Wellness Podcast

Alyssa Martoccio
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  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS

This podcast is for anyone looking for ideas to improve their mental health and wellness. I am not therapist/psychologist but a college professor interested in helping students (and everyone) with quick tips and tricks to make life just a little bit easier/happier/calmer etc.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Week 158: Healthy (and surprising) ways to "take the edge off"

    We often talk about "taking the edge off" as sort of numbing our feelings through alcohol, drugs, mindless social media scrolling, or online shopping (among other things). But this week, I wanted to talk about some of the healthy ways I've been "taking the edge off" this week- through exercise, creativity, hilarious TV shows, even fake wrestling with my 7-year old and of course, dancing in my kitchen before starting a long day of work. In these ways, I am not so much numbing but more giving my body time to process my emotions, giving myself time to rest, and some comfort. These were all examples of things I really did last week, and they helped a lot. I hope they help you all too!

    7 min

  2. 10 SEPT

    Week 157: How gratitude can (and can't) help in tough times

    In this episode, I talk about how gratitude can help us particularly in tough times, but how there are also ways that gratitude cannot help us during tough times. Gratitude always helps during all times, and keeping a gratitude journal or just thinking of things we are grateful for before bed can help a lot. And delights can help too, when you need something a little less serious- a peach straight from a tree or bright yellow sunflowers might be/feel too small to be things we are grateful for, but they make great delights! But during tough times, we want to be sure that we don't "shove" gratitude on others- when I tell someone I'm having a hard time at work, this looks like them telling me, "well at least you have a job" or when I'm having a tough time with my family, they'd say "at least you have a family." Instead, we can accept both things- we are going through a hard time and also we have things we are grateful for. If we do this, and also never "shove" gratefuls on others, we are taking some serious positive steps in the world. Finally, normalizing is OK though- what you are going through is/sounds tough, and it's also normal! I hope this helped and have a great week!

    6 min

  3. 3 SEPT

    Week 156, How to make decision-making easier

    This week, I talk about how to make hard decisions a little easier. I discuss 4 steps, including 1) pause and give yourself some time before jumping in to make a decision too quickly, 2) vent (feel your feelings, complain, maybe even wallow a bit in your sadness etc. for just a little bit) to get those feelings out of you and don't worry about trying to find a solution yet while you are still so upset. You can also go for a run or exercise (or complete your stress cycle in other ways) during this step. 3) Start to process your emotions, with writing, a long walk, making a list of things you can do or information you need to obtain or people you need to ask who are relevant to your decision. During this step, DO NOT poll the audience (ask whoever you see on the street for their opinion), be sure to only ask people who are relevant to the decision or who have information you need. 4) Finally, make the decision Unofficially, write it down and put it away for a few hours or days (or weeks if you need more time) and then bring it out and see if you still think it is the right idea. During this step, you need to move on with your life and not think about the decision during this time. Then, when you come back to it with fresh eyes, that will help you decide if it is the right decision. OK I hope this helps and have a great week, everyone! Good luck making tough decisions a little easier (I hope).

    9 min

  4. 27 AUG

    Week 155: Getting through tough transitions

    This week, as promised, I am talking about how to get through tough transition times with 4 pieces of advice from my own experience. 1) Have a secure/solid "home base" to return to- whether it is a place in your house/apartment/dorm room where you feel safe, re-watching/reading old TV shows/books you love, looking at pictures of things/people you love, a daily/weekly FaceTime with someone you care about or someone (or a pet) at home you can hug, this helps a ton. 2) Remember that you've been through tough times before and you "survived" them (literally or figuratively). You can write down, talk about or just remember some previous tough times you've made it through. 3) Celebrate even tiny milestones- every week I made it through my first year in Denver in a new job, I looked forward to waffles with my husband! 4) Give yourself time to feel sad/angry/whatever you feel about this transition. Cry, laugh, dance, exercise, whatever works for you. And remember, you'll never have to do this exact hard thing in this exact way for the first time, ever again.

    8 min

  5. 20 AUG

    Week 154: Summer fun: Let's take back the pool!

    In this episode, I talk about the FUN I had at the pool (Playful, connected flow, by Catherine Price from her book The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again) swimming around the pool with my kids this summer! I talk about how, even if we don't have kids, we can remember what we used to like as kids and try it to see if we can't have a little more fun in our lives now. Bike riding, playing games, splashing in puddles, running through a random hopscotch on the sidewalk, whatever it was you loved as a kid, why not try it out now? Action item: think about what you loved as a kid, and consider trying it again. Or, is there something you always wanted to do but felt too self-conscious to do? Why not try it?!

    7 min

  6. 7 MAY

    Week 153: Finding magic in the real world: last episode until fall!

    This week's episode is NOT to listen to around children! The episode starts with a story about my children and Santa/the Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy etc., which led my child to say, "well I guess there is sort of still magic in the world?" To which I said, of course there is! In this episode, I give some of my own examples of magic in the world, a definition of magic and also of awe and wonder (from Brene Brown's book Atlas of the Heart), and talk about how we can find magic/awe/wonder or whatever we want to call it in our everyday lives, in nature, art, music, spiritual experiences or ideas (or for me, watching my kiddo make insane K'nex creations) :). Action item: note all the magic you can find in the world this week. Last week until fall, have a great summer everyone and thank you for listening!

    4 min

  7. 30 APR

    Week 152: How-to Guide to Surviving the End of the Semester

    In this week's episode, I give my 4 favorite pieces of advice from previous episodes on how to make it through a particularly busy/stressful/transitional period. If you are not a teacher or student, this advice can help for any busy or transitional period in your life, but for me, it's the end of the spring semester and summer break is almost here. 1) Quit what and where you can, from episode 76 on quitting, 2) Make time and space for transitions (and the emotions that come with them), from week 35, 3) Do your best and then call it good enough (no perfectionism here) from week 108, and 4) Go back to the beginning (week 20), and don't forget exercise/healthy food and sleep! I promise that if you do these things, you will get WAY more done in WAY less time, even and especially when you are busy/overwhelmed/stressed out. See you all next week for my last week before summer break, and thanks for listening!

    8 min

  8. 23 APR

    Week 151: What ADHD looks like vs what it actually is, Part 2

    This epsiode is a continuation of week 145, where I talked about 3 things that ADHD can look liks vs what is actually going on. In this episode, I do the same and talk about 3 more things: ADHD can look like 1) risky behavior/impulsivity, 2) hyperactivity/fidgeting, and 3) forgetfulness. In each of the 3 parts, I give examples from my own life of my experiences with my child and a few things that I do as a teacher to help neurodiverse students. I talk a lot in here about how sometimes we think we "need" to do things a certain way, but actually, we can let go of more than we think we can and just do things a different way that actually works, rather than the way we were brought up or just using what we've already seen in our lives. My action item is to start to see neurodiversity (and all differences, really) as something other than a deficit but something that can teach us about the world and at the same time, can help us to actually make the world a better place for everyone.

    11 min
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About

This podcast is for anyone looking for ideas to improve their mental health and wellness. I am not therapist/psychologist but a college professor interested in helping students (and everyone) with quick tips and tricks to make life just a little bit easier/happier/calmer etc.

Information

  • Creator
    Alyssa Martoccio
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    158
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Alyssa Martoccio
  • Show Website
    Wellness Podcast