Chatting Bear: Recent Episodes
Rachel
A place to feel good about yourself, the world and your place in it. Chatting about everything that relates to self worth and positivity within your life.
Hi everyone
Sorry I haven't been around much. 2023 sucked ass and I couldn't bring myself to record anything after July. Then my lovely friend Wendy came over from USA for a couple of months and we had a wonderful catch up. She then convinced me to start it up again and so this is the first of what I hope will be many episodes with her discussing the differences in many aspects between our two countries.
What can we do to show support to our LGBTQIA= friends, both during Pride and beyond? How did Pride start? Do you know your pansexual from your demisexual? In this episode, we discuss what we know and educate ourselves with some history and identification.
In this episode, Rachel, Jenni and Lyndsey discuss volunteering and the documented benefits to a persons mental health from volunteering. They discuss their own experiences of volunteering and how it has benefitted them.
What makes you laugh? In this episode, Rachel, Jenni, Lyndsey, Louisa and Vanessa discuss what makes them laugh and the health benefits of laughter
Get to know the effects of anxiety on the body and on the mind via the MIND website. In this episode, Rachel discusses these effects and describes her own experiences of anxiety and the impact it has played on her career as a midwife as well as her personal life and relationships. She chats about discrimination and judgment from others and the stigma still carried by some. For more information visit mind.org.uk and if you have any comments or questions, let us know; chatting_bear@outlook.com or on any of our social media platforms.
Dopamine, Oxytocin, Seratonin, Endorphins are the hormones that play a huge part in feeling happy, content etc. As May is Mental Health Awareness month, we thought we would look at where the hormones are produced, what part they play and how we can get some!
Rachel, Lyndsey, Louisa, Jenni and Ness discuss some types of withdrawal, the symptoms it can bring and the impact on mental health. We discuss prescribed medication withdrawal, sugar withdrawal, relationship withdrawal and our experiences with them and how they have affected us and potentially how they could affect people.Tell us your experiences
As April is Stress Awareness Month, we wanted to talk about it and as it is the last week in April, what better time. It is such a vast and complicated subject that we really only scratched the surface, talking about some of the presenting symptoms and whether we have experienced them. In a future episode we want to discuss ways to combat stress, but for this week, just being aware of the symptoms is a good place to start.
The gang is all back together again! And you can tell as we descend into chaos once more. We discuss our history of having pets and what they have meant to us, we also discuss favourite animals and we chat about how animals can impact our mental health.
Let us know your experiences of having pets
In this episode, Rachel, Jenni and Lyndsey discuss how the weather affects their mental health and Jenni and Rachel discuss the impact of weather on Fibromyalgia and how that too impacts on their mental health. SAD is discussed and ways to help avoid feeling low due to weather conditions.
We'd love to hear your experiences
Rachel, Lyndsey and Jenni chat to Sue about her experiences with her son who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child. They discuss the signs and symptoms, what to look out for, how we can help someone and its impact on the mental health of everyone involved.
In this episode, Rachel, Jenni and Lyndsey chat to someone who worked in the health care services during covid and a university student who studied during covid. They discuss their experiences and the impact it had on their own mental health and the MH of others around them.
In this episode, Rachel, Jenni, Louisa and Lyndsey share their thoughts and experiences of childhood and mental health, the signs to watch out for in children which suggests they are struggling and ways to help your children with coping strategies
In this episode, Rachel, Jenni, Lyndsey and Louisa discuss what emotional abandonment is and how it can affect mental health.
Once again, using Boardroom gaming cafes TikTok and using our own Facebook, we go live, playing board games and answering questions. In this episode, we manage to reign in our chaos and have some great audience members playing along with us. Lots of fun to be had.
We scrape the surface with this subject and will definitely look again in more depth in the future. Rachel, Lyndsey, Louisa and Jenni discuss their experiences of this subject and we look at each generation, what happened that was noteworthy and why it might have affected the way they see and do things differently to the next.
If you have any comments or questions please get in touch at chatting_bear@outlook.com or any of our social media platforms.
We would love it if you give us a like and a follow on our podcast platforms too x
Do you have health anxiety? Be it anxiety about yours or someone you loves health, a health care setting or a health care practitioner, many people struggle with some form of anxiety relating to health. Rachel, Jenni, Lyndsey and Louisa discuss their own experiences and possible reasons for it, stemming from childhood in some cases.
If you have a comment or a question, let us know, chatting_bear@outlook.com or most social media platforms.
We would love it if you give us a like and a follow too x
No audio this week as I forgot to record the audio of our live session. So, head over to YouTube and/or Facebook to see the chaos that ensued when trying to do our first ‘live’ session
I love this episode, Rachel, Louisa, Jenni, Lyndsey, Vanessa and Maddie all discuss what they do that helps their own mental health. Some really good suggestions here as well as some hilarity as always. We will be enclosing our distraction lists on our Facebook Page.
What not to do in a podcast episode. We love playing games to have fun and help our mental health, however, this time it was a bit too chaotic for a podcast episode. Have a listen and let us know your thoughts
Do you procrastinate? Does it affect your mental health? Rachel, Lyndsey, Louisa and Vanessa along with Maddie (Rachels' daughter) and new team member, Jenni discuss how and why they procrastinate and chat about ways to reduce it.
Rachel wishes everyone Happy New Year, talks about resolutions and whether they are a good thing or not. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, either leave them here or on one of the social media platforms Chatting Bear is on; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.
In this episode, Rachel, Lyndsey, Vanessa and Louisa look back at their highs and lows of the year and discuss how their mental health was with their experiences.
In this episode, we play a game found at the Boardroom Gaming Cafe, Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, UK. Just for a bit of fun as laughing is good for mental health.
Rachel, Lyndsey, Vanessa and Louisa discuss how the run up to Christmas and New Year can impact a persons mental health. Chatting about their own experiences, traditions and pressures they look into ways to cope over the festive period and give out UK numbers and websites for anyone needing help. There will be a list of numbers and websites attached to this episode on the Chatting Bear Facebook page.
Rachel, Lou and Ness play Scatagories and laugh at some of the silliest answers.
n.b Prince Rainier was from Monaco, not Monte Carlo - that's brain fog for you guys!
In this episode, Rachel, Louisa and Vanessa discuss the signs and symptoms of SAD, their experiences and chat about therapies and supplements that may help.
In this episode, Rachel, Vanessa and Louisa discuss their physical and some of their mental limitations and the challenges they find with them. They chat about how having limitations make them feel and which ones they choose to accept and which they choose to challenge.
Lyndsey introduces the game of guessing what the misheard lyrics to well known songs could be. Great fun game to play with friends and if you have any more suggestions, please let us know
Rachel, Louisa, Vanessa and Lyndsey discuss how celebrity deaths have affected them and how it can impact on one's mental health.
In this episode, Rachel interviews Rich Kee, the director of this premiere for Shropshire's musical theatre scene and Katie Kinnon, one of Tadlop's newest members and one of two Esmereldas performing in the production. The background to the musical is discussed, the difficulties encountered and overcome in their latest show. As per usual giggles ensue
Some sneaky peaks from Tuesday's launch of the Hunchback of Notre Dame interview with members of Tadlop, from Telford, Shropshire
Rachel, Lyndsey, Louisa and Vanessa discuss Halloween, it's origins, history and their own experiences of it. Plus a new section 'questions' is introduced.
The modern version of showing your holiday photos. In this episode we discuss our holidays and what we got up to, relaxation and going away, doing something different from normal can be very good for mental health. We also discuss a ball for our musical theatre society's 50th Anniversary and again, getting together with friends and celebrating something you all have in common, can do us the world of good.
In this episode, Rachel discusses toxic work environments with Lyndsey, Louisa and Vanessa and they share their experiences. They also look at ways to recognise if you are in a toxic work environment and discuss ways to cope if you are.
We wanted to discuss and share our thoughts, feelings, memories and experiences of Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III
The final episode in our set of 4 birthday celebrations for Rachel. We test our knowledge on Disney and have a lot of fun with it. Sit back, relax and enjoy
Oh dear, turn your speakers down for this one as we play Articulate as the third episode of four for Rachel's birthday celebrations. Hysterics and uncontrollable laughter as well as our usual mayhem. Sit back and enjoy
The second in a set of 4 episodes where we play games as part of my birthday celebrations. Lots of laughs and ridiculousness in this episode, sit back, relax and enjoy
The first in a set of 4 episodes where we play games as part of my birthday celebrations. This episode is would you rather as Lyndsey wasn't here for the first time we played. Just sit back and enjoy
In this episode we (Rachel, Lyndsey, Vanessa and Louisa) discuss what a mental health first aider is and the signs and symptoms to watch out for in a person who may be going into a mental health crisis. We are not medical professionals and do not give out medical advice. Always contact a professional if you are concerned. We discuss suicide attempts as past experiences, but do not promote the act, we merely use the examples to highlight how someone can feel and how someone can help.
In this episode, Rachel, Lyndsey, Vanessa and Louisa discuss low self worth, what triggers it and how it manifests itself in people. Things take an unexpected turn and we start practising taking compliments which feels very awkward. Take a listen and see if anything feels familiar and try practising giving and receiving compliments from a trusted source.
Good grief! You can tell we are not professionals in this episode. Once again, we don't manage to cover our objectives as chaos and hilarity ensue. We do look at the differences between physical hunger and emotional hunger and how to identify which you are feeling.
In this final 'set of 3' episode with Jenni and Jon, I discuss Fibromyalgia with Jenni. Her symptoms, diagnosis and treatment as well as hints and tips for coping on bad days.
Following on from my last episode with Jenni and Jon, we discuss how Jon showed sign of PTSD, how long it took for him to get the treatment he needed and how it impacted on the family dynamic.
This episode was meant to be about PTSD for a couple after the traumatic birth of their child. However, there were so many factors involved into why the condition arose, that I decided to leave it all in so that you can hear their full story and maybe understand how their mental health was affected. Huge thanks to Jenni and Jon for baring all in this episode. Next week will be about the PTSD, but i would recommend you listen to this full episode so that you can understand where they come from.
Rachel, Vanessa, Lyndsey and Louisa discuss what it feels like for them on 'bad days'. What can cause a bad day, the symptoms they experience and they chat about certain methods which are supposed to help cope with them
Well, we wanted to talk about emotional eating, but we definitely strayed. Rachel, Lyndsey, Louisa and Vanessa discuss, chat and giggle at their likes, dislikes and random facts about food. Some discussion on emotional eating, definitely needs to be discussed further!
Rachel speaks to her friend Amy about her experience of being pregnant in lockdown and how it differs from her previous experience. Also moving area and the stress that can play on a pregnant woman is discussed.
Rachel, along with Lyndsey, Louisa and Vanessa discuss their thoughts and experiences in the lgbtq+ community and explore sexual identities and their meanings.
Rachel, Vanessa, Louisa and Lyndsey discuss what defines 'self worth' and how do we achieve it. We chat about how we feel about ourselves and we look at whether guides to improve our own 'self worth' is realistic for us.
Rachel, Louisa, Vanessa and Lyndsey discuss their fears and how it affects them. They chat about the most common fears and, as always, giggles ensue.
Rachel, Lyndsey, Vanessa and Louisa discuss the process of auditioning in their Musical Theatre society. They discuss their first audition and how they have evolved. Wishing good luck to anyone who auditions.
Rachel, Vanessa and Louisa discuss the importance of talking. The use of communication is explored and the need to talk about feelings, thoughts and opinions is discussed alongside mental health. This will be discussed again in more depth.
Rachel, Vanessa and Louisa discuss their love for Shakespeare and his literature. They chat about some facts and read out some of their favourite quotes. Giggles ensue when revealing Shakespearean insults.
In this episode, Rachel, Louisa and Vanessa discuss their love of words and explore the timeline of the development of the English language. Rachel then quizzes the girls on old English words and their meanings. Giggles galore
Another solo mission peeps. I'm reflecting on being part of a show that has been in the making for two years instead of 6 months. How it impacted on my mental health both negatively and positively and my takeaways (not food).
I wanted to tell my story of developing Fibromyalgia. Whilst we don't know exactly what causes it, here's my ideas through what happened to me, my life with Fibro and how I cope / don't cope with it. I also explain its' effect on my mental health and how I try to overcome some of the challenges I experience on a daily basis.
Hobbies are good for mental health. In this episode I discuss hobbies that we have tried with Vanessa and Louisa.
Oh good grief! This is what happens when we are allowed to voice our opinions. Lots of giggles in this one and its good for our mental health! I think we will play this game again
An honest review of some of the products that we tried.
I should also mention, that Tropic offer a 30 day happiness guarantee, not happy? Full refund, no questions asked.
Every purchase funds education through a partnership company
We also briefly mention Scrubbies and Geeky clean which we may go into further detail in a future episode.
Ironically, we didn't complete time management the first time round, so here is part two. More giggles and mayhem
In this episode I discuss the barriers to good time keeping with Louisa, Vanessa and Lyndsey. We chat about our experiences of bad time keeping and invite listeners to join in a checklist of 'what stops good time keeping'.
This week, I talk to my friend Rich about his life with Tourette's, we look at the wide variety of symptoms and try to debunk some myths as well as raise awareness for the condition.
In this episode, along with Lyndsey, Vanessa and Louisa, I discuss the need for approval from others. We chat about our personal experiences and why we think we all do it. Lots of giggles and some interesting ideas voiced.
A discussion with the lovely Lyndsey about baths, both hot and cold and the reported benefits of them. We chat about whether we agree or not and have a bit of a giggle too
Rachel chats to Vanessa, Louisa and Lyndsey about their personal theatre experiences, what made them interested in theatre and how they are finding it now we are coming out of lockdown.
Welcome to my first poscast episode. Talking about Valentines Day and our opinions on it and all it involves. We will also be chatting about our views on romance, what it is to us and how we feel about it. Finally discussing relationships during lockdown and all the difficulties and joy they have brought us.