The Work IN to move out of stress, tension & anxiety

Today we begin a series of episodes on the metamorphosis of menopause and perimenopause. and how  to use yoga and the principles behind a yoga lifestyle to tap into a deeper well of wellness for longevity and health beyond what the eyes can see. In this series we’ll touch on 5 areas and perhaps more Pelvic floor and bone health Brain and gut health Sleep Why is this important? Why should we care?...

They say women are excellent multitaskers. That’s a lie. What we’re really good at is overriding our body and nervous system to the point of exhaustion and suffering through undernourishment. There is no multitasking in diet and exercise. You can’t run yourself into the ground without rest and balanced nutrition and get stronger. Skinny and healthy aren’t the same thing. Today on The Work IN we’re...

The nature of entrepreneurship is experimental. There isn’t any certainty that what you have to offer is what people want. So we test and investigate and try things. There comes a point in every business and especially wellness business where you have to stop testing and stand and deliver. Today on The Work IN we’re going to take a look at what that looks like for successful fit-preneurs and the c...

My guest today is Shaye Molendyke is a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT 900-hour), Trauma-informed E-RYT-500, and Continuing Education Provider (YACEP.   Shaye has more than 5,000 teaching hours. Shaye is a 28-year Air Force veteran, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.   In 2012, she combined her military and counseling experience with her love of yoga in creating the trauma-sensitive yo...

Meditation as medicine. Why Yoga Nidra works for mental health.  NSDR non sleep deep rest is all the rage these days, thank you Andrew Huberman. But it has been around in the form of Yoga Nidra for thousands of years. What does yoga Nidra have that NSDR doesn’t? And will you miss it? Today on the Work IN we’ll take a look at what’s really going on in a Yoga Nidra Meditation, what’s missing from an...

Today on the Work IN we are so excited to have our favorite Osteopath and pain care educator, Colleen Jorgensen back with us on The Work IN. As you may remember Colleen is also a Pain Care Aware Trainer, therapeutic pilates, yoga and somatics practitioner and she brings a world of experience to the conversation around connecting the mind and body for real world resilience and results. Our conversa...

Today on the Work IN we are so excited to have our favorite Osteopath and pain care educator, Colleen Jorgensen back with us on The Work IN. As you may remember Colleen is also a Pain Care Aware Trainer, therapeutic pilates, yoga and somatics practitioner and she brings a world of experience to the conversation around connecting the mind and body for real world resilience and results. Our conversa...

Somatics IS the secret neuroscience of yoga and all exercise. As Fit pro’s, students and fitness enthusiasts we’re using some pieces of somatic therapy every time we move even if we don’t know it. Today on the Work IN we are going into the dark cave of the brain to shine a light on what makes certain kinds of movement somatic and how we can use that magic to build resilience, support mobility, str...

Smart bodies smart kids Kids need yoga too Ep 163 Kids Yoga the key to socio-emotional development and mental health Trauma informed yoga builds smart bodies and smart kids. Science is telling us that our interoception, our somatosensory sixth sense, is important in being able to focus, learn and recover from all forms of stress. Children who are chronically scared, hungry, tired and neglected wil...

Trauma informed. It sounds good but that term isn’t well understood by the general public and has been diluted by the wellness community by click bait, quick buck certifications. There’s an assumption that because yoga is often recommended for ptsd, chronic pain, anxiety and depression that any and all yoga is trauma informed and that is simply not true. Today on The Work IN we’re taking a look at...

5 reasons to start teaching off the mat now Don’t wait till you’re injured to step off your mat No matter how strong, fit or healthy we all get injuries from time to time. It’s petrifying for fit pros because so many of us are contractors so no work no pay.  I don’t know any instructor who hasn’t had to deal with an injury from time to time. Sometimes you have to take time off. But you can take le...

How to read and interpret the alternative health science for wellness professionals In the trauma-informed space where movement, mental health and western medicine overlap, there is an expectation that as a wellness professional we are up to date on the latest science and most effective ways to help people optimize their health.  There’s an assumption in the US that we have proof of efficacy for a...

When a child is emotionally dysregulated we call it a temper tantrum, a phase and these days “big feelings”. When an adult is emotionally dysregulated we call it mental illness. What is it that happens or doesn’t happen between childhood and adulthood that paves the way for the long list of disorders now associated with emotional dysregulation and what can we do differently? That’s the topic for t...

People are wired for connection. It’s an evolutionary survival mechanism innate in even the most introverted of us. And it’s repeated from our cultural community and tribal tendencies all the way down to a cellular level in the body. Connection in the context of health and wellness can look like mindfulness practices, building self awareness through meditation and journaling, setting healthy bound...

Episode 157 How to stop playing it safe and get out of protection, hypervigilance and anxiety We are working our way through 5 categories of health with our Cat 5 challenge and today we’re diving into category 4 the nervous system. Last week we discussed the overlap of the nervous system and sleep and how we’re looking for ways to help the body feel safe enough to be able to relax into that parasy...

S leep or lack of it is probably the number one complaint people have and the number one thing that we need to improve  any and all areas of our health. Everything we do during the day can affect how we sleep from what we eat and drink to when we eat and drink, when and how we exercise, whether or not we get outside to the temperature of the room and the state of our sex life. But today I want to...

Back in the day it used to be a pretty hard sell to get women to pick up the heavy weights. There was a lot of false perceptions and misunderstandings about what weight training would do to a woman’s body. Any body really. People thought weights were for bulking up and cardio was for slimming down. And yes, they can get those results if you’re also eating to support that activity. But resistance t...

Today I thought we’d take a look at 4 areas of nutrition to focus so we don’t actually have to diet.  If we can get these 4 things dialed in we never have to diet again. They kill cravings, balance metabolism, help shed excess weight, correct insulin and leptin resistance, maintain muscle and bone mass, balance energy throughout the day and help us sleep better which in turn improves our stress re...

Krysty Krywko  is a coach, educator, writer, mixed media creator, and the founder of Purple Dog Sober. She, like so many gen x moms out there, spent years as a card carrying member of the socially acceptable mommy wine culture. Until she took a chance on feeling better and gave it up for 30 days and then forever. What sets her apart from other sobriety coaches is the uniquely creative tool she use...

Here we are in Season 4 of The Work IN. Happy New Year everyone! This year is fresh and new and as I often do I’m looking back over the last year. What worked and what could have been better? What do I want to keep and what can I let go? What needs to change? I learned so much in 2023.  There are things I know I’m outgrowing for sure. There’s a lot that I want to keep. One of the things that I lov...

 Happy Holidays ! Enjoy this best of replay of my discussion with Colleen Jorgensen about how we interpret chronic pain science. Welcome back to the work in everyone. There are so many frustrating things about health and wellness information. As fitness professionals and coaches we watch for the latest information in science and do our best to curate and explain it to our clients and students. As...

Happy Holidays! Enjoy this timely replay of my interview with Nate Sleger Nate Sleger is a speaker, author, and fitness industry expert who had his start as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. He’s the host of the Begin Within Podcast, where he interviews experts to uncover the behind-the-scenes of fitness motivation and lasting results. Nate is also the founder and operator of Begin Within Fi...

Welcome back everyone to The Work IN. I'm your host, Ericka Thomas, I've often thought that the universe puts you exactly where you need to be exactly when you need to be there. And so when I found myself searching for a way to expand my career and integrate trauma release exercise with trauma informed yoga, in order to better serve warriors, both in and out of the military. I was absolu...

Fit pros are often the ones we go to for inspiration and motivation when we need to refill our energy well. But as coaches and instructors how can we avoid burnout and stay inspired and motivated not only for our clients but for ourselves? Today on the Work IN we’ll be talking about how to beat burnout and coaches' block to reconnect with your creative flow in your fitness business. 3 coachin...

We spend a lot of time in the fitness industry learning skills. We learn how to do particular poses and exercises, what order to put them in, what to look for in alignment, how to do calorie calculations or figure out 1 rep max or calculate macros. Anyone can learn those skills. I don’t know that any fit pro would consider what we do art. But maybe we should. There’s a certain level of creativity,...