Anxiety, Awakening & Plant Medicine w/ Shannon Sauer | EP18

Anxiety, Awakening & Plant Medicine w/ Shannon Sauer | EP18

Today I'm chatting with Shannon Sauer, a fellow co-author in Reclaiming Mental Health and someone who spent close to two decades navigating what gets called anxiety before she found her way back to herself. Shannon and I get into her chapter and the long arc that shaped it. She talks about being a sensitive, intuitive kid who felt most at home in nature, and how that connection faded as the world took over with jobs, motherhood, and the pressure to always be doing more. We talk honestly about the pharmaceutical road she went down, starting with antidepressants prescribed during postpartum while her father was dying, and the hard reality of how difficult those medications can be to come off of. She shares what brain zaps actually feel like, the years it took to finally grieve, and the experience in 2018 that got labeled a breakdown but felt much more like a spiritual awakening she didn't have language for yet. A big part of our conversation lives in the gap between Western medical labels and lived spiritual experience, and how the two don't always fit. Shannon opens up about her plant medicine journey, how ayahuasca became a catalyst after years of inner work had already prepared the ground, and what it's meant to come off her medications and actually feel joy again. We also talk about the quieter numbing habits that are easy to miss, the importance of who you sit with if you ever explore this path, and the farm in Costa Rica she and her husband just bought. Connect with Shannon: Instagram: shansauer [https://www.instagram.com/shansauer/] Reclaiming Mental Health: https://a.co/d/06r2cm9D [https://a.co/d/06r2cm9D] Costa Rica wellness center: lamatriztica [https://www.instagram.com/lamatriztica/] Connect with Darrel-Lynne: Instagram: @dee_ogsoul [https://www.instagram.com/dee_ogsoul/] Website: ogsoul.ca [http://ogsoul.ca] Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:56 Childhood Connection to Nature 05:59 Mental Health Journey and Plant Medicine 08:57 Anxiety and Self-Criticism 11:59 Pharmaceuticals and Their Impact 15:02 Spiritual Awakening and Healing 18:07 Navigating Quetiapine and Its Effects 21:00 Understanding Spiritual Awakening 23:55 Holistic Approaches and New Perspectives 29:19 The Intersection of Mental Health and Spirituality 31:59 Understanding Dissonance and Alignment 34:38 Awakening to Clarity and Intuition 40:06 Exploring Plant Medicine Journeys 46:58 Connecting with Nature and the Self 49:26 Exploring the Nature of God and Spirituality 52:51 Technology, Nature, and Spiritual Connection 55:05 Plant Medicine Journeys and Personal Growth 01:01:13 The Importance of Safe Plant Medicine Practices 01:02:37 Transformation Through Spiritual Awakening

Rejecting Diagnoses, Reprogramming Patterns & Finding Hope w/ Jen Morin | EP17

Today I'm chatting with Jen Morin, a co-author in Reclaiming Mental Health and a contributor to Sovereign Volume 1, who now builds workbooks and affirmation decks to help people reprogram the patterns that keep them stuck. Jen and I get into her mental health journey, the years inside the system, the medications that never fit, and the COVID crash that became a full reset. We talk about why she no longer accepts diagnoses as identity, how symptoms are really patterns, and what it takes to notice them, write them down, and slowly choose something different. We also dig into discernment, the power of writing by hand, and where hope actually comes from. Connect with Jen: Instagram: awake_anddreaming [https://www.instagram.com/awake_anddreaming/] Reclaiming Mental Health: https://a.co/d/02oVIius [https://a.co/d/02oVIius] Connect with Darrel-Lynne: Instagram: @dee_ogsoul [https://www.instagram.com/dee_ogsoul/] Website: ogsoul.ca [http://ogsoul.ca]

Bipolar, Faith & Finding the Light w/ Hayley Musgreave | EP16

Today I'm chatting with Hayley Musgreave, who I first crossed paths with back in high school in Fort Saskatchewan and then reconnected with years later through a coaching program. She's a farmer in northern Alberta now, with cattle, mini donkeys, and a grain and hay operation, and she's been a steady light every time we connect. We share some similar threads in our mental health journeys, and that's a lot of what we get into here. Hayley opens up about growing up feeling like the black sheep, the shame she carried as a kid, and the ADHD she only understood later. She shares about being diagnosed with bipolar in her 20s after a breakdown, the two episodes she went through, and what it was like to be handed a heavy load of medication and a sense that this was just how life was going to be, with no real light to look toward. We compare notes on what mania actually felt like from the inside, including the grandiose thinking and the racing mind, and we sit with how strangely real it all feels in the moment. From there she talks about her Graves' disease diagnosis, how its symptoms mirrored mania, and the path she took to heal it through changing her diet, prayer, and a refusal to accept the outcome she'd been told to expect. We get into her faith and gratitude practice, the tools she leans on now like grounding, sleep, and music, and where she's landed today: not identifying as bipolar, but as someone who came through two breakdowns and kept going. At the heart of this one is the reminder that you can walk through the fire and come out the other side. We share our stories so that the younger versions of ourselves, and anyone in the thick of it now, can see that there's hope to be had. Connect with Hayley: Instagram: @thehayleydawn [https://www.instagram.com/thehayleydawn/] Connect with Darrel-Lynne: Instagram: @dee_ogsoul [https://www.instagram.com/dee_ogsoul/] Website: ogsoul.ca [http://ogsoul.ca] Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Nerves 02:53 Journey into Farming and Mental Health 06:00 Childhood and Early Mental Health Struggles 12:00 Bipolar Diagnosis and Its Impact 18:00 Navigating Mania and Breakdown Experiences 24:05 Healing Journey and Personal Growth 29:56 Graves' Disease and Its Effects 30:30 Healing Through Diet and Faith 32:15 Managing Mental Health and Medication 33:45 Current Well-being and Self-Identification 34:51 The Role of Faith in Healing 35:10 Prayer and Gratitude Practices 39:41 The Power of Sleep and Mental Health 42:56 Marriage and Support Systems 45:43 Navigating Relationships and Personal Growth 50:48 Resilience and Grit in Life 52:06 Finding Peace in the Journey 55:30 Tools for Mental and Emotional Well-being 57:11 Mutual Admiration and Future Aspirations

Mania, Medication & Mental Health w/ Shannon Skelton | EP15

Today I'm chatting with Shannon Skelton, a co-author alongside me in Reclaiming Mental Health. We'd never actually sat down and talked before this, so it was a first, and she turned out to be a light, joyful person to spend an hour with. Shannon's chapter is called "A Walk Down Mania Lane," and it's about a manic episode brought on by a pharmaceutical. We get into the whole chain of events, what the mania was actually like, and the bigger questions it raised for both of us. I felt drawn to get curious with her here because of my own experiences with what's been called mania and psychosis, and there were some interesting parallels between our stories. We talk about the manic episode that came from a medication, starting with a severe reaction to one drug and then a dose of prednisone that was too high, too fast. Shannon also shares about living with Crohn's disease since she was 16, being told more than once she would never have children, and going on to have two. We get into why she stopped taking a diagnosis at face value, including the seven years she spent being told it was Crohn's before her liver shut down, and we sit with the bigger questions around mental health labels, stigma, and the case for doctors asking what a patient's life actually looks like outside the office. She also talks about what she carried out the other side of all of it: more confidence, more willing to use her voice, and a habit of saying yes. At the heart of this one is awareness. Shannon shares her story so that someone going through the same thing might recognize it sooner, and so that more of us start asking better questions about the medications we're put on. Reclaiming Mental Health [https://a.co/d/0gyP9XdL] Connect with Shannon: @shannon_shining_through [https://www.instagram.com/shannon_shining_through/] @skeltoncrew [https://www.instagram.com/skeltoncrew/] Connect with Darrel-Lynne: Instagram: @dee_ogsoul [https://www.instagram.com/dee_ogsoul/] Website: ogsoul.ca [http://ogsoul.ca] Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 04:19 Personal Journey with Mental Health 07:14 The Impact of Pilates on Life 10:14 Exploring the Chapter: A Walk Down Mania Lane 13:15 The Experience with Hydroxychloroquine 16:24 The Prednisone Dilemma 19:22 Navigating Medication Reactions 24:23 Navigating the Unknown: Initial Reactions to Prednisone 25:23 Personality Changes: The Impact of Medication 26:50 Obsessions and Relationships: The Effects of Mania 28:01 Time Distortion: Losing Track of Reality 30:04 Bizarre Behavior: Chasing Strangers and Consequences 32:06 Recognizing the Problem: The Turning Point 34:09 Challenging Medical Assumptions: The Journey with Crohn's Disease 36:15 Manifesting Dreams: Overcoming Medical Limitations 38:56 Current Health: Managing Joint Issues and Hormonal Changes 42:32 Growth Through Adversity: Finding Confidence in Recovery 46:24 Exploring Boundaries and Connections 47:37 The Complexity of Mania and Mental Health 50:01 Finding Humor in Dark Times 51:07 The Journey of Healing and Forgiveness 52:35 Communication and Understanding in Family Dynamics 54:32 The Writing Process and Personal Reflection 56:31 The Impact of Medication on Mental Health 59:07 Advocacy and the Importance of Patient Voices 01:06:53 Hope and Change in the Healthcare System

Improv & Therapy w/ Anthony Goodwin | EP14

Today I'm chatting with Anthony Goodwin, one half of the duo who taught me Improv 100 through Grindstone Theatre and someone whose work sits at the intersection of therapy and improv. Anthony is an Australian-born clinical counsellor and improv instructor. He's the founder of Still Listening, his private therapy practice. We talk about the full-circle way improv and therapy ended up holding hands in Anthony's life. Anthony shares how the same tools he uses in the therapy room, presence, co-regulation, meeting the world as it is, are the same ones that come alive on the improv stage, and how that overlap led him to develop experimental improv therapy workshops where players give voice to someone else's stuckness. We get into the concept of aiming to be average and we touch on the broader truth that adults need spaces to play together, and how rare and necessary that has become. Reference The Grindstone Comedy [https://www.grindstonetheatre.ca/] Improvise Freely by Patti Stiles Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone Connect with Anthony: Relational Therapy with Anthony Goodwin [https://stillistening.ca/en/] Connect with Darrel-Lynne: Instagram: @dee_ogsoul [https://www.instagram.com/dee_ogsoul/] Website: ogsoul.ca [http://ogsoul.ca] Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Anthony Goodwin 02:55 Journey from Australia to Edmonton 06:09 The Intersection of Therapy and Improv 09:03 The Philosophy of Improv 11:56 The Role of Discomfort in Improv 15:02 Aiming for Average in Performance 18:05 Challenging Societal Norms 20:54 The Nature of Improv and Authenticity 24:07 Improv as Therapy 26:30 Creating Safe Spaces for Healing 28:08 Exploring Improv Therapy Frameworks 29:47 Navigating Vulnerability in Therapy 33:01 The Impact of Improv on Therapeutic Practices 35:57 Emerging Models of Therapy 39:54 The Need for Alternative Therapeutic Approaches 43:03 Integrating Body and Mind in Healing 50:02 The Joy of Play in Adult Life