006 | Using Creativity to Reduce Stress & Spark Joy with Lynn Muir

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We’re living in stressful times, and our options for emotional release are more limited, thanks to COVID-19. But even in these restrictive circumstances, we have the freedom to practice creativity. Creativity is a powerful coping strategy that can spark joy, reduce stress, and improve connection to self and to others.

Creative Exploration

Lynn Muir is a multi-passionate creator, who dabbles in everything from watercolor to woodworking. She is also a co-owner of The Makers Avenue, a creative studio for women and children. Lynn loves power tools, sawdust, and paint and believes creativity is “essential to a productive and happy life.” She’s not afraid to get messy or try new things.

Benefits of Creativity

In this interview, Lynn shares how she makes time to create as a busy mother of five, plus why it’s essential to her emotional well-being and how it blesses her children. She also explains how creativity has helped her through the most difficult trials of her life, including postpartum depression and her daughter’s cancer.*

Nurturing Creativity in Children

Lynn also offers tips for cultivating creativity in children—with special emphasis on how to involve boys. She also highlights some of the life lessons her children have learned through artistic exploration.

This light-hearted, laughter-filled conversation offers hope and practical tools to help you and your children through tough seasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also in this Episode

• Lynn’s most memorable craft projects, plus her biggest creative flop.

• A simple, fool-proof exercise for people who claim: “I’m not creative.”

• How creative play reduces stress and boosts self-confidence.

• Why you don’t have to like or finish your creative projects to benefit.

SHOW NOTES

Connect with Rachel on Instagram

Connect with Lynn Muir
Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Website

The Makers Avenue
Instagram | Website

* Lynn was diagnosed with breast cancer just a few days before we recorded this interview. I want to thank her for having the courage to share such tender memories in the midst of an emerging trial.

005 | Discover Your Legacy: Turning Passion into Purpose with Katie Cheesman

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Sometimes we look for our “calling” on a neon sign and expect the path to be easy, but more often, our purpose unfolds over time, presenting obstacles along the way. We find our purpose by taking incremental steps toward our passion and following our instinct.

Following Curiosity

Katie Cheesman, a self-proclaimed “old soul,” has always felt at ease with the elderly. After working as a geriatric nurse for several years, Katie started The Listening Ear Project—a passion project that eventually evolved into a private film company that documents and celebrates the life stories of senior citizens.

In this interview, Katie shares how following her curiosity led her step-by-step to the work she does today. She also speaks openly about the professional and personal obstacles she’s faced while pursuing her passion, including her experience with postpartum depression.

Leaving a Legacy

After sharing her own story, Katie summarizes some of the powerful lessons she’s learned from her elderly friends, offering us a unique perspective on what it means to live a “good life.”

Katie reminds us that every person on this planet has unique and valuable gifts to bring to the table. Our differences make us stronger. And each of us is weaving an inspiring legacy—even if we feel unremarkable and ordinary.

ALSO IN THIS EPISODE

• Why our differences are vital to our community.

• The importance of finding a tribe, both professionally and personally.

• Five lessons we can learn from our elderly friends.

• The unexpected secret to becoming a better listener.

SHOW NOTES

Connect with Rachel on Instagram

Connect with Katie Cheesman
Instagram | Website

004 | Improving Self-Trust & Confidence through Intuitive Eating with Stephanie Webb

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Do you trust yourself around food? Or do you believe you need an expert to tell you what’s best for your body? If you’ve ever felt guilty for overeating, anxious around sweets, or frustrated by a “lack of willpower,” you may be feeling the impact of diet culture—subtle and overt messages about how your body should look and what it means to be healthy.

Eat with Confidence

As a holistic nutritionist and eating psychology coach, Stephanie Webb helps women heal their relationship with food and become confident eaters. Instead of offering a meal plan or macros, Stephanie teaches women to listen to their inner wisdom and make decisions that help them feel satisfied, nourished, and invigorated.

What is Intuitive Eating?

In this interview, Stephanie dispels the myth that intuitive eating means giving up on health. Instead, it means trusting your body to know when, what, and how much to eat. It’s a way to practice self-care, while respecting personal preferences. It also means challenging your own weight bias, or the idea that “thin is best.” Stephanie shares simple tips for ditching diet culture and becoming a more intuitive eater.

Food & Self-Trust

We also discuss how a lack of self-trust around food may be spilling over into the rest of your life—plus, what you can do about it!

Also in this episode

• Navigating the uncomfortable transition from dieting to intuitive eating.

• Putting weight loss on the back burner, even with mobility issues.

• Powerful questions to help you tune into your body.

• Tips for building a body-positive, weight-neutral online community.

Show Notes

Note: This list includes Amazon affiliate links to books mentioned in this episode. I receive a small commission for products purchased through these links, which helps to support free content on the podcast.

Connect with Rachel on Instagram

Connect with Stephanie Webb*
Instagram | Website | Podcast

Eat Confident Co.
Instagram | Facebook | Website

Intuitive Eating (Book)

Health at Every Size (Book)

Beauty Redefined

Emily Fonnesbeck

* Since recording, Stephanie has shifted her business from Nutrition Redefined to Eat Confident Co. She has also changed the name of her podcast from Nutrition Redefined to Eat with Confidence. All links reflect these changes.