Some weeks the calendar wins. Last week Vanessa was up until 3am two nights in a row, not scrolling, actually working, and she woke up the next morning running on empty.

In this episode she gets honest about the inherited blueprint that kept her going, and the hard podcast decision she made about before something broke.

What You'll Learn:

✅ How to identify the inherited blueprint running in the background that keeps us pushing past our limit, even when we know better

✅ Why being deliberate isn't only about what we remove from our plates, but whether our minds are actually present for what remains

✅ How to give ourselves permission to make the hard call before something breaks, not after

Chapters:

00:00 When Everything Matters
00:40 Welcome to the Show
01:36 My Word for 2026
02:16 Burnout Warning Signs
02:58 The Overachiever Blueprint
03:58 Culture and Rest Stories
05:07 Choosing Presence
06:07 Podcast Schedule Change
07:27 Three Takeaways to Apply
09:32 Reflect and Choose Deliberately
10:48 Reviews and Farewell

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NJ RESIDENTS, WORK WITH VANESSA Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation https://www.freetobemindful.com/contact

LET’S STAY CONNECTED
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

🎁 Free Resource — 120 Coping Skills: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

The strongest woman in the room is often the last one to let support in. Not because no one's offering, but because managing has been her strategy for so long she doesn't always notice when something is available. This episode is about that cost, and Ollie the goldendoodle is our way in.

What You'll Learn:

✅ The real difference between service animals, emotional support animals, and therapy dogs, and why it matters more than most people realize

✅ What the science actually says about what animals do to your nervous system, including why oxytocin rises up to 300% during eye contact with your dog

✅ Why being capable at managing everything is not the same as being okay, and what it quietly costs over time

✅ How to pause before the next reflexive "I'm fine" and actually answer the question honestly

✅ Three practical ways to start building the muscle of receiving support in low-stakes moments so it's available when the stakes are high

Chapters

00:00 Who Is Really There
01:19 Meet Ollie Birthday
02:34 Ollie Therapy Work
04:20 Service Animal vs ESA vs Therapy Dog
07:04 Science Of Support
09:20 Why We Resist Help
11:26 Three Support Tips
14:21 Guided Reflection Pause
17:14 Share And Work With Me
18:36 Happy Birthday Ollie

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NJ RESIDENTS, WORK WITH VANESSA Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation https://www.freetobemindful.com/contact

LET’S STAY CONNECTED
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

🎁 Free Resource — 120 Coping Skills: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

What if the loudest critic in your kid's life isn't in the bleachers... it's in their own head? Dr. Peter Economou, licensed psychologist, Zen teacher, and Olympic-level competitive swimmer, joined us for a conversation that's equal parts practical and profound, and it applies to every mom who's ever wondered whether she's helping or accidentally adding to the pressure.

What You'll Learn

✅ Why mindfulness isn't about slowing down, it's about training your brain on purpose, and why that distinction changes everything for high performers

✅ What the "demons on the boat" metaphor from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy teaches us about bully thoughts, and why trying to push them down is exactly what keeps kids stuck

✅ The middle path between "nothing is ever good enough" and burnout — and how parents can help kids find it without living out their own unfinished stories through them

✅ Three simple, practical ways to bring mindfulness into everyday life without a meditation cushion or a free hour

Website: https://www.officialdrpete.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialdrpete/

Chapters

00:00 Hamster Wheel Hook
00:18 Podcast Intro
00:49 Meet Dr Pete
02:07 Fun Fact Olympic Swimmer
03:28 Belonging Beyond Titles
04:32 Mindfulness Meets Sports
06:18 What Mindfulness Is
08:08 Mindfulness for Busy Moms
09:13 Three Everyday Practices
11:01 Quieting Bully Thoughts
14:51 Middle Path Parenting
17:47 Motivation and Self Care
19:50 Balance and Perspective
22:23 Legacy and Genuineness
24:00 Where to Find Dr Pete
24:32 Host Wrap and Reflection

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Support the show

NJ RESIDENTS, WORK WITH VANESSA Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation https://www.freetobemindful.com/contact

LET’S STAY CONNECTED
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

🎁 Free Resource — 120 Coping Skills: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

There's a word that sneaks into how so many high-achieving women describe themselves, and it's doing more damage than we realize. It's the word "just." Just a mom. Just changed careers. Just started something. And it costs us more than we know.

What You'll Learn:

✅ Why crediting yourself is not bragging, and why the women most likely to shrink their story are often the ones who've built the most

✅ How to keep a living record of who you've been and what you've done, so the evidence is there on the days your confidence goes quiet

✅ Why your reinvention — the messy, nonlinear, hard-won version — is someone else's proof that it's possible

Chapters:

00:00 Look Back With Credit
01:44 Show And Episode Setup
02:22 Speed Mentoring Story
05:25 The Quiet Cost Of Forward Focus
06:11 Stop Saying Just
07:18 Tip One Credit Not Bragging
09:06 Tip Two Keep Receipts
11:23 Tip Three Be The Roadmap
13:46 Guided Reflection Exercise
16:19 Share Review And Closing

Stay in Touch:

🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

NJ RESIDENTS, WORK WITH VANESSA Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation https://www.freetobemindful.com/contact

LET’S STAY CONNECTED
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

🎁 Free Resource — 120 Coping Skills: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

Some of us have pushed that quiet inner voice so far down we've forgotten it was ever there. But what if intuition isn't something you're born with or without, what if it's something you can practice, develop, and lean into right now, in the middle of your everyday life?

In this episode, Vanessa sits down with Cheryl Murphy, evidential medium, clairvoyant healer, ordained minister, certified hypnotherapist, and intuitive facilitator. The conversation moves from the practical to the profound, covering how intuition works, why curiosity is one of the most powerful tools we have, what a real mediumship reading feels like, and why connecting with our loved ones in spirit is less scary and more healing than most of us ever imagined. Vanessa also shares her own deeply personal experience with her first-ever reading and why it changed her.

What You'll Learn:

✅ What intuition actually is and how to start developing it, even if you've never thought of yourself as intuitive

✅ Simple everyday practices to begin strengthening your intuitive voice starting today

✅ How Cheryl's work as an evidential medium connects to mindful living and present-moment awareness

✅ What to expect from a reading, and what Vanessa experienced in her very first one

✅ How self-care, grounding, and energy boundaries work for healers, and what we can all take from that

Guest:

Cheryl Murphy - www.mediumcheryl.com

Instagram: @mediumcheryl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MediumCheryl

Chapters:

00:00 Intuition Is Innate
00:38 Podcast Intro And Guest
02:34 What Intuition Really Means
04:39 Easy Ways To Practice
07:39 When The Gift Clicked
09:11 Mediumship And Other Abilities
10:27 Pets Telepathy And Signs
12:13 Synchronicity And Gratitude
16:21 Facing Skeptics And Fear
22:47 Mindfulness Opens Intuition
24:28 Self Care And Boundaries
27:11 Connection Compassion And Grace
28:50 Where To Find Cheryl
29:51 Guided Reflection And Wrap Up

Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

NJ RESIDENTS, WORK WITH VANESSA Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation https://www.freetobemindful.com/contact

LET’S STAY CONNECTED
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

🎁 Free Resource — 120 Coping Skills: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

There is a version of productivity that looks impressive on a spreadsheet and exhausts you before you even start. If you've ever downloaded a free resource, opened it, and immediately felt worse about your own life... this one is for you.

In this episode we talk about one of the sneakiest ways we undermine ourselves: letting the wrong voices become the loudest ones. Not just on social media, but inside our own heads.

What You'll Learn:

✅ Why "good advice" isn't the same as advice that was built for your actual life, your season, and your invisible load

✅ How slow morning content, detailed lead magnets, and productivity frameworks can quietly create guilt rather than relief, and what to do instead

✅ The difference between receiving inspiration from someone and letting someone who doesn't know your life tell you how to run your life

✅ Why over-planning is sometimes just a beautiful way to stay stuck, and how to recognize when that's happening

✅ How to trust yourself as the expert on your own life, your own kids, and your own capacity, without checking it against someone else's blueprint

Chapters:

00:00 Advice That Misses Moms
01:05 The Lead Magnet Overwhelm
03:06 Filter Advice By Reality
03:30 Slow Mornings And Guilt
05:11 Whose Voices Get Loud
06:25 Choose Contextual Support
08:23 Planning As Procrastination
09:37 You Need Permission Not Templates
10:43 Trust Your Inner Authority
11:06 Let Go Of чуж Standards
12:05 Wrap Up And Next Steps

Stay in Touch:

• 🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast
• 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/
• 💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com
• 🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking
• 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

NJ RESIDENTS, WORK WITH VANESSA Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation https://www.freetobemindful.com/contact

LET’S STAY CONNECTED
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

🎁 Free Resource — 120 Coping Skills: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

What does it look like when a community invests in its own future? In this special Podcasthon episode, Vanessa sits down with Dr. Angela Vargas - licensed psychologist and inaugural Futuro Fund board member - to share the story behind the Latino Mental Health Association of New Jersey's scholarship program that is changing the trajectory for the next generation of Latinx mental health professionals.

From a small group of psychologists meeting in a basement 27 years ago to a two-day annual conference, a growing gala, and now a formalized scholarship fund — LMHANJ has become a cornerstone of Latino mental health representation in New Jersey. Through the Futuro Fund, they've awarded $4,000 and now $5,000 scholarships to graduate students committed to giving back to their communities.

You'll also hear directly from scholarship recipient Yareimy Patrocinio, a first-generation MSW student and daughter of Mexican immigrants, on what this scholarship means for her path forward.

In this episode:

• The 27-year evolution of LMHANJ — from psychologists-only to a multi-disciplinary, rebranded association
• How the Futuro Fund was born out of the inaugural gala — and why it's growing
• Why mentorship and emotional support matter just as much as financial aid
• How students can connect to LMHANJ and build a professional network before they even graduate
• What it means to be a first-gen professional investing in the next generation

🔗 Learn more about the Latino Mental Health Association of NJ → https://www.latinomentalhealthnj.com/futurofund

💛 Donate to the Futuro Fund → https://www.latinomentalhealthnj.com/futurofund

📲 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/lmha.nj/

💼 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/latino-mental-health-association-of-new-jersey

Guest Angela P. Vargas, PhD, Founder of Via Psychology

https://www.viapsychology.com/

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

NJ RESIDENTS, WORK WITH VANESSA Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation https://www.freetobemindful.com/contact

LET’S STAY CONNECTED
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

🎁 Free Resource — 120 Coping Skills: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.

You soften your opinions so no one feels uncomfortable. You deflect compliments before they can land. You say yes when you mean no - and then spend twenty minutes explaining the no you finally gave. This episode is about the quiet, everyday ways women make themselves smaller. And what it looks like to gently, firmly stop.

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

• Why the habits that make women great - being thoughtful, accommodating, considerate - can quietly become habits of self-erasure
• How shrinking shows up in the smallest moments: compliments, limits, disagreements, and the sentences we say before we say what we actually mean
• The particular loneliness of women in leadership who hold space for everyone and rarely have it held for them
• Why over-explaining our boundaries is often not for other people at all, it's for us
• Three practical, small shifts you can begin using immediately: in how you receive appreciation, communicate limits, and speak your perspective
• A guided embodied practice to rehearse these shifts before the real moments arrive

TUNE IN TO LEARN

• Recognize the specific moments and patterns where you quietly shrink without realizing it
• Understand why this is a conditioning pattern, not a confidence problem
• Practice responding to a compliment with just two words: thank you
• Set a clear limit without constructing a paragraph to justify it
• Speak your perspective without a disclaimer attached
• Use a short guided practice to build muscle memory around these new responses

TAKEAWAY MESSAGE

If you have been told - by your culture, your upbringing, the rooms you've been in - that being visible, certain, or direct is somehow too much, that message was never true. It was just loud. This episode is about turning down that volume and practicing, in small and honest ways, what it actually feels like to take up the space you have always been allowed to take. Listen in, try the practice, and remember… you are always free to be mindful.

REFERENCED LINKS

1. WORK WITH VANESSA (NJ MOMS): Ready to go deeper? Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation → freetobemindful.com/contact

2. Reset Experience for Moms → amigamoms.com

3. Book Vanessa for Speaking → freetobemindful.com/speaking

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

NJ RESIDENTS, WORK WITH VANESSA Book a free 15-minute therapy consultation https://www.freetobemindful.com/contact

LET’S STAY CONNECTED
🎧 Podcast: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast

🎁 Free Resource — 120 Coping Skills: https://www.freetobemindful.com/podcast-120copingskills

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/counselorvdejesus/

💛 Coaching for Moms: https://www.amigamoms.com

🎤 Speaking & Workshops: https://www.freetobemindful.com/speaking

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/counselorvdejesus/

DISCLAIMER:
Free to Be Mindful Podcast episodes are for educational purposes only and should not be considered as or substituted for therapy or professional help from a licensed clinician.