May 18

We Made a Thing: Season One Reflections, Recurring Themes, and What's Coming Next

This video is about Wrap up episodeIt's the season one finale and it's just the two of us. Sarah and Lissy sit down to reflect on what it was actually like to make this podcast -- the panicked voice note Sarah sent right before launch, the ragtag process that got them here, and the feedback that's meant the most. They dig into the themes that kept surfacing across every conversation: the longing for aimless, unstructured time, the universal signs that you've stopped tending to yourself, and why everyone they spoke to opened with some version of "I'm not sure why you'd want to talk to me about this." They also get into what they want to explore in season two: men and self-care (yes, really), couples navigating their own needs alongside each other's, grief, sobriety, and older guests with decades of perspective. Plus, as always, a small moment of joy each, including a May snowstorm in Colorado and a Starbucks compliment that was very much not meant for Sarah's husband. If these conversations have been landing for you, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and showing up for yourself in the small ways that actually matter. Sign up here. If a big life change has you wondering what comes next, LifePlans (a company Lissy supports in an advisory role) offers personalized expert guidance to help you think it through and move forward with confidence. Learn more at ourlifeplans.com. Loved this season? Leaving a review and sharing the show with someone who needs it is the best way to help us grow into season two. Thank you so much for being here.

31 min

May 11

I'd Almost Do This Job for Free: A Costuming Teacher on Art as Self-Care, Late Bloomers, and the Ripples You Don't Expect

Steph spent decades working jobs that paid the bills but never quite fit who she was, iincluding a painful stint in the music industry where the pressure to be someone she wasn't eventually pushed her out entirely. Now, turning 50, she's a costuming and makeup teacher at a Los Angeles high school with a performing arts program, making foam wigs for Seussical, teaching kids to embroider their denim, and fielding a hundred students who call her Miss A like she's the person they've been waiting for. This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered if they'll ever get to do the thing that actually feels like them. Steph talks about what it means to finally have work that hits every one of her delivery mechanisms: creativity, community, and her kids getting to watch her do something she loves. She shares why that in itself has become one of her most essential forms of self-care. She also shares the story of the student who got into Princeton writing about quilts they made together for families displaced by the LA fires. A warm, funny, deeply human episode about following the winding road to yourself. If this conversation resonated, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and showing up for yourself in the small ways that actually matter. Sign up here. If a big life change has you wondering what comes next, LifePlans (a company Lissy supports in an advisory role) offers personalized expert guidance to help you think it through and move forward with confidence. Learn more at ourlifeplans.com. Loved this episode? Leaving a review helps more people find us -- and it means the world to us. Thank you.

34 min

May 5

Slow Down to Go Fast: A Working Mom on Urgency, Spontaneity, and Reclaiming an Hour for Yourself

Lainey lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two toddlers, and Morty the dog who commutes to the office with her and works the subway car for pets from strangers. She's an extrovert who can hold a lot, until she can't and she came into this conversation ready to admit that her Oura ring has never once changed her behavior. This one is for anyone who feels like they're running a well-oiled machine that is also one small thing away from falling apart. Lainey talks about what it actually looks like to be a working mom whose days are back to back meetings, mode-switching, and very little give in the system. She gets honest about the false urgency that keeps her from taking a five minute walk around the block, why evening work time has become her unexpected form of self-directed space, and what it feels like to realize you genuinely cannot remember the last time you wandered somewhere without a destination. She also makes a compelling case for the one hour workout as the only truly protected time in a very full day and what it took to actually show up for it when work was pulling her back. If this conversation resonated, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and showing up for yourself in the small ways that actually matter. Sign up here. If a big life change has you wondering what comes next, LifePlans (a company Lissy supports in an advisory role) offers personalized expert guidance to help you think it through and move forward with confidence. Learn more at ourlifeplans.com. Loved this episode? Leaving a review helps more people find us -- and it means the world to us. Thank you.

34 min

Apr 27

Move With Ease: An Artist and Pilates Teacher on Creative Self-Care, Motherhood, and the Yes No Manifesto

Elana Jacobs is the artistic director of a performance company, a Pilates studio owner, and someone who has spent her whole life figuring out how to keep creativity alive through every season of life, including the ones that make it feel nearly impossible. This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt like the version of themselves that made art, moved freely, or had time to think is still in there somewhere, just waiting for an opening. Elana talks about her practice of moving with ease, not doing less, but finding the route with the most flow and how that principle guides everything from her creative work to how she shows up as a parent. She shares the concept of the invisible basket, a way of collecting ideas and inspiration throughout daily life even when a formal creative practice isn't possible, and why having a project on the horizon -- even a distant one -- keeps her grounded. She also reads aloud the Yes No Manifesto, a reframing of perfection, planning, and control that honestly applies as much to parenting and self-care as it does to making art. If this conversation resonated, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and showing up for yourself in the small ways that actually matter. Get it here. If a big life change has you wondering what comes next, LifePlans (a company Lissy supports in an advisory role) offers personalized expert guidance to help you think it through and move forward with confidence. Learn more at ourlifeplans.com. Loved this episode? Leaving a review helps more people find us -- and it means the world to us. Thank you.

31 min

Apr 20

Boundaries Are Self-Care: A Therapist on Chronic Illness, Sandwich Generation Grief, and Letting People Down

Lacy is a mental health professional supporting clinicians on the streets of Los Angeles, a mom of an 18-month-old, pregnant with her second, and navigating the particular grief of watching a parent decline from dementia while her dad recovers from cancer treatment. She came into this conversation saying she focuses her clinical work on boundaries -- and then spent the next 30 minutes showing us exactly why that work is so personal. Lacy talks about living with Type 1 diabetes and how her chronic illness has become an unlikely compass for knowing when she's not taking care of herself. She gets honest about the grief that comes in waves when your mom is still here but not really here, the invisible labor of having to educate people about your own experience, and what it actually looks like to tell someone -- even someone you love -- this is all I have to give you right now. A deeply honest episode for anyone navigating caregiving, chronic illness, and the messy work of showing up for yourself in the middle of all of it. If this conversation resonated, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and showing up for yourself in the small ways that actually matter. Sign up here. If these conversations around caregiving resonate with you, consider using LifePlans (a company Lissy supports in an advisory role) to help you access the support and tools to help you thrive. Learn more here. Loved this episode? Leaving a review helps more people find us and it means the world to us. Thank you.

35 min

Apr 13

Write It Down and Burn It: A Massage Therapist on Nervous System Care, Sandwich Generation Life, and Finding Joy in the Mess

Heather is a massage therapist, somatic practitioner, foster youth volunteer, mom of two kids six years apart, and the person quietly holding together a caregiving landscape that includes aging parents 2,000 miles away, an 86-year-old mother-in-law, and a high-needs dog -- all while living next door to co-host Lissy (yes, really). This is one of the most grounded, honest conversations we've had about what it actually looks and feels like to be in the thick of the sandwich generation while still showing up for yourself. Heather talks about her daily journalspeak practice: writing for 20 minutes every morning and then throwing it away and why getting rid of it is the whole point. She shares how she knows when she's running low (hint: she starts feeling self-conscious around her kids), why curiosity and anxiety can't coexist in the same brain, and how she's learning to tell the difference between doing things out of genuine nourishment versus doing them out of fear. She also makes a case for collage class as an act of civil disobedience, and for dancing twice a week as non-negotiable. This one's for anyone who takes care of a lot of people and is trying to figure out how to take care of themselves too, not out of obligation, but because they actually want to. If this conversation resonated, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and showing up for yourself in the small ways that actually matter. Sign up here. If a big life change has you wondering what comes next, LifePlans (a company Lissy supports in an advisory role) offers personalized expert guidance to help you think it through and move forward with confidence. Learn more here. Loved this episode? Leaving a review helps more people find us -- and it means the world to us. Thank you.

33 min

Apr 6

The Mama Minute: A Social Worker on Micro Self-Care, News Boundaries, and Wandering Without a Plan

Julie-Anne is a social worker supporting families separated at the border, a mom of two in San Francisco, and someone who started this conversation by saying she's definitely not the girl with weekly Pilates on her schedule. Spoiler: she is absolutely taking care of herself, just not in the ways we're told it has to look. Jules talks about building tiny transition rituals into her day, the five-minute weed-pulling practice that's become her moving meditation, and how she decides when to take in the news and when to hard pass. She also names something that will hit close to home for a lot of listeners: the dream of a whole afternoon with zero agenda, and the guilt that still shows up even when she takes it. A deeply honest episode about self-care for women doing heavy work in heavy times. If this conversation stayed with you, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and showing up for yourself even when everything feels heavy. Sign up here. Jules touches on something co-host Lissy McConnell knows deeply -- the particular exhaustion of caring for others while trying to care for yourself. If you're part of the sandwich generation, Lissy has built a whole resource library just for you. at sandwichsupportco.com/resources. Loved this episode? A review helps so many more people find this conversation. We appreciate you.

32 min

Mar 30

Plan the Fun First: A Financial Planner on Anxiety, ACL Recovery, and Building Trust With Yourself

Leah is a financial planner, mom of two, adventure-seeker, and four months out from ACL surgery and she has some of the most practical self-care wisdom we've heard. She shares how she front-loads personal commitments in her calendar before work ever gets a look in, why she keeps color-coded notes to herself that say "you are safe, don't forget to have fun," and how a nine-month injury recovery taught her to find meaning in slowing down. She also gets honest about anxiety, perfectionism, and the fear of starting something she won't finish. This one's for the planners, the overachievers, and anyone learning to trust themselves. If this one spoke to you, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and learning to trust yourself in the small moments. Sign up here. Leah works with millennials navigating the messy middle -- young families, aging parents, big financial decisions all at once. Sound familiar? Co-host Lissy McConnell has a deep library of resources specifically for the sandwich generation here. Enjoyed this episode? Leaving a review helps more listeners find us -- and we are so grateful for every single one.

28 min

Mar 30

Good Enough Is a Life Philosophy: One Therapist's Honest Take on Rest, Creativity, and Letting Go

Co-host Lissy McConnell gets interviewed and delivers one of the most quietly radical takes on self-care we've heard: good enough is not settling, it's surviving with your sanity intact. Lissy talks about working with the sandwich generation, scaling back her hours to protect her nervous system, and why her self-care looks less like a wellness routine and more like a dog on her lap and a really cool stick in her garage. She opens up about her spotty meditation practice, her love of making things with her hands, and what fair play in a marriage actually looks like in practice. This one's for anyone who's ever felt like they were doing self-care wrong. If this conversation hit home, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and the small ways we show up for ourselves. Sign up here. Lissy specializes in working with the sandwich generation -- those carrying the weight of raising kids while caring for aging parents. If you're in that season, her resource library was built for you. Find it here. Loved this episode? A quick review goes a long way in helping others find the show. Thank you so much.

28 min

Mar 30

What Self-Care Actually Looks Like: A Somatic Therapist Gets Honest

In our very first episode, co-host and somatic therapist Sarah Levy turns the mic on herself. Sarah gets real about burnout recovery, what it means to listen to your body, and how self-care evolves through different seasons of life, from early parenthood exhaustion to finding energy again through work, movement, and connection. She talks about the dance of knowing when you need solitude versus co-regulation, how she thinks about movement as nervous system regulation (not punishment), and why play might be the most underrated form of self-care for high-functioning women. If this conversation resonated, The Weekly Exhale is Sarah's newsletter on nervous system regulation, burnout, and showing up for yourself in the small ways that actually matter. Sign up here. Lissy specializes in working with the sandwich generation -- those carrying the weight of raising kids while caring for aging parents. If you're in that season, her resource library was built for you. Find it here. Loved this episode? Leaving a review helps more people find us -- and it takes less than a minute. We appreciate it more than you know.

26 min