Finding Joy in the Hard

If life is feeling heavy right now, give yourself the gift of this 15 minute meditation to bring you back to center and remember that this moment is the only moment that matters.   I taught it on Monday and it was well-received.  If you'd like to join my complimentary Monday morning guided meditations - where I offer a healing tip and 10-15 guided meditation, you can sign up here:  The inform...

 Welcome back to Finding Joy in the Hard. Let the guilt go. If you said or did the wrong thing, you can say you're sorry. But guess what? No one else probably noticed.  And if they did, they noticed it for a second and moved on. Why can't we?  Because our minds like torturing us. That's its safe place.  But what the world needs more is your heart.  The world needs us to shine. The w...

My dear friend Denise and I talk about resilience, navigating the world of childhood cancer, what it’s like for the sibling, and how joy is found in the ordinary moments. You’ll feel her effervescent light shine through our conversation and be inspired by her unique perspectives and zest for life. Denise offers so much hope and inspiration. Today’s takeaways from our conversation: If you're l...

Does the weather affect your mood? Sometimes it just does, especially a long stretch of cloudy rainy days. But here's a thought to help you remember that the sunshine is never that far away. In the podcast, I shared that I'm offering a free workshop this Thursday, 1/23 at 4pm EST to help you balance your five core emotions using Jin Shin Jyutsu. Here's the link to sign up: https://t...

 Imagine meeting yourself for the first time, taking off your blinders and letting all the expectations go. Imagine seeing yourself as strangers do. Notice and feel your essence, your strength and your power. Maybe you notice your weaknesses, but that's not where you dwell. You see the whole person.  This was a meditation that I taught today in my Monday Morning Meditations to Stay Strong. It...

My husband told me this today when I told him about a conversation I had had a few weeks ago and how I'd respond differently next time. He said, "You waste a lot of energy on things that don't matter." It gave me pause and I wondered is this just a me thing —which I don't think it is or do a lot of us do that?  That is the focus on this five and half minute minisode along...

Welcome to Season 2 of Finding Joy in the Hard. I'm so excited to be in Season 2.  It's such an honor and a pleasure to share these conversations and mini-sodes with you. Since I launched season 1 with my story, it seems fitting to launch season 2 with a twist on my story - and thus I'm sharing Ydaiber Orozco's interview with me. We sat down last May, two days after the summit...

 It's a few days before Christmas and Hanukkah and I have a question for you.   Are you breathing?  I know it sounds silly because of course you're breathing. You have to breathe to live. But when we get overwhelmed with our to do list, especially during the holidays, we can forget to breathe, hold our breath, or breathe shallow. And all of this creates more stress.   So  this year, What...

Have you ever taken the time to notice what you're thinking? Unless it's a practice, you likely don't.    We think our thoughts are who we are. We hear them, think they're true and live accordingly.    But when we take time to notice what we're thinking, we can start to see a pattern. Maybe you'll hear a lot of shoulds. Y ou should do that. You should do this. Or mayb...

Today I'm sharing with you, "The gifts of grief," my interview with Cecilia Mannella. It's very fitting that I'm resharing this episode today, December 4th because it's the anniversary of my dad's death. My dad would be 94. He died when he was 79. I launched this podcast, Finding Joy in the Hard on December 4th, 2023, a year ago today because the anniversary of m...

Are you brave enough to let yourself be vulnerable and open your heart to connect to another person? In today's episode - 100!!!! -- I share a story about how Cathy Heller, author of Abundant Ever After and podcast host of the same name, was out to dinner with her family in July weeks after her father passed. It was a hole in the wall kind of restaurant where the tables are inches from one an...

Welcome back to Finding Joy in the Hard, where you'll get a mix of powerful stories of people who've gone through incredible challenges and have come out the other side. And you'll also get short, brief ahas, teachings,  thoughts that will help you get through your day.  I'm sharing with you my very first interview - my guest was Joanne Archer. I'm sharing it today on Than...

What have you decided you're too old to do?   Recently I turned 60. I can't believe I'm admitting it to you because it sounds too old.  But my dad, whose birthday happens to be today, never let age stop him.  In his 60's and 70's, he hiked the Appalachian Trail (or half of it before he passed). When he was 75, he started classical guitar lessons and when he was 77, he appl...

We recently lost my Aunt Ann. She was my birthday twin and only 18 years older than me. This mini episode focuses on 3 lessons I learned from my aunt that can change your life.   The information presented on this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or prescribe for any medical or psychological condition, nor to prevent, treat, mitigate or cure any such conditio...

My guest, Rachel Martin, prides herself on being a truth teller.  She's taking her mask off and telling the truth. Hiding behind a mask and trying to make everything look perfect takes too much effort and gives you zero time to fix things. She's grateful for the people who went out on a limb and said to her, "that's not normal or you need to work on this." You can reach Ra...

Allison Wyman, a family caregiving attorney, coach and consultant says the perfect time to talk about caring for a family member is when things are good so we’re prepared when the inevitable happens. It’s not if, but when a family member will need support.  Allison had to take on caregiving for her parents when she was a teen and then again in her late 20s. Perilous financial situations interrupte...

Do you even realize you're doing it?  What if we can listen to understand versus listen to correct or fix? Think about how much less stress we'll have? Listening to understand calms the nervous system and it creates connection with another person versus division.  It's a simple thing to change but not a simple thing to do. It takes practice and awareness.  Give it a try and let me k...

Alison was an avid runner, having run daily for 520 days straight when she had an accident hiking in New Zealand and had to be airlifted out of the area where she was traversing volcanoes. In this interview, Alison shares how she turned a difficult situation of temporarily losing her independence into pursuing her dreams—learning a language, writing a book and starting not one, but two podcasts. A...

In my 100th episode, Angela Crawford shares her journey with breast cancer and how it taught her to advocate in every area of her life. Angela shares what the journey taught her about herself, how she approached it and how every cancer story is different. She's uplifting and takes away a lot of the fear. A few of the takeaways include: 1)We have to advocate for our own health. No one else is...

Here's a meditation to take you to a higher vibration to help you recognize what's going right in your life. There's always something right, but we tend to look at what's wrong. Think about how much happier we would be if we focused on the positive.  For the healing element of this episode, I suggest you hold one of your middle fingers to boost your energy, ease feelings of ang...

Are you critical of your body or are you supportive and complimentary to your body?  We don't just have a body. We are our body. Let that sink in for a moment. You are your body.   Do you listen to your body when you're tired?  Do you get up and go to sleep?  When you have to go to the bathroom, do you get up and go? Or do you wait because you don't want to excuse yourself from some...

Do you ever find that sometimes you feel anxious or fearful and you can't figure out the reason?  Sometimes there is no reason. A lot of times there is no reason. Often, it has to do with the feelings we've shoved down consciously or unconsciously getting triggered and seeking an escape.  So what do we do?  In this episode, I share three ways to allow the emotion whether it be anxiety, f...

We all know that we push down emotions, both consciously and unconsciously. But have we stopped to question how that shoving down is holding us back in life?  Dr. David Hawkins in his book, Letting Go , shares that we think external circumstances cause us to be angry, sad, fearful,  fill in the blank, but stress results from accumulated pressure from within, from  guess what - those repressed and...

Here's a meditation I taught on easing worry and connecting to the abundance within you.   The Jin Shin Jyutsu that I teach is the long version to calm worry. You'll hold three fingers starting with thumb, followed by your middle finger and lastly your little finger. It doesn't matter which hand you hold, but continue with the hand you started with. If you're uncertain how long...

Learn how to find the upside of any situation in today's episode: "Kindness is your super strength with Irene Solo." Irene lost her dad when she was eight and her husband when her children were young, but when you listen to Irene, you'll hear only her strength, her courage, and her light. Living as a teen under a bridge in South Africa rather than focusing on being hungry, she...