The Wellness Compass Podcast

THIS SUMMER In honor of this being our last column of the season — we will be taking the summer off to rest and renew — we would like to share one of our favorite poems with you. We hope this will inspire you as it has us.   If you prefer to listen to this poem read by the author herself, click HERE .   "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver Who made the world?   Who made the swan, and the black bear?  ...

This podcast is a companion to our Wellness Compass column. What follows is the text of the column we emailed out this week on this same topic: "Baseball is too slow for me—I prefer sports like basketball with its constant action and scoring" is a comment we overheard at our grandson's Little League game this week. Because it wasn't said directly to us, we didn't have the opportunity to respond wi...

Sharing Awe: What 19,000 Likes Can Teach Us About Supporting One Another's Mental Health Wellness Compass Podcast Hosted by Holly Hughes Stoner, LMFT & Scott Stoner, LMFT Episode Overview Something unexpected happened after Holly and Scott's last column and podcast about the Artemis II astronauts — a quote about the view of Earth from space, and how it reveals no borders, no divisions, only our sh...

Wellness Compass Podcast — Show Notes Episode: What Artemis II Can Teach Us About Mental Health About This Episode Scott and Holly Stoner, licensed marriage and family therapists and co-founders of the Wellness Compass Initiative, reflect on the Artemis II moon voyage and draw out four wellness lessons for our everyday lives. Recorded the night before the crew's scheduled return to Earth, this epi...

What follows is the Wellness Compass Column that was send out today and based on the same topic as this podcast episode: Only Love Can Do That Theo of Golden by Allan Levi is the book I (Holly) am currently reading and loving.   Only three quarters of the way through it, the main character Theo and his story has really captivated me as he is everything I'd like to be: curious about others, a good...

  The Gift We So Often Forget to Give Ourselves Wellness Compass Podcast Self-Compassion and Self-Care Episode Summary We hear about self-compassion and self-care so often that the words can start to wash over us — and yet most of us are still much better at offering compassion to others than to ourselves. In this episode, Holly and Scott Stoner explore why these practices are not luxuries or sign...

Wellness Compass Podcast Show Notes Episode #173: The Courage to Reset: Lessons from an Olympic Champion, Overview Scott Stoner and Holly Hughes Stoner explore the power of making intentional resets in our lives — drawing inspiration from Olympic figure skater Alyssa Liu, who took two years away from skating at age 16 to prioritize her mental health, then returned to win gold at age 20. The Inspir...

What follows is our Weekly Wellness Column that is always on the same topic as our Weekly Podcast: Valentine's Day invites us to celebrate love with cards, flowers, and chocolates—gestures that honor the warm feelings we have for the people we care about. Feelings are an important aspect of love, but love is so much more than that. What sustains love through ordinary days, difficult seasons, and g...

What follows is our Weekly Wellness Column that is always on the same topic as our Weekly Podcast:   Start With Why (Part 2 of a six-part series on change). Most attempts to make a change will fail if they are not connected to a clear "why"—a clear reason for making the change. The "why" is the root system that grounds and nurtures change. Without a strong root system, most attempts at change will...

In this episode we mention our Wellness Compass Self Assessment.  Here is a link to our assessment(s). Click HERE to learn more, and/or to download the self-assessment for your own use.  And Holly mentions her personal trianer in this episode--the amazing Luanne Vogel. You can learn more about Luanne, including her contact info HERE . And if you would like to join our upcoming Wellness Compass "po...

Sharing Light in the Darkness In the 1990's, there was a children's show on the Nickelodeon Network that our children and we loved, called Are You Afraid of the Dark? One thing that made the show special was that it was just scary enough, without being terrifying. We find ourselves thinking about that show now as we in the Northern Hemisphere approach the darkest night of the year. There is a lot...

What follows is our Weekly Wellness Column that is always on the same topic as our Weekly Podcast:   The Spirit (and Neuroscience) of Generosity The holidays are a time for gift giving and generosity. Nonprofits receive more donations of both money and volunteer hours this time of year than at any other time. With that in mind, we offer a few thoughts on practicing generosity—not just during the h...

The Power of "Enough"-Finding Contentment in a Culture of More   We live in a culture that constantly tells us that we need more, especially as we approach the holidays. More success, more possessions, more activities, more social media likes, more achievements, more of everything. We don't know about you, but the constant striving leaves us exhausted, anxious, and spiritually depleted. There is a...

What follows is the Weekly Wellness Column we send by email each Friday, based on the same topic as the podcast episode for that week.  You can sign up for the Weekly Wellness Column HERE . Beyond Thank You: Four Truths About Gratitude from an Unexpected Vista The two of us went on a hike the other day. It was a beautiful late Wisconsin fall day. We had chosen a large state protected area we'd nev...

What follows is the Weekly Wellness Column we send by email each Friday, based on the same topic as the podcast episode for that week.  You can sign up for the Weekly Wellness Column HERE   Awe, Mystery, and the Northern Lights: Nature's Gift to Our Well-Being This week, something extraordinary happened. People across the Northern Hemisphere stopped in their tracks, looked up at the night sky, and...

What follows is the Weekly Wellness Column we send by email each Friday, based on the same topic as the podcast episode for that week.  You can sign up for the Weekly Wellness Column HERE Taking Time to Reset Having just reset our clocks this week, we know that this simple adjustment—moving backward by a single hour—can change our entire rhythm. For some, the change was not a big deal; for others,...

This episode finds Holly and Scott exploring lessons from Day of the Dead celebrations and how they can support our inidividual and family well-being.  What follows here is the column they send out by email each week that is always on the same theme as the weekly podcast.  You can signt up for the weekly email column HERE . What the Day of the Dead Teaches Us About Emotional and Family Wellness Wh...

(Click on the player at the top to listen to this ten-minute episode)    What follows is the weekly column we email every Friday that is a companion to this weekly podcast. This podcast episode expands on the content of the column. You can subscribe to the weekly column HERE . Making the Problem the Problem, Not the Person We've all been there: a conflict starts small—maybe it's about whose turn i...

(Click on the player at the top to listen to this ten-minute episode)    What follows is the weekly column we email every Friday that is a companion to this weekly podcast. This podcast episode expands on the content of the column. You can subscribe to the weekly column HERE . Our Need for Different Kinds of Rest Our Wellness Compass Initiative is a holistic approach to wellness. With that in mind...

What follows is the Weekly Wellness Column that we email out each Friday morning.  Our weekly podcast is an expansion for the column. You can sign up for the Weekly Wellness Column HERE . Transcending the Limits of Either-Or Thinking In our counseling practices, we often hear clients express their struggles in absolute terms.  "I'm either a complete success or a total failure." "My relationship is...

What follows is the Weekly Wellness Compass Column which is emailed each Friday morning-the content of our column and podcast are always related. You can find our columns at: https://www.wellnesscompass.org/column A Few Things We Can Learn From Dr. Jane Goodall Each of our four Wellness Compass Points this week is a quote from scientist Dr. Jane Goodall, who passed away this week at the age of nin...

In recognition of September being National Recovery Month, we are pleased to share four Wellness Compass Points that offer wellness wisdom for everyone, drawing on the traditions of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step recovery groups.     Wellness Wisdom for Everyone from the Twelve Steps: Celebrating Recovery Month Four Wellness Compass Points & Three Questions 1. Whether d...

Emotional Flooding: Four Wellness Compass Points and Three Questions   Psychologist and author John Gottman describes emotional flooding as "a sensation of feeling psychologically and physically overwhelmed during conflict, making it virtually impossible to have a productive, problem-solving discussion." Here are Four Compass Points to help guide us when this happens.   1. Everyone gets emotionall...

  Welcome back to season five of the Wellness Compass Column and Podcast. We are glad to be back with you.  Fall is a time of transitions, and we have one of our own to share with you regarding the structure of this column. Just as a compass has four points, our new format will feature four essential points of wisdom each week on a different wellness or mental health topic. We think you will find...

What follows is the Weekly Wellness Column which we send out by email each Friday on the same topic as our weekly podcast.   ASAP: As Slow As Possible As we prepare to transition to summer, many people look forward to two things: more time outdoors and a slower rhythm of life. If you are a regular reader/listener of our weekly column and podcast, you know we take a break from producing this conten...