Wellness Podcast

In this episode, I talk about some of the things I did this week to take care of myself after the worst week ever. Oh I forgot to mention in the episode that tonight (Friday, the day I am recording) is Friday night Movie Night and we are watching Coco! I talk about the difference between moving through our emotions in a healing way rather than numbing them, and my action item is to think about som...

In this episode, I talk about the idea that we don't need to have just one friend (or partner, or parent, or child, or whatever) who is all things to us. Instead, we can diversify and have work friends, and friends from our childhoods, and friends who are the parents of our kids' friends. We can have friends who love bike riding and friends who love going to the movies and we don't have to force t...

In this week's episode, I talk about my top 5 favorite study tips! If you aren't a student but just having a busy week, these can be useful for you as well. 1) Consider spaced rather than massed studying (spread out your studying rather than studying all at once) 2) Plan out your breaks 3) Eat healthy 4) Exercise (and don't beat yourself up if it's like 10 minutes a day) and 5) Study smarter, not...

In this episode, I talk about how there are actually 3 components of real self-care, not just pedicures and baths. 1) solitary self-care (like pedicures and baths) but keeping in mind what actually helps YOU personally, not what you think you "should" be doing. 2) Social activities and volunteering (even in your own job) and keeping in mind that people generally like us more than we think they do...

In this week's episode, I talk about The Book of Delights and The Book of (More) Delights by Ross Gay, and the practice of searching for delights each day in our lives. I also over-use the word "delight" many, many times, for which I do not apologize (OK maybe a little bit). I define delights (anything that brings us joy or pleasure), and give some examples of my own delights includi...

In this episode, I talk about healthy ways to express our anger, from a book I recently read called Raising Good Humans by Hunter Clarke-Fields. This book explains that anger is an energy that moves through us, and we have to express it but in healthier, less destructive ways. The 5 ways I talk about, from Raising Good Humans, are 1) walk away 2) talk yourself down 3) shake it out 4) strike a pose...

In this episode, I talk about my family's weekly tradition of Friday night movie night. I explain what we do and how it helps me to stay grounded and feel safe even in this crazy world we are living in these days. Action item: find an activity that can be YOUR Friday night movie night, with the following characteristics: 1) tradition/stability (something you do routinely at the same time/day e...

In this week's episode, I talk about a book I read over sabbatical, called The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again, by Catherine Price. I define "fun" using Catherine Price's definition of playful, connected flow, give some examples of events in my life that were "so fun", and of some of my own "fun magnets" (family, friends, adventure, being outdoors, learn...

In this episode, I talk about the 3 things I did over my sabbatical that were not work and how we can apply them to our everyday lives! First, I got through a backlog of a ton of non-work to do's in my life (painting, getting a new air conditioner and furnace installed, etc.)- what you can do in everyday life is Power Hour! From the author Gretchen Rubin. The second thing was do more of what y...

Welcome back everyone! I'm back from sabbatical and here to talk about enjoying the little things in life. In this episode, I talk about my summer and how I (finally!) got the chance to enjoy the summer, for the first time since I was a kid. My kids and I partly used this list from Generation Wild: https://www.generationwild.com/the-list but also just made up our own fun things to do. Often ch...

In this episode, I talk about why it is important to say no (particularly at this time of year, when the holidays are upon us, as well as finals/end of the semester if you are in the academic or teaching world). I talk about Brene Brown's phrase, "clear is kind, unclear is unkind" and how we think that saying yes when we mean no (or just don't have time) is kind when really the o...

In this episode, I talk about activity pairing, one of my favorite tricks for sticking to my habits. This comes from James Clear's book, Atomic Habits, and the idea is to pair two activities together to form a habit of doing them together. These can be one activity you love with one you don't love so much (ex: washing dishes with listening to your favorite podcasts) or an activity you alre...

In this week's episode, I talk about triggers, or emotional responses to an object, person or memory that are more severe than what the event itself would call for. These can be due to events that have happened recently or past events that we need to work through but the key is that our response does not match the level of the original event (a 3 event calls for a 3 response- aw man, not a 10...

In this episode, I give us all a 5-minute break! We sit up straight (but not too tensely) in our chairs, take deep breaths, tense all our muscles and let them go, hug ourselves, put our hand on our heart, do gratefuls, and then I let you go to either 1) watch a short funny tik tok video (or whatever video) 2) listen to a song and dance 3) chat with someone near you for 2 minutes. Have a great day...

In this episode, I define restorative rest as something that, when we finish doing it, we feel like ah, that was nice, rather than, oh man, why did I do that? I give examples of restorative rest (yoga, meditating, going for a walk/run around the block, making tea and texting a friend, listening to or dancing to a song, 10-minute nap, etc.) and explain that we can use the time in our day that we al...

In this episode, I talk about the one thing that has really helped me to feel better on a daily basis. When I remember to do this thing, I notice it in my digestion, in my attitude, in my level of tiredness, and when I forget, I notice that I am sometimes even nauseous, more tired, even dizzy (especially in the summer). This thing is-you guessed it (or maybe you didn't)- drinking water! Here i...

In this episode, I talk about when we need to let things go (control or also other people's emotions that don't have to do with us) versus when to fight (meaning take action or DO something about our emotions or thoughts. I talk about how meditation has helped me to be able to make a conscious choice about when I take action versus let the emotion or thought pass, and how a lot or maybe ev...

In this episode, I talk about how my kids can leave their ice-cream unfinished and how it is because in our house, we do not tell anyone to stop crying. If that sounds like it can't possibly be right, then listen for the details! Action item: come up with a list of things you can do instead of emotional eating, like drinking a glass of water, going for a walk, making tea or coffee, writing in...

In this episode, I talk about belonging and also fitting in, based on the definitions from Brene Brown. Fitting in is changing yourself to be who you think people want you to be and belonging is being who you are and feeling like people like you for who you are. Belonging makes you feel better but it also means you won't be for everyone and that's OK too (see Brene Brown and also Mean Girl...

In this episode, I define "adulting" (doing all the things adults have to do every day like laundry and getting to work on time and keeping our jobs, etc.), and talk about 3 reasons why the heck it's so hard! 1) burnout and productivity as a moral judgment (those who do the most things are seen as "good" people whereas those who don't are "lazy") 2) a lack of...

In this episode, I talk about what "catch-up week" is to me (as a professor), about benefits/pitfalls and give an action item. Some benefits: giving people (and ourselves) a little bit of a grace period, having the ability to forgive ourselves and move on, knowing how to catch up when we need to as practice for the "real world" in which we are in fact allowed to delay deadlines...

In this episode, I talk about the "problem" with empathy, starting by definine compassion, pity, empathy, and sympathy (2 sets of near enemies), using Brene Brown's definitions from her book, Atlas of the Heart. I talk about the 2 different kinds of empathy (cognitive empathy, the "good" kind, and affective empathy, the "bad" kind) and give a practical example of...

In this episode, I talk about three important life lessons that I have learned from bringing up a neurodiverse child. These lessons apply to kids but also to adults, neurodiverse and neurotypical. 1) Emotions are not a side thing, they are THE thing 2) set reasonable expectations for ourselves and others 3) kids (and adults) do well when they can (Ross Greene). If we use these lessons in our lives...

In this episode, I talk about the book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. First, I explain how stress can build up and how and why we need to complete our stress cycles to avoid holding in all the stress or letting it all out on our families at home! I give concrete examples of ways to complete the stress cycle and an action item: Try to actively work t...

In this episode, I talk about how I got tenure (yay!) and although I am grateful and feel quite a bit relieved, actually my happiness levels are about the same as they were before (and my stress/anxiety). This is good/bad news because it does mean that once you get that (fill in the blank)- house, kid, promotion, job, wedding, etc.- you won't be able to start your "real" life or be h...