Podcasts about calmer

FDA's new leadership is sailing the agency into calmer waters amid a search for a permanent commissioner and permanent center directors. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses how FDA's new, interim leaders have changed the tone at the agency and why they are putting medicines derailed under former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary back on track. Usdin also highlights FDA's new real-time clinical trials initiative.BioCentury's analysts then turn to deals, including an analysis of the 20 deals Eli Lilly has done this year; Servier's move to expand in neurology via BD; and Monday's billion-dollar deals by Incyte, which will acquire Vega Therapeutics, and Johnson & Johnson, which is buying Firefly Bio.The team also discusses Grand Rounds U.S., held last week in Seattle, including the conference's Rising Star prize winner Sylvain Simon of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659699#FDA #BiopharmaDeals #ClinicalTrials #BiotechMA #GrandRoundsUS01:23 - Grand Rounds Seattle Takeaways04:43 - FDA's New Leaders11:48 - FDA's Real Time Trials Pilot20:40 - Servier Bets on Neuro25:33 - Lilly's Deal Spree30:21 - Dealmaking RoundupTo submit a question to BioCentury's editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at podcasts@biocentury.com.Reach us by sending a text

François Gautier : petit exercice de respiration pour se détendre et se calmerHébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

— As we release stored tension, soften resistance, and move in ways that feel aligned rather than performative, the way we relate to the world begins to shift as well. Our nervous systems regulate. Our reactions soften. Our presence becomes less guarded and more genuine. Self-awareness creates coherence within the individual. And coherence within individuals quietly contributes to coherence within the collective. This is not dramatic change. It is gentle evolution. Calmer conversations. More compassion. More people feeling safe enough to be themselves. Movement, in this way, becomes more than physical expression. It becomes participation in the evolution of our own consciousness. And as each person reconnects with their body, their truth, and their internal rhythm, the ripple extends far beyond what can be measured. What begins as remembering ourselves becomes a quiet contribution to a world that feels more present, more connected, and more alive. Valeria interviews Caren Carnegie — She is an Intuitive Momentum Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, Spiritual Life Coach, and Channeler, and the founder of Transform Fitness Coaching. She guides individuals beyond traditional fitness into a deeper relationship with their body, mind, and inner awareness—where movement becomes a pathway to self-leadership and remembrance. With nearly two decades of experience working closely with people, Caren blends physical training with intuitive insight to support sustainable, embodied transformation. Her work redefines fit-ness as a state of being—one rooted in self-acceptance, coherence, and personal truth. Through her coaching, writing, and speaking, Caren invites others to move with what moves them, reconnect with their inner wisdom, and create momentum that reflects who they truly are. Learn more about Caren Carnegie and her amazing work at https://transformfitnesscoaching.com/ and her Instagram: @carencarnegiefitness.

What we eat, and how we eat, can have a profound effect on our brain health, even influencing depression, anxiety and ADHD.Today, we're unpacking simple food strategies that can support your nervous system, with a big focus on the gut-brain connection.And I have the pleasure of chatting with Dr Miguel Toribio-Mateas to explore this topic.He's a clinical neuroscientist, nutrition researcher and author of the brilliant new book ‘ADHD Body and Mind: A Compassionate Guide to Rewilding Your Nervous System'.He also has a fantastic way of bringing together brain health and delicious, practical food.We cover

After water, tea is the most popular drink in the world. We turn to it for comfort, for a break in the day, and increasingly, for its claimed mood‑calming powers. Scroll through social media and you'll find no shortage of claims that tea, or more so one of its bioactive compounds called L‑theanine, are a natural answer to stress and anxiety. In this podcast episode, I take a closer look at those claims through the lens of a new review that pulled together clinical trials on green tea, its key bioactive compounds, and mood with a particular focus on L‑theanine and anxiety.Links referred to in the podcastThinking Nutrition podcast episode 12 on tea and health https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com/808853/episodes/3156961-drink-tea-and-carry-onSystematic review on tea and its effects on mood https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40722728Episode transcriptTo access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript' tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.comConnect with meInstagram doctimcroweFacebook Thinking NutritionX CroweTim

Stoic Morning Meditation — Ancient Wisdom for Anxiety Relief | Calm Your Mind | Guided Meditation━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You breathe more than 20,000 times a day.But if your breathing is shallow, fast, noisy, or stuck high in your chest, your nervous system may be receiving a constant signal that you're not safe yet.Which means your body can stay stuck in stress mode even when you're desperately trying to relax.And over time, that can look like:

Is it possible to remain calm and focused when everything around us is getting faster, noisier and seemingly more demanding?  I think it is, and in this week's episode, I'll share some of my insights so you, too, can remain productive in a quiet, focused way.  Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin   Learn more about the Quiet Productivity Method here Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived   The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes Subscribe to my Substack  The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page   Script | 418 Hello, and welcome to episode 418 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development, and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show.  Recently, I had a call with one of my coaching clients who is completely on board with AI. He's gone down the usual rabbit hole of ChatGPT, then Claude, then back to ChatGPT, then to Google's Gemini and now he's obsessed with Claude again.  It reminded me of the late twenty-teens when everyone was switching between Evernote, Notion, Apple Notes, and then Roam Research. It was an amusing merry-go-round.  One of the ironic things about my client is that he'd had to wake up at 5:00 am to review the materials for a workshop he was delivering that day because he suddenly thought Claude might not have given the correct information, and he needed to check everything before 9:00 am.  I asked him how long he usually took to prepare for a workshop like this, and he replied that it normally took three or four hours. However, he said emphatically, with Claude's help, it's taking him around six to eight hours. I did point out the obvious. With AI's help, it's taking twice as long, but he dismissed that, saying AI was the future and that by doing it this way, he was learning and would eventually be faster.  Fair point.  But he did have to wake up two hours earlier than normal. Not something I would enjoy doing.  This reminded me that life, whether it's our personal or our professional lives, shouldn't be lived at speed. Life should be lived at our own pace.  Two YouTube videos I recently watched emphasised this. One was by Matt D' Avella, and the other was from Samurai Matcha.  In Matt's video, entitled I Tried to Optimise my Life. It made it Worse, Matt pointed out that trying to live a productive life left him feeling frustrated. All the curated lists and time blocks on his calendar just set him up for failure.  If he didn't clear his to-do list or he was unable to follow his time blocks, he'd end the day feeling that he'd failed. This left him feeling miserable all evening and wondering what was wrong with him. Then I watched Samurai Matcha's video entitled “10 Real Japanese Organisation Tricks”, in which he explained why his girlfriend's organisation philosophy was brilliant.  Her philosophy was that the goal of organising is to always know where everything is. This meant that things were stacked so you could see what was in a cupboard or refrigerator as soon as you opened the door. That clothes were arranged so that, just by looking in a wardrobe, you could instantly see what was in there.  It isn't about having everything look pretty and tidy, only to be unable to find what you are looking for. It's about knowing instantly where everything is.  So there you have one person trying to optimise everything and setting himself up for failure every day. And another who is essentially working by her own logic, making her life as simple and easy as possible.  You can guess who was the more relaxed, settled and happy with life.  And this is the point. Life's not about optimising everything. We're human beings, but we're trying to turn ourselves into machines that can be programmed to wake up at a particular time, jump into a bath of freezing water, do a two-hour morning exercise routine, spend an hour writing morning pages and then finish it all off with twenty minutes of meditation.  That's not what life is about at all.  One way to get started in creating a calmer, quieter way of living is to begin with your non-negotiables. What are the things you must do each day? There are the obvious ones, such as sleeping, brushing your teeth, washing and eating. Most of those our bodies have ways of ensuring we do them. We get sleepy, and we get hungry.  But what other things would be non-negotiable for you?  For me, taking Louis out for his walk, doing a little exercise and enjoying a cup of tea with my wife when she gets home from university are non-negotiable at a personal level.  At a professional level, my non-negotiable is spending 2 hours a day creating. That could be writing, recording or planning. It doesn't matter what I create; all that matters is that I create something.  And that's it. Together, that's around four to five hours a day.  Once you have established what your non-negotiables are, it becomes easy to say no to things that could interfere with them.  Another way to bring some calm and quiet back into your life is to focus on time not what you have to do.  Let me explain.  Most of what comes at us each day is not within our control. You do not know how many Slack or Teams messages you will get today. Neither do you know how many emails you will get nor what you will be asked to do.  What you do know is how much time you can dedicate to these inputs.  Over the years, I've learnt that if I allow 40 minutes or so each day to respond to my actionable messages and emails, I'll mostly stay on top of my communications. Sure, occasionally I am behind, but as I can see I am getting behind, I can allow a little extra time to catch up if necessary.  I also know that if I have two hours a day to create, I'll always hit my publication schedule.  If you work on projects, what would happen if you dedicated 2 hours a day to quiet, focused work on them? No distractions, no interruptions, just quiet, focused work. From the people I've worked with who have done this, they're amazed at just how much work they get done each week. And how deadlines no longer become stressful or missed.  Two hours may not seem much, but over a working week, that's ten uninterrupted hours. Ten hours you know you will not be interrupted by anyone.  The great thing about this approach is that you gain control over your time. And with a little consistency, you soon find yourself on top of your work.  You also learn where your limits are.  I know my brain gets tired around the 90-minute to 2-hour mark of focused work.  Sure, there are days I would love to spend three hours in focused work, but experience has taught me that the extra hour is a wasted hour. I make more mistakes; I start snatching a quick look at my messages and emails, looking for anything to distract me. That pile of washing suddenly needs to be put away, or those cups and dishes need washing and putting away.  Once you know your limits, you can work within them.  This approach is a more human way to go about your day. It's not optimised to create impossible days, leaving you feeling exhausted, unfulfilled and disappointed with yourself.  It's set up to work with your strengths and, more importantly, with your biorhythms. Your body's natural rhythms.  The advantage of this kinder, calmer way of going about your day is that you naturally slow down. You have the space to deal with the urgencies and the demands of your bosses, clients and colleagues. And that results in fewer mistakes, leaving you with less corrective work to do.  The problem with being human is that we are really quite fragile. My client, who woke up at 5:00 am to fix Claude's mistakes, will find the afternoon a dead zone. He'll be exhausted and trying to operate at 100% with less than five hours of sleep.  That lack of sleep will likely affect his food choices at lunchtime. He'll probably grab a quick sandwich or something else high in carbohydrates, which will spike his insulin levels, leaving him feeling drowsy afterwards.  And then we're also susceptible to all sorts of bugs and illnesses, which can have a debilitating effect on our energy levels.  Again, not within our control unless we seal ourselves off from the outside world. Not a great idea.  I can assure you that the best approach to managing time and improving your productivity is to be human about it. Work with you and your natural state, rather than trying to be like a machine.  Take care of your three foundations: get enough sleep, eat healthy and move frequently.  Then, have a plan for the day. Not a minute-by-minute plan, but one that takes care of your non-negotiables, allows for some focused work time and has enough flexibility to take care of unknowns that will inevitably pop up throughout the day.  Since the 1980s, technological advances have consistently promised us less work and more leisure time. And yet that's never materialised. Instead, the opposite happens.  Smartphones took business communications out of the office and made them omnipresent, leaving us with no place to hide. The desktop computer eliminated the typing pool and left managers and executives responsible for crafting their own letters and emails.  Cloud computing eliminated the filing cabinet and placed company documents within our reach 24/7, even when we were supposed to be on vacation.  What's more, all this technological advancement has sped everything up. And it's this speeding up that has left us with so much more to do. What used to take us three or four days to do is now expected to be done in an hour.  That's where the problem is.  Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate this: be human. Make your own decisions about what you work on and when. Wrestle back control of your calendar and protect time to do the things that matter.  These are simple steps, not easy to implement initially, but worth putting the effort into implementing them.  As Matt D'Avella has discovered, and Samurai Matcha's girlfriend already knew, keeping things human, simple and logical to yourself is the best way to live in a calm, quiet, focused way. Now, before I go, if what you've heard today in this podcast resonated with you and you want to learn more, my Quiet Productivity Method programme will do just that.  Recently updated to cover your non-negotiables, the superb daybook system and how to plan your days and weeks so you are living within your time means, this programme will teach you, step by step, how to create a system that works for you. How to find time for what you want, and much more. In addition, you will also become a part of the Quiet Productivity Method community, where you can share ideas, ask questions and join the monthly live sessions that will answer your questions and hold you accountable as you move away from the unsustainable task-based systems of old and towards a sustainable, humane, time-based system.  I do hope you can join me.  Thank you for listening, and it just remains for me now to wish you all a very, very productive week.   

In this mom chat, I'm sharing the real-life nervous system tools, mindset shifts, routines, and “reduce the friction” hacks that help me stay calm and regulated during the chaos of toddler life. We're talking meltdowns, climbing, overstimulation, blood sugar, sleep, boundaries, screen time, and the exact things I tell myself in the moment to stop spiraling and show up as the mom I want to be.Ways to work with Corinne: Join the Mind Your Hormones Method, HERE! (Use code PODCAST for 10% off!!)Applications for the next round of Corinne's Trying to Conceive Accelerator are now OPEN! Check out the details here. (round starts mid-June!) Join the Mind Your Hormones Community to connect more with me & other members of this community!Come hang out with me on Instagram: @corinneangealicaOr on TikTok: @corinneangelicaEmail Fam: Click here to get weekly emails from meMind Your Hormones Instagram: @mindyourhormones.podcast Disclaimer: always consult your doctor before taking any supplementation. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only, not to diagnose or treat any conditions. 

Join Koala Tots+ by tapping “Try Free” on Apple Podcasts, or tap ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠ ⁠if you're listening on Spotify or other podcast apps. Hey grown-ups, just a quick message for you. If you've been thinking about trying Koala Tots+, this is your last chance to start a 14-day free trial before the offer ends on the 26th of May. When you're caring for a little one, those calm, familiar routines make such a difference — helping babies and toddlers feel safe, settled, and ready for rest, whether it's bedtime, naptime, or a quiet moment in the day. With Koala Tots+, you'll get full access to our ad-free library of soothing stories, created especially for little ones, along with our special extended compilations to help build those comforting, consistent routines. It's a simple way to bring a bit more calm and ease into your day. You can start your free trial in just two taps on Apple Podcasts, or if you're listening on Spotify or Yoto, Just tap the link in the show notes to get started.

Dans cet épisode #283, nous abordons un sujet qui peut vite devenir épuisant au quotidien : les pensées envahissantes.Aux côtés de la psychologue et psychothérapeute Lauryane Bonheur, nous cherchons à comprendre ce qui se joue lorsque notre mental s'emballe, que les pensées tournent en boucle et deviennent difficiles à apaiser.Avec douceur et clarté, Lauryane Bonheur partage des clés concrètes pour mieux comprendre ces fonctionnements, prendre de la distance avec ses pensées et avancer vers un apaisement durable.

In this honest and hope-filled podcast interview, I sit down with Meghan, a full-time working mom of four who came into coaching completely burned out, exhausted, emotionally reactive, and stuck in constant frustration and anger.By the time she got home from work, she felt drained from poor boundaries, overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations, and trapped in negative thought patterns that were affecting both her peace and her relationship with her children. She had tried therapy and working on herself before, but still found herself reacting in ways she hated.Today, Meghan describes herself as a more accepting, lighthearted, merciful, joyful, and connected mom.In this episode, you'll hear:The breaking point that made her realize something needed to changeHow anger was affecting her relationship with her kidsThe unrealistic expectations and control issues fueling her reactionsWhat she tried before coaching that didn't create lasting changeThe tools and mindset shifts that helped her transformHow she experiences more joy, peace, and connection with her children todayIf you're exhausted from reacting…If you feel emotionally drained and overwhelmed…If you're tired of the guilt, anger, and disconnection…If you want to replace anger with joy and become the peaceful mom you know God is calling you to be…You don't have to stay stuck.Inside the Calm Christian Mom Coaching Program, you'll learn how to regulate your emotions, renew your mind, heal unhealthy patterns, and create a more peaceful, emotionally healthy home.Listen to related episodes:307. Calmer and More Patient in Only a Few Weeks- Nichole's Transformation (Homeschooling Mom of 7)314. “I Didn't Think I Could Change”… Real Wins From a Mom Who Stopped Yelling // Elizabeth's WinsListen to more transformational testimonials HERE.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Next Steps: 1. Watch FREE TRAINING: 5 Steps to Break free from Mom Rage Shame ⬇️2. Learn about Calm Christian Mom Coaching Program ⬇️3. BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION CALL if you are ready for support and accountability in overcoming damaging anger patterns. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~How to Be More Patient with Your Kids (So You're Not Screaming Over Spilled Milk)Leave a 5 star rating and review on the Podcast and email me (hello@emotionallyhealthylegacy.com) a  screenshot of the REVIEW for free access the training or buy it HERE for $27.  Website: emotionallyhealthylegacy.comContact: hello@emotionallyhealthylegacy.comQuestions? Form / Voice memo 

Mark Carney se fout-il de l’environnement à ce point? | Publication des dossiers sur les OVNIS… tout ça pour ça | Le nouveau chef des cols bleus tente de convaincre Benoit, c’est pas gagné | Le quartier chinois va-t-il devenir infréquentable? | JiC encore déçu par le premier trio Dans cet épisode intégral du 13 mai, en entrevue : Steven Guilbeault, député libéral de Laurier—Sainte-Marie. Nicolas De Ciccio, président des Cols bleus de Montréal, SCFP 301. Carman Tang, présidente de l’Association des résidents du Quartier chinois Une production QUB Mai 2026Pour de l'information concernant l'utilisation de vos données personnelles - https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener/fr

Rachel Melvald joins the podcast to explore a powerful but often overlooked influence on our children's behavior, mood, and regulation: the spaces they live in. Drawing from her work in Neurodesign, this conversation looks at how our home environment shapes the nervous system and impacts how both kids and parents feel and function.   Together, we explore:   - How clutter and visual overwhelm increase cognitive load and dysregulation in kids (and adults). - Why fewer toys can actually support more focused, creative, and independent play. - How predictable, organized spaces help children feel safer and more regulated. - The role of sensory input, like lighting, color, texture, and movement, in shaping behavior and mood. - Why natural elements are so powerful for calming the nervous system. - How to think about different spaces in your home and the function you want them to serve. - Simple, practical changes that can have an immediate impact on how your home feels. - How design can support not just individual regulation, but connection, boundaries, and family relationships.   This conversation offers a new lens on parenting, one that goes beyond behavior strategies and focuses on the environment itself. It's about creating spaces that support regulation, connection, and well-being for the whole family.     LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:

In honor of Mental Health Month, we're revisiting an episode that resonated with so many of you from last year with Joseph Nguyen, the New York Times bestselling author of Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking is the Beginning and End of Suffering. He gives tips on how to stop overthinking, achieve better mental clarity and elaborates on his teachings on how to surrender and start letting go. He will show you how to have more effective meditation practices, why your current meditation practice might not be working, and how he adapted his practice from the meditation teachings of other experts. Plus! He reveals how he hit his rock bottom, the life transformation he made to stop suffering, and how he paid off his family's debt. This episode will provide you with tools to cope with anxiety, recover from burnout, and manage workplace stress. From our Breakdown to the one we hope you never have, we wish you a well and healthy Mental Health Awareness Month! Follow us on Substack for Exclusive Bonus Content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bialikbreakdown.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BialikBreakdown.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube.com/mayimbialik⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In honor of Mental Health Month, we're revisiting an episode that resonated with so many of you from last year with Joseph Nguyen, the New York Times bestselling author of Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking is the Beginning and End of Suffering. He gives tips on how to stop overthinking, achieve better mental clarity and elaborates on his teachings on how to surrender and start letting go. He will show you how to have more effective meditation practices, why your current meditation practice might not be working, and how he adapted his practice from the meditation teachings of other experts. Plus! He reveals how he hit his rock bottom, the life transformation he made to stop suffering, and how he paid off his family's debt. This episode will provide you with tools to cope with anxiety, recover from burnout, and manage workplace stress. From our Breakdown to the one we hope you never have, we wish you a well and healthy Mental Health Awareness Month! Follow us on Substack for Exclusive Bonus Content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bialikbreakdown.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BialikBreakdown.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube.com/mayimbialik⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When we try to control our children's behavior, it usually results in anger, yelling, and probably some guilt.  The truth is, we can't control their behavior, but we can teach and lead them to proper behavior.In this episode, I talk about the five virtues that we need to teach our children so they are happy and cooperative, and so that our home is peaceful and joyful - all of which will contribute to our becoming a happy, calm mom.My program, "Virtue-Based Parenting" is now open for enrollment until May 9th.  Check out the details HERE.It is THE perfect Mother's Day gift to give yourself!Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.comFollow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

There's a kind of stuckness that can show up even when everything looks “ready” on paper—the numbers work, the plan is there, and yet the decision still feels hard to make. I see this a lot when therapists are considering the move from W2 work into full-time private practice. In my coaching conversation with Dr. Amber Vernon, a recent grad of the Money Skills for Therapists program, we explore what happens when the hesitation isn't about money skills or financial planning—but something deeper. Even when the path looks clear, there can still be a sense of activation, doubt, or what she calls “squirreliness” that makes it hard to move forward. Ready to feel more calm and confident about your money? Do you feel confused, ashamed, or uncertain about your finances? Are you craving support to help shift your money mindset and transform your relationship with money? Are you ready to gain practical tools and the confidence you need to finally take control of your business finances? If so, I'd love for you to join me for one of my free online workshops, designed specifically for private practice owners who feel stuck—whether it's mindset blocks, avoidance, or the technical side of managing money. In just one hour together, you'll gain clarity, practical strategies, and next steps to move forward with intention. Click here to explore upcoming workshops and save your spot or register to get the replay. When the Numbers Make Sense but the Decision Still Feels Hard Sometimes the stuckness isn't about strategy—it's about what the decision represents. You can have the income stability, the emergency fund, the private practice already working… and still feel a pull to stay where things feel more predictable. What I see here is how control, perfectionism, and financial anxiety can keep you circling even when you're ready. When your nervous system is activated, it can start to question everything—your plan, your niche, even the sustainability of your therapy business. And at that point, more data doesn't help. That “squirreliness” isn't a sign that you're doing something wrong—it's more often a sign that you're stepping into something unfamiliar. Moving Through Uncertainty When You're Already “Ready” Even when the financial planning and logistics are in place, the decision can still feel unsettled—especially when control, identity, and uncertainty are all in the mix. (00:04:59) Deciding on career transition (00:07:28) Discussing work challenges and options (00:12:48) Avoiding future decisions now (00:15:39) Navigating personal decision impacts (00:25:54) Overcoming fear to take action (00:26:51) Assessing current intellectual interests (00:30:44) Choosing work that excites you (00:35:18) Exploring varied career paths (00:36:37) Deciding when to move on (00:40:21) Reflecting on chaotic energy (00:43:01) Embracing diverse skills and strategies Letting Your Path Be More Flexible Than You Expected One of the shifts in this conversation is moving away from the idea that there's one “right” version of private practice. For some therapists, the goal isn't a single, fixed path—it's building a career that allows for variety, different income streams, and evolving interests. When you're good at a lot of things, decision-making can feel harder, not easier. But that doesn't mean you're off track—it just means your path might be more flexible than you expected. Instead of waiting until everything feels certain, you can start by taking small steps, testing what feels energizing, and letting that guide your next move. You don't have to figure out your entire career transition all at once—you just have to stay in motion long enough to learn what actually fits. About Amber Vernon: Dr. Amber Vernon is a police psychologist who has worked with various public safety agencies in Virginia for over 10 years. Her service encompasses academy-based training, subject matter expert instruction, employment-related evaluation, wellness visits, professional consultation, and critical incident response. Dr. Vernon is passionate about building (and maintaining) bridges between people, experiences, and disciplines. She is known for working collaboratively to identify questions, develop useful answers, and provide clear and action-oriented next steps. Connect with Amber: Website: www.vernonpsyd.com Get to Know Linzy Bonham: Linzy Bonham is a private practice therapist turned money coach who helps private practice owners and health professionals feel calm and in control of their finances through her coaching at Money Skills For Therapists and her podcast Money Skills for Therapists. It all started when she saw her extremely skilled colleagues struggle with the money side of business. Some had even left private practice, or were avoiding starting one, because the financial side was too stressful. So Linzy decided to help therapists and health professionals develop peace of mind about their money. Since so many were never taught these skills, she focuses on the “how” of making the business side of private practice doable, and even super satisfying. Follow Linzy Bonham: About Page: https://moneyskillsfortherapists.com/about/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linzybonham/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneyskillsfortherapists/

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Some moments don't wait for speeches or second thoughts, because in the space between one breath and the next, perfection can become perilous when the gauntlet begins. Sharpen your senses, steady your nerves, and take the initiative to jump into the fray, because while beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, it's best not to look it directly in the eye.Confidence might be slowly peeled away and fear might be getting under your skin, but all you need to survive is remember just how impressive you are. After all, humility may be optional, but enthusiasm is mandatory, and salvation can still arrive with a flourish. Even ancient magic enjoys a well timed brag.While every fight might feel like a drop in the ocean, it's time to take the plunge. Calmer waters may await, but even they don't stop what lies below from reaching the surface. Sometimes answers only appear when you look closer, and not everyone is ready to see what the reflection reveals. After all, it's one thing to survive what's in front of you, and quite another to face what's staring back.----Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/naturalsixJoin our Discord! https://discord.gg/HNV56DADnJFollow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/naturalsixFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natural_sixFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@natural.sixLove lore? Check out the Fandom: https://natural-six.fandom.comStay up to date: https://www.NaturalSix.net Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Wealth, War and Wisdom (2008), Barton Biggs showed how financial markets often react with greater insight into the shifting fortunes of war than the general population. During World War II for example, German stocks peaked in 1941, well before the military disaster at Stalingrad. The US market rallied following the Battle of Midway in […]

Your baby's nervous system is the foundation for sleep, emotional regulation, and lifelong health, yet most parents are never shown what actually supports its development. In this episode, you'll learn how everyday moments of connection, movement, and time in nature can shape calmer behavior and more resilient outcomes for your child.Kathleen Lockyer brings nearly 30 years of experience in pediatric development and nervous system regulation, offering grounded, practical insight for parents navigating the early months.Full show notes fourthtrimesterpodcast.comConnect with Kathleen Lockyer kathleenlockyer.com | Instagram | FacebookKathleen's Book Wild Inside: How Nature Protects Your Child's Mental Health and Restores YoursLearn more Micro Destressing For Busy Parents with Sarah Ezrin, Author of The Yoga of Parenting | Wire Your Baby for Success Through Optimal Newborn Brain Development | Baby Carrier Guide: Benefits, Safety & Tips with Whitney Dula, IBCLC, Postpartum Doula, and Babywearing Educator | Why And How To Bond With Your Newborn - Dr Joanna Parga-BelinkieResources HelloGaia Parenting Copilot | FREE DOWNLOAD Customizable Birth Plan | FREE DOWNLOAD Customizable Fourth Trimester Plan | Postpartum Soups and Stews CollectionConnect with Fourth Trimester Facebook | InstagramIf this episode helped you better understand your baby's needs and feel more confident in these early months, we'd be so grateful if you left a rating and review wherever you listen. Your support helps more families find trusted, evidence-based support during the fourth trimester.It also helps us continue bringing you conversations like this one with Kathleen Lockyer, focused on improving outcomes for parents and babies. Thank you and enjoy!!

Learn how to reduce birth anxiety and feel calmer, more grounded, and in control during birth using simple, practical tools. Erin Acharya, a certified clinical hypnotherapist and hypnobirthing instructor, shares how to work with your mind and nervous system so you can approach birth with real confidence.Full show notes: fourthtrimesterpodcast.comConnect with Erin Acharya birthevolved.com | In The Wash PodcastCode: FOURTHTRIMESTER for 10% OFF on courses at birthevolved.comLearn more Birth Center vs Hospital Birth - What Parents Should Know Before Choosing | Prepare your Vagina for Birth | How to Prepare for Hospital Birth (and Avoid Unnecessary Interventions) with HeHe Stewart | The Best Hospitals For Labor And Delivery - Ratings App ‘Irth' Created By Kimberly Seals Allers | The Power of Now by Eckhart TolleResources FREE DOWNLOAD Customizable Birth Plan | FREE DOWNLOAD Customizable Fourth Trimester Plan | Postpartum Soups and Stews CollectionConnect with Fourth Trimester Facebook | InstagramIf this episode helped you feel calmer or more prepared for birth, it would mean so much if you left a quick review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or wherever you listen. Your review helps more parents find this information when they need it most.And if you know someone who's feeling anxious about birth, consider sharing this episode with them. It could make a real difference in how they experience it.

From summerlike warmth to chilly coastal air and rounds of rain, much of the East will face a chaotic stretch of weather through Easter before a quieter, warmer pattern emerges next week. Also, water restrictions on the South Rim are not uncommon due to breaks in the Transcanyon Waterline, which was built in the 1960s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Parenting with Understanding podcast, Marcela Collier explains how the childhood wound of injustice can shape parenting patterns and trigger reactivity. She describes how growing up in rigid, high-pressure environments can lead parents to become overly rule-oriented, inflexible, and reactive when their children struggle to meet expectations. Marcela shares how this wound affects both parents and children, and offers practical shifts to move from pressure to support, from rigidity to flexibility, and from reactive parenting to secure parenting. This episode is part of the six-part series on understanding your inner child to transform your parenting. If you're ready to stop reacting in anger, understand why your child's behavior triggers you so deeply, and become a more secure parent… this episode is for you. Your child is not the problem. The wound is the pattern. And once you understand it, you can change it. So don't wait. DM me “peace 25” on Instagram right now and get started with the free class. @highimpactclub @hicparenting Because your child doesn't need a perfect parent. They need a safe one. And that parent can be you.

CALM THE CHAOS!

Luck would have it, it is a much quieter day ahead.

Tina Chan connects a refugee childhood, a high-pressure home, and traumatic births to the anxiety that later exploded into panic attacks. We talk through how therapy, practical tools, and a deeper view of God's love shift fear into a steadier kind of freedom.• escaping Vietnam and reaching a Thailand refugee camp through danger and scarcity• early experiences of fear and hyper-independence in an immigrant household• shyness, insecurity, and the pressure of family disapproval while dating Matthew• premature births, NICU stress, and how trauma shapes a vigilant nervous system• first panic attacks, emergency calls, and learning what panic actually is• searching for relief through therapy, supplements, prayer, and cold grounding tools• moving from shame-based faith to assurance through the gospel lens of God's kindness• defining freedom as living authentically before God and other people

What if feeling calmer, healthier, and more energized at midlife wasn't about doing more but about stopping a few things that quietly drain you? In this episode, I share five things I stopped doing at age 50 that made an immediate difference in my mental health, energy, and overall well-being. These aren't trendy hacks or extreme rules. They are small but powerful shifts that helped me feel lighter in my body, clearer in my mind, and more present in my life. If you started the year with good intentions but feel like life pulled you right back into old patterns, this episode is your permission slip to begin again. Inside this episode, I talk about: ⭐️One habit I stopped that dramatically improved my sleep and long-term health ⭐️Why being “normal” often works against mental wellness ⭐️The surprising mindset shift that helped me feel more confident in my body ⭐️A decision I made for my mental health that most women are never encouraged to question ⭐️How compassion, not self-criticism, creates real change This conversation is especially for women who spend more time managing everyone else's lives than paying attention to their own. You do not need more discipline. You do not need to be perfect. You need awareness, self-trust, and a willingness to start small.

What if feeling calmer, healthier, and more energized at midlife wasn't about doing more but about stopping a few things that quietly drain you? In this episode, I share five things I stopped doing at age 50 that made an immediate difference in my mental health, energy, and overall well-being.  These aren't trendy hacks or extreme rules. They are small but powerful shifts that helped me feel lighter in my body, clearer in my mind, and more present in my life. If you started the year with good intentions but feel like life pulled you right back into old patterns, this episode is your permission slip to begin again. Inside this episode, I talk about: ⭐️One habit I stopped that dramatically improved my sleep and long-term health ⭐️Why being "normal" often works against mental wellness ⭐️The surprising mindset shift that helped me feel more confident in my body ⭐️A decision I made for my mental health that most women are never encouraged to question ⭐️How compassion, not self-criticism, creates real change This conversation is especially for women who spend more time managing everyone else's lives than paying attention to their own. You do not need more discipline. You do not need to be perfect. You need awareness, self-trust, and a willingness to start small.

Send a textI share my four favorite moments from a January Walt Disney World trip and how marathon weekend made the parks feel calm. Slower pacing, Saratoga Springs ease, an adults-only Epcot lounge, and fireworks up close turned a short getaway into something special.• why marathon weekend lowered wait times• why Saratoga Springs suits adult or mixed-age trips• walking access and smooth buses shaping each day• GEO82 cocktails and small plates worth booking• slow travel through Epcot shops and live music• classic shows at Magic Kingdom without the rush• midday break at the Polynesian tower restaurant• dessert party views transforming Happily Ever After• tips for couples and friends to rethink park daysReady to book your next vacation? CLICK HERE for my different quote forms and let's get you a vacation on the calendar. Traveling to Disney and want to be on the show? Email me at disneytalespodcat@gmail.com for information!

Denis Óg Fahey, a teacher working in Dubai, discusses the experience of Irish residents there as conflict continues in the Middle East.

Have you ever walked into a space and immediately felt calmer, without knowing why? Or noticed how a room flooded with natural light just feels better to be in? That's not an accident. It's your nervous system responding to your environment, and it's exactly why biophilic design matters more than ever in interior design today.In this episode, I'm sitting down with returning guest and seasoned residential designer Martha Lowry to unpack what biophilic design really is — beyond the buzzword. We're talking about how bringing elements of the natural environment indoors can dramatically improve emotional well-being, mental health, creativity, and even how clients experience their homes daily. This conversation is especially important for interior designers who want to design spaces that don't just look beautiful, but truly support the people living in them.If you've ever struggled to explain why certain design choices feel right — or you want to add more depth, science, and intention to your client communication — this episode will help you understand how natural light, plants, color psychology, organic shapes, and neuro-aesthetics work together to create homes that heal, calm, and inspire. Biophilic design isn't about trends. It's about designing with the human experience in mind.Featured GuestMartha Lowry is a residential interior designer with over three decades of experience and a unique balance of analytical and creative expertise. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design, and she is a member of the Design Leaders Collective. Based in North Carolina, Martha's work focuses on creating emotionally supportive, beautifully intentional homes rooted in biophilic design, neuro-esthetics, and a deep understanding of how people experience space.What You'll Learn in This Episode✳️ What biophilic design is and why it matters✳️ How natural light impacts mood, energy, and well-being✳️ Using plants and materials to bring nature indoors✳️ Color psychology and emotional responses in interior design✳️ How designers apply biophilic principles for healthier homesRead the Blog >>> 5 Biophilic Design Elements for Healthier, Calmer HomesNEXT STEPS:

Would you like to create a calmer home environment?  In this week's episode, Carrie talks again with Jami Glenn, an Emotional Wellness Coach, the owner of Sacred Ground Coaching, and the host of Emotions With Ease Podcast.  Jami shares simple practices that families can start doing today that will help create relational connections and a calmer family dynamic.  If you crave a less chaotic and more peaceful home environment, then make sure you listen to this week's episode.  Pour yourself a cup of hot chamomile tea, put your feet up, and join Carrie and Jami for a little coffee and conversation about creating a calmer home.  Follow Jami on IG @scaredgroundcoaching.Listen to Jami's podcast, Emotions with Ease.Book a FREE coaching session at scaredgroundcoaching website.Support the showSupport the Show Purchase A Home Education Handbook: 9 Questions to Ask for Simple & Balanced Home-Based Learning Purchase Homeschool High School: A Handbook for Christian Education Purchase Just Breathe (and Take a Sip of Coffee): Homeschool Simply & Enjoyably. Schedule a Coffee Date (One-on-One Personalized Coaching Session: Coffee With Carrie Subscribe to Coffee With Carrie email newsletter for FREE Morning Time Plans and monthly tips https://coffeewithcarrie.org Follow on Instagram @coffeewithcarrieconsultant.

Send a textWhat if your work could feel lighter without losing impact? We take a hard look at hustle culture, anxiety, and the myth that success must hurt, then contrast it with Jesus' promise of an easy yoke and a light burden. We unpack how living from the parasympathetic nervous system aligns with God's design for steady, sustainable growth.Stephanie and I share stories that challenge logic and strengthen trust, from the fishermen who found abundance after a fruitless night to real-world moments when providential timing solved impossible scheduling problems. You'll hear how flexible planning - holding a clear vision while writing plans in erasable ink - invites God to order our steps. Along the way, we explore the sphere of control to quiet spiraling thoughts, showing why directing energy toward thoughts, choices, and attitude restores agency while easing physiological stress.When crises hit, we do what we can, then hand over the rest, trusting that God works all things toward good; even when we can't see the full picture. The result? Calmer minds, wiser decisions, and work that moves forward without grinding our souls.If you're craving peace without losing progress, this conversation offers a grounded, faith-first framework for your calendar, your body, and your calling. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a lighter load, and leave a review.Support the showConnect with Melissa: Lemon Balm Coaching or Women Connected FB Community Connect with Stephanie: SJP Health and Wellness or Be the BOSS, Be Well FB Community Music by Adipsia

In Episode 186 of the Fit Mother Project Podcast, Dr. Anthony Balduzzi shares why a supportive evening routine can change everything: sleep quality, cravings, mood, and the energy you bring to your family the next day. If you are doing a lot “right” but still feel wired at night or tired in the morning, this episode gives you a simple way to reset. Dr. A teaches a clear framework where your night routine has three jobs: set the clock, lower arousal, and protect your sleep cave. You will learn how light, screens, late meals, and nervous system activation can disrupt deeper sleep. You will also get practical tools that fit real life, including a wind-down rule, a quick brain dump to quiet mental loops, and bedroom upgrades that make sleep more restorative.In this episode, you'll learn the 3 jobs of an evening routine:The 3 Jobs of an Evening RoutineSet the Clock (light + meal timing + consistent cues)Lower Arousal (mind and nervous system downshift)Protect Your Sleep Cave (cool, dark, quiet, positioning)Coming up: How to stay consistent with nutrition, workouts, hydration, and sleep while traveling.Missed Morning Routines? Last week Dr. Anthony's podcast was on setting good morning routines. Head here to listen and get your mornings started with a positive bang!Rate & Review: If this episode helped you, leave a 5-star rating and a quick review. It helps more moms find the show.Join the Fit Mother Community: Want accountability and support? Join us inside the Fit Mother community and share your “7-night upgrade” results.If you're ready to stop doing this alone, we'd love to have you with us. www.fitmotherproject.comKey TakeawaysSleep quality over sleep quantityThe 3 jobs: set the clock, lower arousal, protect the sleep caveMorning light exposure supports stronger melatonin at nightDim lights and shift screens warmer 60–90 minutes before bedDinner timing as a major lever, ideally finishing 3 hours before sleep“3-2-1 wind-down rule”Brain dump and tomorrow list to close open loopsNasal breathing and slow exhales to downshift the nervous systemHot shower 60–90 minutes before bed to help cooling and sleep onsetBed association: sleep and sex, not scrolling and workNSDR or yoga nidra for racing-mind nights“After the basics” supplements: magnesium glycinate, glycine, low-dose melatonin

Ludovic Leroux, coach et expert en régulation du système nerveux.Dans cet épisode, nous parlons de la différence cruciale entre savoir et intégrer. J'ai questionné Ludovic sur les chemins concrets d'incarnation du développement personnel, en partant de sa vision de sportif : pourquoi est-ce que tant de gens connaissent les outils… sans jamais les utiliser ?Il explique avec clarté et bienveillance les 4 voies d'accès au système nerveux, en montrant que le retour au calme et à la présence n'est pas un luxe spirituel, mais une hygiène quotidienne, aussi concrète que de se brosser les dents.Un moment fort, dense et utile — à écouter, et surtout à pratiquer.Citations marquantes« La vraie question, ce n'est pas “est-ce que tu sais ?”, mais “est-ce que tu le fais ?” »« Utiliser la respiration seulement quand ça ne va pas, c'est comme s'entraîner la veille d'une compétition. »« Notre système nerveux ne fait pas la différence entre le réel et l'imaginaire. »« Trois soupirs intentionnels suffisent parfois à retrouver un état de calme. »« La douche froide, c'est une agression choisie pour reprendre le contrôle. »Idées centrales discutées (Big Ideas)

Today, we discuss another session marked by notable divergences within the US stock universe, oil markets heading into territory that is starting to look expensive unless geopolitical tensions spill over into actual confrontation, the idea that the best things for gold and silver bulls might be for the price action to just calm down for a while, and the macro backdrop heating up with key US data ahead - especially today's US payrolls revisions, which are far more important than the latest data print. Meanwhile, the JPY is rumbling - can it roar? Today's pod features Saxo Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen and is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy. Links discussed on the podcast and our Chart of the Day can be found on the John J. Hardy substack (within one to four hours from the time of the podcast release). Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here. Please reach out to us at marketcall@saxobank.com for feedback and questions. Click here to open an account with Saxo. Intro and outro music by AShamaluevMusic DISCLAIMER This content is marketing material. Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

This week, we share the Life Organization Systems that quietly hold our life together, reduce mental clutter, and create calm without relying on motivation or constant effort.

Craniotomy Stroke Recovery: How a Massive Medical Event Reshaped One Man's Identity and Way of Living When Brandon Barre woke up after his stroke, half of his skull was missing. Doctors had performed an emergency craniotomy to save his life after a severe brain bleed. His left side barely worked. His memory felt fragmented. Time itself seemed unreliable; days, weeks, even months blurred together into what he later described as a kind of perpetual Groundhog Day. And yet, amid one of the most extreme medical experiences a person can survive, Brandon remained unexpectedly calm. This is a story about craniotomy stroke recovery, but it's not just about surgery, rehab, or timelines. It's about identity, mindset, and what happens when your old life disappears overnight, and you're forced to rebuild from the inside out. Life Before the Stroke: Movement, Freedom, and Identity Before his stroke, Brandon lived a life defined by movement and autonomy. He worked in the oil fields as an MWD specialist, spending weeks at a time on drilling rigs. Later, he left what he called “traditional life” behind and spent years traveling the United States in an RV. He found work wherever he went, producing music festivals, building large-scale art installations, and immersing himself in creative communities. Stability, for Brandon, never meant stillness. It meant freedom. Stroke wasn't on his radar. At 46, he was active, independent, and deeply connected to his sense of self. The Stroke and Emergency Craniotomy The stroke happened in Northern California after a long day of rock climbing with friends. Brandon didn't notice the warning signs himself; it was others who saw that his arm wasn't working properly. Later that night, he became profoundly disoriented. He was found the next morning, still sitting upright in his truck, barely conscious. Within hours, Brandon was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center, where doctors removed a blood clot and performed a large craniotomy due to dangerous swelling. Part of his skull was removed and stored while his brain recovered. He spent 10 days in intensive care, followed by weeks in inpatient rehabilitation. Remarkably, he reports no physical pain throughout the entire process, a detail that underscores how differently each brain injury unfolds. Early Craniotomy Stroke Recovery: Regaining Movement, Losing Certainty Physically, Brandon's recovery followed a familiar but still daunting path. Initially, he couldn't walk. His left arm hung uselessly by his side. Foot drop made even short distances difficult. But what challenged him most wasn't just movement; it was orientation. He struggled to track days, months, and time itself. Short-term memory lapses made planning almost impossible. Writing, once a core part of his identity, became inaccessible. He could form letters, but not their meaning. This is a common but under-discussed aspect of craniotomy stroke recovery: the loss isn't only physical. It's cognitive, emotional, and deeply personal. “It's kind of like I'm in this perpetual day ever since the stroke… like Groundhog Day.” Technology as Independence, Not Convenience One of the quiet heroes of Brandon's recovery has been voice-to-text technology. Because writing and spelling no longer function reliably, Brandon relies on dictation to communicate. Tools like Whisper Flow and built-in phone dictation restored his ability to express ideas, stay connected, and remain independent. This matters. For stroke survivors, technology isn't about productivity. It's about dignity. Identity Reset: Slower, Calmer, More Intentional Perhaps the most striking part of Brandon's story is how little resentment he carries. He doesn't deny frustration. He doesn't pretend recovery is easy. But he refuses to live in constant rumination. Instead, he adopted a simple principle: one problem at a time. That mindset reshaped his lifestyle. He stopped drinking, smoking, and using marijuana. He slowed his pace. He became more deliberate with relationships, finances, and health decisions. He grew closer to his adult daughter than ever before. The stroke didn't erase his identity, it refined it. Taking Ownership of Craniotomy Stroke Recovery A turning point came when Brandon realized he couldn't rely solely on the medical system. Insurance changes, rotating doctors, and long waits forced him to educate himself. He turned to what he jokingly calls “YouTube University,” learning from other survivors and clinicians online. That self-directed approach extended to major medical decisions, including choosing monitoring over immediate invasive heart procedures and calmly approaching a newly discovered brain aneurysm with information rather than fear. His conclusion is clear: Recovery belongs to the survivor. Doctors guide. Therapists assist. But ownership sits with the person doing the living. A Message for Others on the Journey Toward the end of the conversation, Brandon offered advice that cuts through fear-based recovery narratives: Don't let timelines define you. Don't rush because someone says you should. Don't stop because someone says you're “done.” Every stroke is different. Every brain heals differently. And recovery, especially after a craniotomy, continues far longer than most people are told. Moving Forward, One Intentional Step at a Time Craniotomy stroke recovery isn't just about regaining movement. It's about rebuilding trust with your body, reshaping identity, and learning how to live with uncertainty without letting it dominate your life. Brandon's story reminds us that even after the most extreme medical events, calm is possible. Growth is possible. And a meaningful life, though different, can still unfold. Continue Your Recovery Journey Learn more: https://recoveryafterstroke.com/book Support the podcast: https://patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Brandon's Story: Surviving a Craniotomy, Redefining Identity, and Recovering on His Own Terms He survived a stroke and craniotomy, then calmly rebuilt his identity, habits, and life one deliberate step at a time. Research shortcut I use (Turnto.ai) I used Turnto.ai to find relevant papers and sources in minutes instead of hours. If you want to try it, here’s my affiliate LINK You'll get 10% off, it's about $2/week, and it supports the podcast. Highlights: 00:00 Introduction and Background01:52 Life Before the Stroke03:32 The Stroke Experience11:03 Craniotomy Stroke Recovery Journey17:09 Adjusting to Life Post-Stroke28:46 Living Independently After Stroke35:09 Facing New Challenges: Aneurysms and Uncertainty42:13 Support Systems: Finding Community After Stroke47:06 Identity Shift: Life Changes Post-Stroke58:39 Lessons Learned: Insights from the Journey Transcript: Introduction and Background Brandon (00:00)next morning was still in the driver’s seat with my head on the steering wheel. and I couldn’t make either of my arms work I had been bleeding into my brain for 12 hours overnight they had to go ahead and do a, craniotomy. And so they took this whole side. It was a big craniotomy. They took that whole section of my skull out, put it in the freezer Bill Gasiamis (00:27)Before we begin today’s episode, want to take a moment to speak to you directly. If you’ve had a stroke, you already know this part. The hospital phase ends, but the questions don’t. You’re sent home expecting to get on with it. And suddenly you’re left trying to work out recovery, mindset, fatigue, emotions, sleep and motivation all on your own. You shouldn’t have to. That’s why I wrote my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened. Not to tell you what to do, but to walk beside you and show you the tools real stroke survivors use to rebuild their lives when the system stopped helping. and now with this book, you won’t have to figure it out alone. You can find that at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. All right, let’s get into today’s episode. Today, you’re going to hear from Brandon Barre. Brandon was 46 years old, active, independent and living an unconventional life when he had a stroke that led to a craniotomy. where part of his skull was removed to save his life. What stood out to me immediately about Brandon wasn’t just the severity of what he went through. It was the calm grounded way he approached recovery, identity and rebuilding his life. This is a conversation about stroke recovery. Yes, but it is also about mindset, ownership and what happens when you decide to take recovery into your own hands. Life Before the Stroke (01:52)Brendan Barre, welcome to the podcast. Brandon (01:54)Thank you, man. (01:56)You struggled a little bit getting here. There’s a couple of little things that caused a bit of a challenge for you. What are those things? Brandon (02:05)Well, I mean, first of all, I’m, I’m, I’m, even before my stroke, I was never very computer-y. Um, so using my phone for more than just making phone calls is kind of new to me. Um, so yeah, a new microphone, that was fun. And then I had made a bunch of notes, not realizing that I probably wasn’t gonna be able to see those notes. Um, you know, so that was also a little bit of a issue, but uh, but yeah, other than that, man. Not much, you know, I mean I’m here. (02:37)Yeah. I remember receiving your emails about, I’m not sure what day we’re on. I need to reschedule all that kind of stuff. Stuff that I used to do heaps. I remember in the early days of my kind of stroke recovery, I used to make appointments, put them in my calendar, get reminders about my appointments and still be confused about the day, the time and the location of the appointment. Brandon (03:04)Yes, absolutely. That’s a big thing for me too. know, and I mean even just, you know, remembering from minute to minute where of what day, what month and everything I’m in right now is a little bit tricky still. It’s getting better, but ⁓ but yeah, I still have a lot of trouble. I can always think of every month except for the month that we’re currently in. (03:24)Okay, so you have like a short term memory thing, is it? Or… The Stroke Experience Brandon (03:28)Yes, yes, have short-term memory issues. ⁓ A lot of times ⁓ I struggle to find, like I said, the date and everything else. ⁓ But I don’t know, man. It’s kind of like I’m in this perpetual day ever since the stroke, and I have trouble keeping track of exactly what that is on everybody else’s time frame. (03:53)Like a, like a groundhog day. Brandon (03:55)Yes. Yeah. You know, I mean, if I really work hard and think about it, I can figure out what day it is, but it takes a while generally to get the month. The day of the month isn’t quite as difficult anymore, but at the beginning I had trouble with the whole thing. (04:11)I hear you man, I totally hear you. I reckon there’s been a ton of people that relate to what you’re saying. ⁓ Tell me, day like before stroke? What’d you get up to? What type of things did you involve yourself with? Brandon (04:23)Well, ⁓ you know, I was, I was really involved in, ⁓ production of music festivals and, ⁓ doing that kind of work. ⁓ I’ve always kind of freelanced. Well, you know, I actually, ⁓ left traditional life in 2000 and ⁓ January 1st of 2012 and started traveling and, you know, living out of an RV and whatnot. Before that, I was in the oil field. I’ve worked as an MWD specialist on a drilling rig, which means that I used to ⁓ take down all the information about where the actual drill bit was underground and send that off to all the geologists and everybody else so they can make sure that the well was going in the right direction. And, ⁓ you know, I just really didn’t feel happy in life, man. So I decided to take off and see the states out of my RV. And that started about 10 years of travel. And then In 2019 I bought some property and started to kind of slowly come off the road and started to be on my property more often but you know it just yeah I don’t know man my life has been a lot of different transitions one thing to another I move around a lot in life. (05:25)you Yeah, so the RV was kind of just exploring seeing the country Doing that type of thing or was it going somewhere with a purpose say to get work or to? Hang out there for a little while. What was that all about? Brandon (05:57)A little bit of all of it. A little bit of all of it. I’ve always been able to find work where I go, you know, doing different things. But I kind of fell into music festival work, like setting up and tearing down for music festivals and building art installations, doing like mandalas out of trash and stuff like that. And just kind of always did kind of the artist thing, I guess you could say. Even before, while I was still in the oil field doing the traditional life thing, I was always very art motivated. (06:30)Yeah, when you talk about traditional life, you’re talking about nine to five kind of routine and working for the man type of thing. Is that what you mean by traditional life? Brandon (06:43)Yes, except mine was a little bit different. My work in the oil field involved me being on site on the drilling rig for up to six weeks sometimes. So it wasn’t really nine to five. I would stay gone for a lot more than that. But then when I would go home, I’d be off for three weeks, a month. So yeah, just ⁓ doing that. (07:07)Where were these oil rigs? Were they in the middle of a desert? Were they in the ocean? Brandon (07:13)No, they were all onshore and I worked a lot in like Pennsylvania, but also a lot in Texas ⁓ Just you know anywhere where they were doing natural gas drilling (07:27)And is that a remote kind of existence in that if you’re on the rig for six weeks, are you getting off it? Are you going into town? Are you doing any of that stuff? Brandon (07:38)Usually the rigs are within an hour of some type of small town usually a Walmart that type of thing So I would go and get groceries a couple of times a week You know me and the other guys would go out and get you know dinner times and whatnot but ⁓ but yeah, basically just sitting in a little trailer a directional trailer is what they called it because it was me and ⁓ Two two other three other guys two more ⁓ directional drillers and then one other MWD hand which is what I was and so there was a night shift and a day shift of two guys each. (08:16)12 hour shifts. Brandon (08:17)Yes. (08:18)Dude, hard work. Brandon (08:21)Yeah, I mean on paper it was hard work. In real life, I mean there were those really problematic jobs where you know everything went wrong but in most cases it was just you know taking a bunch of measurements on the computer whenever they would add another link of pipe to the drilling string and drill down further so every time they would add another length of pipe I would have to take more measurements. (08:47)I hear you. So not physical, but still mental. And you’ve to be on the go for a long amount of time. Brandon (08:56)Right, but yeah, I mean it did when I would have to go up on the rig floor to like change the tool out or to put something You know together or what not so there was a little bit of that but still not as physical as like a traditional drilling rig roughneck (09:04)Uh-huh. I hear you. Yeah. Everyone’s seen those videos on YouTube with those guys getting covered in that sludge and working at breakneck speeds so that they can make sure that they put the next piece on. Brandon (09:24)Yeah, yeah, no, I, you know, and I mean, I wore my share of that mud, but not near as much as a floor hand would. (09:34)I hear, I feel like you’re, ⁓ you’re toning it down and you’re making it sound a lot more ⁓ pleasant than what it might be. But I appreciate that, man. like the way you talk about things. I couldn’t imagine myself doing that, that level of physical labor. Maybe I’m just a bit too soft myself. Brandon (09:54)Yeah, no, I don’t know, man. I consider myself soft in a lot of ways, too, man. You know, it’s just, we’re all different in our softness. (10:02)yeah. ⁓ tell me a little bit about, ⁓ your stroke, man. Like what was that particular week? Like the day? Like how did the lead up happen? Bill Gasiamis (10:12)Let’s pause for a moment. If you’re listening to this and thinking, I wish someone had explained this part to me earlier. You’re not alone. One of the hardest parts of stroke recovery isn’t the hospital. It’s what comes after when the appointments slow down, the support fades and you’re left trying to make sense of what your life looks like now. That’s exactly why I wrote the unexpected way that a stroke became the best thing that happened. It’s not a medical book. It’s a recovery companion built from real experiences. real mistakes and real breakthroughs that stroke survivors discovered along the way. If you want something that helps you think differently about recovery and reminds you that you’re not broken, you can find the book at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. Let’s get back to the conversation with Brandon. Craniotomy Stroke Recovery Journey Brandon (10:59)Okay, so I was helping a friend in Northern California to clean a property that was owned by an artist who had died and we went on to his 10 acre property and we’re just cleaning up for his family. But he had like all kinds of art stuff everywhere and so it was kind of right up my alley and ⁓ We were just trying to get the property clean for these people and we decided to take off and go and do a little bit of rock climbing. so we took off early one morning and drove to a town called Willets, California where there’s good rock climbing and we spent the day doing rock climbing which was a fairly new thing to me but the guys that I was with were very experienced lifelong climbers. And so I was kind of the new guy and they were showing me the ropes and we climbed all day. I did really well, I thought, and didn’t really notice anything. No problems. ⁓ Got back in the car. We’re headed back to the house about an hour away, a friend’s house where we were all going to stay the night. And on the way there, I noticed that I was really thirsty and I stopped and I got two 40 ounce bottles of Gatorade and I drank them both immediately and like just downed them and still didn’t notice anything was a problem was in the truck by myself with my two dogs and eventually I guess about an hour later we got to the house And I went inside to hang out with everybody. And one of my friends said that my arm wasn’t working well. I didn’t notice it at all, but he said that my arm wasn’t working very well. ⁓ so ⁓ I just kind of went on with my life. a couple of, I guess about an hour later, I decided that I was really tired. and I could not quench my thirst so I just grabbed a whole bunch of water and went out to my truck and I was gonna go and lay down and sleep in the back of my truck for the night and ⁓ when I got out to my truck ⁓ by this time my friend had said that my arm was working fine again and he noticed that I he felt like I had gotten over whatever it was and so I went out to my truck got into the driver’s seat of the truck And that’s about the last of my recollection that night. next morning when I wasn’t up making breakfast before everyone else, they realized there was a problem because I was usually the first one up making breakfast and doing all that stuff and I wasn’t there. So my friend came out to my truck to check on me and I was still in the driver’s seat with my head on the steering wheel. I never even fell over. (14:05)Hmm. Brandon (14:17)And so this is 12 hours later. And so ⁓ he tried to wake me up and I was only halfway coherent and I couldn’t make either of my arms work and only one of my legs could I get any response from. So he realized there was a problem immediately, pushed me over into the passenger side of the truck got in and drove me an hour to the closest hospital, just a small little regional hospital. And they were pretty quick about realizing that I was having a stroke. And they didn’t even, I don’t even remember them putting me in a room. They brought me straight up to the roof and put me in a helicopter and helicopter and helicoptered me to UC Davis hospital in Sacramento. (14:59)Wow Wow Brandon (15:15)And I got into the hospital and within, I think about an hour and a half, they had called my mom and my brothers who were all in Louisiana at the time. And they had gotten permission to start treatment and they brought me into the surgery. at first they just (15:25)The The following is a video of the first year of Brandon (15:45)removed a three millimeter blood clot from my main artery on the right side. But then the swelling was so bad because I had been bleeding into my brain for 12 hours overnight that they had to go ahead and do ⁓ a, what do you call it? The craniotomy. Yeah, craniotomy. And so they took this whole side. It was a big craniotomy. (16:05)Craniotomy Brandon (16:12)They took this whole side, everything to the center of my forehead, above my eye, down to just above my ear, front to back. ⁓ They took that whole section of my skull out, put it in the freezer so that my brain had room. then I spent 10 days in intensive care recovering from that. And then they moved me to a rehab hospital where I spent four weeks. And yeah, so in that rehab hospital, yeah, immediately after the surgery, I couldn’t walk and I had pretty much no function on my left side, know, arm or leg. But by the time I got to the rehab hospital, I had gotten some control back, but I still couldn’t walk. ⁓ (16:44)Wow, man. Adjusting to Life Post-Stroke Brandon (17:10)And that about a week after I was in the rehab hospital is when I started to walk again without assistance. So that came back fairly quickly, but I still had really bad foot drop and my left arm wasn’t working. It was hanging, you know? And then, so they kept me in there, ⁓ you know, going through, I guess, regular rehab. (17:24)Thank Yep. Brandon (17:36)They the series of lights on the ground in front of me and I’d have to like run around and touch the different lights as they would activate and you know, I don’t know I mean, I guess it’s the same type of rehab stuff that most people go through and ⁓ (17:51)Yeah, it’s probably similar. Mate, ⁓ this is what I really want to know is what’s it like to experience having half of your skull removed? Can you somehow paint a picture of what it’s like to go through that process and how aware were you of it? Because you just had a stroke, right? So you’re in a bit of a challenged sort of healthy health state. Brandon (18:14)Right. No. Yes. ⁓ well, I think that that deliriousness was actually kind of helpful. First of all, I have not experienced any pain through the entire process. From the stroke, no pain from the craniotomy, no pain through rehab. I have not experienced any pain through this entire experience. None whatsoever. Now the doctors say that I might have lost some of that ability to sense it But you know, I mean whatever it took I Really, you know, I didn’t you know, whatever the reason was The effect of it was that I had a pretty fame pain free experience, you know (19:07)and you’re like looking in the mirror and seeing yourself and you know, like experiencing your head and how do you kind of deal with all of that? Brandon (19:21)Well, ⁓ I couldn’t feel a whole lot. I still have a lot of, or not so very much sensation on my scalp on that side. So, you know, but as far as looking in the mirror, that was kind of interesting. You know, it took a little while to get used to it, you know, and, it, ⁓ was definitely not something that I would recommend. Anybody else going through if they don’t have to you know, but ⁓ But I don’t know man. I mean, I’ve always tried to stay pretty positive about things and so, you know, I just Kept going, you know, I mean they shaved my head. I had dreadlocks for a very long time I had dreadlocks and And so this is all the hair that I’ve gotten since they put my skull back together, which was January or it’s actually It’ll be one year tomorrow since they put my skull back together. So, ⁓ my hair is coming back, which I’m really grateful for. About this time next year, I’m gonna start trying to put my dreadlocks back in. you know, but yeah, it’s, I don’t know, man. It’s really been an interesting ride. ⁓ You know, ⁓ learned a lot more about stroke than I ever thought I would need to. You know, I mean, I’m 48 right now. I was 46 when the stroke happened. So it wasn’t even on my radar, man. I wasn’t paying any attention at all. I didn’t know the anagrams or whatever. I didn’t know the symptoms of stroke. So I just kind of rolled with the punches as they came. I took it one step at a time. And that’s kind of the way it’s been with my recovery too. is I try to address one problem at a time so I don’t overwhelm myself. So after I started to get my leg back, I started to shift my influence to my shoulder and my arm. And at this point, I’ve got almost full range of motion back to the left side. I still can’t write. ⁓ Well, actually, technically, I can make my whole alphabet and all of my numbers with (21:16)Yep. Brandon (21:37)both hands at this point. trained myself to use the other hand and then about the time I was able to get that back the other hand started to come back online. So now I can do all that with both hands but words I’m word blind and numbers and letters don’t make a lot of sense to me. So even though I can make the shapes I have a lot of trouble associating the sounds of certain letters and the functions. of different numbers and letters, you know? That’s where a lot of my trouble is now, and that’s where most of my work is at the moment. (22:14)I hear you. So you sound like you’re very cool, and collected. How do you remain positive when you wake up from a stroke? You’re missing half of your skull. Your body doesn’t work on half the side. Is it your default? Do you have to work on that? Have you been working on being positive over? the decades that you’ve been on the planet, give us a bit of an insight into that part of you. Brandon (22:47)Okay, so yeah, I think I’ve always maintained a pretty positive demeanor, you know, I mean I’ve gone through some rough stuff in life, but I’ve just kind of kept going, you know, rolling with the punches. So I really don’t think that I have had much difficulty remaining positive through it. You know, there’s ⁓ definitely, you know, ⁓ days that I don’t feel as good as other days, you know, and you know, I definitely have… ⁓ things that I have to work through. have to, you know, I have to make an effort to remain positive, you know, at times. But my default has always been to be a pretty positive and happy person. So I think that that was really the majority of it is that I’ve always even in the light of extreme adversity, I’ve always been able to remain positive. You know, ⁓ so that that’s always been, you know, key even before the stroke. But (23:39)Yeah. Brandon (23:46)Yeah, I mean definitely waking up and realizing that half of my body didn’t work anymore was not fun, but it’s what I was given. I couldn’t change it, you know, only time and work was gonna change it. So I just kinda accepted it, you know, I mean, ⁓ one of the biggest things that helped me out was by the time I got out of surgery and started to get coherent, My mom and my brother had already flown from Louisiana to be with me in California at the hospital. And that was huge just to know that my family was there. And they stayed with me for the whole time that I was ⁓ in the hospital for the 10 days. And then when I went to the rehab hospital, they went home. ⁓ But yeah, so that was ⁓ just really, that was a big part of it too, you know, I mean. My mom and my brothers are pretty much the most important people in my life. Of course, my daughter as well. yeah, so, you know, to have them all there and just to have that support and have them there to help me because when I first came out, from the time I came out of surgery, I could still speak very clearly. So I did not know what I was saying. (24:56)Mm-hmm. Brandon (25:15)Nobody could tell like I wasn’t making a lot of sense, but I never lost my voice They think that that’s because of my left-handedness Because I’m left-handed I store things like that differently in my brain So because of that I was able to keep my speech even though I cannot write I can’t do you know I mean I can write my letters, but if I try to (25:32)Okay. Brandon (25:44)make a word this was yesterday (25:48)Aha! Lux- Brandon (25:50)But I can, yeah, it’s just scribble. It’s just scribble. Yeah, but, you know, if I try to like draw a letter or a number, I can do it, but I have trouble assigning it to its value. (25:53)Yeah. Understood. So before that, were quite capable of stringing sentences together, writing things down, doing all that kind of stuff. So that’s a very big contrast. Brandon (26:14)I have always been known. Huge contrast. (26:22)Is it frustrating that you can’t write in the way that you did before? it matter? Brandon (26:27)Yes, yes, I used to write all the time, know, poetry, things like that. I’ve always been considered, you know, a good writer, a good orator, public speaker, you know, that kind of thing was a big part of my life, for my whole life. And so to go from that to not being able to write a sentence on a piece of paper or even a word is really a big change for me. You know, and I mean I do use my phone for voice to text. If I wouldn’t have had voice to text, I really don’t know where I would be right now. (27:06)Is that how you communicate most things? Brandon (27:09)Yes, absolutely. it’s- if I can’t say it, like speak it, I have to use voice to text. I can’t spell- I can’t- I can’t spell my own name half the time. (27:17)Dude, I love that. Yeah, I hear you. I love voice to text. So I was told by a friend of mine about a product called Whisper Flow. I’m gonna have links in the show notes and in the description on the YouTube video, right? And it’s spelled W-I-S-P-R-F-L-O-W, Whisper Flow. And what you do is you program one key on your keyboard. And then what you do is you press that key and it activates Brandon (27:36)Yes. (27:52)the app and then you speak and it types beautifully. It types at all. And I’m a terrible like typist. I could never be one of those really quick secretary kind of people and take notes because I’m not fast enough, but it can type for me by speaking like beyond 99 words per minute, which I think is crazy fast. Living Independently After Stroke And I do it because it just saves a heck of a lot of time, me looking down at the keyboard and all that kind of stuff. My left hand does work, but I can type with it, but often my left hand, you know, we’ll miss the key and I’ve got to go back and do corrections and all that kind of stuff. So voice to text, this comes such a long way and everyone needs to know, especially if they’ve had a stroke and one of their limbs is affected, especially if it’s their… they’re riding limb or if they have a challenge like you, everyone needs to know about the fact that technology can really solve that problem. I’m pretty sure, I know this sounds like an ad for Whisper Flow, it probably is, but I’m not getting paid for it. I think they cost, it costs about hundred bucks a year to have this ⁓ service. So it’s so affordable and it does everything for you just at the touch of one button on your computer. And for some people you can also use it on your phone. But I think phones are pretty awesome at doing voice to text already. So you don’t really need ⁓ it for the phone, but you definitely need to check it out for the computer. Brandon (29:27)Okay, yeah, well, you know, I pretty much have my phone. I don’t have a computer, so… But, ⁓ it does sound like an amazing product, and I am looking to get myself a computer because I really, ⁓ like, I haven’t touched a keyboard since my stroke. So, it would be nice to get myself a laptop with a keyboard so that I could start working on trying to see how that interface works for me. (29:33)Yeah. Yeah. How was the transition out of hospital and rehab back to your place? and how long after the initial strike did you end up back at home? Brandon (30:04)Okay, so, when I, I left the hospital after, or I’m sorry, after 10 days in intensive care, they put me in the rehab hospital and I was there for four weeks. After that, they still didn’t think that I was ready to live by myself yet. So I had to, ⁓ rent a house in Joshua tree from a friend of mine who lived on the property in another house. And so I had a whole house to myself still which allowed me to keep my independence. But I still had somebody close enough to holler if I needed anything. And so I kind of, you know, baby stepped by renting a house, you know, for a while. And, And I have property in Northern Arizona where I normally would take my off time when I wasn’t traveling. But, ⁓ But, ⁓ because of the stroke, I wasn’t able to go back to that property for quite a while. And only about Christmas of last year did I start to be able to spend some more time on my property, you know. But at this point, I’m still renting the house in Joshua Tree and starting ⁓ to branch out a little bit more, do a little bit more traveling, things like that. Now with that said… I have been ever since the stroke happened about two months after the stroke I went back to my first music festival. So I didn’t have half of my skull. I had to wear a helmet for six months. And so here I am at a music festival with all of my friends and I’m in a helmet with half of my skull missing. But I still was able to be there and then ⁓ you know, be a part of the festival. So I got back to the activity that I enjoyed pretty fast. (32:07)What genre of music? Brandon (32:09)Well, it’s actually the Joshua Tree Music Festival in particular, which is the only music festival that I’m really involved with anymore. ⁓ They do world music. We get artists from all over the world in. And that’s kind of one of the reasons I’ve continued to be a part of this music festival and really haven’t been that big of a part of the other ones is because I’m always learning about new music when I go there. And that’s a big important part of it to me. (32:40)Understood. So your transition back to living alone took a little bit of time. You’re renting a place. Are you alone there? Are you living with anyone else? How is the home set up? Brandon (32:55)I have a home all to myself but there is a shared home on the other or on the property that a friend of mine lives in and he’s actually the one that I’m renting from so yeah (33:09)So you have access to support to help to people around you if necessary. Brandon (33:15)if I need it. also another big part of one of the symptoms of my stroke is that I don’t recognize my own disabilities. I have a lot of trouble with that. So I generally do not ask for help with things, which in a lot of cases has made me a lot stronger and I think been a big part of a speedy recovery. But at the same time, I can put myself in some kind of sketchy situations at times. (33:43)It’s not, are you sure it’s not just your male ego going, I can do this, I don’t need help. Brandon (33:49)I mean, I’m sure that that does tie into it, I’m certain. But yeah, that’s one of the things that I’ve struggled with from the beginning. And I didn’t recognize the left side of my body as my own. I thought it was somebody else’s. That wasn’t very long, just for maybe the first couple of weeks. But that was a very interesting sensation, that I felt like there was somebody else there. (34:06)Wow. Yeah, it just feels like it’s my, I kind of describe my left side as if it’s because my star sign is Gemini, right? So now I describe it as being the other twin, like the other part of me, which is me, but not me. And it’s so strange to experience 50 % of my body feeling one way and then 50 % of my body feeling a completely different way, which is Brandon (34:25)Yeah. Facing New Challenges: Aneurysms and Uncertainty (34:44)the only way I remember and then tying them together, like bringing them together has been a bit of a wild ride, like just getting them to operate together. When they have different needs, my left side has different needs than my right side. And sometimes one side is getting all the love and the other side is missing out. And I’m always conflicted between where do I allocate resources? Who gets… how much of my time and effort and who I listen to when one of them’s going, my left side’s going, I’m tired, I’m tired. My right side’s going, the party’s just started. Let’s keep going. Don’t worry about it. Brandon (35:25)I have to deal with that. Of course, my left gets a lot tighter than my right side, but I don’t know. think I’ve done a pretty good job of giving it that care. And a big part of where I measured my success was getting my shoulder back online and being able to pronate and go above my head. It took months to get my hand over my head. But But at this point, you know, I’m pretty much back to physically normal except for the fine motor skills on my right, on my left side. You know. (35:59)Sounds like things are going really well in really small increments. And if you’re only, what, two years post stroke, sounds like recovery is gonna continue. You’re gonna get smaller, more and more small wins and they’re gonna kinda accumulate and make it pretty significant in some time ahead. Brandon (36:17)Right. It’s a year and a half. So my stroke was on the 4th of November of 2024. (36:32)Yeah. Do you know in this whole time, did you ever have the… like, this is too hard, I don’t want to do this. Why is this happening to me kind of moment? Did you ever have any of that type of negative self talk or thoughts? Brandon (36:50)no, I mean, I suppose there probably were moments, but I don’t pay a lot of attention to those kinds of moments. You know what I mean? I do kind of even without the stroke, maintain a pretty positive mental attitude, you know, and I think that that’s been one of my biggest blessings through this. ⁓ yeah. So yeah, that’s never really been a good emotion. (37:12)I get a sense that you have those moments, but you don’t spend a lot of time there. Is that right? Is that what you just sort of alluded to that you have those moments, you just don’t give them a lot of time. Therefore they don’t really have the opportunity ⁓ to sort of take up residence. And then you just move on to whatever it is that you’re getting results with or makes you feel better or… ⁓ supports your project which is ⁓ recovery or overcoming or… Brandon (37:48)Yes. No, I completely agree. ⁓ You know, I mean, speaking of which, four days ago, I got ⁓ a phone call from the doctors. ⁓ They found an aneurysm in my brain. So I have to go and meet with a neurosurgeon on Tuesday to discuss what we’re going to do about a brain aneurysm. So I thought, you know, I was just about back to normal. And here I go into another situation. But again, until I know what’s going on, there’s no point in worrying about it, you know? So I’ll know more about it on Tuesday, but until then, I’m not spending a whole lot of time wondering, you know, am I just going to have an aneurysm and collapse tonight? You know? (38:36)that tends to be my default as well. I was really good as a kid. ⁓ When I was being cheeky and not doing my homework for school, I would go to bed and I would remember, I haven’t done my homework. And then I’d be like, yeah, but you can’t solve that problem now. Now you got to sleep, right? So you got to worry about that in the morning after you’ve had a good night’s sleep and you wake up and then deal with it. And that was a strategy to help me forget about that. minor problem, which back then, if you haven’t done your homework as a teenager, that was a big problem. If your teachers found out, if your parents found out, but the idea was that, don’t I just pause all of the overthinking? Why don’t I just pause all of the rumination and all the problems and all that stuff that it could cause for now. And I’ll worry about it when there’s a opportunity to have the resources to do something about it. And the classic example was in the morning, I would have an hour before school where I could reach out to one of my friends, take their homework, copy their homework, and then hand in my homework. Brandon (39:46)Absolutely. Yep, that was very much like me in school. (39:51)Yeah, not much point worrying about things you can’t change or control in the moment. Just pause it, deal with it later. I had a similar situation with my bleed in my brain, because I had a number of different bleeds and it was kind of in the back of my mind a little bit. What if it happens again? But it actually never stopped me from going about life from bleed one through to bleed two. was only six weeks, but like through blade two to blade three, it was about a year and a half. But I got so much done. I was, we were just going about life. was struggling with memory and all different types of deficits because of the blood clot that was in my head. But I never once kind of thought about what if something goes wrong, unless I was traveling. to another country, because we did go to the United States when I was about almost a year after the first and second bleed, we went to the United States. And then I did worry about it from a practical sense. It’s like, if I have a bleed in Australia, I’m near my hospital and then they can take over from where they left off previously and healthcare is paid for here. So there was no issue. But if I’m overseas and something goes wrong, I’m far away from home, we got to have the expensive insurance policy. Cause if something goes, I want to be totally covered when I’m in the United States, we don’t know the system. don’t know all these things. So that was a practical worry that I had, but I didn’t worry about my health and wellbeing. Do you know? I worried about the practicality of having another blade in the airplane because then I’m in the middle of the ocean. over halfway between Australia and the United States. And that’s eight hours one way or another or something. And I thought about that, but I didn’t think about how I would be personally ⁓ negatively impacted by the medical issue. I just thought about the, do we get help as quickly as possible if something were to happen? So I know a lot of people have a stroke and they, Brandon (41:55)Right. Support Systems: Finding Community After Stroke (42:18)⁓ They overthink about what if it happens again and they’re constantly kind of got that on their mind, but I was dealing with just the moments that made me feel like perhaps I should do something about this headache that I’m getting. I dealt with things as they appeared, as they turned up, I didn’t try to plan ahead and solve every problem before it happened. Brandon (42:24)Yeah. Yes, I agree. I’m very much the same way. You see, before my stroke, I didn’t have medical insurance. I hadn’t seen a doctor since my early 20s. just, I was, I was, I had always been extremely healthy. You know, I’ve always been very physically active, you know, and, so it just, I never really, I never really ⁓ went out and looked for medical. I just didn’t need it, you know? And so, When the stroke happened, I was very lucky to get put on California’s healthcare plan. And they’ve taken care of all of my medical bills. ⁓ You know, I’ve never pulled a single dollar out of my pocket for all the rehab, all the doctors since. And I mean, I have doctors still once every week, two weeks at the most, doctor visits, you know? And so I’m extremely fortunate. that it happened to me where I was, you know, because not all states here are like that, but California is extremely good. So, you know, I’m really grateful that it worked out the way it has because it could have been a whole different situation, man. (44:00)I have heard some horror stories about medical insurance for people who are not covered, have a stroke and then they leave hospital with like a $150,000 bill or something. Is that a thing? Brandon (44:13)Yes, it really is. I mean, I was extremely fortunate. By the time I got out of that first 10 days with the helicopter ride and everything else, I was close to $2 million in bills. (44:25)Dude, that’s mental. Brandon (44:26)Yeah. And, ⁓ yeah, I mean, it just doesn’t really, I mean, you know, I mean, I’m not a big fan of, the way that the medical system works money wise. think it’s all just paper or fake money, just fake numbers, you know, but yeah, I don’t know. I just, ⁓ I was extremely fortunate that it all happened the way that it did and that California is so good and they really do take care of their citizens, you know, so. (44:54)Yeah, I love that. Brandon (44:55)Yeah, very fortunate. (44:57)You know, in your recovery, did you have somebody that you kind of leaned on for support that was a confident, ⁓ that was like a mentor or did you have somebody like that in your life that was really helpful in your recovery? Brandon (45:15)Actually in about the year before my stroke I lost the three gentlemen that I had always considered my mentors, older guys that I’ve known for years. They all three passed away the year before my stroke. So I really kind of felt on my own. You know, I have a lot of friends, you know, but ⁓ but after my stroke I really don’t have the brain space for like Facebook or anything like that. So I really, closed down my very active Facebook account and when I did that, I lost so many people that would have been my support because I just, they weren’t there, you know, in real life. They’re only there on the computer, you know? And so, but luckily, you know, I’m a part of the community in Joshua Tree. So I had a lot of support from people there and… ⁓ Then I have probably four or five other friends that are scattered around the United States that I keep in touch with pretty closely. But I went down from talking to hundreds of people a month and all of that on the internet to really a very small closed social circle, you know? And then in addition to that, surprisingly, people that I’ve known for years just are not very good at accepting the differences in who I am as a person since the stroke, you know? And so, you know, I hate to say it, but a lot of friendships have kind of gotten a lot more distant since the stroke. you know, it’s just, I mean, it is what it is. You know, people have to do what they feel is right for themselves, you know? But yeah, I really… ⁓ Identity Shift: Life Changes Post-Stroke (47:06)Yeah. Brandon (47:07)I don’t have a very large support network. You know, I just basically kind of take care of a lot of it myself. You know, I mean, I did two and a half months of outpatient rehab with a occupational therapist. And what’s the other one? Occupational and physical therapy. (47:33)Mm-hmm. Brandon (47:33)So I did occupational and physical therapy for about two and a half months after I got out of the hospital. And that was all really good and helpful. And ⁓ I’m really grateful for those therapists that worked with me. And they helped me get ⁓ basically back to a normal cadence because I was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. And they really helped me work on my cadence and getting my walk back to fairly normal. ⁓ My arm. has been mostly me. It has never been able to be rushed. It takes its own time. So even with the physical therapy, my hand coming back, it works at its own pace. That was never really influenced that much by physical therapy. And then my actual use of my hand, I was balled up. I was curled up and balled up to the wrist. after the stroke and eventually I got to where I could hold it out flat and I still tremor a lot there but it’s a lot better than it was and but yeah all of that had to come back at its own pace the physical therapy and stuff was helpful for a lot of other aspects of my recovery but that was all just taking its own time and coming back as I guess as it did my brain learn to re-communicate (48:58)Yeah, it sounds, it sounds like you’re kind of really well made up somehow, like you picked up the skills early on in your life to be able to deal with this situation. The way that you do is just amazing. Like it’s seems like it’s second nature, the way that you go about approaching the problems, the challenges, the difficulties, know, the missing half your skull, all that thing. It just seems really innate that you have that within you. you, people are listening and going, you know, that’s not me or I didn’t experience that or I’m overthinking things. Do you think that’s the way that you’re approaching things is teachable, learnable? Can people change the way that they’re going about ⁓ relating to their stroke or dealing with their stroke or managing it. Brandon (49:53)⁓ you know, I think that that you’re going to find that a lot of people, can be taught and a lot of people, can’t be taught. You know, some people’s nature just is not going to be able to handle that. But other people, you know, I think that you can go through very real processes to gain, ⁓ knowledge base, you know, to be able to start working with it. You see another big aspect of my recovery. is that I immediately after my stroke and getting out of the hospital moved eight hours away from UC Davis Hospital where my original care providers were. So I had to go through a whole new medical plan, a whole new set of doctors and everything else. And that changed on me like three times over the first six months. So I really couldn’t rely on the doctors for support either. because they were changing so often I would just meet one and the next thing I would know I would have a new doctor coming in or a new healthcare plan and so it took about six months for me to start seeing the same healthcare providers routinely so I went to YouTube University man I found you I found several other people that had these just these huge amounts of information you know, on how to handle my own recovery. So I took a lot of my own recovery into my own hands. And actually, ⁓ a week ago, I was talking to my neurologist, who is a really amazing lady, and, you know, and had to tell her pretty much that same story that, you know, I couldn’t leave it up to the doctors to fix me. I had to take care of myself. because of my situation and switching insurance and everything else that I went through, there was just not that much option. ⁓ so, you know, and she was like, I wish that all of my patients had that kind of an outlook. You cannot rely on the medical system to fix you. You know, we were talking about what can help people. I think that’s a really big thing that could help a lot of people is to realize that you have to take care of your health care decisions. You know, they found a PFO in my heart, a ⁓ Framon Parabot. (52:24)A patent for Ramen Ovali. Hole in your heart. Brandon (52:28)Yes, yeah, they found that and they wanted to fix it and I was like, you know, I’m 47 years old. This is a one-time thing. So I opted to have a loop recorder installed, a loop recorder to measure my heart rhythm and everything and send messages to the doctors at nights about my heart. So that because I thought that was a little bit less invasive. For my age, the last thing I want is for later in life, my body to start having problems with an implant that’s in my heart. So I decided not to go with that and to go with the less invasive loop recorder, which is still implanted under the skin in my chest, but it doesn’t affect my heart. (53:08)Thank you. Brandon (53:21)It just sends the information about my heart rhythm to the doctors so that they can keep track. (53:26)and it can be easily accessed and removed. Brandon (53:30)Exactly, exactly. So, you know, I mean, if I have another stroke or if I find through the little device that I’m having trouble with that PFO, you know, then I’ll get the PFO closure done. But until then, I didn’t want to just jump straight to that, you know, three months out of my out of my stroke. You know, I want to make sure that that’s the problem. because they did pull a 3mm blood clot out of my brain. So there’s a good chance that that went through the PFO and into my brain. But I was also way outside of my normal activity range trying to rock climb the day before. So there’s just, there are too many variables about the experience for me to just want to go and have something installed in my heart permanently, you know? (54:28)I hear you. What about the aneurysm? Where is that? What’s the long-term kind of approach to that? Brandon (54:35)Don’t know yet. I do not know anything about it. I’ll find out more information on Tuesday They said it’s not it’s not in the same part of my brain that my stroke was So that’s a good thing and there’s a good chance that it may have been there for a long time before the stroke So we just don’t know I don’t know anything about it So that I’m gonna go and meet with this neurosurgeon and decide what we’re gonna do about it (54:42)that’s right. Brandon (55:03)I think the most likely option, as long as it’s not big, is that they just wait and they monitor it. But there’s also a process where they coil it. They put a coil of platinum into it and pack it off so that it can’t become a problem later. And then the third scenario is that they take another piece of my skull off and go in and actually put a clip on it. to stop the blood from going into it. So I may actually have to have my skull open back up again. But, again, there’s no point in thinking about it now. I’ll think about it after Tuesday when I figure out where this thing is, what size it is, and all the details of it, you know? (55:46)Yeah. I love it. I love it. I love that man. That’s a great way to approach it. Also, ⁓ I love your comment about YouTube University. I love the fact that people find my podcast sometimes when they’re in hospital because clearly they realize I need to ⁓ learn more about this, understand it and ⁓ straight away they’ve got answers because of YouTube. it’s such a great service. It’s free. If you don’t want to pay for a paid service and all you got to do is put up with ads that you can skip through most of the time. So I think that’s brilliant. ⁓ What about your identity, man? People have a lot of kind of ⁓ examples of how they have a shift in their identity, how they perceive themselves, how they fit into the world. Did you feel like you have a shift in your identity or the way that you fit into the world? What’s that like for you? Brandon (56:46)Well, I mean, I definitely do feel like there was a big shift. Now at the core, I feel like the same person. know, mentally, I still feel like I know who I am, but it definitely has shifted my priorities in life a lot. ⁓ I did not raise my daughter and I developed a much closer relationship to her since the stroke. and we’ve been spending more time together and just really working on our relationship together. She’s 28 years old. So, you know, that has really been an amazing aspect of my stroke recovery is that I’m closer with my daughter than I ever was. But yeah, I mean, you know, I do things a lot differently. I was a heavy smoker, a heavy drinker, and a heavy marijuana user. I don’t smoke marijuana, don’t smoke cigarettes, and I don’t drink alcohol anymore. So huge change in my lifestyle as well. ⁓ But you know, I just I’m not as much of a hurry as I used to. I was always accused of my mind working on too many levels at one time, you know, and had too much on my plate, too much going on in my brain all the time. Now. My brain doesn’t keep up as well. So I struggle to stay on one subject, much less juggle multiple things in my brain. So it’s really kind of slowed down my whole mental process. But I think that again, that’s in a good way. I think that ⁓ I needed to slow down a little bit in a lot of ways. Lessons Learned: Insights from the Journey (58:31)I hear you. With the alcohol, marijuana and the smoking. So you might’ve been doing that for decades, I imagine, smoking, drinking. Brandon (58:43)Yes. (58:44)how do you experience your body differently now that it doesn’t have those substances in it anymore? Like, cause that’s a mass, that’s probably one of the biggest shifts your consumption of, we’ll call them, I don’t know, like harmful ⁓ things, you know, like how, so how do you relate to yourself differently now that those things are not necessary? Brandon (59:12)You know, I never really had like an addictive aspect. So I really don’t, I don’t feel like, ⁓ I mean, I don’t feel like it’s changed me a whole lot. I just had to take the daily habits out. But after spending a month in the hospital, all of the physical wants, all of the physical aspects of it were already taken care of, you know? So I just had to kind of maintain and not go back to old habits. So really, I mean, I don’t feel like it was that big of a difference. But now physically, I’ve always been an extremely skinny person. You know, I’m six foot one and I’ve always weighed 135 to 145. Now I weigh 165. So I did put on some weight after stopping all that. But other than that, really don’t notice a lot of ⁓ physical differences. Now, I have not coughed since my stroke. I used to wake myself up at night coughing, but for some reason, like literally when I had the stroke, I have not coughed since. Now I clear my throat a lot more and I have a lot of, we’re trying to figure out why, but I have a lot of problems with my sinuses. and stuff like that all on the side that I my injury was on this side but on the side the mental side like where it’s all mental stuff that changed the you know all of that I have problems with my sinuses and drainage and things like that so right now I’m seeing an ear nose and throat specialist and we just did a cat scan of my sinuses so I’ll see on the 13th of this next month I’ll get more information on about what’s going on there. ⁓ really, if that’s all I have to deal with is a one-sided sinus infection, I’m okay with that, you know? (1:01:23)Brandon, you’re all over it, man. I love your approach. It’s ⁓ refreshing to hear somebody who’s just so all over getting to the bottom of things rather than kind of just letting them kind of fester, which kind of leads me to my next question is you seem to have gained a lot of learning and growth from all of this. So what… ⁓ What are some of the insights that you gained from this experience that you didn’t expect? Brandon (1:01:54)⁓ No, I’m really not sure, man. I’m really not sure. I mean, again, I feel like pretty much going back to the same person. I mean, I have, I think, a little bit more respect for the human lifespan. You know, I was one of those people that always felt like, since I’ve never died, I can’t tell you that I’m going to die. Even though everybody else on the planet has to die, I never necessarily felt like that. I definitely feel mortal now, you know? I used to tell everybody that I still felt 25, but as soon as I had my stroke, felt 48. I felt every bit of my age. So it kind of cured me of that. You know, I pay a lot more attention to like, you know, things like, setting up my daughter for the future, you know, and like, Purchasing property for her and things like that to make sure that she’s gonna be taken care of when I’m not here anymore Things that I never paid attention to beforehand, you know, I always just lived in the moment Really didn’t care about the rest But now I’m more prone to put the work into my vehicle before it breaks down Instead of just waiting for it to be on the side of the road to fix it You know, I just I I think that I handle my life responsibilities more like a grown up than I used to, you know, but ⁓ but really, I don’t know, I’d say overall though, it’s still really difficult question to answer, man. I don’t I don’t feel like I live a lot differently. I feel like I’m still the same person, you know. (1:03:35)You nailed it, man. You answered it beautifully, especially the part about mortality. That’s a hap that happened to me. I realized at 37 that, ⁓ I actually might not be around in 12 months, six months, three months. So who knows like tomorrow. And that made me pay attention to my relationships and make sure that they were mostly mended healed. Reach. I reached out to people who I needed to reach out to. cut off people who I didn’t need to continue connecting with. Brandon (1:03:51)Right? (1:04:05)You know, like I realized that this, I’ve got to attend, attend to certain things that I hadn’t been attending to because if, ⁓ if the shit hit the fan, if things go really ugly, then I wouldn’t be able to attend to those things. And I, now that I had the ability to do it, was my responsibility to do that. Brandon (1:04:28)Absolutely, absolutely. I completely agree. I did the same thing. I cleared out a lot of the people that really weren’t being, you know, or that weren’t adding benefit to my life and causing problems in my life. I cleared all of that out. I started to focus more on the core group of people that were a big part of my life and, you know, my recovery and just, you know, who I am as a person. And just, you know, it really made me take a better look at the life that I had created for myself and and ⁓ and Just take care of the things that I should be taking care of and don’t pay as much attention to the things that weren’t serving me (1:05:12)Yeah, it’s a great way to continue moving forward. Your daughter, does she live nearby or does she live in another state? Brandon (1:05:21)She lives in another state. She lives in Alabama right now, but we’re starting to consider her coming out here to Arizona. Her and her boyfriend have lived there for several years, but the only reason she was living there is because her grandparents lived there on her maternal side, and she was very close to them for her whole life. But they passed, both of them, over the last several years. And, you know, she enjoys her work. She enjoys her friend group. But she also feels like she might need to go and explore a little bit more and move out of her comfort zone. So she might be a little bit closer sooner. Her and her boyfriend might actually move out here. we’ll just, know, only time will tell, but it’s just, it’s a fun thought, you know? (1:06:08)Yeah, I hear you. So we’ve shared a whole bunch of amazing things on this episode right now. The last question I want to ask you is there are people watching and listening that had either been listening for a little bit of time. They’ve just started their stroke recovery or they’r

In today's Calmer in 5, we explore a simple but powerful shift in perspective: life doesn't happen to you—you happen to life. When we see ourselves as passive recipients of events, life can feel overwhelming and out of control. But when we remember that our presence, awareness, and response shape how each moment unfolds, something loosens. This episode invites you to step out of reaction and into participation—meeting life as it is, with intention and calm. Nothing needs to change for this shift to begin—only how you meet the moment. Thanks for Listening! If this episode helped you see your day in a different light, consider sharing it with someone who might be needing a dose of calm. Let's Connect: Instagram: @thom_walters Email: thom@zencommuter.com Support the show: patreon.com/zencommuter  

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