Just a Minute with Dr Kumari: Recent Episodes
Dr Kumari Valentine
This Valentine’s Day, Just a Minute with Dr Kumari invites you to turn your attention inward and practice deep self-love. In this episode, I explore how to hold your inner child, vulnerable self, and past and future selves with compassion. I released my first digital journal and colouring book based on my self care cards: https://kumari.gumroad.com/l/nurture
In this episode I talk about
- What deep self-care and self-love really mean
- How to acknowledge and soothe the parts of yourself often overlooked
- Practical journalling and colouring exercises from my new book, Nurture Your Inner Self
- Ways to show kindness to yourself, even if Valentine’s Day feels difficult or brings up challenging emotions
Whether today is joyful, bittersweet, or hard, this episode offers a gentle, practical pause—a chance to breathe, reflect, and nurture the most important relationship you have: the one with yourself.
In this episode we talk about overwhelm, stress, the invisible load of mothering and the role that progesterone can have on working memory.
In this gentle and grounding episode, Dr Kumari Valentine shares the Just a Minute Manifesto—a compassionate philosophy of healing through micro-moments of self-connection. Rooted in trauma-informed mindfulness, this episode explores how just one minute can reconnect us with our body, our breath, and the parts of ourselves that need care. You'll be invited into reflection, regulation, and a quiet rebellion against burnout culture. A soothing listen for anyone craving deep self-care, one deliberate minute at a time.
In this episode I talk about Dissociation and introduce the idea of the Dissociation Thermometer I developed this week. You are welcome to download it and use it. Please share:
https://pdflink.to/eccbd83c/ I also mentioned the petition that is taking up my time and is part of the concerning things happening for psychologists in New Zealand alongside other health professionals. https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/protect-public-safety-and-psychology-in-new-zealand-a-petition-by-psychologists-and-supporters
I had planned to talk about this at a later point, but recent events have caused me alarm. The Minister for Mental Health (NZ) revealed on Tuesday that the government is developing Associate Psychologist Scopes of practice, with the help of the Psychologists Board in NZ. The proposed pathway means that people with a basic undergraduate degree (where there is no clinical or hands on training) would do a one year training and then be registered health professionals, Associate Psychologists. Amongst the many issues of harm to the public, including that the vulnerable public might not know what an Associate vs Clinical or Registered Psychologist is, is the erosion of one of our foundations of practice - the Scientist Practitioner Model. In this podcast, I talk about the importance of the Scientist Practitioner Model to Psychology.
Can the way we eat affect how stressed we feel? The Christmas or holiday season is typically associated with a variety of stressors. In this episode with award winning chef and author, Bridget Foliaki Davis, we talk about gut health, stress, and eating. Bridget has some amazing tips to eat better this season in order to really nourish you and manage stress better.
Bridget has TONS of free resources. She also has a transformative 28 day boost camp: https://bridgets.shop/
Free resource from me about 5 strategies to soothe the nervous system and proactively manage stress? Here is a PDF with audio guide I put together.
Want to do a deeper psychological dive into a Stress Less Christmas? https://payhip.com/b/Ixcvg
Low or depressed mood affects EVERYTHING. I am a clinical psychologist with almost two decades of clinical experience as well as previously having been a researcher and lecturer in psychological science. In this episode, I share some evidence based tips for lifting low mood or maintaining mood. The awful thing when you feel low is that it feels like "this is it"! It isn't! You can improve your mood.
Stress also affects mood. Would you like some additional quick strategies to help soothe the nervous system, decrease stress, and feel better? download at: https://drkumari.ck.page
Mindfulness has many benefits but can also be misunderstood. I talk about what mindfulness is and how it can be useful when we are dealing with relational trauma.
Episode 47: There is so much to the Gut Brain Axis but I give you a very quick overview and briefly cover Polyvagal theory.
Do you struggle with people pleasing and perhaps even identifying your own needs? In this episode I talk about the "fawn" response to relational trauma.
My deeper self care course is available here:
https://kumari.gumroad.com/l/deeperselfcare
I often talk about the nervous system and soothing it for dealing with stress and trauma. Here I talk about what I mean by the nervous system. A couple of weeks ago, I had an extra stressful week and was pleased with a few things I put into place - I'm always learning! I hope these tips are useful to you too!
Here is a download to the handout I talk about: 5 strategies to soothe the nervous system and cope with stress:
https://drkumari.ck.page
Waitangi Day is pretty important in New Zealand and a day I have mixed feelings about. One the one hand, it is really important, I feel, to honour our known guardians of the land and the special history and culture. On the other hand, there has been so much wrong doing, bias, racism, and disadvantage to the indigenous people of this country.
Best wishes for the holiday season! This is often a time of year when we start thinking about "resolutions" and "goals". These are more likely to succeed when they are driven by values. In this podcast, I talk about how we might discover or re-discover our values and some tips.
Goal setting and values clarification are always easier when coming from a place of a more soothed nervous system. Here are 5 strategies I commonly teach, as a clinical psychologist, to help soothe and reset the nervous system: https://drkumari.ck.page/9f339e3e2b
I'm Dr Kumari Valentine, Clinical Psychologist. I'm interested in trauma, including relational trauma. I'm an EMDR therapist amongst other things. I'm talking about intergenerational trauma and intergenerational resourcing on this podcast.
I talk about soothing the nervous system and talk about 5 strategies I commonly teach and use. Here is the link for that download (on signing up to emails from me; unsubscribe when you would like):
https://drkumari.ck.page/9f339e3e2b
Take care everyone!
Terror Management Theory is one of Psychology's "Grand Theories", explaining how existential terror influences decision making and choices. This is my contribution to an observation that we are moving into a time of more right leaning politics. Change can be hard to manage and mean that dysregulated nervous systems struggle more. Download five strategies to help soothe a nervous system:
https://drkumari.ck.page/9f339e3e2b
What do we mean by Somatisation? In this episode I look at the connection between body and mind and what we mean by these diagnostic terms. I read some lines from the amazing book by Professor Bessel van der Kolk: "The Body Keeps the Score".
Relearning to be in our body means resetting our nervous system. Sign up to my newsletter to download five powerful strategies to soothe the nervous system:
https://drkumari.ck.page/9f339e3e2b
Perhaps not one to do actively while driving or doing something hazardous! We do a short mindfulness meditation aimed at increasing self compassion.
Our childhood experiences can mean that it is hard to be compassionate towards ourselves. I talk about why self-compassion is the magic ingredient in healing and how to develop more self-compassion.
Many of us are so skilled at being compassionate towards others. Here's Just a Minute of turning that outward reflex inwards....to build self compassion.
We are allowed to have things easy and to have ease in our lives! Our life experiences and messages from growing up might give us ideas against this. Let's take a moment to notice what comes up when we sit with the idea of ease.
In this episode I talk about what PTSD and Complex PTSD are, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5) and ICD-11.
What is Overthinking? I talk about worry and rumination and the functions that they have. I talk about the socialisation of types of thinking and some alternatives to overthinking as well as some of the difficulties. I briefly talk about mindfulness (and why it might not be the solution for everything!) as well as what I think the core issue is that drives overthinking.
In this episode, I talk about some deep stuff! Valentine's Day brings up all sorts of feelings for people (with good reason!). I talk about Parts of the Self and Deep Self Care.
In this episode, I'm starting to talk about deep self care and have some ideas of exercises and techniques for this. I'm referring to a list I made: https://drkumari.ck.page/selfcare with these exercises. Sign up to receive them into your inbox.
Thanks heaps for listening and wishing you the best in this journey of healing!
In this podcast we do a healing visualisation, imagining light entering through the crown of our heads. I realised I didn't walk you through the Crown Pull by Donna Eden that I had intended to! I'll do that next!
Keen for other strategies to reset and rewire your nervous system for greater ease and flow? Go to https://tinyurl.com/drkumari
I share one of my mindfulness inspired self care cards almost daily on Insta and Facebook: Dr Kumari NZ.
If you wanted your own set of my mindful inspired self cards, you can get it here: www.kumarivalentine.com
In this episode I share how I coped with "Traveller's Belly" using some teaching from Bruno Cayoun and Melissa Spilsted and talk about the difference between pain and suffering.
Keen on more audio tracks to support your mindfulness or self care journey? My tracks are on iTunes, Spotify and more - search for "Dr Kumari Valentine". You can also find them linked at www.kumarivalentine.com along with my mindfulness inspired self care cards.
Would you like 5 powerful strategies to help reset and rewire your nervous system and deal with stress? https://tinyurl.com/drkumari
The Just a Minute concept is that we take a real minute, in our actual lives, to connect with ourselves and our body. I also mention my new deck of 90 mindfulness inspired self care cards - www.kumarivalentine.com. Note that the last day for posting before Christmas 2022 is Tuesday the 13th of December. I will be able to post again in early January but my little "shop" will be closed from the 13th of December :). Take care everyone and best wishes of the festive season.
Aisling O'Connor is a Child Psychologist in Sligo, Ireland. Today we talk about attachment, disruptions in attachment, co-regulation, and the big feelings that occur in childhood. We also talk about Aisling's passion for online safety and how connection with children is one of the pillars that keeps them safe. Aisling has an upcoming masterclass - check her out at Connections Child Psychology on Facebook and Instagram.
What does a Clinical Psychologist do? What do we mean by a Scientist-Practitioner? What is the difference between a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist? What can therapy help with? For this and more, tune into this session. Please share! Maybe there is a budding clinical psychologist who would like to hear more about this amazing area of work.
Is it difficult to say no because of guilt, people-pleasing, or obligation? Why is it so hard? I talk about some experiences that might contribute to this feeling. I also offer some journalling prompts.
The Butterfly Hug is an amazing technique, developed by Lucina Artigas, used in a variety of therapies including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy. I invite you to try just a minute with me.
Our relationships with others can affect us in powerful ways. There comes a time when we take stock and realise that some are no longer helpful to us. I talk about cutting the energetic cord and walk you through two exercises.
Trigger Warning - I talk about Infant and Pregnancy Loss and my own experiences.
In this very personal episode, I share 10 things I have learnt about grief and loss.
Reparenting ourselves is a powerful healing skill. We provide ourselves with the experiences and validation we needed when we grew up. We recognise and hear our inner child and allow ourselves the space and grace to speak authentically. In this episode I discuss 10 tips for writing a letter to our parents/carers that we DO NOT SEND.
Please remember that the information given in this podcast is for educational purposes and if you have any apprehension about the exercises or suggestions, you can consult with a healthcare provider.
In this gentle exercise, we focus on bringing a sensation of warmth and kindness to your hands and then I invite you to place your hands on your heart or elsewhere.
Imposter Syndrome is characterised by a sense of self doubt, shame, and fear of being "found out". Often, we try cognitive strategies to deal with this. That is not enough. Let's talk about what lies underneath and what we can do about it! I talk about soothing the nervous system and the link to the exercises I suggest (free video + PDF when you sign up for my newsletter) is: https://drkumari.ck.page
Please comment and let me know how you found the episode and share this episode!
Many of us have had our voice silenced through various experiences including invalidating experiences of childhood that did not allow us to fully voice our authentic self. In this podcast, I talk about five dynamic "bottom up" or body based strategies to start us connecting with our true and authentic voice, literally and emotionally.
Why do we trip ourselves up? There's a layer of thoughts that is hard to access that holds surprising insights and secrets.
Healing our experiences of childhood can include understanding the beliefs that trip us up and keep us trapped in the past. These unspoken rules set up our nervous system for a heightened state of threat or stress and make it hard(er) to relax, unwind, and feel truly our authentic self.
This is a one minute version of Progressive Muscle Relaxation. I have a 3-4 minute version available as well as an 8 minute version.
For my five foundational techniques to help soothe the nervous system, sign up to my newsletter and get a special Video/Audio/PDF guide that I poured my heart into. I'd love for you to try those techniques.
Do you start the day overwhelmed? Does the day begin in your mind before you even get out of bed? Let's talk about making the morning easier with Just a Minute of Mindfulness.
In this series we are talking about healing from childhood experiences and becoming more of our true selves. We are also going to be doing Just a Minute of mindfulness. Join Dr Kumari (Clinical Psychologist, New Zealand). In this episode we focus on mindfulness awareness from the soles of our feet for just a minute.