Breaking Free - A Body, Mind, Spirit Approach to Mental Health

10 Episodes
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By: Sommer A. Seitz, MA, LMHC

Podcast hosted by Licensed Professional Counselor, Sommer A. Seitz, MA, LMHC for Whole Women Link Association.

Episode 52: Yoga is Life
#52
01/05/2024

In this podcast, I interview Dora Gyarmati, a seasoned  teacher of mindfulness-based yoga for nearly 20 years, about how yoga has benefitted her life and that of her many students. I was able to complete my 200 hour yoga teacher training with Dora this past year and together we explore the lessons learned in life from the practice of yoga as well as how yoga can link our mind, body, and spirit in an intentional daily practice. We discuss why yoga has the capacity to add to the quality of our daily lives through helping us embody ourselves through mindful motion, s...


Episode 51: A Season of Soul Work
#51
12/05/2023

In this episode I invite Dr. Sarah Campbell to discuss her soul work prompted by her graduation from her Doctoral Program in naturopathic  medicine and a master's in Chinese medicine. Sarah finally gave herself space to feel the cycles of anger, grief, and finally joy at the retrieval of lost parts of Self she had dissociated in order to "fit in" to her programs that did not value her perspectives on healing.  Sarah, who is a powerful teacher on the integration of body, mind, and spirit in our healing journey, shares how she uses free form movement such as da...


Episode 50: From Dogma to Dharma
#50
11/01/2023

Journey with me on my most vulnerable podcast yet as I share what has truly healed and continues to heal me and what obstacles I needed to breakthrough on my path of expansion in spiritual growth and development.  Ask the deep questions with me such as:  What systems support your growth and development and which hold you back? What mirrors do you have in your life that give you glimpses of who you really are? What courage and fortitude do you need to gather as you choose your personal expansion in the face of possible rejection and abandonment?  Is it...


Episode 49: Body Awareness
#49
02/08/2023

I loved this conversation with Isabella Hague, a certified fitness trainer and health coach, about her journey of self-love in relationship to her body and approaching wellness from the abundance of the heart. Bella tells a powerful story of moving from her story of scarcity and "not enough" mindset when she was facing infertility, miscarriages, health limitations, and perfectionism to deciding it was time to have an unconditionally loving relationship toward her body and to create energetic alignment with her healthiest self. As she began have awareness of scarcity mindset around her body she was able to shed this mindset...


Episode 48: Embodied Leadership
#48
11/29/2022

In this episode I invite an inspiring mentor in feminine leadership and Christian faith, Nina Petruzzo, to discuss the process of descending from the mind into the wisdom held in the body and heart. This allows one to fully embody their true feminine essence. Nina brings her experience of studying the body-mind connection as a dancer, occupational therapist, and yoga teacher to help men and women create sacred space to hear the language of their bodies through breath, sensation, and body-based healing practices. Nina discusses her own journey in learning to surrender her fear and courageously embody her gifts and...


Episode 47: Stewarding Our Kids
#47
10/07/2022

In this episode, I invite Ganel-Lyn Condie (author of her newest book "The Stewardship Principle") to discuss her current lived experience as a new "empty-nester." She shares in her signature style of vulnerability and humorous reflection about her challenges in adult parenting, how she has intentionally prepared for this life transition, where she has found growth, joy, as well as struggle, and how we get to embrace the totality of our lived experience in body, mind, and spirit. Ganel-Lynn explains that learning to approach life as a series of "stewardships" including our roles as parents, spouses, bodies, health conditions, and...


Episode 46: Defying Gravity
#46
08/03/2022

In this episode, I share how the musical, "Wicked", and the lyrics to the song, "Defying Gravity", mirror some of my lived experience in learning to trust my intuition when my path felt "less traveled." I also discuss the science behind why some of us choose to ignore our intuition in favor of "fitting in" or being accepted by systems because our autonomic nervous systems are wired for connection and to feel safe within "a tribe." Regardless of these wired connections, there is even a louder cry from your soul to show up as your unique self, share your unique...


Episode 45: Soul lessons in Balance
#45
06/01/2022

In this episode, I invite Heidi Tucker, an award winning author and motivational speaker, to bravely share her own growth work around her chronic illness struggle with vertigo. Heidi humbly and vulnerably allows me to guide her through concepts of how life gives us opportunities for personal evolution through what are called "soul lessons." Find yourself smack in the middle of Heidi's own personal evolution as she grapples to move forward in real-time with the same courage and strength that she has made such a study in her speaking and writing career. Heidi's stories focus on the descending and ascending...


Episode 44: The Audacity to be You
#44
04/29/2022

In this episode I interview Dr. Brad Reedy, a seasoned therapist who wrote the book, "The Audacity to Be You: Learning to Love your Horrible Rotten Self." We explore together the conditions needed for each of us to do our own work and to have the ability to show up as ourselves in relationships. Brad talks about 2 opposing parenting styles that raise us up toward either fear of or courage to find our Self and models how to do the work of "courageous parenting." Brad walks on a journey of how to raise children and ultimately ourselves to be who...


Episode 43: Divine Union (Part 2)
#43
03/31/2022

The stage has been set by Intuition and Leadership Coach Emily Baker and I in the previous episode, "Divine Union Part I". We have taken you on a journey into the physical, mental, emotional, and energetic bodies that interplay in our healing processes and how connecting to the intangible energy body is valuable when seeking wholeness. In the previous episode, Emily introduced us to her "staircase model" that maps the repeatable and predictable pattern that can be seen in the interaction between the divine feminine and masculine energies as we seek to rise and go on our unique growth journeys...