Movement, Mind, & Meaning Podcast

Megan Nolan
  • 5.0 (9)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

The Movement, Mind, and Meaning Podcast delivers mind-body tools to help you thrive beyond anxiety and stress. Discover the power of movement, mindfulness, and mindset shifts to build resilience, find clarity, and create lasting mental and emotional well-being. Perfect for women seeking natural solutions to calm your mind, feel authentically happy, and live with purpose in all areas of your life.

  1. The Missing Piece in Healing

    JUL 23

    The Missing Piece in Healing

    Why are so many people still stuck in pain, anxiety, and chronic stress—even after trying therapy, breathwork, and nervous system tools? In this episode of the Movement, Mind & Meaning Podcast, I'm chatting with special guest Cynthia Allen as explore the hidden connection between trauma, the brain, and chronic pain… and what most healing paths completely miss. You’ll discover: Why calming your nervous system is just the beginning How trauma rewires the brain and body to stay in pain The surprising role your body plays in retraining your nervous system How to unlearn stress-based habits and escape the pain loop for good What your nervous system is actually craving to feel safe and heal Whether you’ve tried talk therapy, somatic work, or meditation—and you’re still asking “Why do I still feel this way?”—this episode will show you the missing piece in your healing journey. Learn more about Cynthia here: Cynthia Allen has been working in wellness practices, health care management, and organizational consulting for over 35 years. In 2001, she became a Certified Feldenkrais® practitioner and, more recently, a Senior Trainer in Movement Intelligence. She has a personal history in overcoming childhood trauma and found the Feldenkrais Method to be a vital part of returning to present moment living. In her private practice, she has had the privilege of working with many people who also have had a history of significant trauma wanting to come home to their bodies and movement. Cynthia has written about the Feldenkrais Method, pain, and trauma for the Alternative and Complementary Therapies Journal as well as the online Chronic Pain Partners. She has conducted and published a research paper: Alternative Movement Program in Geriatric Rehabilitation in the Functional Neurology, Rehabilitation, and Ergonomics. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, business partner and NLP guru, Larry Wells and their puppy Darby. Visit her through her website at FutureLifeNow.com Grab her free gift of the Turning, Seeing, Sitting, Standing, While Improving the Neck mini course here: https://futurelifenow.thrivecart.com/turning-seeing-sitting-standing-ever/   Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!  Today we're talking about the missing piece in healing with my special guest, Cynthia Allen, a Feldenkrais practitioner. Welcome back to the Movement Mind and Meaning podcast. I'm your host, Megan Nolan, and I am really honored and happy to have one of my fellow BBD. What's BBD, Megan?Business by Design, one of the business courses that I'm in, one of my fellow BBD family members here with me. today. Cynthia Allen, as I mentioned, is a Feldenkrais practitioner. She'll explain what that is if you don't know. But today we are going to be talking about the sometimes missed, sometimes neglected, sometimes ignored, really essential component in your overall healing, thriving, abundant success, you know, pretty much everything today. So welcome, Cynthia. It's lovely to have you here. Oh, it's good to be here, Megan. I'm excited to to share with you and explore with you. Thank you. Thank you. So we'll have you circle 26 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,1000 back to what Feldenkrais is 27 00:01:05,1000 --> 00:01:08,720 and all of that magic in a moment. But we like to just get right into it. We like to just get right in and get to know you. So you have an incredible list of certifications and experiences which people, if they're curious about that, can certainly read in the show notes. But. We just like to just just get right into the beauty of the magic that is you and that has really led to where you're at now, what you're doing, what you do, and how you serve and all that beautifulness with a little bit of a glimpse into your life and into your 41 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:35,1000 story. So will you please take us to a 42 00:01:35,1000 --> 00:01:38,880 moment, maybe where you had a open heart, open mind, realization, situation, whatever it was for you that led you to where you're at now and doing what you do?Yeah, yeahSo I think it's important just to. Say something about my earlier background that would have led me to even want to do this. So I am somebody who had quite a significant amount of childhood trauma in a variety of ways. And then I also had movement coordination problems. I had definitely difficulty with chronic pain starting at a young age, so you know. Like many of us, you you do OK. You somehow manage to keep it all together. And then there's usually some point in life that people realize they can't keep it together anymore. Mine came in the mid to late 20s when my first marriage was breaking up and my mother was also dying from breast cancer, and I really began to realize I couldn't keep it together any longer. And so I did many things. I did psychotherapy, spiritual direction, shamanic work, several different kinds of body work, art-related creative expression, and all of these things, or I should say most of them did help some, and maybe some of them even more than just a little bit. And still though,I was still a pretty big hot mess. That's just the truth of it. I was going through several years into this. I'm 78 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,1000 still really struggling. So now I'm into 79 00:03:09,1000 --> 00:03:12,080 my mid 30s and I tried, 'cause I'm trying everything, right, that I can think of to try. I'm trying the Feldenkrais method. I go to a few classes and I think to myself, ah I don't know, this is a weird work. It's not too slow. It's too methodical. What the heck?And yet I kept feeling better and better and better. And I would think to myself, hold it, I didn't know anybody could feel good like this. I'd be at work managing my department and I'd 92 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,1000 go, how is it that people, is it other 93 00:03:42,1000 --> 00:03:45,120 people who actually feel good?I never knew that you could actually feel good. And about a year into that exploration of just kind of going to some weekly classes, the instructor asked me if I thought I might like to train in the work 'cause there was going to be a training. coming to our area, to Cincinnati, Ohio. And I said, No, no, no noAnd then she said, Well, I'm gonna give you an application anyway, 'cause I think 105 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:11,1000 there's something here for you. And I 106 00:04:11,1000 --> 00:04:14,200 took the application out. My husband and I were doing the classes together. I took the application out and he got into the driver's seat and I got into the passenger seat and I started to cry. And he said, What's wrong, what's wrong?And I said, I'm coming home. It was so clear. Now, I didn't really know that I was going to practice it as a practitioner. I thought I was still taking it for my own health and well-being, but which was true. But about a year in, I thought this is actually, I've been looking to make it out of traditional healthcare into something more aligned with where I was and my beliefs and. my life at the time. So it 125 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:57,1000 did become, it took a while to 126 00:04:57,1000 --> 00:04:59,840 transition, but it did become that my transition out of healthcare management and development into being a Feldenkrais practitioner. And for me, it was, you know, it was very, very meaningful to just have a possibility to find that, oh, my body. is okay, despite everything that I thought and believed, and despite how I felt to just have someplace where there was no judgment, where I could explore movement in a way that I would never have been able to explore because I didn't really have that capacity as a child. And when I did do it through the sort of traditional physical education, that kind of thing, it was horrible. I didn't really probably know for sure at that point how much it was gonna affect my emotional state, but I was still having regular PTSD like nightmares uh when I went into the program. And And that really started to shift over the course of the first year of study to where I could you know get in bed, fall asleep and not be scared to sleep. Because I didn't know what horrible thing I was going to dream up again that night. So it's just been an incredible blessing to me and I'm so happy to share it with others. Wow. Thank you. And thank you for your vulnerability and honesty in that and. And I love that you were able to explore different modalities and approaches to find your way back home to yourself and find a tool set that really worked. And that's really the 167 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:41,1000 essence of this podcast is mind and body 168 00:06:41,1000 --> 00:06:44,200 tools to help us thrive and overcome and move beyond anxiety and depression and trauma and stress. And and you know, as my teacher likes to say, there's many paths to the same mountain, the same mountain being that. Thriving, vital, resilient, balanced self where we do feel at home, where we do feel like we're thriving. And I know that I can relate to what you said and and perhaps many of the listeners and watchers can relate too of having that moment of realization like this is this feels like my true and natural state and and having that realization that. For a long time I was like, really? Like, do people really feel that good?Do they feel this happy?It seems like it's not a real thing, you know, cause it just felt so foreign to me. And so I love that Feldenkrais and and I know later on you're gonna share some ways to get connected and to understand and explore that deeper. And so if people are curious about it, definitely check out the link that we're gonna share a little later on. But just so you know, it'll be in the show notes. So can we talk about how many people may understand at a deep level, but maybe not conceptually understand the interplay between many of the things that you mentioned, complex trauma

    43 min
  2. The #1 Mindset Shift Preventing Burnout

    JUL 16

    The #1 Mindset Shift Preventing Burnout

    NEW WORKSHOP ALERT: "The Productivity Leak" to discover the 8 success stopping habits that might be draining your team's energy & focus (& how to shift them in just 9 minutes a day)👉 Save your seat here: https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity You don’t need more hours in the day. You need to use your brain the way it was built to work. In this episode, we dive into what the latest neuroscience tells us about focus, fatigue, and performance—and why ignoring your brain’s natural limits is the fastest way to drive burnout, not results. 💡 Inside: The rhythm your brain runs on—and why pushing past it backfires What the top 10% of productive people do differently (hint: it’s the 52:17 rule) How to quietly destroy decision-making, creativity, and focus What has to change if you want success to be sustainable, not exhausting If you’re serious about preventing burnout, boosting performance, and building a team that actually lasts—you’ll want to hear this.  And if you want to turn these insights into action, join our free live workshop: "The Productivity Leak" to discover the 8 success stopping habits that might be draining your team's energy & focus (& how to shift them in just 9 minutes a day) 👉 Save your seat here: https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity Because the most effective way to boost performance isn’t more hustle. It’s recovery. Rhythm. And leadership that knows the difference.   Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!   The number one mindset shift in preventing burnout is exactly what we're going to be talking about today on this week's episode of the Movement, Mind and Meaning podcast. I'm your host, Megan Nolan. And before we get into this short but sweet episode. Have you signed up for the Productivity League yet?This is a brand new workshop where you will join us for free and learn the 8 success stopping habits that might be draining your team's time and energy and how to shift them in just 9 minutes a day. So if you haven't signed up yet, you can sign up and join us live if you make it in time or catch the replay if you catch this in the few days of the workshop itself and the link to do that will be in the show notes so. Join us for that. Now, the number one mindset shift in preventing burnout. Lean in because it's not AI. Lean in because it's not an app. It's not a hack. It's not a brand new hot shiny strategy. It is that breaks are tools, not rewards. Breaks are tools, not rewards. And we're gonna talk about the science behind why slowing down will actually help you to speed up, why power pauses are the most effective way to boost your team's energy and performance, and how you can begin to integrate this and implement this literally today. Literally today. Because the truth is, is that burnout is a symptom of an exhausted, depleted. Nervous system. And when we get to that point of complete depletion, it takes a long time to get ourselves back from it, to recover at a systemic level, physically, mentally, emotionally, on a overall holistic level. It takes a really freaking long time, and that's because we've literally burnt out and depleted all of our resources. And so it's really imperative that we are proactive and that we recognize that in order to be functioning and performing at your best, as well as, and I think more importantly, feeling your best, it's important that we are proactive. And when we think about performance, we think of being able to get to the finish line in the most effective and efficient way. And we forget that in order for us to do that, it takes thriving at the level of the body, the mind and the spirit. Because you are not a robot. You are not something that is wired in a way that is. Able to and has the capacity to be performing and running at 100 all the time. And let's talk about this from a level of the body. So you probably are familiar with your circadian rhythm, which is where you start to get sleepy near the end of the day when the light changes around you and where we have a an increase in melatonin and serotonin and that cause you to get sleepy and go to sleep. And so that's your circadian rhythm that we naturally have throughout the day. So we have another rhythm that's in your body that's called your ultradian rhythm. So your ultradian rhythm, depending on the person, runs about every 60 to 90 minutes. And So what happens is, is that with the ultradian rhythm, what happens is the your brain works in natural cycles of high and low alertness, roughly every 60 to 90 minutes. And so at your peak, at the peak level of performance, when those levels are high, then we are able to focus really clearly, we're able to solve problems, we're able to create, we're happy, we're engaged, we're we're in, we're very much in that output phase. That's when the levels are really high. And so when the brain after it starts to release lower levels of dopamine, which is what helps to really create that ultradian rhythm. The the shift in activity where we enter, rather than being at a peak, we enter a trough, right?We we have that natural cycles of high and low alertness after about 60 to 90 minutes. Depending on the person, we have a drop in focus. We have a higher levels of cortisol. We shift in our brain activity because cortisol spike triggers activity in our amygdala, which is the survival center of the brain and decision fatigue starts to set in. We get really distracted. We get, we can tend to get a little more irritable. We are not as able to create and design at at that level that you you know you're capable of. So this is a natural rhythm in your brain. And so this means that in order to maximize how much we can and how much we can do in that peak, we also need to respect that in the through. There are certain things that you can do to bring yourself back up to that peak performance of the brain, and that one of those is not overriding this rhythm. And so when you notice after about 60 to 90 minutes that you're you're fatiguing, you're distracted, you're, you know, bouncing from project to project, you're staring at a blinking screen or the blinking wheel on your on the Google Doc or whatever it is. Is that we can recognize that in that moment is a really prime opportunity for you to resource and replenish yourself. So we use a break as a tool, not as a reward. So a tool here is when you notice that you're starting to fatigue or that your output is decreasing. That's when it's time for a power pause to replenish your energy. And So what I mean here is that at when you notice and if you wanna be preemptive, there's actually data that shows that it's about at a fifty-two minute mark for most people is really important for us to take a break. And so we can use that opportunity to get up to move your body because you're not a rock, right?You're not a rock. And so it's really important to recognize that in order to feed the ability to continue on and get to the finish line of the goal, we can slow down, we can step away from the task at hand. Maybe it's to go refill your water bottle, have a snack, take a power pause, move your body, re-engage that more aligned, efficient posture so that your body is getting energy naturally without having to consume a load more caffeine or, you know, have some sugary snacks. What we're doing here is we're nourishing the ability for your body to perform. Because when your body is thriving, it sends the signal from your nervous system, from your body up to your mind, right?And if you're in that strong, open power pose, then your body is signaling safety. And when you signal safety, then the amygdala, which is the survival center, the threat detection center of the brain, receives the signal that everything's OK because you're not scrunched over in weak posture, taking short, shallow breaths, which trigger stress even more and your body's signaling. Up to the brain that everything is copacetic in the body and then your prefrontal cortex, which is the high functioning creative aspect of your brain. The decision making aspect of your brain comes back online. So not only are you. Working with that ultradian rhythm more instinctively and intuitively, you're actually nourishing your nervous system so that you are able to in that regulated state. And So what we know about the brain and the nervous system is that we don't perform well under stress. And so if we're constantly we're bypassing that natural rhythm of the body and we're attempting to just power through and keep going, we tend to default and we tend to run more on the cortisol levels versus the the dopamine and the oxygen. Which are more nourishing neurochemicals in the body that we talked a little bit about earlier. And so when we are working with the natural rhythm of the body in those 60 to 90 minute cycles, we step away, we take a power pause, we nourish the body through movement, we're nourishing the body through water, nourishing snacks, then we're supporting the system, right. And when we support the system, we're resourcing the system and when we are back online from that place of. Groundedness and centeredness and focus and clarity and that level of awareness within the nervous system, we signal the prefrontal cortex to come back online. And as I mentioned, that's considered the CEO of the brain and it's responsible for decision making, problem solving and planning and focus and clarity. All of those things are the responsibility of that part of the brain, so. We're signaling that part of the brain through the body, right?We 80% more information comes from the body to the mind versus the other way around your. Brain only signals about 20% of the activity of your nervous system. So it's important that you're nourishing the body and treating it as the tool that it is, right by giving it that power pause, giving it the m

    20 min
  3. Is Stress Disguised As Hard Work?

    JUL 9

    Is Stress Disguised As Hard Work?

    Join my FREE 30-minute workshop: “The Productivity Leak: Discover the 8 Stress Habits Draining Your Team’s Time & Energy (and How to Shift Them in 9 Minutes a Day)” Save your seat here: https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity Is your team truly productive or just powering through stress? In this week's episode, I reveal how stress at work is often mistaken for dedication, and why that false praise may be slowly draining your team’s energy, focus, and collaboration without anyone realizing it. If you’ve been searching for: • early signs of burnout in high performers • how stress impacts workplace productivity • stress management techniques for teams • what chronic stress looks like in employees • how to improve team morale without micromanaging …you’re in the right place.   🔍 Inside this episode: ✔️ How stress hides behind “hard work” and overachievement ✔️ The neuroscience of stress and performance ✔️ The key difference between burnout and high engagement ✔️ How to create a high-performing culture without pressure ✔️ And the #1 mindset shift that smart, people-first leaders are using now. Whether you lead a remote team, run a startup, or manage a busy department—this episode gives you the practical tools to recognize stress before it becomes a performance problem. Want to fix your team’s hidden stress patterns without adding more meetings or to-dos?  Join my FREE 30-minute workshop: “The Productivity Leak: Discover the 8 Stress Habits Draining Your Team’s Time & Energy (and How to Shift Them in 9 Minutes a Day)” Save your seat here: https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity     Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy! Is stress disguised as hard work? Well, that's what we're talking about today. Here's where it gets interesting, is where these qualities that are actually indications that the system might be in a state of stress are often qualities that are highly regarded and highly rewarded in the business setting. So. Double edged sword, if you will. We're going to jump into that in a moment, but before we do, I would love to invite you to a brand new workshop that I have created called the Productivity League. Inside this free interactive workshop, you're going to learn the 8 success stopping habits that might be quietly eroding your team or your own energy, time, focus, productivity, and yes, of course, joy, energy and happiness. So you'll learn those success stopping habits as well as. How to stop them in real time so that they don't become full blown performance issues. You'll learn how to do that so that you can reclaim your time, your energy, and joy. This workshop is perfect for people that literally don't have a second to waste, but truly care about the well-being, the happiness, and of course the productivity and performance of their team members. So make sure to grab your free spot for this brand new workshop. So let's talk about it. Let's talk about the ways that stress might be silently showing up in your workplace. That is also interestingly very celebrated and rewarded. So it's kind of an interesting dance, right?Because these qualities that we're gonna be talking about and the ways that stress might actually be showing up because of the way the system is reacting to the situation at hand are are both very important, necessary. Celebrated and are things that you know we want to nurture, but are also things that are a sign that we might be in a stress reactive mode. And So what do we do with this?What do we do with this information?Where do we go with it and how might it be showing up in in your life and in your business or in your team?And so that's what we're talking about today. And So what I would love for you to really just take note of is as we discuss these, maybe you recognize these qualities of saying yes when you really mean no, always being available, checking your e-mail first thing in the morning, periodically throughout the day, at lunch, in the afternoon, you know, when you go to the toilet, like being that, that yes person being available, always being on Slack, you know, that sort of thing. And so. Also, maybe you find yourself just responding quickly in a, you know, a short, simple e-mail, but not taking the time to, you know, have those pleasantries, if you will, that may come across a little bit rude. Or maybe feeling like you are constantly multitasking, like you're, you know, you're putting away food from the grocery store while you're listening to a podcast, while you're kind of thinking about an e-mail that you're supposed to write later. Really, you know, that's sort of a a split brain activity. As well as being very driven, very goal oriented, but be almost having that insatiable drive for what's next, what's next?What do we have to do?What are we going to work towards?Or maybe you find yourself, you know, getting to that point where you have a big project and you're wanting to take action on it, but you're finding you're overwhelmed with all the details because you've had this really big vision and now all of the little small details are kind of slipping through the cracks, right?And so. You can see how there is this dance that gets to happen because we can be both very ambitious and very driven and a visionary and get lost in in these big projects and these big tasks if we're not grounded. And so if we are not in that nice steady state, that balance state of being your beingness, your nervous system. Then what happens is we default to these patterns and they are signs that we need to. We get to come back to that place of regulation and center within ourselves so that we can use that level of ambitiousness or drive or being very detail-oriented or being very willing to support other people from a place of presence and from a place of knowing. And so as a reminder, when you experience a little bit of stress, it's very activating, right? Cortisol and adrenaline in your system, which is how your body activates you when you're experiencing stress, are very energizing. And so that's important, right?That's the little fire under your ass to get you going, to get you up, to get you moving. But when we're experiencing chronic stress and when we're experiencing with more and more tasks, right and andEverything happening in the world and everything happening in your team, it's it's a lot for our system and we're not really designed to be, you know, intaking and outputting constantly, ongoingly throughout the day and throughout the week and throughout our lives, right. We're meant to be able to rest and slow down and not have to just shut down and get totally, you know, flat out, you know, exhausted before we slow down. Because what happens when we when your body experiences stress is your amygdala, the part of your brain that detects threats and is constantly looking and scanning for things that might be dangerous or, you know, that need to get handled, right?In the case of more aligned with the business setting is that when the amygdala comes online, it impairs your decision-making, it impairs your ability to be logical, be very focused because it's in literal survival mode. Right. And so when we are activated into stress, that part of our brain is running the show, right. And so when we are active in that part of the brain, the the CEO of your brain, your prefrontal cortex, your decision making, creative, grounded, expressive, happy, interactive part of your brain isn't available because it's it'sOne or the other, right?They don't. They're not working at the same time because your brain has activated the stress response. So your amygdala is hijacking brain activity. And So what happens is when that is, is the case, then we start to go into this survival state. And so in survival states, you move out of that regulated balance state of the nervous system into fight or flight or freeze or fawn or flop. And so that's dependent on your patterns, the situation, what you've been modeled, what your nervous system is conditioned to. And so it's a really interesting thing because when the when we are experiencing this constant input into the system, into the nervous system, it handles it well, it handles it well and it defaults to these patterns, right. And so in this business setting, if you will, this organizational setting. It's a different reaction than, you know, if you were out in the wilderness and you heard a bear roaring in the wilderness, right?So your body would still go into fight or flight or freeze or fawn or flop, of course, to to react to that bear roaring in the distance or nearby, right?So in the business organizational setting, it still does those things. It still responds to that stress. But it's different, right?You're not gonna go if your boss or if you or, you know, if if someone asks something of you and you're like, no, that and it freaks you out, you're not gonna, you're probably not going to go running as fast as you can in the opposite direction, right? You're not gonna flee that way. But you might go into a different mode of fleeing. You might go into a different mode of fighting back. You're still going to have that same instinctive reaction in your nervous system, but it looks different, right?So when when we're in the, you know, business setting, it starts to present in a different way in that often works to our benefit to a degree. But then when it's just our default, that's the only thing that we do, then it can work against us, right?And so how does this present as hard work?Well. When we go into perfectionism, when we go into being a yes person, right, that people pleasing aspect of our personality, when we go into being that very driven, very ambitious, can't turn it off, those are expressions of our fight mode showing up in the business setting, right?And so the fligh

    25 min
  4. The Many You's You've Been

    JUL 2

    The Many You's You've Been

    When was the last time you stopped to really notice how far you’ve come? In a world obsessed with “what’s next,” we rarely pause to honor the growth we’ve already lived through. But here's the truth: you've been more than one version of yourself—and every one of those “you’s” deserves recognition. In this episode, we explore why reflection is more than just looking back—it's a scientifically supported tool to regulate your nervous system, release stress, and reconnect with the version of you that made it through. You’ll learn how pausing to reflect creates emotional safety, boosts oxytocin, reduces cortisol, and strengthens your confidence to keep going. Whether you're navigating change, healing from loss, or feeling stuck between who you were and who you're becoming—this conversation will help you: In this episode you'll discover: -Why self-reflection is key to long-term personal growth -How your body literally regenerates itself every 7–10 years—and what that means for your identity -The neuroscience of “maintaining the gain”—and how reflection shifts your perspective -A practical, soulful framework to feel good about how far you've come (even if you’re not where you want to be yet) This isn’t about being stuck in the past. It’s about finding power in what you’ve already lived through. If you’ve ever felt like you’re “starting over,” this episode will remind you:You’re not starting over. You’re starting again—with everything you’ve gained. Subscribe now for weekly episodes on healing, identity, self-trust, and becoming the next version of you—without shaming who you used to be. About Your Host, Megan Nolan: Helps People First, Purpose Driven Companies That Want To Build Emotionally Resilient Teams That Perform At Their Best Without Time Consuming Strategies By Using Practical Science-Based Strategies That Work In Just Minutes A Day With 20+ years as a yoga instructor & personal trainer, she teaches mind-body tools to break free from stress and thrive with impact, freedom, and joy. 📚 Bestselling Author | 🎙 Podcast Host | 🌎 Stress & Resilience Coach Check Out Her Website: https://www.megan-nolan.com/Follow Her On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iammegannolan/ #selfgrowth #reflectionpodcast #mentalhealthtools #personaldevelopment #neuroscience #healingjourney #growthmindset #identityevolution #maintainingthegain #nervoussystemregulation   Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!    The many you's you've been Did you know you are literally not the same person that you were seven or even 10 years ago?You're literally biologically not the same. And by no means are you energetically or spiritually or mentally even close to the same person you were back then. Today we're talking about the importance of taking a power pause periodically in our life and looking back. To reflect on the many yous that you have been. I kind of feel like a little Doctor Seussie and I'm loving it. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Movement, Mind and Meaning podcast. I'm your host, Megan Nolan. And this week we are talking about that. We're talking about the importance of reflection and how you are constantly evolving and changing and literally. At the level of your bones and your cells and your blood and the lining of your guts and inside your muscles, you are literally not the same person that you once were. So what inspired this? Well, you may or may not be surprised to know I'm moving. Yes, I am very excited about this and I have literally been living in this house for 10 years. I'm moving up country with my partner to an incredible, amazing Unicorn of a house. We are so fortunate. I am so excited. I'll tell you more about it after. It's not an actual Unicorn, but Unicorn in the sense that it's very special and beautiful. And I know in my heart and in my soul that I have been energetically sitting in this house as we've been manifesting this house for. Quite some time, right?As long as I've started about started thinking about living with Justin, I have felt into this place. And when we went into it the first time, just what's it today?It's Wednesday, 3 weeks ago today. This is literally happening at rocket speed. When we went into it three weeks ago today to see it for the very first time, I could feel that who I've been here before and I'm getting goosebumps right now and. It was such an incredible experience to to be in the house and realize I get it now because in my visualizations and in that those experiences that I had in the past before I before we even went to the house for the first time. In the visualizations I could tell that it was on the 2nd floor and I could tell there was a big spacious kitchen and there was an island in the kitchen and I could see white slats and I didn't know what the white slats were. I thought maybe they were those cupboard doors. So it's on the 2nd floor. There's an incredible kitchen with a big island and there's literally white slats on every window of this house. I know my my goosebumps just got even stronger. It's amazing. Anyways, so we're moving. Yay. So you you've moved before, you know, you know it's a good time, right?It's a good time. It's a lot of work. I'm just checking that the mics are on. OK, great. So I've lived in this house for 10 years and. You know when you start to go through and you're starting to look into the shelves and I don't know about you, but I I like to take the opportunity of moving to do a little bit of a cleanse and a purge, if you will. And although I'm not great at it and my therapist and I talked about it yesterday and we're gonna talk about that part of me that's reluctant to let go of things, which I think is in inherited after we, you know. Moved up everything out of my father's house out of as after he passed. I was like, why does he have all this broken stuff?And then I'm I'm in my house now and I'm like, why do I have all this stuff I can't seem to get rid of?Anyways, it's an interesting thing. And so I like to do an use it as an opportunity to let go right and to clear some space and to to share things that are. Of value and still in good shape and to share them with other people or to gift them, to donate them, etcetera, etcetera. But so you know, as you're going through the boxes and the shelves and all the things, inevitably you start to have memories, you start to think about all the yous that you've been right and so. This weekend I spent most of the weekend literally inside my closet. OK, my closet, because the shelves are these metal bars, tiny metal bars, probably like 100 per shelf, these little squares all along the front. So that's a project. And then it's the wooden slats of the doors and each one you gotta get in there and do the little thing and it's like flossing teeth. But in between these wooden slats, it took a long time. So I'm in the closet. Where are my N 95? You know, I'm like the whole shebang, got the fan going. And I'm thinking about all of the different clothes that I've put in this closet, all of the me's that have come to this closet to get dressed for events. And I'm thinking about that, right?And I'm seeing old clothes and I'm like, why do I still have this?Or Oh my goodness, I love this shirt. Or, you know, I have a little mini sticker company and it started with whales make me happy and and like pulling out one of these shirts or or pulling out the one that I had gifted my dad that I took back, you know, after he passed away. And so anyways, it got me into thinking and into feeling really, because I was in the feels, I was definitely in the feels of how important it is for us to periodically pause and look back. And oftentimes we do this, you know, maybe at the midpoint, which it is now, it's mid-june right now, June something 19th ish. 18th And sometimes we do it here, sometimes we do it at the beginning of the year or the end of the year. But it's such an important practice for you to pause and to look back and to reflect because you are literally constantly changing. What's so incredible is that your blood rejuvenates about every 120 days. The lining of your gut rejuvenates every two to five days. Your your muscle cells. Switch over if there's any sort of tearing or healing that needs to be done. Your bones rejuvenate every 10 years. Your liver, interestingly enough, can generate up to 70 percent 70 of its mass in a few months if it's needed, right?It's like the MVP right there. It's it can completely rejuvenate itself. Your brain doesn't necessarily replace the old brain cells that are, you know, degenerating, but it can grow new brain cells, which is equally impressive, right?Especially in areas of the brain that are affected by the natural process of aging. And your skin rejuvenates in about 27 days. So literally, you're constantly becoming someone new, right?You're constantly becoming someone new. And what's interesting is that. In our society and for many of us that are very driven or who experience, you know, high, high levels of that ambitiousness, we're we're constantly seeking, right? We're seeking, we're striving, we're growing, we're pushing ourselves and we're constantly like setting new goals and and and setting our sights a little bit higher. And that's always really important. It's super important for you to have goals. Right. It's super important for you to do that. But The thing is, is that it's important for us to question too, are we, are we addicted to that constantly seeking and striving, the dangling carrot syndrome, I call it, right. And so is it hard for you to slow down, right?Is it uncomfortable for you to rest without feeling you quote UN quote deserved or earned the rest? Well, that's actually potentially a sign of a dysregulated nervous system if we're not able to. Relax and slow d

    32 min
  5. Why You Can't Relax (& How To Change That)

    JUN 25

    Why You Can't Relax (& How To Change That)

    Struggling with chronic stress, anxiety, or past trauma? Your nervous system holds the key to emotional regulation and resilience. In this episode, together with special guest Alba Porras we explore how Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE), Somatic Yoga, and other holistic nervous system regulation techniques can help you stretch your ability to handle challenges, improve your mental health, and break free from chronic dysregulation. What You’ll Learn: ✅ How TRE works to release deep muscular tension and stored trauma ✅ Why high-achieving women often experience fight-or-flight overload ✅ How to naturally shift into a parasympathetic (rest & digest) state ✅ The science behind nervous system dysregulation & healing ✅ The best holistic stress relief tools for long-term resilience Whether you’re dealing with burnout, PTSD, anxiety, or depression, this episode will teach you practical body-based techniques to reclaim your inner calm and emotional balance. 👉 Watch now & start your healing journey! Learn more about Alba here: Alba Porras is a Licensed Associate Counselor and National Certified Counselor who combines traditional counseling approaches with somatic practices and nervous system expertise. With a unique background blending mental health, movement, and body-based therapies, she helps clients navigate anxiety, stress, and trauma through an integrative mind-body approach. As the founder of Inspira Counseling Services and creator of Wellzense, Alba draws from her extensive training in Somatic Experiencing, Gottman Method, and trauma-informed practices to guide clients toward sustainable healing. Her bilingual expertise (English/Spanish) and diverse background in kinesiology, counseling, and somatic coaching allows her to offer a comprehensive approach to mental health and emotional well-being. Alba is a certified TRE provider, and 500 Registered Yoga Teacher Connect With Alba: www.albaporras.com www.wellzensehub.com/Respira IG/FB/Tiktok/Pinterest/Youtube @Wellzense IG: @Alba Porras About Your Host, Megan Nolan: Helps People First, Purpose Driven Companies That Want To Build Emotionally Resilient Teams That Perform At Their Best Without Time Consuming Strategies By Using Practical Science-Based Strategies That Work In Just Minutes A Day With 20+ years as a yoga instructor & personal trainer, she teaches mind-body tools to break free from stress and thrive with impact, freedom, and joy. 📚 Bestselling Author | 🎙 Podcast Host | 🌎 Stress & Resilience Coach Check Out Her Website: https://www.megan-nolan.com/ Follow Her On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iammegannolan/   Please find the transcript below! Mind the grammar and funny spelling! Today we're talking about why you can't relax and how to fix that. Aloha and welcome back to another episode of Movement, Mind and Meaning Mind, Body Tools to thrive beyond depression and anxiety. And today I have a very, very special guest with us. Her name is Alba Porres and she is a somatic. Coach and yoga teacher. And she has, let me tell you, so many tools that she uses. You can see them behind her if you're watching the video on YouTube. If you're listening to the audio, just know she's like, got all the magic and so much more. So welcome to the show. It's so lovely to have you. Thank you so much, Megan, for having for having me in your show. I love it. Thank you. Yes, you're welcome. So you have a very impressive collection of certifications and experiences and multilingual offerings around the world. Like, amazing. And so if you want to dive into all of that, make sure to take a look at Alba's bio, which is in the show notes. But you know how we like to do things over here on this podcast is we like to just get right into it, right?We want to know you. We want to learn a little bit more about you. And we always start on our guest episodes by having you. Take us to a moment in your life when maybe it was one of those upside down, all around sort of moments, maybe when things shifted for you or you had some realizations so that you have started that journey to where you are today. We would love to know a little bit of a little snippet about your story. Well, I think, yeah, I I've always been in love with getting to know my body. I was a ballerina for many years and then got into sports and. More my first bachelor's degree in sports training, but I think the shift happened when I began having a series of injuries and conditions that took me into discovering really what's the language of my body. And how I can befriend my body. So I went through four knee surgeries. I had a car accident that displaced one of the vertebrae from my spine and also like an injured neck and and then eventually I develop an autoimmune condition. I have chronic Lyme. Disease and I experienced the chronic health symptoms of Lyme for more than 10 years. So it was a struggle to try to find the right treatment. And it was not until I had a transitory ischemic attack, which is like a version of a stroke, that I began working with my nervous system and working with my nervous system was what changed my life. Not only allowed me to get to know the language of my body, but also address the needs of my body on a regular basis and try to address. I address that disconnection between my mind and the body that I had after so many years of medical treatments and and you know, the medications usually bring a lot of other multiple side effects. So it was through the work of my nervous system that I actually was able to find well-being. Wow. Well, so grateful and glad that you're here with us. And clearly you've taken those experiences and used them as opportunities and you know, perhaps eventually was able to see the gift in all of those. And so that's a big part of this community is learning to take that perspective. And so, so proud of you and grateful that you. Began to dive into that. And I love that you speak to the language of the body, right?It's such a beautiful, eloquent language. We were talking before we got on about languages and how, you know, it's so interesting to learn how to say things properly. Like I was practicing your beautiful name. And so it is. It's a language. It's a very subtle system. But it can also get really loud sometimes, right?It's like, hello, you're not paying attention to me, you know, kind of like a little frustrated child having a temper tantrum. And so let's jump into that. Let's jump into that about how life and whether that is. The experience of the cumulative events of life and so many people in this community are very highly sensitive, ambitious leaders, women, visionary, you know, sometimes have entrepreneurial tendencies, IE they have a business or in a professional setting, but. We all experience stress, right?Like that's just part of the nature of humanity and life and especially now with everything, with just with everything, right?Life is a little upside down right now. And so can we talk about that?How just even that that cumulative chronic stress or and or I should say the impact of traumatic stress, right?Little T, Big T, what does this do to us? What does this do to us on a quality of life level from your perspective? Oh, I love that question. I think I'll be going by summarizing that experiences shape our biology and eventually that becomes our pathology. So and it goes the other way around as well. Our biology or the way we're experiencing our body will shape our experiences or the way we experience our our our world. And I think it's been. Something important that we've been addressing lately in the social media world and everybody everywhere else, that it's not only traumatic experiences that impact the way we see the world and the way we feel within ourselves, but also that chronic. Tension or stress that we work to experience on a regular basis. So for your audience, like having a business is so is stressful. There's so much uncertainty. There are so many things to deal with. I personally experienced burnout after managing a yoga studio in Mexico and. It's you love what you do, but at the same time, you have so many things to deal with. All of that accumulated over the years can begin have an impact not only in the way you perceive yourself, but the way your body is speaking to you. Chronic headaches, chronic digestive problems, chronic tension around your body, that neck pain that doesn't go away, that lower back pain that doesn't go away, and so on and so forth. So yeah, like the body keeps its court. And if we don't learn. recognize what our body is communicating, just as you say a beautiful. It's just a language that we need to learn to listen to and speak so we can fully address what we need on a regular basis so that the past is not dictating the experiences of the present. Umm Beautiful. That was so potent. Thank you. Well, and also thank you for speaking that truth, right?You know, often we see this sort of shiny veneer of entrepreneurship. And, you know, I always joke that, like, clearly I didn't read the brochure because I didn't have any idea how stressful it was going to be, you knowAnd it's funny because I was just thinking about this the other day and and you know, this is sort of off topic, but maybe not. Is that for many people that are entrepreneurial, you know, in ambition and mindset, we tend to be really driven and focused and just naturally good at things that we choose to do. And I was thinking the other day about how, you know, there's so many tool sets within the entrepreneur. Job title, if you will. And it's interesting because you're not naturally going to be great at all of them, right? And so it's where we can learn and grow. But it's funny because I find this for myself and a lot of my students and in our community is that we can get really tripped up and it can be very frustrating and potentially little T or even big T traumatic when we go

    35 min
  6. Self Led Edge: Trusting Yourself To Redefine Success

    JUN 12

    Self Led Edge: Trusting Yourself To Redefine Success

    Make sure to grab your free spot for the upcoming Own Your Power, Lead Your Way Summit right here: https://speaker.empoweringhealingarts.com/Megan-Nolan Why does success still feel so… empty? What happens when the world sees you as successful, but inside you’re running on fumes? In this episode with special guest Melinda Alexander, we’re talking to high-performing entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, coaches, creatives, and founders who are tired of winning on the outside and losing on the inside. If that’s you—this is your turning point. 💥 This isn’t another “hustle harder” pep talk.It’s a wake-up call for those trapped in cycles of: Over-functioning People-pleasing Burnout Feeling like a robot in their own life Instead of faking fulfillment, you’ll learn what it takes to:✅ Lead from inner alignment✅ Reclaim your clarity and energy✅ Say no without guilt✅ Create success that actually feels like success✅ And trust yourself again—without blowing up your life Make sure to take advantage of Melinda's invite to the upcoming Own Your Power, Lead Your Way Summit that I'm speaking at! Grab your spot for free right here: https://speaker.empoweringhealingarts.com/Megan-Nolan About Melinda: Melinda Alexander, CEO of Empowering Healing Arts, is a Self-Led Fulfillment and Creative Empowerment Coach. A former corporate superwoman, Melinda now helps high-achieving leaders break free from over-functioning, reconnect with their authentic selves, and build success rooted in joy and purpose. Known for her deep intuition and compassionate clarity, she empowers clients to live fully aligned, courageous, and fulfilled lives. About Your Host, Megan Nolan: Helps People First, Purpose Driven Companies That Want To Build Emotionally Resilient Teams That Perform At Their Best Without Time Consuming Strategies By Using Practical Science-Based Strategies That Work In Just Minutes A Day With 20+ years as a yoga instructor & personal trainer, she teaches mind-body tools to break free from stress and thrive with impact, freedom, and joy. 📚 Bestselling Author | 🎙 Podcast Host | 🌎 Stress & Resilience Coach Check Out Her Website: https://www.megan-nolan.com/Follow Her On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iammegannolan/   Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy! Today we're talking about theself-led edge, learningto trust yourself andredefine success. Welcomeback to another episode of the Movement,Mind and Meaning podcast. I'm your host,Megan Nolan, and today we're actuallydoing something fun. I am interviewing aguest, which I do often, but this is afun situation. I'll tell you the backstory in a minute, but I have my friendMelinda Alexander here, who is actuallyleading an incredible summit that iskicking off soon or now, depending onwhen you listen to this. Called OwnYour Power, Lead Your Way. We'll tell youmore about this free summit and how youcan get all the goods. But I wanted tointroduce and welcome you, Melinda. Greatto have you here. It's awesome to be herewith you. Thank you, Megan. I'mprivileged to be on your podcast.Oh, thank you so much. So we'll tellpeople about how. Oh, sparkle wave. Ilove it. Yes. For those of you watchingon YouTube, you can see the happy Peacocksparkle wave. For those of you listeningto the audio, just use your imagination.It's fabulous. So. Thesummit is while you're listening to thispodcast has already we've opened upregistration. People are signing up.People are really excited. We're going tohave the link for you to grab your spotfor free and we'll talk more about thelogisticals about it. But just know thatthere are so many incredible tools inthere where you're able to create yourlife and your version of success in a waythat really feeds and fulfills you andyour beautiful soul and allows you tofully express your purpose in life withso many. Different incredible experts,including Melinda, of course, becauseshe's leading the summit, but also Moi.Yay.And before we talk about what it meansto have our self-led edge and howwe can redefine success, I want to tellyou a really fun story of how Melinda andI met. So. I get ane-mail one day from this beautiful humanwho's saying hello, I would love to haveyou on my summit, the aforementioned OnYour Power Summit that you're going tojoin us for. And I said, oh wow, thanksso much. I'd love to be a speaker at yoursummit. So great to hear that youlistened to one of the podcast episodesand you loved it. Just curious, how didyou find me?This is me talking andMelinda writes back and says. Well,you're never going to believe it, but Iasked Chatty G. Those of you know, Icalled ChatGPT Chatty G because we'relike FS. I asked ChattyG who some up and coming speakers in theleadership space are to connect withand have a summit. And you're on thelist, Megan. And I was like, Chatty Gknows who I am and I'm on the list of upand coming speakers. I literally criedand then happy dance and wag my tail andlike did it all in about 3 1/2 seconds.And so that's how Melinda and I. So kindof a fun story of our back story, but wewhen we did our interview for mycomponent to the summit, we reallyconnected in so many ways about.Why we are so passionate aboutwhat we do and how we serve and howwe support you. And so,Melinda, I would love for us to just jumpright in. We just jump right in here andwe just get to know each other. You and Iknow each other a little bit, but mypeople don't know you yet. And we'd loveto hear a little snippetof a moment in time on your journey, onyour path, that maybe was an insight,maybe an aha, maybe a woof, like, oh,what's happening here that allowed youto. go along the way to whereyou are now?Sure, Surewell, there's so many, honestly, so manyturning points in my life. And you knowthe largest turning point in in my life,most people ask me, well, how did you endup in Hawaii?We're both out here inHawaii, Megan and I. Andyou know I always answer, the shortanswer is disease, death anddivorce. Andthen theentireeconomy collapsed when the banking bubbleburst in 2008. So all of a sudden, lifewas just like pulled out from under me.The 10 years prior to that,I walked my dad through Alzheimer's, hisAlzheimer's disease until he passed in2006. And so that's thedisease, his death. And then I got adivorce two years later. SoIt wasjust, you know, these breaking pointswhen you're observing loss like that, whoI was before and who I became after.And it's really a shedding of many thingsin my life that happened during thatprocess of disease,death and divorce and letting goof a lot of false things that I wastaught to be that I reallywasn't, the things I was trying to be,but really wasn't. And I started toobserve. Deeper parts of myselfthat wanted to emerge, even if I didn'tknow what they were. It was a painfultime, excruciating and sometimes scary.And but it ledme to a place of transformation.So I was invited to a yoga retreat inHawaii and I can't.I was there for a few, about 10 days,went back to my home in Texas. Andthat's when the economy collapsed and Ihad no reason to stay. And I had noticedbefore I left this retreat that there wasa three-month period of time that youcould stay and volunteer. You couldwork and you could live. And I couldgo all the way through you know my griefprocess, not all the way obviously, butthat my my I was grieving and Ineeded this medicine for the soul, right?So I spent time there and I learned a lotabout healing arts and learned a lotabout connection with the bodyandWhen Iwhen I went back to Texas and the economycollapsed, I went back to that retreatcenter for three months. So I never movedto Hawaii. I was in Hawaii for threemonths. It was working for me. I stayedanother three months. And that period oftime extended into all theseyears later. I'm still here. Andit's not about being in Hawaii that'sthat's really the important part of this.It's about the transformation. So I wentfrom a corporate likeSuperwoman, not just in the corporatearena. I was trying to be superwoman toeverything and everyone in my life. Andthat breaking down those processes ofloss, grief and deathand divorce led me to kind ofshedding a lot of things thattruly were not in alignment with myself.So doors were closing forme, and then I closed the doors. Adoor opened for me. And I started goingdown to that that path. Andtoday, I help people whowere in that path, who want notnecessarily to to make a radical changelike I did, but they want to be happierand more truly fulfilled and aligned intheir lives. So that's what brought mehere today. Umm I lovethat. I have a similar story. Whichyoga studio or the retreat center wereyou at?I lived and worked at Kalani Hanuaon the Big Island. Stop it right now.That's where I was. Stop it right now. Ohmy goodness. I was like, wait, at Kalani,they did a three-month volunteer thing.They did. They did. I ended up beingthere a little over a year and a half. Itwas. And I and I lived on the Big Islandfor a couple of years before going toMaui. And then I had another, you know,huge, massive change with the Mauiwildfires that brought me to Oahu. I hadhealth issues and so forth that I neededto come to Oahu. So I've been on three ofthe islands now. You know, sometimes lifepushes us forward. Sometimes doors closewithout us. Without our permission, youknow, we can't control these things,right. So when were you there?Justto toI was there2000 on Big Island atKalani, a few times for thosedurations from 2004 tosix. OK, so I came after you. Yeah,2008 to 2010. And then I wentto, I moved to Maui. Yeah.OK. So, you know, in essence. The personthat was in Texas, the person that wastaught to be be and do all these thingsfor others and at work, and I was a realperfectionist and I pushed my edges. Ireally pushed everything. I pushed myhealth. I achieved all the goals. Ihad everything in my house was justperfect. You know, things w

    33 min
  7. Freeze Mode: Why You Say Yes When You Mean No

    JUN 4

    Freeze Mode: Why You Say Yes When You Mean No

    Understanding the Biology Behind People-Pleasing, Overthinking & the Freeze/Fawn Response Welcome to part 3/3 of the Survival Mode Series: The Sneaky Stress Patterns That Might Be Running Your Life In this episode, we explore how people-pleasing, overthinking, and self-abandonment are not personality traits—they’re nervous system survival strategies. Specifically, we break down the Freeze and Fawn responses from a polyvagal perspective. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Freeze vs. Fawn: What these stress responses really are—and how they quietly drive people-pleasing and overthinking. Why Saying “Yes” Feels Safer Than “No”: The biology behind people-pleasing as a subconscious survival strategy. Overthinking = Dysregulation: How your nervous system creates mental loops, indecision, and analysis paralysis. Stuck But Wired: Signs you’re in a sympathetic freeze state—charged up but shut down. Real Tools for Real Shifts: Practical, body-based regulation techniques so you can say “no” without guilt—and actually mean it. Curious if this is playing out for you or your team? Take the free Burnout Risk & Resilience Quiz Get personalized insights into how stress may be quietly impacting your—and what to do instead. 👉 https://bit.ly/burnoutriskquiz About Your Host, Megan Nolan: Helps People First, Purpose Driven Companies That Want To Build Emotionally Resilient Teams That Perform At Their Best Without Time Consuming Strategies By Using Practical Science-Based Strategies That Work In Just Minutes A Day With 20+ years as a yoga instructor & personal trainer, she teaches mind-body tools to break free from stress and thrive with impact, freedom, and joy. 📚 Bestselling Author | 🎙 Podcast Host | 🌎 Stress & Resilience Coach

    40 min
  8. Flight Mode: Procrastination & Shiny Object Syndrome

    MAY 28

    Flight Mode: Procrastination & Shiny Object Syndrome

    Part 2 of 3 of the Survival Mode: The Sneaky Patterns Behind Your Behavior series! Ever find yourself cleaning your junk drawer, scrolling Instagram, or jumping to a new idea instead of finishing what matters most? You’re not lazy or flaky—you might be stuck in Flight Mode. In this powerful episode of the Movement, Mind, & Meaning podcast, we explore how the Flight stress response shows up in the modern workplace. Think procrastination, overthinking, avoidance, and shiny object syndrome—these aren’t personality flaws. They’re nervous system adaptations. We break down: What Flight Mode is through the lens of Polyvagal Theory How nervous system dysregulation triggers task avoidance and distractibility Why high-performers and sensitive leaders are more prone to this hidden pattern How chronic workplace stress leads to burnout, ADHD-like symptoms, and lack of follow-through The connection between executive function shutdown and overwhelm Real-world workplace impacts: from "unfocused" teams to leaders stuck in planning mode You’ll also learn how to spot and shift this behavior with somatic tools like Power Pauses, and how to re-engage your grounded self for more clarity, confidence, and focus. 🎧 Listen now to uncover the deeper reason behind your procrastination—and learn how to shift from Flight Mode to forward momentum. Curious if this is playing out for you or your team? Take the free Burnout Risk & Resilience Quiz Now! Get personalized insights into how stress may be quietly impacting your—and what to do instead. 👉 https://bit.ly/burnoutriskquiz About Your Host, Megan Nolan: Helps People First, Purpose Driven Companies That Want To Build Emotionally Resilient Teams That Perform At Their Best Without Time Consuming Strategies By Using Practical Science-Based Strategies That Work In Just Minutes A Day With 20+ years as a yoga instructor & personal trainer, she teaches mind-body tools to break free from stress and thrive with impact, freedom, and joy. 📚 Bestselling Author | 🎙 Podcast Host | 🌎 Stress & Resilience Coach Check Out Her Website: https://www.megan-nolan.com/ Follow Her On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iammegannolan/ Missed Part 1? Catch up with: Fight Mode – Perfectionism, Pressure & the High-Performer Stress Trap Here: https://www.megan-nolan.com/podcasts/movement-mind-meaning-podcast/episodes/2149033670 #FlightMode, #WorkplaceStress, #NervousSystemHealth, #ProcrastinationHelp, #ShinyObjectSyndrome, #StressAtWork, #AvoidanceBehavior, #HighAchieverLife, #SensitiveLeader, #BurnoutPrevention, #ChronicStressRelief, #TraumaInformedLeadership, #PolyvagalTheory, #NervousSystemRegulation, #SomaticTools, #MindBodyConnection, #AnxietyAtWork, #PerformanceHabits, #MentalFitness, #ExecutiveFunctionSupport, #WorkplaceWellbeing, #MovementMindMeaning, #PowerPause, #SuccessStoppingHabits     Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!   Are you in flight mode at work, procrastinating all over the place like a shiny squirrel looking at all the objects, supposed to be doing one thing but not doing any of it?Well, if you are welcome, welcome, welcome to this episode where we are diving deep into flight mode at work as part of this three-part series called Survival Mode at Work. The patterns that are running your behavior in your life might be just stress reactions that you didn't even realize were stress reaction because you've been practicing them for so long that you think that maybe that's just how you are. And good news for you is that everything is changeable, right?And none of these patterns, none of these behaviors, none of these survival strategies or defense mechanisms, which is what they are, we'll talk more about in a minute, are permanent. These are things that you learned, ways to handle stress. And you've been practicing them for a while and you may be aware of them or maybe not. So I'm gonna highlight a few things and maybe you'll recognize yourself. Maybe not. So this is the Movement, Mind and Meaning podcast. Aloha. My name is Megan Nolan. I'm your 31 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,1000 host. So last week we talked about fight mode. OK, so just let's back it up a little bit here, Megan, before I get all shiny object on you. Hello. Case in point. So. We used to think that your nervous system had basically an on switch and an off 38 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:22,1000 switch, right?And the on switch being the stimulated, sympathetic state of the nervous system that is often called fight or flight. Those are actually two different things, so you can't be in fight or flight. You are either in fight or flight, right?And so last week we were talking about fight mode. Fight mode is when we run towards the issue, right?We go into action and we are handling it, right?It's like throwing buckets of water on the fire if we see a fire versus running away from the fire if we are afraid, right?And so fight mode we talked about last week. Make sure to go back and listen to that. And that's all about the high. Performer pressure trap, the 56 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:03,1000 anxious OverDrive, that go, go, go, go, 57 00:02:03,1000 --> 00:02:05,1000 go, trying constantly to take action, having control delegation issues. So go back and listen to that if you haven't already cause that one goes deeper into fight mode. So today we're talking about 62 00:02:15,1000 --> 00:02:18,960 flight mode. So this is another aspect of the sympathetic nervous system where we run away. We're in mobilization, like we're active, we're we're doing something and we're either going towards the issue in fight mode or running away from it in flight mode. So this is where we see more behaviors like 70 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:35,1000 procrastination. Have you ever done this where you're like, well, I really should start. You know, pulling together all the things for the project and you're like, well, maybe I should go on Instagram and just get a little inspiration. And and then maybe after I do that for a bit, I should go look for that old notebook where I'm pretty sure I made some notes. Or maybe I'll just clean up the drawer. Maybe I'll just go for a walk. And then all of a sudden you're like, oopsies, I did not do anything. And but at the same time when you were not doing the thing you were meant to do, say you were meant to work on a project. And instead of, you know, going towards the project and 88 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:13,1000 taking action on it, you're you're going 89 00:03:13,1000 --> 00:03:16,320 in the opposite direction. But while you are taking that walk or whatever it is, 91 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:19,1000 you're like, shoot, I really should be 92 00:03:19,1000 --> 00:03:21,880 doing something about this. Oh man, why am I not doing anything about the project? And so you're not actually resting or recovering or doing anything that would be otherwise productive. You're over there stressing about the project while you're avoiding doing the project. Anything about that familiar to you?OK, so that's really procrastination. So this is the the flight mode response. So typically, you know, if we were running away from a situation, keep in mind your body reacts to situations and to perceived threats the same way as it would if there was an actual real threat in your environment or to your safety. As it does when there are loads of emails and you're like, Oh my God, I don't want to deal with that. It's too much. I'm overwhelmed. So the wiring is the same, right?So this is the sympathetic response. So we have fight, we have flight, we have freeze. We're going to talk about that next week. And then the opposite to this is the parasympathetic 118 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:19,1000 nervous system. So this is the rest and digest. You probably remember that from, you know, 7th grade biology. 121 00:04:26,1000 --> 00:04:28,960 And so rest and digest is where we settle. Where we're grounded, where our body comes back into healing mode, which is necessary for healing. So if we are in stress state most of the time or all the time, we we're not able to heal, we're not able to recover as quickly. Our immune function decreases. We're at risk for getting sick. We have sleep issues, we have digestive issues. We can be at risk for developing, you know, prediabetes, other other really serious big health related issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, like all of that is associated with stress. OK. And so the more that we can become aware of how stress might be showing U for you, the more we can recognize it as a 140 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:10,1000 rotective mechanism from your body, as a 141 00:05:10,1000 --> 00:05:13,920 signal from your system that you are in a. Sympathetic state, you are dysregulated. OK. So when we are regulated is when we are in that parasympathetic state where we are grounded, where you're centered, where you're able to rise to the challenge and then settle back down, where you're able to rest without collapsing. We want to be able to go up and down, right, without 151 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:34,1000 these peaks and valleys. And so that's 152 00:05:34,1000 --> 00:05:36,960 really what a resilient, regulated nervous system is. So what we're going to really look at is, OK. What does this mean, right? What does this mean as far as how you're showing up at work and stress levels and all of those things?And so think about it like have you ever done that thing where 160 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:54,1000 you just grabbed your phone and and you avoided looking at the emails or starting to do your taxes or calling your accountant or whatever it is like we all have things that we often times 165 00:06:05,1000 --> 00:06:08,360 are resistant around taking action on and we put it off, right. And some people do best with deadlines and. And you know, they they do things at the last minut

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The Movement, Mind, and Meaning Podcast delivers mind-body tools to help you thrive beyond anxiety and stress. Discover the power of movement, mindfulness, and mindset shifts to build resilience, find clarity, and create lasting mental and emotional well-being. Perfect for women seeking natural solutions to calm your mind, feel authentically happy, and live with purpose in all areas of your life.

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