Inspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & Showing Up Authentically

In this episode I sit down with April Ratchford, occupational therapist and host of Adulting with Autism, a podcast reaching millions of downloads worldwide. April got into OT to become her son's advocate, discovered her own autism along the way, and has spent years since helping neurodivergent adults navigate the parts of adulthood nobody prepared them for. We talk about autistic burnout severe e...

After last week's episode telling the story behind the Grounded Life Framework, this week I wanted to offer something different, not the story, but the actual experience. This is a guided meditation that walks you through all four phases, Clear the Ground (Regulate), Find the Roots (Uncover), Tend the Roots (Embody), Let It Grow (Sustain), using the metaphor of a garden. Wherever you're starting f...

In this solo episode, I'm doing something a little different, sitting with just myself and sharing the real story behind the Grounded Life Framework, the four phases that now sit underneath everything I offer through Grounding with Ruth. I talk about who I was as a teenager and the years that followed, the swing from self-destruction to people-pleasing, and how both versions of me were equally dis...

This week's episode is a little different. Instead of a conversation, I'm taking you somewhere. A garden. A peony that hasn't opened yet. A lilac in full bloom. And a reminder that neither one is ahead of the other. This meditation is for you if you're pushing and pushing and still feel like it's not enough. If you're watching everyone else seem to move forward while you feel stuck. If just gettin...

What does it actually cost us to be the person who handles everything? In this episode, I'm talking with Dot Rock — HR strategist, CFO, pilot, single mom, and host of The Power of Oxygen First podcast. Dot shares the story of nearly crashing a plane while running on empty, the lessons she learned about asking for help after major surgery, and why she no longer believes in overwhelm. We talk about...

Have you been thinking about therapy but aren't sure where to start? Or maybe you tried it once, it didn't feel right, and you've been putting it off ever since? In this episode, I'm answering the questions I get asked most often about finding a therapist — from how to know if you even need one, to what to ask on a consultation call, to what to do if the first person you try isn't the right fit. I...

Have you ever done all the "right" things — eating well, holding it together, showing up for everyone and everything — and still felt like something wasn't right? That's where this conversation starts. In this episode I'm talking with Mel Grime, a burnout coach, registered holistic nutritionist, and yoga teacher who helps women step out of survival mode and back into themselves. Mel knows this ter...

This is a guided meditation for the moments after hard things — when you're not quite back to yourself yet but you're trying. In this episode, Ruth guides you through a simple practice to help your nervous system settle, using breath, body awareness, and grounding techniques you can return to any time things feel like too much. If your chest has been tight, your mind has been racing, or you've hit...

After almost a month away, I’m back — and in this episode I’m talking honestly about where I’ve been. Over the past few weeks, Keith and I have been navigating a flooded basement that turned into a major reconstruction project, weeks without heat and running water, and the anticipatory grief of learning that our cat Gus has cancer. But this episode isn’t really about the logistics of a hard month....

This week I sat down with Zulma Williams — licensed clinical social worker, founder of Dragonfly Therapy Services, and the swearing therapist. Zulma started her social work degree at 42, survived breast cancer, built a thriving practice, and at 60 packed up and moved to Panama to wake up to the sound of the ocean every morning. Her motto is: I had cancer. Cancer did not have me. We talked about wh...

This meditation is for moments when you have drifted a little far from yourself. When life has been full, or hard, or just a lot, and you can't quite remember the last time you felt like you. Rather than trying to fix anything or figure anything out, this practice offers something different: a chance to come back. Through a guided visualization, you will be invited to imagine uncovering something...

I spent the weekend doing yard work. Not something I would normally describe as meaningful — but we uncovered our backyard walkway that had been buried under grass for five years, and Keith found something hiding underneath that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. Stone feet. Just sitting there the whole time. This episode is about what that made me realize about the work we do on ourselve...

Last week I sat down with Hilary Momberger Powers and we talked about something that has stayed with me ever since — the idea of making friends with your mistakes. Not excusing them. Not bypassing them. Just meeting them with a little more compassion than we usually do. This meditation is built around that idea. It's about eight minutes. Find a comfortable spot and let's practise together. If you...

In this episode I sit down with Hilary Momberger Powers, a transformational mentor, motivational speaker, and life coach who has been in recovery since 1983. You may recognise her voice — she was the original voice of Sally Brown in the Peanuts cartoons. Her work now is all about helping women get free from the belief systems and wounds that keep them stuck. We talk about people pleasing as a trau...

Sometimes you don't need a long practice. You don't need a transformation. You just need a few minutes of quiet that belong to you. I recorded this episode after a few nights of broken sleep — thunderstorms, a restless body, the usual things that add up. And instead of pushing through and making something elaborate, I made something I would actually want to listen to when I feel like this. This is...

In this solo episode, I get honest about something most of us experience but rarely talk about — knowing exactly what we should do when anxiety or overwhelm hits, and still not being able to make ourselves do it. I share what happened when I tried to logic my way through my own anxiety a couple of weeks ago, why that never works, and what our nervous systems are actually doing when we can't access...

This meditation is for the weeks when there's just a lot. When your nervous system is working overtime, your feelings are bigger than usual, and you haven't had a real chance to stop. Rather than pushing through or trying to fix what's hard, this practice offers something different: a few minutes to pause, to acknowledge what you're actually carrying, and to remember that you don't have to hold it...

Sometimes the most supportive things are also the most overlooked: a real break, a bit of movement, and something warm in your hands. In this conversation, I'm joined by naturopathic doctor and tea maker Sara Love to talk about stress, the gut microbiome, and what it actually looks like to build self-care into a busy life—without turning it into another job. This episode is for you if: You've been...

This meditation is for moments when uncertainty is making you doubt yourself — when you're second-guessing your decisions, waiting for certainty that isn't coming, or questioning whether you're doing any of this right. Rather than trying to find the answers or force clarity, this practice offers something different: a chance to reconnect to your own inner knowing and trust yourself even when you d...

In this solo episode, I pause to reflect on reaching 50 episodes of Inspired Questions — how this podcast began, how it’s changed, and how I’ve changed along the way. I talk about recording the very first episode feeling terrified and unsure, learning to trust my voice over time, and letting go of the pressure to get it “right.” I share what showing up imperfectly has taught me about self-worth, a...

This short meditation is for moments when everything feels like a lot — when your mind is busy and your body is asking for a pause. Rather than trying to fix anything, this practice offers something simpler: a chance to come back to where you are, notice what’s here, and let your system settle. It’s built around the idea of taking things ten minutes at a time, without pressure to solve the whole d...

Dog struggles can feel surprisingly personal — and oddly isolating. In this episode, Ruth sits down with Emma Berumen, the founder behind Snout App (built from her own experience supporting her dog Luna through separation anxiety). They talk about what it’s like when your dog’s stress becomes your stress, why “quick fixes” often leave us feeling worse, and how real progress usually comes from smal...

This meditation is an invitation to come back to where you are, just as you are. It’s a practice of presence—not as something to achieve or get right, but as something you can return to again and again. Whether your mind feels busy, your body feels tired, or you’re feeling a bit scattered, this space is open to you. There’s no expectation to be calm or clear your thoughts. This is about noticing w...

January often comes with a lot of noise—about who we should be, what we should fix, and how quickly we should change. In this solo episode, I share my complicated relationship with the New Year, why resolutions have never really worked for me, and what I’m choosing instead. This conversation is about loosening the grip of expectation and finding a way into the year that feels more honest, more spa...

If you listened to my recent conversation with Anjali, you heard us talk about what happens when we stop performing and start being present. How much energy goes into managing insecurity and trying to be “enough” — and how things shift when we let that go. This 9-minute meditation is about stepping out of performance and into presence. About loosening the grip of the “not good enough” voice and re...