Do you ever wonder why you feel overwhelmed when your life doesn't seem any more demanding than everyone else's?

There may be more happening beneath your overwhelm than how much you have to do.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why stress, anxiety, and overwhelm are different—and why you may reach overwhelm more easily than someone else.
2. How what you do and achieve can quietly become connected to your overwhelm.
3. How a sensitive nervous system can add meaning to everyday interactions and leave you carrying more emotionally than you realize.

🎧 Take 11 minutes to understand your overwhelm with more curiosity and less self-judgment—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

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About the Host:

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

What if some of your everyday stress comes not from what you have to do but from fighting the fact that you have to do it?
Sometimes we create extra stress by fighting what needs to happen.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1. How two simple words can help you notice resistance, settle your mind, and move through the ordinary tasks of life with a little more calm.
Take 3 minutes to stop fighting the inevitable and create a little more calm in the wild—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host:

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

Does your mind keep replaying the same story even though you know it isn’t helping you feel better?
Anxiety, stress, and overwhelm can leave your mind stuck but noticing what your mind is doing can help you find your way back.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1. Why your mind can become rigid or chaotic when life doesn’t go the way you expected.
2. How to recognize when your mind has moved away from its natural state of calm.
3. One question you can use when anxiety, stress, and overwhelm leave you emotionally stuck.
Take 12 minutes to notice what’s keeping your mind stuck and begin finding your way back to calm—you’re worth it.
Want my one-pager What Is Mental Wellness? Email me at mj@mjmurrayvachon.com and I’ll send you a copy.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host:

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

When your day gets emotionally hijacked, what is anxiety quietly trying to do?
You’re not weak or overreacting—anxiety may be trying to protect you in a way that’s actually keeping you emotionally stuck.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why anxiety quietly creates invisible mental contracts that can hijack your entire day.
2. How one client’s birthday party became a powerful lesson in emotional flexibility and emotional resilience.
3. A simple coping skill to help you recognize when anxiety is trying to control reality instead of helping you trust yourself through it.

Take 12 minutes to discover why one moment doesn’t have to become the story of your entire day—you’re worth it.

Want info on The Inner Challenge Master Class: Email MJ:mj@mjmurrayvachon.com

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host:

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

What if some of the little things disrupting your calm aren’t worth giving your energy to?
Sometimes creating more calm begins by noticing what unnecessarily pulls you out of it.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. How looking back at what disrupted your calm can help you practice letting go of what you can’t control.

Take 4 minutes to notice what’s rocking your calm and practice letting it go—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host:

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

What happens when anxiety has you feeling like you need to control everything just to feel okay?
When life feels out of control, overwhelm can quickly take over.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1. How to recognize when anxiety is pulling you toward things you simply can’t control.
2. A simple coping skill to help you sort through overwhelm and focus your energy where it can actually make a difference.
3. Why trying to get other people to change so you can feel better rarely creates the calm you’re looking for.
Take 10 minutes to step out of overwhelm and feel more in control of your own calm—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host:

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

What if feeling behind when fall begins isn’t only about your schedule—but about how your nervous system responds to change?
If the shift from summer to fall increases your stress and anxiety in midlife, you’re not alone.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why your nervous system becomes more alert when life changes rhythm.
2. How that alertness can leave you rushing, catastrophizing, and feeling behind before anything has gone wrong.
3. How noticing what your nervous system is experiencing can help you respond to fall stress with greater calm.

Take 10 minutes to understand why fall feels so overwhelming and help your nervous system adjust to the change—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host:

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

What if the calm you’re searching for isn’t found in having the answers, but in taking one gentle breath?
If anxiety keeps pulling you into the future or back into the past, you’re not alone.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. How your breath can become a simple anchor that gently brings you back to the present—even during life’s most difficult moments.

Take 3 minutes to discover how one breath can help you return to calm—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host:

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.