The Heartwood Treehouse: Recent Episodes
Jacquelyn Fletcher: Self-mastery, stress and resilience author and podcaster
Are you stressed out? Burned out? Ready to give out? Do you want to get your energy back? Feel more vibrant? Or laugh more often? Spend some time in the Heartwood Treehouse. Join host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson to explore ways to build your heartwood—that inner core of strength and resilience. Each episode features research-based techniques you can use to boost your wellbeing and change your brain for the better. Sign up for Jacquelyn's newsletter at HeartwoodHealing.com for even more inspiration. Subscribe to The Heartwood Treehouse Podcast and share the show with someone who needs it. We want to help the world stress less and smile more!
Jacquelyn B. Fletcher is the founder of Heartwood Healing and the creator of the Heartwood Self-Mastery Programs. She’s the award-winning author of 14 books, a motivational speaker, and the co-creator and host of the Healing Words show on Mayo TV, administered by the Dolores Jean Lavins Center for Humanities in Medicine at Mayo Clinic.
Resilience and mindfulness work is serious business--maybe too serious? In this episode, host Jacquelyn fletcher Johnson encourages you to tap into a potent tool that can help you plug into your inner strength so you can get back on your feet.
Humans understand story structure. And in challenging times like the one we're living in now, we can use the art of story to access our power, reclaim our hearts, and create positive change. In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson offers a fun practice you can use to be the hero in your own story.
I wonder what would happen? What if? What's that? These questions are ones that dominate the child's mind--and for good reason. They teach us to be human and help us innovate and evolve. In this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson makes the case for curiosity and teaches you a few evidence-based strategies to use your curious mind to help you get through challenging times.
This is the season of uncertainty and in times of great stress, there are two very powerful questions we can ask ourselves. Tune in for a mini coaching session with host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson to see how these questions can help us stabilize when we're knocked off balance.
In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson shares a story from her cancer journey, in which a random act of kindness increased her levels of wellbeing and happiness in surprising ways.
Getting a little cranky from staying at home? In this episode, Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson shares a practice that can help you instantly feel better. All you need is a patch of grass, a stand of trees, or some other sparsely populated spot where you can physically distance yourself from others outside.
There are heroes among us, in each of our communities. The job of the community is to be a place where we can both give and receive things in return. In this relaxing meditation, Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson helps you feel the truth that you are not alone. Your community is there to catch you.
Who knew improv and quality improvement went together? Sarah Horst, that's who. This genius of a woman from the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) in Minneapolis shares her approach to creating an improvisational mindset to help teams and the humans in them thrive in a world turned upside down. Tune in for some light-hearted laughs and some solid strategies that can help you navigate our new reality now that coronavirus / covid-19 are reshaping our lives and work.
Mindfulness teachers, including host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson, often use the breath and body as mindfulness tools. However, some people find focusing on the breath or body can produce anxiety. In this episode of The Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, you'll learn another way to anchor your attention to help you escape the spin of negative or fearful thinking.
Laughter truly is the best medicine. In this episode of The Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson shares an inspiring story of how laughter helped her through her cancer journey. In this episode, she offers a short exercise you can do to lighten up even during stressful times.
In this short episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson invites you to do a mindful listening exercise to help you calm your amygdala and help your body and mind relax.
When you're freaking out, stressed out, ready to give out, this hands on embodied practice can help you self-soothe in moments. Host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson leads you through this simple exercise to help you take a short and needed break in the midst of chaos.
Did you know a gratitude practice can actually change your nervous system? Yep. In this short message for Healthcare Heroes, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson explains.
In this special episode you'll learn a very simple breathing exercise to help your body relax during times of great stress, anxiety, or fear.
In this special series, Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson provides short episodes to comfort and support our nation's healthcare heroes. And if you don't work in healthcare, these inspirational talks will help you work with acute stress, too. We're all in this together.
We all make assumptions because that's how the brain works. But that doesn't mean we have to live by them. In this week's episode, you'll hear about a challenge that host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson is embarking on to be more conscious about assumptions. Join in?
A return story in which Aransas Savas talks about how she finally came to love and respect her thighs. Don't miss her inspiring story that includes a harrowing car accident, a marathon-running 90-year-old grandmother, and qualifying for the Boston Marathon after running 19 marathons herself.
We all make assumptions because that's how the brain works. But that doesn't mean we have to live by them. In this week's episode, you'll hear about a challenge that host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson is embarking on to be more conscious about assumptions. Join in?
When things are challenging, we tend to isolate ourselves, because we think we're the only ones that have suffered in that way. We're embarrassed. We don't want to be a burden on other people. We judge ourselves. And yet, community is what helps us and heals us. In this episode, you'll experience one of Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson's favorite techniques for feeling connected.
A return story in which author Sheila O'Connor describes uncovering the story of her maternal grandmother who was incarcerated in the 1930s for being pregnant. This harrowing tale is told in O'Connor's new novel, The Evidence of V. Don't miss this inspiring talk about memories, secrets, and the power of our stories!
Humans were not made to live in isolation. We are at our best when in community. In this week's episode, Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson considers the idea that community may be the most important thing we've got and shares a powerful way you can build yours.
Emotions developed in humans because they’re a warning system that help us survive. And when they’re banned, you can be sure they’re operating anyway, but without consciousness, which can cause all kinds of chaos. In today's episode host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson leads you through a consciousness-building exercise that helps you embody the idea that emotions are here to teach us something.
The body offers us its wisdom in ways we can't always hear. Tune in for some practices that can help you honor your body in ways that can leave you feeling connected, aligned, and whole.
A return story in which Laura West, founder and CEO of Joyful Business, talks about working in a job where she never felt comfortable in her own skin. The story of how her CEO called her out will give you chills! Tune in to hear how she started her own business so she could dedicate her life and her work to returning to joy each day.
When your path to self-mastery requires you to return to your feet, one way to do that is to fill your senses with beauty. In this episode, you'll get some ideas for how to fill back up when you're depleted and worn out.
After a big event has rocked you to your core, there can be a pause before new life begins. In this episode, you'll get a dose of inspiration for how to navigate those times when uncertainty reigns and you can't see the path ahead.
A return story in which Dondeena Bradley talks about how she'd lost little bits of herself over time while working a high-paced corporate life. Hear her inspiring insights as she shares how when she wrote her new book, Living Full Circle: Simple Ancient Rituals for Modern Life, she returned to her vision of what wellness and being a well person means.
When life burns through your life, it's hard to remember that the ash from the fire creates soil that's perfect for new growth. In this episode, Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson leads you through a guided imagery meditation that takes you into the fire so you can find out what's on the other side.
Research shows that practicing gratitude can boost positive emotions. But in difficult seasons, it can be hard to feel grateful for anything. Tune into this episode as Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson shares a new twist on her favorite gratitude practice to heal your heart and strengthen your inner core.
A return story in which Tara Jaye Frank shares her journey at Hallmark Cards, Inc., as a writer and the company's first black, female vice president. You’ll hear her talk about how falling in love forced her to make a decision that threw her life into upheaval. You won’t want to miss how she navigated the return to her sense of purpose while she built a non-profit business, #MoreThan: A Movement, to facilitate deeper understanding between disconnected people.
There's one thing that drives all the life on earth--light. In this episode, practice the art of receiving in an embodied practice that will leave you feeling lit up. Listen in for a practice that will help you connect to that life-giving light.
Happy New Year! With the start of a new decade, it’s the perfect opportunity to create a new ritual. In this episode, you'll learn two practices Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson uses to honor our past and celebrate the possibilities of the future. Are you ready to mark this big occasion? You won't want to miss it. We're doing giveaways in the Treehouse all month long! Tune in to hear more.
Life is complex. It's made of both dark and light moments. In order to develop psychological strength while remaining connected to what makes you human, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson shares return strategies that can help you return to your strength and your softness. Plus, we're celebrating 50 episodes of playing in the treehouse with giveaways all month long! Tune in to hear how you can win.
When your world has gone off center, it's important to have a strategy to return. In this week's episode, you'll meet someone very special who can help you find your balance again. Tune in to hear how you can ask for counsel and soak in the wisdom that's already available to you.
If you're a people pleasure or a chameleon, you might be used to changing who you are to fit into whatever environment you're in. But this shape-shifting ability comes at a cost. Listen in for a practice you can use to return your attention to your own inner voice.
Recent studies show that people would rather administer themselves an electric shock than to sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes! But befriending our own minds is where self-mastery resides. In this episode you'll learn one of Jacque's favorite consciousness-building writing exercises that can help you drain your brain so you can notice your own habitual thought patterns and knee-jerk reactions.
If you feel stress as the holidays approach, you're not alone. It can be a challenging time. To prepare yourself for the holiday season, Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson leads you through one of her favorite meditations for restoration.
In a time when loneliness and disconnection among humans is growing, there is one thing we can rely on—stories connect us to each other. And when we listen with our whole soul as author and performer Kevin Kling says, we can gather wisdom we need for our journey and connect our hearts to others. This week, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson shares some stories to inspire you to reach out, see the truth in a story, and listen with your whole soul.
Happiness can certainly arise in the moment, but it is also a feeling we can cultivate. In order to feel happiness more often, we can practice the art of the return every day, in as many moments as we can. In this way, we teach ourselves to look for what makes us happy, more often. In this episode, you'll get to experience a mindfulness practice that can help you return to happiness. And you'll hear about an opportunity for you to get your voice heard on The Heartwood Treehouse Podcast! Don't miss it.
There are times at work and in life when we work too much. We push too hard. When put everything aside in order to push through until its done. In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson talks about how the art of the return can help us give ourselves the grace we need to return to our intentions, our goals, and our hearts—no matter how long it's been since we fell off the wagon.
When you're stressed out, exercise can be the last thing on your mind, but I'm hoping it will be the first from now on. The benefits of exercise are astounding, and it's no wonder. Our bodies were born to move. You were born to move. Tune in to hear why movement is such a fantastic way to care for yourself.
What if being nervous—like having stage fright—wasn’t a statement about what’s wrong with you, but instead was just part of the experience? If you could accept it as normal, would that change things for you? In this episode, we consider the idea that this moment, right now, is perfect.
If you're listing the things you're grateful for each day like you're checking off your to-do list, it's not going to do a whole lot for your happiness. Instead, there's a mindful gratitude technique that can re-train your nervous system and rewire the pathways in your brain so you notice the things you're grateful for more often, and you actually feel grateful in the body. Tune in to experience this powerful self-mastery tool.
Busy people often view their bodies as inconveniences, but the truth is that your body is the vehicle to your consciousness. It is the vehicle to mindfulness and joy. In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson leads you through a relaxing experience to slow down the nervous system and honor your magnificent body.
What mindfulness, meditation, and other contemplative traditions teach us is how to return. Again and again we learn to return our attention to something. This training is fertile ground for learning to return to our lives, our hearts, our values, whenever we are lost. Get ready to release stress and overwhelm with this traditional vipassana meditation.
Relax this week with a meditation by host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson that plugs you in to your own inner knowing. Then try an exercise that helps you reframe any challenges you have with other humans.
If you work in healthcare or any other industry that requires you to work with humans, getting an education in the humanities—reading a novel, watching a play, going to the art museum—can help you learn to work with people more than getting a medical degree. Tune in to hear this week's challenge that can help you broaden your perspective by looking at the great minds that have come before us.
Silence can be scary. In fact, many people will do anything they can to avoid it. In this episode, you'll hear how resistance and discomfort can be pathways to greater self-mastery. And you'll hear about a mindful eating exercise you can use to help you develop self-mastery skills that have transformational benefits.
In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson returns to the idea that 80% of job burnout in healthcare is created by organizational factors. She offers a perspective of organizational change that can help you find greater personal power within the system you're in.
According to The National Academy of Medicine, 80% of job burnout in healthcare is caused by organizational factors. In this episode, you'll hear host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson talk about what you can do if you're working in a crazy environment to find your sense of center and balance more often.
So many physicians and clinicians are totally overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work they're required to do. And often, while in school, they're taught to split themselves into pieces in order to be a physician or nurse. In this week's episode, you'll experience an exercise that will help you begin to take steps toward re-aligning your inner core with the work you do in the world.
Life is always changing and that can be extremely difficult for us. In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson shares how a growth mindset can help us see rainbows—even in the dark. Tune in for a mini mindfulness session that can help you shift your consciousness so can you create greater nourishment and joy in your life.
Humans fear change. We don't do well with uncertainty. We try to control our lives and the people in them to avoid uncomfortable feelings. Tune in to hear host Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson share strategies for letting go when you're stuck so you can allow new energy into your life.
How do we use healthy forms of touch in the era of #MeToo and no-touch policies at schools and businesses? Host Jacquelyn Fletcher-Johnson talks with guest Robyn Scherr about the healing power of touch and its role in self-mastery. You'll hear how unconscious biases, psychological safety, and systemic issues impact healthy touch. You'll also hear how our comfort in our own bodies impacts others—whether we're leading a team or treating a patient.
If you measure your value by how much you do and accomplish, silence and stillness can be extremely uncomfortable. In this episode, enter the stillness and quiet with host Jacquelyn Fletcher-Johnson to see what you discover about yourself, your strength and resilience, and the life you're creating moment by moment.
The classic improv acting rule called the "yes, and" technique is an interesting way to bust out of ruts and rigid thinking. On this week's super short episode, you'll learn a game you can play that will have you laughing until your sides hurt. This hilarious game is a fantastic mindfulness tool that has the added benefit of building camaraderie and positive feelings among teams, family members, and friends. Get ready to have a good time!
So many of us live much of our lives in our heads. We think of our lives instead of actually live them. In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher shares a mindfulness technique that's thousands of years old. This simple practice can help give the brain something to do when you're stressed, overwhelmed or burned out. And you can practice it anytime, anywhere.
Stories are literally the most powerful tool on earth. They build our cultures, our cities, and our identities. They can be used to hurt or heal. Demean or empower. Host Jacquelyn Fletcher-Johnson leads you through a reflective exercise to see how storytelling is operating in your life.
Storytelling is the most powerful tool self-mastery tool of all. We tell ourselves stories all day long. We live out stories with every belief we hold and every action we take. Some stories help us feel powerful. Some stories make us feel fearful. Host Jacquelyn Fletcher guides you through an experience to help you uncover what stories can help you feel peaceful and ready to act in ways that are more aligned with your inner core.
Dr. Juli La Rocca worked hard caring for patients. When a personal crisis during residency left her so full of anxiety and negative thoughts that she couldn't get out of bed, she realized she needed help. Hear her story of hitting rock bottom and how she bounced back in this inspiring conversation with Heartwood Treehouse host Jacquelyn Fletcher.
Those dreams of yours? They never, ever go away. In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher talks about some full-circle moments that show how important it is to follow your dreams--no matter what age you are. And she provides you with an inquiry exercise that can help you dive deep into how to create your dreams in real life. If you've got a whisper in your heart about something you've always wanted to do, this is the episode for you!
This episode is for the people pleasers out there! You are not going to resonate with everyone and you don't have to. Hear what horses can teach us about the people we choose to have in our lives. And experience a practice that can help you bless and release the people in your life or the tensions in your relationships.
What would you hear if you stopped long enough to listen? In this week's episode of the Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, host Jacquelyn Fletcher offers a self-mastery skill that helps you tap in to the power of your senses. There are gifts in the stillness and in the silence of moments when we are paying full attention to our lives. Take a break in the treehouse to see what you can hear when you really listen.
When was the last time you thought of your organization as a living system? And yet all of our work environments are made up of living humans. In this insightful discussion, host Jacquelyn Fletcher talks with Dr. Kathleen Allen, the author of Leading From the Roots. Hear why more and more people are experiencing PTSD symptoms just from going to work every day; how you can be a more effective leader; and the reasons why leading with design principles from nature can transform your organization.
Based on psychological development theories, Voice Dialogue is a fantastic exercise to help you tap into the roots of your self-mastery. Listen in to a conversation between host Jacquelyn Fletcher and Maggie Pierce, a coach who uses the powerful Voice Dialogue technique with her clients.
In our quick-fix culture, we are often looking for ways to feel better fast, but this approach only addresses symptoms. True healing comes when we address the roots of our issues. In this special episode of The Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, Jacquelyn Fletcher shares ways to strengthen your roots to find the path of self-mastery.
You are not special. Ouch, right? But this can actually be a hugely liberating idea. Many of us were taught we need to strive to be special! To be somebody! To be extraordinary! And that pressure—both internal and external—can be intense. In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher explores this idea to find out where our drive comes from. Do you strive out of fear? Or love because you want to make a difference?
When we balance the being and doing energies within us, we are more effective. In this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, host Jacquelyn Fletcher leads you through an embodied experience to help you create more balance between hard work and gentleness and accomplishment and nourishment.
Stopping long enough to pay attention to what is before you and within you can help you regulate emotions and bring consciousness to your actions. In this episode, host Jacquelyn Fletcher gives you the time and an excuse to enter the pause and discover what wisdom may be waiting for you there.
Nature always seeks balance. And since we are part of nature, when we are balanced, we are at our best. In this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, you'll hear why learning to receive is so important to your health and happiness.
Humans are social creatures. We need each other to survive and live healthy, happy lives. However, we often treat other people like they are objects or avatars or obstacles to our success and happiness. In this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, you'll hear how curiosity can spark empathy. You'll also experience an embodied practice that can help you feel more connected to other humans so you feel less alone. It's a practice that, when done regularly, can change how we feel about others and ourselves.
How many times have you had a child or friend or partner ask you to put your phone down and listen to them? How many times have you felt ignored as someone texted while you talked? So many of my clients tell me with tears in their eyes that they've missed so much connection to other human hearts because they've been caught up in the digital world. In this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, discover some simple ways you can bring your whole self to more moments of your life.
Fear is one of the most destructive forces on earth. The problem with fear is that it’s a chameleon that can mask itself in all sorts of ways. And it can erupt in behaviors long before we’re conscious of the fear driving us. In this week's episode of the Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, host Jacquelyn Fletcher shares how self-compassion strategies can help us learn the art of emotional self-mastery.
Our bodies let us know in all sorts of ways that they want us to slow down. To notice our lives. To lead with our hearts. But this is hard to do in a culture that values productivity, speed and efficiency at the expense of our own inner knowing.
Tune in to this week's Heartwood Treehouse episode to practice tapping in to your body's wisdom so you can create greater alignment and wholeness. Once we start listening, it's miraculous what can shift.
So many of us are taught how to be humans through criticism and judgement that we then turn on ourselves. But what if instead of a harsh inner critic, the voice within was kind and loving? What if we motivated ourselves to action with kindness instead of cruelty? If you're regularly hard on yourself, then this episode is for you. Know someone with a harsh inner voice? Please share this with them so they can discover there's another way.
You have a tremendous impact on other people. What you think and what you do matters. In fact, your thoughts and emotions can quickly go viral. If you want other people to feel empowered, you can. If you want to spread hope, you can. In this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse podcast, host Jacquelyn Fletcher explores just how powerful you are when you bring both consciousness and loving intention to the things you want to spread.
What if alongside listing all the to-dos you have to achieve at work or home, you also listed the fun things you want to do this year? Game-changer, right? You can get the same dopamine hit in the brain for checking things off your list, but you get the added benefit of doing something that lights you up.
Tune in to hear my conversation with Teresa Thomas, the creator of 50 Fun Things for some laughs, some ideas, and some actions you can take to make having fun a priority.
Know someone who could benefit from more fun? Share this with them! And if you're enjoying this podcast, please leave a review. Thank you so much!
Have you ever noticed that joy is hard to maintain? In this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse Podcast, you'll hear how important it is to practice feeling joy. In fact, when you feel lit up and magnetic because you're so filled with bliss, you're helping to make the world a better place. And the more often you feel joy, the more your body will help you feel joy more often!
Know someone who could use a break for more joy? Share this with them! And if you're enjoying this podcast, please leave a review. It helps other people who need these messages to find the podcast. Thank you so much!
Are your needs usually last on the to-do list? Do you find it hard to ask for what you need to feel nourished?
Then this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse podcast is for you. Host Jacquelyn Fletcher offers a shift in perspective that can help you ask for what you need without guilt.
Know someone who could use a break? Share this with them! And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
Are you too busy to take care of yourself? Do you feel like people constantly need things from you? Your colleagues? Kids? Aging parents? Patients or Clients?
If you feel like you don't have enough time for self-care practices, tune in to hear about some fun strategies that can help you create mini wellbeing moments throughout your day.
Know someone who could use a break? Share this with them! And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
Take a relaxing break in the Heartwood Treehouse and learn self-compassion practices that can quickly help you boost your feelings of happiness and wellbeing. Research shows that being kinder to yourself can help you avoid burnout and create greater resilience and happiness.
Know someone who could use a little self-compassion? Share this with them! And don't forget to subscribe.
In this episode of the Heartwood Treehouse podcast, you'll hear a brief introduction to the podcast, find out why building and nourishing your inner core is so important, and learn what you can expect in future shows.
Don't forget to subscribe to the show and leave a review!