Free to Be Mindful Podcast | Helping Professional Moms Find Calm in a Busy World

This episode discusses why holiday joy can feel elusive and explores the emotional spectrum from joy to stress, offering insights for managing holiday overwhelm.

This episode segment focuses on helping busy moms recover from the holiday season by reflecting on its costs, practicing mindfulness, and prioritizing self-investment for greater calm and presence.

This podcast segment discusses managing holiday stress and overstimulation for both children and parents, offering practical tips from a therapist and mom coach.

The host discusses the importance of receiving advice from relatable sources, particularly for moms dealing with challenges like the invisible load, and introduces a personal story about encountering a detailed lead magnet that may overwhelm rather than help.

This episode explores the quiet, everyday leadership practiced by women and moms, focusing on mindfulness and influence in ordinary life without formal titles.

This episode discusses how stress becomes a normal baseline, especially for busy moms and caregivers, and explores why moments of calm can feel unsettling due to underlying nervous system activation from constant exposure to heavy world events.

This episode addresses the common experience of mom guilt during the holidays, offering practical advice for busy mothers to manage overwhelm and find more calm and joy.

This episode segment discusses the unrealistic expectations of being a perfect holiday mom, challenging the myth of perfection while addressing the pressures of the season and offering practical insights for mothers.

This podcast episode introduces a series aimed at helping busy moms combat holiday overwhelm and find more joy and calm during the festive season.

Jamie Pastrano and Britt Moser describe Synchrony, a first-of-a-kind social app built for neurodivergent adults, and say it was inspired by Jamie’s son Jesse, who is on the spectrum.

Free to Be Mindful Podcast focuses on the Latino Mental Health Association of New Jersey and the Futuro Fund, a scholarship program tied to the association’s 27-year history.

Episode 284 of Free to Be Mindful features Vanessa talking with Chicago boudoir photographer Liz Hansen, who says she has photographed more than 2,000 women since opening her studio in 2018.

Vanessa opens March by speaking to the woman who has been putting herself last.

Episode 300 opens with gratitude.

Host Vanessa explores how women silence themselves through learned behaviors rooted in cultural conditioning.

Vanessa Smith talks with Diane Lang, a counselor, educator, author of four books, and positive psychology coach, about whether positive psychology is real science or “just fluff.” Diane defines the field as the study of happiness, resiliency, optimism, strengths, and well-being, and credits Martin Seligman with coining it in 1990 while leading the American Psychological Association and later UPenn’s Graduate School.

Vanessa interviews Shayla Arias, a first-generation licensed marriage and family therapist in New York and New Jersey, about rebuilding emotional connection with a partner.

Free to Be Mindful podcast episode 295 featuring longevity dietitian Renee Fitton discussing the fasting mimicking diet as a practical longevity tool.

Vanessa explores how family gatherings activate old nervous system patterns, pulling adults back into childhood roles before conscious awareness.

Vanessa hosts Janet Irizarry, founder of My Mindful Kitchen and creator of the MMK method, for a conversation about turning everyday food routines into learning, gratitude, and less waste.

Vanessa opens Season 7 by bringing on a guest for a conversation shaped by the back-to-school season and the changes moms feel around it.

A licensed therapist and mom coach interviews a dermatologist about aging and skincare for women over 40.

A licensed therapist and mom coach helps professional moms reduce overwhelm and live intentionally through mindfulness and mental health strategies.

Host Vanessa interviews executive coach Whitney Farris about overcoming obstacles and achieving high performance with fulfillment.

Host Vanessa interviews Sarah Diaz, a first-gen college transition coach, about supporting first-generation students and managing mental health.