Wellness Podcast

This week, I talk about 5 ways that we can work smarter, not harder, to be more like the people in Denmark! In Denmark (according to the Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos), people work less but are more productive, leave work to pick up their kids, and also do not consider those who work extra hours to be "go getters" but believe that such people have trouble with time management! Action item:...

In this episode, I define what meditation is, talk about my own (sparse) experience with it so far, give some examples of why it is "good" for us (think improved attention, emotion control and decreased anxiety/depression?). I give a couple of examples of different kinds of meditation and an action item for you all and for me: Try to meditate just 3 minutes each day this week! The book I mention i...

In this episode, I define "Imposter Syndrome" (doubting your abilities, feeling like a fraud), I give some examples and talk about 3 ways to do battle with it. 1) Name it 2) normalize it and 3) Fight it through self affirmations, reading/learning (when we really don't know something), fake it til you make it? and know that every successful person has failed many, many times. I mention Brene Brown'...

In this episode, I talk about the definition of trust, and how to be a trustworthy person, using the BRAVING framework from Brene Brown's book, Dare to Lead. (Boundaries, Reliability, Accountability, Vault, Integrity, Non-judgment and Generosity). Action item: find one BRAVING element that you can work on this week and try it! (I am going to work on Vault- not sharing secrets/information that is/a...

In this episode, I talk about fixed vs growth mindset (from Dr. Carol Dweck), and how I've applied a growth mindset to fixing my house, to differing degrees of success depending on the thing. Sometimes, we failed completely (we had to call an electrician for the light) but other times, succeeded completely (painting!) or partially (fixing the porch), but we had a lot of fun and learned a lot. Fail...

In this episode, I talk about how when we think we are multitasking, we are often just switching back and forth between two (or more) tasks quickly, not actually "multitasking." I talk about a couple of books, one called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, and Peak Mind: Find your Focus, Own your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day, and the Happiness Lab, a podcast by...

In this episode, I talk about a "traditional" vs "nontraditional" path, give an example of my own nontraditional path to tenure, and talk about why this will be the last episode of this podcast until the fall! This episode is a little more about letting go of the "rules" of life that are not helpful to us, like that we have to go to college at age 18 or we have to stick to one career path. Action...

In this episode, I talk about my favorite metacognitive study tips! Even if you aren't a student, these tips can be helpful for learning/remembering things at work or home as well. First I talk about what to NOT do to study (re-read the entire chapter! Re-read your notes). Then, I give some tips on how to study/think/learn better, including chunking study time, using concept maps, spaced versus ma...

In this episode (Title from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure), I talk about being kind to each other, especially to those who mess up. The teller at the bank, the Dell fixer guy (or whoever), let's just assume that they are trying their best to do their jobs and if they aren't doing great, let's give them a break just this once. And if these people work with us or for us or we work for them, let...

In this episode, I talk about how actually, quitting can be a good thing- not when we quit something because it is "too hard" but when we quit because the thing is not serving us anymore. I talk about how, in the past, I refused to quit things even when I hated them and there was no reason to keep going (books, mostly). I suggest as my action item, re-assessing what we are doing and why, and what...

In this episode, I talk about actually 8 tips and tricks, both from this article: https://www.ucdenver.edu/student/health-wellness/healthy-happy-life and also from my own experience as a person who has had significant trouble sleeping for the past couple of years due to all the things. Pick one (or a few) and see if it works for you!

In this episode, I talk about how, especially at this time of year for college/grad students (or also everyone), it is so easy to drop sleep first- that is, sleep just a little less to get a little more "done." I give evidence from this article (and some of my own experience): https://www.ucdenver.edu/student/health-wellness/healthy-happy-life about why sleep is necessary and so important, especia...

In this episode, I explain an alternate definition to the traditional "extroverts love people and introverts fear people" definition of introverts and extroverts (hint: it has to do with the size of your social "cup"!), and I give some examples of a few easy things that helped me decide that I am maybe best defined as an ambivert (in the middle of introvert and extrovert) or even maybe a shy/anxio...

In this episode, I talk about how at this time of the year, I always feel the itch to clean/organize my house, and thanks to two of my favorite experts on organizing/cleaning, Gretchen Rubin, author of Outer Order Inner Calm (and many other excellent books) and Marie Kondo, I know a bit more about why it helps me feel better and how to get started. A few key tips: 1) if you can do a task in under...

In this episode, I talk about what we call in our family "a feelings loop" and how to break out of it. Feeling our feelings is always good, but sometimes we can't keep doing it-either because we aren't safe to do so, because we just can't feel our feelings at a certain time (ex: it's not OK to yell at your boss at work probably), or because we are stuck in a loop. I talk about what this means, to...

In this episode, I talk about my feelings and thoughts going into the second anniversary of the first quarantine of the pandemic. I think we are all tired- no, exhausted- and just burned out from this pandemic, maybe a little low level depressed, stressed, and maybe even a little hopeless. On that happy note, action items for this week: go back to the beginning again (sleep, exercise, healthy food...

In this episode, I talk about the connection between our brain (mind) and our body, and how if we do things to help our body (rest, exercise, eat healthy foods, etc.), they help our brain as well, and vice versa. Also, if we do things that hurt our brain (like suppressing our emotions, for example), they can actually hurt our body. I give a couple of examples from my own life, both positive and ne...

In this episode, I talk about friendships where the friends are different ages. I give a few examples from my own life where friendships with (large or small) age gaps have been amazing, I talk about the importance of reciprocal friendships (you are both "getting something" out of the friendship) and how friendships with large age gaps are not inappropriate (in most cases). Action item: take a loo...

In this episode, I try (yet again) to define the difference between comfort (which helps us feel better) and numbing (which helps us feel nothing). I talk about what I've decided for me is comfort vs numbing, I talk about how ANYTHING can be used for comfort or numbing (checking social media, food, alcohol, Netflix, anything) and how to help us figure out which things are comfort for us vs which t...

This is a 3-part episode, where I talk about making friends, keeping friends, and letting go of friends. Key takeaway: all of these things are hard, but definitely worth it. We have this impression that a lot of things in life are easy and will just happen, but really that's not true. We have to work to make, keep and let go of friends, just like everything else. Action item(s)- let's try to make...

This week, I talk about how even the smallest interactions with humans in our lives can add up to social interaction (the opposite of isolation) and increase our wellbeing (which I learned from an episode of the Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos). Then, I give some examples of social interactions that we can use to help reach our quote of social interactions, even in the time of covid, and give...

This week, I talk about my tiniest possible rebellion, blue nail polish. I also talk about how I don't wash my hair everyday, I don't wear makeup, I am super pro crying (I forgot to mention in the episode but if you don't feel your feelings, whatever they are, they will come out anyway- you can't hide from them so you might as well ride the wave and let it pass), and all the other tiny rules that...

In this episode, I talk about what actual happy people do (and don't do) - and give 3 of the main actions/attitudes of happy people, so we can all start to work on being a little bit happier! I also talk about the Happiness Lab by Dr. Laurie Santos (which I highly recommend) and that even happy people aren't happy all the time, and that's OK.

In this episode, I talk about how I am (attempting/failing at) getting through omicron. I am trying to reset, go back to exercise, sleep and healthy food, drink tea and stare out the window, and journal a lot. I am trying to also hide the holiday chocolate, check the news one time a day, and most importantly, forgive myself a lot when I fail to do all these things. I also talk about feeling overwh...

In this episode, I talk about the definition of disappointment from Brene Brown's Atlas of the Heart, about unexpressed and unmet expectations, how to express our expectations, how to let go of more expectations to help ourselves have a better holiday season, and how to move expectations from others to ourselves (since we only control ourselves!). This will be my last episode until the 2nd week of...