Letting Go of Negative Self-Talk [Ep. #966]

Topic: Negative Self Talk

Hi everyone and welcome back to our Thursday Q &A show. I hope you’re having a lovely week so far wherever you happen to be in our community. And today we’re going to be talking about letting go of negative self-talk, which is something that is so common for, let’s face it, most all of us. Even though we have this wholeness and this abundance, we get disconnected from it quite easily in modern life. Maybe from the way we were raised, our caretakers didn’t have that deep connection to themselves, even though they did their best. So we grow up in this sort of fragmented way, and we can be really mean to ourselves. I know I’ve been very, very harsh on myself growing up, and it affected my body image, it led to very unhealthy habits and eating disorders. I think years ago I might have been a little bit judgmental and said, wow, that person isn’t very kind or very nice. But from where I see it from my heart’s perspective you realize that the people….

Episode Summary:

In this episode, Kimberly explores the pervasive issue of negative self-talk and its detrimental effects on mental and physical well-being. She emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, compassion, and heart coherence as tools for overcoming self-criticism. Through various strategies, including cognitive reframing and creating a positive environment, Kimberly guides listeners on a journey towards self-love and acceptance, encouraging them to embrace their unique essence and foster a more positive inner dialogue.

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Episode Chapters

00:00 The Impact of Negative Self-Talk
06:11 The Role of Self-Awareness in Healing
11:52 The Effects of Negative Self-Talk on Well-Being
18:10 The Power of Heart Coherence
24:07 Practicing Self-Compassion
30:13 The Journey Towards Self-Love

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The Hidden Power of the Five Hearts

Chilla Gorilla & Lanky Lemur Journey to the Heart
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Recipes For Your Perfectly Imperfect Life
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STUDIES AND RESEARCH

A 2021 study in Cognitive Therapy and Research journal investigated the automatic nature of positive and negative thinking. The research concluded that habitual negative self-thinking is a significant predictor of low self-esteem and increased stress, whereas fostering automatic positive thoughts can serve as a protective factor against stress.

A 2008 study in the Journal of Sports Sciences, this research examined the impact of negative self-talk on athletes’ performance. The study found that negative self-talk was associated with increased anxiety and discrepancies between goals and actual performance, suggesting that such internal dialogue can hinder physical performance.

A 2011 study in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, investigated how negative self-talk influences physiological responses to stress. Participants who engaged in negative self-talk exhibited heightened cardiovascular reactivity during stress tasks and slower recovery post-stress, indicating that negative self-talk can exacerbate stress responses and impede physiological recovery.

A 2008 study in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, explored the link between negative self-talk and anxiety sensitivity. The results indicated that individuals with higher levels of negative self-talk also reported greater anxiety sensitivity, which is a risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders.

A 2023 study by Cornell University examined the Cognitive Reframing of Negative Thoughts through Human-Language Models to assist individuals in reframing negative thoughts. The research found that generating alternative perspectives can help individuals replace negative thoughts with more positive ones, thereby improving mental health outcomes.

A 2014 Study in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology indicated that referring to oneself in the third person during self-talk can provide psychological distance from negative thoughts. This technique has been shown to reduce anxiety and improve emotional regulation.

A 2017 study published in Scientific Reports found that third-person self-talk helps regulate emotions in stressful situations with minimal cognitive effort and help make decision-making under pressure.

A 2010 study in the Journal of Research and Reflections in Education highlighted that positive thinking is associated with effective stress management and improved health outcomes. The study emphasized that individuals who engage in positive thinking experience lower levels of distress and better coping mechanisms.

A 2022 study in the journal Behavioral Sciences explored the relationships between mindfulness, self-compassion, and self-talk. The study found that higher levels of mindfulness and self-compassion are correlated with increased positive self-talk and decreased negative self-talk, suggesting that cultivating these traits can mitigate negative thought patterns.

A 2024 study in the journal of behavioral sciences explored the connections between self-talk, inner speech, mind wandering, mindfulness, self-concept clarity, and self-regulation. The study revealed a positive association between mindfulness and self-regulation, suggesting that mindful individuals are better equipped to manage their internal dialogue and maintain focus.

TRANSCRIPT

Kimberly Snyder (00:00.814)
Hi everyone and welcome back to our Thursday Q &A show. I hope you’re having a lovely week so far wherever you happen to be in our community. And today we’re going to be talking about letting go of negative self-talk, which is something that is so common for, let’s face it, most all of us. Even though we have this wholeness and this abundance, we get disconnected from it quite easily in modern life.

maybe from the way we were raised, our caretakers didn’t have that deep connection to themselves, even though they did their best. So we grow up in this sort of fragmented way, and we can be really mean to ourselves. I know I’ve been very, very harsh on myself growing up, and it affected my body image, it led to very unhealthy habits and eating disorders. So there’s the body cornerstone.

of emotionally when we are very negative with ourselves, we can harden up and it creates this shell. I was recently at a conference and I met some other people at the conference who weren’t necessarily very warm and friendly. And I think years ago I might have been a little bit judgmental and said, wow, that person isn’t very kind or very nice, you know, right now. But from where I see it from my heart’s perspective,

you realize that the people that can be very closed are often very harsh with themselves. And so compassion starts to come in, right? As we start to really become aware of what’s happening. And of course this touches our spiritual cornerstone as well, because when we are in negative self-talk, we are disconnected from who we really are, which is this wholeness, this abundance, this real incredible essence at our core.

and we’re hyper fixating on the surface or the egoic identifications and we suffer, we make ourselves suffer. And the fourth cornerstone, food, this adversely affects our digestion, it adversely affects our food choices. Sometimes we engage in fad dieting or restrictive eating, we don’t nourish ourselves as well, or we feel so badly that we give into sugar cravings. It really has this overarching effect.

Kimberly Snyder (02:23.052)
when we are not in alignment with love, with ourselves. So today we’re gonna delve into research and actual tools of dismantling this because many of us have struggled with negative self-talk for many years. And I also want to remind you that on our website, mysaluna.com, that’s with two Ls. If you didn’t realize, my saluna or saluna means sun and moon and the brand is saluna.

but our web handle is MySaluna. So it means this wholeness, which is within all of us. There’s this beautiful rhythm between the night and the day making up the wholeness of a total cycle, right? Of a 24-hour circadian experience. And when we think about our wholeness, we have complexity of feelings. We have all these different interconnected bodily functions.

We see this expression in our body, in our beauty, in our energy that really aligns with our total lifestyle. So saluna is about that wholeness, which is why we talk about all these different topics. Over there, I encourage you to join our newsletter, mysaluna.com. There are amazing programs, including our two-day heart reset program, which include journaling prompts and recipes, meditations and more. There’s the heart align meditation, there are food.

Programs and recipes. mean, there’s just so much other articles I think you would enjoy So please get on our newsletter and please take advantage of all the information and resources for you Let’s get right into our show today. Now. Our topic comes from Jasmine who lives in Arizona Jasmine thank you so much for bringing this to our awareness and you write I’ve noticed that a lot of negative feelings about myself come up and I tend to beat myself up and I’m very critical

when I make mistakes or things do not go well, what can I do to help me be kinder to myself? So Jasmine, once again, thank you. This is not an uncommon phenomena, unfortunately. Many of us are so harsh with ourselves and it’s really seeing things from the egoic mind. In my recent book, The Hidden Power of the Five Hearts, I share how as we…

Kimberly Snyder (04:45.73)
become more coherent, which is this aligning of the heart-brain nervous system. As we come into our hearts more, we start to really see things more clearly. And one of those things that we can see is, wow, I’ve been really mean to myself. And the reason I can be harsh with other people is because it’s an extension of this harshness of this relationship that I actually have with myself.

And this has been very revelatory to me in my personal journey and also healing attachments and feeling like I needed so much externally. And I just started to wake up more and more as my heart started to awaken that I’ve been putting a lot of stock in what other people, how, you know, what other people’s opinions are of me, that I need them to have pay attention to me or validate me for me to feel okay.

And when they didn’t, or left to my own devices, my baseline for my thoughts was often quite negative. And it’s interesting, before we delve into the research, I also want to share that yesterday I had a dear friend come over for tea, and I hadn’t seen her in a little while. And like many of us in Southern California, she had been evacuated with the fires, and we’d been through so much shared experience, and we’d been texting, so.

It felt really good, first of all, to see her in person. And then she was sharing how she had a detached retina and how she couldn’t see for a little while. And it was really challenging for her to go through this. And she’s like in her late 30s, early 40s, but it was something her father had gone through in his 60s. So this was, I if it was genetic or just something that happened much earlier in her life.

but she said she would sit outside in her backyard and because she couldn’t see outwardly, she started to see inwardly and what she saw was her thoughts and she realized that her baseline as well was very negative and very critical of herself. And because she worked in finance and she was really busy all the time before this happened, she hadn’t really paused to notice her thoughts.

Kimberly Snyder (07:06.42)
and she just filled her life with a lot of activities and a lot of work and she was on zoom calls. There’s just so much going on and this pause gave her an opportunity. She said that she really started to understand the word insight, insight. So when we consider this word, this inward sight, we start to turn as Paramahansa Yogananda talks about the spotlight or the headlights of our attention. We start to tune it inward because so much of the time

We’re bustling around, we’re trying to get things done in the world that we’re really outwardly focused and we’re taking in so much information and our eyes are looking out and we may focus on what other people are doing, this is where it becomes easy to judge and to compare. And one of the big things about overcoming negative self-talk and letting it go is that we have to be truly aware of what we believe about ourselves, what we are saying to ourselves.

what we are reinforcing to ourselves, whether that’s in moments when we’re just walking around our house or washing the clothes, or what we say when we look in the mirror, or what comes out of our mouths casually, even when we’re in conversation with other people, which of course reflects what we truly are thinking on the inside. So self-awareness is really huge as we start this conversation and even before we get into the different types of

negative self-talk, one of the things that I would encourage you to do is to make the intention to be aware of what you really are saying to yourself. Sometimes you could do the practice of writing it down in a journal, but for me, it was more about just making that intention to be aware and starting to really see my thoughts separating from them. And that’s where the heart work

became very powerful for me because I was up in my head so much. And one of the things that we teach in the Heart Aligned Meditation, one of the first steps, is you drop down into your heart. You actually shift your attention and your awareness into your heart. We can do it right now while we’re here together on the show. It sounds so simple, but this is how powerful you are. Where you place your attention starts to rewire your nervous system. It starts to open up different neuron pathways. It starts to shift your

Kimberly Snyder (09:31.672)
perceptions, which then in turn starts to shift your very thoughts. So as we shift into our heart, and you can start to do this practice while you’re showering, while you’re cooking, start to be aware of the patterns of your thinking which may come in. So for example, when you go on social media or you’re watching the media or you’re, you know, you’re in line at the coffee shop.

Where does your mind tend to go? What are the types of thoughts that come up? Even if they may be a little bit different, start to follow the pattern. And for me, I noticed there was a pattern of, you know, not fitting in enough, not doing enough. More of this, what I called, I started to label it, I called it hurry energy. And then I could start to be more aware. My body would start to tighten up and I feel sort of tighten my shoulders.

And then I could really identify when this hurry energy was coming in. And when the hurry energy came in, the thoughts were very negative about lack and not enough, again, not doing enough. So the self-awareness is really, really important to dismantling negative self-talk because I know for myself and many of us, we can sail through the day and accept as normal what’s going on in our mind and our head.

So let’s get into some of the research and we’ll circle back to some more specific modalities. But I just want to emphasize how important it is to start to separate from the thoughts and not over identify. And then it can be easier to eradicate them, right? We have to see them first and then we can start to take the next steps. first of all, what is negative self-talk? I mean, we can hear, we know probably the more obvious ones.

If we swear at ourselves, if we call ourselves bad or horrible names when we look in the mirror, even if we don’t say it out loud. But there’s also all or nothing thinking, which is viewing situations in extremes with no middle ground saying, know, you’re such an idiot. didn’t get, you know, the 50 things done on your to-do list. You didn’t do enough, right? Instead of, hey, I did pretty good here or this worked out pretty well.

Kimberly Snyder (11:52.15)
It’s this extreme thinking, which is very mental and very depleting. Then there’s personalization, assuming excessive responsibility for negative events. Are you someone who’s constantly apologizing, constantly taking the hit, taking the blame, saying, you know, gosh, you know, I’m so sorry this didn’t completely work out. It’s like, hey, it’s actually not your fault that there was a rainstorm and

Couldn’t get in on time or that your computer crashed or whatever it is or you got sick and you couldn’t get the project done on time, right? It’s this excessive, me, me, me, referencing back, personalizing. The third is overgeneralization, drawing broad conclusions from a single negative experience. This guy didn’t ask me out on a date. I guess I really am not good enough.

for anyone to want to date long-term. I guess no one will want me. I guess I’m not good enough, right? We interpret these singular or more isolated events and the mind puts the narratives and the stories, which can be so debilitating. And I remember experiences like this. I remember one time I did a television segment for Good Morning America and some people didn’t agree with something I said.

And it really, I beat myself up so much. said, I should have said this instead. Maybe that was too controversial to say. And it went on for so long. And this is how the mind can really trick us. This is how the mind can really bring us down. And also catastrophizing. Catastrophizing, that is how it’s spelled. That’s how it’s said. It’s a really funny word, right? With these catastrophes.

where we expect the worst possible outcome in any situation. It’s like we create our reality. So when we put something out there, we put our resume out, no one would ever hire me. I’m not smart enough. just don’t know enough. There’s probably a million people who are better, right? There’s this just extreme negativity. Even as we…

Kimberly Snyder (14:14.186)
try to extend ourselves and we go for something, a job, a project, something we care about. We go out on a limb and ask someone out to hang out with or we want to be friends with someone or we go on a date and then we sort of degrade ourselves or self-sabotage. Do any of these sound familiar? And I’ll also add to this just all the negative, you know, body

talk, which is really common, especially with us women. We’ve been wired from such a young age to really criticize our bodies and how we look like and our skin. And it’s really horrible because we put so much emphasis on the surface. And again, from a spiritual perspective, we are totally missing who we are, which is this essence, this unique energy, the true self, the heart.

this powerful place of stillness and peace, we can just be ourselves in this fullness. And we don’t have to degrade ourselves or compare or judge. But so often we get cut off because we’re too much in our heads, we’re too much in our minds. We take a heady approach to wellness, we take a heady approach as we move through life. It’s difficult for us to meditate because we’re up in our thoughts. It’s difficult for us to feel any level of peace.

And so of course there’s this baseline of negativity because this is how most of us have lived a lot of our lives. But I’m here to say it very much can be different and we can shift. And one of the most important ways that we do that is coming into our heart coherence. So please check out the Heart Aligned Meditation, which is on our website as well, mysaluna.com, which will teach you more and more that we can live a heart-led life instead of a head-led life. And this is a huge difference.

into more peace, into just feeling so much more here and present instead of up in the thoughts and the picking and the lack.

Kimberly Snyder (16:17.934)
A 2021 research study in cognitive therapy and research found that there was an automatic nature of positive and negative thinking. And what they found was that negative thinking is a significant predictor of low self-esteem and increased stress, while fostering positive thoughts can serve as a protective factor against stress. So when we don’t have stress coping tools,

our minds start to spin and we go into thoughts back to the heart. One of the ways in which we can become resilient against stress is to settle our nervous system and to self soothe and self regulate and to remind ourselves that from within we can create such a connection to our center because we don’t control circumstances. remember, you know, I remember cause it was two weeks ago, feeling so much fear and terror.

watching the fires creep closer to our home, which by the grace of God, I’m so grateful, was saved. And my heart goes out to the many thousands of people who did lose their homes. Such a stressful experience to be through with the power of nature and these fires and just so many things in life, right? But I centered myself as much as I could in my heart. And that’s really how I got through.

I breathed, I took it one step at a time. I tried to focus on what was in front of me, whether that was making a camomile tea or a green smoothie for my kids, a glowing green smoothie, or getting my little one dressed, or playing Legos with my older son, whatever it was, to bring it back to what’s right here in front of us. When we’re future-based, when we’re ruminating over the past, we tend to spin into a lot of negativity. So the presence…

and being in our hearts and practicing the heart align steady in life practice or the heart align harmonize with life practice. are practices in the hidden power of the five hearts, which is based on heart coherence research. We find that we become more more resilient against these ups and downs in life because we’re centered in our core, in our hearts. A 2008 study in the Journal of Sports Sciences found that negative self-talk was associated with increased anxiety.

Kimberly Snyder (18:39.446)
and discrepancies between goals and actual performance, suggesting that inner dialogue can really hinder physical performance. this is why it spans all the body, all the cornerstones, including body, including how we are in our body, how our body performs. And this is about sports, but I would also say that this also impacts our bodily functions, including digestion and immunity, because negative self-talk

correlates with incoherence, which is like this scattering out of our energy. Our nervous system isn’t aligned. is this entrainment, which is possible between the heart, brain, and nervous system becomes disharmonious. So this means energy becomes very inefficient, and therefore we’re not on par with our sports. We don’t have the focus. We don’t speak as well in a meeting or to our children. We’re not as clear or we can get more easily stressed.

And then in terms of our bodies, I’ve noticed when I’m very negative, my energy is lower. I don’t feel in the fullness of my vitality. And I believe this definitely does affect your digestion and your aging, right? So we wanna be this lift of positivity, not in a fake way. To me, fake positivity comes where we disregard our feelings and we sort of pretend that we’re happy and also…

when we’re hyper-focused on getting confident just from achievements or how we look, which is fleeting and will not be sustained. Of course we want to have great hair days. Of course we want to nail that presentation or that work project. But even deeper than that, we want to really find a sense of confidence. I am that I am, right? Which comes from rooting inward. Confidence, and not in something that can be measured or taken away or something that’s a plaque that you hang on the wall.

but just because there’s no one like you, because you’re alive, because you’re amazing. This being which has been created by God, universe, source, however you like to think of it, and is whole and complete, and is walking around the world learning and growing, and it’s amazing. So please, please come back to presence when these thoughts start to come in. In 2011,

Kimberly Snyder (21:01.014)
study in the International Journal of Psychophysiology found that there’s heightened cardiovascular reactivity during stress tasks and slower recovery post stress. Meaning again, back to how the body impacts how, or just how the negative talk impacts our body’s resilience, our body’s ability to deal with stress, to recover and to keep moving forward.

There’s so much here. Again, the show notes will have links to the research. As I started to go into the research, it made me a little bit sad. I was grieving a little bit because I don’t think that many people really realize how the thoughts that they’re thinking in their head really bring them down, right? They just sort of…

believe it’s the way has to be or it’s been this way for so long or they’re dismissive of it or maybe they really do buy into it so they don’t even think that it’s negative thinking they just think they’re thinking the truth. So one of the things that was studied in a 2008 study in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders found that negative self-talk led to anxiety sensitivity which then was a risk factor for elevated cortisol

increased stress, anxiety, depression, weakened immunity, disrupted sleep patterns, increased cardiovascular issues, the heart disconnection, just energetic and spiritual, it’s also physical, behavioral avoidance and social isolation. So what are some of the things that we can do about negative self-talk? To me, once again, the most powerful thing I believe is to get out of your head.

where this issue is, where the thoughts are, the brain up here, and to move quite literally and energetically to placing your attention on your heart, to learn about heart coherence. Again, we have tools on the website, the new book, that empower the five hearts, it’s all about this. For me, this was the golden thread that tied all the cornerstones together, all the eating, all the meditation, the spiritual.

Kimberly Snyder (23:09.918)
practices, everything I had learned about wellness for almost 15 years came together when I came into my heart. And I realized a level of peace and groundedness which I had never felt before. It is priceless and I want you to also have access to this. So I overcame so much negativity and low self-esteem issues and trauma through my heart. So I encourage you to do the Heart Align Meditation and the other heart tools.

Another study or another tool is cognitive reframing. There was a recent study in 2023 by Cornell University finding that if we can learn to reframe our negative thoughts, which becomes a practice, we start to break that pattern and move forward. So for instance, you can ask yourself questions like, is this a thought based on facts or assumptions challenging black or white issues? Now, this is a it’s like turning around the steamship. takes time. I have friends.

and I listen to them and I just, you know, sometimes I just have to intervene. say, do you listen to what you’re saying about yourself? Right? We can point it out, but ultimately we have to be aware within ourselves. Of course, loved ones can be mirrors, these are deep patterns sometimes. So I encourage you again, to get really present and to think about, to consider what am I saying to myself in the first place?

So as we start to question our thoughts, we want to inject this very powerful medicine in of compassion and kindness. Turn those energies into ourself where we may often give them to someone that we’re in line, you know, we’re in line at Target or a friend, we might be really kind with them or patient, but not always with ourselves. So remember that kindness and compassion are very powerful to give yourself to say, wow, I believe this for so

You know, I would never say that to someone else. I’m so mean to myself. And to really have that whole space for yourself and say, wow, you know, I learned this pattern early on. I’m not going to blame my mom or my caregivers or my teacher because they were doing the best they can. I’m an adult here. I’m going to start to break this. What is a kinder way? You know, what is the more gentle way to be with myself? Can I give myself a break? Can I let myself rest?

Kimberly Snyder (25:35.918)
Can I drop this thought? Can I stop beating myself up? There’s another practice called third party self-talk. And this was studied in different research studies, including a 2014 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. And it founds that when we speak of ourselves in the third party, we can provide psychological distance from our negative thoughts. So for instance, you can say, know, Kimberly,

was feeling a lot of stress and she made the best decision that she could in that moment. you know, maybe she acted in a hurry. You you get the idea, the sense of detachment. And I’m reading this parenting book right now from Dr. Shafali, who’s been on our show before called The Parenting Map, which by the way, I like very much. And she talks about how there’s so much guilt with parents sometimes.

if they yell, if they raise their voice, if they get frustrated with their child. And one of the things that she talks about is really reassuring herself. In this framework, could say, Diane isn’t a bad mom. Diane is at her wits end. Diane learns some patterns and her ego is flared up or whatever it is, but Diane is going to learn from this.

So just as you would talk to a client or a friend or someone else, when you frame it that way, wow, know, Diane went through a lot in her childhood. Diane had a mother who blah, blah, blah. You can start to really feel like, I’m I’m a person because we have this pattern sometimes for treating ourselves completely differently than anyone else. So this can humanize ourselves.

so that we can give ourselves the level of respect that we all deserve. So it’s interesting how there was research about this and another study from 2017 in Scientific Reports found that this third party talking could actually help better decision making under pressure. So when we feel that overwhelm, you can start to talk on the third party, right, know, Kimberly’s dealing with a lot right now, Kimberly’s juggling the family, Kimberly’s doing this talk, you know.

Kimberly Snyder (27:55.198)
she can take some space to slow down and she’s gonna evaluate what’s the best thing to do here, right? Or however we like to think of it so that we can actually really make some space from the thoughts and march forward with the best possible step. There was a, as you, if you listen to this in real time, I’ll say yesterday, I posted a post on social media with my feet.

walking in the mud in Hawaii. And it was about how we just walk forward every day into the unknown because we don’t control anything. It’s all an illusion. There’s one thing that the fires really taught me. It’s that all this stuff that seems so predictable that we can count on that the road is gonna look like the road that even your house is gonna be there. It’s not how life is, right? There is.

Everything in life is in fluctuation. Everything is unknown. But what we can do is to stay and come into our hearts as much as possible and stay present and make the best possible decision, the best possible step forward that we can in that moment, including what best to eat or what to say on that text or how to be loving in this situation or how we could differently speak to ourselves in that moment. Right? We just need to keep moving forward step by step. And so.

One of the things that we can reframe with negative self-talk is of course positive self-talk. And to me, sometimes people jump to saying things that can feel like a lie, so then there’s that fake inauthenticity. For me, there has to be a pause before we say positive affirmations. Otherwise, it sounds like we’re lying to ourselves, right? So let’s say I’m feeling very, man, I messed up again. I can’t believe I did that.

I can’t believe I forgot that call. Let’s just make this up. So between just saying, you know, I’m very responsible or whatever the affirmation is. For me, there’s this moment of pause at least, where I breathe down into my heart. take deep breaths. I move to a different place from the mind, right? Where the problem is to where the solution can be found in the heart. And I reset. And once I feel neutral, once my heartbeat has calmed down,

Kimberly Snyder (30:13.974)
or I let go of the clenching in my shoulders or whatever it is that sort of signals that there’s something more intense going on. And I breathe down, then I can say a positive affirmation. I’m trying my best. I’m going to keep showing up. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m on my journey and I’m here doing my best and folding each day. Right? So we come to neutral and then we can shift into a more affirmative, positive mindset. But again,

We have a different perspective once we’re in our hearts. There’s 40,000 neurons in the heart. So as we activate the heart brain, quite literally and scientifically, we can shift into a more zoomed out perspective. But if we stay in our mind, we stay locked in the negativity. So it’s very difficult to overcome the thoughts. So we wanna come down first, get neutral, reset, turn on that heart brain, turn on the heart’s power, and then shift into a completely different.

more positive approach that’s based in a solid place of self-esteem, this resiliency of being in our center. And then we can also be sure to surround ourselves with an environment that’s more positive, including the social media feeds we follow, the media that we may have on screens, our friends, the people that we choose to be our roommates, the purple that we let into our WhatsApp groups and our text chains.

We want to be discerning. If people around us are very negative and we’re working to break this negativity, it doesn’t help, right? It’s similar to trying to give up alcohol and being around people that are drinking and partying all the time or people that are gossiping when you’re running to rid yourself of judgment and gossip, right? We want to choose our environments very mindfully and carefully and have that self, give ourselves permission to

shift our time and our friendships. It’s interesting because I’ve had different circles of friends and there was a circle of friends and the fires cleared up so much for me and usually it would be the four of us would hang out. And I reached out to one of the friend members and I just said, I just want to hang out just us. And that felt very nourishing to me. And you know, one of the members is…

Kimberly Snyder (32:37.984)
not just, you know, not right or wrong or bad or good. She just has a different head space right now. And I’m not feeling like it’s nourishing for me to be around. I’m not called to it. So without judgment, without right or wrong, it’s just we start to flow from our hearts and we start to make these very clear decisions to support how we want to feel. We want to feel more positive. We want to feel more uplifted, more peaceful, more joyful. We surround ourselves. We become aware of the thoughts. We

We really dig into these practices. We root into the heart and the heart aligned meditation. We learn about more cognitive reframing or third party thinking that we talked about here today. We journal, we create more awareness. It’s really about awareness, presence, and from that place we shift. From that place. If we’re not aware, if we’re up in our heads, it’s very impossible, almost impossible I could say. Everything’s possible, but far more challenging to shift.

So just remember that you are this incredible, unique being and the negative self-talk is not aligned to truth. You are not in lack. You don’t deserve to be spoken to that way, including by yourself. And the more we step into this different way of talking to ourselves and believing in ourselves, everything can improve, including your relationships, your vitality. You start to feel a different energetic youthfulness.

running through your veins and your bones and your body because there’s this uplifted energy which is the source of all nourishment. That’s the ultimate way to nourish yourself is with more positive thoughts. But we can’t just, you know, think our way there. We have to come into this embodied place of heart, heart led living, right? It just starts to be this different more loving framework and that lovingness, what we call the devoted heart, that’s the fourth heart stage.

of Heart Awakening taught by Swami Sri Yukteswar that I wrote about in the Hidden Power of the Five Hearts book, this love starts to permeate through including into true self-compassion and true self-love. So we really can get there. I say that from someone who’s had a lot of low self-esteem and a lot of criticism in my life towards myself. We really can start to transition into that with these practices.

Kimberly Snyder (34:57.282)
with positive community. So I also encourage you to join my broadcast group on Instagram, which if you don’t know, there is a personal group where I leave voice notes and there’s more community interaction. And of course to follow me on Instagram, at underscore Kimberly Snyder for positive heart led living, right? And to scrub your social media channels, scrub your WhatsApp groups to make sure that it’s up to date with the energy that you want to create.

I am so grateful to be here with you in community and remember that you can always reach out to me. I’m here to support you. I’m here to serve you. whether that means questions for future shows, we tend to rotate around all the cornerstones each month, every few weeks. So I’ll be talking about a food topic next week or a body one. Talk about spirituality and emotional well-being. Again, please join our newsletter over at mysaloona.com.

and please leave a review for the podcast and send the show for anyone that you think would benefit. These are two really powerful ways to support the show, to support the movement, to keep everything going. So thank you so much in advance. I appreciate you so much and I look forward to connecting with you more. Sending you much love.

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Her workshops, retreats, and one-on-one programs combine evidence-based tools with deep compassion, creating space for transformation that’s both personal and planetary. Having lived in eight countries and fluent in four languages, Clara brings a rare global lens to her work. She’s collaborated with organizations like Microsoft, UCSF, and Terumo Neuro, delivering nature-based wellness programs and burnout prevention strategies in some of the world’s most high-pressure environments. At the heart of her mission is a commitment to reweaving the connection between human wellbeing and planetary health. Whether guiding a corporate retreat in the redwoods or speaking on resilience in frontline healthcare, Clara creates warm, inclusive spaces where growth feels possible and deeply human. TRANSCRIPT Disclaimer: This is an automated transcript and may contain occasional errors or minor inaccuracies. Kimberly Snyder (00:01) Welcome back to our show. Clara, thank you so much for being here with us today to chat about nature and re-naturing. Clara Schroeder (00:10) Thank you, Kimberly. I’m happy to be here. Kimberly Snyder (00:13) You’re catching me just a day or so after coming back from our farm, Clara. We were chatting a little bit before the show, and I find it very powerful. I’m very humbly grateful that we get to spend time in a very wild place. Even where I live on the mainland, we live in the mountains. Not everybody has that opportunity, which we’ll talk about on the show today—tips and tools to support people. But it’s the feeling of revival. There’s a feeling of wilding, of fullness. It’s kind of hard to put into words. If you could share a little bit, maybe from your expertise and your experience—you counsel people, and what is the word we use? Clara Schroeder (01:03) Ecotherapy. Kimberly Snyder (01:09) Ecotherapy. Yes. Maybe just to start us off, could you share a little bit of the grounded science behind it? I know many of us feel good when we’re in the woods or in the sunshine, but from checking out your book, I know there’s quite a bit of science behind it—cognitive development in children and so much more. Maybe we’ll start there. Clara Schroeder (01:21) Yeah. The science behind why nature is so important is becoming more and more accessible, which is really important in helping spread this message. We know that nature in an office building—even just having plants indoors, whether they’re real or fake—can boost productivity, creativity, and collaboration for employees. I think it’s by around 6 percent, and this comes from the Harvard Business Review. There have also been studies showing that people in hospitals who can see trees, or even have a TV showing a waterfall, heal faster and feel better. Their hope for recovery is higher. Those are some of the basic statistics I think of first. But in terms of what nature does to our brains, we live in an overly digitized world, right? We’re always single-focused, overloaded, and receiving constant input from our phones, media, news, and everything else. Nature operates on a different rhythm. It’s more connected and interconnected. There’s something in nature that we don’t really get in technology called fractal patterns—rhythmic repetition in structure. That is incredibly soothing to our psyche and our minds. Nature as a whole helps shift us out of sympathetic nervous system activation and into parasympathetic regulation. It also provides a sense of safety. The amygdala can relax because it can predict what’s coming next. If you’re walking through the woods, you know there will be trees. If you’re on a beach, like you were in Hawaii, you know there will be water and sand. You can relax into the landscape. Compared to the constant consumption of information in our daily lives, that is so healing, and it’s something that gets overlooked. Kimberly Snyder (03:35) Can you talk a little bit about the role of color? I know you touch on this in your book when you give tips for people who don’t have access to living on an island or in the forest—how they can bring nature’s colors in and some of the benefits. Clara Schroeder (03:43) Yeah, for sure. I think green, as a color in itself, is really powerful. There are studies showing that if you look at something green—and it has to be something natural, so it could be an indoor plant for people living in a city, or a terrarium—it can have a regulating effect. I had a client once who built a little terrarium in her home during winter. She had limited mobility, so for her, that was a form of play. That was nature inside the home. Basically, if you look at the color green for two minutes without distraction, it can reduce cortisol levels in your blood and help you regulate and feel more grounded. A lot of this comes back to mindfulness and paying attention. There’s also something people call a “color walk,” which is like a mindfulness-based walking meditation where you intentionally look at the colors and textures of nature around you, even if you live in a city. For people living in the city, you can usually still see the sky. Even just acknowledging that—what color is the sky today? What do the clouds look like? Can you sense the oxygen being released from whatever plant life exists around you? Because if you didn’t have those trees or plants, you wouldn’t be breathing. Oxygen is our breath. That’s part of the interconnectedness I encourage people to lean into when they don’t know where to start. Just look up at the sky if you can’t see a park nearby, or take a walk to a park. Kimberly Snyder (05:33) It’s so funny because I’m naturally really drawn to color in the environment and also in what I’m wearing, Clara. My husband was teasing me today because I’m wearing this bright blue sweater, and he said I looked like one of the Muppets. I said, “That’s funny, because to me the blue is the sky, it’s the ocean—that’s what I associate it with.” But people do have different connotations. I wonder how this shows up, let’s say, with seasonal affective disorder. I used to live in New York City, and it was very challenging for me not only to not have sunlight for a long time, but also to feel really cooped up. There’s a natural rhythm to nature where it’s not green all the time, unless you happen to live in California or Hawaii. There are the seasonal colors of fall and then more whiteness if you live somewhere snowy. Do you feel like moving with those natural rhythms inside your space to keep the connection is powerful? Or is it more helpful to restore green year-round no matter what’s happening outside? Clara Schroeder (06:48) I think it depends a little bit on where you’re at in life and what you’re needing. I don’t like to give a one-size-fits-all answer because everyone is different. But what’s most important is understanding the cycles—the cyclical nature of nature and of us as humans, because we are such a big part of nature and the ecosystem, even though we often live as if we’re not. If the trees outside have dropped their leaves because it’s winter or late fall and everything is going dormant, that matters. We have bears here in Northern California, and they’re sleeping and hibernating this time of year. Even just acknowledging that the seasons are here to help us can be powerful. They’re cues that help us slow down and rest. Then we ramp back up as spring comes, as blossoms and flowers return. Just acknowledging that shift is important. At the same time, if you’re in a super demanding job—like in New York City, where I also lived during grad school—and you need more vitality, then tools like sun lamps or UV lights that mimic sunlight can help. People in Northern Europe, for example, don’t get sun for a long time each year, so this can help support energy levels. You can also bring in more plants and more greenery, as long as you’re also acknowledging that maybe you need to slow down a little in winter. Maybe take some time off if you can, or do a little bit less, so you’re matching the energy outside of yourself. Because if we’re go, go, go all the time, and winter and fall come by and we don’t slow down, we burn out. I see that all the time—people going full-throttle into the new year and then crashing by late February or early March. Some of that could be avoided if we gave in a bit more to what’s happening in the natural environment. Kimberly Snyder (09:10) What you’re describing is so in tune with Ayurvedic medicine, which I’ve studied for many years, and this wisdom of tuning in with the elements. The Pancha Mahabhuta theory is the five elements in our body and the five elements in nature. Like you said, there’s a different rhythm to winter and then this more outward, rajasic expression of summer. So instead of overriding nature, we can feel that flow. Going back to Hawaii for a second, Clara, one of the things I love is how communal it is. My kids go to the playground every day and play with local kids. I’ve gotten to talk with some amazing local Hawaiian families who’ve been there for many generations. I was talking to this dad named Freddie, and he was speaking about the sacredness of where we are. He was talking about the energy in the stones—the lava rocks are very sacred to Hawaiians—and in the trees. I’ve encountered that in Shinto and in other cultures in Japan as well. Can you speak a little bit about how someone who feels disconnected from nature—in this screen-centric world, especially if they live in an urban environment—can start re-fostering that connection? Maybe it doesn’t have to be on the level of hugging rocks and trees, but how do we reconnect with that reverence and that intelligence? We are not divorced from it. No matter how we live or where we live, there is that intrinsic deep connection. Clara Schroeder (10:40) Yeah, I totally agree. And as a side note, when I think of rocks, I think of forest bathing. I’ve gotten to practice it, though I’m not an expert. A rock can be such a grounding place to let your burden rest. I’ve invited people, or been invited myself, to sit on a rock if they’re drawn to it and ask if the rock can carry some of that burden for them. There’s so much we can do with the elements. And that’s part of why I called the book Re-Nature. It’s about reverence, reciprocity, relationship, and reconnection—all the words you were using. I think those are so vital in our world today. I’ll be more specific and talk about the Westernized world, because I want to acknowledge that many Indigenous cultures—Native American cultures in the U.S. and Indigenous cultures globally—still have this built into their spirituality and daily life. In the Westernized world, part of the process is remembering that your body is at least 70 percent water, that the air you breathe comes from the trees, that every time you have tea, water, or coffee, those leaves or beans came from somewhere—from a specific soil, a specific climate, and human hands that helped bring them to you. It’s really about tuning in more to what’s right in front of us. There’s an example in the book about walking through Central Park with a friend. We were talking, and I stopped because a pigeon was taking a bath in a puddle. I said, “Look, the pigeon is taking a bath.” And she said, “Clara, how did you even notice that?” For me, that kind of noticing is natural because I was raised to appreciate those little moments. And then those moments can create spontaneous awe—sometimes what’s called kamamuta—a spontaneous feeling of joy, love, and connection that can happen in nature or elsewhere. All of those ways of paying attention, leaning in, and relating to the more-than-human world matter. It’s not just “nature.” It’s more than human. We live in such a dominant human perspective all the time, but really, we’re just guests on this planet and on this land. Kimberly Snyder (13:39) I know what you mean, and I feel like there are powerful messages beyond words. We talk about communication that happens nonverbally. For example, just last week I was hearing how many birds there are where we are. We’re very close to the wild part of the island—about 80 percent of it is uninhabited by humans and there are no roads. We’re right on the edge of that. There are hundreds of birds and roosters. I had this deep spiritual lesson from them. Those birds are just being themselves. They’re not trying to be something else. They’re not worrying about how they’re perceived or what the other birds think. There’s a purity in their call—it comes from their heart, from deep inside of them. The same with the bullfrogs, the same with all the creatures. There are such lessons in that, because I think as humans, so much of our time and energy is spent worrying about how we appear—our masks, our identities. Nature puts us in this place of authenticity. It’s like a hug saying, “Just be who you are.” And it’s very refreshing, isn’t it? Clara Schroeder (15:18) Yeah. I appreciate everything you’re saying. There’s also a rawness to nature. It can be wild, intense, and even violent, but also soft, inviting, and welcoming. It reflects all parts of humanity, too. I think acknowledging that mirror is really important. Kimberly Snyder (15:38) Yes. Two things come up when you mention that. It’s not always soft, and there is a wildness to it. We humans want to control things because it makes us feel safe. Otherwise, fight-or-flight gets triggered. But that’s the fallacy—we don’t actually control everything. A couple of weeks ago, I was hiking with my sons here on the mainland. I had such a traumatic moment that I’m still processing. They were ahead of me, and I was taking a picture. Right off the trail was a baby rattlesnake. They didn’t see it. I’m always saying, “Be on the lookout, be on the lookout.” When I saw it, my face froze. I was trying to tell them to go the other way, but their instinct was to run back toward me. The snake didn’t move and everything was fine, but then of course I went and researched that a snake can seem asleep and still strike half its body length. I started having all these horrible thoughts and fears. We talked about it afterward and I said, “Mama will always walk first.” But there is a wildness when you go out and don’t control everything. And then the other part, Clara, is the story in your book about fire trauma. I have fire trauma. We saw fire coming over the ridge. Our boys’ school was taken. The fire came from three directions within half a mile of our house. So even to this day, turning on our gas stove to make tea, or adding fire to our fireplace, can activate something in me. So there’s trauma. It’s a big topic, but while we can heal in nature, nature can also create its own forms of trauma if we’re trying to live a life of control and then realize so much is out of control. Clara Schroeder (17:11) Thank you for sharing those experiences. I think what you’re describing is something a lot of people can relate to at this point. Many people have some kind of trauma related to a natural disaster—or climate disaster, as some people prefer to call it. Then there’s also the danger of recreating outdoors and not being able to control the environment. That gets reflected back to you. So the question becomes: can you recreate within a threshold that feels comfortable? I would never take a client with no outdoor experience onto a remote trail. I’d stay in an urban park. It sounds like you were aware of the dangers that could be present, and then it becomes a matter of education and adapting. And it happens. It’s part of nature. It’s raw and wild. In terms of healing the relationship, I’m always interested in how people are relating to nature. With climate disasters accelerating and natural disasters becoming more common, yes, we are resilient, and I can talk about resilience a lot. But we also have to acknowledge what is happening to our relationship with nature. It becomes easy to demonize it and personify it—to say, “Nature is fighting back,” or “Nature is aggressive,” or “Nature is trying to destroy us.” When you’re in a trauma state, that’s easy to do. You’re projecting your fear and experience outward, and that’s a completely normal human reaction. I remember interviewing a hurricane survivor who told me, “I’m looking forward to the day, if there is one, when I can swim in this river again”—the same river that had taken so many lives and homes. Six to eight months later, she emailed me and said, “Today was the first time I went back into the river with my son.” They did it carefully, with precautions, because there were still submerged obstacles. But reconnecting with something that had also been destructive was incredibly meaningful. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have easy solutions. But I invite people into a non-dual lens—a non-dualistic perspective where it doesn’t have to be good or bad. There’s a gray area. How do we live in a world with accelerating ecological crisis, while also recognizing that we are finding solutions through technology and through fields like ecotherapy that can support communities in building resilience? Kimberly Snyder (20:52) Yes. And for me, it’s empowering to know we don’t control everything, but our daily choices do matter so much. How we eat, for example. The products we use. It breaks my heart every time I see pictures of the Brazilian rainforest being torched every day, largely because of cattle farming, and then also because of GMO soy grown to feed the cattle. My family except for my husband happens to be plant-based because it feels like a lighter load spiritually and physically. I teach this to my children, and they are very connected to animals. That part lands with them. But I also explain a little bit about deforestation. Again, we don’t control what corporations are doing on a larger scale, but we can educate ourselves and ask how we can tread a little more lightly on the earth—with reverence and care, not just from the perspective of “this is what I want” or “this is what tastes good to me,” but with more of that oneness and awareness. Going back to the healing and the practical side of things, I’ve seen you share micro-shifts people can make. Let’s say someone spends a lot of time indoors in the city. They go to the gym, they go to a co-working space or an office, or they work from home. Other than taking vacations into nature, what are some tangible ways they can start bringing in that energy and that connection? Clara Schroeder (22:51) I always encourage people, if they can, to go for a walk either in the middle of the workday or after work because it breaks up the monotony of grinding all day. By then, your creative brain is usually shut down. If you’re able to walk, even in an urban environment, just going for a walk, breathing fresh air, and paying attention can make a huge difference. It’s always about opening your mind to what else is there. Can I put my phone on Do Not Disturb for 20 minutes? A 20-minute walk outside three times a week minimum can do a lot for your mental and physical health. There are also studies showing that if you go for a walk after work, you’re more productive the next day. It’s not always about productivity, but it is relevant. Other than that, even just waking up in the morning and acknowledging the weather can help. I’m the type of person who has to see outside when I wake up. I need to know what’s happening. It helps orient my body, mind, and heart. What kind of pattern am I seeing in the weather, the trees, or whatever is happening where I am in the world? And then I check in with myself. How does that make me feel? If it’s winter and I haven’t seen the sun for a week or more, what can I do to support myself? Can I eat a little more seasonally? What winter dish would make me feel warm and nourished? How can I adapt to what’s happening without letting it consume me in a negative way? My good-morning ritual is to check in with the weather, check in with myself, and express gratitude for what I’m having for tea, coffee, or breakfast. Can I think about all the interconnected ways that food got to me? And then is there an intention around how I’m living? I see this all the time with friends and clients: work comes first. And I get that you have to survive in the world. But can your body be a vessel for connecting with nature? Can it be a vessel for seeing something outside yourself? It could literally be your houseplant. I don’t care if it’s a houseplant—there’s no judgment. I talk to my houseplants all the time because they’re alive, just like we are. That can be a starting point. And then maybe you begin noticing birds. Maybe you start looking for wildlife. I think of Central Park in Manhattan there’s so much wildlife there, from raccoons to turtles to hawks and owls. You just have to look for it. Once you widen your mind and perspective to the more-than-human world, and remember that you belong to it too, things begin to shift emotionally and physically. Kimberly Snyder (26:13) I love that. These are such simple, accessible ways we can bring in nature. Something else I love to do and you mention this in your book—is the idea of a focal point or altar. “Altar” can sound very spiritual, but it can also simply be a place where we gather energy. My kids go to a Waldorf school, which is so beautifully attuned to nature and the inner child. It’s magical. I’m a huge fan of Waldorf. There are always different altars on their tables with natural objects and little seasonal gatherings from nature. I think that’s something powerful we can do no matter where we live. Even in a big city whether you live in Houston, Chicago, New York, London, or wherever—you can gather twigs, acorns, stones, or shells and place them somewhere you’ll see them, like in your kitchen. You can build a simple nature altar in your home. To me, that’s a way for reverence and focus to remain in your space no matter where you live. Clara Schroeder (27:52) Absolutely. I love altars. They can also remind you of places you’ve been and let you keep a piece of that place with you. If it’s a seashell you collected when you were feeling really good, can you tune into that energy before you start your day? Or at the end of your day? A visualization exercise can help people remember a place in nature they love and reconnect to how they felt there. I think an altar or a meaningful object can do something similar for our energy body. Kimberly Snyder (28:41) So if someone is experiencing stuckness maybe they’re trying to work through trauma from childhood, violence, or something else how can being in nature, perhaps alongside other therapies, help rebalance or release stuck energy in the body and mind? Clara Schroeder (29:07) I believe that when we work intentionally with nature whether on our own or with a guide nature mirrors things back to us. If I’m working with a client who feels stuck, or is experiencing flashbacks or memories, there’s often something in the environment that stands out to them. It might be a spontaneous nature event a hawk flying overhead, leaves on the ground, or some element in the landscape they’re drawn to. We naturally create meaning. That’s part of being human. We are relational beings. So nature provides a container where a person may suddenly notice that something in their body shifts as they relate to what they’re seeing outside. Compared to therapy or coaching in an office or over Zoom, there’s a different kind of input from the environment something outside ourselves that helps us reconnect not only with ourselves, but with something bigger as well. That relationship can be incredibly powerful. It can help something shift, evolve, and become unstuck. Kimberly Snyder (31:06) I think it’s also working with the elements. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, there’s a subconscious rebalancing that happens. You mentioned stones. I know for me, if I go into the desert, there’s just such groundedness and quiet. Usually I think I’m not really a desert person because I love the lushness of the jungle. But when I go to the desert, a different message comes through. It’s stark and clear. It’s like a mirror. I look more deeply at myself and my shadows. Then the nurturing, watery flow of the island supports in a different way. From an Ayurvedic point of view, so many of us are in vata there’s a lot of air and movement. We can feel spacey, anxious, overwhelmed. So that kapha energy of sitting on a rock, sitting on the earth, or grounding into something heavier can help create those shifts you’re talking about. Clara Schroeder (32:05) Yeah. And along with that, I invite people, when they’re home, to walk without socks or shoes if they can. It’s best to walk on soil or grass, but that’s not always accessible. Still, even letting your toes directly touch the ground helps. It’s a simple at-home way to ground if it’s warm enough, if it’s clean enough just walk barefoot and plug into that greater ecosystem, that deeper energy beneath you. Kimberly Snyder (32:42) That’s beautiful. And we know there’s so much research on grounding, ions, and electromagnetic frequencies. It feels so good. It’s always nice when the science confirms what we already feel experientially. Clara Schroeder (32:45) Yeah, it really is. And I’ve seen more interest in this work over time. The movement is growing. People are starting to tune in and realize these things matter. I once gave a talk at a big biotech company. I was in a room with huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and all the blinds were shut. I said, “First things first—those blinds need to come up, you guys.” There were plants outside. You could see nature. We’re so conditioned by the way we live and operate in this human-centric world, but there are so many ways we can start expanding beyond that. Kimberly Snyder (33:55) It’s surprising, isn’t it? And a little sad. There are so many ways we can become disconnected. When we’re away from our true nature—literally—we don’t feel as peaceful or as whole. I also think it affects our views of beauty. When you go into nature and see a gnarled tree or branches going in all different directions, there isn’t this idea of perfection or the glossy sameness that gets imposed on women today. There’s a naturalness there. I think it helps us accept our own natural beauty. Clara Schroeder (34:35) Yeah. I think it’s an invitation into self-acceptance, self-compassion, and even self-love—which, for some of my clients, can feel like a stretch. Nature doesn’t pretend. It doesn’t mask. Sometimes birds in mating rituals make themselves look especially beautiful, but in general, nature just is. And there’s something really healing in that. Kimberly Snyder (34:56) As time goes on, I find the people I see as most beautiful are the ones who are most authentic and most themselves in their own natural skin. That doesn’t mean they can’t wear makeup or do whatever they want—it’s not about that. It’s more about ease. That ease. So thank you so much, Clara, for chatting with us today. Is there anything else we didn’t cover that you’d like to share with our community about your philosophy or your new book, Re-Nature? Clara Schroeder (35:51) I think we covered a lot. I just want to acknowledge that some people—including myself—have had a lot of privilege in being able to access these spaces. I can’t talk about this work without acknowledging the social justice components that come with anything environmental. I want to help create more equitable access to nature, because not everyone has the same opportunities, safety, or history when it comes to being in outdoor spaces. That matters, and it needs to be part of the conversation. Kimberly Snyder (38:34) Thank you for bringing that up. I know you cover that in your book as well, so thank you for acknowledging it. And also, the oneness, the wildness, the energy in nature belongs to all of us. We are all underneath the same sky. We are all one. That energy runs through everyone and every part of nature. That’s such a powerful message, and one that can help decrease separation in the world. Clara Schroeder (38:46) That’s the goal. Kimberly Snyder (39:01) Thank you so much, Clara, for sharing your wisdom with us and for your new book, again called Re-Nature: How Nature Helps Us Feel Better and Do Better. Tell us where we can find out more about your work and where we can get your new book. Clara Schroeder (39:19) Thanks for having me, Kimberly. I have a website, claraschroeder.com. I’m on Instagram, and I have a Substack—I’m sure you’ll link those in the show notes. The book is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble in the U.S. It’s also available through pretty much any local bookstore, which I always encourage people to support. Some independent bookstores here in California carry it in person, and if your local bookstore doesn’t have it, they should be able to order it for you. Kimberly Snyder (39:49) Amazing. Support the locals. Well, thank you so much, Clara. We’ll link all of Clara’s resources in our show notes at mysolluna.com, with two Ls. I encourage you to share this episode with anyone you think would benefit—anyone who could use a little more nature or connection to nature in their lives. You never know how you might spark or re-spark that deep connection, which can truly improve someone’s life. I’m also on social at @_kimberlysnyder. I’ll see you all back here in just a few days. Until then, take great care and sending you all so much love.

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Ep. 1044 | Healing Power of Resilience for Optimal Health with Dr. Tara Narula

this insightful interview, Dr. Tara Narula shares her holistic approach to resilience, emphasizing the importance of love, purpose, and mental health in healing and well-being. Discover practical tools and inspiring stories to cultivate resilience in everyday life. Chapters 00:00 The Heart's Holistic Journey 02:58 Mind-Body Connection in Cardiology 05:57 Understanding Stress and Its Impact 08:57 Acceptance as a Tool for Resilience 11:59 Resilience: A Personal Journey 14:54 Finding Meaning in Adversity 18:05 The Role of Exercise in Resilience 20:51 Reframing Denial as a Tool 23:10 Resilience and Upbringing 26:18 Teaching Resilience to Children 29:00 Mental Health and Physical Healing 30:00 The Importance of Social Connections 31:47 Stress, Inflammation, and Health 33:12 Finding Purpose in Life 36:47 The Power of Love and Connection Sponsors: FATTY15 OFFER: Fatty15 is on a mission to replenish your C15 levels and restore your long-term health. You can get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/KIMBERLY and using code KIMBERLY at checkout. LMNT OFFER: Right now, for my listeners LMNT is offering a free sample pack with any LMNT drink mix purchase at DrinkLMNT.com/FEELGOOD. That’s 8 single serving packets FREE with any LMNT any LMNT drink mix purchase. This deal is only available through my link so. Also try the new LMNT Sparkling — a bold, 16-ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water. Dr. Tara Narula Resources: Book: The Healing Power of Resilience: A New Prescription for Health and Well-Being Website: www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Tara-Narula/189123064 Instagram: @drtaranarula Bio: Dr. Tara Narula is a board-certified cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine, Hofstra/Northwell, associate director of the Women’s Heart Program at Lenox Hill Hospital and director of communications for the Katz Institute of Women’s Health. An award-winning journalist, she is also the current Chief Medical Correspondent for ABC News and a former NBC News Medical Contributor, CNN Medical Correspondent and CBS News Senior Medical Correspondent. After graduating from Stanford University, she founded her own small business before getting her medical degree at USC Keck School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Harvard University/Brigham and Women’s Hospital and her fellowship training in cardiology at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center. She currently sees patients in her outpatient practice as part of Lenox Hill/Northwell Health. She is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and serves as a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association. She lives in New York City with her husband, who is also a physician, and her two daughters. 

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Ep. 1043 | ADHD: Diagnosis, Nervous System Regulation & Practical Strategies with Jenna Free

This Episode In this episode, Jenna Free shares her insights on ADHD, highlighting the importance of nervous system regulation, the role of mindset, and practical tools for managing symptoms. Whether you're diagnosed or self-diagnosed, this conversation offers compassionate, science-based guidance to help you find balance, increase productivity, and enjoy life more fully. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction to Jenna Free and the focus on ADHD and nervous system regulation 02:19 - Differentiating ADHD from anxiety and overwhelm 02:36 - Brain differences in ADHD and retraining the brain 03:16 - How a neurodivergent brain navigates a neurotypical world 04:17 - The relationship between dysregulation, fight or flight, and ADHD symptoms 05:10 - Personal experiences with regulation work and ADHD paralysis 06:44 - Medication use and regulation work as complementary strategies 08:52 - How dysregulation affects focus, attention, and energy 10:19 - Heart coherence and emotional regulation strategies 11:14 - Living in potential versus reality and grounding exercises 13:15 - The impact of thoughts, beliefs, and regulation on neurodivergent brains 14:20 - External stress, capitalism, and regulating inside regardless of external circumstances 15:37 - Parenting with regulation, handling stress at home, and modeling calm 16:42 - Genetic predisposition and family influence on ADHD 18:38 - Tools for nervous system regulation: physical, mental, and behavioral approaches 20:57 - Recognizing signs of dysregulation and how to interrupt rushing and hyperactivity 22:10 - City life, stress, and the importance of body awareness 23:16 - Managing black-and-white thinking and cultivating nuanced, flexible perspectives 24:51 - The connection between regulation, intuitive heart-led decision making, and psychological flexibility 27:09 - Swinging between extremes and creating sustainable momentum 28:25 - How regulation improves parenting, energy, and capacity for joy 30:33 - Addressing childhood ADHD and parenting strategies to create calm 33:00 - Handling late arrivals calmly, modeling non-judgmental behavior 35:23 - Moving past judgment through neutral thinking strategies 36:18 - The role of perception and interpretation in regulation work 37:37 - Benefits of regulation for productivity, peace, and overall life enjoyment 38:55 - Overcoming guilt and shame as barriers to regulation and growth 39:49 - The internal tug-of-war in regulation and patience through the process 41:37 - Timeframes: immediate relief and long-term growth 42:53 - Jenna's book, "The Simple Guide to ADHD Regulation," and resources for further learning Sponsors FATTY15 OFFER: Fatty15 is on a mission to replenish your C15 levels and restore your long-term health. You can get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/KIMBERLY and using code KIMBERLY at checkout. LMNT OFFER: Right now, for my listeners LMNT is offering a free sample pack with any LMNT drink mix purchase at DrinkLMNT.com/FEELGOOD. That’s 8 single serving packets FREE with any LMNT any LMNT drink mix purchase. This deal is only available through my link so. Also try the new LMNT Sparkling — a bold, 16-ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water. Jenna Free Resources Book: The Simple Guide To ADHD Regulation: The Secret to Finding Balance, Getting Things Done, and Enjoying Your Life Website: adhdwithjennafree.com TikTok: @adhdwithjennafree Instagram: @adhdwithjennafree Podcast: ADHD with Jenna Free Bio: Jenna Free is a counselor (CCC) for ADHD with ADHD. She specializes in working with the ADHD brain to get it out of fight-or-flight and into working its best, while honoring neurodivergence and all of our uniqueness. She has a focus on helping people with ADHD live a more enjoyable while also being more productive. Diagnosed with ADHD at 32 while raising two kids and earning her master’s degree, Jenna hit a breaking point when her usual coping mechanisms stopped working. Moving between extreme highs and debilitating lows, she discovered that ADHD itself wasn’t the biggest burden, but living in survival mode was. After hundreds of hours working with ADHD clients, Jenna realized they were all stuck in the same dysregulation cycle. The ADHD Regulation Method she developed now guides both her personal life and her clinical work. Jenna lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband and two sons. When she isn’t working with ADHDers, you can find her exploring some random new hobby—right now these include acting, tennis, and yoga.

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Ep. 1039 | Tools for Authentic, Health-Supportive Connection with Kalina Silverman

This Episode In this heartfelt conversation, Kimberly and Kalina explore the importance of in-person connections, the impact of loneliness on health, and the journey from journalism to creating meaningful conversations. They discuss empathy, authenticity, and the role of community in healing, while emphasizing the need for heart-centered living and the power of vulnerability. The discussion also touches on finding common ground in divisive times and the significance of being approachable in everyday interactions. Chapters 00:06 Welcome to Topanga: A Peaceful Beginning 00:07 Exploring Personal Journeys and Growth 00:17 The Power of In-Person Connection 03:11 Understanding Loneliness and Its Impact 06:24 The Journey from Journalism to Heart-Centered Conversations 09:13 Empathy and Meaningful Connections 12:06 The Role of Heart in Decision Making 15:02 The Importance of Authenticity in Relationships 18:01 The Art of Big Talk and Empathy 21:17 Creating Connections Through Shared Experiences 24:01 Building Connections Through Shared Experiences 25:22 The Power of Community in Shared Struggles 27:49 Exploring Social Impact and Human Connection 29:44 Finding Common Ground Amidst Differences 32:35 The Importance of Authenticity in Conversations 35:15 Approachability and Meaningful Interactions 38:34 Transforming Strangers into Connections 40:56 Navigating Conversations with Vulnerable Individuals 42:47 Embracing Vulnerability and Healing Through Connection Sponsors FATTY15 Fatty15 is on a mission to replenish your C15 levels and restore your long-term health. You can get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/KIMBERLY and using code KIMBERLY at checkout. SBO PROBIOTICS+ Enter code: PODFAM15 at checkout for 15% off your entire order. Kalina Silverman Resources Book: Big Talk: How to Skip the Small Talk, Make Meaningful Connections, and Enrich Your Life Website: kalinasilverman.com Social: IG: @makebigtalk Bio: Kalina Silverman is a documentary journalist, entrepreneur, speaker, and creator of Big Talk (@makebigtalk)—an award-winning viral media project that highlights meaningful conversations to foster empathy and human connection. She is also an upcoming author, with a Big Talk book set for release under Penguin Random House (Tarcher) in 2026. A Fulbright Scholar, Ambassador, and Public Speaker, Kalina has traveled globally to deliver Big Talk workshops and presentations, including at Fortune 500 off-sites, universities, and mental health organizations. Her TEDx talk on Big Talk has 7 million views, and her social media content has reached 500,000 followers and 125 million+ views. Big Talk has been featured by Good Morning America, TIME, People, PBS, USA Today, KTLA, NBC, and more. Most recently, Kalina partnered with GoFundMe to interview survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires, Hurricane Helene, and the Texas Floods, creating viral videos that helped raise over $2 million in relief funds and garnered international attention. A Northwestern University broadcast journalism graduate, Kalina worked on documentary films in Ecuador and Germany focused on education and the Holocaust. As a Fulbright Research Scholar in Singapore, she studied how to establish cross-cultural empathy through Big Talk. She also co-founded MIXED, Northwestern’s first-ever Mixed Race Student Coalition. Beyond journalism and advocacy, Kalina is a model and commercial actress, having appeared in campaigns for Nike, Upwork, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Google, Meta, Sony, Delta, and more. Kalina is passionate about bridging cultures and communities through media, education, and the arts, as well as combating modern-day loneliness and disconnection. An adventurer at heart, she stays active through surfing, Taekwondo, tennis, and dance while also nurturing her creativity through painting, songwriting, and playing piano and guitar.

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