The Calming Ground Podcast Elizabeth Mintun

Has anyone ever told you: "Look at all you have, you should be grateful!" when you were experiencing an uncomfortable feeling like sadness, anger, grief, or maybe trying to uphold a boundary for yourself? 
Some of us may have even expressed this kind of thing to other people too, or even to ourselves! 
In this episode, Elizabeth Mintun explores the “dark side” of gratitude. In particular, Elizabeth addresses how gratitude can be used as a way to invalidate or minimize people’s struggles. This “gratitude platitude” is the opposite of the medicine of gratitude, which can uplift, connect us with our abundance, and offer ease. 
Key Takeaways: 
Using terms like “you should be grateful!” as a way to shame someone for struggling can be damaging. Reminding people of all that’s around them to be thankful for can be helpful, but often first it is important (and typically more effective) to meet them in the struggle they’re in rather than telling them to be different than they are. Gratitude can be a powerful medicine when used to connect with abundance rather than invalidate feelings. Resources: 
https://www.thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation
“I love Elizabeth and The Calming Ground Podcast.” If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! Your feedback on this platform helps me support more people - just like you - move toward the balanced life they desire. Scroll to the bottom, tape to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! 
Also, if you haven’t done so already, remember to follow the podcast so you keep receiving the wisdom and insights of all of these amazing humans! 

Did you know that when you are kind to someone else, your own brain’s pleasure and reward center activates, as though you were the recipient of the good deed – not just the one offering kindness? This is referred to as the “helper’s high”. 
In this episode, Elizabeth Mintun explores the many physical and mental health benefits of practicing random acts of kindness. The research is astounding! 
Key Takeaways: 
Engaging in and witnessing acts of kindness stimulates the production of the feel-good hormones oxytocin and serotonin, which helps lift our mood and reduces stress. People who are regularly kind have 23% less cortisol (a stress hormone) in their bodies and live longer than people who are not regularly practicing acts of kindness. People who perform random acts of kindness report feeling stronger and more energetic, calmer and less depressed, and over all a greater sense of self-worth.Resources: 
https://www.thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation
https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/the-science-of-kindness
“I love Elizabeth and The Calming Ground Podcast.” If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! Your feedback on this platform helps me support more people - just like you - move toward the balanced life they desire. Scroll to the bottom, tape to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! 
Also, if you haven’t done so already, remember to follow the podcast so you keep receiving the wisdom and insights of all of these amazing humans! 

Have you ever had an experience that completely transformed your life and offered you tremendous freedom?
In this week’s podcast episode, Elizabeth Mintun interviews Kelli Trinoskey, an award-winning writer and content creator, lives in Columbus, Ohio, where she practices storytelling as the associate director of marketing and communications at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Kelli’s documentary, Our Dyslexic Children, was the 2022 Toronto Documentary Film Festival winner for Best Long Form Short Film. In this conversation, Kelli talks about her incredible journey of moving from feeling stuck in a trauma-infused narrative, to feeling freedom and fluidity in her life - and how she has used the artform of collage as a way to integrate her experience. 

Key Takeaways: 
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a technique in psychotherapy that can be quite powerful in reprocessing traumatic memory.Collage can be a creative tool that nourishes expression on the conscious and unconscious levels and can be a beautiful and accessible part of a healing journey.The process of collage can offer a space for self-care within which we can attend to whatever is coming up for us in the moment, in playful, creative, and expressive ways. Resources: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ7xa6meD2Q&t=6s
https://kellitrinoskey.wixsite.com/website
Kelli.Trinoskey@osumc.edu
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313183/the-body-keeps-the-score-by-bessel-van-der-kolk-md/
https://www.thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation
“I love Elizabeth and The Calming Ground Podcast.” If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! Your feedback on this platform helps me support more people - just like you - move toward the balanced life they desire. Scroll to the bottom, tape to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! 
Also, if you haven’t done so already, remember to follow the podcast so you keep receiving the wisdom and insights of all of these amazing humans! 

What if you could transform your life – and even change your brain structure, by practicing something as free and simple as gratitude? 
In this episode, Elizabeth Mintun explores the many physical and mental health benefits of having a regular gratitude practice. She also explains some of the important ingredients in a gratitude practice to increase those juicy medicinal benefits of vitality, wellbeing, and overall happiness. 
Key Takeaways: 
Engaging in a regular gratitude practice can have a lasting impact on physical and emotional health and wellbeing by impacting important areas in the brain and hormonal responses. The impacts of a regular gratitude practice are not immediate, but they are long-lasting and worth the effort! Saying a simple “thank you”, while it matters, is not a gratitude practice that will reap lasting rewards - to truly engage in a gratitude practice it is best to dedicate 3-5 minutes and truly notice and/or express more depth and detail of what it is you are grateful for. Resources: 
https://www.thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation
https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/
“I love Elizabeth and The Calming Ground Podcast.” If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! Your feedback on this platform helps me support more people - just like you - move toward the balanced life they desire. Scroll to the bottom, tape to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! 
Also, if you haven’t done so already, remember to follow the podcast so you keep receiving the wisdom and insights of all of these amazing humans!

Have you ever heard of medical astrology? I hadn’t until this interview with functional medicine practitioner, astrologer, UN Peace Ambassador, and best-selling author Mariett Ramm. 
On this week’s podcast episode, Mariett talks about the importance of unmasking; that health issues often have an emotional/spiritual underpinning which, if uncovered, can lead to a deeper healing process. 
Key Takeaways: 
There is great value in facing underlying emotional and spiritual issues because they can also deplete our health and lead to chronic illness. It is important to be surrounded by a loving, supportive community for emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Resources: 
http://mariettspeaks.com/
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mariett-Ramm/author/B08JQLBJH7?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation
“I love Elizabeth and The Calming Ground Podcast.” If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! Your feedback on this platform helps me support more people - just like you - move toward the balanced life they desire. Scroll to the bottom, tape to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! 
Also, if you haven’t done so already, remember to follow the podcast so you keep receiving the wisdom and insights of all of these amazing humans! 

Pause for a moment and consider: what are the little or big aspects of your life that nourish your hopefulness?
In this week’s short episode, Elizabeth Mintun offers a reminder of the simple ways that we can return to hope and, ultimately, experience greater ease and inner peace. 
Key Takeaways: 
Identifying the “crumb path” of elements of life that nourish our hope can help us return to it like a lifeline in times of need. Sometimes it is the simplest elements in life that can be hope- and life-affirming. Resources: 
https://www.thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation
https://www.wordwoman.com/
“I love Elizabeth and The Calming Ground Podcast.” If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! Your feedback on this platform helps me support more people - just like you - move toward the balanced life they desire. Scroll to the bottom, tape to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! 
Also, if you haven’t done so already, remember to follow the podcast so you keep receiving the wisdom and insights of all of these amazing humans!