Pieces To Wellness

What are the Instigator and the Yogi up to this week? Better yet, what are they up to all the time? During a recent interview (tune in next week for that conversation), a guest asked us what our mission is. In our usual way, we tag-teamed a response on the spot, then reflected on it individually. This week we identify and unpack our mission, the mission of Pieces to Wellness. In short, our mission...

The title of our podcast, Pieces to Wellness, can be interpreted in several ways. One is that wellness is like a puzzle and the image on the puzzle that we aspire to is different for everyone. Wellness is a broad, holistic concept with many interconnected parts. This week, we list as many parts or pieces as we can think of - those that help us most and those that we struggle to remember to impleme...

Purpose. Joy. Flow. Kindness. Our guest this week is Leon Logothetis, widely known as "the kindness guy." This conversation is sure to boost your spirits, warm your heart, and maybe even inspire some faith in the inherent kindness of humanity. Leon shares his story of what inspired him to step away from a life that looked "successful" on the outside, but was deeply unfulfilling...

This week's episode discusses a common feature of depression and anxiety known as rumination. Rumination is also described as overthinking, and like many other symptoms of depression and anxiety, it tends to fuel itself. Ultimately, when we're ruminating, we're not being present or mindful, we're retelling old stories and/or anticipating possible future scenarios worriedly. Whi...

Another guest episode! This week we welcome Annah Elizabeth, founder and creator of the Five Facets of Healing Program. Annah's story is truly miraculous.  Annah turned her intense personal experiences of loss, betrayal, and grief into an extraordinary approach to healing that includes physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing. She shares her story with such openness and vulnerabilit...

This week we welcome a powerful guest, Vicki Savini. Vicki is one of those people whose mind and heart go full steam ahead all the time - she loves her people and pets deeply, and her compassion is endless. And, she is honest, open, direct, vulnerable, and creative. We get into all these things. Vicki is a teacher, writer, mom, speaker, and intuitive life coach. She wears all kinds of hats, rising...

Today, we rant. Productively, and diagnostically speaking. Here at Pieces to Wellness, we believe that while not everyone has mental illness, everyone has mental health . That's why we share tips, tools, strategies to keep you on the wellness side of the spectrum. We also believe that mental health is essential to overall wellness. All too often, people who live with mental health challenges...

This week we are honored to welcome the venerable Robina Courtin to Pieces to Wellness. Robina is a Buddhist nun with a remarkably direct, take charge personality that comes through immediately in our conversation.  Robina generously shares her wisdom with a real love for humanity that shines through. Together, we explore various daily practices that can literally help us change the way we think....

Routine maintenance is part of the regular vocabulary here on Pieces to Wellness. This week, we explore the origin story behind this favorite term. Once a month, we do a quick "tune up" episode. Each of these shorter episodes explores one or more practical tools we have in our mental health tool kit. You know, the ones that keep us on the wellness side of the spectrum. These tools are we...

Vulnerability - what does it look like, what does it feel like, how can befriending vulnerability support growth and healing? We're breaking it down and putting it all out there this week. Tim and Karen open up about how much each of our relationships with vulnerability have changed over the years. We share how we've masked our authentic selves with things like sarcasm, people-pleasing,...

You've probably heard the saying, "What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger." And while we don't wish tragedy on anyone, it is also true that sometimes we don't know what kind of strength we possess until we are faced with adversity. Real super heroes are known by their scars, not by accolades.  This week we welcome Pieces to Wellness friend, Taylor Locke. Costume or no c...

It's often said that healing is not linear. Some people compare it to a spiral in which you uncover new layers and lessons over time and can travel up & down, back & forth. In this week's conversation, we focus on some of the ways in which we each have learned to feel the most difficult feelings and navigate through them. These are our stepping stones .  There's also a misco...

As Pieces to Wellness moves into our second year, we wanted to re-introduce ourselves in a super short and sweet tune up episode. If you're new here, welcome! Pieces to Wellness podcast is hosted by Tim and Karen. We're a couple of regular people with experience living with mental health challenges. Each week we have a conversation about how we live with these challenges, what we're...

 **This week on P2W: Let’s talk about the big D—**depression. A listener asked us to dive into this topic, and we’re going all in.   Depression looks different for everyone. For both Tim and Karen, it’s been a long-time companion. In this episode, we unpack how it shows up—as a darkness, mask, a thief, a fog, even an octopus—and share our own experiences. Karen sees it as numbing; Tim as a deep di...

We are big fans of metaphor here on Pieces to Wellness, and this one's a doozy. This week we're exploring the idea of shaking your foundation. If we think of life as a house, what do you do when your foundation is damaged, or hasn't been poured properly, or other areas in the house start falling apart? The subtitle of Tim's book is: "Life is a DIY project. This is a DIY bo...

There is no timeline for grief. This week we are grateful to welcome Trena to the podcast. Trena shares her story with us all while she talks about her new book “Dear Aaron”    One things that rings true for most people, maybe even universally, is that healing is not linear. There are two big points in life… the day we are born and the day we leave this world. Maybe what matters most is how we wal...

Back in the garage this week for a stigma smashing tune up! Each month, these shorter tune up episodes focus on routine maintenance practices that keep us on the wellness side, and the tools we each actually use when we're faced with life's challenges.  This month we're talking about medications. There continues to be a stigma associated with the use of psychotropic medications to m...

Grief stays with you always. This week we are grateful to welcome Marie as our guest to talk about grief. If you're new here, we like to talk about topics that others shy away from. We believe that by having conversations with people about their lived experiences with things like grief, loss, mental health challenges, etc, we begin to reduce the stigma associated with these topics. Reducing s...

Welcome back to the first Pieces to Wellness book discussion! This is part 2 of Karen and Tim's exploration of Don Miguel Ruiz's book: The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom.  To recap, last week we reflected on our experiences with the first two agreements: Be Impeccable with Your Word , and Don't Take Anything Personally . The Four Agreements is part guidebook,...

Welcome to a Pieces to Wellness book discussion! It's not quite a club (yet), but from time to time, we'll be talking on the podcast about articles, books, artwork that we've found inspirational or helpful on our own journey. One of the books Tim and Karen both take tremendous inspiration from is Don Miguel Ruiz's book: The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom...

This week we're shining the light on some amazing programs in the Capital Region community. We had such fun talking with Tori Daniels from Ellis Medicine. Tori is Supervisor of the Family Room and Living Room programs. These programs offer urgent mental health care services to youth, adults, and families on a walk-in basis.  Tori shares passionately about these comprehensive programs that off...

We are back in the garage this week and talking resentment .  Karen and Tim do not try to define it but instead share what it is for them and how they experience it.  Resentment can keep you from moving forward, as if there was an anchor keeping you in that moment of the original pain. Karen and Tim both agree that there is a fairness piece to it. Maybe Resentment can teach us when something unfai...

A common phrase in wellness/self-care spaces is, "You can't pour from an empty cup." Yes, we agree. AND If your cup is overflowing, or full of yuck (read: self-limiting beliefs, self-doubt, old unhelpful narratives), you're bound to make a mess with what's in your cup. So periodically, routinely, it's important to clean the yuck out of your cup. Discern what serves yo...

Welcome back! Our guest this week is Jen Plisko, LCSW, therapist, and PIVOT relationship coach. She shares with us her love for mental health counseling, and from her deep well of expertise in DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) and PIVOT relationship coaching. One of the PIVOT tools is to consider interpersonal relationships through the lens of safety instead of love, develop appropriate boundarie...

A favorite line from 12-step groups is, "Expectations are premeditated resentments." In this episode, Tim and Karen dig deep into the degree to which expectations are also dangerous, especially for those of us with mental health challenges.  To us, expectations are based on beliefs, which start as thoughts. One more reason to notice when you're thinking negatively is so you can stay...