Podcasts about Ashi

Join us on Coffee & Compatibility as Dr. Medhat Askar discusses the urgent need to investigate the role of HLA in cell therapy and how laboratories can support this rapidly growing treatment strategy. The conversation also highlights ongoing global efforts to advance transplantation and cell therapy initiatives.Learn more about The Transplantation Society's activities during the World Health Assembly here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/medhataskar_the-transplantation-society-advances-the-activity-7464104308314173440-J-Kn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAABF2FhwB2SQa9yztxvbubR246ItZX1ub52kCoffee & Compatibility is the official podcast of ASHI, featuring discussions on current topics, expert insights, and emerging trends in transplantation, histocompatibility, and immunogenetics.#CoffeeAndCompatibility #ASHIHLA #CellTherapy #HLA #Transplantation #Immunogenetics #Histocompatibility #TransplantImmunology #StemCellTherapy #LaboratoryMedicine #HealthcareEducation #MedicalPodcast #HLAResearch #CellularTherapy #TransplantScience

Ashi Taragin had every reason to stay in yeshiva. He grew up breathing Torah. His father is Rabbi Reuven Taragin. His mother is Rebbetzin Shani Taragin. He made a Siyum HaShas at his Bar Mitzvah.Yet he didnt choose a career in Chinuch.Today he's an ER doctor at Sharei Tzedek, a lawyer, a mohel, and a sofer. He's also the unofficial rav of the emergency room, fielding end-of-life shailos in real time. And he still teaches Torah — but entirely on his own terms.In this episode, Ashi breaks down his version of the Rambam model: why financial independence from Torah makes your Torah better, what it means to be a baal habayis as a zechut rather than a compromise, and why he thinks sitting and learning all day isn't what Hashem put you here to do.Make sure to check out our newsletter and subscribe: ShtarkTank.org

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guests Crockett Ford from Ford Plumbing and Air.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: It's Toilet Tuesday on Fix It 101, and Pam and Crockett discuss wall-hung toilets, flush valves, water closets, and more.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOST: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest, Todd Sandridge, owner of Superior Foundation.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam and Todd talk slabs and conventional foundations and the pros and cons of encapsulation.Email fixit101@mpbonline.org at any time to have your DIY questions answered on the show!If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a GirlTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam talks general maintenance around the house and answers listener questions about kitchen vents, PVC, mold control, and more.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast**DIY Concrobium Recipe**1 quart hot water1 tablespoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)2 tablespoons washing soda (sodium carbonate)2 tablespoons trisodium phosphate (TSP) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shoulder pain is incredibly common, but new research is changing how we understand what's really causing it. In this episode of The ABMP Podcast, Whitney Lowe breaks down the shift from a mechanical "impingement" model to a more complex view that includes pain science, nervous system sensitivity, and biomechanics. Whitney also shares practical, evidence-informed strategies to help you treat shoulder pain more effectively without relying on aggressive techniques. Resources: Join us at the ABMP CE Summit! Tuesday, May 12, 2016. This online event—including 3 hours of CE—is FREE for everyone in the profession. Register here! Host: Whitney Lowe is a known authority in the field of massage therapy, with a 36-year career marked by clinical work, research, publications, and teaching in advanced massage principles. He specializes in treating pain and injuries using massage and is one of the pioneers of the orthopedic massage approach. Lowe's Orthopedic Massage Program stands out in its engaging and accessible design and comprehensive curriculum. Students, whether learning online or in-person, praise Lowe for his approachable style and personalized training. Sponsors: Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.         Website: anatomytrains.com      Email: info@anatomytrains.com           Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains         Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA    Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   Are you a manual therapist ready to expand your clinical reach, deepen your effectiveness, and work with greater confidence?    Upledger CranioSacral Therapy addresses deep restrictions, supports neurological and fascial systems, and enhances whole-body function—by working with the body's natural healing processes.    For over forty years, Upledger Institute International has led the field of CranioSacral Therapy—setting the global standard for education and clinical application. With trained therapists in more than 120 countries, CST continues to evolve through ongoing clinical experience and alignment with current scientific understanding.    CST integrates seamlessly into any manual therapy practice and supports common to complex and chronic conditions—orthopedic, neurological, pediatric, geriatric, and beyond.    Learn from our International Teaching Team—experienced clinicians who help you develop your skills, expand your clinical reasoning, and achieve greater clinical outcomes.    Begin your training for as little as one hundred dollars a month.    Find a class near you at upledger.com/courses or call 800-233-5880, extension 2—and begin your CranioSacral Therapy journey with the leaders who continue to shape the profession.  Website: upledger.com/courses   Email: upledger@upledger.com   Phone: 800-233-5880 Ext 2   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upledger.institute   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upledger_institute_intl/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIFELbP6Jsp55cb9puZigQ    Save your hands for the smaller structures and start getting your clients underfoot! At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we teach you how to enhance your pressure using gravity and physics and help your clients recover from persistent pain through nerd-level anatomical attention to detail—we just happen to use our feet to do it all! From the slow, down-regulating glides of our FasciAshi Fundamentals strokes to the proprioceptive "pattern-interrupts" of our Barefoot Matwork techniques and the resisted movements from our Stretch Therapy class, we offer a complete suite of evidence-based tools for deep, myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage—we nicknamed our approach "FasciAshi." Worried about your body size in relation to your clients? Our innovation—the suspended Ashi-strap—allows a more diverse population of massage therapists to regulate and vector their weight and pressure distribution with clinical precision, making deep work effortless on a variety of client bodies. At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we believe the future of massage is afoot! Find when and where our CE classes are happening next at centerforbarefootmassage.com.      

This week on the show Maine and Miranda recap Main Character Jiu Jitsu 9 and all the title fights on the card as well as some of the other compelling matchups on the rest of the cardWe kick off the recap with the Men's Lightweight title we Gianni Grippo vs Reese LaFever, we talked about the outside passing off of outside Ashi against LaFever. As well as the sweep game from the bottom as well as the defensive chops of LaFever in escaping the triangle armbar from the back. Women's Bantamweight match which is a rematch between Amanda Bruse vs Jasmine Rocha.  We discussed their most recent matchup at WNO and how this match essentially looked the same for Amanda if she was able to sustain the pressure and keep diligent with the knee cut. We talked about the transition that Amanda hit for the armbar finish. In the recap of the Men's Middleweight title between Nick Mataya vs Marlon Tajik, we discussed odd ankle lock finish that Marlon was able to hit from the guard. In the Men's Welterweight title recap between Kade Tsitos vs Josh Cisneros, we talked about the leg lock entries from Tsitos and how Cisneros was able to counter and escape and the vintage jumping triangles that Josh used to set up a dominate offence early and win on points in and wrestling and passes in overtime. In the Women's Lightweight title Helena Crevar vs Kennedy Franklin, we discussed the finish triangle from the back shoulder lock.We briefly discussed the Women's Flyweight title with Natasha Druggan vs Jaine Fragoso scoring on MCBJJ 9. We recapped the dominate passing performance from Felipe Costa vs Jon "Thor" Blank, discussing the guard work from Jon coupled against the top pressure and Xande Six Blades Lovato style pressure passing that allowed Costa to take the match on points. We also briefly talked about the style matchups in Austin Oranday vs Max Hanson, and Francisco Lo vs Logan Smith.Recorded 5-4-2026

When Did He Live?

What if the biggest factor in treatment success isn't just what you do, but how long and how often you do it? In this episode of The ABMP Podcast, Doug Nelson explores the often-overlooked concepts of dosage and frequency in massage therapy, and why they may be the key to achieving real, lasting outcomes for your clients. Host: Douglas Nelson is Board Certified in Massage Therapy and Therapeutic Bodywork, beginning his career in massage therapy in 1977.  Seeing over 1,200 client visits annually for decades, he is also the owner of BodyWork Associates, a massage therapy clinic in Champaign, IL. with 21 therapists that was established in 1982. He is the founder of NMT MidWest, Inc., providing training in Precision Neuromuscular Therapy™ across the USA. He has personally taught more than 13,000 hours of continuing education and is the author of three books. Doug is a past president of the Massage Therapy Foundation. Sponsors: Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.                     Website: anatomytrains.com          Email: info@anatomytrains.com           Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains                      Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA    Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   Are you a manual therapist ready to expand your clinical reach, deepen your effectiveness, and work with greater confidence?    Upledger CranioSacral Therapy addresses deep restrictions, supports neurological and fascial systems, and enhances whole-body function—by working with the body's natural healing processes.    For over forty years, Upledger Institute International has led the field of CranioSacral Therapy—setting the global standard for education and clinical application. With trained therapists in more than 120 countries, CST continues to evolve through ongoing clinical experience and alignment with current scientific understanding.    CST integrates seamlessly into any manual therapy practice and supports common to complex and chronic conditions—orthopedic, neurological, pediatric, geriatric, and beyond.    Learn from our International Teaching Team—experienced clinicians who help you develop your skills, expand your clinical reasoning, and achieve greater clinical outcomes.    Begin your training for as little as one hundred dollars a month.    Find a class near you at upledger.com/courses or call 800-233-5880, extension 2—and begin your CranioSacral Therapy journey with the leaders who continue to shape the profession.  Website: upledger.com/courses   Email: upledger@upledger.com   Phone: 800-233-5880 Ext 2   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upledger.institute   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upledger_institute_intl/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIFELbP6Jsp55cb9puZigQ    Save your hands for the smaller structures and start getting your clients underfoot! At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we teach you how to enhance your pressure using gravity and physics and help your clients recover from persistent pain through nerd-level anatomical attention to detail—we just happen to use our feet to do it all! From the slow, down-regulating glides of our FasciAshi Fundamentals strokes to the proprioceptive "pattern-interrupts" of our Barefoot Matwork techniques and the resisted movements from our Stretch Therapy class, we offer a complete suite of evidence-based tools for deep, myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage—we nicknamed our approach "FasciAshi." Worried about your body size in relation to your clients? Our innovation—the suspended Ashi-strap—allows a more diverse population of massage therapists to regulate and vector their weight and pressure distribution with clinical precision, making deep work effortless on a variety of client bodies. At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we believe the future of massage is afoot! Find when and where our CE classes are happening next at centerforbarefootmassage.com.  

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guests Crockett Ford from Ford Plumbing and Air.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam and Crocket talk about sewer scopes and new techniques to fix or replace broken pipes.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you have clients who are athletes? This is something you won't want to miss. Dr. Portia Resnick is an associate professor at Cal State Long Beach, who loves working with athletes, both as a trainer and as a massage therapist. Her new book, The Anatomy and Physiology of Sports Massage is published by Human Kinetics. It looks at manual therapy for high-level athletes, incorporating anatomy, sports-specific knowledge, and clinical decision-making. She uses a great I Have a Client Who story about a college athlete who has an injury and follow-up surgery. She tracks how she was able match bodywork goals, anatomy, and client input to get the best possible outcome.   Resources:   The Anatomy and Physiology of Sports Massage   Host Bio:                    Ruth Werner is a former massage therapist, a writer, and an NCBTMB-approved continuing education provider. She wrote A Massage Therapist's Guide to Pathology, now in its seventh edition, which is used in massage schools worldwide. Werner is also a long-time Massage & Bodywork columnist, most notably of the Pathology Perspectives column. Werner is also ABMP's partner on Pocket Pathology, a web-based app and quick reference program that puts key information for nearly 200 common pathologies at your fingertips. Werner's books are available at www.booksofdiscovery.com. And more information about her is available at www.ruthwerner.com.                   Sponsors:   Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.                      Website: anatomytrains.com                        Email: info@anatomytrains.com             Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains                       Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA      Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   Are you a manual therapist ready to expand your clinical reach, deepen your effectiveness, and work with greater confidence?    Upledger CranioSacral Therapy addresses deep restrictions, supports neurological and fascial systems, and enhances whole-body function—by working with the body's natural healing processes.    For over forty years, Upledger Institute International has led the field of CranioSacral Therapy—setting the global standard for education and clinical application. With trained therapists in more than 120 countries, CST continues to evolve through ongoing clinical experience and alignment with current scientific understanding.    CST integrates seamlessly into any manual therapy practice and supports common to complex and chronic conditions—orthopedic, neurological, pediatric, geriatric, and beyond.    Learn from our International Teaching Team—experienced clinicians who help you develop your skills, expand your clinical reasoning, and achieve greater clinical outcomes.    Begin your training for as little as one hundred dollars a month.    Find a class near you at upledger.com/courses or call 800-233-5880, extension 2—and begin your CranioSacral Therapy journey with the leaders who continue to shape the profession.   Website: upledger.com/courses   Email: upledger@upledger.com   Phone: 800-233-5880 Ext 2   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upledger.institute   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upledger_institute_intl/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIFELbP6Jsp55cb9puZigQ    Save your hands for the smaller structures and start getting your clients underfoot! At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we teach you how to enhance your pressure using gravity and physics and help your clients recover from persistent pain through nerd-level anatomical attention to detail—we just happen to use our feet to do it all! From the slow, down-regulating glides of our FasciAshi Fundamentals strokes to the proprioceptive "pattern-interrupts" of our Barefoot Matwork techniques and the resisted movements from our Stretch Therapy class, we offer a complete suite of evidence-based tools for deep, myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage—we nicknamed our approach "FasciAshi."   Worried about your body size in relation to your clients? Our innovation—the suspended Ashi-strap—allows a more diverse population of massage therapists to regulate and vector their weight and pressure distribution with clinical precision, making deep work effortless on a variety of client bodies. At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we believe the future of massage is afoot! Find when and where our CE classes are happening next at centerforbarefootmassage.com.  

HOST: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest, Todd Sandridge, owner of Superior Foundation.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Crawl spaces.Email fixit101@mpbonline.org at any time to have your DIY questions answered on the show!If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The scapula—I mean, look at this thing! It's not only cool in shape, but it is incredible at bringing tissues together. Allison explores the phenomenon known as force coupling, a concept that recruits opposing muscles to create one motion. Kind of like what she is trying to get her heart to do with her emotions.   Host Bio:           Contact Allison Denney: rebelmt@abmp.com             Allison's website: www.rebelmassage.com                      Allison Denney is a certified massage therapist and certified YouTuber. You can find her massage tutorials at YouTube.com/RebelMassage. She is also passionate about creating products that are kind, simple, and productive for therapists to use in their practices. Her products, along with access to her blog and CE opportunities, can be found at rebelmassage.com.           About our Sponsors:   Rebel Massage Therapist: My name is Allison. And I am not your typical massage therapist. After 20 years of experience and thousands of clients, I have learned that massage therapy is SO MUCH more than a relaxing experience at a spa. I see soft tissue as more than merely a physical element but a deeply complex, neurologically driven part of who you are. I use this knowledge to work WITH you—not ON you—to create change that works. This is the basis of my approach. As a massage therapist, I have worked in almost every capacity, including massage clinics, physical therapy clinics, chiropractor offices, spas, private practice, and teaching. I have learned incredible techniques and strategies from each of my experiences. In my 20 years as a massage therapist, I have never stopped growing. I currently have a private practice based out of Long Beach, California, where I also teach continuing education classes and occasionally work on my kids. If they're good. website: www.rebelmassage.com FB: facebook.com/RebelMassage IG: instagram.com/rebelmassagetherapist YouTube: youtube.com/c/RebelMassage email: rebelmassagetherapist@gmail.com   Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.                      Website: anatomytrains.com     Email: info@anatomytrains.com           Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains  Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA    Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   Are you a manual therapist ready to expand your clinical reach, deepen your effectiveness, and work with greater confidence?    Upledger CranioSacral Therapy addresses deep restrictions, supports neurological and fascial systems, and enhances whole-body function—by working with the body's natural healing processes.    For over forty years, Upledger Institute International has led the field of CranioSacral Therapy—setting the global standard for education and clinical application. With trained therapists in more than 120 countries, CST continues to evolve through ongoing clinical experience and alignment with current scientific understanding.    CST integrates seamlessly into any manual therapy practice and supports common to complex and chronic conditions—orthopedic, neurological, pediatric, geriatric, and beyond.    Learn from our International Teaching Team—experienced clinicians who help you develop your skills, expand your clinical reasoning, and achieve greater clinical outcomes.    Begin your training for as little as one hundred dollars a month.    Find a class near you at upledger.com/courses or call 800-233-5880, extension 2—and begin your CranioSacral Therapy journey with the leaders who continue to shape the profession.  Website: upledger.com/courses   Email: upledger@upledger.com   Phone: 800-233-5880 Ext 2   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upledger.institute   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upledger_institute_intl/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIFELbP6Jsp55cb9puZigQ    Save your hands for the smaller structures and start getting your clients underfoot! At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we teach you how to enhance your pressure using gravity and physics and help your clients recover from persistent pain through nerd-level anatomical attention to detail—we just happen to use our feet to do it all! From the slow, down-regulating glides of our FasciAshi Fundamentals strokes to the proprioceptive "pattern-interrupts" of our Barefoot Matwork techniques and the resisted movements from our Stretch Therapy class, we offer a complete suite of evidence-based tools for deep, myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage—we nicknamed our approach "FasciAshi." Worried about your body size in relation to your clients? Our innovation—the suspended Ashi-strap—allows a more diverse population of massage therapists to regulate and vector their weight and pressure distribution with clinical precision, making deep work effortless on a variety of client bodies. At the Center for Barefoot Massage, we believe the future of massage is afoot! Find when and where our CE classes are happening next at centerforbarefootmassage.com.      

HOST: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest, Damage Prevention Coordinator for the Central Region of Mississippi 811, John Stallings.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: April is National Safe Digging Month, so Pam welcomes John Stallings from Mississippi 811 to talk about safe digging and why calling 811 before you dig is so important to avoid injury and property damage.Email fixit101@mpbonline.org at any time to have your DIY questions answered on the show!If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOST: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest, interior designer Pam Rogers.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam Rogers is back for another great episode! The Pam's talk remodeling, design trends, and more!Email fixit101@mpbonline.org at any time to have your DIY questions answered on the show!If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Kevin Meacham from Regional Homes of Byram and co-host of MPB TV's Mississippi Outdoors.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam welcomes Kevin Meacham to the show to talk about mobile homes.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With this next installment of The Alchemist and the Eagle audiobook, I've got chapter 19 for your listening enjoyment. In this chapter, "Mirrors," some of our main characters reflect on their changing identities, purposes, and desires as they contemplate their new relationships, responsibilities, and possibilities with Ashi and Miraanni, Kalzhat and Nuya, and Ohada and Nuya ... 

HOST: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a GirlTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam and Marissa talk about Spring Cleaning during this special DRIVE TIME episode. They talk about cleaning your cleaners, making your own mold remover or fresh-smelling all-purpose cleaner, and more!EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider helping us reach our goal by contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Jake Manning from Mississippi Smart Homes.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam welcomes Jake Manning to talk about smart home technology. He talks about the many services his company offers, how rural Mississippians can access satellite internet, the benefits of smart technology for the elderly, and more.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Ruth Mazara from Moore Community House's Women in Construction ProgramTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: It's Women's History Month AND Women in Construction Week, so Pam welcomes Ruth Mazara, Program Director for Moore Community House's Women in Construction Program in Biloxi. They talk about the history of Moore Community House and its community outreach programs, the importance of women in non-traditional careers, and the real-life impact these training courses have had on women.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Kurt Welch from Storm Shield Roofing & Construction.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Kurt joins Pam for the first segment to talk about storm damage and inspecting roofs, and then, Pam finishes out the hour talking about proper ventilation and cleaning roofs.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guests Patton Ford from Ford Plumbing and Air and Trey Anderson from TreVac.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam, Patton, and Trey talk about the difference in sewer systems and septic systems, maintaining and pumping septic tanks, and what you can do to maintain your septic tank yourself.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, licensed contractor, ASHI certified home inspector and owner of Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Stephanie Lee, Executive Director of the Mississippi State Board of ContractorsTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam and Stephanie talk about licensing exams, choosing a contractor, filing complaints against contractors, and more.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and Tim WhiteTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam welcomes Tim White back to the show to talk about electricity, how to calculate how much power your outlets provide, what tricks homeowners can do for themselves, and more. Email fixit101@mpbonline.org at any time to have your DIY questions answered on the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is powerful because it focuses on the value of Home Inspectors to the electrician and not just the buyer and/or seller. You may be shocked, pun intended, to learn what Paul Abernathy, a nationally recognized electrical expert, thinks about home inspectors and what they bring to the table for electricians. We, as electricians and electrical contractors, are always looking to grow our business, to increase our exposure, and to simply be the best we can be.So, embracing the Home Inspection Industry is very important to an electrical contractor's success. Yes, I know the actual Electrician likes to bash the stuff in a home inspection report when things are called out that seem frivolous, but at the end of the day, you, the Electrician, are getting paid to either fix the issues or give a detailed explanation of what is acceptable. Once that interaction is done, it's up to the negotiation between the buyer and seller, and nothing you say in a report, be it the home inspection report or electrical follow-up evaluation, should be biased or one-sided. Simply state the facts, collect your check, and move on. Listen as Paul Abernathy, CEO and Founder of Electrical Code Academy, Inc., the leading electrical educator in the country, discusses electrical code, electrical trade, and electrical business-related topics to help electricians maximize their knowledge and industry investment.If you are looking to learn more about the National Electrical Code, for electrical exam preparation, or to better your knowledge of the NEC, then visit https://fasttraxsystem.com for all the electrical code training you will ever need by the leading electrical educator in the country with the best NEC learning program on the planet.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/master-the-nec-podcast--1083733/support.Struggling with the National Electrical Code? Discover the real difference at Electrical Code Academy, Inc.—where you'll learn from the nation's most down-to-earth NEC expert who genuinely cares about your success. No fluff. No gimmicks. Just the best NEC training you'll actually remember.Visit https://FastTraxSystem.com to learn more.

This episode is powerful because it focuses on the value of Home Inspectors to the electrician and not just the buyer and/or seller. You may be shocked, pun intended, to learn what Paul Abernathy, a nationally recognized electrical expert, thinks about home inspectors and what they bring to the table for electricians. We, as electricians and electrical contractors, are always looking to grow our business, to increase our exposure, and to simply be the best we can be.So, embracing the Home Inspection Industry is very important to an electrical contractor's success. Yes, I know the actual Electrician likes to bash the stuff in a home inspection report when things are called out that seem frivolous, but at the end of the day, you, the Electrician, are getting paid to either fix the issues or give a detailed explanation of what is acceptable. Once that interaction is done, it's up to the negotiation between the buyer and seller, and nothing you say in a report, be it the home inspection report or electrical follow-up evaluation, should be biased or one-sided. State the facts, collect your check, and move on. Listen as Paul Abernathy, CEO and Founder of Electrical Code Academy, Inc., the leading electrical educator in the country, discusses electrical code, electrical trade, and electrical business-related topics to help electricians maximize their knowledge and industry investment.If you are looking to learn more about the National Electrical Code, for electrical exam preparation, or to better your knowledge of the NEC, then visit https://fasttraxsystem.com for all the electrical code training you will ever need by the leading electrical educator in the country with the best NEC learning program on the planet.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/electrify-electrician-podcast--4131858/support.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a GirlTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: After a weekend of ice, snow, and freezing temperatures across the Deep South, Pam talks about tips and tricks to stay warm after losing power. Visit the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency website for information and emergency assistance due to extreme weather.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Patton Ford from Ford Plumbing and Air.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam and Patton talk about how to prepare your home for the upcoming ice and snow.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, licensed contractor, ASHI certified home inspector and owner of Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Todd Sandridge with Superior FoundationTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam and Todd talk about what to know before remodeling and welcome Liz Gill to talk about her recent remodeling experience.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A hungry raccoon discovers Ashi's evening routine at the mountain barn, but reaching the food requires a different kind of intelligence than cat-leaping and grace. What begins as a practical arrangement becomes trust built slowly, night by night, until it's strong enough to hold the gift of quiet presence. Your support is the cornerstone that allows me to continue crafting tranquil stories and meditations for you. For less than the price of a cup of coffee, you'll unlock an oasis of over 500 ad-free Listen To Sleep episodes, including 8 subscriber-only full length sleepy audiobook classics like Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland. To pledge your support, visit⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listentosleep.com/support⁠⁠ or subscribe right in Apple Podcasts and get a 7 day free trial. Want to change your story? Take the free Path Assessment at https://jointhecabin.org. In two minutes, you'll see your personalized journey and know exactly where to start. To join my email group and get a bunch of goodies, go to ⁠⁠https://erikireland.com Sleep well, friends.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, licensed contractor, ASHI certified home inspector and owner of Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Robert Aiken from R. W. Aiken Insurance Agency Inc.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: We're back for the new year at a new time, and for the first show, Pam welcomes Robert Aiken to talk about homeowner's insurance. EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I ask Jake about his thoughts on defending leg entanglements like outside ashi and 50/50. We look at it from a standing and a double-seated perspective. At the end I share some games that we've been working on in the gym. Hope you enjoy! Download Sherpa, the free AI-powered journaling app for athletes. Join the convo with Josh on Discord here. Use the code "BJJHELP" for 50% off your first month on Jake's Outlier Database to study match footage, get links to resources, and more.Use code “BJJHELP” at submeta.io to try your first month for only $8!

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Patton Ford from Ford Plumbing and Air.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Patton Ford is back to talk about holiday service calls with Pam. They answer listener questions and speak with special guest and creator of Fix-It 101, Jason Klein.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, licensed contractor, ASHI certified home inspector and owner of Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Todd Sandridge with Superior FoundationTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Get your Christmas Lists ready! Pam and Todd are talking about the must-have tools and gadgets for the handyman or woman in your life this holiday season. EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Did He Live?

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a GirlTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: It's time for people to put up holiday decorations, so Pam talks about child and pet proofing your tree, fire prevention, and more ways to safely enjoy your Christmas decor.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here are the next two chapters of the audiobook of The Alchemist and the Eagle for your listening enjoyment. In these two chapters, "The Mission," and "Gateway to Jeaniaurduin," Ashi and her religious followers make a territorial push into the interior of Aurduin to claim land back from the control of the invading Jolao Empire. 

Original Air Date: 10-15-2025HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Patton Ford from Ford Plumbing and Air.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Residential gas explosions are on the rise, so Pam and Patton decide to talk about natural gas. They talk about gas leaks, natural gas and carbon monoxide detectors, pilot lights, gas lanterns, and more.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Patton Ford from Ford Plumbing and Air.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Patton Ford is back to talk about water with Pam. They talk about shut-off devices, weatherizing pipes, and more to help homeowners prepare for freezing temperatures.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, licensed contractor, ASHI certified home inspector and owner of Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Todd Sandridge with Superior FoundationTOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam and Todd talk about windows and doors. EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam is preaching about mold and mildew prevention and removal. She talks about different home maintenance practices in different climates, bathroom ventilation, pros and cons of bleach and concrobium, and more.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org.**DIY Concrobium Recipe**1 quart hot water1 tablespoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)2 tablespoons washing soda (sodium carbonate)2 tablespoons trisodium phosphate (TSP) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: It's getting cooler, so it's time to get our chimneys cleaned. Pam is joined by Sed Bledsoe from Fireplace Chimney Sweep Solutions to talk about cleaning and maintaining your fireplace, the difference in vented and ventless gas logs, and more. EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider helping us reach our goal by contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOST: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Pam is joined by MPB Staff, Jas N Smith and Abram Nanney, during this DRIVE TIME episode of Fix It 101. They talk about DIY Halloween costumes, ghostly encounters, creepy crawl spaces, construction nightmares, and more.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider helping us reach our goal by contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here are the next two chapters from the audiobook of The Alchemist and the Eagle for your listening enjoyment. Chapter 6, "Superstitions," explores the theme of how religious beliefs can be cynically manipulated by unscrupulous rulers as seen through the eyes of Rin Jao and the Jolao Empire, and chapter 7, "The Power of Fear" explores the theme of how fear and uncertainty can lead to religious conversion as experienced through Ashi's reluctant ascension to the role of Holy Kyandara among the Tal. Enjoy!

HOSTS: Pam Pybas, ASHI certified inspector at Inspect It Like a Girl and special guest Patton Ford from Ford Plumbing and Air.TOPIC(S) DISCUSSED: Residential gas explosions are on the rise, so Pam and Patton decide to talk about natural gas. They talk about gas leaks, natural gas and carbon monoxide detectors, pilot lights, gas lanterns, and more.EMAIL: fixit101@mpbonline.org. If you enjoyed listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB: https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We return to the mythical world of Aurduin this week with the next two chapters of the audiobook, The Alchemist and the Eagle. In chapter 4, the three sisters of Ashi, Ohada, and Nuya contemplate their new roles and identities among the Tal and followers of the Kyandara, and in chapter 5, Kalzhat, the leader of the resistance movement, explores the idea of escalating the fight and taking the war directly to the Jolao. 

Following Ulla’s ruling that conveying the blood without moving one’s feet is invalid, the Gemara explores whether such a situation can be rectified if the initial conveying was performed without foot movement. The first attempt to prove that it can be corrected is from the Mishna in Zevachim 32a, but this derivation is ultimately rejected. A definitive proof is then brought from a statement of Ulla in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, establishing that the flaw cannot be corrected. Rav Nachman raises two challenges to Ulla’s position based on rulings in the Mishna (Zevachim 32a and 25a). The first challenge is addressed, though not convincingly, while the second remains unresolved. A new interpretation is proposed regarding the debate between Rabbi Shimon and the Rabbis in our Mishna concerning the act of conveying. According to this view, when Rabbi Shimon rules that improper intention during conveying does not disqualify the sacrifice, he refers specifically to conveying without foot movement. However, this interpretation is mocked by the Rabbis in Eretz Yisrael. Initially, the Gemara explains their ridicule by suggesting that if Rabbi Shimon is correct, there would be no case in the sprinkling of the blood of a bird sin offering where improper intent could disqualify the offering, despite the known principle that intent during sprinkling can indeed disqualify. This explanation is rejected, and a more compelling reason is offered: Rabbi Shimon’s own words in the Mishna indicate that he was discussing conveying by foot. He explains that conveying may be unnecessary because the animal can be slaughtered adjacent to the altar. Only foot-based conveying is deemed unnecessary, since even when slaughtered nearby, the blood still needs to be transferred to the altar by passing by hand. The Gemara then discusses a case where a non-kohen conveys the blood to the altar, and a kohen returns it to its original location before conveying it properly. There is a dispute over whether this sequence validates the offering or disqualifies it. In a reverse scenario, where a kohen conveys the blood, and a non-kohen returns it and then conveys it again, there is disagreement about whether this case parallels the previous one. Rav Shimi bar Ashi links the two cases: the one who permits in the first case forbids in the second, and vice versa, depending on whether the initial or final action is considered decisive. Rava, however, does not connect the cases, asserting that both would disqualify the second scenario. Once the blood is distanced from the altar, it must be returned in a valid manner - specifically, by a kohen. Rav Yirmia quotes Rav Yirmia of Difti, who claims that the question of whether blood that was brought to the altar and then distanced must be returned is itself a dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and the Rabbis in our Mishna. This interpretation is based on Rava’s reading of the Mishna. Abaye challenges this view with a braita and ultimately rejects it, leading Rava to concede to Abaye’s position. The Mishna enumerates various cases in which the handling of blood by someone disqualified from performing Temple service invalidates the sacrifice. The first example is a non-kohen. What is the source for this? One possibility is a derivation from Vayikra 22:2–3, while another is a kal va’chomer from the case of a blemished kohen.

Discover how collaboration can strengthen our field! Join special guest Dr. Debby Basu as she shares the latest American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) projects and initiatives designed to support and empower the clinical laboratory workforce — including opportunities that could directly benefit you.

You're listening to Burnt Toast! Today, my guest is Ash Brandin of Screen Time Strategies, also know as The Gamer Educator on Instagram. Ash is also the author of a fantastic new book, Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family. Ash joined us last year to talk about how our attitudes towards screen time can be…diet-adjacent. I asked them to come back on the podcast this week because a lot of us are heading into back-to-school mode, which in my experience can mean feelingsss about screen routines. There are A LOT of really powerful reframings in this episode that might blow your mind—and make your parenting just a little bit easier. So give this one a listen and share it with anyone in your life who's also struggling with kids and screen time.Today's episode is free but if you value this conversation, please consider supporting our work with a paid subscription. Burnt Toast is 100% reader- and listener-supported. We literally can't do this without you! PS. You can take 10 percent off Power On, or any book we talk about on the podcast, if you order it from the Burnt Toast Bookshop, along with a copy of Fat Talk! (This also applies if you've previously bought Fat Talk from them. Just use the code FATTALK at checkout.)Episode 208 TranscriptVirginiaFor anyone who missed your last episode, can you just quickly tell us who you are and what you do?AshI'm Ash Brandin. I use they/them pronouns.I am a middle school teacher by day, and then with my online presence, I help families and caregivers better understand and manage all things technology—screen time, screens. My goal is to reframe the way that we look at them as caregivers, to find a balance between freaking out about them and allowing total access. To find a way that works for us. VirginiaWe are here today to talk about your brilliant new book, which is called Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family. I can't underscore enough how much everybody needs a copy of this book. I have already turned back to it multiple times since reading it a few months ago. It just really helps ground us in so many aspects of this conversation that we don't usually have.AshI'm so glad to hear that it's helpful! If people are new to who I am, I have sort of three central tenets of the work that I do: * Screen time is a social inequity issue. * Screens can be part of our lives without being the center of our lives. * Screens and screen time should benefit whole families.Especially in the last few years, we have seen a trend toward panic around technology and screens and smartphones and social media. I think that there are many reasons to be concerned around technology and its influence, especially with kids. But what's missing in a lot of those conversations is a sense of empowerment about what families can reasonably do. When we focus solely on the fear, it ends up just putting caregivers in a place of feeling bad.VirginiaYou feel like you're getting it wrong all the time.AshShame isn't empowering. No one is like, “Well, I feel terrible about myself, so now I feel equipped to go make a change,” right?Empowerment is what's missing in so many of those conversations and other books and things that have come out, because it's way harder. It's so much harder to talk about what you can really do and reasonably control in a sustainable way. But I'm an educator, and I really firmly believe that if anyone's in this sort of advice type space, be it online or elsewhere, that they need to be trying to empower and help families instead of just capitalizing on fear.VirginiaWhat I found most powerful is that you really give us permission to say: What need is screen time meeting right now? And this includes caregivers' needs. So not just “what need is this meeting for my child,” but what need is this meeting for me? I am here recording with you right now because iPads are meeting the need of children have a day off school on a day when I need to work. We won't be interrupted unless I have to approve a screen time request, which I might in 20 minutes.I got divorced a couple years ago, and my kids get a lot more screen time now. Because they move back and forth between two homes, and each only has one adult in it. Giving myself permission to recognize that I have needs really got me through a lot of adjusting to this new rhythm of our family.AshAbsolutely. And when we're thinking about what the need is, we also need to know that it's going to change. So often in parenting, it feels like we have to come up with one set of rules and they have to work for everything in perpetuity without adjustment. That just sets us up for a sense of failure if we're like, well, I had this magical plan that someone told me was going to work, and it didn't. So I must be the problem, right? It all comes back to that “well, it's my fault” place.VirginiaWhich is screens as diet culture.AshAll over again. We're back at it. It's just not helpful. If instead, we're thinking about what is my need right now? Sometimes it's “I have to work.” And sometimes it's “my kid is sick and they just need to relax.” Sometimes it's, as you were alluding to earlier, it's we've all just had a day, right? We've been run ragged, and we just need a break, and that need is going to dictate very different things. If my kid is laid up on the couch and throwing up, then what screen time is going to be doing for them is very different than If I'm trying to work and I want them to be reasonably engaged in content and trying to maybe learn something. And that's fine. Being able to center “this is what I need right now,” or “this is what we need right now,” puts us in a place of feeling like we're making it work for us. Instead of feeling like we're always coming up against some rule that we're not going to quite live up to.VirginiaI'd love to talk about the inequity piece a little more too. As I said, going from a two parent household to a one parent household, which is still a highly privileged environment—but even just that small shift made me realize, wait a second. I think all the screen time guidance is just for typical American nuclear families. Ideally, with a stay at home parent.So can you talk about why so much of the standard guidance doesn't apply to most of our families?AshIt's not even just a stay at home parent. It's assuming that there is always at least one caregiver who is fully able to be present. Mom, default parent, is making dinner, and Dad is relaxing after work and is monitoring what the kids are doing, right? And it's one of those times where I'm like, have you met a family?VirginiaPeople are seven different places at once. It's just not that simple.AshIt's not that simple, right? It's like, have you spent five minutes in a typical household in the last 10 years? This is not how it's going, right?So the beginning of the book helps people unlearn and relearn what we may have heard around screens, including what research really does or doesn't say around screens, and this social inequity piece. Because especially since the onset of COVID, screens are filling in systemic gaps for the vast majority of families.I'm a family with two caregivers in the home. We both work, but we're both very present caregivers. So we're definitely kind of a rarity, that we're very privileged. We're both around a lot of the time. And we are still using screens to fill some of those gaps.So whether it's we don't really have a backyard, or people are in a neighborhood where they can't send their kids outside, or they don't have a park or a playground. They don't have other kids in the neighborhood, or it's not a safe climate. Or you live in an apartment and you can't have your neighbors complain for the fifth time that your kids are stomping around and being loud. Whatever it is—a lack of daycare, affordable after school care —those are all gaps. They all have to be filled. And we used to have different ways of filling those gaps, and they've slowly become less accessible or less available. So something has to fill them. What ends up often filling them is screens. And I'm not saying that that's necessarily a good thing. I'd rather live in a world in which everyone is having their needs met accessibly and equitably. But that's a much harder conversation, and is one that we don't have very much say in. We participate in that, and we might vote for certain people, but that's about all we can really do reasonably. So, in the meantime, we have to fill that in with something and so screens are often going to fill that in.Especially if you look at caregivers who have less privilege, who are maybe single caregivers, caregivers of color, people living in poverty—all of those aspects of scarcity impacts their bandwidth. Their capacity as a caregiver is less and spread thinner, and all of that takes away from a caregiver's ability to be present. And there were some really interesting studies that were done around just the way that having less capacity affects you as a caregiver.And when I saw that data, I thought, well, of course. Of course people are turning to screens because they have nothing else to give from. And when we think of it that way, it's hard to see that as some sort of personal failure, right? When we see it instead as, oh, this is out of necessity. It reframes the question as “How do I make screens work for me,” as opposed to, “I'm bad for using screens.”VirginiaRight. How do I use screen time to meet these needs and to hopefully build up my capacity so that I can be more present with my kids? I think people think if you're using a lot of screens, you're really never present. It's that stereotype of the parent on the playground staring at their phone, instead of watching the kid play. When maybe the reason we're at the playground is so my kid can play and I can answer some work emails. That doesn't mean I'm not present at other points of the day.AshOf course. You're seeing one moment. I always find that so frustrating. It just really feels like you you cannot win. If I were sitting there staring at my child's every move in the park, someone would be like, “you're being a helicopter,” right? And if I look at my phone because I'm trying to make the grocery pickup order—because I would rather my child have time at the playground than we spend our only free hour in the grocery store and having to manage a kid in the grocery store and not having fun together, right? Instead I'm placing a pickup order and they're getting to run around on the playground. Now also somehow I'm failing because I'm looking at my phone instead of my kid. But also, we want kids to have independent time, and not need constant input. It really feels like you just can't win sometimes. And being able to take a step back and really focus on what need is this meeting? And if it's ours, and if it is helping me be more present and connected, that's a win. When I make dinner in the evening, my kid is often having screen time, and I will put in an AirPod and listen to a podcast, often Burnt Toast, and that's my decompression. Because I come home straight from work and other things. I'm not getting much time to really decompress.VirginiaYou need that airlock time, where you can decompress and then be ready to be present at dinner.I'm sure I've told you this before, but I reported a piece on screen time for Parents Magazine, probably almost 10 years ago at this point, because I think my older child was three or four. And I interviewed this Harvard researcher, this older white man, and I gave him this the dinner time example. I said, I'm cooking dinner. My kid is watching Peppa Pig so that I can cook dinner, and take a breath. And then we eat dinner together. And he said, “Why don't you involve her in cooking dinner? Why don't you give her a bag of flour to play with while you cook dinner?”AshOf all the things!VirginiaAnd I said to him: Because it's 5pm on a Wednesday and who's coming to clean the flour off the ceiling?AshA bag of flour. Of all the things to go to! VirginiaHe was like, “kids love to make a happy mess in the kitchen!” I was like, well I don't love that. And it was just exactly that. My need didn't matter to him at all. He was like, “h, well, if you just want to pacify your children…” I was like, I do, yes, in that moment.AshWell, and I think that's another part of it is that someone says it to us like that, and we're like, “well, I can't say yes,” right? But in the moment, yeah, there are times where it's like, I need you to be quiet. And as hard as this can be to think, sometimes it's like right now, I need you to be quiet and convenient because of the situation we're in. And that doesn't mean we're constantly expecting that of them, and hopefully that's not something we're doing all the time. But if the need is, oh my God, we're all melting down, and if we don't eat in the next 15 minutes, we're going to have a two hour DEFCON1 emergency on our hands, then, yeah, I'm gonna throw Peppa Pig on so that we can all become better regulated humans in the next 15 minutes and not have a hungry meltdown. And that sounds like a much better alternative to me!VirginiaThan flour all over my kitchen on a Wednesday, right? I mean, I'll never not be mad about it. It's truly the worst parenting advice I've ever received. So thank you for giving us all more space as caregivers to be able to articulate our own needs and articulate what we need to be present. It's what we can do in the face of gaps in the care system that leave us holding so much.That said: I think there are some nitty gritty aspects of this that we all struggle wit, so I want to talk about some of the nuts and bolts pieces. One of my biggest struggles is still the question of how much time is too much time? But you argue that time really isn't the measure we should be using. As you're saying, that need is going to vary day to day, and all the guidance that's been telling us, like, 30 minutes at this age, an hour at this age, all of that is not particularly germane to our lives. So can you explain both why time is less what we should fixate on? And then how do I release myself? How do I divest from the screen time diet culture?AshOh man, I wish I had a magic bullet for that one. We'll see what I can do.When I was writing this and thinking about it and making content about it, I kept thinking about you. Because the original time guidelines that everyone speaks back to—they're from the AAP. And they have not actually been used in about 10 years, but people still bring them up all the time. The “no time under two” and “up to an hour up to age five” and “one to two hours, five to 12.” And if you really dig in, I was following footnote after footnote for a while, trying to really find where did this actually come from? It's not based on some study that found that that's the ideal amount of time. It really came from a desire to find this middle ground of time spent being physically idle. These guidelines are about wanting to avoid childhood obesity.VirginiaOf course.AshIt all comes back, right?VirginiaI should have guessed it.AshAnd so in their original recommendations, the AAP note that partially this is to encourage a balance with physical movement. Which, of course, assumes that if you are not sitting watching TV or using an iPad, that you will be playing volleyball or something.VirginiaYou'll automatically be outside running around.AshExactly, of course, those are the only options.VirginiaIt also assumes that screen time is never physical. But a lot of kids are very physical when they're watching screens.AshExactly. And it, of course, immediately also imposes a morality of one of these things is better—moving your body is always better than a screen, which is not always going to be true, right? All these things have nuance in them. But I thought that was so interesting, and it shouldn't have surprised me, and yet somehow it still did. And of course it is good to find movement that is helpful for you and to give your kids an enjoyment of being outside or moving their bodies, or playing a sport. And putting all of that in opposition to something else they may enjoy, like a screen, really quickly goes to that diet culture piece of “well, how many minutes have you been doing that?” Because now we have to offset it with however many minutes you should be running laps or whatever.So those original recommendations are coming from a place of already trying to mitigate the negatives of sitting and doing something sort of passively leisurely. And in the last 10 years, they've moved away from that, and they now recommend what's called making a family media plan. Which actually I think is way better, because it is much more prioritizing what are you using this for? Can you be doing it together? What can you do? It's much more reasonable, I think. But many people still go back to those original recommendations, because like you said, it's a number. It's simple. Just tell me.VirginiaWe love to grab onto a number and grade ourselves.AshJust tell me how much time so that I can tell myself I'm I'm doing a good job, right? But you know, time is just one piece of information. It can be so specific with what am I using that time to do? If I'm sitting on my computer and doing work for an hour and a half, technically, that is screen time, but it is going to affect me a lot differently than if I'm watching Netflix or scrolling my phone for an hour and a half. I will feel very different after those things. And I think it's really important to be aware of that, and to make our kids aware of that from an early age, so that they are thinking about more than just, oh, it's been X amount of minutes. And therefore this is okay or not okay.Because all brains and all screens are different. And so one kid can watch 20 minutes of Paw Patrol, and they're going to be bouncing off the walls, because, for whatever reason, that's just a show that's really stimulating for them. And somebody else can sit and watch an hour and a half of something, and they'll be completely fine. So if you have a kid that is the first kid, and after 20 minutes, you're like, oh my god, it's not even half an hour. This is supposed to be an okay amount. This is how they're acting. We're right back to that “something's wrong. I'm wrong. They're bad,” as opposed to, “What is this telling me? What's something we could do differently? Could we try a different show? Could we try maybe having some physical movement before or after, see if that makes a difference?” It just puts us more in a place of being curious to figure out again, how do I make this work for me? What is my need? How do I make it work for us?And not to rattle on too long, but there was a big study done in the UK, involving over 120,000 kids. And they were trying to find what they called “the Goldilocks amount of time.”VirginiaYes. This is fascinating.AshSo it's the amount of time where benefit starts to wane. Where we are in that “just right”amount. Before that, might still be okay, but after that we're going to start seeing some negative impacts, particularly when it comes to behavior, for example.What they found in general was that the Goldilocks number tended to be around, I think, an hour and 40 minutes a day. Something around an hour and a half a day. But if you looked at certain types of screens, for computers or TV, it was much higher than that. It was closer to three hours a day before you started seeing some negative impacts. And even for things like smartphones, it was over an hour a day. But what I found so so interesting, is that they looked at both statistical significance, but also what they called “minimally important difference,” which was when you would actually notice these negative changes, subjectively, as a caregiver.So this meant how much would a kid have to be on a screen for their adult at home to actually notice “this is having an impact on you,” regularly. And that amount was over four and a half hours a day on screens.VirginiaBefore caregivers were like, “Okay, this is too much!” And the fact that the statistically significant findings for the minutia of what the researchers looking at is so different from what you as a caregiver are going to actually be thrown by. That was really mind blowing to me.AshRight, And that doesn't mean that statistical significance isn't important, necessarily. But we're talking about real minutiae. And that doesn't always mean that you will notice any difference in your actual life.Of course, some people are going to hear this and go, “But I don't want my kid on a screen for four and a half hours.” Sure. That's completely reasonable. And if your kid is having a hard time after an hour, still reasonable, still important. That's why we can think less about how many minutes has it been exactly, and more, what am I noticing? Because if I'm coming back to the need and you're like, okay, I have a meeting and I need an hour, right? If you know, “I cannot have them use their iPad for an hour, because they tend to become a dysregulated mess in 25 minutes,” that's much more useful information than “Well, it says they're allowed to have an hour of screen time per day so this should be fine because it's an hour.”VirginiaRight.AshIt sets you up for more success.VirginiaAnd if you know your kid can handle that hour fine and can, in fact, handle more fine, it doesn't mean, “well you had an hour of screen time while I was in a meeting so now we can't watch a show together later to relax together.” You don't have to take away and be that granular with the math of the screens. You can be like, yeah, we needed an extra hour for this meeting, and we'll still be able to watch our show later. Because that's what I notice with my kids. If I start to try to take away from some other screen time, then it's like, “Oh, god, wait, but that's the routine I'm used to!” You can't change it, and that's fair.AshYes, absolutely. And I would feel that way too, right? If someone were giving me something extra because it was a convenience to them, but then later was like, “oh, well, I have to take that from somewhere.” But they didn't tell me that. I would be like, Excuse me, that's weird. That's not how that works, right? This was a favor to you, right?VirginiaYeah, exactly. I didn't interrupt your meeting. You're welcome, Mom.Where the time anxiety does tend to kick in, though, is that so often it's hard for kids to transition off screens. So then parents think, “Well, it was too much time,” or, “The screen is bad.” This is another very powerful reframing in your work. So walk us through why just because a kid is having a hard time getting off screens doesn't mean it was too much and it doesn't mean that screens are evil? AshSo an example I use many times that you can tweak to be whatever thing would come up for your kid is bath time. I think especially when kids are in that sort of toddler, three, four age. When my kid was that age, we had a phase where transitioning to and from the bathtub was very hard. Getting into it was hard. But then getting out of it was hard.VirginiaThey don't ever want to get in. And then they never want to leave.AshThey never want to get out, right? And in those moments when my kid was really struggling to get out of the bathtub, imagine how it would sound if I was like, “Well, it it's the bathtub's fault.” Like it's the bath's fault that they are having such a hard time, it's because of the bubbles, and it smells too good, and I've made it too appealing and the water's too warm. Like, I mean, I sound unhinged, right?Virginia“We're going to stop bathing you.”AshExactly. We would not say, “Well, we can't have baths anymore.” Or when we go to the fun playground, and it's really hard to leave the fun playground, we don't blame the playground. When we're in the grocery store and they don't want to leave whichever aisle, we don't blame the grocery store. And we also don't stop taking them to the grocery store. We don't stop going to playgrounds. We don't stop having baths. Instead, we make different decisions, right? We try different things. We start a timer. We have a different transition. We talk about it beforehand. We strategize, we try things.VirginiaGive a “Hey, we're leaving in a few minutes!” so they're not caught off guard.AshExactly. We talk about it. Hey, last time it was really hard to leave here, we kind of let them know ahead of time, or we race them to the car. We find some way to make it more fun, to make the transition easier, right? We get creative, because we know that, hey, they're going to have to leave the grocery store. They're going to have to take baths in a reasonable amount of time as they grow up into their lives. We recognize the skill that's happening underneath it.And I think with screens, we don't always see those underlying skills, because we see it as this sort of superfluous thing, right? It's not needed. It's not necessary. Well, neither is going to a playground, technically.A lot of what we do is not technically required, but the skill underneath is still there. So when they are struggling with ending screen time, is it really the screen, or is it that it's hard to stop doing something fun. It's hard to stop in the middle of something. It's hard to stop if you have been playing for 20 minutes and you've lost every single race and you don't want to stop when you've just felt like you've lost over and over again, right? You want one more shot to one more shot, right?People are going to think, “Well, but screens are so much different than those other things.” Yes, a screen is designed differently than a playground or a bath. But we are going to have kids who are navigating a technological and digital world that we are struggle to even imagine, right? We're seeing glimpses of it, but it's going to be different than what we're experiencing now, and we want our kids to be able to navigate that with success. And that comes back to seeing the skills underneath. So when they're struggling with something like that, taking the screen out of it, and asking yourself, how would I handle this if it were anything else. How would I handle this if it were they're struggling to leave a friend's house? I probably wouldn't blame the friend, and I wouldn't blame their house, and I wouldn't blame their boys.VirginiaWe're never seeing that child again! Ash I would validate and I would tell them, it's hard. And I would still tell them “we're ending,” and we would talk about strategies to make it easier next time. And we would get curious and try something, and we would be showing our kids that, “hey, it's it's okay to have a hard time doing that thing. It's okay to have feelings about it. And we're still gonna do it. We're still going to end that thing.”Most of the time, the things that we are struggling with when it comes to screens actually boil down to one of three things, I call them the ABCs. It's either Access, which could be time, or when they're having it, or how much. Behavior, which you're kind of bringing up here. And Content, what's on the screen, what they're playing, what they what they have access to.And so sometimes we might think that the problem we're seeing in front of us is a behavior problem, right? I told them to put the screen away. They're not putting the screen away. That's a behavior problem. But sometimes it actually could be because it's an access issue, right? It's more time than they can really handle at that given moment. Or it could be content, because it's content that makes it harder to start and stop. So a big part of the book is really figuring out, how do I know what problem I'm even really dealing with here? And then what are some potential things that I can do about it? To try to problem solve, try to make changes and see if this helps, and if it helps, great, keep it. And if not, I can get curious and try something else. And so a lot of it is strategies to try and ways to kind of, you know, backwards engineer what might be going on, to figure out how to make it work for you, how to make it better.VirginiaIt's so helpful to feel like, okay, there's always one more thing I can tweak and adjust. Versus “it's all a failure. We have to throw it out.” That kind of all or nothing thinking that really is never productive. The reason I think it's so helpful that you draw that parallel with the bath or the play date is it reminds us that there are some kids for whom transitions are just always very difficult—like across the board. So you're not just seeing a screen time problem. You're being reminded “My kid is really building skills around transitions. We don't have them yet.” We hope we will have them at some point. But this is actually an opportunity to work on that, as opposed to a problem. We can actually practice some of these transition skills.AshAnd I really like coming back to the skill, because if we're thinking of it as a skill, then we're probably more likely to tell our kids that it's a skill, too. Because if we're just thinking of it as like, well, it's a screen. It's the screen's fault, it's the screen's fault. Then we might not say those literal words to our kids, but we might say, like, it's always so hard to turn off the TV. Why is that, right? We're talking about it as if it's this sort of amorphous, like it's only about the television, or it's only about the iPad, and we're missing the part of making it clear to our kids that, hey, this is a skill that you're working on, and we work on this skill in different ways.VirginiaI did some good repair with my kids after reading your book. Because I was definitely falling into the trap of talking about screen addiction. I thought I was saying to them, “It's not your fault. The screens are programmed to be bad for us in this way” So I thought, I was like at least not blaming them, but being like, we need less screens because they're so dangerous.But then I read your book, and I was like, oh, that's not helpful either. And I did have one of my kids saying, “Am I bad because I want to watch screens all the time?” And I was like, oh, that's too concrete and scary.And again, to draw the parallel with diet culture: It's just like telling kids sugar is bad, and then they think they're bad because they like sugar. So I did do some repair. I was like, “I read this book and now I've learned that that was not right.” They were like, oh, okay. We're healing in my house from that, so thank you.AshOh, you're very welcome, and I'm glad to hear that!I think about those parallels with food all the time, because sometimes it just helps me think, like, wait, would I be wanting to send this message about food or exercise or whatever? And if the answer is no, then how can I tweak it so that I'm sending a message I'd be okay with applying to other things. And I like being able to make those parallels with my kid. In my household right now, we're practicing flexibility. Flexibility is a skill that we're working on in so many parts of our lives. And when I say we, I do mean we. Me, everybody is working on this.VirginiaParents can use more flexibility, for sure.AshAbsolutely. And so like, when those moments are coming up, you know, I'm trying to say, like, hey, like, what skill is this right now? Who's having to be flexible right now? Flexible can be a good thing, right? We might be flexible by saying yes to eating dinner on the couch and watching a TV show. That's flexibility. Flexibility isn't just adjust your plans to be more convenient to me, child, so that I can go do something as an adult. And coming back to those skills so they can see, oh, okay, this isn't actually just about screens. This applies to every part of these of my life, or these different parts of my life, and if I'm working on it here, oh, wow, it feels easier over there. And so they can see that this applies throughout their life, and kind of feel more of that buy in of like, oh, I'm getting better at that. Or that was easier. That was harder. We want them to see that across the board.VirginiaOh, my God, absolutely.Let's talk about screens and neurodivergence a little bit. So one of my kiddos is neurodivergent, and I can both see how screens are wonderful for them at the end of a school day, when they come home and they're really depleted. Screen time is the thing they need to rest and regulate. And they love the world building games, which gives them this whole world to control and explore. And there's so much there that's wonderful.And, they definitely struggle more than their sibling with this transition piece, with getting off it. One kid will naturally put down the iPad at some point and go outside for a bit, and this kid will not. And it creates more anxiety for parents. Because neurodivergent kids may both need screens—in ways that maybe we're not totally comfortable with, but need to get comfortable with—and then struggle with the transition piece. So how do you think about this question differently with neurodivergence? Or or is it really the same thing you're just having to drill in differently?AshI think it is ultimately the same thing, but it certainly is going to feel quite more heightened. And I think especially for certain aspects of neurodivergence, especially, I think it feels really heightened because of some of the ways that they might be discussed, particularly online, when it comes to how they relate to technology. I think about ADHD, we'll see that a lot. Where I'll see many things online about, like, “kids with ADHD should never be on a screen. They should never be on a device, because they are so dopamine-seeking.” And I have to just say that I find that to be such an ableist framing. Because with ADHD, we're talking about a dopamine deficient brain. And I don't think that we would be having that same conversation about someone needing insulin, right? Like, we wouldn't be saying, like, oh yeah, nope, they can't take that insulin. VirginiaThey're just craving that insulin they need to stay alive.AshA kid seeking a thing that they're that they are somehow deficient in—that's not some sort of defiant behavior. VirginiaNo, it's a pretty adaptive strategy.AshAbsolutely, it is. And we want kids to know that nobody's brain is good or bad, right? There's not a good brain or a bad brain. There are all brains are going to have things that are easier or harder. And it's about learning the brain that you're in, and what works or doesn't work for the brain that you're in.And all brains are different, right? Neurotypical brains and neurodivergent brains within those categories are obviously going to be vastly different. What works for one won't work for another, and being able to figure out what works for them, instead of just, “because you have this kind of brain, you shouldn't ever do this thing,” that's going to set them up for more success. And I think it's great that you mentioned both how a screen can be so regulating, particularly for neurodivergent brains, and then the double-edged sword of that is that then you have to stop. VirginiaTransition off back into the world.AshSo if the pain point is a transition, what is it really coming from? Is it coming from the executive function piece of “I don't know how to find a place to stop?” A lot of people, particularly kids ADHD, they often like games that are more open-ended. So they might like something like a Minecraft or an Animal Crossing or the Sims where you can hyperfocus and deep dive into something. But what's difficult about that is that, you know, if I play Mario Kart, the level ends, it's a very obvious ending.VirginiaRight? And you can say, “One more level, and we're done.”AshExactly. We've reached the end of the championship. I'm on the podium. I quit now, right?But there's a never ending series of of tasks with a more open-ended game. And especially if I'm in my hyper focus zone, right? I can just be thinking, like, well, then I can do this and this and this and this and this, right?And I'm adding on to my list, and the last thing I want to do in that moment is get pulled out of it when I'm really feeling like I'm in the zone. So if that's the kind of transition that's difficult. And it's much less about games and more about “how do I stop in the middle of a project?” Because that's essentially what that is.And that would apply if I'm at school and I'm in the middle of an essay and we're finishing it up tomorrow. Or I'm trying to decorate a cake, and we're trying to walk out the door and I have to stop what I'm doing and come back later. So one of the tricks that I have found really helpful is to ask the question of, “How will you know when you're done?” Or how will you know you're at a stopping point? What would a stopping point be today? And getting them to sort of even visualize it, or say it out loud, so that they can think about, “Oh, here's how I basically break down a giant task into smaller pieces,” because that's essentially what that is.VirginiaThat's a great tip. Ash“Okay, you have five minutes. What is the last thing you're going to do today?” Because then it's concrete in terms of, like, I'm not asking the last thing, and it will take you half an hour, right? I'm at, we have five minutes. What's the last thing you're wrapping up? What are you going to do?Then, if it's someone who's very focused in this world, and they're very into that world, then that last thing can also be our transition out of it. As they're turning it off, the very first thing we're saying to them is, “So what was that last thing you were doing?”VirginiaOh, that's nice.AshThen they're telling it to us, and then we can get curious. We can ask questions. We can get a little into their world to help them transition out of that world. That doesn't mean that we have to understand what they're telling us, frankly. It doesn't mean we have to know all the nuance. But we can show that interest. I think this is also really, really important, because then we are showing them it's not us versus the screen. We're not opposing the screen, like it's the enemy or something. And we're showing them, “Hey, I can tell you're interested in this, so I'm interested in it because you are.” Like, I care about you, so I want to know more.VirginiaAnd then they can invite you into their world, which what a lot of neurodivergent kids need. We're asking them to be part of the larger world all the time. And how nice we can meet them where they are a little more.AshAbsolutely. The other thing I would say is that something I think people don't always realize, especially if they don't play games as much, or if they are not neurodivergent and playing games, is they might miss that video games actually are extremely well-accommodated worlds, in terms of accommodating neurodivergence.So thinking about something like ADHD, to go back to that example, it's like, okay, some really common classroom accommodations for ADHD, from the educator perspective, the accommodations I see a lot are frequent check ins, having a checklist, breaking down a large task into smaller chunks, objectives, having a visual organizer.Well, I think about a video game, and it's like, okay, if I want to know what I have available to me, I can press the pause menu and see my inventory at any time. If I want to know what I should be doing, because I have forgotten, I can look at a menu and see, like, what's my objective right now? Or I can bring up the map and it will show me where I supposed to be going. If I start to deviate from what I'm supposed to be doing, the game will often be like, “Hey, don't forget, you're supposed to be going over there!” It'll get me back on task. If I'm trying to make a potion that has eight ingredients, the game will list them all out for me, and it will check them off as I go, so I can visually see how I'm how I'm achieving this task. It does a lot of that accommodation for me. And those accommodations are not as common in the real world, or at least not as easily achieved.And so a lot of neurodivergent kids will succeed easily in these game worlds. And we might think “oh because it's addicting, or the algorithm, or it's just because they love it” But there are often these structural design differences that actually make it more accessible to them.And if we notice, oh, wow, they have no problem knowing what to do when they're playing Zelda, because they just keep checking their objective list all the time or whatever—that's great information.VirginiaAnd helps us think, how can we do that in real life? AshExactly. We can go to them and say, hey, I noticed you, you seem to check your inventory a lot when you're playing that game. How do we make it so that when you look in your closet, you can just as easily see what shirts you own. Whatever the thing may be, so that we're showing them, “hey, bring that into the rest of your world that works for you here.” Let's make it work for you elsewhere, instead of thinking of it as a reason they're obsessed with screens, and now we resent the screens for that. Bring that in so that it can benefit the rest of their lives.VirginiaI'm now like, okay, that just reframes something else very important for me. You have such a helpful way of helping us divest from the guilt and the shame and actually look at this in a positive and empowering way for us and our kids. And I'm just so grateful for it. It really is a game changer for me.AshOh, thank you so much. I'm so glad to hear that it was helpful and empowering for you, and I just hope that it can be that for others as well.ButterAshSo my family and I have been lucky enough to spend quite a lot of time in Japan. And one of the wonderful things about Japan is they have a very huge bike culture. I think people think of the Netherlands as Bike cCentral, but Japan kind of rivals them.And they have a particular kind of bike that you cannot get in the United States. It's called a Mamachari, which is like a portmanteau of mom and chariot. And it's sort of like a cargo bike, but they are constructed a little differently and have some features that I love. And so when I've been in Japan, we are on those bikes. I'm always like, I love this kind of bike. I want this kind of bike for me forever. And my recent Butter has been trying to find something like that that I can have in my day to day life. And I found something recently, and got a lovely step through bike on Facebook Marketplace. VirginiaSo cool! That's exciting to find on marketplace, too.AshOh yes, having a bike that like I actually enjoy riding, I had my old bike from being a teenager, and it just was not functional. I was like, “This is not fun.” And now having one that I enjoy, I'm like, oh yes. I feel like a kid again. It's lovely.VirginiaThat's a great Butter. My Butter is something both my kids and my pets and I are all really enjoying. I'm gonna drop a link in the chat for you. It is called a floof, and it is basically a human-sized dog bed that I found on Etsy. It's like, lined with fake fur.AshMy God. I'm looking at it right now.VirginiaIsn't it hilarious?AshWow. I'm so glad you sent a picture, because that is not what I was picturing?Virginia I can't describe it accurately. It's like a cross between a human-sized dog bed and a shopping bag? Sort of? AshYes, yes, wow. It's like a hot tub.VirginiaIt's like a hot tub, but no water. You just sit in it. I think they call it a cuddle cave. I don't understand how to explain it, but it's the floof. And it's in our family room. And it's not inexpensive, but it does basically replace a chair. So if you think of it as a furniture purchase, it's not so bad. There's always at least a cat or a dog sleeping in it. Frequently a child is in it. My boyfriend likes to be in it. Everyone gravitates towards it. And you can put pillows in it or a blanket.Neurodivergent people, in particular, really love it, because I think it provides a lot of sensory feedback? And it's very enclosed and cozy. It's great for the day we're having today, which is a very laid back, low demand, watch as much screen as you want, kind of day. So I've got one kid bundled into the floof right now with a bunch of blankets in her iPad, and she's so happy. AshOh my gosh. Also, it kind of looks like the person is sitting in a giant pita, which I also love.VirginiaThat's what it is! It's like a giant pita, but soft and cozy. It's like being in a pita pocket. And I'm sure there are less expensive versions, this was like, 300 something dollars, so it is an investment. But they're handmade by some delightful person in the Netherlands.Whenever we have play dates, there are always two or three kids, snuggled up in it together. There's something extremely addictive about it. I don't know. I don't really know how to explain why it's great, but it's great.AshOh, that is lovely.VirginiaAll right, well tell obviously, everyone needs to go to their bookstore and get Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family. Where else can we find you, Ash? How can we support your work?AshYou can find me on Instagram at the gamer educator, and I also cross post my Instagram posts to Substack, and I'm on Substack as Screen Time Strategies. It's all the same content, just that way you're getting it in your inbox without, without having to go to Instagram. So if that's something that you are trying to maybe move away from, get it via Substack. And my book Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family is available starting August 26 is when it fully releases.VirginiaAmazing. Thank you so much. This was really great.AshThank you so much for having me back.The Burnt Toast Podcast is produced and hosted by Virginia Sole-Smith (follow me on Instagram) and Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, and Big Undies.The Burnt Toast logo is by Deanna Lowe.Our theme music is by Farideh.Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.Thanks for listening and for supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiasolesmith.substack.com/subscribe