Mindfulness Mode Podcast: "Stop Feeling Overwhelmed" with Michelle Gauthier

Host: Bruce Langford
Guest: Michelle Gauthier
Release Date: May 1, 2023

Episode Overview

This episode centers around overcoming overwhelm and cultivating a more calm, intentional life, especially for busy professionals, entrepreneurs, educators, and parents. Bruce interviews life coach and former corporate executive Michelle Gauthier, who shares her journey from stress and busyness to mindfulness, offering practical insights and personal stories about transformation. Listeners receive actionable tips and touching anecdotes about parenting, career transitions, and everyday well-being.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Michelle's Definition of Mindfulness

• Present-Moment Awareness: For Michelle, mindfulness means “just really being aware of how I feel and what I’m thinking … just sort of watching that happen without being really attached to it.” (01:09)

2. Personal Journey from Overwhelm to Calm

• Catalyst for Change:
  • Michelle left a successful 20-year corporate career because she felt out of alignment with her authentic self and overwhelmed by constant busyness.
  • A pivotal moment arrived during a podcast episode where a guest life coach inspired her to pursue coaching:
    • “I made myself busy so I didn’t have to sit in the silence of my own mind” (01:56)
    • “Within 24 hours, I had signed up to become a life coach and do her training.” (02:50)
• Transformation Period:
  • Major life changes happened simultaneously: separation from her husband, quitting her job, selling and renovating a house, and starting her own business—all while parenting two young children and getting a puppy.
  • “It got worse before it got better ... sometimes you run into that point where you think, ‘this is so hard’ … but you have to go through that” (05:26)
  • Calm settled in after about six months of transition. (06:10)

3. Supporting Others Through Change

• Coaching Examples:
  • Typical clients are overwhelmed working mothers in executive roles.
  • Success often looks like clients staying in their jobs or relationships, but with “totally changed outlook...from mindfulness.” (07:22)
  • Others make big changes, like starting businesses or leaving unhealthy relationships, always from a place of calm and clarity.

4. Mindfulness in Parenting and Adoption Stories

• Parenting Mindfully:
  • Mindfulness helps Michelle respond to her children’s moods without making negative assumptions (“not going to attach to what I believe this means” 08:35).
• Adoption Journey:
  • After years of trying to have children, Michelle adopted her son with very little notice and no preparation, relying on the joy and support of her community.
  • “I really wish everyone could experience that much love and joy at one time in their life.” (10:49)
• Life Lessons:
  • The experience shifted her priorities from work to parenting and deepened her faith in trusting the timing of life.
    • “I just had this realization in the moment that if that had ever worked, then my son wouldn’t be my son.” (12:14)

5. Approaching Bullying and Emotional Wellness

• Mindfulness and Empathy:
  • Guides her kids to see perspectives of others while also teaching boundaries. (13:52)
• Practical Tool – Tapping:
  • “Tapping was better than meditation ... gave him something to do with his hands and calmed his body.” (14:54)

6. Mindfulness Practices: Fitness, Nutrition, and Rituals

• Physical Activity:
  • Burn Boot Camp is a source of both physical fitness and uplifting community. (15:27)
• Nutrition:
  • Focuses on simple whole foods, planning ahead for energy/stability, and avoids dairy for health reasons. (16:59, 18:10)
• Calcium Intake:
  • Supplements and calcium-fortified non-dairy products.

7. Hobbies and Joyful Living

• Electric Bikes:
  • New hobby with her kids—riding electric bikes for fun and challenge. (19:06)
• Lifelong Learning:
  • Avid reader, especially of self-help and personal growth books.

8. Book and App Recommendations

• Books:
  • Finding Your Own North Star by Martha Beck (04:19)—for finding direction
  • The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan & Benjamin Hardy—focus on achievements, not shortcomings (20:02)
  • Thank and Grow Rich by Pam Grout—for radical gratitude (28:10)
• Apps:
  • Breathe app for daily meditation and tapping (Nick Ortner’s tapping series) (26:17)

9. Launching Her Own Podcast

• Overwhelmed Working Woman:
  • Weekly Monday morning episodes—quick actionable mindfulness tips and client interviews about real-life transformation (21:41–22:30).
  • “I feel like I’m about to birth a baby...I’ve had the idea to do a podcast for years … bite-sized episodes so someone who’s feeling overwhelmed can take 10 or 15 minutes and feel better.” (21:49)

10. Quickfire Wisdom

• Mindfulness Mentor: Her dad, for teaching about possibility and positive thinking. (23:48)
• Emotions:
  • Used to suppress feelings; now allows herself and her children to cry, feel, and express emotions fully. (24:25)
• Breathing Technique:
  • Square breathing (4-4-4-4) to calm the nervous system; teaches this to clients and uses it with her kids. (25:34)

11. Daily Routine (Mindful Structure)

• Morning: Big glass of water, a 10-minute check-in (feelings, intentions, gratitude), and workout at Burn Boot Camp.
• Day: Work with clients, meditate, shift to parenting.
• Evening: Gratitude practice before sleep. (26:59)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You always have the opportunity to make yourself feel better by changing your thoughts and changing your mindfulness.” —Michelle Gauthier (00:01, 29:29)
• “Mindfulness means just really being aware of how I feel and what I’m thinking....just sort of watching that happen without being really attached to it.” —Michelle (01:09)
• “It got worse before it got better. And I think that’s true of all change.” —Michelle (05:26)
• “About 50% of my clients end up staying in the marriage they’re in or the job that they’re in, but they’ve totally changed their outlook on life from mindfulness.” —Michelle (07:22)
• “I really wish everyone could experience that much love and joy at one time in their life.” —Michelle (10:49)
• “Feeling overwhelmed and stressed is a choice. This world today is not making us feel overwhelmed and stressed, but our thoughts about it are.” —Michelle (29:29)
• “My notes say that your podcast, Overwhelmed Working Woman, starts on April 24th, is that right?” —Interviewer (21:33)

Timestamps of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:09 | Michelle defines mindfulness | | 01:56–03:15 | Journey from corporate burnout to life coach triggered by a podcast | | 04:19 | Book recommendation: Finding Your Own North Star (Martha Beck) | | 05:26 | Transformative life changes, hitting rock bottom before calm | | 07:22 | Client successes with mindfulness-led perspective shifts | | 08:35 | Mindfulness strategies in parenting | | 10:49 | Adoption story and the role of faith, surrender, and gratitude | | 12:14 | Realization about life timing and priorities | | 13:52 | Bullying, empathy, and teaching boundaries through mindfulness | | 14:54 | Tapping for childhood anxiety | | 15:27 | Burn Boot Camp as mindful community and physical fitness | | 16:59 | Mindful eating: simple foods, planning, and dairy avoidance | | 19:06 | New hobby: electric bikes with kids | | 20:02 | Book recommendation: The Gap and the Gain | | 21:41 | Launch and format of Michelle’s new podcast | | 23:48 | Most influential mindfulness mentor: her dad | | 24:25 | Allowing all emotions, no suppression | | 25:34 | Square breathing technique | | 26:17 | Daily meditation and use of the Breathe app | | 26:59 | Mindful daily routine (morning ritual, movement, gratitude at bedtime) | | 28:10 | Book recommendation: Thank and Grow Rich by Pam Grout | | 29:29 | Final advice: “Feeling overwhelmed ... is a choice ... You always have the opportunity...” |

Flow and Tone

The conversation is warm, candid, empowering, and practical. Michelle shares openly about her struggles and victories, blending personal storytelling with accessible mindfulness techniques. Bruce’s supportive interviewing style creates a compassionate, relatable atmosphere for listeners seeking actionable ways to reduce stress and find fulfillment.

Final Advice from Michelle Gauthier

“Feeling overwhelmed and stressed is a choice. This world today is not making us feel overwhelmed and stressed, but our thoughts about it are. So you always have the opportunity to make yourself feel better by changing your thoughts and changing your mindfulness.” (29:29)

Recommended for:
Anyone seeking practical tips to manage overwhelm, cultivate presence, and build a more intentional, joyful life—especially those juggling career and family.