 3 things that ADHD can look like, in my experience from my own child, and what is actually going on. I am not an expert on neurodiversity but have listened to many episodes of the Beautifully Complex podcast that has included many expert interviews, and I'd like to think that I am an expert (at least) on my own child. I hope this episode helps all people who know some...

This week, I talk about what I did to help me get through what turned out to be a tough week: 1) Dance in the kitchen (or wherever) 2) Limit news (or at least read news that you trust) 3) Do something each week to take care of the world/your community 4) Take care of yourself in any way that you can (take a nap if you need it, a bath, watch funny TV, even sometimes stress eat chocolate and then fo...

In this episode, I talk about the why and how of making small connections with people in your life every single day. I explain a study that was presented on the Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos, where commuters in Chicago were asked to either talk or not talk with other people on the train on the way to work. And surprisingly, the group who had (even somewhat awkward) conversations on the way...

In this week's episode, I talk about the things I am doing right now that I consider to be my "next right thing." This is from Frozen 2 when Anna is in a literal cold, dark cave, but just picks herself up and starts putting one foot in front of the other to just keep moving and figure out what to do. This is how the world feels to me right now but this advice works in times of sadnes...

In this week's episode, I talk about Part 2 of the book How to Break up with your Phone, by Catherine Price. I talk about first checking the data on how long you use your phone each day, to make you understand where you are at to begin, and also coming up with the answer to Guiding Questions including "What do you want to pay attention to?" Some tips include 1) sorting through your a...

In this episode, I briefly discuss the first half of the book I read over the break, called How to Break up with Your Phone, by Catherine Price. The first half of this book touches on why to break up with your phone. Some of the reasons include: they increase our anxiety, impulsivity, stress, depression, sleep problems, hurt our memory, focus, ability to think deeply and even our ability to form l...

In this final episode of 2024, I talk about a new definition of bravery/courage. The one we often think of is "being scared but doing the thing you are scared of anyway". I talk about an alternate definition by Glennon Doyle, that bravery is really "doing the thing that you know is the right thing, even if/when it is hard, even if/when you feel judged by others, even if/when you feel like you are...

In this week's episode, I talk about the 4 main benefits of asking for help, from Brene Brown and Dr. Laurie Santos of the Happiness Lab. 1) True friendship involves reciprocal helping (not just one-sided help). 2) Evolutionarily, we were made to help each other, to live in tribes, and if we were alone and did not help others and accept help from others, we died. 3) When we help others, it makes u...

In this week's episode, I talk about what to do when you feel like you cannot do anything at all, which is really just an episode on processing difficult emotions in real time (in this case, right after the 2024 presidential election in the US). I talk about using creativity, completing your stress cycle (hugs, laughter, crying, exercise), being with our people and checking up on them/showing up f...

In this week's episode, I talk about the 4 ways that I have found have worked for me in terms of loving my job over 20+ years (though this works for all jobs, not just ones we've had for years). 1) Never stop learning, 2) change, grow and tailor your job to what you love, 3) have multiple parts/components to your job (and think of them as such) and 4) having freedom of thought. Action item: think...