Messages From the Middle

From Darkness to Light: My interview on the Key Nutrition Podcast

In June I had the opportunity to be on the Key Nutrition Podcast. In this episode I share a little more of my journey. I talk about the steps I have taken to work on mental health and the realization that this is my story and I am where I am supposed to be. 

You Can’t Always Get What You Want: But you can choose your thoughts

One of the best ways to put ourselves in the drivers seat is to recognize that it is not the circumstances in our life that create our emotions, but our thoughts about that circumstance. It is also worth taking the time to notice what circumstances you can't change and which ones you can. "Stuck" is a choice you just have to take some time to notice what choice you are making to choose stuck. In this episode I define circumstance and give examples of ways to be more conscious of the circumstances you are choosing. 

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: naming and describing your feelings

Being able to describe how depression, anxiety or other mental illnesses is a powerful tool for yourself and for others. On today's episode I share what depression feels like in to me. I explain why this is such a powerful and useful tool. How you can do it and I encourage you to do the same exercise!
Andrew Solomon: Depression; the secret we all share
https://youtu.be/-eBUcBfkVCo
The Magical Healing Potion
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/messages-from-the-middle/id1680997732?i=1000608542804
 

Clouds: What I do when the storm clouds of life roll in

Mental health can be compared to the weather. Sometimes we have beautiful, sunny, blue skies. Other times there are storm clouds overhead and they stick around for awhile. Today on the podcast I share my storm cloud emergency toolkit. 
These are the things that I do when I am in my low moods. This works great for me when I am feeling sad and low, however during really depressive states bigger steps and interventions need to be taken.
I encourage you to come up with your own stormy weather toolkit.

What is Love? Why we need to love ourselves so we can love others

Is it possible to love others more than you love yourself? Spoiler alert, it isn't. Our ability to love other is directly connected to how much we love ourselves. In this episode I talk about why this is true and the give my own Self-love Manifesto as a template to create your own manifesto. Self-love is one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves and our loved ones. 
link to Self-love check-in:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hIPg49VwR-1WXsAUo23rse6raK-M0OLi/view?usp=share_link
 

There and Back Again: My time in residential treatment

Today is one year from the day that I entered residential treatment for my mental health. In the episode I share my a little about my experience in the facility, why I choose residential treatment and why it is so beneficial to people who need it. Thank you for listening!

Shame, Shame, I know your name:Why shame is harmful to mental health

Shame is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to healing mental health. With shame, stop your own personal growth and healing because you are less likely to reach our for help or open us to the people who are there to help. In this episode I talk about why shame is so hurtful to mental illness and ways to fight back from shame. 

5 Things to Boost Your Mental Health

On this episode I talk about 5 things you can do to boost your mental health. These 5 things can be done anytime and for free. Creating a habit of doing these things will benefit your overall health and wellness for years to come.

Do You Know Who You Are?: The masks we wear and why we wear them

Masking is a very common defense mechanism. It's normal to mask on a first date or at a job interview, but if you are masking all the time it can lead to resentment, depression, burnout and the loss of who you really are. Myself and many people I have talked with have shared a feeling that we don't even know who we are because we have been wearing a mask for so long.
On this episode I talk about the many different kinds of masks people wear, and why they wear them. I also get into strategies to learn who you truly are. It is important to learn who you are because we need the real you in this world!
Link to the Personal values 
 

Good Grief: Why grief is part of the human experience

Grief is something that we will all experience at some point. Grief is the cost of loving and we all love. As a society we have put limits and rules on grief because it makes us uncomfortable, but we need to do better. We need to allow grief to be in our story and learn to process the emotions that comes as the result of a painful loss. In the episode I give information on disenfranchised grief as well as how to process the emotions that come up as a result of grief. Thank you for listening.