GIRL Talk Girl Scouts River Valleys

In this episode Idelle is joined by returning guest Maddy Dietz. Maddy is a fiction writer and aspiring journalist, a Gold Award Girl Scout, the National Student Poet representing the Midwest region, a YoungArts Finalist in Short Story, and is a candidate for US Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She is also a recent recipient of Girl Scouts River Valleys' Changemaker Award for her work in arts and journalism education.



Maddy talked with Idelle about what she's up to now and her plans for after graduation this spring, and shares an on-air reading of her short story Why We Endured the Darkness, which was published in the short story anthology Triangulation: Dark Skies.



Idelle and Maddy discuss the story's themes of love, freedom of religion and thought, women who are engineers and physicists, and representation. Maddy talks about her love of the short story medium and how she fits so much background into such a short time. She also talks about why she identifies with the story's characters and how she set out to write a story that reflects her own identity in hopes that other young women will see themselves in it.



Make sure you listen to our first episode with Maddy - Episode 18: Becoming a Writer.



This will be the last GIRL Talk episode for a few months - but we'll be back soon! Stay well and enjoy your summer :-)

For this episode we welcomed a returning guest, Karla Benson Rutten. Karla joined Idelle to talk about a passion of hers, mindful meditation. Karla practices mindful meditation herself and with her family, but she has also incorporated it into her business as a life coach, and into our meetings at Girl Scouts. If you've been thinking about trying meditation for yourself, Karla has some great insight.



Mindfulness gives us a chance to think about how we want to be in a day. It's helpful when we're overwhelmed, or when we just need to find a place of calm within ourselves. It's a practice - just like sports, music, or art, you need to practice being present and focus on what's happening right now. Being mindful is about being fully present to enjoy the things around you that are happy, and also sit with things that might be uncomfortable.



Karla talks about how meditation is based on breathing. It calms our minds and bodies, and helps us make better decisions. Taking a breath physically calms your body, and when you do it intentionally it can help you through times of anxiety or nervousness.



The world and our lives have changed so much throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Karla talks about using all this time at home to practice mindfulness, breathing, and meditation, and feeling like she needs it now more than ever. We're all stuck inside with our families and everything is on screens, and with all that screen time, mind breaks are important. Little breaks from school, work, TV, and social media can help set us up for a different kind of mood. Think about taking time to focus on things other than the stressors that come from dealing with COVID and everything that comes with it.



Meditation can come in many forms and can look different for everyone - there's no one way or right way. Karla talks about discovering mindfulness when she was growing up, without knowing it, while fishing with her dad. Being still just to be still, noticing things in nature, being patient in order to enjoy what's around you, learning to pause and breathe.



There can be some barriers to mindful meditation, like feeling like things have to be a certain way. You might think you need to have candles or special music, set aside a specific amount of time, or have someone to lead you. Karla talks about meditation being much simpler: all you really need is your breath; to intentionally breathe and notice what's going on in your body. And it can be short, like just a minute or two, or even 30 seconds. You might also feel like your mind is just too crowded. For people with anxiety or busy minds, it can be hard to take those quiet times. Karla talks about using running or other physical activity as meditation, or using music or a mantra to help you focus. It's all about being in the present.



Karla had some advice for getting started: turn off your devices and sit or stand quietly - just for a minute. Listen, notice your breathing, notice what's going on around you in the space you're in. Focus on doing one thing at a time.



To wrap up our conversation Karla leads us in a guided meditation. Try it out and see how it makes you feel!



As always, we hope you're safe and healthy. See you next time.



 



P.S. Here are a few mindfulness-related apps we like:

Relax Melodies

ThinkUP affirmations

Headspace

In this episode we welcomed a special guest, Sarah Mikutel, to talk about Stoicism. Sarah runs her own business as a transformation coach, using the Enneagram and Stoicism to help women replace anxiety, overwhelm, and procrastination with calm, confidence, and fast action. She is a location-independent world traveler, entrepreneur, writer, and experienced podcaster, but what makes Sarah a particularly special guest, is that she works behind the scenes on GIRL Talk as our editor!



Sarah’s newest podcast, Part of Something Greater, is devoted to Stoicism and the Enneagram, and she and Idelle had a great conversation about how we can use tools from Stoicism to reduce anxiety and live happy, peaceful lives.



Sarah breaks down the difference between the common understanding of what it means to be stoic, versus Stoicism. She talks about how Stoicism isn't about suppressing emotion, being the "strong silent type" or having a "stiff upper lip," but that it's actually the opposite. Stoicism is about empathy, listening, being in tune with your body and mind, and gaining tools for understanding your emotions in order to manage anxiety and react more positively to tough situations.



Stoicism is also about staying in the moment and bringing presence to your life, which most of us would probably agree we could use a little more of. Sarah shares her personal strategies for bringing this type of mindfulness to her day, which include morning journaling and a practice of reflecting on her day before bed in order to let go of negative feelings that she might be hanging onto.



We hope you'll find something in this conversation that resonates with you! And as always, we hope you're safe and healthy. See you next time :-)



 



Sarah hosts three podcasts of her own: Podcasting Step by Step, Part of Something Greater, and the Postcard Academy, which you can find on your favorite podcast app. Find out more about Sarah and her work on her website, sarahmikutel.com.



 

In this episode we welcomed our Girl Scout colleague Kalue Her to the podcast to talk about Hmong Shamanism through her personal experiences. Shamanism focuses on health and balance in body and soul, and helping and healing individuals, families, and communities. It's all about love, healing, and a connection and respect for nature and living things, and is rooted in the belief that everything has a soul.



Shamanism is a practice of healing and protecting family members - providing balance. Shamans have many duties and a variety of specific skill sets for helping their families. It's a huge responsibility and doesn't come with material wealth or a lot of recognition, but it's important and rewarding. Kalue talked about the increase in women taking on the shaman role, including herself, and shared the surprising story of how she came to accept it as her path.



Shamanism can sometimes be seen in the wrong way - as barbaric or outdated, and not as the traditional practice of religious healing, spiritual care, loving, and light that it really is. This can make it challenging for young people to be open about their family's practice of Shamanism. Kalue is hoping to change this with her own kids, sharing her experience and passing it on to them in a positive way.



We talked about stereotypes related to what Shamanism is and the impression we had of what it means. Kalue talks about working to change the face of Shamanism and breaking through stereotypes and stigma within the Hmong community. She shared with us what the practice of Shamanism looks like in her family and the importance of having a spiritual leader. It isn't always easy, she and her husband walk a fine line with their own kids of teaching them about Shamanism but not wanting them to feel like they are different or outsiders in their school or neighborhood.



As our takeaway, Kalue shared some advice for Hmong girls:

Find people who support you, learn, ask questions. Seek out a wise person like a teacher, caregiver, parent, troop leader - someone you trust. Shamanism is evolving and changing, and in order to experience the love and healing it offers, you have to first love and accept yourself.



What a great message! For those of you who are new to learning about Hmong Shamanism, We hope you find this conversation as interesting and eye-opening as we did. Take care of yourselves out there, GIRL Talk listeners.

In this episode we're talking with two guests, Ash Murray and Steph Aich, who are the founders of Midwest Dirt Legion - a riding club for cisgender women, gender non-conforming, and transgender mountain bikers. Ash also works with Girl Scouts River Valleys’ Girls in Gear mountain bike program, teaching Girl Scouts technical skills and taking them out to tear up the trails on our new mountain bike course at Camp Elk River in Zimmerman, Minnesota.



Ash and Steph started Midwest Dirt Legion with a goal to build more gender equity in the mountain biking community in the Twin Cities. They saw what a big difference it made to have spaces for a diverse set of genders (not just male or female, but non-binary and trans folks as well) when they were doing track bike racing, and they wanted to create that same space for mountain bikers. They started with pretty much nothing but an idea, and found that there were a ton of other people interested in what they were doing.



Part of the work they do with their organized rides and events is providing skills clinics and an introduction to mountain biking to new riders. They start where people are at, and help them get comfortable. We talked about how they have both had experiences in the broader mountain biking community with other riders' elitism and a masculine culture getting in the way of riding certain trails, taking certain skills clinics, or even just feeling like they're seen as "real" mountain bikers. They try to eliminate those barriers for their own participants, creating experiences that encourage a lifelong love of the sport.



Another goal of Midwest Dirt Legion is to make mountain biking more accessible. It can be an expensive hobby, requiring lots of gear and ability to travel. Ash and Steph focus on making their events as local as possible and helping people get there, and work to break through the common belief that you need a lot of expensive top-line gear to be legit (not true!). They also do broader advocacy work through social media to expand their reach.



We talked about what it takes to start a club or organization like this to address a need in a community, and how hard work and gaining support are more important than money. One of our big takeaways was that you can solve a problem without having a lot of money or experience - you can get started, run with an idea, and learn along the way! Especially if you put together the right team.



You can learn more about Ash and Steph and Midwest Dirt Legion on their website midwestdirtlegion.com, or in this great article on The Radivist. You can follow them on Instagram @midwestdirtlegion and join their social group on Facebook called Friends of Midwest Dirt Legion.



Girl Scouts River Valleys would like to say thank you to our funders and partners that have helped make the Girls in Gear mountain bike program possible: Hugh J. Andersen Family Foundation, the Hardenbergh Foundation, Quality Bike Products, Tonka Cycle and Ski, and Salsa Cycles. Girl Scouts River Valleys, with support from these companies, has made this one-of-a-kind outdoor adventure possible for girls. Together, we can ensure that every girl pushes past their limits and builds the confidence they need to take on any challenge.

This episode features a conversation about leadership with Los Angeles Film School President Tammy Elliott. How did we get such a prestigious guest, you might ask? Spoiler alert - she's Hannah's mom! Tammy has built an amazing career as a leader in higher education, and she shared with us some truly amazing nuggets of wisdom about how she got there and what it takes to lead her team with kindness and grace.



Girl Scouts is a leadership organization, and we love hearing people's leadership stories. Tammy told us hers, which included a lot of trial and error that led to eventually finding her purpose in a place that allowed her to do what she loves - working with people. She talks about being told "keep doing what you're doing" and having supervisors and colleagues who saw qualities in her that she didn't necessarily see in herself, leading her to take leaps into new positions that challenged her and opened up her perception of her own capabilities.



Tammy talked about seeking counsel from people who have your best interest at heart when you're trying to decide whether to take on a new challenge, which means finding people who love you and who you trust to help you make big decisions. We talked about the importance of being thoughtful when making decisions, like taking on a new job or other big life change.



One of the insights Tammy shared with us is that being a good leader is about the power of words, the power of kindness, and the power of connection - being strong but kind - and that those are often missing. Her goal when leading people is to seek understanding and deliver the message that she cares about them and is working for and with them. She also keeps her work joyful and tries share that joy with her teams, even though that's sometimes really hard to do.



We talked about conflict, and the importance of finding connection and understanding in order to get through it. In a leadership position you often have to make hard decisions and get into those conflict situations, and it can take time to get good at it.



One of the main things we wanted to talk to Tammy about is differences between what leadership looks like in women vs. men. She talks about how there is space for both, but that her own style involves bringing thoughtfulness and patience to her work as a leader. We talked through gender roles in our society, and how they pressure us and make it harder to lead like ourselves and find our natural style.



Our takeaways:

When it comes to growing and developing as a leader, go easy on yourself! Don't feel like you need to be perfect and like you can't make mistakes. Take time and opportunities to grow, and give yourself grace. Tammy left us with a few words to sum up her leadership style: grit, gratitude, grace, and strength. We'll take those with us.



 



Take care of yourselves, GIRL Talk listeners. We'll talk soon.



Reach out to our podcast team at girltalk.girlscoutsrv.org/contact.