Creating Midlife Calm: Coping Skills for Stress & Anxiety in Family, Work & Relationships

Lyn and Jay Caponigro share with us how they are navigating their mental wellness during this  last year since Jay's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. In listening to them we learn more about living than dying, the importance of dancing and how we have choices even in the most dire of times and circumstances to manage our thoughts and feelings. This episode is  not a movie of the week where eve...

In this episode, a listener takes on the Mental Wellness Challenge! For one week she observed her mind and applied what she learned in episode #30 to her everyday life. Wowza!! You will be impressed with how she navigates the river of mental wellness to bring calm to her mind when she has one of those mornings when everything goes wrong! Join us for a  fun and informative episode that is full of h...

What is Mental Wellness?? You kinda know, right? Wouldn't it be great to REALLY know? Join MJ for an encore performance of her initial episode where she gives you a practical and applicable way to  REALLY  understand mental wellness as well as tips to  start cultivating it immediately.  You don't need to feel like crap!  And we certainly don't need waiting for coffee to wreck our da...

This may have been a song from the cheesy movie, Oklahoma! but for many of us we aren't quite in tune with Curly McLain. (Google him if you are clueless). Join me in this episode as I talk with a neuroscience major to find ways that we can lean into our biology to make our morning routines a bit more beautiful. It it not nearly as hard as it seems and this is one area that a few tweaks can tu...

Quotas, Economic Downturns and Demanding Consumers, Oh My! Sales is one of the backbones of the American economy. A career in sales can test one's Mental Wellness whether it's your school's candy sale or your full-time job! Listen to this FASCINATING episode as a 25 year-old woman shares her journey in this career and how she has learned to steady her nerves, fine-tune her perspecti...

Don't put off listening to this episode on Procrastination! In this episode, a podcast listener takes on the role of guest to explore his problem with procrastination! You may be surprised (and relieved) to learn the origin of procrastination is not laziness. Tune in as MJ shares with this young man her tested and successful method of dancing with procrastination in a way that is fun, fascina...

With so many children of all ages suffering from anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses, the impact this has on parents often goes unnoticed. As today's guest says, "No one thinks to bring casseroles when someone's child is suffering from a mental illness." In this wise but raw discussion, we speak openly about the vital, scary, lonely and  often exhausting role parents...

Puppies, kitties, and ponies melt our hearts and lift our Spirit. Join MJ as she talks with her sister Ann, an animal whisperer , to think about the role animals can have in cultivating mental wellness.  In her enlightened and understated way, Ann teaches us to not underestimate how the wisdom we learn from animals can be applied to our relationship with our self and one another.  Creating Midlife...

At 18 years old, Marcus Engel was hit by a drunk driver and became blind. Join MJ and Marcus as they discuss how Marcus has learned to cultivate mental wellness as well as become an expert in Compassionate Communication.  Marcus's story is inspiring but his journey teaches us many mental wellness  tools that we can use in our day to day lives to help us cultivate mental wellness.  Creating Mi...

On today’s episode, MJ and her guest take on the topic of Adulting! Adulting! Adulting! As children we are  given the impression that becoming an adult is an on/off switch. Something that automatically  happens at 18, 21 or when we become a parent.  In reality, becoming  an adult  is more like  a dimmer switch, a way of life that  we grow into as we figure out modern adulthood with its many opport...

Grief and Loss , while being a natural part of life, brings most of us face to face with many new and often uncomfortable feelings, situations and relationships. Grief not faced or processed easily disrupts mental wellness. Listen as this wise and articulate woman shares the road she traveled after losing her husband of 41 years. Her insights and practical wisdom can help all of us travel the  exp...

You must listen to this profound story of immigration that builds on the last episode of reaching across the divide. Turn down the current cultural message that can cause you to be suspicious of immigrants and dial up your curiosity as this young man shares his journey of growing up in our country from a mental wellness perspective. Listen and learn and allow your heart to be opened. #takingthemys...

Our mental wellness depends on connection but what happens when we are divided with those with whom you live and love? Listen to live coaching session as this young man explores his path of living with "friends" who do  not share his political ideology! Fascinating for sure! Listen and learn about a subject that  not only touches most of us but disrupts our mental wellness. #takingthemys...

New Year. New Goals. New Pressure! Yep! Listen to this live coaching session as MJ explores with a D1 Athlete how he grew into handling the pressure. Be it on the field of life or football our mind is the best tool we have to manage  pressure. This is a LEARNED skill! There are no "emotionally gifted" humans just those of us who listen and learn as the gift of  our mental wellness grows....

You are gonna LOVE this episode!! MJ talks with a 92 year old woman who shares her wisdom that will help point your New Year in the right direction! This amazing human helps us focus on what really helps cultivate mental wellness and the good news is it's free and we are all wired for it! Listen and Learn in 2023!! #takingthemysteryoutofmentalwellness!! #stopfeelinglikecrap!! #Ucandothis!! Cr...

One week until Christmas and for most of us we are failing at what we had hoped to accomplish this holiday season. Fa La La La    La    La.  In this episode MJ talks to a young woman not about her failure and the holidays but her relationship to it in the everyday. Listen and learn how this young woman transforms her relationship to failure in simple and concrete ways that bring her new energy and...

In this Season of Cheer a little Mind Tending goes along way! Listen to this live coaching session as MJ meets with a young man who explores what simple things he can do to give his mind a break from the stress of it all. (A real break not 8 hours on Netflix). Lucky for you in this season of expense tending our mind costs nothing but a bit of intention and cheer toward ourself! So listen and learn...

In this live coaching session, MJ works with a college student who is courageous enough to battle comparison head on! Is comparison really a thief of  joy or is it just a human reaction that we can acknowledge and work with in order to get a more accurate picture of a situation. Sit back listen and learn, you're gonna love this young mans' journey! #takingmysteryoutofmentalwellness#stopf...

'Tis the Season! Welcome to Season 2 where the pod gets REAL! Live coaching each week! This week we anticipate the holidays where families gather to eat, drink and be merrry! Then real life gets in the way. Listen to this this live coaching session as MJ helps a well meaning mother think through her parenting of an adult child who is in distress! #takingmysteryoutofmentalwellness#stopfeelingl...

We often think of Spirit as being the domain of  religions or cheerleaders, but in this final episode of Season 1, MJ helps you to ponder the role your Spirit has in Mental Wellness.  What lifts your spirit: music, nature, reels of puppies and kittens? What dampens your Spirit: conflict, judgement, bad sleep or no time off? This type of Self-Awareness is so essential to Mental Wellness that MJ lit...

What the heck is Psychological Intelligence? It's the great connector. The skill set that helps us understand, feel heard and come to know others. Why have you not heard of this skill set? I have no idea.  It's the Rodney Dangerfield of Mental Wellness and I am on a campaign to increase our knowledge of what Psychological Intelligence is as well as how to apply it in everyday life. Who d...

Isn't it grand that Social Intelligence has nothing to do with how many likes or friends you have on social media? Are you one of the many people trying to figure out how to increase human connection after lock downs and hours scrolling on TikTok? Humans are social beings so it might seem weird that we need to up our smarts when it comes to Social Intelligence--but, we do.  The information MJ...

What's your superpower? If it's managing your phone, skip this episode. If you're like most of us this little bit of tech wizardry is managing you more than you're managing it. Skip the dismal statistics, forget the doomsday predictions and listen to this episode. Don't underestimate your ability to put your phone in its proper place. MJ offers her 5 step solution, teenage...

Sleep: The New Skill Set. This how a former client of mine categorized sleep after he went from 5.5 hours a night to 7.5 hours a night. He begged me to teach people the value of what he called a new skill set.  I did not tell him that sleep is the oldest skill known to humans but I did agree to share what he learned with all I met along the way. Join me for this absolutely essential piece of the M...

Self-Care...Blah, Blah, Blah. We hear about it all the time and most of the time it just makes us feel we are not beautiful enough, skinny enough, rippled enough, organic enough or just plain-- enough. This episode changes the focus from outside to inside. Join MJ as she asks you to think about Self-Care using the lens of  Mental Wellness. Go to https://mjmurrayvachon.com/one-pagers/ for a great o...