Join us as we dive into a struggle so many women face but rarely talk about: the stress, guilt, and pressure around food during the holiday season.

Why is it so hard to feel in control around holiday food? Why do we swing between restriction and overindulgence? Judge our eating as “good” and “bad?” And why does January leave so many of us feeling ashamed and desperate for a “fresh start”?

With a blend of intuitive eating insights and faith-filled encouragement, this episode unpacks the real reasons holiday eating feels overwhelming, and offers practical, life-giving tools to help us approach this season with peace instead of pressure.

If you’ve ever felt anxious at holiday dinners, guilty after parties, or frustrated with yourself for not having “more discipline,” this conversation will leave you feeling seen, understood, and encouraged.

Show Notes:

Intuitive Eating for the Holidays: https://extension.sdstate.edu/intuitive-eating-practices-and-strategies-holiday-season

Center for Discovery: Intuitive Eating Practices During the Holidays: https://centerfordiscovery.com/blog/intuitive-eating-practices-during-the-holidays/

Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch

How to Build a Balanced Guilt-free Thanksgiving

https://intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs/how-to-build-a-balanced-guilt-free-thanksgiving-plate?utm_source=Health360&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Health360

As the holidays approach, it’s a great time to evaluate how you want to spend your time and energy. Do you want to be relaxed and peace-filled, or would you rather be frazzled and frantic? The choice is yours.

People pleasing is a trait that may sound generous and kind, but often leads to resentment and frustration. Knowing how and why we tend to over-commit and people-please are important factors in reducing our stress and exhaustion, especially during the next few weeks. People-pleasing is a habit, and it takes time and determination to conquer. Once you master people-pleasing over the holidays, we hope you will continue the practice in your everyday life.

The Bible says, "God loves a cheerful giver." This season, let’s focus on what truly matters to us instead of getting caught up in our to-do lists or the expectations of others. Simplify your life, take a deep breath, and give with a cheerful heart. As much as we might not want to admit, the choice really is ours. Let’s choose wisely.

Show notes:

8 Ways to Stop People - Pleasing https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-stop-being-a-people-pleaser-5184412

People Pleasing: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/people-pleasing#the-traits-of-a-people-pleaser

To do your own values assessment, go to https://thewellnesssociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Values-Worksheets.pdf

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and the most exhausting. Between the decorating, the baking, the shopping, and the pressure to make everything magical, our souls can feel more hurried than holy. In this episode, we slow down to talk about what it really means to rest during the holidays, not just physically, but spiritually.

Drawing from The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas, and the practice of Slow Living, join us as we explore how doing less will actually help us experience more: more peace, more joy, and more presence with the people (and the God) who matter most.

If you feel like you’re carrying the weight of making the holidays “perfect,” this conversation will remind you that perfection isn’t the point - presence is. You’ll walk away with practical ideas to simplify the season, breathe deeply, and rediscover the sacred rhythm of rest, even in the holiday hurry.

Show Notes:

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas

Slow Living Articles:

Already Stressed About the Holidays?https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2025-11-06/tips-holiday-overwhelm-stress-niro-feliciano

How to Slow Down During the Holidays https://caitlinhoustonblog.com/how-to-slow-down-during-the-holidays/

Why Doing Nothing Intentionally is Good for Us: The Rise of the Slow Living Movement. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240724-why-doing-nothing-intentionally-is-good-for-us-the-rise-of-the-slow-living-movement

November is often a time for giving thanks, and the 4th Yama, Brahmacharya, encourages us to be grateful for having “just enough,” and to practice “nonexcess.” We live in a world that can rob us of our time, money, and energy while we pursue better and newer and more. Brahmacharya asks us to examine our priorities and to focus on what really matters.

Are we living in communion with God? Are we sacrificing our precious time and energy in pursuit of worldly excess? Do we recognize when we have “just enough” and refrain from overindulgence?

Brahmacharya seems like the perfect Yama to practice in November. Let’s practice nonexcess in our daily lives. Let’s practice gratitude for all that we have rather than focusing on our have-nots. Let’s strive to see the divine in all people and moments. Let’s do more with less.

Show Notes:

Denise's meditation at the end of the episode:

May you rest in the space of ‘good enough.’ You are good. You are enough. You are sufficient in this moment, just as you are. You deserve goodness and kindness and hope and help.”

‘Head to the floor, I breathe in and out, thankful for my breath and my body and gravity. Earth herself. Through this, I reveal the blessings. There are always some, sometimes many! Each day a new world to make what is possible real and fully embodied. I awaken awareness of my own influence to create kindness, depth, and love in every moment.”

“Grant me daily the grace of gratitude. To be thankful for all my many gifts, and so be freed from artificial needs, that I might lead a joyful, simple life.” Edward Hays, OSB

The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Statistics indicate that approximately 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Every minute in the U.S., about 20 to 24 people are physically abused by an intimate partner, amounting to more than 12 million individuals each year. Domestic violence also impacts millions of children, and the economic toll is substantial, resulting in nearly 8 million lost workdays annually in the U.S.

Our guest today, June Sheehan Berlinger, RN, has authored a powerful account of her personal experience with domestic violence in her book, "Rising Above the Trauma of Abuse." June is a nationally recognized expert on this issue, and her dual perspective makes her book both deeply personal and practical.

Given the prevalence of this social issue, along with the secrecy and stigma that often surround those affected, many victims suffer in silence. June urges us to speak out and take a stand against all forms of domestic violence. By doing so, you could help save a life.

Special Guest: June Berlinger, Author and Domestic Abuse Advocate

June Sheehan Berlinger, BSN, is a survivor, mother, nurse, writer, and public speaker. She dedicated her career to helping women. June served on Florida’s Governor’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force from 1994–1997 and directed The Women’s Center at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare for 14 years. Her pioneering work includes developing Florida’s first hospital protocol for domestic violence and FIRST STEP, a victim handbook that was distributed statewide. A four-time published author, June has trained health and mental healthcare professionals, law enforcement, and legal teams across the U.S. She lives with her husband, Tom in Denver, CO. To learn more about June, go to risingabovetrauma.net.

Resources:

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides free, 24/7 confidential help at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network: https://www.nctsn.org/resources/public-awareness/national-domestic-violence-awareness-month
• Rising Above The Trauma of Abuse by June Sheehan Berlinger, BSN
• risingabovetrauma.net

Ever catch yourself brushing off certain behaviors the Bible would call sins because they don't seem "that bad"? In this episode, we get real about the “acceptable sins” so many of us excuse — things like anger, gossip, worry, pride, and discontentment. Drawing inspiration from Tim Keller’s book, Respectable Sins, we unpack why these habits feel so normal, how they quietly erode our peace, and what it looks like to bring them into the light with honesty and grace.

This honest, hope-filled conversation will challenge us to rethink the "little" sins that slip under the radar, and remind us that freedom isn’t found in perfection, but in surrender.

Show Notes:

Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Tim Keller

To resource the workbook Robin refers to, go to https://thecrossingchurch.com/Resources/Read/Free%20Downloads

If you’ve ever said, “What?” more times than you’d like to admit… or if someone you love turns the TV up louder and louder, this episode is for you.

This week, we’re diving into a topic that affects millions, but is rarely discussed: hearing loss. Our guest, Dr. Julie Prutsman, has helped thousands of people find relief from tinnitus and hearing challenges. In this episode, Dr. Julie shares why she’s passionate about helping us understand how hearing health impacts every part of our lives, including our memory and emotional well-being, as well as our relationships and even our balance.

Join us as we ask the hard questions. What's the truth between hearing loss and cognitive decline? Does it cause us to be more likely to develop dementia? How common is hearing loss? When should we start getting tested?

This conversation will open your ears to why hearing health matters more than you think.

Special guest: Dr. Julie Prutsman

The owner and founder of Sound Relief Hearing Center, Dr. Julie Prutsman has dedicated her practice to treating tinnitus, decreased sound tolerance, and related hearing health issues. She is a third-generation audiology professional, with her grandfather entering the hearing healthcare field in the 1950s. After working in her family’s practice in Colorado and Las Vegas, NV, she decided to open one of her own, focused on tinnitus.

Since beginning Sound Relief Hearing Center in December 2011, her practice has helped thousands of patients and has grown to nine offices in Colorado and Arizona. Dr. Julie Prutsman grew up in Highlands Ranch, Colorado and attended the University of Colorado – Boulder for graduate school. Her husband, Patrick, is the General Manager and co-owner of Sound Relief. They have two wonderful teenagers and in her free time, Dr. Julie loves reading, traveling, skiing, and spending time with family.

Have you ever been accused of stealing? Probably not. Yet, most of us engage in various forms of stealing every day, often without realizing it. There are many ways in which we take from others, the Earth, future generations, and even ourselves.

The third Yama, Asteya, encourages us to become aware of how our words and actions may rob others of their time, joy, or sense of self-worth. It reminds us that the Earth deserves our attention and appreciation now so that future generations can also experience its wonders. Lastly, we are prompted to consider how we steal from ourselves. We often forget that “comparison is the thief of joy,” yet we regularly diminish our own happiness by comparing or criticizing ourselves. As Oprah wisely said, “When we know better, we do better.” This embodies the essence of Asteya.

Show notes:

The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele