You don't need anyone's approval to rest, say no, or want what you want. This episode reveals the 5 permission slips you've been waiting for—and why the only signature that matters is yours.

Still waiting for someone to give you the green light to rest, say no, or want something different? This final Summer Superfood episode explores Self-Permission—the most powerful ingredient for mental fitness and authentic living.
🎧 Press play to learn how to reclaim your inner authority and stop outsourcing your life.

🔥 Why You're Still Seeking Permission Slips

✨ We've learned approval equals safety
✨ Fear of being called selfish (especially women)
✨ Confusing people-pleasing with kindness
✨ Terrified of judgment and criticism

🎯 The 5 Permission Slips You Need to Write Yourself

1. Permission to Rest Without Earning It - Rest isn't reward for productivity; it's a basic human need
2. Permission to Say NO Without Explanation - "NO" is a complete sentence
3. Permission to Change Your Mind - Growth means wanting different things
4. Permission to Disappoint People - You weren't put here to meet everyone's expectations
5. Permission to Want What You Want - Your desires don't need committee approval

💡 Powerful Quotes

• "Chronic people-pleasing isn't kindness—it's self-abandonment masquerading as virtue"
• "The permission you've been waiting for isn't coming from outside you, it's coming from within"
• "You don't need anyone else's approval to live according to your own values"

🛠 4-Step Process to Become Your Own Permission Slip Writer

1. Identify what you're waiting for permission to do/say/want
2. Write it down - "I give myself permission to..."
3. Sign your signature - the only one that matters
4. Honor it - practice trusting your own authority

Invitation: Write yourself ONE specific permission slip this week. Sign it. Honor it.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

00:01 - Permission slips from childhood vs adult life
02:25 - The 5 permission slips most people need
08:46 - Why we're still seeking external validation
12:05 - 4-step process to write your own permission
15:51 - Your summer invitation to self-permission

💛 Share this episode with someone who needs permission to give themselves permission. Together we create ripples of authentic living.

#mentalfitness #selfleadership #permissiontosayno #peoplepleasing #authenticliving

Until next time, Beautiful Souls...

Stay connected and keep growing with me:

✨ Instagram: @lulu.essey – Join the conversation and get daily insights!
✨ YouTube: Lulu Essey – Watch exclusive content, deep dives, and video podcasts. Need a quick boost? Check out my YouTube Shorts—powerful insights in under a minute!
✨ Website: luluessey.com
✨ Free Guide: Break Free from the Success Trap– Download my free guide

💛 If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube and please SHARE this episode!

THANK YOU for being here. Sending you grace and love!

Your gut’s not overreacting—it’s predicting. Discover your body’s 4 secret superpowers (plus the science that makes it real).

Your body is basically a walking, talking supercomputer and it's been trying to send you messages this entire time. Most of us? We've been ignoring the hell out of it.

We treat our bodies like inconvenient vehicles we're stuck with, something to manage or fix. But here's the reframe: Your body isn't just carrying you around. It's constantly gathering intelligence, processing information, and trying to guide you toward what's best for you. The messages it’s sending aren’t weakness—they’re wisdom.
This week’s Summer Superfood is Body Wisdom—and it’s not woo-woo, it’s neuroscience.

In this episode, I break down the 4 hidden superpowers your body already has… and the tiny tools to help you use them.

🎧 Tap play to learn how to decode your body’s signals, trust your gut, and reconnect with the wisest guide you have—yourself.

🔥 Discover Your Body's 4 Hidden Superpowers:
✨ The Bullsh*t Detector – Your gut can spot fake people, toxic situations & bad decisions before your brain catches up
✨ The Energy Reader – Read room energy faster than you can analyze it (hello, mirror neurons)
✨ The Stress Early Warning System – Tight shoulders, clenched jaw? Your body’s screaming “pay attention”
✨ The Need Translator – Constantly telling you what you need: rest, movement, nourishment, connection

🧠 The Science That'll Blow Your Mind:

• Your gut has more nerve endings than your spinal cord. It’s your enteric nervous system, aka your “second brain”
• Mirror neurons fire in milliseconds, reading emotional energy before conscious thought kicks in

🎯 4 Activation Techniques to Reconnect:

1. Body scan check-in – 30 seconds, head to toe, twice daily
2. Gut feeling audit – Ask your body before making decisions
3. Energy inventory – Track who/what drains vs energizes you
4. Movement medicine – Let your body choose what movement it needs

🔥 Quotes That Hit Different:

• Your body isn't being needy—it’s being informative
• Those signals you’ve been ignoring? They’re not weakness. They’re wisdom
• The more you listen to your body’s intelligence, the stronger these superpowers become

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 — Your Body’s Been Talking (You Just Haven’t Been Listening)
01:27 — Why We Ignore Our Body’s Signals
03:08 — Gut Feelings & Your Second Brain
04:35 — Emotional Energy & Mirror Neurons
05:32 — Stress Warnings & Somatic Clues
07:00 — What Your Body Really Needs (And Why You Ignore It)
10:46 — Why We Were Trained to Dismiss Our Bodies
12:15 — 4 Tiny Tools to Reconnect With Body Wisdom
16:04 — Build the Muscle of Listening (Before the Signals Get Louder)

Until next time, Beautiful Souls...

Stay connected and keep growing with me:

✨ Instagram: @lulu.essey – Join the conversation and get daily insights!
✨ YouTube: Lulu Essey – Watch exclusive content, deep dives, and video podcasts. Need a quick boost? Check out my YouTube Shorts—powerful insights in under a minute!
✨ Website: luluessey.com
✨ Free Guide: Break Free from the Success Trap– Download my free guide

💛 If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube and please SHARE this episode!

THANK YOU for being here. Sending you grace and love!

Feeling burnt out, joyless, or stuck in the productivity loop? In this bite-sized episode, discover how to reclaim your joy—without quitting your job, escaping to Bali, or fixing everything in your life.

Welcome to Joy Thievery: the second instalment of the Summer Superfood Series, where we expose the four hidden thieves stealing your happiness—and teach you how to steal it back.

Meet the joy thieves: your productivity-obsessed brain, The Comparison Cartel operating through social media, The Guilt Gang convincing you happiness is selfish, and The Perfectionist Mob that confiscates joy unless everything's flawless.

They've convinced you that joy must be earned through perfect circumstances. But here's the truth: Joy isn't the reward for getting your life perfect—it's what makes an imperfect life worth living.

This week's superfood? Joy Reclamation—the art of stealing back what was always yours.

Learn how to reclaim joy—even when you're overwhelmed, stressed, or stuck in comparison.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode (About Joy, Comparison & the Perfection Trap)
✨ The 4 joy thieves sabotaging your happiness (and how to identify them)
✨ Why joy and stress can coexist—you don't need to fix everything to feel good
✨ The micro-joy heist technique—finding goldmines in ordinary moments
✨ Memory bank robbery—actively stealing joy from your past experiences
✨ Future joy heists—small things to anticipate that bring happiness today
✨ The gratitude heist—feeling goodness instead of just thinking it
✨ Joy vs. happiness—understanding the crucial difference

💎 Quotes That Hit Different
"Joy isn't denial—it's defiance. It's your soul saying 'Despite everything that's hard, I still choose to find beauty here.'"

"Joy is like a muscle—use it or lose it."

"Your joy isn't missing—it's just buried under should-dos, have-tos, and the exhausting belief that joy must be earned."

⏰ Chapters
00:00 — What is Joy Thievery? Why You Might Be Missing Joy (and Not Know It)

02:30 — Meet the Joy Thieves: Productivity, Comparison, Guilt & Perfectionism

06:55 — Redefining Joy: It’s Not What You Think

08:22 — The Joy Heist Toolkit: 4 Tiny Techniques to Steal It Back

12:13 — The Joy Thief Manifesto + Your One Assignment This Week

✨Your Joy Thief Assignment Become a serial joy thief this week. Steal one moment of delight daily—not for social media, just for your heart.
Share this episode with someone who needs to feel joy again. And if it landed with you—consider rating or reviewing the podcast. It helps others find these episodes too.
#MentalFitness #JoyReclamation #TinyTools #SelfLeadership #SummerSuperfoodSeries #PodcastForWomen #PersonalGrowth

Next week's superfood? Your Body's Secret Superpowers—time to start listening.

Until next time, Beautiful Souls...

Stay connected and keep growing with me:

✨ Instagram: @lulu.essey – Join the conversation and get daily insights!
✨ YouTube: Lulu Essey – Watch exclusive content, deep dives, and video podcasts. Need a quick boost? Check out my YouTube Shorts—powerful insights in under a minute!
✨ Website: luluessey.com
✨ Free Guide: Break Free from the Success Trap– Download my free guide

💛 If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube and please SHARE this episode!

THANK YOU for being here. Sending you grace and love!