Pieces To Wellness

New Guest Alert! This week, the Pieces to Wellness duo is delighted to welcome Jen Degroff, coordinator and A.D.A.P.T. facilitator for Bring on the Spectrum (BOTS) in Albany, NY. BOTS is a community space and sensory gym. The community space offers a huge variety of classes and fun activities (from cabaret to self-defense to Pokémon) for neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals and groups. Usin...

This week the Instigator and the Yogi are talking about overthinking. We start with the questions: Does overthinking steal your joy? Can it be strategic or useful? Thinking about thinking (metacognition), like so many things, is a behavior that has a whole spectrum of applications. There are so many possible ways our thoughts can be helpful/healthy or unhealthy/unhelpful. It all comes back to our...

There is so much info out there this time of year about resolutions, intention-setting, goals. We talk a lot here about living in alignment with goals and values as an everyday practice, and this week's episode is no exception. And for many, the significance of a new year (or any date) on the calendar can be a motivator to take a step, to establish a goal that means something to you. It'...

In keeping with the spirit of the holiday season, this week's episode is a real gift! We are beyond grateful to welcome listeners to the first of several Deep End Conversations with Dave.  Dave is a regular listener to the podcast, and also happens to be friends with Tim and Karen. In fact, rumor has it that Dave and Karen have known each other since they were teenagers (ok, not a rumor, that...

Welcome to the 100th episode of Pieces to Wellness! This is a big milestone for us, and we're here to celebrate! Pieces to Wellness has evolved over the course of these 100 episodes, and this week, Tim and Karen get a little nostalgic, remembering some conversations that have really stood out and resonated for us. We remark on what we're most proud of, reflect on what we wish we'd d...

The idea for this week's episode came from these two quotes from Tim:  Are you a victim of your environment or are you the creator of your environment? and Life is a product of your decisions, not your conditions. This week the Instigator and the Yogi dig into what it can look like to live a life that we design, not one that just happens to us. Living by default is taking a passive stance and...

We're delighted to welcome a new guest to the show. In addition to being a life coach and meditation teacher, Matthew Maxwell got our attention as the author of How to Hold a Cockroach . His book combines so many of the things we love: a killer analogy, wise life lessons, and an approachability that comes from lived experience. Talking with Matthew was such a pleasure. We dug deep on things l...

Buckle up folks, this one's a doozy! The inspiration/intention behind this conversation was to identify the “pieces” that have the most negative impacts on our wellness. We thought, what if we call them seven deadly sins?! We love metaphors and analogies here, and we found a LOT to unpack in this conversation. The "seven deadly sins" feature in the Catholic religious tradition. They...

So much to say about this incredible conversation! This week we welcome Dr. Ilene Cohen to the show. Dr. Ilene has published six books on various aspects of mental health including anxiety, people-pleasing, and forgiveness. Three of her books are journals/workbooks that emphasize taking practical steps toward healing.  Dr. Ilene has been fascinated by behavior and the mind since childhood, and fou...

This week the Instigator and the Yogi are delighted to welcome fellow podcaster Jennica onto the podcast. Jennica is host and producer of the Multispective podcast . Multispective is all about having real people share their raw human experiences, particularly focusing on stories of triumph over adversity. Jennica shares that she got into podcasting because she has always been genuinely curious abo...

The Devil you know may feel like a comfy, well-worn pair of jeans that no longer suit your style. Or it may be a "tried and true" pattern of behavior that served you when you were in survival mode. This week the Yogi and the Instigator take on the topic of tackling those familiar behaviors and responses that may be dysfunctional or unhealthy. Life is a series of micro-moments. How we int...

This week we share some of our favorite quotes! Inspiration comes from many places. We share quotes from authors, scientists, fictional characters, religious/spiritual leaders, actors, all over the place. Tim and Karen consider ourselves to be collectors of inspiration. We recognize that it comes in all shapes and sizes and from all kinds of places. Finding a line that's perfectly phrased, or...

Welcome to Part 2 of our mini-series on the stress responses. Last week we discussed fight and flight - the primary stress responses that exist to keep us safe/help us survive. This week we're shining the light on freeze and fawn - the underdiscussed other sides of the stress response. Freezing and fawning are more often seen in people who have experienced stressors or traumas that they could...

Welcome to Part 1 of our 2 part series on the stress responses. These responses are sometimes referred to as trauma responses. They are the body's natural biochemical reactions to stress, real or perceived, internal or external. The fight-flight response developed as a primitive response to danger - it's purpose is to help us survive. In modern life, many of us experience a fight-flight...

This week the Instigator and the Yogi sit down with a therapist from Ellie Mental Health in Latham, NY , Aletheia! Aletheia specializes in treating people who have experienced trauma as well as individuals living with autism and ADHD. Aletheia's approach to helping people recover from trauma includes many embodied, sensory practices. In this episode, we discuss Aletheia's experience as a...

This week, the Instigator and the Yogi are unpacking joy. As usual, we're taking a slightly different approach, Tim calls it a perspective slap. We're digging deep and distinguishing manufactured or performative happiness from true, authentic joy. In our increasingly online, social media world, we're all constantly being sold products, experiences, interactions that we're told...

It's the last Wednesday in Suicide Awareness Month, and this week we are delighted to welcome Missy Stolfi. Missy is the Area Director of the Capital Region NY Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) . Coming up this weekend is the 21st annual Walk for R.I.T.A. in Saratoga Springs, NY. The walk is a significant fundraiser for our local AFSP chapter, and it's one...

How do you suture your future? What does that even mean? Suturing your future means doing what you can now to impact your future in a positive way. It means setting yourself up for success in terms of your mental-emotional-physical-spiritual well-being. To be honest, 'cause that's what we do here, the stuff that sutures your future is generally not flashy or sexy. It's things like p...

September is Suicide Awareness month. For our first episode of September this year, we're talking about the difference between active and passive suicidal ideation. First of all, it's normal to think about suicide. It's much more common than most people think (a study from the NIH found that over 10% of the U.S. population experiences passive suicidal ideation in their lifetime). In...

This week we're delighted to welcome another counselor from Ellie Mental Health to the podcast - meet Gab! Being in conversation with Gab was a tremendously rewarding experience - she exudes calm, presence, and safety. Gab got her LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor) degree from UAlbany, and worked in a clinic prior to coming on staff at Ellie. Her counseling services run the gamut, and he...

Who likes lists? In this month's Tune Up, we're checking in and listing off the various pieces that are meaningful components of our wellness. Some are tangible tools (like lists) that help us manage our time and stay on track with our values. Others are less tangible qualities like courage, vulnerability, and friendship that we try to cultivate through our practices. If we think of all...

Free - Not under the control or in the power of another.  If you want to free yourself, forgiveness is part of that process. Free your self with forgiveness, unchain yourself from those wounds and move forward in a healthy manner.  No hate, no retaliation, no extra weight, just eyes forward and keep moving step by step.  This week the Instigator and the Yogi attempted to tackle forgiveness and the...

This week we are delighted to welcome another therapist on Pieces To Wellness to talk with the Instigator and the Yogi. Jenna is a mental health counselor with Ellie Mental Health in Latham, NY. Jenna's enthusiasm and passion for helping others was engaging and clear right from the beginning.  Like Tim and Karen, Jenna is all about busting the stigma related to mental health, and she loves to...

This week's episode is short and sweet, and hopefully one you'll come back to over and over. One of the pieces that's been especially transformative for Karen's wellness is meditation, and this week she shares a guided meditation. Before the guided meditation, Tim and Karen describe what meditation is, and what it's not. We even try to dispel some of the myths about medita...

This week we're delighted to welcome Cormac, a counselor from Ellie Mental Health. We met Cormac recently at the open house for their new office in Clifton Park, and knew we had to get him on the podcast!  Cormac wanted to help people from a very young age, and naturally became a counselor. We found him kind, funny, with an ideal mix of knowledge, easygoingness, and a genuine caring heart. Wh...