The Courageously.u Podcast Tara Bixby

Tara Schuster is an author, contributor to InStyle, The New Yorker, and Forbes, among others, and former vice president of talent and development at Comedy Central.
Her latest book, Glow in the F*cking Dark, is a guide to healing your deepest wounds, getting off your “good enough” plateau, and creating the spectacular life that you most desire.
We're talking about... 
- What it was like growing up in a neglectful psychologically abusive household
- How Tara used weed to cope
- How she uses meditation and journaling to find safety
- What her reparenting process looked like
- How being raised by emotionally immature parents impacted her mental health
- Why it’s important to heal your trauma
- How establishing boundaries with her parents helped her heal
- Where her fear around money and loss stems from
- How she used exercise to improve her depression
...and so much more! 
✨ If you loved today’s conversation, and you know someone who’d benefit from hearing it, please share it with them (even better if you share on social). 
☕️ Click here to save 10% off your Kion coffee order when you use code COURAGE at checkout. 
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March is endometriosis awareness month, and If you know me, you know I’m passionate about women’s hormonal health. That’s why I invited the wonderful Morganne Skinner onto the show to help me spread more awareness about endo.
Morganne Skinner is a registered nurse, freelance nurse writer, and fertility awareness educator. Her experience with endometriosis led her to discover the wonders of fertility awareness, as it helped her get diagnosed and manage her symptoms. Now she is passionate about sharing this knowledge and life-long skill with women looking for answers. 
In today's episode, we talk about...
- What endometriosis is
- How long it took her to be diagnosed with endometriosis
- Where her endometriosis was located
- How common endometriosis is
- What her symptoms of endometriosis looked like
- My experience with endometriosis
- Why endometriosis causes pain
- Why birth control isn’t the answer to reducing your symptoms
- What Morganne did to help heal her endometriosis and reduce pain
- Why it’s common to be exhausted when you live with endometriosis
- How endometriosis impacted how she exercised
- Her thoughts on using CBD for endometriosis pain
- What mental health symptoms are common with endometriosis  
...and so much more! 
✨ If you loved today’s conversation, and you know someone who’d benefit from hearing it, please share it with them (even better if you share on social). 
☕️ Click here to save 10% off your Kion coffee order when you use code COURAGE at checkout. 
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Today Deb Dana is hanging out with us to chat all things Polyvagal Theory. 
Deb Dana is a clinician, consultant, author, and speaker who specializes in complex trauma. Her work is focused on using the lens of Polyvagal Theory to understand and resolve the impact of trauma and in creating ways of working that honor the role of the autonomic nervous system. 
In today's episode, we talk about... 
- What polyvagal theory is
- How we move through the three autonomic states
- How your nervous system takes in cues of safety and danger
- How your nervous system is shaped
- What it means to be dysregulated
- What you can do to move out of a dorsal state of freeze
- How the nervous system builds resilience through ruptures and repair
- Why some people are better able to tolerate stress
- What role the nervous system plays in social anxiety
- How you can nourish your nervous system
- Why people struggle to co-regulate
- How our brain creates stories to match our nervous system state
- Why the word “should” provokes survival energy in our nervous system
- How you can support someone who is anxious, and so much more
...and so much more! 
✨ If you loved today’s conversation, and you know someone who’d benefit from hearing it, please share it with them (even better if you share on social). 
☕️ Click here to save 10% off your Kion coffee order when you use code COURAGE at checkout. 
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Today Scott Stossel is helping me create a conversation around anxiety and psych meds. You might recognize his name if you watched the Netflix documentary Take Your Pills: Xanax as he was featured in it. 
Scott is the National Editor of The Atlantic, the author of My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind and Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver.
We're talking about... 
- Why he wanted to share his mental health experience inside a documentary
- Where his mental health journey began
- What his experience with psych meds looked like
- What he believes is at the root of his anxiety
- Why being a man has made his anxiety worse 
- How benzodiazepine use can lead to addiction
- How benzos impact GABA production
- The role the nervous system plays in anxiety
- What you can do to shift your nervous system back into a ventral state of calm
- How benzodiazepines impact your amygdala
...and so much more! 
✨ If you loved today’s conversation, and you know someone who’d benefit from hearing it, please share it with them (even better if you share on social). 
☕️ Click here to save 10% off your Kion coffee order when you use code COURAGE at checkout. 
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TODAY'S SHOW NOTES

Did you know that most Americans are deficient in several essential vitamins and minerals - vitamins and minerals that can help improve your mental health?
Today the brilliant Chris Kresser is hanging out with us to discuss the role nutrient deficiencies play in mental health and what we can do about it. 
Chris is the co-founder of the California Center for Functional Medicine, the founder of Kresser Institute, the host of the top-ranked health podcast Revolution Health Radio, and the New York Times best-selling author of The Paleo Cure and Unconventional Medicine. He is one of the most respected clinicians and educators in the fields of Functional Medicine and ancestral health and has trained over 2,000 clinicians and health coaches from more than 50 countries in his unique approach. 
In today's episode, we talk about...
- How years of struggling with chronic illness led to Chris to help others improve their health
- Where conventional medicine is going wrong in regards to mental health treatment
- The role nutrient deficiencies play in mental health
- Why you can eat healthy and still be deficient in nutrients
- Why nutrient levels in food is declining
- Why it’s hard for you to gain insight into your nutrient levels 
- What nutrients we could all benefit from having more of
- The benefits of adding seafood to your diet
- Why supplementation can be a problem
- What foods you can eat to get the biggest bang for your nutrient buck
- Why you need a good mix of plants and animal foods in your diet
- How to prepare veggies to get the most nutrients out of them 
✨ If you loved today’s conversation, and you know someone who’d benefit from hearing it, please share it with them (even better if you share on social). 
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Today the wonderful Donald Altman is hanging out with us to discuss his newest book, Travelers - a story about overcoming grief while finding hope, healing, and renewal. 
Donald Altman is a psychotherapist, Award-winning writer, international workshop trainer, former Buddhist monk, and past Vice-President of The Center for Mindful Eating.
In today's episode, we talk about... 
- Donald’s experience as a Buddhist monk
- Why he wrote Travelers
- What you can do when struggling with intrusive thoughts
- Why we need to get beyond labeling people with diagnoses
- What mindfulness looks like
- Why people struggle to sit in stillness with their thoughts
- The power of sitting in nature
- How science doesn’t show us the whole picture
- The controversy with diagnosing grief
- Why I was resistant to going to therapy
...and so much more. 
✨ If you loved today’s conversation, and you know someone who’d benefit from hearing it, please share it with them. 
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TODAY'S SHOW NOTES