Pieces To Wellness

This week we are excited to welcome a new guest to the podcast: David Grosh. David describes himself as a soul on a healing journey. About 5 years ago, David experienced a cascade of events resulting in numerous symptoms of trauma, including chronic anxiety and extreme insomnia being held in his body. He found that he did not have the skills to alleviate his symptoms, and mainstream practices like...

Welcome back to the garage for another tune up episode. Each month, these shorter tune up episodes provide a brief overview of some of the practical tools in our toolboxes that we use to keep ourselves on the wellness side of the mental health spectrum. Trigger warning! This month's tune up episode is all about glimmers. What's a glimmer, you ask? Glimmers are the opposite of triggers. T...

This week's conversation covers all the bases. Most importantly, what does it mean to return to baseline? An often overlooked, but exceptionally important component of mental wellness is familiarizing yourself with your own personal baseline. We like to think of baseline as ground zero, the point at which you are regulated, at homeostasis. When life throws multiple stressors at us, and we are...

This week on Pieces to Wellness podcast, we journey inside the fortress walls. A fortress can be a well-fortified structure that offers safety to those within while defending itself from anyone or anything on the outside. One true privilege that a fortress offers is the ability to extend protection to a chosen few. Something Jordan refers to as "selective vulnerability". But... What if o...

This week it is our great pleasure to welcome a guest who is a true mental health warrior. Katie is a licensed mental health counselor as well as a certified clinical anxiety treatment professional. Currently Katie is the Clinic Director of Ellie Mental Health in Latham. She has offered her services in and around New York's Capital Region since 2002. We always wish we had more time with our g...

This week on Pieces to Wellness we discuss the art of suffering. Suffering is defined differently by each individual who experiences it. Like stress, suffering to some extent is a natural part of life. There is a Buddhist saying, "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." Through this week's conversation, we've concluded that the acceptance of pain and suffering, and the mean...

We're back in the garage with another tune up episode. Every month, these shorter tune up episodes offer a brief overview of some of the practical tools in our toolboxes that we use to keep ourselves on the wellness side of the mental health spectrum. This week we're talking about the all important and often difficult subject of creating meaningful connections. Nothing happens in isolati...

This week we complete our three part series which we've dubbed, Deep Water Exploration.  Up this week is Karen!   We suit up one more time to explore the dark waters, where Karen has spent some time. Listen as she explains how she survived some pretty rough waters and emerged stronger for it. Karen opens up about what it was like growing up in a family where the silent treatment was a way of...

This week we continue our three part series which we've dubbed, Deep Water Exploration. The idea for this series came from an email we received from a listener, saying they wanted to learn more about each of the three of us. Up this week is Jordan!  We suit up and explore the deep waters, where Jordan is most comfortable, and find out more about his process.  Jordan's bravery is apparent...

This week we are delighted to kick off a three part series which we've dubbed, Deep Water Exploration. The idea for this series came from an email we received from a listener, saying they wanted to learn more about each of the three of us. We accepted this challenge, and Tim was brave enough to go first! Over the next 3 episodes, we'll each explore the depths of who we are, how we got to...

This episode is all about people. We see peers as a close knit group of individuals who are likely to share some or most of our own ideals. Sometimes our peers may not be much like us at all, but what they offer is a unique contrast to a lifestyle within our comfort zone.  Tim breaks down the various categories of peers, friends, and acquaintances using the friendship peer-a-mid. Jordan asks, why...

We're back in the garage again with another monthly tune up. Tim kicks the conversation off by sharing a solid list of helpful starting points from Psychology Today ( https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/erasing-stigma/202001/18-ways-build-mental-wellness ) to help anyone begin their mental health journey toward the wellness end of the spectrum. Then Karen, Jordan & Tim dive into the p...

Pieces to Wellness is beyond excited to welcome our first guest! Beth Skinner Jasinski, personal trainer, health coach, and cannabis coach extraordinaire joined us to talk about all kinds of mental health things. Beth has been a fitness professional for over 15 years, and mental wellness is what she's all about. She vulnerably shares about her own mental health journey as a child of the 80&ap...

You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose! Ever wished you were friends with Bob Ross? Or Mr. Rogers? To the Pieces to Wellness trio, these 2 exemplify many of the qualities of a good friend. Friends come in all shapes and sizes. A good friend shows us who we really are by highlighting our potential and our deficits without judgment. Complem...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. And here at Pieces to Wellness podcast, every day is mental health awareness day! Even with the best mental health routine, we all still need a little spring cleaning between the ears. What habits continue to serve us and which ones do not serve us anymore? What's hiding in the basement collecting dust? What ideas, beliefs, and values need to be purged? ...

This week we're talking mindsets -  fixed mindset as compared to a growth mindset.  Shifting from fixed to growth usually results in some growing pains. Yet don't we also experience pain when we find ourselves stuck in place with no way out? Many of us have experienced just that.  A fixed or closed mindset is characterized by all or nothing, black and white thinking. It is fear and/or co...

Pop the hood! It’s time for our monthly tune up. In this week's shorter episode we discuss how words matter. The words we use in conversations with others and equally important, the words we say to ourselves. Self-talk, otherwise known as internal dialogue, is the constant background chatter that hums away in our minds as we go through life. Self-talk isn’t always kind. At times it can be dow...

This week we are back in the workshop trying to answer the question, "can we fix other people?" What makes a person broken, or in need of "fixing", and what can we do to help them? How is helping different from fixing? Oftentimes we do more damage than good when we try to fix others. Having someone try to fix you seems to only call motives into question and breed resentment. To...

Feeding Joy Are joy and happiness the same thing? Can we do joy wrong? What are the enemies of joy? As Karen points out, “there are differences to be explored." Merriam-Webster defines joy as the emotion evoked by well being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires. Perception and intention both have roles to play. For some, joy comes naturally. Other times...

Planting seeds of wellness with the gang - We made it to episode 10!  To those of you that have joined us, we thank you ! Life’s a puzzle. A big complicated puzzle full of pieces some of which may not fit. Maybe some of the pieces are missing. On today’s episode we take a deep dive into unknown waters to find the missing pieces. Only through patient exploration and well thought out intention do we...

Every month we are releasing quick episodes to help recalibrate your mind and body. This month's tune up is about Routine Maintenance. On this week's episode we look under the hood and do a quick tune up. Routine maintenance is a key component to sustaining our mental wellness. It’s all about being proactive.  Rest, personal time, and journaling are a few of the many things we each do to...

This is a big one.  Surrender... The word alone holds a certain negative connotation for many of us. Surrendering might feel akin to failure. It might feel the same as giving up. What if our power exists in a peaceful coexistence with what is, rather than with what might be? Finding this power means looking at and releasing our own expectations. Allowing surrender is an aspect of healing that many...

On this week's episode we discuss the rules of the road.  Our vehicle gets us where we want to go and allows us freedom and peace of mind. In a way, a car is a lot like us.  A car runs best with meticulous up keep, an abundance of safety, and a generous amount of patience and cooperation with other drivers. If we ignore our vehicle, much like our mental and physical health, things start to br...

“Unhealthy anger becomes healthy anger when you look at it like a gift,” is what Jordan so eloquently spoke during this episode. Welcome to episode 6, “ Owning Your Anger”. Can anger actually be healthy? As it turns out, it can be. What does healthy anger look like? It all depends on what you do with it. It starts with honesty. When we are honest with our self we start to see the layers beneath or...

When you think of flying like an eagle, do you focus more on taking off, soaring high, or sticking the landing? In this week's episode, the Pieces to Wellness team discuss how flying like an eagle can be a metaphor for pursuing dreams and living life with confidence and authenticity.  Jordan and Karen share stories about leaving the nest, and how setting attainable goals helps them stay in fl...