Heart Of Life Podcast

In this episode, Brooke and Jesie explore some of the ways we can postpone our deepest desires while we wait to solve impossible puzzles. Discussing ideas of how self-sabotage can present itself as faulty beliefs and “I’ll do that when.” We can set self-sabotage aside by examining it with curiosity and vulnerability. This week's invitation: Can you identify an impossible puzzle that you feel s...

In this episode, Jesie and Brooke discuss what it looks like to realign with values, even when obstacles present themselves. Navigating new pathways is rarely smooth, and resistance can make them rockier. How can we anticipate a rocky path, release resistance, and realign with our values? This week's invitation: Can you just imagine where you want to be or how you want to feel? What could shif...

In this episode, Jesie and Brooke invite you to simplify the new year with a gentle realignment of values. Can we see the meaning in growth, change, and risk, while allowing the simplicity of our values to guide our efforts? This week's invitation: Can you gently realign with the values you hold that allow you to make meaning of growth-centered experiences? If you'd like to walk through a...

In this episode, Brooke and Jesie open the idea that perhaps the natural darkness of this wintering season has something to teach us. Leaning in with intention through the darkness, sitting with all parts of ourselves. Curiously identifying what we would like to release while in this dark season allows us to show up fully in preparation for the light to come. This week's invitation: Can you le...

This week's episode is the audio recording of the live mini-workshop Jesie held on coping through the holidays and selecting loving rituals. Grab a drink, something to write with, and settle in for a reflective and nourishing bonus episode. If you're located in Colorado and interested in working with one of the therapists at Riverbend Counseling, reach out to us at www.riverbendcolorado.co...

In this episode, Jesie and Brooke explore the idea of how intentional rituals can have incredible benefits for our well-being. From increasing a sense of control to mitigating the heavy impact of grief, ritual can allow us to have a nourishing intentional structure. Finding ritual, even in the mundane tasks can help us to live a more intentional life. "Ritual is the act of sanctifying action-...

In this episode, Brooke and Jesie deep dive into the benefit of creativity as a building block for authenticity. Creativity can create distance from the stories we've always told about ourselves and allow us to see ourselves and our world in new and healing ways. "At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are...

In this episode, Jesie and Brooke propose a pathway to connecting deeply with the wisdom of our bodies and exchanging judgment for curiosity. What happens when we follow the impulses of our bodies? Can cultivating curiosity help us better witness the sorrow of the world? This week's invitation: When you notice you are in a place of judgment, watching, or fear, what is a better and more curious...

In this episode, Brooke and Jesie discuss the idea of how noticing our core beliefs can allow us to more deeply understand the emotional experiences we are having. By accurately identifying our emotional experience and allowing our body to speak, we move closer to embodiment and physiological regulation. This week's invitation: The invitation is simple, look around, be curious, sit as an obser...

In this episode, Jesie and Brooke discuss the discomfort that can emerge when we begin to awaken to the emotions we have avoided. Mapping out our nervous system responses to help us welcome the whole spectrum of human emotion. This week's invitation: Create an emotional dashboard, begin to name emotions, and get curious about their message. Identify specific emotions that are harder for you. C...

In this episode, Brooke and Jesie highlight the power of gratitude when making sense of painful events. Not silver lining, or bypassing pain, but rooting deeply into true and real gratitude to add color and context to the picture of your life. This week's invitation: Think about a hard moment or a season of your life that felt "black or white" and start to ask yourself the questions....

In this episode, Jesie and Brooke challenge listeners, and themselves to re-evaluate where they place their focus. Even in the most challenging moments, we can see the healing that might also exist around the pain. This week's invitation: Can you increase capacity? Can you know, witness, and honor what is hard, and in those moments, can we ask ourselves what is also true? If you're located...

In this episode, Brooke and Jesie explore the idea of suffering and refining moments being the birthplace of awakenings. For many of us, the things we value most about our character development have come from times of struggle that we have bravely leaned into. In this episode, we share the invitation to look at the “places of breaking as where the light can come in” and to lean into the awakening...

Heart of Life is back for season three with some big questions and plenty of curiosity. If you had to live the last year of your life over and over again, would you? In this episode, Jesie and Brooke invite you to reflect on areas of regret and infuse them with hope, healing, and action. Are we living in a way aligned with our values? Are we spending time and energy in spaces and places that no lo...

In this episode, Brianna Hawk, LPC joins Jesie and Brooke in this two-part series on empowerment. Brie shares about the power in reconnecting to our true (capital S) Self and learning to trust ourselves again. An inspiring word from Brie: There is a wonderful Australian artist and activist named Lilla Watson who says, "If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you hav...

In this episode, Brianna Hawk, LPC joins Jesie and Brooke in this two-part series on empowerment. Brie shares about the power in reconnecting to our true (capital S) Self and learning to trust ourselves again. An inspiring word from Brie: There is a wonderful Australian artist and activist named Lilla Watson who says, "If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you hav...

Calling all People Pleasers! In this episode, Brooke and Jesie offer a new, gentler, and more effective way to communicate with ourselves and others. This episode unwraps the idea of possibility through the word "perhaps." Perhaps we don't have to take care of other people's emotional experiences for them, and perhaps we can love people well by allowing for curiosity to take the...

In this episode, Carolye Asfahl, LPCC, NCC joins Jesie and Brooke as they explore the healing power of being in nature. Whether you are an avid outdoors lover or tend to prefer the creature comforts of the indoors, Carolye presents some accessible ways to bring the healing power of nature into your unique healing journey. A little about Carolye: she attunes her counseling approach to her client’s...

In this episode, Courtney Carter, LPC joins Brooke and Jesie in exploring the gifts of neurodivergence. Courtney shares her own journey of reclaiming the gifts of ADHD through trauma healing. A therapist herself, Courtney brings a unique perspective to the work of embracing our authenticity and unlearning negative thought patterns associated with our most genuine selves. If you or someone you know...

In this episode, Heidi Bartle joins Jesie and Brooke in a discussion about what it's like to find hope even in the darkest times. Speaking candidly about her own relationship with mental illness, Heidi offers an honest look at what it feels like to grasp hope in the cycles of depression. Sharing the inspiration behind her book When Mommy Feels Sad , Heidi offers insight into how to look honestly a...

In this episode, Sara Correll, LAC, LPCC, NCC joins Brooke and Jesie in a discussion about help for the helpers. Whether you're a therapist, teacher, nurse, or the primary support in your family, there are nuggets of truth in this episode for you. Sara brings colorful imagery and gut-punching metaphor to what it's like to have too much on our plate.  With nearly a decade of experience, Sara b...

In this episode, Jesie and Brooke reflect, lower walls, and invite other helpers in the guild of healing to bring their passions forward. Founded on the belief of abundance in our field, Brooke and Jesie believe there is enough for us all to have what we need and space for us all in this healing work. If you're a therapist (anywhere in the United States) and would like to join us, reach out to us...

In this episode, Brooke and Jesie take the body-positive conversation deeper than the aesthetic. Deeper than delighting in our bodies, this episode invites listeners to identify and practice "standard acts of love" even on the days we are most "out of love" with our bodies.   "Shine a great light on your most amazing qualities, we tend to focus on the negative aspects of us and forget all the...

In this episode, Brooke and Jesie discuss the necessity of fear and how it differs from anxiety. Allowing for a gentler relationship with fear, and inviting curiosity into our humanity. Can we allow our fear and judgment to be quieter than our curiosity and compassion?  "Am I confronting my fears and overcoming them?" The card referenced in this episode comes from The Reflect Deck If you're l...

Finishing the exploration of the concept of "intentional change" in the final part of this three-part series, Jesie and Brooke break down the idea of sustainable change based on our values. Part three walks listeners through a value sort in real time, along with helpful exploratory questions and prompts. Join Brooke and Jesie in this final installment of the sustainable change series, identifying...