We are so lucky to have esteemed professor, attorney, and bestselling author David Heska Wanbli Weiden joining the Are We Happy Yet? podcast to talk about his lived experience as a Lakota Nation citizen and his family heritage on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

Jane and David talk about the resurgence of indigenous art, music, and movies and how using fiction and art can help us explore deeper social issues. They unpack David's amazing and award-winning book, Winter Counts, and how he used storytelling in this novel to explore issues like crime and prosecution of crime, food inequity, lack of access to healthcare, and low life expectancy on the Lakota Rosebud reservation.

David shares about his multifaceted identity as a writer, professor, and former lawyer, and how these roles intersect.

It's a great conversation, and we highly encourage you to learn more about how to support the Rosebud Reservation and the Lakota people!

David Heska Wanbli Weiden's Website

Winter Counts

David's short stories and other writing

The Indians Won by Martin Cruz Smith

Support the Rosebud Reservation

Learn more about the podcast and your hosts, Hannah + Jane:

arewehappyyetpodcast.com

alchemytherapyandwellness.com

grittherapy.com

Jess and Heather join Are We Happy Yet? to talk about how they followed their curiosity to create Hey Birdie, in their effort to make an impact on the loneliness epidemic in women. They talk to us about their experience asking themselves questions like how can we get women to connect? Who are we underneath all of the things we do? What happens when we achieve the goals that we, and culture, have set for us and still feel that something’s missing?

We talk about the faux sense of connection in today’s modern world and how, despite being more connected through technology than ever, face to face connection seems like a countercultural idea. We discuss barriers to in person connection, and the need for safety, trust, and consistency to build healthy community.

We also talk about:

-the importance of play + wonder

-using projections and triggers as an opportunity for healing

-how to connect to seasons and cycles

-how to use ceremony to celebrate pivotal moments in life

Resources:

Find out more about Heather, Jess, and Hey Birdie: https://www.heybirdie.co

Mrs. Claus Twearkshop: https://www.heybirdie.co/formations

Stardust app: https://stardust.app

A note from Hey Birdie:

We’re launching Phoenix Rising Flight Club for those navigating the raw terrain of relational transition heartbreak - whether from separation, divorce, widowhood, or a season of singleness. In times of deep change, the strength of a flock becomes essential: Flying in V-formation, we lift one another, sharing strength and steadying through life’s most turbulent winds. This space is for those ready to heal in community, to be seen, heard, and supported by others who truly understand, finding renewed resilience, freedom, and purpose on the other side of loss. Together, we rise.

We have a few spots left for our last Flight Club launch of 2024. Registration closes 11/26.

No matter what side you’re on - we think this is an illuminating conversation about the divisiveness of our country, and the way in which our human nature and psychology intersects with politics and the recent US election. We talk about themes around navigating family dynamics at this time, the need for nuanced thinking, misinformation, and how to get information from our communities and real lives vs the news.

Learn more about the podcast and the hosts, Hannah + Jane:

arewehappyyetpodcast.com

alchemytherapyandwellness.com

grittherapy.com

Jane and Hannah are back for a solo episode and it's full of big questions with no answers - but at least we're together and laughing along the way.

We talk about our experiences working with clients to address the impact of world events like politics, climate change, and the rising costs of housing on mental health and wellbeing.

We riff about control and ways that we manage existential fears through controlling external factors like our bodies, bank accounts, and our besties . We talk about core wounds around feeling unworthy or unloved and where we think they originate. We discuss how our solution-oriented culture influences us on all levels - and ways that we can learn to tolerate the uncertainty and without always having an answer.

Learn more about the podcast and the hosts, Hannah + Jane:

arewehappyyetpodcast.com

alchemytherapyandwellness.com

grittherapy.com

This is a fun one - before introducing our wonderful guest Betsy Fowler, RN, Hannah and Jane riff on their experiences incorporating non-traditional therapies, as well as traditional therapies, into the clinical work that they do.

Hannah and Jane discuss how experience is a powerful changemaker, and how we see overthinking and intellectualizing as a defense and blocker to true healing.

Betsy Fowler, registered nurse and psychedelic guide joins Hannah and Jane to *attempt to* consciously explore the unconscious. We talk about how childhood experiences create internal stories that we then carry throughout our adulthood. We identify the importance of a holistic treatment model, rather than focusing on reducing symptoms in the mental health space. Betsy normalizes the nonlinear process of change, and talks about how we can learn to accept ourselves in the process of change.

We also talk about:

-somatic therapy

-using nature and breath as tools to gain self understanding and self compassion

-how body image impacts our ability to be in our bodies

-the importance of community and connection during our healing journey

-using cannabis as an intentional tool for healing

Resources:

-The study on mood tracking apps that Jane mentioned: ⁠https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/04/they-thought-they-were-doing-good-but-it-made-people-worse-why-mental-health-apps-are-under-scrutiny⁠

Connect with Betsy:

⁠https://www.embodied-guidance.com⁠

IG: @embodied.guidance

Learn more about the podcast and the hosts, Hannah + Jane:

arewehappyyetpodcast.com

alchemytherapyandwellness.com

grittherapy.com

Join us for this fun and enlightening conversation with Kendra Prospero and John Bartley, of Turning the Corner HR as we dig deep into WHY work dissatisfaction and burnout is so prevalent in our world today. Kendra and John share about their mission to end suffering in the workplace. They discuss what individuals, leaders and companies can do to improve satisfaction at work.

We discuss the interplay of responsibilities of workers, leaders, and businesses when it comes to developing work satisfaction and contentment. Kendra shares a moving story about how a values-focused work culture showed up in her own life, and why having a work community (no, we aren’t all a family) is so important. We talk about the biological components of burnout, and why that vacation to Hawaii isn’t going to fix your feelings of stress, exhaustion, and depletion.

We also talk about:

-the three factors that make individuals content in their work

-leadership and unconscious barriers that leaders can have that impact others

-the importance of mentorship, exploration, and discovery in the workplace

-the lack of training for managers, and how this impacts the managers, employees, and the bottom line

-the role of exchange between employee and employer, and why its more than just a paycheck

-how history and the attitudes of past generations have impacted cultural views and beliefs around suffering in the workplace

Resources:

Connect with Kendra and John at Turning the Corner HR: https://turningthecornerhr.com

Kendra’s podcast: https://turningthecornerhr.com/podcast/

Sign up for Kendra’s newsletters: https://turningthecornerhr.com/52tips

Learn More about Are We Happy Yet? and the hosts Hannah + Jane:

arewehappyyetpodcast.com

alchemytherapyandwellness.com

Grittherapy.com

Kayle Elliott, licensed therapist, discusses her journey with floatation-rest therapy (aka sensory deprivation), and the concept of increased interoception that she developed throughout her experience with floating. She shares the story of her personal experience with float tanks, as well as the research supporting using float tanks to treat anxiety, and other mental health concerns.

We discuss our dear friend anxiety A LOT - how our senses are constantly bombarded, leading to dissociation and disconnection from ourselves. We talk about urgency and overwhelm, and how our bodies and brains respond to anxiety. Kayle talks about how anxiety is an uncomfortable, but normal reaction, in our current world. We learn WHY feeling our emotions is important, and how connecting with our emotions leads us to know ourselves, and our world more around us deeply.

We also talk about:

-sensory overload

-slowing down + feeling good

-shame + resistance

-how to get started with float tanks

Resources:

Easy Float: https://easyfloat.com

Samana:

https://samanafloat.com

Database of Clinical Floatation Research:

https://www.clinicalfloat.org/

Jane and I want to help support the folks who have been impacted by the tragic hurricanes Helene + Milton. Through October 31, we will be donating $5 for each 5 star review we get on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or review on Apple Podcasts. <3 Please rate and review the pod!

Learn More about Are We Happy Yet? and the hosts Hannah + Jane:

arewehappyyetpodcast.com

alchemytherapyandwellness.com

Grittherapy.com

Meet Jenny Leavell, Jane’s dear friend, and shamanic practitioner. Jenny shares about growing up with a “hippie mom” and how this open way of being kicked off her journey through various explorations of spirituality, martial arts, shamanic practices, and plant medicines. Jenny and Jane talk about the overlap between shamanism and the Western model, particularly in relation to mental health.

Jenny humorously challenges the notion of constant happiness and instead focuses on finding contentment and peace in ourselves. Jenny gives us a realistic definition of Shamanism (no, it’s not your Burner friend who just got back from an ayahuasca retreat in Peru) and how shamanism has shown up through history, and in various cultures. Jane and Jenny dive deep into unpacking the Western Culture’s focus on productivity, money, status, and accomplishment and how these ideals go against nature and our natural human cycles and needs.

We also talk about:

-Cultural appropriation in spiritual and plant medicine communities

-The importance of listening

-A shamanic Practitioner’s view of personal responsibility vs caretaking

-Intellect vs Emotional Health

Shamanic Resources:

Society for Shamanic Practice:

https://shamanicpractice.org/

The Power Path School of Shamanism:

https://thepowerpath.com/

Books by Sandra Ingerman:

https://www.sandraingerman.com/

Books and articles by Jose Stevens, PhD:

https://thepowerpath.com/shamanic-education/about-the-power-path/jose-luis-stevens-phd/

The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz:

https://www.miguelruiz.com/the-four-agreements

Learn more about Are We Happy Yet? and the hosts, Hannah + Jane:

arewehappyyetpodcast.com

alchemytherapyandwellness.com

grittherapy.com