I want to start this episode by telling you about two resources you may or may not know about. The United Way Emergency Relief Fund is there to help, click here to check it out and apply locally if you are in need. And if you have extra, you can help by donating here. 

Glennon Doyle, along with her sister, run Together Rising, a non-profit that helps people in need. If you can donate, click here, if you need help, contact contact@togetherrising.org. 

You may or may not know Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York. He posted something on Instagram last week that made me pause and think. 

What I want to focus on is the part where he’s talking about our behavior. 

Of course, our first instinct is to protect ourselves, our children, and our families. That’s normal, human behavior and if we didn’t have this instinct, we wouldn't all be here now. So if you’re beating yourself up for panic buying, or for not having reached out to anyone yet, try to practice self-compassion and let’s move on. 

I’m hoping by the time this episode reaches you, the dust has mostly settled. And by “dust mostly settled”, I mean the shock has worn off, you’ve figured out what your situation is right now, you understand we all need to take this day by day, and if you’re not there yet, you’re working towards a place of surrender. 

And if that’s the case, may we all be able to think about our behavior. Listen in to this episode as I break this down more for you and talk about how to be your best self during this time. I also get into GRIEF, as this might be something you’re dismissing without knowing how important it is. 

Lastly, on April 7th, I’m hosting a free Book CLub Q & A. If you’ve read 52 Ways to Live a Kick-Ass Life and/or How to Stop Feeling Like Shit, you don’t want to miss this! Bring your questions if you have them, and even if you don’t, I can guarantee you’ll learn something from the other women who bring their questions. Click HERE to sign up. 

http://yourkickasslife.com/328

Last week I sent out two episodes to help you cope through these uncertain times. You can find them here and here. I’ll be airing another one later this week. But, today, I wanted to put out a regular interview. While we are overwhelmed with heightened anxiety and unsure of what will come next, many may be looking for a reprieve; just 45 minutes to focus on something else. Anything else. I hope this episode is that for you. 

I recorded this particular interview several months ago, with guest Regena Thomashauer (a.k.a. “Mama Gena”). I am such a fan of her work and of her, as a person! She is a teacher, mother, founder, and CEO of the School of Womanly Arts. She has authored four popular books, including her newest New York Times Bestseller, Pussy: A Reclamation. 

In this episode, we discuss why women should reclaim the use of the word pussy, developing sex appeal and exploring pleasure, and the importance of allowing yourself to feel a full range of emotions. 

In this episode you’ll hear: 

• Why women should use the word “pussy”, and why many women don’t want to (5:12)
• A woman who owns her pussy owns her life (18:00)
• Some ways women can begin to develop their own sex appeal and how to take it back (19:00)
• How women can start to experience a full range of emotions (33:00)

http://yourkickasslife.com/327

Well, first and foremost, I hope you are well, taking care of yourself, and taking care of your loved ones and community if you can. During these uncertain times, that’s the main thing we all need to focus on. 

Before I get into what’s on this extra-bonus episode this week, I wanted to urge you to take social distancing very seriously. If you haven’t played the Social Distancing Game, I urge you to go to this website and play around with the numbers. This is great to do with kids too. It shows you the math on what happens (in other words, how many people will die) if we wait to do social distancing, or if we just have a few friends over who aren’t sick, etc. Yes, people still need to work in order to make money. And yes, it breaks my heart that so many people in the service industry and other industries will take a huge hit during this time. If we work together in our communities, we can help those people recover, and if we practice social distancing we can collectively hit the brakes on this virus and less people will die. 

On Wednesday I sent out a podcast episode where I talked about knowing your boundaries in terms of news and other media. By no means is this the time for spiritual bypassing, but being glued to the news is likely not helpful either. Consume what you need to, take appropriate action, and take breaks. 

I also gave a few more ideas on how to cope, and today I’m back with more. In this episode I’m talking about your physical health (exercise can be your best medicine right now!), your spiritual, and now that I think about it, your mental and emotional health too. All of this is being tested for us, so it’s incredibly important to do your best to stay on top of it. 

In this episode, I also talk about trying to find something to ground you-- a symbol you might see on a fairly regular basis that you can use as a reminder to practice gratitude and/or to remind you to focus on what you CAN control right now. 

I close out the show talking about how eventually, maybe not right now, but eventually this will teach us all something. If you’re in a place to look and listen for that, that’s great. If you’re just barely trying to keep it together, your lessons will come later. 

Lastly, I’m putting together a playlist on Spotify of songs to help get us through this time. Please send me your song suggestions! Once we have a good playlist I’ll send the link out. You can reply to this email or DM me on Instagram. Please tell me the song AND artist. 

http://yourkickasslife.com/326

Originally I had an interview set to go out to you today, but since the world had other plans, we’ve adjusted. 

I want to start out by saying the health and safety of you and your family is what’s MOST important right now. In this podcast episode, I’m going to be talking about how coronavirus is potentially impacting your life, so I just want to make sure you know in case you’re at your limit with what you can take in. Of course, my spin is always positive as I try to inspire you and give you tools to cope, and at the same time, our reality is what it is. 

In this show, I offer a handful of tools to take care of yourself during this time. You know I’m mildly obsessed with coping mechanisms, and right now our coping mechanisms are being put to the test. 

Also, I plan to do two podcast episodes a week at least for a few weeks to help you manage your life while we all try to navigate this new reality. 

Xoxo, 
Andrea

http://yourkickasslife.com/325

This week we dive into another coaching episode, this time with a woman named Rebecca. She is a speech pathologist living in the NYC area. She has been through The Mentorship Masterclass with me and continues to do the work; because the work never stops.  

In this episode, Rebecca opens up about her struggles with self-doubt. She shares her experiences with procrastinating on some tasks that are very meaningful to a big project in her life. You’ll hear us talk through some of her issues and decide upon some exercises she can use to work through them. 

In this episode you’ll hear: 

• Rebecca shares her challenges and fears around starting her own business (4:55)
• Her struggles with feeling like she is ‘not doing enough’ (6:45)
• The fear of being judged and unwanted identities (6:56)
• Self-sabotage, comfort zones, and the fear of outshining (16:06)
• A kick-ass update from Rebecca (45:36)

If you’re a regular podcast listener and resonate with what I tell you there and are wanting something a little more...maybe you want more than just the information and you want to actually implement the things I tell you here and in my books, The Mentorship is for you. You’ll walk away with science-based tools to have more confidence, more self-trust, better relationships, better communication (did someone say boundaries!?), so much more self-awareness and you don’t have to travel! Applications close soon, so check it out here. 

http://yourkickasslife.com/324

This week on the show we’re hearing from podcast listeners! I know you like to hear stories from women in the YKAL community once in awhile, so I’ve brought you a few of them. You might hear some of yourself in their stories! 

All of these women share their journey from being a podcast listener and self-help book reader, to diving in deeper. Dana, Kelly, and Millie have gone through my signature program, The Mentorship Masterclass, and I hope you’re inspired when you hear what they’ve gained in their lives. 

First you’ll hear from Dana, who came into The Mentorship from all the way in Australia. She opens by telling us how she was feeling stuck, without a purpose, and having a bit of an identity crisis. You’ll hear her mention how the values work has shaped her and how she still relies on self-compassion that was emphasized in the program. 

Then we hear from Kelly, who had reached mid-life and just didn’t know where to start, but knew she needed to start somewhere. She also mentions how the values work has helped her over the last almost year since The Mentorship ended, and something I LOVED to hear her say, that the tools have stuck with her and she still uses them.

Lastly, we hear from Millie, who heard a podcast just like this one where she related so much to what they women I had on shared. Mostly around the topic of shame and she knew it was “the next frontier” she needed to work on. She mentions she remembers me saying, “If you only remember ONE thing I have taught you in this program, please have it be the steps of shame resilience!” Then proceeds to name them which you’ll hear makes me DELIGHTED! 

One thing you’ll notice is that ALL three women talk about the shared humanity among the participants and how much the group dynamic alone was a big part of the process in a positive way. 

We’re currently accepting applications for the next round of The Mentorship Masterclass, you can read all about it here and apply. We’d love to chat to see if it’s a fit for you.

http://yourkickasslife.com/323