Big Happy Life

Ep 91. What does it take to make your brain happy?

This week I revisit an old episode (25) - originally titled "Happiness and the Brain".

Our understanding of both 'happiness' and 'the brain' is expanding all the time and cool new science is constantly emerging on both subjects. I've learned so much in the years since recording the original episode so this week I pull out the old episode, dusted it off and added a bit of polish in the form of new information and current tips and advice that could help you improve mood and reduce symptoms of mental ill health.  

Show notes available at bighappylife.co.uk.

Resources I mention during the episode:

Dr Mindy Pelz book: Fast like a Girl

Dr Mindy Pelz YouTube Video about Dopamine Fasting

Big Happy Life Podcast Episode - Getting Gut Healthy with Hannah Richards

Ep 90. Four Pillars of Mental Wellness

My journey to greater mental wellness required me to focus on 4 key areas. In this episode I share a brief overview of each one.

They are:

Neuroscience

Nutrition

Habits

Healing

 

During the episode, I make reference to resources I've found helpful.

These include - under the heading of Neuroscience - 2 books:

"Change your Brain, Change your Life" by Dr Daniel Amen

"You, Happier" by Dr Daniel Amen

The above are affiliate links.

 

Under the heading of Nutrition:

Hair Mineral Testing

The above is NOT an affiliate link.

The best gift we can give our kids - with Raj Lehl

This week I had the pleasure of talking to Body Mind Intelligence Therapist, Raj Lehl.

Raj works with multiple healing modalities to support individuals suffering with their physical and mental health. She is a Trustee of the Craniosacral Therapy Association and an academic tutor for the Centre for Homeopathic Education. She is also a single mum to two children.

Raj and I came up with the title of this episode together because, as mums whose children's needs pushed us to our limits - beyond our limits really - we both experienced what it was like to have to grow beyond those limits and become the people we needed to be for our children to thrive (we're both still working on this growth and neither of us expects to ever be "done").

We've both seen miraculous shifts in our children that have correlated with the work we've done on ourselves and we've both experienced first hand how those shifts have changed the way we parent.

In this episode we talk about some of our experiences and Raj explains her work. She also offers some brilliant tips for how anyone who is just starting out on their mind-body connection journey.

After talking to her, I'm definitely keen to book a session! If you are too, here are her details:

email: raj@rajlehl.com

Website: www.rajlehl.com

LinkedIn

Resources mentioned on the podcast

The body keeps the Score - by Bessel Van Der Kolk

A huge range of books by Gabor Mate

 

Show notes available at bighappylife.co.uk

 

Ep 88. Some emotions are like an old fridge

Do you still have the same fridge you were using in the 80's or 90's? Probably not. You probably replaced it with something you liked more or something that worked better.

We do this with products all the time but we don't tend to do it with emotions.

Instead, we leave old emotional patterns in place for years, letting them wreak havoc long after they've served their usefulness.

This week, I talk about one way our emotional patterns take hold and offer some ideas to help you get started if you have emotional patterns that are no longer serving you.

 

Ep 87. Why behaviour change is harder than it looks

If you're someone who judges yourself harshly and says things like, "I just don't have any willpower", or "I can't stick with anything for long enough to make it work" then this episode is for you.

There's so much more to behaviour than meets the eye and it's easy to think we're at fault when can't stick with behaviours until they become habit.

What few of us realise is that all of our habits developed in the context of our environments - so they're shaped by how we were raised, what we were taught, how we learned to fit in and belong, how we learned to manage our emotions...and a thousand other things.

Not only that but our current environment changes how we feel about the behaviour in the moment of deciding whether or not to do it.

When I'm working to help my clients change their behaviour in order to be happier, healthier and more productive, I teach them my B=SET behaviour change model to help them understand the many factors at play in driving their behavioural choices. I touch on the model briefly in this episode.

B=SET

It stands for Behaviour = State + Environment + Time

State - How you're thinking and feeling in that moment

Environment - Everything and everyone around you.

Time - Your history with that behaviour and where you're focusing your attention (in the past, present or future)

Much more on this model in later episodes!

Environment

This week I talk about how, if you want to live a healthier, happier life, you're almost definitely going to have to "swim against the tide" of your environment.

This is exhausting and requires enormous willpower - which is a finite resource.

The key to behaviour change, therefore, lies is your ability to either disconnect from your environmental influences or shape them in your favour.

 

For more on B=SET and more tips for a happier, healthier life, follow me on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn

Show notes available at bighappylife.co.uk

 

 

Ep 86. The power of mindset in business success - with Kirsty Kamarauskas

What's more important for a successful business - a good strategy or a powerful mindset?

My guest this week is Kirsty Kamarauskas, a mum, 7 Figure CEO, Success Mindset Coach & Law Of Attraction Mentor For Purpose Driven Entrepreneurs. Her work is about helping business owners achieve their biggest goals by releasing negative and limiting beliefs they may not even realise are holding them back and in this episode, she helps me answer that question.

This episode forms part of this mini-series about the habits necessary to get your business to that first £100k milestone and focuses specifically on mindset as it relates to business success.

This conversation was incredibly illuminating and helped me understand more about why I've struggled to connect with my intuition and why I've struggled in the past to consistently implement business strategies.

Kirsty's depth of knowledge and experience make her a leader in this field and her insights are both inspiring and enormously practical.

If you're ready to take your business to the next level, this episode holds nuggets that will help get you started.

Connect with Kirsty on social media

Facebook

Instagram

Show notes available at bighappylife.co.uk

 

Ep 85. Continuous Glucose Monitors - Why every woman over 40 could benefit from using one at least once

Perimenopause is getting a lot of press lately and more of us are getting to grips with what it means for our health, memory and overall experience of life when our hormones begin to decline.

What few people understand, however, is that hormones exist in a sort of symphony - and that symphony is largely conducted by two hormones - insulin and cortisol.

This episode focuses on one of those conductor hormones: insulin.

I share my own experience of using a CGM and what it taught me and I share a little bit about why using a CGM just once for a 30 day period could give you life changing information about your own body and how it processes food.

The monitor I used is the Dexcom G6. *

This is a whistle-stop tour and there's a lot more to say on the topic but if you want a deeper dive, I'd enourage you to follow @glucosegoddess on Instagram and check out her two books: The Glucose Revolution *  and The Glucose Goddess Method *

What you'll get in this episode is a little insight into the ways in which a CGM can help you make choices that suit YOUR body so you can lose weight, improve mood, increase energy and achieve a far greater sense of health and wellbeing than simply by following conventional diet advice.

To comment or ask questions, visit the show notes at bighappylife.co.uk or email me directly at natalie@bighappylife.co.uk

 

*These are affiliate links.

Ep. 84 Measuring your Wellness - with Evelyn Pacitti

So many of us pride ourselves on being almost super human. We're mums, business owners, partners, home makers, carers, friends and devoted family members. We show up when and where we're needed, we help out and keep going no matter how exhausted we get - but at what cost - and what can we do when we no longer have the energy to keep paying?

This week I talk to Evelyn Pacitti, burnout resiliency coach and the founder of Measurable Wellness. In our conversation, Evelyn talks about her multiple experiences of burnout and shares the system she created to manage her energy and wellness more effectively so she continue to excel in her life and career without repeatedly burning out.

Evelyn brings her engineering background to the world of wellness, making something notoriously intangible easier to measure - and therefore easier to manage. Her insights make it possible for all of us to consider the patterns in our lives and the ways in which we might use measures in our own lives to improve our mental, physical and emotional health while continuing to work towards our big goals.

I hope you'll get as much from this conversation as I did!

To connect with Evelyn:

Email: evelyn@measurablewellness.com

Linked-in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelyn-pacitti/

To watch Evelyn's Video explaining your daily energy tank and your reserve energy tank, visit the full show notes page at bighappylife.co.uk

Ep. 83 Are you too comfortable?

This week I examine what it takes for us to make positive changes that take us outside our comfort zone?

The episode is inspired by a conversation that takes place in the first few minutes of The Gavin Sisters Wellness Show (Episode: How to be your own therapist with Owen O'Kane).

 

“Would we be where we are if we hadn’t gone through such challenging times?” was the theme of the conversation and Sharon and Lauretta - aka The Gavin Sisters -  talked about how, in the absence of illness, relationship breakdowns and other devastating losses, they might never have become motivated enough to make the changes they made to their health, wellness, careers and lives.

Immediately on hearing that conversation, I was inspired to join the discussion and recorded this episode.

 

Listening back now, as I write these notes, there’s so much more I wish I’d included but this is a start.

Here's what to expect:

• I share a little of my own story of adversity and how, without it, I might have carried on as I was.
• I pose some powerful questions to help you think about what’s going on for you right now and what pain you’re tolerating in your life, either waiting for things to get better or waiting for them to get worse.
• To help bring this conundrum to life I tell “The Howling Dog” story – one of my favourite metaphors about the pain of making a change versus the pain of staying stuck.
• For those of you who identify with feeling stuck in patterns that feel stressful or unfulfilling despite you having a comfortable life, I offer some thoughts on how to start moving out of the pain and towards greater fulfilment.

 

We don’t have to wait for things to get worse before we start moving towards the life we truly desire.

 

If you’re done waiting and you’re ready to start moving forward, this episode may help spark your first actions, and if you'd like help figuring out those first steps, contact me or jump straight to booking a call.

Ep. 82 Live the Life you tell your kids is possible

We all want our children to have happiness, love and success but not many of us know how to create a life that allows us to truly experience joy and fulfilment.

In this episode, I focus on 5 things we need to focus upon, learn or cultivate if we're to have lives that go beyond the mere achievement of goals and take us into the territory of happiness, joy, meaning and fulfilment.

To contact me about working together, email natalie@bighappylife.co.uk or book a discovery call at https://bighappylife.co.uk/contact-me/

Full show notes available at https://bighappylife.co.uk/2023/05/12/live-the-life-you-tell-your-kids-is-possible/