Beyond Awareness: Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing

You leave therapy feeling clear. Validated. Aware. And a few days later, the stress is still there.You understand your patterns. You know why you react the way you do. But your body is still tense. Your nervous system is still on edge. Burnout hasn’t lifted.Therapy creates insight - but insight alone doesn’t change how you live. The relief comes from what happens between sessions, not just inside them.In this conversation, I explain the two gaps therapy doesn’t close on its own: The space between insight and reflection, and the space between knowing and doing.We talk about why awareness without embodiment keeps people stuck, how old patterns like people-pleasing and over-functioning survive even after big realizations, and what it actually looks like to practice change in real life.If therapy has helped you understand yourself, but you’re still tired, this episode shows you what’s missing - and how to use what you’re already learning to create real relief.Work with me:Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 2 weeks later. Book your BreakthroughExhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with meConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

Have you noticed how your body can be still, but your mind keeps going?The same thought. The same worry. The same unfinished conversation looping, even after you’ve rested. You might be sleeping more. Taking breaks. Trying to slow down. And yet, you still wake up tired.In my conversation earlier this week with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, author of The Seven Types of Rest, she shared something important: emotional rest doesn’t come from stopping the noise. It comes from processing what your mind is holding onto.Today, we slow things down. Not to fix anything. Not to solve the problem. But to create space for what’s been quietly draining you.Journal with me using these prompts:What thought, worry, or conversation keeps replaying in my mind right now? Write it down exactly as it sounds in my head. No filtering. Just capture the loop.What type of rest deficit might this be pointing to? Mental, emotional, social, spiritual, physical, sensory, or creative.Why am I actually holding on to this thought? What do I believe will happen if I let it go or don’t solve it right now? What am I afraid this situation means about me?If I truly wanted to pour back into this depleted area — not just stop the bleeding — what would that look like? What would help me feel restored, not just less drained?By the end of this episode, you’ll feel calmer and clearer — not because everything is resolved, but because you understand what your mind has been trying to protect.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your BreakthroughExhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with meConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You’re getting enough sleep - seven, maybe eight hours - and you’re still exhausted.In this conversation, I’m joined by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, physician and author of The Seven Types of Rest, to talk about why sleep alone doesn’t fix burnout, mental overload, or that constant feeling of being drained.We unpack the difference between sleep and rest, why so many high-achieving women feel tired even when they’re “doing everything right,” and how exhaustion often comes from the places in life where you’re pouring out without restoring.This isn’t about adding another habit or fixing your bedtime routine. It’s about noticing where your energy is going, and what it actually takes to feel rested again.Resources Mentioned:Rest quiz: https://www.restquiz.com/home-page/Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podEpisode 15 about the 7 Types of Rest: https://pod.link/1651843607/episode/S2FqYWJpLTIxNDc4NTMyMjcConnect with Dr. Saundra:Learn more about Dr. Saundra: DrDaltonSmith.com Dr. Saundra's Website: https://ichoosemybestlife.com/ Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdaltonsmith/Work with me:Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your BreakthroughExhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with meConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You know what you should do. You know meditation would help. You know you need transition time between work and family. You know you should stop checking email at 9pm...So why can't you make yourself do it?Today we're going beyond awareness into the root belief keeping you stuck. Grab your journal - we're digging into what's actually underneath the pattern.Journaling prompts from the episode:What’s one pattern you’re aware of but can’t seem to change?What story are you telling yourself about why it keeps happening?What would it cost you to change this pattern? What might you be protecting?Based on what comes up, what actually needs to heal?We're not shaming ourselves or relying on discipline. We're addressing the root belief so your solution actually works instead of being another thing you "should" do.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your BreakthroughExhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with meConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You know what’s wrong — so why hasn’t anything changed?Why do you keep thinking, “I’m so aware of this… shouldn’t that be enough by now?”You’ve named the pattern a hundred times. Burnout. Overwhelm. Autopilot. You’ve tried fixing it (therapy, routines, tools, discipline) and somehow you still end up right back here. Knowing isn’t the problem anymore. It’s the part that comes after.In this episode, we sit in that frustrating gap between awareness and actual change. Not to judge it or rush past it — but to understand what’s really keeping you stuck. This is about loosening the anchor underneath the pattern, not adding another thing to your to-do list.You’ll be guided to reflect on:Why insight alone hasn’t created the shift you expectedThe hidden belief that keeps stress and busyness feeling “safer”How solutions can fail when the root is left untouchedWhat it looks like to go beyond awareness and into real changeBy the end, you won’t feel like you need to try harder or do more. You’ll feel steadier, clearer, and less at war with yourself — with a new way to approach change that actually sticks.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your BreakthroughExhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with meConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

Have you caught yourself thinking, “Why does my life feel like it’s just happening to me?”Like you’re doing all the right things, but you’re not really in it anymore?Maybe you’ve been moving through your days on autopilot - showing up, performing, meeting expectations - without checking in with what you actually want.Today, we slow everything down. Not to fix anything, but to notice what’s been running in the background of your life. You’ll get space to reflect on where you’ve been performing, why it feels safe, and what it might look like to come back to yourself in small, honest ways.Journal with me using these prompts:Where have I been performing or living on autopilot this past year? (At work, at home, in my habits, in how I show up.)Why does staying on autopilot feel good or safe for me? What am I protecting myself from?What is this version of me actually costing me? What do I miss out on when I stay here?If I stopped performing for a moment, what’s one small thing I could do this week that feels more like me?By the end of this episode, you’ll feel more grounded and self-aware—less pressure to keep performing, and more permission to reconnect with who you are underneath the autopilot.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your BreakthroughExhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with meConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You’re doing all the “right” things, but why does it still feel like you’re performing your life instead of living it?Why does everything start to feel heavy the moment you think about how it’ll look to other people?There’s a quiet pressure to show up prepared, polished, and put-together...even when no one asked for that version of you. Maybe it shows up in your work, your routines, or the way you manage everyone else’s expectations. Underneath it, there’s this fear that if you stop trying so hard, you’ll be exposed as “not enough.”In this episode you'll understand:Why over-preparing might actually be blocking your best work (and keeping you from feeling like yourself)The question that led to my biggest breakthrough: "What am I actually afraid will happen if I don't do this?"How "performance mode" shows up differently for everyone — and why it all comes back to the same thing: safetySmall, tangible ways to stop filtering yourself (starting with what you wear and how you speak)After listening, you’ll be able to slow down and ask, “What do I actually want right now?” - and trust that answer. Not perfectly. Just honestly.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your BreakthroughExhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with meConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

Have you ever thought, “Why can’t I just relax—even today?”You finally have a quiet moment, but your mind is still running through what you forgot, what you should be doing next, and whether you did enough for everyone.If you’re physically present but mentally elsewhere, you’re not doing anything wrong. This is what happens when you’re used to carrying everything—your family, your business, the expectations, the invisible to-do list—even on days that are supposed to feel slow.In this short guided meditation, you’ll give yourself permission to set everything down for a few minutes. Not to fix anything. Not to improve yourself. Just to be here—without guilt, pressure, or the feeling that you should be doing more.In this meditation, you'll:Release the mental load you've been carrying (the to-do list, the guilt, the "did I do enough?" spiral)Remind yourself that being off today doesn't make you less professional — it makes you more alignedPractice saying "I am enough" and actually feeling it in your bodyGive yourself permission to just be mom, not the one orchestrating everyone else's experienceAfter listening, you'll feel grounded enough to stay in the room — not just physically, but emotionally. Take five minutes. You don’t need to earn rest. You’re allowed to be here.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You love Christmas. But you're so tired you can't even enjoy it.Maybe you're stress-cleaning while your kids ask for snacks. Maybe you took time off but you're too exhausted to be present. Maybe you're working and judging yourself for not being festive enough.This episode gives you the permission slips you need right now. Not tips. Not strategies. Just permission to feel however you're actually feeling.Permission Slip #1: To not feel festivePermission Slip #2: To take an actual break (or to work guilt-free)Permission Slip #3: To feel however you feelPermission Slip #4: To not have it all figured out by January 1Journal Prompt: What permission do I actually need to give myself right now?Sit with it. Maybe journal it. Maybe just think about it while folding laundry.If you're tired of needing permission slips every time life gets intense, I have 90-minute Breakthrough Intensive spots opening in January. Check out the link below.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

Things keep piling up. And no matter how many times the promise is made to slow down, it never actually happens.Here's what nobody tells you: taking a break won't fix it if you don't know what's actually driving the overstimulation in the first place. You'll just come back from your week off and fall right back into the same patterns.This journaling session gets you to the root. Four prompts that'll help you figure out if you're even doing things you want to be doing, what staying overstimulated might be protecting you from, and what you'd actually do with your time if you had space to think. No fluff, just the questions that create real shifts.Journal through these prompts:What is overstimulating me right now?Are the things that overstimulate me things I want to be doing? Or did I adopt them from someone else's expectations?Even though I don't want to be overstimulated, I keep finding myself here. What could this pattern be protecting me from?If I wasn't overstimulated and had more space in my brain and my day, what would I love to spend that time and energy doing?You'll finish this session with clarity you can't unsee. And you'll stop spinning in the same cycle of overwhelm, break, repeat.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You keep telling yourself you'll rest after this project. After the busy season. After you get through this month.But here's what actually happens: you hit your breaking point, book a retreat or take a week off, feel temporarily better — and then you're right back where you started. Overstimulated. Exhausted. Running on fumes again.This episode pulls back the curtain on why we wait until we're desperate to prioritize ourselves, and why those big drastic measures (the retreats, the content courses, the "I'm taking next month off" declarations) aren't actually solving the problem. You'll walk away understanding what's really driving your overstimulation — and three practical ways to regulate your nervous system without needing to escape your life first.Key Takeaways:Why retreats should enhance your life, not be a lifeline to revive youThe question that reveals if you're actually prioritizing yourself (or just decision fatigued)How to stop the cycle of "I'll rest when..." and feel grounded in your actual everyday lifeThree tips to regulate your nervous system right now — no retreat requiredYou'll stop waiting for permission to feel calm. And you'll start trusting that you can feel less overstimulated without blowing up your schedule or booking a flight.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You've been running on autopilot through the holidays — buying, wrapping, planning, coordinating — because that's what you've always done. But have you ever stopped to ask: why am I doing this?Most working moms don't question it. You just assume it's your job. That if you don't do it, it won't get done (or won't get done right). And honestly? Part of you might not even want to stop — because being the holiday coordinator gives you something. Control. Identity. Proof that you're a good mom.This episode isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about creating awareness around the beliefs that are keeping you exhausted. Strategic Journal Prompts:What would happen if you didn't coordinate everything this year?What are you afraid your family would think, feel, or say if you didn't coordinate everything this year?What does being the holiday coordinator give you? Is it identity, control, or maybe proof that you're a good mom?These prompts might make you uncomfortable. That's the point. This is how you start questioning the beliefs keeping you stuck — and find a way forward that doesn't require burning yourself out to prove your worth.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter

You love Christmas. You want to create magic for your kids. But somewhere between the cookie baking and the coordinating and the shoulds, you realize the pressure to make it all perfect is keeping you from actually being present. And that's the thing you wanted most.This episode breaks down the belief driving the exhaustion — and what changes when you stop long enough to ask yourself: Why am I doing this? Do I even enjoy it?Key TakeawaysThe hidden belief behind holiday burnout (and how it shows up on autopilot)What you’re trying to protect when you take responsibility for every detailA simple question to ask before adding one more tradition, event, or expectationHow to create joy without performing perfectionAfter listening, you’ll feel lighter — like you can enjoy the season instead of choreographing it. Press play and give yourself permission to let something be easier this year.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter

You're in a meeting and another woman says something brilliant. Everyone lights up. And you feel... small. Threatened. Like you just got replaced.Or maybe it's simpler than that — you see two women laughing together and your brain goes: they don't need you anymore.It's embarrassing to admit. You're a grown woman. You're successful. You know this is irrational. But the jealousy? The comparison? The exhausting need to prove you're still relevant? It's there. And it's quietly running your friendships, your collaborations, the rooms you avoid walking into.In today's journaling session, we're going straight to the root: the childhood moment that taught you connection = competition. And we're getting it out of your body.Inside the free journaling guide, you'll get:All 7 strategic prompts with space to journal directly in the docBonus prompts on breaking the cycle and identifying where this shows up in your lifeSomatic release practices to rewire your nervous systemNo email required - just click, make a copy, and start journalingGrab the complete guide here: Strategic Journaling to Process & Release Your Sister WoundsThis isn't just awareness work. This is nervous system rewiring so you can stop performing for belonging and start choosing it. Resources Mentioned:Grab the free Google Doc with all 7 prompts + space to journal right in the document (no email required): Strategic Journaling to Process & Release Your Sister WoundsFree Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter

You're not afraid of competition. You're afraid of being replaced.That's why you hesitate to join the mastermind full of women like you. Why you stay late instead of delegating. Why the thought of bringing on a podcast guest who does something similar makes your stomach drop.You tell yourself it's about staying focused or protecting your brand. But really? It goes back to that one time another girl made you feel like you weren't enough. Your body still remembers it.Today I'm getting vulnerable and sharing my own sister wound - two events from senior year of high school. I learned it wasn't safe to let other women get close. And that lesson has been steering my business decisions, my collaborations, even who I invite on this podcast.I'm not here to dig up the past for drama's sake. I'm here because I finally figured out why I pull back when I should be leaning in - and you probably do the same thing. Once we know this...we can set ourselves free from our sabotage!What you'll hear:What a sister wound actually is (and the subtle ways it shows up in your business and leadership)Why my fear of being "outshined" was keeping me from bringing on the exact guests you need to hear fromThe 3-section journaling process that goes way deeper than "what are you grateful for" - straight to the emotional rootHow to tell if you're protecting yourself from collaboration, networking, or visibility without even realizing itWhy your younger self created rules to keep you safe - and how to teach her a new definition of belongingBy the end, you'll likely recognize your own pattern. And you'll have the prompts to actually work through it - not just understand it intellectually.This one shifted something big for me. I have a feeling it might for you too.Resources Mentioned:Sister Wounds Journal Prompts: Strategic Journaling to Process & Release Your Sister WoundsFree Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 4 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter

If you've ever written "I'm grateful for my family" in a journal and then felt... nothing... you're not alone.Most gratitude journaling feels empty because we're listing things instead of tapping into feelings. And here's what I've learned: the goals you're chasing? They're always attached to an emotion you're craving. Maybe it's peace. Or freedom. Or feeling capable again. That's what we're digging into today.I'm walking you through four prompts that help you identify the feeling beneath what you want — and then find ways to feel it right now. Not later. Not when everything's perfect. Today.Strategic Journal Prompts:What are you working towards right now — and what's the feeling you're actually chasing beneath it?When was the last time you felt that emotion, even for five minutes? Get specific.What elements from that moment are already in your life right now but you've been overlooking?How can you feel that desired emotion today, in small ways?You'll stop waiting to arrive and start feeling it now. That's the shift.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 2 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingClarity Call: https://calendly.com/samanthasays/clarity-callConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter

Do you have A LOT going on right now? You keep telling yourself you’re fine — you should be fine — but something still feels heavy?You’re doing the things, showing up for everyone, checking the boxes… but underneath, you’re tired in a way that gratitude doesn’t fix. Maybe you’ve been carrying stress that no one sees. Maybe there’s a grief you’ve been trying to outrun. Or maybe you’re just exhausted from pretending you’re okay because “other people have it worse.”Here’s the truth: you can be grateful and still feel overwhelmed. Both can exist. And in this episode, I’m vulnerably sharing the heavy things happening in my life currently + the moment I finally stopped minimizing what I was feeling — and the 2 shifts that helped me breathe again.You’ll understand:Why naming hard things doesn’t make you ungrateful — it makes you honestThe question that softened my hardest weeks: “How can this be easy?”How to stop carrying emotional weight that was never yours in the first placeThe journaling question that helped me see what I was carrying that wasn't mineAfter listening, you’ll feel permission to stop “should-ing” yourself into silence and finally honor what’s heavy without getting swallowed by it.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 2 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingClarity Call: https://calendly.com/samanthasays/clarity-callConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter

You're physically home, but your brain is still replaying that 2:30 meeting. Again. You're making dinner, but mentally drafting tomorrow's email. Your kid asks you a question and you have to ask them to repeat it—because you weren't actually listening. You want to be present. You're just not sure how to turn your brain off when there's still so much left undone. This episode is for YOU. It will help you figure out what's actually keeping you mentally at work—and give you permission to let it goStrategic Journal Prompts:What specific work thought keeps replaying when you're trying to be present at home? Don't just say "everything." Name the exact thing—the decision, the email, the conversation—that follows you home.If you let this go for the evening, what are you afraid would happen? Go to the worst-case scenario. Would you forget something? Would someone think you don't care? Write about the fear beneath the mental replay.Think about the last time you were fully present at home. What was different about your internal state that day? Not just your schedule—but your nervous system. Were you calmer? More confident? What allowed you to be mentally there?What if being present at home is the productive choice? If that were true, what would change? What would you give yourself permission to stop thinking about right now?This is what one of my clients said after working with me:"I've finally learned to leave work at work even if work is still stressful. I no longer bring work home with me and I'm a more supportive partner, especially when I don't explode at my husband from misplaced frustration at work." Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. Click here for details. Private Coaching - 2 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingClarity Call: https://calendly.com/samanthasays/clarity-callConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter

You're eating the "right" foods. You're trying to take care of yourself. But you're busy AF, still exhausted, your Googling if your hormones might be all over the place, and your kids are having meltdowns over everything...on top of stress at work.Here's the thing: It's not about eating more protein or cutting carbs. It's about blood sugar — and how the way you start your day is setting you (and your kids) up for chaos. That coffee before breakfast? The banana as a snack? They're quietly sabotaging your hormones, your energy, and even your kids' ability to regulate their emotions. (Believe me, I felt attacked yet so understood since I always start my day with caffeine & no food for 1-2 hours lol.)But we go way beyond nutrition advice. In today's episode, holistic nutrition expert Stefanie Adler breaks down exactly how blood sugar affects your hormones, why you're so depleted after having kids, and what minerals have to do with all of it. We go DEEP, and she provides her solution for how to slow down & how how to stress less!You'll understand:Why coffee before breakfast is tanking your blood sugar for the entire day (and what to do instead)The "naked carbs" rule that will change how you snack — for you and your kidsHow mineral depletion after pregnancy is the real reason you're still tired years laterWhat a hair mineral analysis can reveal about your stress, hormones, and inflammationThis isn't another list of things you're doing wrong — it's the missing piece that finally makes everything click.Resources Mentioned:Click for Stefanie's websiteFollow Stefanie on IG: @stefanieadlerwellnessGet 15% off your Hair Mineral Analysis Test w/ code JOURNALENTRIES. Click here for details & discount.Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:Private Coaching - 2 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoaching90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/LN9xep94Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter

When you're drowning in your to-do list, the last thing you need is another task. But what if four quick questions could help you actually breathe again?You're tired of being everyone's lifeline. 🛟 You're exhausted from keeping all the balls in the air. And somewhere between your overflowing inbox and your kid's forgotten permission slip, you started holding your breath — waiting for something to fall apart.This episode isn't about gratitude lists or adding more to your plate. It's about using the right questions to shift what's happening inside so you can stop spinning and start seeing clearly.You'll journal through:What actually feels out of control (and how it's showing up in your body)The real fear underneath trying to hold it all togetherWhere this drowning pattern started—and what you did to survive it back thenWhat you could release today that wouldn't cause the disaster you're imaginingStrategic Journal Prompts (extended in the episode):Prompt 1: What feels most out of control in your life right now? Prompt 2: If you stopped trying to keep all of these balls in the air, if you just let one drop, what are you terrified would actually happen? Prompt 3: Think back to the first time in your life that you remember feeling this same drowning sensation. And the key question: what did you do then to try and stay afloat?Prompt 4: Write this at the top of your page: "What if I'm not actually drowning? What if I'm just holding my breath?" What is one thing that you could stop white-knuckling today that wouldn't actually cause the disaster that you fear?After these four prompts, you'll stop white-knuckling your way through the day. You'll see what you're actually afraid of — and realize you've been holding your breath for no reason.Resources Mentioned:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: We get to the root of what keeps you performing instead of enjoying. Plus a 30-minute follow-up call 2 weeks later. https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/LN9xep94Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podWork with me:Private Coaching - 2 open spots: www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoachingClarity Call: https://calendly.com/samanthasays/clarity-callConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook | Reply to my newsletter