Send us a textSelf-trust and self-awareness are the building blocks of a cultivating a supportive relationship with yourself, but they rarely happen accidentally. Instead, they require compassionate attention and practice. But… what does that practice really look like on a daily basis?In this episode, I was joined by Lisa Olivera. Lisa is a writer, therapist, partner, forever student, and human from Northern California. She is passionate about sharing reflections, practices, and musings on integrating our stories and full humanity with acceptance and compassion. Outside of her professional roles, Lisa finds joy in authentic connection, being in nature, learning from other humans, and leaning into the mystery of being alive. She is also currently working on her first book.Lisa’s work is profoundly gentle and needed. During this episode, we discuss how nobody benefits from you bypassing your needs. She talks about showing up for yourself even when it’s uncomfortable and staying on your own side no matter what. She also talks about her own journey to building a supportive relationship with herself and the steps that we can take to practice self-trust, prioritize our needs, and cultivate a greater sense of self-awareness.Tune in to hear us explore…Who is benefiting from you bypassing your needsWhy you need to take perfectionism off your to-do listWhat self-trust is really about for LisaA step you can take to begin paying more attention to yourselfLove Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show

Send us a textAre you aware of how the messages you receive about your body impacts your relationship with it? In this episode, Dr. Joy Cox and I are getting deep and talking about weight stigma, fat acceptance, and what it really means to respect and care for your body. Dr. Joy Cox is a body justice advocate using her skill set in research and leadership to foster social change through the promotion of fat acceptance and diversity and inclusion. With 37 years living as a fat, Black cisgendered woman and 7+ years of professional experience under her belt, Dr. Cox draws on her own experiences and skillset to amplify the voices of those most marginalized in society, bringing attention to matters of intersectionality addressing race, body size, accessibility, and “health.”Joy has been featured on several podcasts and media productions such as Food Pysch with Christy Harrison, Nalgona Positivity Pride with Gloria Lucas, Fat Women of Color with Ivy Felicia, and Huffington Post’s piece, “Everything You Know About Obesity is Wrong.” She also just authored her first book, Fat Girls in Black Bodies: Creating Communities of Our Own. She is the voice of an overcomer, looking to propel others into a place of freedom designed by their desires.During our conversation, Joy talks about her own journey to acceptance and what acceptance means to her. She also talks about how she navigates boundaries and why the golden rule of, “treat others how you want to be treated” should apply to how you treat yourself too. Tune in to hear us explore…Joy’s focus on being gentler with herself this yearNavigating systems of oppression on your quest for body justice and fat acceptanceThe duality of acceptance and rejectionLove Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show

Send us a textDo you expect your energy to be constant every day, 365 days a year? Do you beat yourself up or judge yourself harshly for not consistently not living up to your expectations for how much you “should” be able to get done each day? This episode is for you. Tune in to hear me talk about how understanding and aligning with our personal energy rhythms is one of the BEST ways to get more done, with less struggle — and without sacrificing your precious self-care. Identifying your own natural rhythms is a natural byproduct of tuning in and prioritizing connection with your body, which is not something that we are taught how to do. During this episode, I share some of my best tools for how to bring a greater sense of intentionality into your relationship with yourself, and use it to cultivate a calendar and care practices to ensure that you are supported all year long.Tune in to hear me explore…the myth of consistent, universal energywhy comparing ourselves to the ideal self that lives in our imagination is a colossal waste of energyhow your energy levels reflect the natural world around youhow to shift your life depending on your energy cyclesIn this episode, I also share about the doors being open for my yearlong program, Cycle. If you’d like to learn more, you can do so here! xxLove Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show

Send us a textIt’s no secret that our bodies need movement. However, many of us are recovering from abusive relationships with exercise that keeps us from being able to move our bodies lovingly and sustainably. We might be experts on the kind of exercise that the diet and exercise industry deems “right” and “best”, but we aren’t sure how to connect with what OUR bodies need. In this episode, I am talking to Lori Race, founder of The Meaningful Movement Project. Lori is a healer, health clinic owner and writer with a passionate message to share from her past as a fitness instructor suffering from compulsive exercise disorder. The Meaningful Movement Project is her rallying cry for a radical new approach to exercise; one that looks to care for mind, body, soul and planet through a broader, more compassionate lens. And one that draws on our deep ancestral desires for movement in ritual, play, and a spiritual connection to the natural world.Lori talks about how movement shouldn’t be looked at as a chore but rather a nourishing and sacred practice you do to take care of yourself. She and I talk about reconnecting with your why, what a sustainable fitness routine looks like and the common myths of fitness culture. Tune in to hear us explore…How exercise can be nourishing and sacredWhat sustainable fitness looks likeReconnecting to your body as a guiding compassLove Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show

Send us a textThere is no way around it — you are responsible for your needs. There’s nothing more lonely than not being in relationship with yourself and abandoning your needs. In this episode, I talk about reclaiming your neediness and allowing your needs out of the closet. This topic is a critical part of our journey of taking care of ourselves in the way we deeply yearn for. It’s about recognizing your needs as sacred, lighting your path from self-abandonment to true self-partnership. I explored how the stories we carry about our needs can cause us to neglect ourselves. You’ll also hear why so many people face burnout due to the lack of taking care of their needs and learning to accept that we are a human with needs (and the importance of doing this in community). Tune in to hear me explore…The lies we tell ourselves about what it means to be a human with needsWhy so many people face burnout as a result of not meeting their needsHow your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs are longing to be metLove Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show

Victoria Albina, a Certified Life Coach and Family Nurse Practitioner, dives deep into the power dynamics of our thoughts and their impact on health and well-being. She shares insights on managing codependency and harnessing thought work for emotional resilience. Through engaging anecdotes, she explains the concept of a 'belief bridge' as a tool for self-belief. Victoria also highlights the importance of clear communication in relationships, emphasizing directness over mind reading, and offers practical strategies for fostering mindfulness and gratitude in everyday life.

Send us a textThere is so much power in your reclamation. Taking the time to pause and give yourself a break is a real gift that allows you to have the capacity to pour into others.In this episode, I was joined by Dionne Ruff-Sloan. Dionne  is an Elemental Wisdom Mentor and Oracle Reader here to help you learn to trust your inner wisdom and kick your insecurities to the curb. She engages your creativity, spirituality and productivity to live your best life at any age. Dionne is amazing at deep listening, reframing limiting beliefs and guiding you to clarity. She deeply committed to doing her soul work so that she can serve not only herself, but others too.During our conversation Dionne shared about why she gives herself a menu of self-care and what those practices look like for her. She also described what she’s needed in this season and why there are times when we just need to rest and restore even when our to-do list still has unfinished business. We also chat about finding people who are willing to be with us during the muck in life and tuning into your body to feel what will nourish you!Tune in to hear us explore…How the way Dionne cares for herself changes by the seasonWhy Dionne has developed a “menu” of self-care practicesThe need to rest and restore even when things feel unfinishedLove Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show

Send us a textSociety has a funny way of teaching people to loathe themselves. For so long, we’ve been conditioned into thinking that accepting ourselves as we are equals becoming stagnant.But that’s not true. You can accept yourself fully while also making room for growth. You don’t have to choose between the two. In this episode, I explored how you can reimagine how you’re in relationship with yourself to include space for both peaceful acceptance and your voracious ambition for growth. You’ll hear how you can begin to take action on your priorities in a humane way. I also talk about how to get clear and create priorities that are in alignment with what you want, how you want to be living and what you’re capable of. Tune in to hear me explore…The process of reimagining how you’re in relationship with yourselfWhy you need to learn to stand by your own side Finding ways to take action on tasks that are sustainable and kind to yourselfWant to dig into more of this topic? Sign up for The To-Do List Makeover workshop.Love Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show

Send us a textPleasure is a big part of our needs and it comes in many forms. Tending to your need for pleasure can be connecting with yourself or someone else in an intimate way, or it can be nourishing yourself with a delicious meal or taking time to relax and do something enjoyable for you. You might tend to your need for pleasure by massaging your skin, surrounding yourself with things that delight and inspire you, or dressing yourself in a way that makes you vibrant. In this episode, I brought on Ann Nguyen, a sexual empowerment coach to talk all about owning your own pleasure and her journey of living her life from a pleasure-filled place.  Born and raised in California as a first generation Vietnamese American woman, Ann has lived her whole life following two main things: her curiosity and her urge to question everything with “but why?”. These curiosities and questions have led her down a dynamic path from graduating with a B.S. in Neuroscience at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to working in various jobs in the tech industry at Google, Facebook & YouTube.Most recently, she’s trained at the Tantric Institute of Integrated Sexuality and is a Women’s Sexual Empowerment Coach. Her work is in service to changing the way women relate to their pleasure and rewriting the narrative of sexuality in our modern times, and creating safer spaces for women of color to pursue their healing and thriving. Through her coaching and online programs, she reconnects women to the power of their sexuality and facilitates deep transformation for sexual reclamation.During this episode, Ann and I chat about learning how to ask for what you need from people you’re involved with. We also talk about reframing the way you see self-pleasure and what you can do to heal the shame you feel around giving yourself the pleasure you deserve. Tune in to hear us explore…Taking responsibility for your own pleasureRedeveloping your mindset around self-pleasure How Ann’s pleasure practices are woven into building self-trustLove Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show

Send us a textHow do you handle your dreams and visions for what might be possible for you? In this episode, I shared a book by Kobi Yamada called What Do You Do With an Idea?This book is something that I believe we can all take something away from. The message behind it is critical for bringing your needs to the forefront of exploring the ideas that you have for the life you want to live.After sharing the book I touch on giving yourself permission to feel around while on your journey to becoming. I also discuss carving out that space for what you imagined and why you can take the time you need to feel into those ideas. Tune in to hear me explore…A reading from the book, What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi YamadaThe refusal to belong to the new part of ourselves in favor of belonging to what we believe the world around us wants, expects and demandsWhy there is no rush to start on the things you wantLove Needy? Pretty please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a rating & review. Really love Needy? Join the Needy Podcast Inner Circle! Special treats, discounts, quarterly Q&As and more for a one-time or monthly donation of any amount. Exclusively for folks who love the Needy podcast. THANK YOU.Support the show