Pressing Pause: Recent Episodes
Gabrielle Treanor
Discover how to calm your busy life and mind and enjoy your life as it is right now. Gabrielle Treanor, certified coach, writer, teacher and radio presenter specialising in creating calm and ease, shares ideas and inspiration from positive psychology, along with practical mindfulness and self-care techniques, actions and tools to empower you to lower your stress, feel more calm, in control and free to enjoy your life more. Find out more about how you can live your calm and joyful life at https://gabrielletreanor.com. Transcripts for all episodes are available in the episode show notes at https://gabrielletreanor.com/podcast.
Before the podcast pauses for a little while I’ve recorded an audio version of the Introduction to my book, The 1% Wellness Experiment – Micro-gains to change your life in 10 minutes a day.
Resources:
• Buy my book The 1% Wellness Experiment from all good bookshops including Amazon, WHSmith, Blackwell’s, Waterstones and Bookshop.org here
• Enjoy The 1% Wellness Experiment? Leave a quick review on Amazon here to help others find the book
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
A bit of a different episode this time, I want to share a message with you as today is International Women’s Day.
Resources:
• Find out more about the Spacious online course – Stress less, banish exhaustion and have more time for you here
• Buy my book The 1% Wellness Experiment from wherever sells books including Amazon, WHSmith, Blackwell’s, Foyles and Bookshop.org here
• Enjoy The 1% Wellness Experiment? Leave a quick review here to help others find the book
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
Stressors can come as us from all directions at any time of the day and when we don’t fully move through the stress and come out the other side, we get stuck in the stress and all that goes with it – anxiety, frustration, fear, annoyance, upset… In this episode I share a simple and powerful technique to shift out of stress and soothe your nervous system.
Resources:
• Buy my book The 1% Wellness Experiment from all good bookshops including Amazon, WHSmith, Blackwell’s, Foyles and Bookshop.org here
• Enjoy The 1% Wellness Experiment? Leave a quick review on Amazon here to help others find the book
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
When you’ve got a lot going on it feels like you’re juggling, and as time goes on keeping all the balls in the air gets more and more difficult. The fear of dropping a ball adds to the stress because everything feels important and to let something fall would be a disaster, right? But, would it? In this episode I share a different way to look at those balls and ease the stress.
Resources:
• Buy my book The 1% Wellness Experiment from all good bookshops including Amazon, WHSmith, Blackwell’s, Foyles and Bookshop.org here
• Enjoy The 1% Wellness Experiment? Leave a quick review on Amazon here to help others find the book
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
This is the 12th year I’ve chosen a guiding word and this time it involved me being called out on my own BS! In this episode I share my inner wise woman calling my bluff (along with how I recognise the voices of my inner critic and inner child) and what it means for me going forward.
Resources:
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here https://gabrielletreanor.com/free/
• Read my Substack posts here https://gabrielletreanor.substack.com
• Buy my book The 1% Wellness Experiment from all good bookshops including Amazon, WHSmith, Blackwell’s, Foyles and Bookshop.org here https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1613/9781801292948
• Enjoy The 1% Wellness Experiment? Leave a quick review on Amazon here to help others find the book https://www.amazon.co.uk/1-Wellness-Experiment-Micro-gains-Minutes/dp/1801292949/r
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here https://gabrielletreanor.com/courses/
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
In January you can’t move for posts and articles about the importance and need to set resolutions and goals, to embark on big life changes and to reinvent yourself to be the best version ever. At this pressurised time of year there are a few important things to remember that I want you to know…
Resources:
• Buy my book The 1% Wellness Experiment from all good bookshops including Amazon, WHSmith, Blackwell’s, Foyles and Bookshop.org here
• Enjoy The 1% Wellness Experiment? Leave a quick review on Amazon here to help others find the book
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
Life has been pretty hectic that past several months with moments that have been stressful and a tad overwhelming. So in this episode I’m sharing five things that have been helping me to feel calm and grounded and keep the overwhelm at a manageable level.
Resources:
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here https://gabrielletreanor.com/free/
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
The conundrum is that you think you need a decent chunk of time to be able to do something that’s going to be of real benefit to your wellbeing, that will help you to feel calm or less stressed, or better able to cope or just plain happier. But you can never find space for that chunk of time so it doesn’t happen. In this episode I share how taking just a few minutes a day to do something supportive for yourself is not only doable but is worth your time too.
Resources:
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
In your quest to have a wonderful Christmas and make sure everyone’s happy and having a good time you can feel like you’re not allowed to do what you want or need to do, or to feel the not so Christmassy feelings you might have. In this episode I share how you can find the permission you need to do things differently, make changes, or to simply factor in your own feelings and needs, and by doing so have a less stressful, calmer and more joyful festive season.
Resources:
• The Calmer Christmas online course will help you to navigate the festivities with less stress and more joy, get instant access here
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
This is another behind the scenes episode on the process of writing my book, The 1% Wellness Experiment. This time I’m sharing why I wanted to write this book, how the philosophy has helped me and how I think it can support you too.
Resources:
• Get 30% off any online course until end of 27 November with code ‘Black Friday’ here
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
We all have things in our lives that take up our precious time and feel like a waste of our time, even though it’s essential we do them. Knowing we have to do them isn’t enough to stop feelings of irritation, resentment, anger even. In this episode I share how you can reclaim this time so you can turn the frustration into fun.
Resources:
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
The world tells us in many ways that we’re not enough just as we are so it’s no wonder we can find it hard to believe that we actually are. In this episode I share a personal tool I use daily to help teach myself to accept that I am, in fact, enough which you can use too.
Resources:
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
There is an enormous amount of suffering in the world right now. There are many of us who are feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the awfulness and feeling utterly helpless in the face of it. That’s combined with feeling thankful and guilt-ridden for our safety and comfort and aware of the incredibly privileged position we’re in by luck of birth. In this episode I share ideas on how you can deal with the anxiety, upset and fear you may be feeling.
Resources:
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
Writing a book to be traditionally published challenged me in ways that I didn’t fully expect, a big one being my perfectionism (which is not just about wanting perfection). In this episode I share the different, often sneaky ways that perfectionism shows up, I share how writing brought up those fears and how I dealt with them while in the thick of the process.
Resources:
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
There’s good reason why you find it hard to say no, why you automatically put everyone else’s needs ahead of your own, why you feel it’s lazy to take a break and rest, why you feel like you should always be doing something, why you hate the thought of getting something wrong or disappointing somebody, why you feel like you’re not quite enough and too much at the same time, and it’s not your fault. There are other forces at play here…
Resources:
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
Knowing there are less than three months of the year left can give a sense of urgency, a pressure to get things done or a feeling of failure for not doing all that you planned to. Instead of being panicked or frozen by the clock ticking there are other ways to approach the remainder of the year and how you want to feel, as well as what you want to do. I also share an update on my word for this year is going…
Resources:
• You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment AND get your bonuses here
• Read and subscribe to my Substack posts here
• Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
• Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
• If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
The podcast has been on an extended break but I’m back with new episodes! And I’m catching you up with everything that’s been happening since the last episode aired, there’s a lot to tell you about…
Resources:
- You can pre-order my book The 1% Wellness Experiment here
- Read and subcribe to my Substack posts here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- Find my range of online courses to help you bring down your stress and overwhelm, and feel more calm, ease and joy every day here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
There’s a lot to be dealing with during this festive period – freezing cold weather, strike action, the rising cost of living, as well as getting ready for Christmas with presents to buy and wrap, food to shop for, gatherings to go to, work to squeeze in before the break plus everyday life to wrangle too! So it’s not surprising it all gets a bit much. But how we can ease the pressure at this time of year when you feel the weight of tradition, of expectation from yourself as well as from other people?
In this episode I share:
- How comparison makes zero difference to you
- A different approach to thinking about all the balls your juggling right now
- How to identify the source of the pressure
- And ways to release and lift the pressure you’re feeling
Resources:
- Join the Calmer Christmas self-paced online course here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
We’ve just had Black Friday and Cyber Monday and all the noise, pressure and overwhelm that can come with it. It got me thinking about how we can avoid getting sucked in or bowing to scarcity tactics when we’re thinking about making a purchase, whenever and whatever it is.
In this episode I share:
- An invaluable question to ask yourself before you invest
- What drives our decisions to buy
- How to deal with the pressure and avoid buyer’s regret
Resources:
- Join the Calmer Christmas self-paced online course, and get your bonus early bird gift, here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
A smart meter measure energy usage in your home – what uses up lots of energy and costs you the most. So what if you had a smart meter for your life?
In this episode I share:
- What a personal smart meter could tell us about where, what and who drains our energy
- Until such a gadget is invented what you can do instead
- How useful this information is going forward
Resources:
- Join the Calmer Christmas self-paced online course, and get your bonus early bird gift, here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
You have strengths, skills, talents and passion that make you the wonderfully unique, beautiful, brilliant person you are. But do you talk about them out loud or even to yourself? No because we’ve been taught that’s showing off or bigging yourself but which makes us terrible people! Let’s challenge that, shall we?
In this episode I share:
- A strength of mine I’ve recently discovered
- How you can identify your own special qualities
- And how that can help you feel more calm and joy
Resources:
- Take the free VIA strengths profile test here
- Find comfort, understanding and inspiration in The Haven’s weeklyish email letters here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
‘Just be yourself’ is a common phrase but it’s not that easy! When the world is telling us who we should (and should not) be and we’re not sure who we really are anyway, how do we get comfortable being our real selves?
In this episode I share:
- A thought-provoking journalling exercise
- Why you find it hard to be your true self
- What you could gain from being comfortable being you
Resources:
- Get the support you want when you want it, to bring down the overwhelm and stress, and feel more calm, in control and joyful, with me as your Coach in Your Pocket. The amazing introductory offer ends Sunday 13 November, find out more here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
As children we have a great sense of awe and wander but as we grow up that gets lost as we have so much to do and think about. But awe and wonder are valuable to us, particularly when life is feeling difficult.
In this episode I share:
- The real benefits of experiencing awe and wonder
- What a wonder walk is
- Lots of ways you can find awe and wander right now, whether you live in a rural spot or the heart of a city.
Resources:
- Get the support you want when you want it, to bring down the overwhelm and stress, and feel more calm, in control and joyful, with me as your Coach in Your Pocket. Find out more and get the amazing introductory offer here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Mindfulness is a well know word but it’s easily misunderstood. Especially if we think we need to devote a lot of time to being mindful, that we need specific products to be mindful and it all feels like too much hassle. But there are many ways you can have mindful moments as you go about your ordinary day.
In this episode I share:
- What we miss out on when we eye-roll mindfulness
- The value in even the shortest mindful moment
- A wide variety of mindful opportunities in your everyday life
Resources:
- Join the FREE 5-day Break the People-pleasing Habit mini course here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
You know that feeling of a worry or fear lurking at the back of your mind that you just don’t want to think about? It does not feel good and it adds to our overwhelm. But we can do something about it.
In this episode I share:
- A relevant (if unusual) comparison
- The effect leaving the fear in the shadows has on you
- How you can free yourself of the nagging, unsettling worry
Resources:
- Join the FREE 5-day Break the People-pleasing Habit mini course here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
You have responsibilities, people counting on you, expectations to meet, a schedule to stick to, a to do list to tick off, goals to hit… no wonder it can feel like you don’t have any control over your own life. But perhaps you have more choices than you think…
In this episode I share:
- How to find choices where it seems you have none
- What these choices can look like
- Making your own micro choices
Resources:
- Join the FREE 5-day Break the People-pleasing Habit mini course here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Joy is a lovely feeling, right? The more joy we can feel the better so why am I recording a podcast episode about the scariness of feeling joy? Because sometimes our joy feels so good we’re gripped by the fear of losing what the people, the life, that give us such joy
In this episode I share:
- Where our fear of joy comes from
- How we think we’re protecting ourselves
- What to do when your joy becomes foreboding
Resources:
- Find comfort, understanding and inspiration in The Haven’s weeklyish email letters here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
A different type of hangover with no alcohol involved and very real physical symptoms…
In this episode I share:
- Why introverts feel so physically drained by being social (even with people we love)
- What it definitely does NOT say about who we are
- How to deal with an introvert hangover when it happens
Resources:
- Find comfort, understanding and inspiration in The Haven’s weeklyish email letters here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Is it worthy of celebration if you can’t buy a greetings card for it? We think celebrating is for the big stuff in life, the landmark moments, the goals met, the milestones reached. But this could be stopping you from gaining a myriad of benefits available when you celebrate the smaller stuff in life too.
In this episode I share:
- What makes us think we shouldn’t celebrate the smaller wins in life
- The valuable life skills that stops us from developing
- All you have to gain by noticing and acknowledging the little as well as big moments in your day
Resources:
- The Calm & Joy Catalyst will be starting on Monday 19 September and the doors are open for you to join until Friday 16 September. To find out more and register your place click here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here https://gabrielletreanor.com/free/
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
There are demands on your attention, voices and noise coming at you from all directions so how often do you actually listen to yourself? What might you discover, and gain, from paying attention to the voice coming from within?
In this episode I share:
- A simple prompt which tunes you into your intuition
- How to differentiate between the voices of your intuition and your fear
- What benefits you reap from listening to the quiet, wise voice inside you
Resources:
- The Calm & Joy Catalyst will be starting on Monday 19 September and the doors are open for you to join until Friday 16 September. To find out more and register your place click here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Having a plan is good, but what about when the plan becomes restrictive and stops working for you? Changing it might sound simple but it can bring up all kinds of challenging feelings.
In this episode I share:
- The plan that’s no longer working for me
- What I made changing the plan mean about me
- The new plan (and how it works for you too)
Resources:
- The Calm & Joy Catalyst will be starting on Monday 19 September and the doors are open for you to join until Friday 16 September. To find out more and register your place click here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
We think that if we aren’t making big changes, taking bold action, if we don’t see the impact of our efforts quickly enough that means we’re not getting anywhere and there’s no point in trying. But perhaps there’s a different way of getting to where we want to go?
In this episode I share:
- Why breaking a big goal into smaller chunks can still feel overwhelming
- What a micro movement is and the power behind it
- How marginal gains prove that little steps add up to big leaps
Resources:
- The Calm & Joy Catalyst doors are open and if you join before Friday 26 August you’ll get the Early Bird Bonus. Doors close Friday 2 September and we begin Monday 5 September. To find out more and register your place click here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
It can be baffling when there’s a new habit we want to establish, something we really want to do, and yet we find it so hard to actually do the thing. But if we can find a way to tackle what’s going on here the reward is increased self-trust.
In this episode I share:
- What’s getting in the way of us doing what we want to do on a regular basis
- How we can get moving in the direction we want to go in
- What we gain when we switch our thinking and behaviour in this way
Resources:
- The Calm & Joy Catalyst doors are open and if you join before Friday 26 August you’ll get the Early Bird Bonus. Doors close Friday 2 September and we begin Monday 5 September. To find out more and register your place click here
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
When there’s something you want or you’ve been thinking about why is it that you see related examples and opportunities everywhere you turn? Is there something magical going on is there a neurological explanation for it?
In this episode I share:
- The scientific explanation for the law of attraction
- How we can harness what’s going on in our brains
- The beneficial impact this can have on our daily lives
Resources:
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
We might spend time away from home for lovely reasons like going on holiday or visiting friends, or it might be for a more troubling reason like caring for a sick loved one. Even if we’re happy to be staying somewhere different it can be still be a source of stress as we’re away from our home comforts and personal space.
In this episode I share:
- Why we can struggle away from home even when we’re with people we love
- Ideas for how you can give yourself feelings of ease, comfort and safety
- How introverts can find calm while 'peopling'
Resources:
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
What might we regret in the future and what can we do about it now to mitigate them? Bronnie Ware’s book ‘The Top Five Regrets of the Dying’ got me thinking along with a realisation about the regrets I hadn’t had before.
In this episode I share:
- What the top five regrets of the dying are
- What connects them all that relates to life right now
- What realisations this has given me about how I live my life
- How we might want to spend our time, and our lives, now
Resources:
- Find 'The Top Five Regrets of the Dying' by Bronnie Ware here (affiliate link)
- My new course, Spacious – How to have more time (and feel calmer and happier too) is open for registration now with a special early bird offer ending soon. Find out more and join here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
To do lists are useful, they hold you accountable and it’s super satisfying when you get to tick things off. But a to do list is never done. It eats up your time and reminds you of all that you haven’t yet done. So I have an alternative to suggest.
In this episode I share:
- My different kind of to do list
- What it includes and how to write it
- The huge benefits this list can bring you
- How to get started with it yourself
Resources:
- My new course, Spacious – How to have more time (and feel calmer and happier too) is open for registration now with a special early bird offer ending soon. Find out more and join here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
We might know logically that our needs are valid, that we’re not being unreasonable with what we want, that we’re allowed to take care of ourselves but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do! We can find ourselves dealing with feelings of resistance and discomfort in ourselves, perhaps as well as the opinions of others.
In this episode I share:
- How I've tended to my own needs
- Where the resistance we feel comes from
- What hidden message it holds for us
- How to deal with the discomfort of resistance
Resources:
- My new course, Spacious – How to have more time (and feel calmer and happier too) is open for registration now with a special early bird offer. Find out more and join here gabrielletreanor.com/spacious
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
When we want to make changes or try a new habit it can feel daunting or overwhelming, particularly if we put pressure on ourselves to do it right first time. But when we treat something as an experiment it eases the need (or belief) that it must be the solution we were looking for.
In this episode I share:
- The benefits of try something as an experiment
- Different ways you can conduct your experiment
- Dealing with doubts that pop up
- What next when your experiment ends
Resources:
- Get your free guides and audios to help you live with more calm and joy each day in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Choosing a word to guide, inspire and remind you of how you want to feel or what you want to do isn’t just for January. You can pick a guiding word any time for any time period and benefit from its gentle nudging support.
In this episode I share:
- Several questions/journal prompts to help you reflect if you already have a guiding word
- An exercise that connects you to the wisdom of your body (with the scientific explanation!) so you choose the word that’s right for you
- How my own guiding word has been challenging me
- And my intentions around my word for the rest of the year
Resources:
- This is your last chance to join The Calm Mind Club! The doors are open to new members until 30 June and they won’t reopen again before the Club closes at the end of 2022. So to get six months access to the incredible wealth of resources and support click here to find out more and join
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
The podcast has had a refresh! And I’ve kept what you love about it – bitesize episodes packed with insight and inspiration, tools and top tips on how you can bring more calm and joy into your day right now. For this episode we’re looking at the message that you have to hit rock bottom before you can justify taking care of your own needs and wants.
In this episode I share:
- The external conditioning we’re given that convinces us to struggle on
- The dangerous path that takes us down
- Why now is actually the ideal time to take action
Resources:
- This is your last chance to join The Calm Mind Club! The doors are open to new members until 30 June and they won’t reopen again before the Club closes at the end of 2022. So to get six months access to the incredible wealth of resources and support click here to find out more and join
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Calm and joy may be two little words but there can be a lot of thinking and baggage tied up in them. Feeling calm and joy isn’t as simple as we’d like it to be because there are obstacles that trip us up and get in the way.
In this episode I share:
- Five of the biggest obstacles obstructing your path to calm and joy
- Why they don’t have to be in your way after all
- How to get past them (or blow them out of your way) so you can move forward towards more calm and joy
Resources:
- Find out about The Calm & Joy Catalyst and register before it closes 10 April here
- Get your free guides to living with more calm and joy in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Joy is an emotion that we think is straight forward – who doesn’t want to feel joy, right? But in reality is just not that simple. There are structures and messaging we take in from the people and the world around us that mean our thinking about, and our freedom to feel, joy can get quite knotted up. In this episode I share:
- What gets in the way of our joy
- What’s actually true about joy
- How to deal with challenging thoughts and feelings around joy
Resources:
- Be the first to know about The Calm & Joy Catalyst here
- Get your free guides to living with more calm and joy in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Boundaries can seem like a big deal that will take lots of time and effort to figure out and will mean upsetting people too. But actually that isn’t necessarily the case. You will already have boundaries that you communicate and uphold and you can make use of them for the future.
In this episode I share:
- What boundaries actually are
- How to recognise your existing boundaries
- How your current boundaries can help you create and honour new ones
Resources:
- Get your free guides to living with more calm and joy in the free resource library here
- Find out about the self-paced online courses available to you here and one to one coaching with me here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
I became a huge fan of The Repair Shop TV show during the 2020 lockdowns and it gave me more than comfort and entertainment – something that we can put to use in our everyday lives to support our own wellbeing.
In this episode I share:
- The foundational part of the restoration process that can apply to us humans
- What we need before we can make changes
- An experiment to breathe love into your life
Resources:
- Get your free guides to living with more calm and joy in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Dipti Solanki is a coach guiding grieving people through the healing process. We often link grief to the death of a person but we experience grief in many ways, for example when a relationship or we lose a job. And while we can be in the absolute depths of grief it is still possible (and necessary) to find moments of calm and joy.
In this episode we discuss:
- What makes grieving even harder to deal with
- How to help ourselves when we’re in the thick of grief
- How to support someone else who’s grieving
- What gets in our way of finding calm and joy (besides grief itself) and how we can allow ourselves to feel it
Resources:
- Get your free guides to swapping overwhelm for calm and joy in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Dipti Solanki on her website here, on Instagram here or Facebook here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
I’m doing something different this episode as Christmas is in a few days. I’ve decided to record for you a reading of a classic Christmas story – A Visit From St Nicholas but you might know it better as Twas the Night Before Christmas – by Clement Clarke Moore.
So, take a moment to pause, relax and enjoy this Christmas tale…
Resources:
- Find lots of resources to help you to bring down your overwhelm so you can feel more calm, in control, confident you can cope and happier, on my website here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Bridget Johns is a professional organiser and declutter coach who teaches women to reduce their mental load by decluttering their homes, phones, calendars and minds. Clutter isn’t just about being overwhelmed by stuff taking up space in our homes, a cluttered mind can lead to mental overwhelm.
In this episode we discuss:
- What’s needed before you can start to declutter
- Minimalist vs maximalist living
- How other people affected by clutter means a knock on effect for you too
- How to start clearing the mental clutter
Resources:
- Register for my FREE Calm Comfort restorative workshop here happening on Wednesday 15 December (get the recording when you sign up)
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Bridget Johns on her website here, on Instagram here or Facebook here, and get six free videos to help you declutter your kitchen, toys, office, sentimental items and linen cupboard by joining the Be Simply Free community group here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Alice Mcdonald is a Separation and Divorce Coach who helps women with older teens and adult children to navigate their break-up and create their new future. As you’d think that calm and joy are in short supply during the breakdown of a relationship it was really interesting to hear about Alice’s experience and advice.
In this episode we discuss:
- The double whammy women go through with losing their identity
- Giving yourself permission
- Rediscovering what you want and enjoy
- Finding pockets of joy amidst the upset and overwhelm
Resources:
- Register for my FREE Calm Comfort restorative workshop here happening on Wednesday 15 December (get the recording when you sign up)
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Alice McDonald on her website here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Some days are just hard, right? You might not know why but you wake up and all you want to do is get back under the duvet and stay there. But you can’t –you have responsibilities, a long to do list, commitments. So what do you do? Take a JED…
In this episode I share:
- What a JED is!
- A different way of approaching your to do list
- That rest is productive (yes, you read that right)
- The drawback of forcing yourself onwards
Resources:
- Check out the Coping with Christmas self-paced, online course here
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Rose White, a nutrition and intuitive eating coach, has a wonderful ethos around eating and nourishing ourselves that has absolutely nothing to do with diets. And because we can get so knotted up around what we eat and drink and how that affects how we feel and think I knew she would be great to talk with.
In this episode we discuss:
- How what we consume affects our calm and joy
- Where and why our thinking around food goes astray
- Toxic diet culture
- What interception is and how it can help us to understand and nourish ourselves better
Resources:
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Rose White on Instagram here or on her website here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Fashion creative, sewing whizz and podcaster Karen Arthur is passionate about encouraging us all to inject more joy into our daily lives through the clothes we dress in. It’s not about following trends, it’s about wearing what you love.
In this episode we discuss:
- What wearing your happy means
- Why Karen disagrees with saving clothes for best
- A reality check to celebrate each day
- The impact of menopause and talking about it on everyone’s calm and joy
Resources:
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Karen Arthur on Instagram here or her podcast Insta account is here and her podcast is Menopause Whilst Black
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
A self-described professional experimenter Sasha Glasgow hosts journalling workshops and the podcast 'This is Your RemindHer'. She’s showing how journalling rules can be broken to make it work for you.
In this episode we discuss:
- What journalling is in essence
- Making journalling more accessible
- Sasha’s brilliant journalling anchors
- How it can help you feel joy as well as work through difficult stuff
Resources:
- Check out the self-paced, online course Rooted – Feel calm, in control and confident you can cope here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Sasha Glasgow on Instagram here, on her website here and her podcast is This is Your RemindHer
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Mindfulness teacher and author Frances Trussell works with people experiencing anxiety and depression to help them re-engage with the present and find more calm and joy by doing so.
In this episode we discuss:
- The biggest obstruction to feeling calm and joy when you’re anxious
- The surprising truth about how quickly you can access calm
- How toxic positivity gets in the way
- Reframing mindfulness for those who eyeroll at the mention of it
- A quick and effective action to calm anxiety
Resources:
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Frances Trussell on Instagram here and on her website here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
From posting her positive messages and colourful illustrations on Instagram Stacie Swift has grown a devoted following as well as writing and illustrating two books all with the goal of helping you to feel good about you and your life.
In this episode we discuss:
- The challenge of helping others without wearing yourself out
- Being intentional with what you give your attention to
- How having better boundaries works for other people as well as yourself
- The importance of giving yourself the time, care and understanding you give to others
- Recognising when you’re overwhelmed and what’s really the cause of it
Resources:
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Stacie Swift on Instagram here, on her website here and her books are 'You Are Positively Awesome' and the 'Positively Awesome Journal'
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Author of four books, Natalie Lue helps people pleasers, perfectionists and relationship strugglers overcome their emotional baggage so that they can live their best life.
In this episode we discuss:
- The maladaptive habits we developed in childhood that become problematic when we’re adults
- Where we go wrong in our thinking that leads to people-pleasing
- How shaping ourselves to fit others takes away our calm and joy
- How we can feel more genuine calm and joy
Resources:
- Find out all about The Calm Mind Club and join while the doors are open here https://gabrielletreanor.com/jointhecalmmindclub
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Natalie Lue on Instagram here, on her website here and her podcast is called The Baggage Reclaim Sessions
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Emily Quinton, writer, photographer and speaker, has a busy life with four neurodivergent children and our conversation centres around how she makes space for calm and joy not just for her family, but for herself too.
In this episode we discuss:
- What Emily has found is essential for being able to be there for her family in the way she wants to
- How Emily structures her day and her wellbeing toolkit
- Challenging societal expectations around rest
- How creativity plays a part in her family’s happiness
Resources:
- Find out all about The Calm Mind Club and join while the doors are open here
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Emily Quinton on Instagram with her allsortsoflovely account here, or her EmilyQuinton account here and on her website here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
In this solo episode I’m sharing changes to a big part of my work that go against how things are usually done to follow through with my intention to help you ditch the overwhelm and pressure so you can feel more calm and joy.
Resources:
- Find out all about The Calm Mind Club and join while the doors are open here
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Rebecca McMillan, artist and owner of the Wildflower Illustration Company and the Wildflower Paper Club, regularly breaks the online business rules by taking time offline to create more calm and joy. We talk about connecting on and offline, how it feeds into the calm and joy we feel, and juggling it all with a business and a family too.
In this episode we discuss:
- Making connections offline as well as online
- What she gains from being offline, as an online business
- The practical steps she takes to stay in the present offline
- Juggling her business and family life
Resources:
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Rebecca McMillan on Instagram here, her website here https://wildflowerillustrationco.com and her Wildflower Paper Club here.
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Anita Chaudhuri, associate editor of Psychologies magazine, has reported on so many aspects of wellness, psychology, self-development, she has a unique insight into how we can feel more calm and joy.
In this episode we discuss:
- Where so many wellbeing books and courses go wrong
- The number one life-changing tool she’s taken from all her research
- The joy in photography
- The toxic positivity she sees in the wellbeing world
- And why Anita prefers joie de vivre!
Resources:
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Anita Chaudhuri on Instagram here, Twitter here and her website here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Zabby Allen is the creator of the Procrastination Paper so if anyone knows about the impact procrastinating has on our calm and joy it’s Zabby!
In this episode we discuss:
- Why we procrastinate and how we do it
- How it gets in the way of us feeling calm and joy
- What we can gain from procrastinating and how it can be a positive
- How Zabby has been finding joy in the pandemic
Resources:
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- This conversation was first aired on my new radio show – The Calm & Joy show on Yowah Radio – on every Sunday 4-6pm UK time, find out more here
- You can connect with Zabby Allen on Instagram here and on her Procrastination Paper account here, and her website here.
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
After an extended break the podcast is back with new episodes in a new format – it’s no longer going to just be me talking to you! I’m excited to welcome interesting, wise and downright brilliant women onto the podcast to talk all things calm and joy…
In this episode I share:
- Why the podcast has had such a long break
- The fear that stopped me from coming back sooner
- What you can expect from this podcast going forward
- Other exciting news I have for you!
Resources:
- My new radio show – The Calm & Joy Radio Show on Yowah Radio – is on Sundays 4-6pm UK time at yowahradio.co.uk and find out more here
- Get your free goodies in the free resource library here
- Find out what I’ve been up to during the past few months on the blog here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Hang on a mo, do you really think you’re allowed to do what you need, to say what you want, to feel how you feel, to think those thoughts and be the real you? Says who?!
In this episode we look at:
- How we can feel we don’t have permission to think, feel, say, be or do what we want or need
- The impact this has on our wellbeing and our everyday lives
- How we can start to allow ourselves to act in the way we truly want to
Resources:
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me click here
- Come say hi to me here on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Overwhelm is part of the human experience but it’s within our power to deal with it, reduce it and help ourselves to feel less of it.
In this episode we look at:
- Where we can go wrong with our thinking around overwhelm
- A powerful image to help us gauge how overwhelmed we are
- How we can start to bring down the overwhelm and feel more in control
Resources:
- The Calm Mind Club is open to join now, check it out and join by clicking here
- You can email me your thoughts on the podcast at gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
- Come say hi to me here on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa by clicking here
Never mind making resolutions or setting SMART goals and you can definitely forget the new year new you nonsense! There’s one practice I love to do at the start of a new year that feels supportive and inspiring without any pressure.
In this episode we look at:
- What choosing a guiding word for the year is and is not
- How you can find the word that will best support you
- What my word (or words?!) are for the coming year
Resources:
- Rooted – the self-study, instant access course to help you feel calm, in control and confident you can cope – is available to everyone, click here for more info. And I’m making it available for free to NHS staff
- Come say hi to me here on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- Susannah Conway’s Find Your Word e-course can be found here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Looking ahead to 2021 doesn’t mean you have to set goals and have a 12-month plan. Thinking about how you want to feel and be as well as what you want to do can give you clarity and a steer on the direction you want to take.
In this episode we look at:
- What you may be thinking or feeling about the coming year
- How to look ahead to the next year in a way that feels helpful to you
- 15 suggested journalling questions to explore
Resources:
- Get the journal prompts in this week’s newsletter by clicking here
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me click here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa by clicking here
Whether you’re happy to wave off this year or want to slam the door in its face, 2020 has been quite the year. Even with all the uncertainty, the worry, the upset and the challenges, what can we take from this year, what can we learn about ourselves that suggests this year wasn’t a total bust?
In this episode we look at:
- How we can benefit by reflecting on this past year
- How to take time to reflect in a way that feels right for you
- 15 suggested reflective journal prompts
Resources:
- Get the journal prompts in this week’s newsletter by clicking here
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me click here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Some days you wake up feeling out of sorts and you may not know why. So what do you do when you feel like that? How do you deal with those feelings and change your mood?
In this episode we look at:
- What we tell ourselves about how we’re feeling
- The pros and cons of taking the fast mood change approach
- How we can help ourselves deal with our rubbish mood
Resources:
- Get your free 7 Steps to Overcome Introvert Overwhelm guide by clicking here
- Come say hi to me here on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
can’t see or don’t feel any difference in yourself in spite of the action you’re taking to bring about change.
In this episode we look at:
- The struggle of trusting in ourselves
- The power of small steps over time
- What creates lasting change
Resources:
- My free workshop – 3 Steps to Start Feeling Calm and In Control – is happening on Thursday 26 November and if you can’t join me live you’ll get the replay. Sign up here
- Come say hi to me here on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
When you feel disappointed in yourself
Why is it we can be so much harder on ourselves than we are on other people? We can give others leeway and second chances but if we don’t get perfection from ourselves at the first attempt we’re quick to self-criticise and berate ourselves for failing.
In this episode we look at:
- The challenge of feeling disappointed in yourself
- A completely different way to think about our so-called failures
- What we gain from falling down that helps us get back up
Resources:
- My new online course, Rooted – feel calm, in control and confident you can cope – is available to pre-order now with two bonuses that are only available for a few more days! Click here to find out more and join
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
We may not realise it but how you are, what you say and do, has an impact that goes beyond those immediately around us. So not only do we affect others when we’re tired, overwhelmed or stressed, but also when we’re energised, relaxed and happy…
In this episode we look at:
- Research that shows just how far-reaching an affect we can have on other people
- How that questions the idea that taking care of your own needs and desires is selfish
- I share an example of how I saw the ripple effect for myself
- What the ripple effect means for how we treat ourselves
Resources:
- My new online course, Rooted – feel calm, in control and confident you can cope – is available to pre-order now with two bonuses to boot! Click here to find out more and join
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa https://ko-fi.com/gabrielletreanor
This week is a lot, with lockdown restrictions in the UK and the election in the US it can feel overwhelming to manage and cope with.
In this episode we look at:
- Why it’s okay if you’re feeling overwhelmed by it all
- What you can learn from the past eight months or so
- What is and is not going to help you during right now
- How you can get through whatever’s coming next
Resources:
- Sign up for my emails and get your free 7 Steps to Overcome Introvert Overwhelm guide here
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me click here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Self-awareness – is it a way to limit and box yourself in, use the labels as an excuse to not do hard things, or is it how you can free and empower yourself to live your life to its full potential?
In this episode we look at:
- The two arguments for and against self-knowledge
- The empathy scale and what an empath looks and feels like
- The superpower of being highly empathetic
- How you and others gain from your deeper understanding of your own nature
Resources:
- Download your free 7 Steps to Overcome Introvert Overwhelm guide by clicking here
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me click here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa by clicking here
Not being able to fall asleep, or waking up in the night, is frustrating and makes life feel even harder than it already is. You try to make yourself go to sleep but you just get more stressed and more worn out. You need help!
In this episode we look at:
- The simple and powerful mindset shift that changes how you feel about lying awake in bed
- The importance of telling your body and brain to wind down long before your head hits the pillow
- Two different ideas that you can try to help yourself nod off
Resources:
- Share your views to help me give you the best support to overcome your overwhelm in this survey
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me check out here
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Knowing how introverted you are (or aren’t) and understanding what introversion really is (and what it isn’t) empowers you to recognise what contributes to your overwhelm and so how to deal with and reduce it.
In this episode we look at:
- The differences between introversion and extroversion
- What introversion is and is not
- How your introversion nature shows up in everyday life
- How being an introvert can lead to overwhelm
- How understanding your introversion is freeing, not limiting
Resources:
- Download your free 7 Steps to Overcome Introvert Overwhelm guide here
- Susan Cain’s book Quiet
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me click here
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
When we ‘what if’ we’re usually thinking about what if it went wrong, what if I messed up, what if I can’t do it, what if it’s awful… but there are two sides to what ifs and there’s power in allowing ourselves to imagine what if it went right.
In this episode we look at:
- Our beliefs around what choices and power we think we have
- The flipside of our standard what ifs
- The magic in the possibility of our hopes and dreams
Resources:
- Download your free 7 Steps to Overcome Introvert Overwhelm guide here
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me click here
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes so that others can find it too
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
It can be a real struggle to feel able to take care of our own needs and wants when we feel we should be putting others before ourselves so here we tackle it head on.
In this episode we look at:
- The problem with self-care
- The story that looking after ourselves is selfish
- A different approach and what it looks like
Resources:
- The Calm Mind Club is open to join until Saturday 3 October, check it out and join here
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes, there are instructions for how to do so here https://gabrielletreanor.com/podcast
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
During the upheaval and radical changes to our lives that the pandemic has brought about there’s also been time for reflection and realisation of what hasn’t been working for you in the old ‘normal’.
In this episode we look at:
- What you may have been tolerating in the past
- Identifying what you’ve had enough of now
- What to do next with this realisation
Resources:
- Download your free 7 Steps to Overcome Introvert Overwhelm guide here
- If you’d like to find out more about coaching with me check out the info page here
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes, there are instructions for how to do so here.
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa https://ko-fi.com/gabrielletreanor
The podcast returns after an unexpectedly long break where the world turned upside down. This is a quick catch-up and preview episode where I share about the long break and what to expect from future episodes.
Resources:
- To find out more about how you can bring down the overwhelm and feel, calmer, more in control and happier, go to gabrielletreanor.com
- Come say hi to me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- If you enjoy the podcast I’d love you to leave a review on iTunes, there are instructions for how to do so here.
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa https://ko-fi.com/gabrielletreanor
This is an unusually long episode because we’re experiencing an unusual time in the world right now. There are a lot of feelings and thoughts about Coronavirus and all the uncertainty and the lack of feeling in control can feel overwhelming.
In this episode we look at:
- What’s fuelling the overwhelm
- How we can reduce our feelings of overwhelm
- Practical steps we can take to still feel connected with others
- How we can feel more calm and in control
- How we can allow ourselves to feel joy during this difficult time
Resources:
- For information and advice on dealing with Coronavirus visit the NHS website and UK government website
- If the strain on your mental health is feeling like more than you can cope with please seek support from your GP or from Mind, their phone number is 0300 123 3393
- If you’d like to explore how I can support you to bring down the overwhelm so you can feel more calm, confident, in control and, ultimately, happier, email me gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
- You can also find me on Instagram @gabrielletreanor
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa https://ko-fi.com/gabrielletreanor
For the first time in the podcast’s history I reshare seven ideas for how you can bring down the overwhelm and create some calm, and even feel a little more joy, during Christmas and the New Year.
In this episode we look at:
- How your expectations impact your enjoyment of Christmas
- What small, practical actions you can take to ease the stress
- What to do if you don’t feel full of festive spirit
- How to make the most of the good stuff
Resources
- Episode 14: The damaging word every overthinker uses
- Episode 18: How to deal with difficult emotions
- If you’d like to explore how one to one coaching with me could free you from the hamster wheel take a look here or message me gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com and we can have a chat to see if it’s right for you
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
When you have too much to do and too little time to do it, it feels impossible to do it all. We get tense, stressed and feel overwhelmed by the pressure and expectation. But there is something we do have control over that helps us to deal with the overwhelm.
In this episode we look at:
- Why feeling overwhelmed is not your fault
- The three common reactions to feeling overwhelmed
- How your thoughts and feelings play a part in the overwhelm
- What you can do to put yourself back in control
Resources
- Check out the special offer available until 20 December on my Focus Calls coaching package to get you quickly get a handle on your overwhelm here
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Think celebrating is only for big occasions? You’re doing yourself a disservice and the chance to build your resilience, feel stronger and experience more joy, comfort and hope.
In this episode we look at:
- A different way to look at what’s celebration-worthy
- How and why the voice in your head stops you celebrating
- What we’re really doing when we celebrate
- How to gain the benefits from celebrating everyday moments
Resources
- The Calm Mind Club is closing to new members on 3 December and the price will rise when it reopens February 2020. Find out more and join at thecalmmindclub.com
- Episode 45: Being afraid to feel truly happy
- If you value what I share in the podcast, and elsewhere, you can buy me a virtual cuppa here
Comparison is something we all do in everyday life but when comparing yourself to others makes you feel bad it’s time to do something about it.
In this episode we look at:
- How we compare
- What is confirmation bias and its role in comparison
- What our judgements about others tells us about ourselves
- What you can do when you get into comparison
Resources
- Break the Overthinking Loop online workshop is taking place on Thursday 12 November at 8pm UK time, join here and get the recording if you can’t make it live
- Get the workshop for free when you join The Calm Mind Club, find out more here
- Send me your questions for me to answer in a podcast episode to gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
If you feel like you’re not in charge of your own life, or mind, that there’s always so much to do, people to please, expectations to meet, your mind never stops whirring with all the things to remember and worrying what people think of you, you’re not alone.
- In this episode we look at:
- What the voice in your head is telling you when you feel this way
- Why your inner critic is shouting so loudly
- How to deal with it
- What you can do to start taking back control of your own life
Resources
- Episode 55: Do you have a choice?
- If you’d like to explore how one to one coaching with me could free you from the hamster wheel message me gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com to find out how I can help you
- Find me on Instagram as @gabrielletreanor
- Send me your questions for me to answer in a podcast episode to gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’re right” – do you believe that? What we believe is possible for us, what we think we’re capable of can see us making progress or keep us feeling stuck.
In this episode we look at:
- The power our beliefs have over us
- How our beliefs create our world
- The antidote to a lack of belief
- What you can do when you only believe a little bit
Resources
- If you believe, even only a tiny amount, that it could be possible for you to be free from overthinking message me gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com to find out how I can help you
- Find me on Instagram as @gabrielletreanor
- Send me your questions for me to answer in a podcast episode to gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
- Join The Calm Mind Club now for £1 at thecalmmindclub.com
The feeling of being backed into a corner and having little say in our own lives has been coming up in coaching conversations so I’m focusing on the topic of choice in this episode. Do you feel like you have a choice?
In this episode we look at:
- What we don’t have any control over in life
- Where we can fail to recognise we have a choice
- The power in making micro choices in everyday life
- How to feel more in control of life through the choices you make
Resources
- Join The Calm Mind Club now for £1 at thecalmmindclub.com
- If this topic of choice interests you, perhaps you’re struggling with feeling overwhelmed and you’d like some help finding a way forward, message me gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
- You can find me on Instagram as @gabrielletreanor
- Send me your questions for me to answer in a podcast episode to gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
As an overthinker it’s all too easy to get stuck replaying a conversation or a situation and thinking up all the different ways you could have handled it and how that could have changed things. So what do you do with all these thoughts?
In this episode we look at:
- What continuing to go over and over something in the past is doing for us
- When rehashing the past is helpful and when it is not
- What you can do to help yourself get out of this loop and move forward
Resources
- Find out how I can help you to be free from overthinking and feel free to live your life as you want at theoverthinkerscoach.com
- Send me your questions for me to answer in a podcast episode to gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
When you’ve spent years, decades, worrying and overthinking it can feel like you’re stuck that way and you’re destined to always be an overthinker. So is it really possible for you to learn how to overthink less?
In this episode we look at:
- What the label ‘overthinker’ means
- What overthinking is and what it’s not
- What positive psychology research has discovered that impacts how possible it is to learn how to overthink less
- Why having tried and failed to worry less doesn’t mean you’ve failed
Resources
- Book your free 30mins Jumpstart Coaching Call (numbers are limited) here
- Find out about The Calm Mind Club where overthinkers find calm, confidence and community, and join, at thecalmmindclub.com
- Send me your questions for me to answer in a podcast episode to gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
In our first new-style episode where I answer listener questions we have a brilliant one to start us off with.
In this episode we look at:
- How to treat ourselves when we’re what if-ing
- Different ways to deal with this particular worry
- When distraction is helpful and when it is not
Resources
- Find out about The Calm Mind Club where overthinkers find calm, confidence and community, and join, at thecalmmindclub.com
- Send me your questions for me to answer in a podcast episode to gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
- Find out about working 1:1 with me and book a free call at theoverthinkerscoach.com
The break was a lot longer than I anticipated but finally the podcast is back and I have plans…
In this episode we look at:
- What’s been happening that caused the break to be almost four months long
- The (over)thinking that I was doing during that time
- The new project I’ve been working on that is now at the heart of what I do to help you worry less and enjoy life more
- How I want you to be involved in the podcast going forward
Resources
- Find out about The Calm Mind Club where overthinkers find calm, confidence and community, and join, at thecalmmindclub.com
- Send me your questions for me to answer in a podcast episode to gabrielle@gabrielletreanor.com
By taking just a few seconds or minutes to hit the pause button in your daily life you can calm your overthinking, tend to your own needs, be more intentional and so much more.
In this episode we look at:
- What pressing pause in your own life can look like
- How it can help you mentally and physically
- Ten different ways you can gain by taking a moment to be still
Resources:
- There are lots more resources and ways to work with me on my website gabrielletreanor.com
- Connect with me on Instagram, I’m @gabrielletreanor
- Join my private Facebook group for overthinkers here
Stopping ourselves from doing what we want, being successful and happy, doesn’t make sense and yet we all do it. Overthinkers are particularly good at self-sabotaging as we overthink and talk ourselves out of so much. But when we pay attention to ourselves we can start to address it.
In this episode we look at:
- How self-sabotage shows up in life
- What impact it has on our lives
- How we can start to address it and curb our inner saboteur
Resources:
- Doors close for the online course Worry Less for Life – how to calm your mind, build resilience and enjoy life more on Friday 29 March, click here to join
- Episode 41: How fear of failure shows up and what to do about it
- Episode 43: Build self-belief with the messages you give yourself
We can lose the sense of awe and wonder we had as children as we get bogged down with the responsibilities and worries of grown-up life. But feeling awe brings us out of ourselves, it reminds us that we’re not the centre of the universe and helps us to get perspective on life. And it feels good too.
In this episode we look at:
- The surprising benefits of spending more time in awe
- How to take a wonder walk in nature and in a built-up urban area
- Where else you can find awe in everyday life
Resources:
- There is a new payment plan available for Worry Less for Life – how to calm your mind, build resilience and enjoy life more online course. The course starts on 1 April and doors close to joining on 29 March
Feeling like you couldn’t cope if things went wrong, if life became super challenging, is a fear overthinkers share. It’s behind a lot of the What If-ing and the need to overplan and be in control at all times. There’s a skill we can all develop and strengthen to help us feel able to cope – resilience.
In this episode we look at:
- How the fear of not being able to deal with life keeps us scared of life
- What resilience is
- How being resilient reduces overthinking
- Different ways we can build and strengthen our own resilience
Resources:
- The Early Bird special offer on my new online course, Worry Less for Life – how to calm your mind, build resilience and enjoy life more, ends 10pm Wednesday 13 March, the course is available to join until 29 March, check it out here
- Episode 18: How to deal with difficult emotions
Wanting to please people, to be kind or helpful, isn’t in itself a bad thing. But when your desire to please others, make them happy and life you interferes with how you live your life, it’s no longer kind or helpful to yourself.
In this episode we look at:
- What’s behind people-pleasing
- What it looks like
- Why it doesn’t have to be pleasing everybody or nobody
- How to be compassionate and supportive to others AND to yourself too
Resources:
- My new course is open to join now with an Early Bird special offer, check out Worry Less for Life – how to calm your mind, build resilience and enjoy life more here
- Episode 19: Why you don’t need to apologise for everything (including your own existence)
To some the idea that you’d be afraid to feel happy sounds absurd but not to the overthinker. The fear of being utterly content and joy-filled is real because it’s accompanied by the thought of what if this all goes away?
In this episode we look at:
- Why we feel so scared to be happy
- How we think we’re protecting ourselves by reining in how joyful we feel
- What foreboding joy is really doing
- What we can do to allow ourselves to release the fear and feel the joy we want to
Resources:
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More Facebook Group
- Get the focused support you’re looking for to feel more confident, calm and capable by working with me one-to-one, find out more here
We all experience change throughout our lives but that may not stop us overthinking and resisting it. How can we cope with change better so that it causes us less upset, grief and stress?
In this episode we look at:
- When we can influence imminent change and when it’s out of our control
- What we can learn from changes we’ve already experienced
- How we can take care of ourselves when change feels challenging
- Five actions we can take to make change feel less stressful
Resources:
- Episode 43: Build self-belief with the messages you give yourself
- Episode 3: The life-changing power of feeling grateful
- Be the first to know when Worry Less for Life – my new, most in-depth course on how you can worry less, calm your mind, build resilience and enjoy life more – is available by signing up here. I’ll send you some helpful goodies while you wait too.
We give ourselves messages all the time, often negative ones, through our internal monologue so why not harness these powerful messages to help ourselves build self-belief?
In this episode we look at:
- The belief statements or affirmations you already use, even if you haven’t realised it
- How to create new powerful, positive belief statements
- What affirmations can and can’t do for you
- How to use affirmations or belief statements in daily life
Resources:
- Episode 14: The damaging word every overthinker uses
- Episode 19: Why you don’t need to apologise for everything (including your existence)
- Episode 35: The one little word that can change how we think and feel
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More Facebook Group
- Feel confident, calm and capable, and live the life you want by working with me one-to-one, find out more here
Being busy has become our default but why are we so busy? What does it mean for our self-worth if we’re busy or, if we’re not? What impact does our busyness have on us and what can we do to reduce our busyness and increase the joy we feel?
In this episode we look at:
- What fears lie behind our busyness
- The ‘little’ ways we make our lives busier
- The difference between real work and busy work
- Five steps we can take to be less busy and enjoy life more
Resources:
- Episode 14: The damaging word every overthinker uses
- Secrets of Productive Peopleby Mark Forster
- Get the focused support you’re looking for to feel more confident, calm and capable by working with me one-to-one, find out more here
A fear of failure can take on different disguises including perfectionism and procrastination, it can stop us from doing what we want and realising our full potential, and knowing how to deal with it can be incredibly tricky.
In this episode we look at:
- Why being scared of failure feeling different to when we fail
- How it can show up for each of us
- My own fear of failure (this makes me feel pretty vulnerable!)
- The process we can work through to help ourselves
Resources:
- Feel confident, calm and capable, and live the life you want by working with me one-to-one, find out more here
My overthinking coaching clients often talk about their lack of confidence. It’s a big topic to cover so in this episode I focus on how our body language can help us to feel more confident.
In this episode we look at:
- How our posture affects how we feel
- Social psychologist Amy Cuddy’s research on the effects of dominance and stress hormones
- What you can try in two minutes to boost your confidence
- How finding your own musical anthem can bump up your confidence levels
Resources:
- Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk
- Feel confident, calm and capable and live the life you want by working with me one-to-one, find out more here
It can feel like you’re being bombarded with suggestions on how to make this your best year yet so what you can do to deal with the pressure of January-itis?
In this episode we look at:
- What you’re telling yourself about these new year new you messages
- The role of that pesky ‘should’ word
- The idea behind choosing a word for the year
- How to make it helpful and supportive, not a pressure or source of guilt
Resources:
- Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019 journal by Project Love
- Susannah Conway’s Find Your Word
- Ali Edwards’ One Little Word
- My review of 2018 and word for 2019 blog post
- Ease into the new year with less pressure and stress and more calm and kindness for yourself with The Warm Embrace 7-day email series
The festive season can be fun and joyous and it can also be messy and stressful. In this episode I suggest seven ideas for creating a calmer Christmas and New Year.
In this episode we look at:
- How your expectations impact your enjoyment of Christmas
- What small, practical actions you can take to ease the stress
- What to do if you don’t feel full of Christmas spirit
- How to make the most of the good stuff
Resources
- Ease into the new year with less pressure and stress and more calm and kindness for yourself with The Warm Embrace 7-day email series
- Episode 14: The damaging word every overthinker uses
- Episode 18: How to deal with difficult emotions
Being away from home, however lovely a place you’re staying in or however lovely the people are, it can bring up feelings of vulnerability, stress and worry. Creating a sense of home from home can help you to feel more relaxed and comfortable.
In this episode we look at:
- Why we can struggle when we’re away from home
- Why this is not about where you’re staying or with whom
- The practical action we can take, whatever the circumstances, to help ourselves feel more calm, secure and present
- I share how I create my own sense of home away from home
Resources
- Download your free Do you want a life of Less Worry & More Joy workbook here
As Christmas is only a couple of weeks away, and it’s a time when we can be spending money more than usual, I look at the relationship between money and happiness.
In this episode we look at:
- How much money is enough to make you happy
- How we can spend it to increase the joy we feel
- Who and what we spend our money on will have a longer lasting impact on our happiness
Resources
- Download your free Do you want a life of Less Worry & More Joy workbook here
- Episode 21: Why overthinkers are so good at striving (and why that’s not such a good thing)
- Watch Michael Norton’s TEDx talk How to Buy Happiness
The mindset with which we approach challenges or difficulties in life can make us feel stuck or like a failure, or it can open us up to possibilities. While some of us may begin life with a predominantly fixed mindset there is one little word that can help us move to a growth mindset.
In this episode we look at:
- What fixed and growth mindsets are from the leading authority on them
- How focusing on our ability or effort affects our mindset
- The one little word that can make all the difference and how to make use of it
Resources
- Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potentialby Carol Dweck
- Episode 34: How to cultivate optimism and boost your productivity in seven steps
- Discover how to be free of your overthinking and address your specific challenges by working with me one-to-one. The special introductory offer on my coaching services ends before Christmas, find out more here
How you feel about the expectations you have of life, yourself, other people, challenges, affects how positive or negative your reality is. Even if you feel you’re naturally pessimistic there are actions you can take to cultivate optimism and improve the reality of your day to day life.
In this episode we look at:
- A study that shows how your expectations impact how you feel and behave
- How your optimistic or pessimistic attitude changes how you see the world but not reality itself
- Seven actions you can take to cultivate optimism
Resources
- Episode 21: Why overthinkers are so good at striving (and why that’s not such a good thing)
- Episode 22: How to make your own mental health first aid kit
- Episode 14: The damaging word every overthinker uses
- The special introductory offer on my coaching services ends before Christmas, find out more here
There’s one particular time of year when it feels like we’re not allowed to feel what we’re feeling, to take care of our own needs as well as everyone else’s, and to suggest that things could be done differently and break with tradition.
In this episode we look at:
- The lack of permission we can feel at Christmas
- How others could be feeling as we do but also think they’re not allowed to speak up
- Why your feelings, needs and opinions matter as much as anyone else’s
- How to start voicing your opinion and factoring in your own needs
Resources
- Join Coping with Christmas and navigate the festive season with less stress and more joy
- You can now work with me one-to-one on your overthinking, check out my coaching services here
When you’re the overthinking, worrying kind the dark and cold months stretching ahead of us can feel challenging to our wellbeing. It’s harder to feel hopeful and positive and the world can feel a more unkind and scarier place.
In this episode we look at:
- Where we can find inspiration from those who deal well with the cold and dark
- How dropping ‘should’ will help
- The simple actions we can take to help ourselves embrace rather than fight the season
Resources
- Join Coping with Christmas and navigate the festive season with less stress and more joy
- Find me on Instagram as @gabrielletreanor
This is the second of a two-parter where I share with you five powerful questions that you can ask yourself when your brain is spiralling off into overthinking and you want to calm the thought whirlwind.
In this episode we look at:
- How asking yourself powerful questions can help you to challenge your overthinking
- How a question can spark an idea to help yourself
- Why sometimes looking ahead can give you perspective right now
- What to ask yourself to pull yourself out of a panicky overthinking spiral
Resources
- Episode 22: How to make your own mental health first aid kit
- You can now work with me one-to-one on your overthinking, check out my coaching services here
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More Facebook Group
This is the first of a two-parter where I share with you five powerful questions that you can ask yourself when your brain is spiralling off into overthinking and you want to calm the thought whirlwind.
In this episode we look at:
- How you can challenge your overthinking through asking yourself powerful questions
- How the stories you tell yourself keeps you stuck in overthinking
- My favourite question to give yourself a different perspective
Resources
- Join the 5 Days of Christmas Clarity free challenge here, we begin on Monday 29 October
- You can now work with me one-to-one on your overthinking, check out my coaching services here
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More Facebook Group
Overthinkers can spend a lot of time lost in their own thoughts. Giving your attention to how you can support someone else who’s having a difficult time helps you too because it brings you out of your head and gives you a different point of focus.
In this episode we look at:
- Sharing your experience without giving out a list of shoulds
- What to say when you don’t know what to say
- The frustration felt when you want to fix someone’s life
- The most valuable thing you can do to help someone who’s struggling
Resources
- You can now work with me one-to-one on your overthinking, check out my coaching services here
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More Facebook Group
How can a group of people who we may never meet because they’re famous, been dead hundreds of years or are fictional characters be a source of inspiration and support? By creating your own imaginary advisory board.
In this episode we look at:
- What is an imaginary inspirational advisory board
- How it can help when you’re feeling stuck, challenged or low
- How to choose who belongs on your board
- Who’s on my own cheerleading team
Resources
- Episode 14: The damaging word every overthinker uses
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More Facebook Group
You’d think happiness is a straight forward topic to talk about but the word itself can mean very different things to different people.
In this episode we look at:
- Two different kinds of happiness
- How much influence we have over how happy we are
- How it relates to negative emotions
- The fear we feel about being happy
Resources
- Episode 3: The life-changing power of feeling grateful
- Episode 7: How noticing ghte little things creates calm and joy
- Episode 21: Why overthinkers are so good at striving (and why that’s not such a good thing)
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More with Gabrielle Treanor Facebook Group
Mindfulness is everywhere, isn’t it? Is it just a fad or is it something that can really make a difference to overthinkers and worriers?
In this episode we look at:
- How mindfulness is backed up by research and the NHS
- How mindfulness reduces rumination, what if-ing and stress
- How it strengthens your resilience, benefits those around you as well as yourself and allows you to experience more joy
- The reality of what it’s like to practice mindfulness
Resources
- Be Here Now, my practical guide to living mindfully course, starts on Friday 28 September. Find out all about the course and take your place here.
Looking for approval and permission from our families, friends, workmates and even strangers on social media, to do what we want, to feel however we feel or to be who we want to be, can get us tangled up in overthinking and stuck in our lives. So what we can do about it?
In this episode we look at:
- How we look outside of ourselves for permission
- Why we seek approval from other people
- The key areas in life where it’s holding us back
- How we can start to give ourselves permission
Resources
- Be Here Now, a practical guide to living mindfully, is open to join now, with an early bird discount. Find out all about the course and take your place here.
- Episode 14: The damaging word every ovethinker uses
- Episode 18: How to deal with difficult emotions
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More with Gabrielle Treanor Facebook Group
Sometimes life doesn’t go to plan, it fails to live up to our expectations and the result can really suck. And yet we continue to will it to be different which keeps us stuck in the frustration and upset. So what can we do?
In this episode we look at:
- How life not living up to our expectations ramps up overthinking and stress levels
- How our response and reaction play a key role
- What we do and don’t have control over in these situations
- The four steps we can take to deal with life letting us down
Resources
- Be Here Now, a practical guide to living mindfully, is open to join now, with an early bird discount. Find out all about the course and take your place here.
- Episode 18: How to deal with difficult emotions
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More with Gabrielle Treanor Facebook Group
It’s an odd topic for a podcast for overthinkers but there’s good reason why I focus on helping you to worry less, not stop worrying
In this episode we look at:
- The damaging message behind a well intended ‘just stop worrying’
- Why denying worry or pushing it away does more damage than good
- How facing up to your worry lessens its power over you
- What you can do with worry that will help you to focus on the joy in life
Resources
- Episode 18: How to deal with difficult emotions
- Join the Worry Less and Enjoy Life More with Gabrielle Treanor private Facebook group
Most of us have a first aid kit for when we have a cut or bump but what about when we’re feeling mentally bashed and bruised? A mental health first aid kit is what’s need to provide comfort, support and relief when we feel emotionally beaten down.
In this episode we look at:
- Why we need a mental health first aid kit
- What digital and physical elements to include in your kit
- Making it personal and specific to you
- How to use your mental health first aid kit when you’re struggling
Resources:
- Epiosde 6: How to disrupt the overthinking cycle
- Episode 10: What to do when you feel overwhelmed
- Episode 11: How overthinkers can take care of themselves
As overthinkers we spend a lot of time fast forwarding into the future and as soon as we’ve reached a goal or made it through a difficulty we’re straight onto thinking about what’s next. Constantly striving forward means that we’re missing out on the joy and contentment in our lives right now.
In this episode we look at:
- How we move the goalposts so we’re always looking to what’s going to happen next
- What is destination addiction and hedonic adaptation
- What we can do to combat striving and feel more joy in the everyday
- How mindfulness, gratitude and savouring play a role
Resources:
- Episode 3: The life-changing power of feeling grateful
- Episode 4: How to take micro mindful moments in your day
- Episode 7: How noticing the little things creates calm and joy
- Episode 9: The truth about controlling worry
We each have something in our lives that supports our mental or physical health and gives us the chance to be the best version of ourselves so we’re better able to take care of those around us too. You may not think of this habit or action as an act of self-care but you know that it would really impact you if it vanished from your daily life.
- In this episode we look at:
- What a non-negotiable is
- How it supports your wellbeing
- Why having non-negotiables isn’t selfish
- Examples of how you could already have non-negotiables in your life
Resources:
- Episode 11: How overthinkers can take care of themselves
- Episode 3: The life-changing power of feeling grateful
- Join my e-course, A Thankful Heart, to learn how to appreciate all aspects of your life, create your own gratitude habit, reduce your stress, build your resilience and enjoy life more
Saying ‘sorry’ can become a go-to word we use whenever we want to get someone’s attention or ask a question, when we have nothing to apologise for. Using sorry is about more than using one word instead of another, it’s about apologising for taking up space in the world.
In this episode we look at:
- The different ways we use sorry when we’ve nothing to apologise for
- Why it matters that we say sorry when it’s unnecessary
- How you’re misrepresenting yourself by using sorry even when you know you’re not apologising
- What words to use instead of sorry in situations where no apology is needed
When someone is having a tough time and struggling with difficult emotions, we give them compassion. Yet we find it so hard to do the same for ourselves. By practising self-compassion we drop shame and criticism and give ourselves a break.
In this episode we look at:
- What self-compassion is and its three key components
- Why it’s essential to give ourselves compassion and how it benefits us
- How to recognise when we need self-compassion and what to do
Resources:
- Episode 11: How overthinkers can take care of themselves
- Kristin Neff’s book Self Compassionand her website selfcompassion.org
- Episode 17: How to get back to sleep when you wake up worrying
- With Exhale, a beginners’ guide to meditation for overthinkers, you’ll learn how to recognise when your thoughts are causing you to feel difficult emotions and unstick yourself from them so you can soothe your mind and nerves
Waking up in the early hours with worrisome thoughts racing around your mind is frustrating, scary and feels very lonely. Knowing you have to be up soon only adds to your stress. But you’re not alone in how you feel and there are ways you can help yourself back to sleep.
In this episode we look at:
- Why getting frustrated with yourself and trying to empty your mind doesn’t help
- How being kind to yourself with self-compassionate phrases is a more effective calming technique
- Why it’s more helpful to acknowledge rather than ignore your thoughts
- An exercise you can do that will relax you to drift off back to sleep
Resources:
- Episode 16: How to quiet your mind to fall asleep more quickly
- With Exhale, a beginners’ guide to meditation for overthinkers, you’ll learn how to calm your mind and soothe your nerves with a daily practice, and it includes a sleep meditation.
It’s frustrating when you’re worn out from a busy day but when you collapse into bed your mind won’t stop whirring long enough for you to go to sleep. The more you will yourself to sleep the more elusive it becomes, and the more stressed you get.
In this episode we look at:
- Why sleep is a priority not a luxury
- What we can learn from children’s bedtime routines
- 6 ways to calm your overthinking mind before you get into bed
Resources:
- The session I gave at The Mindful Living Show on the power of appreciating your own life is now available as a recording here.
- With Exhale, a beginners’ guide to meditation for overthinkers, you’ll learn how to calm your mind and soothe your nerves with a daily practice, and it includes a sleep meditation.
Whether you’re a morning person or not (I’m not) you can often feel frazzled and rushed from the start, which then sets the tone for the rest of the day. Without getting up any earlier or finding more time in your morning, you can begin your day on a more positive, nourishing and calm note.
In this episode we look at:
- How to create positive feelings for yourself and others before you even get out of bed
- Incorporating supportive actions into everyday activities like getting washed and dressed
- Setting intentions, using affirmations and mantras to keep in mind how you want to feel during the day
Resources
- Episode 4: How to take micro mindful moments in your day
- Episode 10: What to do when you feel overwhelmed
- Episode 11: How overthinkers can take care of themselves
There’s one little word that we use all the time and by doing so we make ourselves feel bad in so many ways. That word is ‘should’. You should do this, you should be that, you shouldn’t feel this. It’s laden with obligation, shame and an absence of choice, whether we use it in our self-talk or when someone uses the word in conversation with us.
In this episode we look at:
- How we use ‘should’ in everyday life
- What messages we’re giving ourselves when we use it
- Why we think it can help us but it’s actually harming us
- What language we can replace ‘should’ with that gives us choice and autonomy
While it’s important to stay up to date and informed on what’s happening locally and across the globe, overthinkers can become overwhelmed by news reports and feel a mixture of guilt, upset and helplessness.
In this episode we look at:
- The difference between being informed and overwhelmed
- How staying glued to the news doesn’t necessarily help you or those involved in the reports
- The positive action you can take motivated by the news to feel less helpless
- What you can do to reduce your overthinking and upset when you feel overwhelmed by news reports
Resources:
- Episode 6: How to disrupt the overthinking cycle
- Episode 8: Calm your mind and open your eyes with a mindful walk
- Learning to ground yourself in the present and recognise when you’re getting caught up in your whirling thoughts allows you to untangle yourself and calm your nerves, take a look at my online course, Exhale, for how you can learn to meditate in just a few minutes a day
Meditation isn’t about emptying your head, sitting cross-legged in silence or spending hours chanting, and your mind wandering means you’re doing it right, not wrong! If you get lost in a spiral of thoughts and what ifs, taking a few minutes a day to meditate can really help you.
In this episode we look at:
- What the point is in meditating
- How overthinkers can benefit from it
- The science behind how meditation calms and soothes us
- Clearing up common confusions that are stopping you from meditating
Resources:
Exhale, a beginners’ guide to meditation for overthinkers, is a self-study online course available now. It provides step by step guidance to start you off meditating and create a sustainable meditation practice that works with your life.
There’s a lot of confusion over self-care – it’s about much more than bubble baths, it isn’t being selfish and it’s not about putting yourself first. Taking care of your needs as well as taking care of everyone else makes you better able to spend less time lost in raking over the past and what if-ing the future.
In this episode we look at:
- What self-care is
- And what self-care is not
- Where you may already be practising self-care
- The benefits of practising self-care to you as an overthinker, and to those around you
Resources:
Episode 2: How to worry less about what others think of you
Previous episodes featuring self-care actions:
- Episode 4: How to take micro mindful moments in your day
- Episode 8: Calm your mind and open your eyes with a mindful walk
- Episode 10: What to do when you feel overwhelmed
Overwhelm likes to take on different guises so it can get a firm hold on you without you even realising. It shows up as a lack of focus, an inability to know what to do next, as a lack of patience, as pessimism, lethargy and apathy along with plenty of other feelings that make you want to hide under the duvet.
In this episode we look at:
- The sneaky signs that you’re in overwhelm
- What are the common causes
- What you can do to help yourself feel better
- How you can reduce its impact on you next time
Resources:
Episode 8: Calm your mind and open your eyes with a mindful walk
Overthinkers often believe that if you can have everything in life planned out and organised, know what’s happening where, when, how and with whom, then you’ll be able to stop worrying. If only it was really true. Trying to keep control of everything doesn’t stop you worrying so it’s time we took a different approach.
In this episode we look at:
- What wanting to be in total control looks like
- The role of What If
- How trying to keep control won’t make worrying disappear
- How to recognise when you’re in controlling mode
- What to do to loosen your controlling grip
There are times when thinking over a problem or formulating a plan while you’re walking works well and other times when you get stuck in overthinking, going over and over the same thoughts without getting anywhere. That’s when applying mindfulness while you’re in the great outdoors, whether you’re in a crowded city or a quiet forest, can calm your whirring mind, reduce your stress and open your eyes to the world around you.
In this episode we look at:
- What is mindful walking
- How it can benefit you, not just when you’re overthinking
- My experience of how it made a difference in my life
- How to take a mindful walk
Resources:
- Episode 6: How to break the rumination cycle
- Savour the Season: Step into Spring with Mindful Intention Ebook has lots of ideas and resources to maximise your enjoyment of Spring outdoors
When you think of what makes you feel content, what gives you bumps of joy in your daily life, more often than not it’s the little things rather than the big events. And why is that? It’s because we notice these so-called little things and we savour them. The benefits of savouring the ordinary stuff of life are far-reaching.
In this episode we look at:
- What is savouring
- What are the benefits to our wellbeing
- The four strands of savouring
- Why money doesn’t help
- What we can do to increase our opportunities to savour
Resources:
- Books discussing savouring: Savouring by Fred Boyd Bryant, The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman
- Take photos of what you’re savouring in life and share on Instagram with #savouringhappiness, #savourtheseasonalshift, #flashesofdelight #petitejoys or #forahappymoment
- Get a copy of my ebook Savour the Season: Step into Spring with Mindful Intention to maximise your enjoyment of Spring and consider what you want to do and how you want to feel as you move through Spring and into Summer
While you’re replaying the same thoughts over and over and over again you’re lost in your head ruminating and what if-ing and worrying and overthinking. It’s exhausting and stressful and it can feel really hard to break free of this overthinking vortex. But it is possible. Not by trying not to think but by directing your attention elsewhere.
In this episode we look at:
- What is rumination
- How it feels to be stuck in overthinking and overworrying
- Why trying not to think doesn’t work
- How to disrupt the cycle of overthinking with one simple technique that you can do anywhere, any time
As we scroll through social media we can find ourselves making up stories about what we see in other people’s posts. This can lead us into the comparison trap and to feeling dissatisfied, irritated, tense, sad and question ourselves and how we live our lives. Being mindful of how you feel before you open the apps, and checking in with yourself while you scroll can help you to notice what impact social media is having on you.
In this episode we look at:
- The kinds of stories we tell ourselves about other people’s social media posts
- How to recognise when you’re falling into comparison trap
- What to do to challenge the social media stories we tell ourselves
- How mindfulness can help us to create a healthier relationship with social media
There’s a lot of talk about mindfulness and with good reason. Mindfulness helps us to slow down our overthinking brains, to let go of rehashing what’s already happened or imagining what could or could not happen next. To just be here, in this moment, in what’s real in our lives right now without judging it or trying to change it.
In this episode we look at:
- What mindfulness is
- What the benefits are of practising mindfulness
- How mindfulness reduces how stressed we feel and gets us out of worrying mode
- How to take a micro mindful moment
- How mindfulness can be integrated into our day rather than added to it
Resources
- Books on mindfulness: Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness by Mark Williams and Danny Penman
- Meditation apps: Mindfulness, Headspace, Calm, and Buddhify
Savouring the good stuff and making a point every day to appreciate the little things in life can have a real and powerful positive impact on your life.
In this episode we look at:
- What being thankful, grateful and appreciative is and what it is not
- What gratitude practice is and how you can do it
- The benefits of regular gratitude practice as shown by positive psychology research
- How I’ve made thankfulness part of daily life and the difference it’s made to me
Resources
- Books on gratitude: Gratitude Works! By Robert Emmons and The Gratitude Diaries by Janice Kaplan
- Write in a gratitude journal like these from the green gables or Kikki.K
- Gratitude apps: What’s Good: Daily Gratitude, Happijar
- Take photos of what you’re thankful for and share on Instagram with #savouringhappiness, #capturinggratitude, #thehappynew or #thisjoyfulmoment
- Join my e-course, A Thankful Heart, to learn how to appreciate all aspects of your life, create your own gratitude habit, reduce your stress, build your resilience and enjoy life more
It’s a typical trait of the overthinker – worrying about what other people think of us. It’s exhausting and stressful giving so much time, energy and brainspace to thinking about how other people, from our family, friends and workmates to complete strangers on the street and on social media are judging us.
In this episode we look at:
- how to challenge these thoughts
- why others don’t think about us as much as we think they do
- how to handle the idea that someone may not like us
- what to do when we feel ourselves worrying about other people judging us
Welcome to the first episode of Pressing Pause, the podcast for overthinkers. In this episode you'll discover what overthinking looks like, how it impacts your participation in and enjoyment of daily life, and what Gabrielle will share with you in the coming shows to empower you to free yourself from the chains of overworrying and live the lighter, more content and joyful life you want.