Intelligent Intoxication

Terri Bradway
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Get ready to craft a top shelf life with new episodes every Wednesday. Join your host, Terri Bradway, for season two of the Intelligent Intoxication podcast.

  1. 1D AGO

    Are You a Mom Stuck in Explanations?

    In the empty nest, long-standing explanations for why life can’t change often get louder. These stories once protected us—but now they may be quietly limiting our sense of agency, vitality, and connection. 1. The Pattern: Living in Explanation Mode Constant reasons why change isn’t possible Weight, marriage, energy, relationships, timing Not laziness—protection Explanations reduce risk, disappointment, and grief “If it’s not my fault, I don’t have to risk failing… but I also don’t get to feel my power.” 2. Why This Shows Up in the Empty Nest Fewer external demands More time + space = more self-awareness Old coping strategies resurface Identity built on caretaking starts to loosen 3. The Hidden Cost Stagnation  Quiet resentment or numbness Others feel fatigued or disengage Conversations circle, but nothing opens 4. The Shift: From Explaining to Experimenting Not “take responsibility” Try small experiments “What’s one thing I could try?” “What feels even slightly enlivening?” “What if curiosity replaced justification?” 5. For the Spouse, Friend, or Adult Child What doesn’t help Arguing with the explanation Fixing or convincing What helps Reflect without rescuing: “That sounds heavy.” Name choice gently: “I wonder what you want.” Set boundaries when needed “Loving someone doesn’t mean living inside their stuckness.” 6. Closing Reframe Explanations are often fear in disguise “Who am I when I no longer need a reason to stay the same?” If you’re the mother of adult children who feels stuck in excuses or explanations, I can help you easily get unstuck.  I invite you to schedule a complimentary coaching call with me. Here’s the link: Coaching Call with Terri   Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you.  If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast.  Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode.  My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour: Intentional Intoxication Book If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat: terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory: Intoxication Inventory

    19 min

  2. JAN 28

    How To Habit As the Mom of Adult Children

    Episode Description: If your habits haven’t been what you wanted them to be so far in 2026, here’s a quick habit refresh for your consideration: Identify whether you are an “abstainer” or a “moderator”. In her book, Better Than Before, author Gretchen Rubin explains: “For abstainers, it’s easier to say no to everything than to say no to some things… moderators do better when they indulge in moderation, because occasional indulgence heightens their pleasure and strengthens their resolve.” When it comes to changing habits, is it easier for you to stop the habit altogether, or to aim to do the habit in smaller quantities or less frequently? When you’re trying to start a new habit, is it easier to practice the new habit every single day for a very short period of time (abstain from missing a day) or to practice the habit a few times a week (moderately)? According to James Clear in Atomic Habits: “We don’t rise to the level of our goals - we fall to the level of our systems.” In order to create a “system”, simply grab a piece of paper and write down the small, specific steps you’ll take in order.  For example, here’s my “daily walk system”: At 4:45, put on shoes and coat.  Grab airpods and phone.  Leave the house.  Walk around the neighborhood.  The steps are clear and simple. When 4:45 hits, I don’t have to make a decision. I simply have to follow the steps.  If you’re trying to start a habit, it’s helpful to attach a “feeling state” to the new habit. For example, I’ll get the benefit of feeling energized if I walk for 15 minutes.  If you’re trying to stop a habit that no longer serves you, instead of focusing on what the habit is costing you, identify the immediate yet temporary benefit you get from the habit. For example, drinking while you make dinner might be giving you an escape from feeling restless or bored. Substitute a quick walk (moves the restless energy) and a Netflix show (solves for boredom) and you’re still getting the “benefit” without the long-term costs.  In Atomic Habits, James Clear also teaches that the best way to start and a sustain a new habit is to attach a valued identity to the habit or system: “The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.” Everytime I walk, write, cook, or meet with a client, I am showing up as an “exerciser”, “author”, “foodie”, or “coach”. These identities are important to me and I want to embody them as often as possible.  On the habit front, here are my favorite books for your consideration: Atomic Habits by James Clear.  Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.  Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff If you know you could use some support as you stop or start new habits this year as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me. Here’s the link: Coaching Call with Terri   Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you.  If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast.  Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode.  My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour: Intentional Intoxication Book If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat: terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory: Intoxication Inventory

    14 min

  3. JAN 21

    How To Create and Maintain Friendships As the Mom of Adult Children

    Moms of adult children often struggle to create or maintain emotionally mature relationships in the second season of life.  What if creating new connections can actually be simple, not complicated? Here are my top three tips for creating and maintaining connections: Be interested. No one wants to be impressed by you. Women want to feel seen and heard and that you’re genuinely interested in who they are.  The best way to do this is to ask them questions using the prompt: “I’m so curious… “ Be fun and entertaining. Bring the joy into every interaction you have with other women. Don’t be a “Debbie Downer”. Don’t  complain.  Be willing to initiate activities with other women.  If you know you could use some help creating and maintaining connections as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link: Coaching Call with Terri   Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you.  If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast.  Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode.  My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour: Intentional Intoxication Book If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat: terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory: Intoxication Inventory

    10 min

  4. JAN 14

    How To Quietly Quit as the Mom of Adult Children

    I use the concept “quiet quitting” to describe the intentional decision to  create an internal boundary regarding what we are no longer willing to do, be, or what or to whom we’re no longer willing to grant access to, or determining the amount of space you need between you and another person in order to truly love and accept them and yourself at the same time. “Quitting” is not giving up - it’s deciding that you’re no longer willing to invest your limited time, energy, and resources into an activity or relationship. “Quiet quitting” is not a reaction to an uncomfortable emotion like anger, fear, or sadness - it is an intentional response given our current needs and circumstances.  If you know you could use some help as you navigate a new identity as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link: Coaching Call with Terri   Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you.  If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast.  Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode.  My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour: Intentional Intoxication Book If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat: terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory: Intoxication Inventory

    15 min

  5. JAN 7

    The Emotional Whiplash Moms of Adult Kids Feel When They Leave Again

    If you’re a mom of adult children and you’re feeling discombobulated after the holidays — this episode is for you. When your kids come home, life often shifts into anticipation mode. We look forward to their arrival, savor the time together, and then suddenly… they’re gone. And you’re left trying to restart your life again. In this episode, we talk about: Why the transition after the holidays feels so emotionally jarring How living in anticipation can quietly put your own life on hold The four-part cycle we experience when our adult kids are coming home: Anticipation Connection Emptiness Recalibration This isn’t about “bouncing back.” It’s about honoring the transition — and learning how to live fully in the season you’re actually in.   If you know you could use some help as you navigate a new identity as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link: Coaching Call with Terri   Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you.  If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast.  Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode.  My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour: Intentional Intoxication Book If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat: terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory: Intoxication Inventory

    18 min

  6. 12/31/2025

    How To Feel Better When You're Struggling As the Mom of Adult Kids

    In the second stage of motherhood, many women struggle to just “feel better”.  In this episode, we explore both top-down and bottom-up approaches to healing and wellbeing as the mom of adult children.  You’ll learn: What top-down work looks like (mindset, values, identity, belief-shifting) What bottom-up support includes (therapy, medication, nervous system care, lifestyle shifts) Why insight alone doesn’t always bring relief Why needing support at this stage of life is not a failure—but a biological and emotional reality How integrating both approaches can create stability, clarity, and renewed meaning This conversation is for moms with adult children who feel unsettled, exhausted, or unsure of what’s next—and want to stop judging themselves for how they’re feeling. The second stage of life isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about learning how to truly support yourself.   If you know you could use some help as you navigate a new identity as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link: Coaching Call with Terri   Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you.  If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast.  Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode.  My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour: Intentional Intoxication Book If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat: terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory: Intoxication Inventory

    21 min

  7. 12/24/2025

    How To Stop Anticipating Time With Your Adult Children

    In this episode, we explore the subtle but powerful difference between anticipation and presence — and how it impacts your daily peace and joy as the mother of adult children in your second season of life.  Anticipation pulls your mind into the future, imagining what hasn’t happened yet. While it can create excitement, it often keeps us in a state of waiting, overthinking, or low-grade anxiety. Presence brings us back to the moment we’re in. It’s the practice of rooting ourselves where our body is, rather than living in a future we can’t control or a past we can’t change. Presence feels grounded, calm, and connected. This episode invites you to notice where anticipation may be pulling you out of your life — and how gently returning to the present can restore a sense of ease and emotional steadiness. I invite you to consider this question:  Who might you be and what might you do if you didn’t wait for the text, call, or visit today? If you know you could use some help as you navigate a new identity as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link: Coaching Call with Terri Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you.  If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast.  Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode.  My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour: Intentional Intoxication Book If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat: terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory: Intoxication Inventory

    17 min

  8. 12/17/2025

    Gifts Your Adult Children Really Want - Part 2

    On tonight’s episode, we’ll discuss 10 more “gifts” a mother can give her adult children that cost nothing but create emotional spaciousness, safety, and connection. These acts of emotional generosity will help your relationship grow, breathe, and thrive. The Best Gifts a Mother Can Give Her Adult Children (That Money Can’t Buy) 11. A Soft Landing, Not a Sticky Trap Offering warmth, humor, listening, and ease when you’re together — the kind of presence that makes them want to come back. 12. Flexibility Instead of Fragility Being adaptable to schedules, changes, and realities — without pouting, withdrawing, or dramatizing. 13. Trust in Their Competence Believing they can handle their lives. Letting them struggle, solve, grow, and get stronger without rushing in. 14. Acceptance of Their Pace Not needing frequent contact to feel connected. Letting the relationship breathe without fear. 15. A Safe, Nonjudgmental Presence A place where they can show up imperfectly without being evaluated, corrected, or advised. 16. Your Own Friendships and Community So they don’t carry the weight of being your only source of belonging. 17. Emotional Congruence Showing them someone who is living authentically — aligned, honest, humble, grounded. 18. Genuine Enjoyment Letting your face light up when they walk into the room or call you — not with desperation, but with delight. 19. The Gift of Letting Go Releasing the fantasy child, the fantasy relationship, the fantasy closeness — and loving the real adult in front of you. 20. Loving Them Without Needing to Manage Them The simplest, hardest, and most beautiful gift: I love you exactly as you are, and my life is full even when you’re not with me. If you know you could use some help as you navigate your connectioons to your adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link: Coaching Call with Terri   Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you.  If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast.  Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode.  My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour: Intentional Intoxication Book If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat: terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory: Intoxication Inventory

    17 min
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About

Get ready to craft a top shelf life with new episodes every Wednesday. Join your host, Terri Bradway, for season two of the Intelligent Intoxication podcast.

Information

  • Creator
    Terri Bradway
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    497
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Intelligent Intoxication