Today’s episode is full of real takeaway actions on how to prepare for the holidays and cope with the stress of it all, with a dash of humor, healing, and hope.

Today I got to chat with Heather Loeb, founder and creator of www.unrulyneurons.com, recent recipient of the Betty Fullenwider Media Award for her inspirational work in normalizing mental health, and my amazing cousin. Heather was also recently named to the leadership team for NAMI of Greater Corpus Christi. NAMI is the National Alliance of Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by mental illness (www.NAMIGCC.org).

You may recall Heather from Episode 14: Finding Hope and Healing in Recovery and Living with Depression and Mental Illness. Today, Heather drops more little nuggets of wisdom as we approach the holidays.

Today we dive into how to plan around the holidays, how to deal with those strong, family personalities and those that like to poke the bear. Heather gives us some specific tools to enjoy the holidays, people, and manage our expectations.

We talk through and demonstrate some grounding and breathing techniques to override our primal brain that only sees perceived dangers and doom. Lastly, we share some techniques on how to process grief during these times.

You can follow Heather at her newly re-designed and revamped website: www.unrulyneurons.com, her column in The Corpus Christi Caller Times (www.caller.com) and lots of good videos and other golden nuggets on Heather’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/unrulyneurons).