Cultivating Space Podcast

In our final episode for this season, we discuss what it means to be authentic. We share what pursuing authenticity looks like for us, including a badass biker who inspires us to live truer to ourselves. We honestly assess our culture’s value (or lack thereof) of authenticity and suggest some strategies to use on your journey to a more authentic way of life.

Healing. We talk about emotional and physical healing, how they are similar, different and sometimes overlap.  We share the ways we find healing, how storytelling gives permission to others to heal, and the ways generational healing can offer hope and new perspectives.  Healing breaks through shame. We end with a reflection on how our friendship is based in healing. It is a beautiful conversation!

Flow is a state of energized focus, sometimes referred to as being “in the zone”. In this episode, we explore what being in flow feels like and how it can make us happier people. We connect flow to overall mental wellness and imagine what it would be like to live a life rich with flow experiences. We discuss barriers to achieving flow, combating those, and end with how we believe flow can help us create a more beautiful world.

This topic is something we hope to explore more of in future conversations; this episode covers the very basics of sustainability. We cut through the jargon and get to the heart of the matter- how to reclaim a harmonious relationship with the land. We also talk about our personal stories of how we have come to understand and practice sustainability. Finally, we share some key resources that have recently shaped our perspectives of sustainability.

This week’s episode is all about learning. We discuss learning styles, what happens in your brain when you learn something new, and wonder if we are in a collective learning and unlearning in our culture right now. Learning can be hard, and it is also a beautiful act of rebellion.

This tender episode dives into the difficult yet important concept of grief. We share our own experiences with grief and invite you to honor your grief and that of your loved ones. We discuss how being willing to feel grief deeply can change you and put you on the path to healing, hope, and freedom. It’s worth it. And you’re not alone.

In this episode, we peel back the intricacies of joy! We draw a distinction between happiness and joy and explore how to choose joy in the midst of cancer, grief, depression, and more. Throughout the conversation we discover that joy has many forms: it is somehow spontaneous, hard-earned, and a deep undertone to life – all at the same time. We arrive at the conclusion that joy can even be a form of radical activism. Get ready for this rich and(yes)joyful exploration!

This week, Nicole and Katherine explore the word “presence.” We talk all about how the practice of being present can help you build mental wellness and strengthen relationships. We ponder what cultures or communities can do to foster a mindset of presence in daily living. And, best of all, we also have an impromptu appearance from Katherine’s cattle dog, Maisel. Enjoy!

In this episode, we dive into the word amateur. We discuss how the word has gotten a bad rap, and how in actuality embracing being an amateur is freeing. To be an amateur is to do something out of love and with passion - whatever that might look like. We wonder if something uniquely magical comes from the amateur’s journey of making mistakes and learning from them.

In this first full-length episode, we discuss vulnerability. How it’s hard, yet beautiful and important. Though often seen as a weakness, we make the case that it is immensely valuable (and doable!) to nurture vulnerability in our lives. Vulnerability is the foundation of our friendship and we use it in this conversation to set the framework for this podcast.

Hello! Welcome to Cultivating Space. In this mini-episode, you will meet co-hosts Nicole Freyschlag and Katherine Placzek. Through a true-to-form introduction filled with laughter, you will learn how we became friends, how the podcast was born, and why we think these conversations are important and necessary.