Podcasts about relaxed

Monday Rosary - SPOKEN MALE VOICE with AMBIENT MUSIC by artist: Rand Aldo This week's collection of beautiful music welcomes you into a calm state of prayer as together, we offer up our intentions alongside this daily rosary. This rosary contains the joyful mysteries, recited on Mondays and Saturdays.  These mysteries focus on the Incarnation and Jesus' early life, with fruits including humility and love of neighbor. Join in the communion of saints in praying the rosary, as it connects you with the communal prayer of the universal Church and the saints throughout history, fostering a profound sense of spiritual solidarity.  The spoken portion of this rosary is 20 minutes, with extended music for additional meditation.  All music in this video is licensed thru Epidemic Sound Publishing. May this Rosary become a faithful companion to your prayer life. Additional prayer tools at www.rosarywristband.com 30 MINUTE TRADITIONAL ROSARY - JOYFUL MONDAY - SPOKEN ONLY https://youtu.be/6UX8ObKpb3A ROSARY - SPOKEN ONLY VERSION: Monday - SPOKEN ONLY https://youtu.be/vv8l7xMAOmM MOST VIEWED MONDAY ROSARY: Calm Music    https://youtu.be/ryTdYnt1eUI MOST VIEWED ONE HOUR ROSARY DEVOTION: Complete Rosary    https://youtu.be/rrNMRJ5oH-Q MOST VIEWED SLEEP ROSARY: 4 Hour Sleep Rosary    https://youtu.be/4a-uaEEJOF4 Have you joined our Membership?  Starting at only $1.99 a month, you can directly help this channel grow:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLXCEpdy0etQAdEHB1z-oTg/join Or consider a donation through PayPal to help us continue creating quality content:  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?business=CHerrera720037%40gmail.com&cmd=_donations¤cy_code=USD&item_name=Donation+to+The+Communion+of+Saints&return=https%3A%2F%2Frosarywristband.com%2Fhome Blessings, Chris - The Communion of Saints Email: chris@rosarywristband.com Simply, easy and quick rosary prayers for everyday recitation and reflection.   This collection of Catholic rosary videos in english serve as a daily devotion and feature calm background music and nature soundscapes.   Choose from audio only or follow along video with all mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous.  Listen before sleep or any time for renewed focus and peace. "Together we pray" Visit rosarywristband.com for comfortable one decade rosaries. #Rosary #JoyfulMysteries #CatholicMeditation #MondayRosary #todayrosary #todayrosaryinenglish  

Sunday Rosary - SPOKEN MALE VOICE with AMBIENT MUSIC by artist: Rand Aldo This week's collection of beautiful music welcomes you into a calm state of prayer as together, we offer up our intentions alongside this daily rosary. This rosary contains the glorious mysteries, recited on Wednesdays and Sundays.  These mysteries focus on the events following Christ's resurrection, including Pentecost and Mary's coronation, with fruits such as faith and hope. Be a part of the communion of saints in praying the rosary, as it connects you with the communal prayer of the universal Church and the saints throughout history, fostering a profound sense of spiritual solidarity.  The spoken portion of this rosary is 20 minutes, with extended music for additional meditation.  All music in this video is licensed thru Epidemic Sound Publishing. May this Rosary become a faithful companion to your prayer life. Additional prayer tools at www.rosarywristband.com 30 MINUTE TRADITIONAL ROSARY - GLORIOUS SUNDAY - SPOKEN ONLY https://youtu.be/v-gX7p-QznQ ROSARY - SPOKEN ONLY VERSION: Sunday - SPOKEN ONLY https://youtu.be/LFcRgq2cQRA MOST VIEWED SUNDAY ROSARY: Calm Music    https://youtu.be/1Fnoyv8EmO0 MOST VIEWED ONE HOUR ROSARY DEVOTION: Complete Rosary    https://youtu.be/rrNMRJ5oH-Q MOST VIEWED SLEEP ROSARY: 4 Hour Sleep Rosary    https://youtu.be/4a-uaEEJOF4 Have you joined our Membership?  For only $1.99 a month, you can directly help this channel grow:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLXCEpdy0etQAdEHB1z-oTg/join Or consider a donation through PayPal to help us continue creating quality content:  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?business=CHerrera720037%40gmail.com&cmd=_donations¤cy_code=USD&item_name=Donation+to+The+Communion+of+Saints&return=https%3A%2F%2Frosarywristband.com%2Fhome Blessings, Chris - The Communion of Saints Email: chris@rosarywristband.com Simply, easy and quick rosary prayers for everyday recitation and reflection.   This collection of Catholic rosary videos in english serve as a daily devotion and feature calm background music and nature soundscapes.   Choose from audio only or follow along video with all mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous.  Listen before sleep or any time for renewed focus and peace. "Together we pray" Visit rosarywristband.com for comfortable one decade rosaries. #Catholic #Rosary #Prayer #Sunday #GloriousMysteries #20minuterosary  #CatholicMorningPrayerFebruary #RosaryEnglish #RosaryToday  #CatholicMeditation #SundayRosary #todayrosary #todayrosaryinenglish #RosaryMaleVoice

Neuropathy is the feeling of one or more of these five things: numbness, tingling, burning, weakness, sharp pain. In today’s workshop Dr. Tony helps the audience understand how to overcome neuropathy to live a better quality of life. Dr. Tony (and participants) demonstrates the specific treatments and exercises for your recovery. Check it out. Watch this Full Video: https://youtu.be/K7uuNbDP8sI Subscribe, Listen to this episode by searching  to your favorite podcast app, “Crooked Spine Show” Watch other podcasts on YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL59D-oy3Ai9fIzpOo6Gx4pCat6gsr0j8D Here is the outline: What is neuropathy? The locations of neuropathy. Types of exercise that help neuropathy. Treatments for the neck and headaches: -pillow stretch -acupressure C0-C1 (for headaches). -Upper Trap Stretch Treatments for the low back/feet: -Relaxed plank extension -Nerve Flossing (hands under knee). Add knee flexion (one-sided; then both) -Leg bent, knee over top stretch.

Sidney Schutte, ** chef-kok en executive chef op verschillende continenten en wereldburger volgens Michelin, praat met host Petra Possel over zijn culinaire ontwikkeling, de internationale restaurantwereld, zijn ondernemerschap en hoe hij dat allemaal combineert met een gezinsleven (tweeling van vijf) en met zijn zakenpartner en vrouw Gigi van Es. Verschillende zaken van Sydney passeren de revue. Rust Wat in Blaricum (ook wel 'Rust Zacht' genoemd), Spectrum ** in het Waldorf Astoria hotel in Amsterdam, Molina * in Kuala Lumpur, Maleisië, Cocina de Autor * en Loto Robata Grill in Los Cabos, Mexico.Over Rust Wat:Het hoeft voor mij niet alleen maar kaviaar & kreeft te zijn. Relaxed koken, als tegenhanger van Spectrum waar alles perfect móet zijn, kunstwerkjes, alles is doordacht.Kookboekenrecensent Karin van Munster bespreekt vandaag een kookboek over de keuken van Piemonte, Italië dus. Het heet Piemonte, aan tafel met vrienden en familie en is een kookboek van Cristina Baltieri Carossa met haar eigen recepten. Niet langer alleen in haar hoofd maar nu ook op papier.Keukenprins Pieter heeft flink promotie gemaakt en mag als commis Sydney Schutte assisteren bij het opmaken van de door hem meegebrachte kleine gerechten, “klassiekertjes”:conch met custard van bloemkool met kaffirlimoen, crème fraîche en kaviaarpuree van gecaramellisserde aardpeer, octopus, spekbouillon en slakkeneitjes, “een beuker”, zoals Sidney zegt.Karin: "wáánzinnig!"Petra: "daar staan we dan met onze pinda's."Daarnaast heeft de Keukenprins een antipasto uit het boek Piemonte gemaakt. Sidney vraagt om een refill van de kaasfondue... Een stukje puur geluk voor de Keukenprins!Het recept voor deze hartige flan met kaasfondue is te vinden in op onze website. Enne, de wijn vandaag kwam uit Piemonte: 'Derthona' Vino Bianco van Vigneti Massa.Met dank aan onze Culinaire Vriend Kleinste SoepfabriekWil je adverteren in deze podcast? Stuur een mailtje naar:(Media)bureaus: adverteren@bienmedia.nlAdverteerders (direct): adverteren@smakelijkpodcast.nl Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode might feel a little different - but in a really good way. I'm talking about becoming more magnetic to money… and yes, I know that phrase can sound a bit wanky. Stay with me. This isn't about pretending money doesn't matter, manifesting from the couch, or forcing yourself to “love” money. It's about something much more practical:

It's time for another "Answers to Your Questions" episode. I love these episodes because I get to speak to topics that are on your mind, rather than just talking about topics I think you want to know more about. And we have two really great questions to talk about today. Before I tell you what those questions are, I want to say that my personal criteria for choosing these questions is when I have been asked the same question by three or more people in a relatively short time frame. Usually the questions come in response to something I've talked about in the podcast, like our first question today, or something we discussed on one of the Live Monday Warm-Ups. Today's second question came up on a recent warm-up. My feeling is that when three people have asked it, there are a bunch more harpists who would have liked to ask it but didn't. And so I know that there are lots of harpists who really would like to have the answer, even if they let someone else ask the question. So if you're one of those who asked the question, I thank you, and so do your fellow harpists who let you ask for them. If you're not one of those who asked the question but want to know the answer, remember that next time you can be the brave one and do the asking. If you're on a live call with me, I can tell you that I always pay attention to the questions that arise. But if you haven't been on a live call with me, you can always email me here at the podcast, and I'll register your question or comment that way. The email is podcast@harpmastery.com.  So what are our questions today? The first has to do with tuning by ear and why I feel it is so essential, not just because your harp needs to be in tune, but because it's an easy way to intentionally focus on your aural skills, which are key to your learning music faster and playing with more security.   The second question brings up a really vital point about playing without tension. It's this: being relaxed before you begin playing is one thing, but staying relaxed while you play is another, more difficult one. How do you keep relaxed and keep tension away while you're playing? It's a topic that is so important to all of us; aren't you glad those three people asked? Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode:  Don't miss the webinar, Your Breakthrough Year Let's plan the rest of this year together in the Harpist's Breakthrough Blueprint Intensive Live Monday Warm-Up from February 2, 2026 where I talk about sticky placing, tone and tension. View it on the Harp Mastery® YouTube Channel Harpmastery.com Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at podcast@harpmastery.com Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode? LINKS NOT WORKING FOR YOU? FInd all the show resources here: https://www.harpmastery.com/blog/Episode-248  

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Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hypnosis-and-relaxation-sound-therapy9715/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Patriots' writer for The Boston Globe Chris Price joins the show to talk about the relaxed attitude from the team this week, what kind of game Super Bowl 60 could look like, and how much support New England is getting in the San Francisco area.

This meditation begins with a period of relaxing and collecting our attention with intentional long, deep breathing. We then deepen embodied presence, and widen to the awareness that includes sounds, sensations, feelings, breath, and all experience. When the mind drifts from this open, awake awareness, we gently return, re-relaxing and resting in an easeful, alert presence. Recorded at Tara's Wednesday night class, the meditation ends with a sense of melting into community – relaxed and alert.   Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Send us a textWhat is style, really? Is it about trends, or is it something far more personal?In this episode of Manners and Other Matters, Louise is joined by her dear friend Chrissie, a print designer whose life has taken her across many countries and cultures. Together, they explore the idea of style as something lived and experienced, rather than something dictated by fashion cycles.Drawing on Chrissie's time living abroa, particularly in Indonesia, the conversation reflects on how travel, culture, craftsmanship, and intention quietly shape the way we dress, decorate, and live. From mixing old and new to embracing meaningful pieces and everyday rituals, this episode is a gentle reminder that true style evolves over time.Relaxed, thoughtful, and deeply personal, this is a conversation about trusting your instincts and allowing style to grow naturally alongside you.SHOW NOTES: https://thepercyinstitute.com/episode-61-what-style-really-is-travel-culture-and-intention/I'd love to hear from you. Please leave your comments, or ask me any questions here: https://thepercyinstitute.com/contact/Join Louise in the pursuit of a more elegant life, and be sure to visit her website thepercyinstitute.com for more ideas and inspiration. Follow @thepercyinstitute on Instagram and Facebook, and join the Facebook Group, The Elegance Club for exclusive offers and insights.Resources and links: Complimentary Guide to Successful Networking: https://subscribepage.io/shinelikeadiamond The Percy Institute website: https://thepercyinstitute.com/ The Elegance Club Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thepercyinstitute The Percy Institute Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepercyinstitute/ The Percy Institute Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePercyInstitute Louise Percy LinkedIn: ...

Welcome to a Wide World of Sports update. A snapshot of the latest sport stories from the 9News team including: No big celebration for Carlos Alcaraz following Australian Open triumph AO boss Craig Tiley wants women to play best-of-five sets in future Injury woes continue for Sam Draper at new AFL club The biggest sport stories in less than 5 minutes delivered twice a day, with reports from the 9News team across Australia and overseas. Subscribe now to make it part of your daily news diet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to a Wide World of Sports update. A snapshot of the latest sport stories from the 9News team including: No big celebration for Carlos Alcaraz following Australian Open triumph AO boss Craig Tiley wants women to play best-of-five sets in future Injury woes continue for Sam Draper at new AFL club The biggest sport stories in less than 5 minutes delivered twice a day, with reports from the 9News team across Australia and overseas. Subscribe now to make it part of your daily news diet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to a Wide World of Sports update. A snapshot of the latest sport stories from the 9News team including: No big celebration for Carlos Alcaraz following Australian Open triumph AO boss Craig Tiley wants women to play best-of-five sets in future Injury woes continue for Sam Draper at new AFL club The biggest sport stories in less than 5 minutes delivered twice a day, with reports from the 9News team across Australia and overseas. Subscribe now to make it part of your daily news diet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drop us a message with any questions you may have :)Today, we're asking:  Are the Nordic countries the future of skiing?  Snow reliability thanks to colder climates and smart snow management, Quieter slopes with minimal lift queues, Excellent beginner and family environments, Something genuinely different from the Alps

Wednesday, January 28, 2026 In this episode: FBI agents executed a search warrant at Fulton County's election facility near Atlanta, seeking records related to the 2020 election; Senate Democrats demanded new restrictions on ICE in any deal to avert a partial U.S. government shutdown; Trump's domestic National Guard deployments are costing taxpayers about $93 million a month; the two federal officers who fired guns during the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis were placed on administrative leave; Rep. Ilhan Omar was attacked at a Minneapolis town hall when a man approached the lectern and used a syringe to spray her with an unknown liquid; the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, defying pressure from Trump and pausing after three consecutive quarter-point cuts; Trump warned that a “massive Armada” led was heading toward Iran and threatened another U.S. attack if Tehran did not “make a deal” on its nuclear program; and a record 45% of Americans identified as political independents in 2025. Read more: Day 1835: "More relaxed." Newsletter: Get the daily edition of WTFJHT in your inbox Feedback? Let me know what you think AI Policy: My AI policy

Blue Steel is one of those strains that doesn't try to impress you by knocking you over. It just quietly shows up, does its job, and lets you stay human.This episode is a solo run with Brandon holding things down while Jesse recovers, and it ends up being a really honest, grounded walkthrough of a strain that feels more like a tool than a party trick.Blue Steel is an indica-dominant hybrid that usually lands in the lower THC range, roughly 16–18 percent. In a market obsessed with chasing the highest number on the label, this one goes the opposite direction, and that's kind of the point.This episode explores Blue Steel in concentrate form, not flower, with a lot of attention paid to flavor, sensation, and how the effects actually unfold over time instead of all at once.Right out of the gate, the terpene profile makes itself known. Piney up front, with myrcene and beta-caryophyllene leading the charge. The flavor comes through fruity at first, then settles into something deeper and peppery on the exhale. It's noticeable, but not harsh, especially when dabbed at lower temperatures.The effects come on gently. Brandon describes it as a light dusting across the head rather than a heavy fog. Even though it's indica dominant, there's no haziness, no mental slowdown, and no derailment of your thoughts. The headspace stays clear and focused, while the body eases up, especially across the shoulders and back.As it settles in, Blue Steel shows its personality. Relaxed, subtle, quietly uplifting. It doesn't push you toward the couch, and it doesn't shove you into your own head. It feels functional. Present. Calm.This is framed as a daytime strain, especially for people who still want to get things done. For Brandon, who deals with chronic pain, it takes the sharp edge off without stealing attention or motivation. No chest pressure. No head pressure. No tightness. Just a smoother baseline.The episode also turns into a really practical conversation about dabs, dosing, and why concentrates don't have to mean getting obliterated. There's a clear explanation of why low-temperature dabbing preserves flavor and experience, how tiny amounts go a long way, and why pens can sometimes deliver inconsistent effects over time due to repeated heating and cooling.One of the most important takeaways here is that dabbing isn't about taking massive globs or chasing intensity. It's about control. Temperature control, dose control, and experience control.Blue Steel ends up being described as a genuinely beginner-friendly strain. Low THC, roughly around one percent CBG depending on the grower, and commonly used for pain, stress, and anxiety. It doesn't overwhelm or amplify anxious thoughts. Instead, it softens whatever edge you walked in with.This is the kind of strain you could use while working, hanging out with friends, or easing into cannabis if you're newer or more sensitive to higher THC products. It's calm without being dull, relaxing without being sedating, and clear-headed without being stimulating.Not flashy. Not aggressive. Just steady, pleasant, and effective.Sometimes that's exactly what you need.Keep the Mic on.Fuel the movement. Keep the conversation going.We keep a running list of tools and brands we personally enjoy and actually use.Find everything in one place here:

Relaxed standards for Bama Ketana

Travis Timmons shares with host Andrew Stotz how a decade of frustration running his physical therapy practice turned into joy once he discovered Deming's philosophy and embraced systems thinking. Through PDSA cycles, clearer processes, and genuine team involvement, he transformed Fitness Matters from chaotic growth to a scalable organization getting stellar outcomes. His story shows how small businesses can create stability, joy in work, and remarkable results by improving the system rather than pushing harder.   TRANSCRIPT   0:00:02.1 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz and I'll be your host as we continue our journey into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today I'm here with featured guest Travis Timmons. Travis, are you ready to tell us about your Deming journey?   0:00:19.7 Travis Timmons: Hey Andrew, thanks for having me. And yeah, very excited to share our journey and how impactful it's been on both our company, but also me personally and my family. So, super excited to kind of share where we started before Deming and where we're at today. So I'll just dive right in if that sounds like a good...   0:00:39.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And I think just for the audience here, I'll just mention that Travis is physical therapist, founder and president of Fitness Matters in Columbus, Ohio, going on his 27th year of business. And you know, you and I have had some discussions. You've had a lot of great things that you've written and we've gone through and I think it's really an exciting story, particularly for a small mid sized business owner who's just frustrated as hell that things aren't going the way that they want. And I think your frustration a long time ago was a driving force. So I'm excited for you to share your story. So yeah, take it away.   0:01:22.6 Travis Timmons: Yeah, very excited. Yeah, 2000 is when we started, January 2000. So coming up on 27 years, as you mentioned, do physical therapy and wellness. And the first 10 years I was in business, pretty good at being a physical therapist. Started my own business and had no idea how to run a business. I knew a lot about physical therapy, but just kind of shooting from the hip in regard to business. Spent about a decade struggling, frustrated. We were growing, but growing slowly, growing chaotically. No process, it was just a, it was a heavy burden, to be honest with you. We were growing, but it was kind of Herculean effort on my part.   0:02:10.1 Andrew Stotz: I'm just curious how you were feeling at that time. Like there's gotta be a better way or this is the way business is and I just gotta muscle through this or how were you feeling at the time?   0:02:21.0 Travis Timmons: I was feeling frustrated and isolated. Didn't quite know where to turn. Yeah, I guess that's how, and just a burden. Didn't want to let the team down, I did not want the business to fail. I knew we had something different to offer. Just really had no idea how to scale that in a professional way. And along the journey was very fortunate to have a client who had a very successful business, took me under his wing. Ray Crook is his name. Started mentoring me and as luck would have it, he was familiar with Dr. Deming and a very long story short, after several meetings with him over time, some mentoring, I'd read the book along the way, the E-Myth Revisited and had some learnings from that book that really jumped out at me and came to the conclusion, both with reading that book and some feedback from Ray of basically, hey, it's time to grow up and turn this into a real business. If you're going to do this, let's do it right. And at that, around that time he introduced me to Kelly Allen with the Deming Institute. And you know, so we were 10 years into some chaos, had really no process, just would try stuff, see if it stuck or didn't.   0:03:43.5 Travis Timmons: If that didn't work, didn't really have any way to measure if stuff was working well. So really just a lot of chaos. And became introduced to Deming through Kelly Allen about 10 to 11 years into our journey and man, was that a breath of fresh air in terms of like having a direction to go in. After a few meetings with Kelly, him getting a better understanding of what was important to me, I think him just really understanding that I was serious about wanting to turn our organization into a large, professionally run and well run organization that would have a positive impact on people's lives, both team members and clients. I think he kind of, I think that we were so bad off he took pity on me to begin with, just to be honest with you, and he was like, man, this guy needs a lot of help. He could do some good in the world with what the services they have to offer. But if he doesn't figure out how to run a business professionally, they're never going to scale.   0:04:44.0 Andrew Stotz: And it's interesting that you reached out. I mean, there's a lot of people that are stuck in that situation and they really don't, either they don't reach out or they're afraid to reach out or you know, maybe they think there's no solution or nobody's going to help me. And you know, certainly when you're small, you also don't have huge budgets to hire people to come in and fix your business. You know, I'm just curious, like what drove you to even reach out?   0:05:09.8 Travis Timmons: I think I was fortunate enough to, A, have the mentor with Ray. And then secondly, have always been a believer in you got to check your ego at the door and know that you don't know everything. I think I've seen Business owners that are afraid to admit they don't know everything and so they keep things insulated and that just doesn't get you anywhere.   0:05:35.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah.   0:05:36.3 Travis Timmons: So I just was fortunate kind of how I was raised as arrogance isn't a good thing, so check your ego at the door and learn from, learn from people smarter than you. And so I kind of took that fully at heart and like, all right, I have no idea how to run a business. I need to learn how to do that from really smart people. Read a lot of business books over the years, but the Deming philosophy, when I was introduced to that at the two and a half day seminar, went to that. I got to the Deming two and a half day in, I think that was 2013. So I was 13 years into the entire journey by the time I had met with Kelly, done some learning. And then at a time where the Deming two and a half day was offered in Ohio to where I could get to it, to your point earlier, budget plays into things for small businesses. So I was able to drive to that one and that two and a half day seminar just opened my eyes up to things that I knew in my heart but had no idea how to make that happen.   0:06:46.2 Travis Timmons: And what I mean by that, Andrew, is one of the key things I took away from that first two and a half day is Deming's belief that roughly 96% of issues within an organization are not people issues, but they're process and system issues. And that aligned with my worldview of if you hire good people, which we did, they show up every day wanting to do a good job as long as they have a good system and process to work within something that's professionally put together. So that was takeaway number one that really resonated with me. And the person responsible for said system is me. There's no passing the buck as the owner. And that resonated with me. It's a big responsibility to own a business in terms of the people and clients you're responsible for. And there's no passing the buck. You're responsible for the system at the end of the day.   0:07:42.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. I remember when I was 24 attending Deming seminar, when I was working for Pepsi, and it was a little bit different situation than yours. I could see, though, the same thing resonated with me. I could see that people were hemmed in by the system. And even though many people in the factory had really good intentions and they wanted to do a better job, they literally couldn't because they didn't have the tools or the budget or the this or the that. And a lot of times it's easy for senior management, particularly in a big company, to say figure it out, your job is to figure it out. But that only goes so far and there's eventually a point of exasperation for people working in a company that, like, I just, there's a limit here and I'm not going to kill myself trying to do something that I can't change. And so it just, I was coming from a very different perspective as an employee in a huge company versus you at a perspective of, this is my company, I set the rules.   0:08:46.5 Travis Timmons: Yeah, can do whatever we want. And you mentioned something there. It reminds me of a quote from that first two and a half day, and it still sticks with me a decade and a half later. Almost a lot of businesses complain about the term. We have a lot of dead wood in terms of employees. And the quote, I remember Kelly sharing this, it's like, well, did you hire dead wood? Because if you did, that's on you. Or did you hire live wood and kill it and that's on you from your standpoint of, from a system. And I'm like, man, 100% true. And I hired, I had good people on our team, but we didn't have good processes to keep from killing that live wood I would say. So, yeah. And to your point on budget, yeah, I had and still do have quite a bit different budget than Pepsi. Right. So one of the other things that jumped out at me early on that made Deming very approachable and something I could engage with very easily as a small business owner was the concept of PDSAs, the Plan-Do-Study-Act.   0:09:58.5 Travis Timmons: That was a game changer for us because I was like, all right, I don't have to hire a big business consultant. We don't have to hire or pay for a bunch of software. There's very simple things we can do via the Plan, Do Study Act PDSA method that we can create systems or improve upon systems and those little experimental ways and not have to bet the farm. You know, you see a lot of businesses that try to go through these huge transformative activities, bring in a new software to fix all their problems. Things that are very expensive with no real way of understanding what their aim is, what their theory is, or even if it'll work. So, yeah, your comment on budget there, I think, is what makes Deming so approachable for any size organization, but the budget's really not a limit from the PDSA standpoint. So those were some of my key takeaways very early on on my first two and a half day Deming, it was an eye opener and just really resonated with how, how I saw the world in terms of from a human level. Just had zero idea as a physical therapist with no business training on how to implement and run a professional organization.   0:11:13.8 Travis Timmons: So as things evolved, kind of went from the kind of the term chaos to process. So after that two and a half day, I went back to our team, which was small at the time. I think we had, we were a very small company at the time. I think we had 10 employees, nine or 10 team members at the time and just presented to them like, hey, this is going to be how we run our organization. There's this thing I heard about this guy called Dr. Deming. Some of it's going to seem a little odd, but this is how we're going to do things. And just started out early on, like just with PDSA, educated them on what that meant and we're all going to work on things together. So immediately it started enforcing a culture of improvement and collaboration and voice. Rather than Travis just coming up with random ideas, we worked on them together, made the system visible and then put some experiments in place. I talked to them about operational definition. That was a new term to me and gave them some examples. We wanted every client to have a good visit with us.   0:12:29.2 Travis Timmons: What in the heck does a good visit mean? Right. We didn't have an operational definition of that, so we created an operational definition of this is a good visit at Fitness Matters. So those were some fun things early on.   0:12:42.3 Andrew Stotz: I'm curious. There's two things, the first one is for someone that really doesn't know anything about PDSA, the Plan, Do, Study, Act process or cycle. Could you give an example either of one that you did early on or one that you think is the best illustration of the application of PDSA so people can understand what you're saying, because I know it's a big part of what one of the, let's say, tools that you've used in your process.   0:13:10.1 Travis Timmons: Yeah, one of the early on ones we did that was fun to do with the team because it changed our pricing model for our private pay team. Quick example, like we do personal training and Pilates muscle activation technique. Traditionally in that world, people buy those visits one at a time or you'll buy a package of 10 or 20 at a time at a discounted rate, volume, volume pricing, right. So we had that, we had 10 pack and 20 pack of personal training. We had a 10 pack and 20 pack of Pilates, same for muscle activation technique. And we had clients that would do sometimes all three of those services, but for them to be able to optimize their discount, they had to buy a 20 pack of Pilates, a 20 pack of personal training, and then the same with muscle activation technique. So after learning some things with Dr. Deming at the two and a half day that Kelly presented at, it's like we got to be easier to do business with. Be easy to do business with and how can we do that? So our PDSA was how can we change our pricing model on the private pay services to be easier to do business with and optimize how clients can move in our system freely.   0:14:25.9 Travis Timmons: So part of the concept of PDSA is you trial it, you put your whole theory together of what you think will be true. How are you going to study it? How long are you going to try it? So we had four clients that we knew well, that we told them, we're trying this new pricing model. Would you be willing to experiment on this with us? So we didn't roll it out company wide. We just tried it with a small segment, and we called it Fitness Matters Dollars and the do the Fitness Matters Dollars package. Then the client could use that discounted bundle of money for any of our services. So the discount applied to any of the services they did rather than having to buy a bunch of different packages. So the beauty of it is you can try it small. Had we gotten it wrong, we could have thrown it out and only five clients would have experienced the error. And they knew they were part of an experiment and they were happy to help us improve. It was a big win. That was 12 years ago. That's still how we do our pricing today.   0:15:29.1 Travis Timmons: It makes it very easy for clients to optimize their health within our system and not have to spend a bunch of money with us and have a lot of monetary resistance moving about our system. So that's one example that comes to mind.   0:15:41.4 Andrew Stotz: That's a good one. And I think if you think about, let's say an accountant may say, well, but wait a minute, the cost of three different services is different and that's the idea of how do we simplify this for the client, and that's interesting. Now, did you write it down, did you go to a Whiteboard. How did you actually go through that process?   0:16:02.9 Travis Timmons: Oh, that's 13 years ago. You're testing my...   0:16:06.5 Andrew Stotz: Oh, well, you can think about a current one, too.   0:16:09.6 Travis Timmons: 12 years ago. Yeah. When we're doing a current one, we'll get together as a team. Like, we're having our annual team off-site the end of January. And we'll come up, we try to come away with three, maybe four PDSAs as a team, and we'll write it up on the whiteboard. What's the problem we're trying to solve? Another key quote I've learned from Kelly Allen over the years is "the problem named, is the problem solved." So we want to make sure we're naming the right problem first. What really is the problem? So we talk about that through our entire company so that I'm getting feedback from all pieces of the system and then we'll map it out. Sometimes we'll do fishbone charts to look where in the process are we trying to do an experiment? And then there's the PDSA kind of chart that we'll use for bigger ones so we can study it. What's our aim? What's our theory? What do we think is going to happen with this experiment? How long are we going to study it, and what's our expected outcome? So part of the PDSA magic, as you know, is what are you trying to accomplish by what method, in what time frame, and what do you think is going to happen so you can go back and test your theory after you've studied it? So, yeah, sometimes we, if it's something bigger system-wide, we put it down on paper. We have a PDF that's fillable for each new PDSA.   0:17:35.5 Andrew Stotz: And for some people listening, they may think, well, I mean, isn't that what business does? I mean like owner comes up with an idea and says, yeah, I think we could try this and see what happens. Right. And ultimately everybody's kind of poking in the dark in business. We're not given a manual nobody really knows what we're doing. What's the difference between the way that you are poking in the dark, trying to hey, let's try this, let's try that compared to the PDSA.   0:18:08.5 Travis Timmons: I don't think I learned that till my second Deming two and a half day. So the second time I went, I took some senior team members with me so we could get more eyes around what in the world is this Deming person, who is Dr. Deming? What's this System of Profound Knowledge? To answer your question, I think the realization I had that I didn't have before, kind of going down the Deming journey is I didn't view our business as an entire system. I lacked that awareness of system view versus pieces and parts view. Pre-Deming, there's a problem over here and you go chase that fire and then another problem pop up over here, and to your point like there's lots of books out there on how to solve problems or you know, you hear like there's books out there on ownership thinking. And you know, it's like, well, do you have a culture and a system and by what method do you give people the ability to have that ownership thinking? Yeah, I think that's was the big aha of looking at the entire system. Whereas previously I was looking at it in silos and only trying to solve problems when a fire arose rather than system operationally efficient, trying to get efficient and optimizing the entire system. So that was probably one of the big aha's for me. Didn't happen day one. But as I got to understand Deming more, the system view of how it all has to be working together for optimization just changes your lens totally.   0:19:51.5 Andrew Stotz: So you've talked about PDSA, you've talked about operational definitions, you've talked about systems thinking, three core principles. One last thing on PDSA is like, I wonder what percent of the total value of doing PDSA comes from doing PDSA. In other words, the actual part of forcing yourself to get people in a room to discuss what's the problem, the Fishbone diagram, think about what's our aim, what's our theory, what's our hypothesis? Let's write that down. How are we going to study that? How we know if our hypothesis was true and you know, that type of thing. And sometimes I, after listening to you, I was thinking it, I suspect that a large amount of the final benefit you get from a PDSA is really front end loaded in all the work that you do to set it up.   0:20:48.3 Travis Timmons: Yeah, yeah. Going back to your comment earlier Andrew, on when you were at Pepsi, if I heard you correctly, you didn't really have the ability to share voice or to have an impact on the system. I think you're spot on, the PDSA itself, a couple things, number one as a small business owner, you got to check your ego at the door. Your team sees stuff happening that you don't have visibility on and they're probably going to have better ideas on how to fix it than you might if you're removed from it a step or two. And then the culture of like, oh, Travis is going to listen to my ideas. I find value in that. And then when we implement a change, like nobody likes change. Right? But when you've worked on it collectively as a team and you're ready to move forward with it, that's a game changer. You're not pushing a string at that point. Everybody's leaning in because they understand they're part of the solution and you're allowing that. Where a lot of businesses are top down, command and control, that doesn't usually work very well. So yeah, I think you're spot on, Andrew.   0:22:02.5 Travis Timmons: I think that so much happens with the PDSA process from a culture and team involvement. And if you don't have that, you're going to have a hard time retaining team members, in my opinion.   0:22:16.9 Andrew Stotz: So you look like a pretty relaxed guy compared to probably what you were like many years ago when this all was going on. Maybe take us through. Okay, so you're implementing these things and what's happening, what changes are happening, what transformation is going on with you and with your organization?   0:22:36.9 Travis Timmons: Yeah, so it's a multi-year process that we went through. Still a lot of work, you know, it's not like, hey, this just solves every problem. It just changes all the lenses you look through and you have a by what method path. Here's how we are going to think about our business. So that got rid of a lot of confusion for me. I knew how we were going to go from this size business to my, we had a BHAG, Big Hairy Audacious Goal from Good to Great. We wanted to have four facilities. At the time I went through Deming, we had one. We wanted to have four facilities or more to see if we could replicate our high level of care, team member engagement, all those things. So we were working, I was working just as many hours then. It just was not frustrating, it was exciting. It was a lot of collaboration that was energizing and everything as we scaled got easier. I was not going to be able to scale our business with what I was doing because had I scaled it, the headaches would have just been out of control. The loss of revenue, like there would have just been so much inefficiency on our organization.   0:24:00.4 Travis Timmons: So I would say for that next from 2013 through 2018, we got really locked in. So we spent about, I was a little conservative at the time. I was also in Army National Guard, so had a trip across the pond and just wasn't quite at a point where I could financially roll the dice and start multiplying locations and stuff like that. But around 2018, 2019, we got to the point where the team knew Deming well. I felt like we put a lot of systems, processes in place that were replicatable and I'm like, all right, here comes a real big PDSA. We're going to go get another clinic, we're going to go do another location, and we're going to test it. So that was a big PDSA. A lot of the ones we had done up to that were small. At some point you got to go a little bigger. And we were very confident in our model. So we acquired a practice in our town and like, hey, 80% of what they do is what we do, 20% is not Deming and service lines and stuff like that. So our theory, our PDSA, was can we acquire and put Fitness Matters, culture and process in place and grow?   0:25:26.3 Travis Timmons: And we did. We were very successful with that. I had team member retention with that. You know, a lot of times when you buy out another business kind of, people head for the doors, including the owner. That owner is still working with us six years later, then we started growing. It's like, all right, here we go. We can do another one. We can do another one. Put leadership in place at each location that understand Deming. We have our processes written down. We have operational definitions written down. People know what PDSA is. If they're new to our team, it takes them about six months to figure out what all these acronyms mean. So now we're going quicker since, you know, since in the last four years, as an example, we've tripled our physical therapy volume and doubled our private pay wellness volume. And in the service line, that's fairly fast growth. Probably not fast in the IT world, but in the service line growth in a very competitive market with how physical therapy and referrals work. There aren't many private practices left out there because it's so competitive where we're thriving.   0:26:41.4 Andrew Stotz: It seems like a hard business. It seems like a hard business to scale because there's this personal aspect, there's this interaction. You know, think about the exact opposite. I don't know, let's say Instagram or whatever. There's zero personal interaction. It can scale to billions. What are the constraints to growth that you feel in your business.   0:27:03.3 Travis Timmons: So constraints are reimbursement from health insurance, referrals from physicians, because health care is consolidating. So a health care system buys up smaller organizations, physicians, and then they have physical therapy within those systems and then they're highly encouraged to refer their physical therapy in-house. So that's a big challenge for us. So we don't, we're not owned by physicians. So we have to, we have to be the best at what we do for physicians and clients to want to choose us. So one of the things Dr. Deming really big on at quality, right. You have to continually have a system that has improving quality as you grow. And the way we grow is we have our outcomes. So how well a patient does at the end of a plan of care is roughly 35% higher than national average. We're 35% above the competition because of our processes, our system, our clients, how we look at integrating our clients from the first visit, the first phone call, follow-on visits, the entire, again, thinking back to that system conversation. And I think a lot of businesses, if they haven't been exposed to Deming, they miss that very critical piece of, if your sales isn't aligned with your implementation, isn't aligned with your billing process, anywhere along that service line, going through that fishbone, if it's all not good, like we could give excellent physical therapy care, but if we have a horrible billing system, we lose clients, end of story. If we have a horrible process of answering the phone to schedule evaluations, we're out of business.   0:29:00.0 Travis Timmons: Could have the best physical therapists in the world. So, yeah, that's what it's allowed us to do from a scaling and fun standpoint. And kind of now almost 27 years in we're at a point where, one of the litmus tests I had, like, if we do this well, if we really are all-in on Deming and it's system process definitions and we have it mapped out, this should run without Travis. And I see a lot of business owners are the choke point. Like they want to be the problem solver for everything. Everything has to flow through them, slow stuff down. You're not getting all of the information from your team that could solve problems so much quicker. So one of my litmus tests early on was like, if this really works well, the business should run without me present certainly for weeks and weeks at a time. And we're there. So that's why I look Relaxed now. I didn't look this relaxed a decade ago. So, it's fun, it's fun.   0:30:11.5 Andrew Stotz: I was looking for my Out of the Crisis book, but I went online and I wanted to highlight two of the 14 points because it's something that you mentioned about improving your process and all of that. And the first one is the first point and you know, it's the first point for a reason. And number one is "create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service with the aim to become competitive and stay in business and provide jobs." And number five is "improve constantly and forever, the system of production and service to improve quality and productivity and thus constantly decrease costs." So how do you embody that in your business, this, because when I first read the "constancy of purpose," I originally thought it meant pick your direction and stay constant with that. But then I started to realize, no, no, it's about how are we improving our product and service.   0:31:18.9 Travis Timmons: Yeah. So if you're not evolving with, technology is everywhere. Right. So if you're not paying attention to that within how it impacts your business and constantly trying to optimize how technology interfaces with your business, you're in trouble. So, like, we're right now getting ready to, I'd say once a year we do something fairly large within technology. Next year we're going to probably be changing our documentation software because there's a newer one out there that instead of having four different softwares we have to interface with, there'll be one. So that cuts down on rework, that cuts down on learning time for a new team member. There's less resistance for clients to understand how scheduling and billing work. So I don't know if I'm answering your question, Andrew, but I think from a standpoint of, I think it was Jack Welch I heard say years ago in an interview, "there's two ways a business is going. You're either growing or you're dying." And that resonated with me, there's no sitting still because if you do, you're going to get run over. So that's always looking through, can we make it easier to schedule?   0:32:40.0 Travis Timmons: Like right now we don't offer online scheduling for physical therapy. We will in 2026. And if we don't figure that out, it could be a reason that we would eventually go out of business. So I just looked through that mindset. There's always somebody coming after you.   0:32:58.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, yeah, that's...   0:33:00.3 Travis Timmons: Complacency doesn't work.   0:33:01.3 Andrew Stotz: I like to think about when I was young and I took a break and I stood still. I was standing on the flat ground, no problem. But now with my 87 year old mother, if she goes one day, two days, three days without movement, she's going backwards and it's harder to catch back up. And I start to realize she's operating on a plane that has been slanted against her. And eventually the slant will win against all of us. But in the world of business if you think, well it's not about growing or dying, well, there's someone out there trying to take your business by providing a better product or service. And that's just the reality that actually is invigorating to know that, and as Dr. Deming said to have a great competitor is such a valuable thing. If you're just poking around and you're doing okay in market you're probably not going to improve as much. So that the focus on improvement is something that I just find really fascinating. There's another question that I have which is these days, way I look at like the job of leadership is that it's like imagine a very strong magnet ahead of you and you're constantly pulled to that magnet.   0:34:37.7 Andrew Stotz: That magnet is the average, the consensus what everybody's doing. And you can't help but feel that force. And if you don't realize that you're being affected by that force, you're just being pulled into it. And what I mean by that is if you say, well, what if we tried something different, a different way of doing something and then you go to customers, no, sorry, your competitor does this. If you don't do that, I'm not going to give you the business. And so you're naturally drawn towards the center or towards consensus, but what you're doing is trying to pull your business and yourself and your thinking and your team away from that and saying there's a different way. And how hard is that?   0:35:24.4 Travis Timmons: It's hard. You have to have a different lens. Comment earlier, the problem named is the problem solved. One of the things, I love that analogy. I've never heard it described that way. In physical therapy it's very common for a physical therapist to have two or three patients scheduled at the same time because the problem that was named by most organizations is poor arrival rate. And if you have holes in your schedule you're not getting paid. So they look at that as a revenue loss. So to answer your question, that's where our industry is. Like you got a double, triple book or you're going to have lower revenue. Well, what that does is it increases, in my opinion, increases the likelihood that people are not going to come because they're going to have a bad experience, they're going to have poor outcomes. Physicians are going to stop referring because their patients aren't getting better. So problem named is the problem solved? And we pulled, I like that magnet. I'm going to use that one. But pulled away and said, no, if we provide one on one care at a very high level and the entire system works well for the patient, they're going to show up, they're going to continue to show up.   0:36:49.0 Travis Timmons: They're going to be happy to pay for the service we're offering because it's going to be exceptional. And because they show up, they're going to get better. And because they get better, they're going to go tell their doctor and then more doctors are going to refer to us. And that's thinking much differently. So that gets to the problem name, problem solved. Or using your magnet example, we are like, physicians come and talk to us all the time. They're like, are you really only seeing the patients one-on-one? Are you really doing that? Because nobody else says they can do that. It's like, yes, we are. That's exactly how we're doing it. And that's why you're here talking to us right now. Because it's so much different. You can't, there's some things that are just immeasurable. Like Dr. Deming talks about that quite a bit. We don't have to market, we don't spend... I shouldn't say, we don't have to market. We don't spend nearly the amount of money on marketing that our competitors do because we have physicians saying, hey, what's different over there? That's invisible. Right? That's invisible.   0:37:56.9 Andrew Stotz: And they weren't saying that in the beginning, but over the time they got that...   0:38:01.4 Travis Timmons: Yeah, yeah. It's a process, but you know, like the flywheel. We use that flywheel example. And now it's like, we're having a hard time hiring enough team members to keep up with the growth. One of the other thing's, "joy in work." Dr. Deming talks about joy in work a lot. And that's to your question earlier about continual improvement and jobs. So we exist, there's a lot of burnout in healthcare. You can't hardly open a business article.   0:38:37.7 Andrew Stotz: Seems paradoxical.   0:38:40.4 Travis Timmons: But it's because two and three patients at a time burdened with administrative stuff. So we also exist because, man, it's so fun when you have a team member join you from one of those other organizations and we've had eight new team members we've hired since July. And I have what I call a fresh eyes lunch with them a month in. And every one of them has said, my spouse can't believe how much happier and more enjoyable I am to be around. If that doesn't motivate you to want to continue to grow, I don't know what does. So that's the joy in work piece that Dr. Deming talked about a lot.   0:39:24.6 Andrew Stotz: And let's now talk about one other thing, which is I was just talking, I gave a speech last night in Bangkok to some business owners and then we had a dinner out and I was explaining to them that like, there's a disease that's come from America, not from Wuhan, China, in this case. It's come America, it's spread all across Thailand. And you really have to be careful with this disease. It's a deadly disease. And I said, and particularly Thailand, where there's harmony. People enjoy working together. They want a fun environment, they want to make friends at work. It's a little, it's very different from a US work environment where it's like, go there, deliver, go home, separate lives. That's not the way Thai people see work. And the disease is, the disease of individual KPIs and saying everybody, by optimizing each individual, we are optimizing the whole. And I'm trying to get them to realize like, there's another way. And I'm curious I'm sure if you're getting people from the bigger institutions and stuff, they're being KPI'd to death. And how do you, how do you manage the idea that I don't want to optimize the individual, I want to optimize the whole system, but yet I also want employees to know they gotta do a good job. So how do you manage that?   0:41:03.2 Travis Timmons: It's hard when somebody comes, because you're right, there's a lot of PTSD. I've got an example from today. So we turned on, within our system, there's a net promoter score that can be sent out to patients automatically after their first couple visits with us. And we turn it off and on from time to time just to get the voice of the customer, right. I think Dr. Deming talks about the voice of the customer and who all. So it's like, hey, we haven't done that in a while. We're going to turn it back on. And there were several therapists that were like, wait a minute, you're scoring me? And then if I get a low score, I'm in trouble. So we have to spend a lot of time educating the team on some of that old head trash. It's like, no, this is to study the system and where we can improve either improving our operational definition, whatever it is, give the team member tools on how to handle a difficult client. But to your point, you have, people's brains are so wired in the way you just described. So part of it is we, we let them know up front, like, here's why we don't have employee of the month at Fitness Matters.   0:42:15.4 Travis Timmons: Here's why we don't have the parking lot for employee of the month at Fitness. Like, all of those rewards, how all of the negative unintended consequences that can go along with that. Like even giving an individual an award in a group setting. Like, we had a team who's one of my clinic directors, the business she came from before, they had like a WWE, like the heavyweight wrestling, big champion belt. They had one of those. And each week somebody would give the belt to whoever they thought was the best employee that week. And she didn't get it for like two months in a row. And she was crushed. She's like, people don't like me. So it's fun to talk about the negative unintended consequences of the individual reward, the individual competitions. We could talk for an hour about motivating via monetary motivation. That's probably a whole nother podcast. But to answer your question, we have to make it very known why we don't do those things. Because as much as people hate some of that stuff, they also expect it. Yeah, why don't, why don't we have employee of the month? You mean I'm not going to get in trouble if I get a low net promoter score from one patient?   0:43:34.3 Travis Timmons: It's like, no, we know we hire good people. We know you do your best job every day. They could be upset because their billing didn't go correctly. So we just need to know. So I don't know if that answers your question, but it's a big thing because you do have to still track KPIs or you're out of business. Like, you do have to know what's going on within your system to measure it. It's just that concept of we all are responsible for the output of the system and the system has to produce exceptional results.   0:44:06.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, yeah.   0:44:07.9 Travis Timmons: And we have to have a weight by what method. We have to have a system to create whether you're doing plumbing, electrical work. Like if you're going to scale a business, you have to have a repeatable product that can scale.   0:44:23.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And one of the answers to that too is if you believe 94% of the problems come from the system, then even when an employee is identified as having a bad net promoter score, then the question is, does the 94% apply in that situation? Well, generally yes. And so let's dig in. I have some people that ask me like my, one of the guys last night at this event works for a bank and they have put KPIs into everything. And he was saying, I just can't escape. But another guy was like, well, I have my own business and I can do what I want. I've implemented KPIs, but what should I do? I said the first step in disentangling yourself from this individual KPI situation is just to disconnect compensation to the KPI. So just right there, there's still incentive for the employee to do something bad for the organization to do their best. But when you remove that compensation aspect, you've really taken away a huge part of the incentive. So even if you have to keep KPIs, take away the tie to compensation and then they say, well, that's the whole reason why we're supposed to do it is have the tie to compensation.   0:45:44.5 Andrew Stotz: And I said, yes, it's a little bit of a circular references cannot be resolved.   0:45:49.7 Travis Timmons: Right. Yeah. And I think we even give examples to the team as much as we can around why we don't do those type of things. Here's what would happen. And most people have worked in organizations when you point it out to them. So again, Dr. Deming talks about making the system visible. Point it out to them. If I bonused you like you see this, this used to be a thing at car dealerships. When you're buying a car, hey, you're going to get a call to rate your experience with me. If you don't give me a 10, it's going to impact my pay. And you're like, what? So we talk about that like hey, the net promoter score. If we did the same thing here and bonused you on every 10, then you're going to be bothering your patients to fill that survey out. Or if you're afraid they're going to give you low score, you're not going to, you're going to encourage them not to do it. And then me as the owner, I'm not going to hear about system breakdowns. So to answer your, I think it's an important thing that a lot of businesses like number one, don't tie compensation to your KPIs.   0:46:58.3 Travis Timmons: Like just, it's an output of the system and then explaining it to them and giving examples over time because their brains even though they hated it, like we don't do performance reviews, annual performance review. And people hate them. And I still get asked like hey, when are you doing my annual performance review? It's like do you want to do one? Well no.   0:47:21.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. We dropped performance appraisals in 2016 in my coffee business here in Thailand and we never looked back. We didn't come up with any particular stunning replacement. We just knew it was bad and we were willing to just walk away from what was bad. I want to wrap up and just get into the... What are the, let's talk about kind of extrinsic versus intrinsic. There's some external factors that we can say this Deming implementation provided these benefits to our company and then there's this internal or intrinsic benefits that you're getting. Maybe you can go through some of those benefits of where you're at now, what you're able to do now and we'll close it on that note of kind of what's the hope for somebody that's stuck in the situation. They're the entrepreneurial seizure, they're the technician, they're great at physical therapy, they start their physical therapy business and they're just scaling chaos basically. Tell us about, give us hope.   0:48:37.8 Travis Timmons: Yeah, no, happy to, the reason I have had the opportunity to speak in a lot of different settings about Dr. Deming and the reason I do it is because it's brought so much joy to me personally and to a ever growing team. It's having a positive impact on lives and the more I can do that, that gets to the intrinsic motivation. So the joy in work, there's a lot of bad organizations out there that just suck the life out of people. So that's my intrinsic motivation at this stage of the game of if Fitness Matters is bigger, so more jobs, there's more people having a positive experience in life and our outcomes being 35% higher, our community is getting healthier. So that's the intrinsic motivation at this stage. It's fun. I know again, we're not perfect. So continuous improvement to our conversation earlier. But the intrinsic motivation is the busier Fitness Matters gets, the busier Fitness Matters gets because of high outcomes and it's positive experience for more people in life. Extrinsically, I guess that gets to community outcomes. So that's intrinsic and extrinsic. You know, extrinsically, if you get this figured out, it's very easy to scale a business.   0:50:06.0 Andrew Stotz: And tell us about your scale, where are you at or where are your averages versus national averages? You know, what have you accomplished that's driving that external factors, let's call it.   0:50:19.4 Travis Timmons: Yeah. So a couple things. One, externally, a practice like ours nationally on average is growing at 9% to 10%. We're currently clipping along at 25% to 30%. So you know, that flywheel effect and chaos is no longer there. So we have process, so it's easier to scale. The other extrinsic piece is because of our outcomes and continuing scale, we're able to negotiate better rates with our insurance companies to reinforce our strong desire to keep one-on-one care model. So Deming talks about who all is part of your system. So insurance companies are part of our system and we don't have a lot of control over them. But because our data is so powerful externally, we have been able to negotiate higher rates than most of our competitors because our data speaks for itself.   0:51:23.2 Andrew Stotz: Faster growth, the ability to negotiate better terms because you're delivering better product and service generally means higher profit margins.   0:51:34.2 Travis Timmons: Yes.   0:51:34.6 Andrew Stotz: Fast growth with higher profit margins generally means you're generating more cash and you're no longer in cash crisis all the time and you have resources to decide, okay, now we want to expand or we want to invest or whatever.   0:51:50.9 Travis Timmons: Right.   0:51:51.4 Andrew Stotz: Is that...   0:51:51.9 Travis Timmons: Yeah, the cash crunch was real those first 10 years. So yeah, to your point, when you get to the other side of that and process is a big part of that so you're having a whole counting process, but yeah, you get to that size. But yeah, the intrinsic piece, one of the reasons I talk about Deming as much as I can. I've got two sons that are in college. My hope is there's more companies in the world today than there were 10 years ago that know about Deming, because that means there's a higher likelihood that my boys will work at a Deming company. And just seeing what a lot of companies do to people, we as owners have a big responsibility, I feel, we have a big responsibility to have a positive impact on our employees. And you're, as an owner, are responsible for that, in my opinion. And if you get it right, man, is it fun to look in the mirror or sit down with a team member or their spouse and be proud of, be proud of what you built. That's at the end of the day, the intrinsic motivation.   0:52:57.9 Travis Timmons: If you can be proud of what your product is and proud of the impact you're having on your team to where you're not sucking the life out of them, but actually intrinsically motivating them. There's not much else you can accomplish in business that was worth more than that, in my opinion.   0:53:18.5 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, wonderful. That's a great way to end it. What's the likelihood that our children are going to be working in a Deming company? Well, that's the whole reason why we are here talking about it. So, Travis, I want to say on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you for this discussion and of course, for listeners out there and viewers, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. This is your host, Andrew Stotz. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, and I believe it's probably one of Travis's too people are entitled to joy in work.   0:53:56.0 Travis Timmons: Love it. Love it. Thank you, Andrew.   0:53:58.0 Andrew Stotz: Yep.

Beaker and Ghosty bring the list home, breaking down what makes these true-story inspired films so creepy. Relaxed vibes, big laughs, and a few surprising facts about the real events behind the scaresHave an interesting story to share? Please tell us about it, email: evp.pod@gmail.comFollow us on social media (@evp.pod) and check out all the ways to listen and watch the podcast: ⁠https://linktr.ee/evp.pod⁠Looking for the best shop to find paranormal investigating equipment, check out Ghost Stop: ⁠https://ghoststop.com/?rfsn=6873776.882712

Within their January focus on How to Live the Second Half Spiritually, the Eyres overview a thought-and-prayer sequence that creates a spiritual paradigm for the day ahead: Relaxed, Remembr, Rethink, Release, Request, Receive, Respond, Rejoice... taking some spelling liberties to create the pattern formed by eight seven-letter words that all start with RE.

What if you didn't have to save 70% of your income to retire early? What if you could hit a number in your 30s, ease off the gas, and still reach financial independence—without sacrificing your present life? That's Coast FIRE, and today's guest Andy Hill is the perfect example of how it works in real life. Andy hit his Coast FIRE number in his late thirties, left his corporate job at 40, and now runs a successful part-time business that supports his family of four while giving him total control over his time. In this conversation, Andy breaks down his journey from W2 employee to entrepreneur, the specific Coast FIRE calculations that gave him confidence to leave, and how he built a business that prioritizes family first, income second. This Episode Covers: What Coast FIRE actually is and how it's different from traditional FIRE Andy's path from corporate employee to hitting his Coast FIRE number in his late 30s How Andy built the confidence to leave his W2 job at 40 Transitioning from employee to entrepreneur while supporting a family of four Building a part-time business that generates enough income without the corporate grind How Coast FIRE allows you to prioritize family and lifestyle now (not just in retirement) Key lessons from Andy's book 'Own Your Time' How to structure your life around what matters most If traditional FIRE feels too extreme or you're tired of delaying life for decades, Coast FIRE might be the strategy you've been looking for. Andy's story proves you can have financial independence AND a life you love today. Connect with Andy Hill: Social: https://www.instagram.com/marriagekidsandmoney Website: https://marriagekidsandmoney.com/ Pre-Order ‘Own Your Time' Now: https://marriagekidsandmoney.com/book/ Subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter: www.biggerpocketsmoney.com Follow BiggerPockets Money on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BPMoney Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biggerpocketsmoney/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

➡️ Interested in 1-1 mental performance coaching? Schedule your free introductory call to learn more: https://www.successstartswithin.com/get-coaching

In today's episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on a very real-time expansion I'm stepping into this year — and inviting you to come along for the ride. Every year, I choose one new skill to learn deeply. For 2026, that skill is real estate investing, specifically multi-family properties (five doors and up). Not because tapping is going anywhere — quite the opposite. My tapping business is thriving, and I'm now asking a new question: How do I steward my money wisely, grow long-term wealth, and stay regulated while doing it? This episode is about what rich and relaxed actually looks like for me — not in theory, but in real life — and the five intentional choices I'm making this year to build wealth without abandoning my body, my faith, or the people I love. In This Episode, I Share: 1️⃣ RICH: Becoming a Multi-Family Real Estate Investor I share why I'm officially stepping into the identity of a real estate investor, how this calling has followed me since I was a teenager, and why multi-family properties feel like the most aligned next chapter. I also talk about trusting intuitive nudges — including how watching Powerhouse Women last year led me directly to Veena Jetti, who is now mentoring me through this journey. This isn't a pivot away from tapping — it's an expansion of how I build wealth and legacy. 2️⃣ RELAXED: Tapping Regularly + Weekly Practitioner Support Tapping remains my non-negotiable nervous system hygiene. I share: Why you don't scale past regulation — you scale through it How tapping helps me move through fear, visibility blocks, and new-industry discomfort Why emotionally regulated women create the most sustainable wealth Rich women invest in emotional safety, not just strategy. 3️⃣ RICH: Investing in Experiences & Trips With My Daughter Wealth isn't just numbers — it's memories. I talk about: Why experiences with my daughter are a core investment strategy Modeling freedom, presence, and abundance for the next generation Choosing “money well spent” moments we'll remember forever This is the kind of wealth I want her to feel in her body. 4️⃣ RELAXED: Quality Time With Friends in Beautiful Places Connection is regulation. I share how: Time with friends in nourishing environments has been deeply healing Women gathering creates clarity, ideas, confidence, and expansion Leaders need spaces where they don't have to lead These weekends don't just relax me — they make me richer in every way. 5️⃣ RICH: Deepening My Relationship With God & Faith This is the foundation of everything. I talk openly about: Letting God be the strategy Releasing the need to control outcomes Trusting guidance over grind Asking for what's meant for me to stay — and what isn't to be removed As teachers like Joe Dispenza and David Ghiyam often share: when you connect to the Creator first, life starts working for you. A Gentle Invitation If you're learning a new skill this year…If you're expanding financially, emotionally, spiritually, or relationally…If you're craving a version of success that doesn't cost you your nervous system… You're in the right place. ✨ Reflection Question:What would your five things be if your goal this year was to be rich AND relaxed? Continue the Journey With Me If tapping, regulation, and intentional wealth are part of your 2026 vision, I invite you to join us inside the Wildly Wealthy Woman Experience — an intimate sisterhood of women committed to receiving more without burning out. And if this episode resonated, it would mean the world to me if you: Share it with 3 women you want to see rich & relaxed this year Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Send me your questions — I'm sharing this journey in real time to support@jackiemcdonald.ca JOIN THE WILDLY WEALTHY WOMAN EXPERIENCE & COMMUNITY https://jackie-mcdonald.mykajabi.com/offers/JY4fkzcd/checkout

You may have noticed that your mind is out of control. It's filled with racing thoughts, ancient neuroses and grudges, revenge fantasies… So why are we like this and what can be done about it? Today, we're talking to one of our favorite people and also one of the most prominent meditation teachers in the West, Joseph Goldstein, about how "ridiculous" our minds are – that's a word he uses a lot to describe the mind – and some really compelling ways to train the mind. Spoiler: having a sense of humor is crucial here. Just by way of context: this is the first in a series of episodes with Joseph, focusing on the phrases he uses while he's teaching Buddhism and meditation. Dan and Joseph are collaborating on a book that will be a compilation of these phrases and how to use them. This book won't be out for several years, but as Dan conducts a series of interviews with Joseph, we'll release them here on the podcast. There's another part coming out this Sunday, January 4th.  Just to give you a little taste, here are the phrases we'll be covering in today's episode:   Just begin again Sit and know you're sitting Relaxed, not casual  More or less mindful  Thieves of meditation Mara, I see you. Ridiculous The mind has no pride Soundtrack  The mind is the forerunner of all things.  These might not make any sense right now, but you'll hear Joseph explain each of these, where they came from, and how to use them in your meditation practice AND in your daily life. Incredibly practical, bite-sized wisdom.    Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Thanks to our sponsor: LinkedIn:  Spend $250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn ads and get a $250 credit for the next one. Just go to linkedin.com/happier.  To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris  

As the new year kicks off, Dr. Killeen shares a simple (and funny) story that turns into a powerful reminder about focus and presence. From dentistry to leadership to life at home, we're often doing one thing while mentally being somewhere else. In this episode, he talks about why being “where your feet are” matters—and offers a few practical ways to slow down, stay present, and actually enjoy the moment you're in. Relaxed, relatable, and a great reset for the year ahead.

FIreworks can stress your pets out. Dr. Claire Guichard from Lakeview Veterinary Hospital explains how to help them.

Send us a textIn this compilation episode, we explore how nervous system regulation plays a foundational role in children's focus, emotional balance, and ability to engage—especially for kids with sensory processing differences and autism.Drawing from two past conversations on the podcast, this episode highlights how overactive or underactive sensory systems can impact learning, behavior, and daily life. Rather than focusing solely on symptom management, these clips offer insight into body-based, nervous-system–informed approaches that support regulation and felt safety.You'll hear perspectives on Craniosacral Therapy (CST) and the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), including how these approaches work with the nervous system to reduce anxiety, improve engagement, and support developmental growth. In this episode, you'll hear:- Why nervous system regulation matters for children with sensory processing differences- How CST and SSP support regulation and felt safety in different ways- Practical insights and real-world examples from clinicians working with childrenEpisode Chapters:00:00 Understanding Sensory Systems in Children02:02 The Role of Craniosacral Therapy07:17 Real-Life Success Stories08:34 Introduction to Polyvagal Theory09:50 Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)11:54 Transformative Impact of SSPOriginal Episodes:This Gentle Therapy Will Leave Your Kids Calm & Relaxed with Dr. Sally Fryer Dietz: https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com/podcast/episode-142Soothe Your Child's Nervous System with Safe and Sound Protocol with Kelly Beins: https://www.mothersguidethroughautism.com/podcast/episode-139

Episode Title: I Am Relaxed By The Soothing Sound Of ThunderDescription:In this episode, we dive into the comforting and soothing sound of thunder. Discover how the gentle rumble of a thunderstorm can help quiet your mind, ease stress, and bring a deep sense of relaxation. We also share tips on how to use thunder sounds as a natural aid for meditation, sleep, or simply finding a moment of peace in your day.Take a few minutes to immerse yourself in this calming audio experience and let the rhythmic roll of thunder wash away tension. Remember, these small moments of calm can have a big impact on your overall well-being.Stay tuned for more episodes designed to help you unwind and find tranquility in everyday life.DISCLAIMER

Episode Title: I Feel Relaxed As ASMR Sounds Flow Around MeDescription:In this episode, we immerse ourselves in the soothing world of ASMR sounds and how they gently wash over us to create a deep sense of relaxation. Discover the calming effects of whispered voices, soft tapping, and delicate rustling, and learn how incorporating these sounds into your daily routine can help reduce stress and promote mental calmness. Whether you're new to ASMR or a longtime fan, this episode offers a peaceful escape and practical tips to bring more tranquility into your life.Take a moment for yourself today—let the gentle flow of ASMR sounds guide you to a place of calm and ease.Tune in next time as we continue exploring simple ways to nurture your peace and relaxation.DISCLAIMER

Episode Title: Calm and Relaxed Rain Sounds for AnxietyDescription:In this episode, we immerse ourselves in the soothing sounds of rain to help ease anxiety and promote relaxation. Discover how gentle rain rhythms can create a peaceful atmosphere, making it easier to unwind and find mental clarity. We also share tips on using rain sounds as a natural aid for stress relief and how to integrate them into your daily self-care routine.Take a moment to breathe deeply and let the calming rain wash away tension. Small pauses like these can bring significant peace to your busy day.Join us next time as we continue exploring simple ways to nurture calmness and balance in your life.DISCLAIMER

The boys gather 'round the yule log once again, each delivering a tale of Christmas terror perfectly suited to the hosts' specialties: historical context, animal-based horror, and last but certainly not least, otherworldly visitors. For Live Shows, Merch, and More Visit: www.LastPodcastOnTheLeft.comKevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Last Podcast on the Left ad-free, plus get Friday episodes a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shallow is joined by Veronica Zuccala, Pre-Script coach and neuroscience graduate, to unpack what sprinting really demands from the body and the nervous system. We bridge the gap between neuroscience, biomechanics, and real-world coaching experience, covering skill acquisition, prediction error, weight room transfer, and more. https://www.instagram.com/veronicazuccala/ PSL1 enrolment is now live! Sign Up at https://www.pre-script.com/psl1 FREE Coach's Field Guide: https://www.pre-script.com/coachs-field-guide Spoken Nutrition: 15% Off Your Order! www.spokennutrition.com/RXD We've got a new sponsor! Marek Health is a health optimization company that offers advanced blood testing, health coaching, and expert medical oversight. Our services can help you enhance your lifestyle, nutrition, and supplementation to medical treatment and care. https://marekhealth.com/rxd Code RXD Don't miss the release of our newest educational community - The Pre-Script ® Collective! Join the community today at www.pre-script.com. For other strength training, health, and injury prevention resources, check out our website, YouTube channel, and Instagram. For more episodes, subscribe and tune in to our podcast. Also, make sure to sign up to our mailing list at www.pre-script.com to get the first updates on new programming releases. You can also follow Dr. Jordan Shallow and Dr. Jordan Jiunta on Instagram! Dr. Jordan Shallow: https://www.instagram.com/the_muscle_doc/ Dr. Jordan Jiunta: https://www.instagram.com/redwiteandjordan/ 0:00 Intro 2:14 Why sprinting is a nervous system problem 4:58 Prediction error and skill learning 7:25 Learning sprinting alone vs with a coach 12:48 Relaxed aggression and speed execution 14:22 Weight room shapes that transfer to sprinting 19:55 Strength before speed matters 24:41 Sprinting and general population clients 29:24 Managing fatigue and recovery properly 33:14 Sprinting as an exaggerated form of walking 42:11 Volume, frequency, and adaptation windows 49:09 Sprinting as a tool for sport, not the goal 54:20 Coaching for longevity, not performance theatrics

This week's episode is a little different—Steven is out sick, so it's just Devon and Ben holding down the fort. The result is a loose, thoughtful conversation that bounces from pop culture overload to philosophy, creativity, and the art of not trying so hard. Real Life  Devon kicks things off with a trip looming on the horizon, bringing equal parts snow, stress, and snowboarding. That spirals nicely into media consumption: thoughts on Switch 2, Mario Maker 2, and catching up on a new Wes Anderson film alongside a Knives Out rewatch. Cozy movies, big style, and just enough distraction to keep the anxiety at bay. Ben's week leans cinematic and slightly exasperated. Avatar: Fire and Ash clocks in at over three hours, which raises some questions about restraint. We also talk about the newly dropped Avengers: Doomsday teaser—officially slated for December 18, 2026—and the ever-growing pile of what Ben dubs AI slop. The hype machine grinds on. Future or Now Ben files this one firmly under Now, bringing in an essay titled "The Appropriate Amount of Effort Is Zero" from Expanding Awareness. You can read it here: https://expandingawareness.org/blog/the-appropriate-amount-of-effort-is-zero/ The conversation clicks immediately, especially when paired with that classic Star Wars line: "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Devon connects this idea directly to music—specifically guitar playing—and how tension kills creativity. No clenched jaw. No face squinching. Relaxed hands, relaxed mind. Ben takes it further, pulling in some Eastern philosophy and the idea that over-effort can actively work against you. Trying less, it turns out, might actually get you more. Book Club  No discussion this week, but we tee up next episode's reading: "The Janitor in Space" by Amber Sparks. If you want to read along, the story is available here: https://americanshortfiction.org/janitor-space/ It's short, strange, and very much in our wheelhouse—perfect fuel for next week's conversation. Steven will be back soon, Devon will (hopefully) survive the snow, and Ben will continue his quest to consume culture without being crushed by it. Until then: loosen your grip.

Wanna be wealthy and deeply feminine in 2026? This episode gives you the exact blueprint.I break down the three seasons of feminine healing, the emotional patterns driving female ambition, and the identity shifts required for sustainable wealth, healthy relationships, and effortless magnetism.Inside this episode, we dive into:Why you're a high-achieving womanThe 3 feminine transformation seasonsHow to enter your soft CEO Era2023–2025 - my inner growth recapMy monk mode protocol for 2026How to create wealth without hustleThe real emotional work behind feminine leadershipFoundations to become THE MAGNETIC WOMAN—If you're an ambitious woman ready to make more money, heal deeper, embody your feminine, and step into your next level… This episode is your roadmap.Cuz here's the truth, babe: wealth and femininity are not opposites — they amplify each other when your identity, nervous system, and lifestyle align. Because wealth isn't created through hustle anymore. Not for women like us. Not for women with ambition, depth, softness, and standards.2026 belongs to the women who lead with identity, nervous system capacity, emotional intelligence, and feminine magnetism.So today, I'm taking you through the exact inner work, outer work, and identity shifts I've made over the last 4 years — the ones that are setting me up for my biggest and softest year yet. So babe, grab your cacao or matcha, and a journal because you're going to want to implement these strategies so you can enter 2026 as a feminine baddie! —READY TO STEP INTO YOUR NEXT CHAPTER IN 2026?CLAIM YOUR SPECIAL – MY BIRTHDAY GIFT TO YOUDOWNLOAD MY BRAND NEW FREE GUIDE ON THIS PAGEReady to become The Magnetic Woman who attracts effortlessly in 2026 & save $$$ as an early bird? CLAIM YOUR SPOT IN MY BRAND NEW, EXCLUSIVE MASTERMIND EXPERIENCE HERE! —In this episode, I discuss: 01:10 - Intro to the episode - how to become wealthy and feminine in 202608:15 - A little life update - recent lessons, insights, realizations I embody now21:15 - Misconceptions about manifestation, alignment, and feminine energy29:00 - How to be magnetic and attract good things, even when life is life-ing31:15 - An uncomfortable truth: our drives get shaped during our childhood 36:00 - My turning point: explosive growth, burnout, and betrayal38:40 - The 3 seasons of feminine healing 43:25 - My monk mode protocol Similar Episode: Episode 148 - How to stop self-sabotaging and step into your power: boundaries, flow & nervous system healingConnect with Laura: Laura's Website: https://www.lauraherde.com/Laura's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laura.herde/Laura's 1-1 Coaching: https://www.lauraherde.com/application-1-1Laura's Coaching Certification Course: https://www.instagram.com/embodiedcoachacademy/>> EMAIL ME TO CONNECT/ FOR QUESTIONS: hello@lauraherde.com>> FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @laura.herde Feel free to share this episode with your bestie, and tag us on IG when you listen so we can repost you!Make sure to be subscribed to UNFUCK YOUR LIFE, we publish episodes every single Tuesday.Thank you so much for tuning in, love xx

Transitioning from relaxed to natural hair can feel overwhelming, especially when conflicting advice creates more confusion than clarity. In this episode of the UTK Podcast, our host is interviewed by a member of the podcast crew to answer real questions from someone considering transitioning to natural hair.We break down what the transition phase truly involves, from managing two textures to understanding why moisture, gentle manipulation, and proper detangling matter more than chasing products. This episode addresses common mistakes, realistic challenges, and practical habits that support healthier hair during the transition process.Tune in to gain clear guidance on moisture fundamentals, product selection, styling techniques, and what to avoid while transitioning. This episode is designed to help wo(men) make informed decisions, reduce breakage, and approach their natural hair journey with confidence, patience, and intention. Send us a textSend your questions about Afro-textured/coily hair to utkinhair@gmail.com.Check out your natural beauty hub, ÈYÍ DÁRA Naturals for natural hair care solutions.Follow us on instagram @utkpodcast

After a long military career, followed by years working in our nation’s capital, Rob Robinson knew it was time for him and Pattie to relax. A happy accident introduced them to Hot Springs Village. In August 2025, they moved into their custom-built home on Lake Maria. Let’s prowl around their porch and show off their house, too. Enjoy. • Join Our Free Email Newsletter • Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel (click that bell icon, too) • Join Our Facebook Group • Support Our Sponsors (Click on the images below to visit their websites.) __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________

Sucio Talks to Chef Kevin Finch!!A Salt Lake City native with a Michelin-starred resume that spans New York @betony, Bangkok, Shenzhen @ensue, San Francisco @ateliercrenn , and beyond, Kevin brings a global culinary perspective rooted in discipline, curiosity, and intention. With each chapter of his career, he's depended on his reverence for seasonality and place — from the burst of a summer tomato in his aunt's garden to sourcing unfamiliar ingredients halfway across the world. These experiences have shaped a thoughtful, produce-forward style of cooking that honors technique while welcoming constant evolution.Arthur is Kevin's first restaurant — a space where precise technique, thoughtful sourcing, and a deep sense of place quietly lead the way. Relaxed yet refined, it's built to feel both timeless and playful — a place to return to, again and again. #chef #cheflife #chefpodcast #chefs #cooks #michelin #NYC #greenpointbrooklyn #greenpoint #brooklyn

Relaxed, un-edited, casual Stoic Christmas chit chat. Video is available on Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State is focused on winning yet another national title. We all wait for the Miami-Texas A&M tussle this coming weekend to see who CFP opponent No. 1 will be. How are the Buckeyes spending their time? Steve Helwagen joins Dan Rubin as David Biddle suns himself in a tropical locale of mystery. Also ... how 'bout those Wolverines? We attempt to tackle the absolute craziness we all witnessed in realish time surrounding former head coach Sherrone Moore. Need more? Get our thoughts on Penn State's hiring of Matt Campbell. Bottom line: How does it ALL affect the good guys? Spend 5ish with us this a.m., 'Nutters! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can you be more relaxed about your writing process? What are some specific ways to take the pressure off your art and help you enjoy the creative journey? With Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre. In the intro, Spotify 2025 audiobook trends; Audible + BookTok; NonFiction Authors Guide to SubStack; OpenAI and Disney agreement on Sora; India AI licensing; Business for Authors January webinars; Mark and Jo over the years Mark Leslie LeFebvre is the author of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as nonfiction books for authors. He's also an editor, professional speaker, and the Director of Business Development at Draft2Digital. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, and memoir as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Mark and Jo co-wrote The Relaxed Author in 2021. You can listen to us talk about the process here. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights, and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Why the ‘relaxed' author Write what you love Write at your own pace Write in a series (if you want to) Schedule time to fill the creative well and for rest and relaxation Improve your writing process — but only if it fits with your lifestyle You can find The Relaxed Author: Take the Pressure Off Your Art and Enjoy the Creative Journey on CreativePennBooks.com as well as on your favorite online store or audiobook platform, or order in your library or bookstore. You can find Mark Leslie Lefebvre and his books and podcast at Stark Reflections.ca Why the ‘relaxed' author? Joanna: The definition of relaxed is “free from tension and anxiety,” from the Latin laxus, meaning loose, and to be honest, I am not a relaxed or laid-back person in the broader sense. Back in my teens, my nickname at school was Highly Stressed. I'm a Type A personality, driven by deadlines and achieving goals. I love to work and I burned out multiple times in my previous career as an IT consultant. If we go away on a trip, I pack the schedule with back-to-back cultural things like museums and art galleries to help my book research. Or we go on adventure holidays with a clear goal, like cycling down the South-West coast of India. I can't even go for a long walk without training for another ultra-marathon! So I am not a relaxed person — but I am a relaxed author. If I wanted to spend most of my time doing something that made me miserable, I would go back to my old day job in consulting. I was paid well and worked fewer hours overall. But I measure my life by what I create, and if I am not working on a creative project, I am not able to truly relax in my downtime. There are always more things I want to learn and write about, always more stories to be told and knowledge to share. I don't want to kill my writing life by over-stressing or burning out as an author. I write what I love and follow my Muse into projects that feel right. I know how to publish and market books well enough to reach readers and make some money. I have many different income streams through my books, podcast and website. Of course, I still have my creative and business challenges as well as mindset issues, just like any writer. That never goes away. But after a decade as a full-time author entrepreneur, I have a mature creative business and I've relaxed into the way I do things. I love to write, but I also want a full and happy, healthy life. I'm still learning and improving as the industry shifts — and I change, too. I still have ambitious creative and financial goals, but I am going about them in a more relaxed way and in this book, I'll share some of my experiences and tips in the hope that you can discover your relaxed path, too. Mark: One of the most fundamental things you can do in your writing life is look at how you want to spend your time. I think back to the concept of: ‘You're often a reflection of the people you spend the most time with.' Therefore, typically, your best friend, or perhaps your partner, is often a person you love spending time with. Because there's something inherently special about spending time with this person who resonates in a meaningful way, and you feel more yourself because you're with them. In many ways, writing, or the path that you are on as a writer, is almost like being on a journey with an invisible partner. You are you. But you are also the writer you. And there's the two of you traveling down the road of life together. And so that same question arises. What kind of writer-self do you want to spend all your time with? Do you want to spend all your time with a partner that is constantly stressed out or constantly trying to reach deadlines based on somebody else's prescription of what success is? Or would you rather spend time with a partner who pauses to take a contemplative look at your own life, your own comfort, your own passion and the things that you are willing to commit to? Someone who allows that all to happen in a way that feels natural and comfortable to you. I'm a fan of the latter, of course, because then you can focus on the things you're passionate about and the things you're hopeful about rather than the things you're fearful about and those that bring anxiety and stress into your life. To me, that's part of being a relaxed author. That underlying acceptance before you start to plan things out. If the writing life is a marathon, not a sprint, then pacing, not rushing, may be the key. We have both seen burnout in the author community. People who have pushed themselves too hard and just couldn't keep up with the impossible pace they set for themselves. At times, indie authors would wear that stress, that anxiety, that rush to produce more and more, as a badge of honor. It's fine to be proud of the hard work that you do. It's fine to be proud of pushing yourself to always do better, and be better. But when you push too far — beyond your limits — you can ultimately do yourself more harm than good. Everyone has their own unique pace—something that they are comfortable with—and one key is to experiment until you find that pace, and you can settle in for the long run. There's no looking over your shoulder at the other writers. There's no panicking about the ones outpacing you. You're in this with yourself. And, of course, with those readers who are anticipating those clearly communicated milestones of your releases. I think that what we both want for authors is to see them reaching those milestones at their own paces, in their own comfort, delighting in the fact their readers are there cheering them on. Because we'll be silently cheering them along as well, knowing that they've set a pace, making relaxed author lifestyle choices, that will benefit them in the long run. “I'm glad you're writing this book. I know I'm not the only author who wants peace, moments of joy, and to enjoy the journey. Indie publishing is a luxury that I remember not having, I don't want to lose my sense of gratitude.” —Anonymous author from our survey Write what you love Joanna: The pandemic has taught us that life really is short. Memento mori — remember, you will die. What is the point of spending precious time writing books you don't want to write? If we only have a limited amount of time and only have a limited number of books that we can write in a lifetime, then we need to choose to write the books that we love. If I wanted a job doing something I don't enjoy, then I would have remained in my stressful old career as an IT consultant — when I certainly wasn't relaxed! Taking that further, if you try to write things you don't love, then you're going to have to read what you don't love as well, which will take more time. I love writing thrillers because that's what I love to read. Back when I was miserable in my day job, I would go to the bookstore at lunchtime and buy thrillers. I would read them on the train to and from work and during the lunch break. Anything for a few minutes of escape. That's the same feeling I try to give my readers now. I know the genre inside and out. If I had to write something else, I would have to read and learn that other genre and spend time doing things I don't love. In fact, I don't even know how you can read things you don't enjoy. I only give books a few pages and if they don't resonate, I stop reading. Life really is too short. You also need to run your own race and travel your own journey. If you try to write in a genre you are not immersed in, you will always be looking sideways at what other authors are doing, and that can cause comparisonitis — when you compare yourself to others, most often in an unfavorable way. Definitely not relaxing! Writing something you love has many intrinsic rewards other than sales. Writing is a career for many of us, but it's a passion first, and you don't want to feel like you've wasted your time on words you don't care about. “Write what you know” is terrible advice for a long-term career as at some point, you will run out of what you know. It should be “write what you want to learn about.” When I want to learn about a topic, I write a book on it because that feeds my curiosity and I love book research, it's how I enjoy spending my time, especially when I travel, which is also part of how I relax. If you write what you love and make it part of your lifestyle, you will be a far more relaxed author. Mark: It's common that writers are drawn into storytelling from some combination of passion, curiosity, and unrelenting interest. We probably read or saw something that inspired us, and we wanted to express those ideas or the resulting perspectives that percolated in our hearts and minds. Or we read something and thought, “Wow, I could do this; but I would have come at it differently or I would approach the situation or subject matter with my own flair.” So, we get into writing with passion and desire for storytelling. And then sometimes along the way, we recognize the critical value of having to become an entrepreneur, to understand the business of writing and publishing. And part of understanding that aspect of being an author is writing to market, and understanding shifts and trends in the industry, and adjusting to those ebbs and flows of the tide. But sometimes, we lose sight of the passion that drew us to writing in the first place. And so, writing the things that you love can be a beacon to keep you on course. I love the concept of “Do something that you love, and you'll never work a day in your life.” And that's true in some regard because I've always felt that way for almost my entire adult life. I've been very lucky. But at the same time, I work extremely hard at what I love. Some days are harder than others, and some things are really difficult, frustrating and challenging; but at the end of the day, I have the feeling of satisfaction that I spent my time doing something I believe in. I've been a bookseller my entire life even though I don't sell books in brick-and-mortar bookstores anymore—that act of physically putting books in people's hands. But to this day, what I do is virtually putting books in people's hands, both as an author and as an industry representative who is passionate about the book business. I was drawn to that world via my passion for writing. And that's what continues to compel me forward. I tried to leave the corporate world to write full time in 2018 but realized there was an intrinsic satisfaction to working in that realm, to embracing and sharing my insights and knowledge from that arena to help other writers. And I couldn't give that up. For me, the whole core, the whole essence of why I get up in the morning has to do with storytelling, creative inspiration, and wanting to inspire and inform other people to be the best that they can be in the business of writing and publishing. And that's what keeps me going when the days are hard. Passion as the inspiration to keep going There are always going to be days that aren't easy. There will be unexpected barriers that hit you as a writer. You'll face that mid-novel slump or realize that you have to scrap an entire scene or even plotline, and feel like going back and re-starting is just too much. You might find the research required to be overwhelming or too difficult. There'll be days when the words don't flow, or the inspiration that initially struck you seems to have abandoned you for greener pastures. Whatever it is, some unexpected frustration can create what can appear to be an insurmountable block. And, when that happens, if it's a project you don't love, you're more likely to let those barriers get in your way and stop you. But if it's a project that you're passionate about, and you're writing what you love, that alone can be what greases the wheels and helps reduce that friction to keep you going. At the end of the day, writing what you love can be a honing, grounding, and centering beacon that allows you to want to wake up in the morning and enjoy the process as much as possible even when the hard work comes along. “For me, relaxation comes from writing what I know and love and trusting the emergent process. As a discovery writer, I experience great joy when the story, characters and dialogue simply emerge in their own time and their own way. It feels wonderful.” — Valerie Andrews “Writing makes me a relaxed author. Just getting lost in a story of my own creation, discovering new places and learning what makes my characters tick is the best way I know of relaxing. Even the tricky parts, when I have no idea where I am going next, have a special kind of charm.” – Imogen Clark Write at your own pace Mark: Writing at your own pace will help you be a more relaxed author because you're not stressing out by trying to keep up with someone else. Of course, we all struggle with comparing ourselves to others. Take a quick look around and you can always find someone who has written more books than you. Nora Roberts, traditionally published author, writes a book a month. Lindsey Buroker, fantasy indie author, writes a book a month of over 100,000 words. If you compare yourself to someone else and you try to write at their pace, that is not going to be your relaxed schedule. On the other hand, if you compare yourself to Donna Tartt, who writes one book every decade, you might feel like some speed-demon crushing that word count and mastering rapid release. Looking at what others are doing could result in you thinking you're really slow or you could think that you're super-fast. What does that kind of comparison actually get you? I remember going to see a talk by Canadian literary author Farley Mowat when I was a young budding writer. I'll never forget one thing he said from that stage: “Any book that takes you less than four years to write is not a real book.” Young teenage Mark was devastated, hurt and disappointed to hear him say that because my favorite author at the time, Piers Anthony, was writing and publishing two to three novels a year. I loved his stuff, and his fantasy and science fiction had been an important inspiration in my writing at that time. (The personal notes I add to the end of my stories and novels came from enjoying his so much). That focus on there being only a single way, a single pace to write, ended up preventing me from enjoying the books I had already been loving because I was doing that comparisonitis Joanna talks about, but as a reader. I took someone else's perspective too much to heart and I let that ruin a good thing that had brought me personal joy and pleasure. It works the same way as a writer. Because we have likely developed a pattern, or a way that works for us that is our own. We all have a pace that we comfortably walk; a way we prefer to drive. A pattern or style of how and when and what we prefer to eat. We all have our own unique comfort food. There are these patterns that we're comfortable with, and potentially because they are natural to us. If you try to force yourself to write at a pace that's not natural to you, things can go south in your writing and your mental health. And I'm not suggesting any particular pace, except for the one that's most natural and comfortable to you. If writing fast is something that you're passionate about, and you're good at it, and it's something you naturally do, why would you stop yourself from doing that? Just like if you're a slow writer and you're trying to write fast: why are you doing that to yourself? There's a common pop song line used by numerous bands over the years that exhorts you to “shake what you got.” I like to think the same thing applies here. And do it with pride and conviction. Because what you got is unique and awesome. Own it, and shake it with pride. You have a way you write and a word count per writing session that works for you. And along with that, you likely know what time you can assign to writing because of other commitments like family time, leisure time, and work (assuming you're not a full-time writer). Simple math can provide you with a way to determine how long it will take to get your first draft written. So, your path and plans are clear. And you simply take the approach that aligns with your writer DNA. Understanding what that pace is for you helps alleviate an incredible amount of stress that you do not need to thrust upon yourself. Because if you're not going to be able to enjoy it while you're doing it, what's the point? Your pace might change project to project While your pace can change over time, your pace can also change project to project. And sometimes the time actually spent writing can be a smaller portion of the larger work involved. I was on a panel at a conference once and someone asked me how long it took to write my non-fiction book of ghost stories, Haunted Hamilton. “About four days,” I responded. And while that's true — I crafted the first draft over four long and exhausting days writing as much as sixteen hours each day — the reality was I had been doing research for months. But the pen didn't actually hit the paper until just a few days before my deadline to turn the book over to my editor. That was for a non-fiction book; but I've found I do similar things with fiction. I noodle over concepts and ideas for months before I actually commit words to the page. The reason this comes to mind is that I think it's important to recognize the way that I write is I first spend a lot of time in my head to understand and chew on things. And then by the time it comes to actually getting the words onto the paper, I've already done much of the pre-writing mentally. It's sometimes not fair when you're comparing yourself to someone else to look at how long they physically spend in front of a keyboard hammering on that word count, because they might have spent a significantly longer amount of a longer time either outlining or conceptualizing the story in their mind or in their heart before they sat down to write. So that's part of the pace, too. Because sometimes, if we only look at the time spent at the ‘writer's desk,' we fool ourselves when we think that we're a slow writer or a fast writer. Joanna: Your pace will change over your career My first novel took 14 months and now I can write a first draft in about six weeks because I have more experience. It's also more relaxing for me to write a book now than it was in the beginning, because I didn't know what I was doing back then. Your pace will change per project I have a non-fiction work in progress, my Shadow Book (working title), which I have started several times. I have about 30,000 words but as I write this, I have backed away from it because I'm (still) not ready. There's a lot more research and thinking I need to do. Similarly, some people take years writing a memoir or a book with such emotional or personal depth that it needs more to bring it to life. Your pace will also shift depending on where you are in the arc of life Perhaps you have young kids right now, or you have a health issue, or you're caring for someone who is ill. Perhaps you have a demanding day job so you have less time to write. Perhaps you really need extended time away from writing, or just a holiday. Or maybe there's a global pandemic and frankly, you're too stressed to write! The key to pacing in a book is variability — and that's true of life, too. Write at the pace that works for you and don't be afraid to change it as you need to over time. “I think the biggest thing for me is reminding myself that I'm in this to write. Sometimes I can get caught up in all the moving pieces of editing and publishing and marketing, but the longer I go without writing, or only writing because I have to get the next thing done instead of for enjoyment, the more stressed and anxious I become. But if I make time to fit in what I truly love, which is the process of writing without putting pressure on myself to meet a deadline, or to be perfect, or to meet somebody else's expectations — that's when I become truly relaxed.” – Ariele Sieling Write in a series (if you want to) Joanna: I have some stand-alone books but most of them are in series, both for non-fiction and for my fiction as J.F. Penn. It's how I like to read and write. As we draft this book, I'm also writing book 12 in my ARKANE series, Tomb of Relics. It's relaxing because I know my characters, I know my world; I know the structure of how an ARKANE story goes. I know what to put in it to please my readers. I have already done the work to set up the series world and the main characters and now all I need is a plot and an antagonist. It's also quicker to write and edit because I've done it before. Of course, you need to put in the work initially so the series comes together, but once you've set that all up, each subsequent book is easier. You can also be more relaxed because you already have an audience who will (hopefully) buy the book because they bought the others. You will know approximately how many sales you'll get on launch and there will be people ready to review. Writing in a non-fiction series is also a really good idea because you know your audience and you can offer them more books, products and services that will help them within a niche. While they might not be sequential, they should be around the same topic, for example, this is part of my Books for Authors series. Financially, it makes sense to have a series as you will earn more revenue per customer as they will (hopefully) buy more than one book. It's also easier and more relaxing to market as you can set one book to free or a limited time discount and drive sales through to other books in the series. Essentially, writing a book in a series makes it easier to fulfill both creative and financial goals. However, if you love to read and write stand-alone books, and some genres suit stand-alones better than series anyway, then, of course, go with what works for you! Mark: I like to equate this to no matter where you travel in the world, if you find a McDonald's you pretty much know what's on the menu and you know what to expect. When you write in a series, it's like returning to hang out with old friends. You know their backstory; you know their history so you can easily fall into a new conversation about something and not have to get caught up on understanding what you have in common. So that's an enormous benefit of relaxing into something like, “Oh, I'm sitting down over coffee, chatting with some old friends. They're telling me a new story about something that happened to them. I know who they are, I know what they're made out of.” And this new plot, this new situation, they may have new goals, they may have new ways they're going to grow as characters, but they're still the same people that we know and love. And that's a huge benefit that I only discovered recently because I'm only right now working on book four in my Canadian Werewolf series. Prior to that, I had three different novels that were all the first book in a series with no book two. And it was stressful for me. Writing anything seemed to take forever. I was causing myself anxiety by jumping around and writing new works as opposed to realizing I could go visit a locale I'm familiar and comfortable with. And I can see new things in the same locale just like sometimes you can see new things and people you know and love already, especially when you introduce something new into the world and you see how they react to it. For me, there's nothing more wonderful than that sort of homecoming. It's like a nostalgic feeling when you do that. I've seen a repeated pattern where writers spend years writing their first book. I started A Canadian Werewolf in New York in 2006 and I did not publish it until ten years later, after finishing it in 2015. (FYI, that wasn't my first novel. I had written three and published one of them prior to that). That first novel can take so long because you're learning. You're learning about your characters, about the craft, about the practice of writing, about the processes that you're testing along the way. And if you are working on your first book and it's taking longer than planned, please don't beat yourself up for that. It's a process. Sometimes that process takes more time. I sometimes wonder if this is related to our perception of time as we age. When you're 10 years old, a day compared to your lifetime is a significant amount of time, and thinking about a year later is considering a time that is one-tenth of your life. When you have a few more decades or more under your belt, that year is a smaller part of the whole. If you're 30, a year is only one-thirtieth of your life. A much smaller piece. Just having written more books, particularly in a series, removes the pressure of that one book to represent all of you as a writer. I had initial anxiety at writing the second book in my Canadian Werewolf series. Book two was more terrifying in some ways than book one because finally, after all this time, I had something good that I didn't want to ruin. Should I leave well enough alone? But I was asked to write a short story to a theme in an anthology, and using my main character from that first novel allowed me to discover I could have fun spending more time with these characters and this world. And I also realized that people wanted to read more about these characters. I didn't just want to write about them, but other people wanted to read about them too. And that makes the process so much easier to keep going with them. So one of the other benefits that helps to relax me as a writer working on a series is I have a better understanding of who my audience is, and who my readers are, and who will want this, and who will appreciate it. So I know what worked, I know what resonated with them, and I know I can give them that next thing. I have discovered that writing in a series is a far more relaxed way of understanding your target audience better. Because it's not just a single shot in the dark, it's a consistent on-going stream. Let me reflect on a bit of a caveat, because I'm not suggesting sticking to only a single series or universe. As writers, we have plenty of ideas and inspirations, and it's okay to embrace some of the other ones that come to us. When I think about the Canadian rock trio, Rush, a band that produced 19 studio albums and toured for 40 years, I acknowledge a very consistent band over the decades. And yet, they weren't the same band that they were when they started playing together, even though it was the same three guys since Neil Peart joined Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. They changed what they wrote about, what they sang about, themes, styles, approaches to making music, all of this. They adapted and changed their style at least a dozen times over the course of their career. No album was exactly like the previous album, and they experimented, and they tried things. But there was a consistency of the audience that went along with them. And as writers, we can potentially have that same thing where we know there are going to be people who will follow us. Think about Stephen King, a writer who has been writing in many different subjects and genres. And yet there's a core group of people who will enjoy everything he writes, and he has that Constant Reader he always keeps in mind. And so, when we write in a series, we're thinking about that constant reader in a more relaxed way because that constant reader, like our characters, like our worlds, like our universes, is like we're just returning to a comfortable, cozy spot where we're just going to hang out with some good friends for a bit. Or, as the contemplative Rush song Time Stand Still expresses, the simple comfort and desire of spending some quality time having a drink with a friend. Schedule time to fill the creative well and for rest and relaxation Mark: What we do as writers is quite cerebral, so we need to give ourselves mental breaks in the same way we need to sleep regularly. Our bodies require sleep. And it's not just physical rest for our bodies to regenerate, it's for our minds to regenerate. We need that to stay sane, to stay alive, to stay healthy. The reality for us as creatives is that we're writing all the time, whether or not we're in front of a keyboard or have a pen in our hand. We're always writing, continually sucking the marrow from the things that are happening around us, even when we're not consciously aware of it. And sometimes when we are more consciously aware of it, that awareness can feel forced. It can feel stressful. When you give yourself the time to just let go, to just relax, wonderful things can happen. And they can come naturally, never feeling that urgent sense of pressure. Downtime, for me, is making space for those magic moments to happen. I was recently listening to Episode 556 of The Creative Penn podcast where Joanna talked about the serendipity of those moments when you're traveling and you're going to a museum and you see something. And you're not consciously there to research for a book, but you see something that just makes a connection for you. And you would not have had that for your writing had you not given yourself the time to just be doing and enjoying something else. And so, whenever I need to resolve an issue or a problem in a project I'm writing, which can cause stress, I will do other things. I will go for a run or walk the dogs, wash the dishes or clean the house. Or I'll put on some music and sing and dance like nobody is watching or listening—and thank goodness for that, because that might cause them needless anxiety. The key is, I will do something different that allows my mind to just let go. And somewhere in the subconscious, usually the answer comes to me. Those non-cerebral activities can be very restorative. Yesterday, my partner Liz and I met her daughter at the park. And while we quietly waited, the two of us wordlessly enjoyed the sights and sounds of people walking by, the river in the background, the wind blowing through the leaves in the trees above us. That moment wasn't a purposeful, “Hey, we're going to chill and relax.” But we found about five minutes of restorative calm in the day. A brief, but powerful ‘Ah' moment. And when I got back to writing this morning, I drew upon some of the imagery from those few minutes. I didn't realize at the time I was experiencing the moment yesterday that I was going to incorporate some of that imagery in today's writing session. And that's the serendipity that just flows very naturally in those scheduled and even unscheduled moments of relaxation. Joanna: I separate this into two aspects because I'm good at one and terrible at the other! I schedule time to fill the creative well as often as possible. This is something that Julia Cameron advises in The Artist's Way, and I find it an essential part of my creative practice. Essentially, you can't create from an empty mind. You have to actively seek out ways to spark ideas. International travel is a huge part of my fiction inspiration, in particular. This has been impossible during the pandemic and has definitely impacted my writing. I also go to exhibitions and art galleries, as well as read books, watch films and documentaries. If I don't fill my creative well, then I feel empty, like I will never have another idea, that perhaps my writing life is over. Some people call that writer's block but I know that feeling now. It just means I haven't filled my creative well and I need to schedule time to do that so I can create again. Consume and produce. That's the balance you need in order to keep the creative well filled and the words flowing. In terms of scheduling time to relax instead of doing book research, I find this difficult because I love to work. My husband says that I'm like a little sports car that goes really, really fast and doesn't stop until it hits a wall. I operate at a high productivity level and then I crash! But the restrictions of the pandemic have helped me learn more about relaxation, after much initial frustration. I have walked in nature and lain in the garden in the hammock and recently, we went to the seaside for the first time in 18 months. I lay on the stones and watched the waves. I was the most relaxed I've been in a long time. I didn't look at my phone. I wasn't listening to a podcast or an audiobook. We weren't talking. We were just being there in nature and relaxing. Authors are always thinking and feeling because everything feeds our work somehow. But we have to have both aspects — active time to fill the creative well and passive time to rest and relax. “I go for lots of walks and hikes in the woods. These help me work out the kinks in my plots, and also to feel more relaxed! (Exercise is an added benefit!)” –T.W. Piperbrook Improve your writing process — but only if it fits with your lifestyle Joanna: A lot of stress can occur in writing if we try to change or improve our process too far beyond our natural way of doing things. For example, trying to be a detailed plotter with a spreadsheet when you're really a discovery writer, or trying to dictate 5,000 words per hour when you find it easier to hand write slowly into a journal. Productivity tips from other writers can really help you tweak your personal process, but only if they work for you — and I say this as someone who has a book on Productivity for Authors! Of course, it's a good idea to improve things, but once you try something, analyze whether it works for you — either with data or just how you feel. If it works, great. Adopt it into your process. If it doesn't work, then discard it. For example, I wrote my first novel in Microsoft Word. When I discovered Scrivener, I changed my process and never looked back because it made my life so much easier. I don't write in order and Scrivener made it easier to move things around. I also discovered that it was easier for me to get into my first draft writing and creating when I was away from the desk I use for business, podcasting, and marketing tasks. I started to write in a local cafe and later on in a co-working space. During the pandemic lockdown, I used specific playlists to create a form of separation as I couldn't physically go somewhere else. Editing is an important part of the writing process but you have to find what works for you, which will also change over time. Some are authors are more relaxed with a messy first draft, then rounds of rewrites while working with multiple editors. Others do one careful draft and then use a proofreader to check the finished book. There are as many ways to write as there are writers. A relaxed author chooses the process that works in the most effective way for them and makes the book the best it can be. Mark: When it comes to process, there are times when you're doing something that feels natural, versus times when you're learning a new skill. Consciously and purposefully learning new skills can be stressful; particularly because it's something we often put so much emphasis or importance upon. But when you adapt on-going learning as a normal part of your life, a natural part of who and what you are, that stress can flow away. I'm always about learning new skills; but over time I've learned how to absorb learning into my everyday processes. I'm a pantser, or discovery writer, or whatever term we can apply that makes us feel better about it. And every time I've tried to stringently outline a book, it has been a stressful experience and I've not been satisfied with the process or the result. Perhaps I satisfied the part of me that thought I wanted to be more like other writers, but I didn't satisfy the creative person in me. I was denying that flow that has worked for me. I did, of course, naturally introduce a few new learnings into my attempts to outline; so I stuck with those elements that worked, and abandoned the elements that weren't working, or were causing me stress. The thought of self-improvement often comes with images of blood, sweat, and tears. It doesn't have to. You don't have to bleed to do this; it can be something that you do at your own pace. You can do it in a way that you're comfortable with so it's causing you no stress, but allowing you to learn and grow and improve. And if it doesn't work but you force yourself to keep doing it because a famous writer or a six-figure author said, “this is the way to do it,” you create pressure. And when you don't do it that way, you can think of yourself as a failure as opposed to thinking of it as, “No, this is just the way that I do things.” When you accept how you do things, if they result in effectively getting things done and feeling good about it at the same time, you have less resistance, you have less friction, you have less tension. Constantly learning, adapting, and evolving is good. But forcing ourselves to try to be or do something that we are not or that doesn't work for us, that causes needless anxiety. “I think a large part of it comes down to reminding myself WHY I write. This can mean looking back at positive reviews, so I can see how much joy others get from my writing, or even just writing something brand new for the sake of exploring an idea. Writing something just for me, rather than for an audience, reminds me how much I enjoy writing, which helps me to unwind a bit and approach my projects with more playfulness.” – Icy Sedgwick You can find The Relaxed Author: Take the Pressure Off Your Art and Enjoy the Creative Journey on CreativePennBooks.com as well as on your favorite online store or audiobook platform, or order in your library or bookstore. The post The Relaxed Author Writing Tips With Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre first appeared on The Creative Penn.

✨ Support the show with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium (Ad-Free)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Relax by the shore with this 8-hour soundscape blending gentle seaside waves and subtle 12 Hz alpha wave binaural beats designed to calm the mind while maintaining peaceful awareness. The rhythmic ocean waves create a natural, soothing backdrop that eases tension and masks distractions, while the 12 Hz alpha frequency supports relaxation, mental clarity, creativity, and light meditative focus. Together, they form an ideal environment for stress relief, meditation, calm focus, or restful sleep. --

Episode Title: Meditation Relaxed by Gentle Rain on RoofDescription:In this episode of "Thunderstorm: Sleep and Relax in the Rain," immerse yourself in the calming sound of gentle rain tapping softly on a rooftop. Let the rhythmic droplets guide you into a state of deep relaxation and meditation. Imagine sitting quietly indoors, feeling safe and cozy as the rain creates a peaceful soundtrack that eases your mind and body.As you breathe deeply, the gentle rain washes away stress and tension, inviting a sense of calm and clarity. This soothing ambiance serves as the perfect backdrop for mindfulness, reflection, or simply drifting into restful sleep. Whether you need a moment of tranquility during a busy day or a calm atmosphere before bedtime, this episode will help you find your inner peace.Tune in, close your eyes, and let the gentle rain on the roof carry you to a place of serenity and renewal.DISCLAIMER

In this episode of the Wing and Tail Outdoors podcast, Chris Romano and guest Dorge Huang delve into the intricacies of crossbow usage and maintenance. As hunting season approaches, they discuss common issues faced by crossbow users, such as string stretching and the challenges of tuning for accuracy. Dorge shares insights on the importance of understanding the equipment, emphasizing that many hunters underestimate the complexity of crossbows, often treating them like firearms. The conversation highlights the need for proper preparation and practice to ensure successful and ethical hunting experiences. The episode also touches on the broader implications of crossbow regulations, with Chris expressing concerns about the potential impact of relaxed restrictions on hunting seasons and wildlife populations. They explore the differences between crossbows and compound bows, noting the unique challenges each presents. Throughout the discussion, Dorge provides valuable advice on selecting the right equipment and the importance of matching components like strings and nocks to optimize performance. This episode is a must-listen for hunters looking to deepen their understanding of crossbow mechanics and improve their hunting skills. Takeaways Understanding crossbow mechanics is crucial for effective use. Proper string maintenance can prevent common crossbow issues. Crossbows require different tuning techniques compared to compound bows. Relaxed crossbow regulations may impact wildlife populations. Preparation and practice are key to ethical hunting. Crossbows are often misunderstood as being similar to firearms. Selecting the right equipment is essential for hunting success. Matching strings and nocks optimizes crossbow performance. Crossbows present unique challenges compared to other bows. Hunters should be aware of the complexities of crossbow tuning. Show Our Supporters Some Love! VitalizeSeed.Com RackGetterScents.Net Firenock.com WingAndTailOutdoors.Com https://nestedtreestands.com/WT10  Discount Code WT10 SilverBirchArchery.Com huntarsenal.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know there's MAGIC in your Meditation Practice? Say Goodbye to Anxiety and Hello to More Peace & More Prosperity! Here Are the 5 Secrets on How to Unleash Your Meditation Magic https://womensmeditationnetwork.com/5secrets Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player. Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Invite yourself to settle into an easy posture. Open body. Open mind. PAUSE… And take 3 deep breaths, all the way into our belly, and out. Breathe in, breathe out. PAUSE… Breathe in, and breathe out. Join our Premium Sleep for Women Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Sleep podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here --> https://bit.ly/sleepforwomen Join our Premium Meditation for Kids Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Kids podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here → https://bit.ly/meditationforkidsapple Hey, I'm so glad you're taking the time to be with us today. My team and I are dedicated to making sure you have all the meditations you need throughout all the seasons of your life. If there's a meditation you desire, but can't find, email us at Katie Krimitsos to make a request. We'd love to create what you want! Namaste, Beautiful,

Are you tired of the endless loop of overthinking and racing thoughts? In this powerful 10 minute guided meditation, we provide instant anxiety relief by teaching you the core technique of letting go of thoughts that do not serve you.This is more than just relaxation; it's a practical mindfulness practice designed to calm an anxious mind and establish a feeling of control and balance. It's ideal for beginners or seasoned meditators looking for a quick morning meditation to set a positive intention, or a stress relief session before bed.What you will experience in this session:Deep Belly Breathing: A simple but effective technique to immediately soothe your nervous system and achieve total body relaxation.The Flowing Stream Metaphor: Learn to view thoughts like water trickling down a stream, observing them without judgment or getting "sucked into the content of our thoughts".Emotional De-escalation: Practice non-attachment to worries, helping you de-escalate your emotional response to external stressors and release negative anchors.This session will leave you feeling calm, centered, and refreshed with a new way of thinking and reacting.[00:00:15] Setting a Relaxed yet Alert Posture[00:00:43] Three Slow, Deep Belly Breaths for Instant Calm[00:01:29] Anchoring to the Natural Rhythm of the Breath[00:03:00] Noticing Racing Thoughts and Worries[00:07:00] The Letting Go Metaphor: Viewing Thoughts like Clouds[00:10:00] Setting the Intention to Practice Emotional De-escalation[00:11:30] Session Conclusion & Final Affirmation[00:11:30] Special Offer from CozyEarth.comSponsor & Call-to-Action THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR:If you enjoyed this feeling of comfort and calm, you will love our partner, CozyEarth.com. When you are ready to create a truly tranquil space, their Bamboo Viscose sheets and loungewear are the perfect fit.Go on and visit CozyEarth.com and use the exclusive promo code CALMING at checkout to save 41% off your entire order! That's a great way to support this channel and find peace in your environment.FOLLOW & CONNECT:Please do like and subscribe for more guided meditations released every day!Support the Show:Ad-Free Listening: Enjoy Calming Anxiety without ads at https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety--4110266/supportBuy Me a Coffee: Support hosting costs at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/calminganxietyRate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!Resources & Courses:Book Hypnotherapy: Schedule a one-on-one session with Martin at https://calendar.app.google/rXHMt8sRYft5iWma8 Pain & Anxiety Course:Manage negative thoughts and pain with The Physio Crew's course at https://offers.thephysiocrew.co.uk/home-painBreathing Challenge: Try our relaxing breathing challenge at https://www.martinhewlett.co.uk/breathing-challenge/Gift a Subscription: Share Calming Anxiety with loved ones at https://www.martinhewlett.co.uk/shop/calming-anxiety-gift-subscription/Get the App:iOS: Download Calming Anxiety at https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/calming-anxiety/id1576159331 Android:Get it on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=digital.waterfront.calming.anxiety&hl=en-GBConnect With Us:Email: Share feedback or requests at calminganxiety@martinhewlett.co.ukYouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1 Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/Backing Music: Chris Collins===================Affiliate links to the gear I use the items that give me a more tranquil life.Rode Podmic - https://amzn.to/3LN1JEdZoom Livetrak L8 - https://amzn.to/36UCIbySony ZV 1 - https://amzn.to/3JvDUPTGoPro Hero 8 Black - https://amzn.to/372rzFlDJI Mini 2 - https://amzn.to/3NQfMdY=============================Items I use for a more relaxed way of life :)Organic Pure Hemp CBD Capsules - https://amzn.to/3Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

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We live in a world where rest has been branded as lazy. Where women, especially ambitious women and entrepreneurs, are expected to do it all: run the business, raise the kids, support the family, maintain friendships, and keep it all looking effortless. But beneath the surface? So many of us are exhausted, overwhelmed, and quietly wondering if we'll ever feel “enough.” Nicola Jane Hobbs is here to challenge that narrative. Nicola is a chartered psychologist with a master's degree in sport and exercise psychology, and she's spent more than a decade supporting women's health and wellbeing through yoga, meditation, and therapeutic practice. She's also the founder of The Relaxed Woman, a movement and community dedicated to helping women recover from stress and burnout. In this episode, Nicola and I are unpacking why rest feels so hard for women, why female entrepreneurs in particular struggle to switch off, and the practical rituals and strategies we can use to finally make peace with rest. If you've ever felt guilty for slowing down, or if burnout has been lurking in the background of your business journey, this episode is for you. Goal Digger Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/goaldiggerpodcast/ Goal Digger Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goaldiggerpodcast/ Goal Digger Show Notes: https://jennakutcherblog.com/ Thanks to our Goal Digger Sponsors: Sign up for your $1/month Shopify trial period at http://shopify.com/goaldigger. Find a co-host today at http://airbnb.com/host. Check out What Should I Do With My Money? from Morgan Stanley. Listen now at https://mgstnly.lnk.to/bqe8HiAC!GD.  Visit http://www.spectrum.com/freeforlife to learn how you can get Business Internet Free Forever. Experience the power of a Dell PC with Intel Inside®, backed by Dell's price match guarantee. Shop now at https://www.dell.com/deals. Your dream wardrobe's one click away. Visit https://www.revolve.com/goaldigger for 15% off your first order with code GOALDIGGER.