592. Microdosing Wellness + A Year-End Reflection - Jon McCoy, Becky Endicott, and Lindsey Fuller

Summary

We Are For Good Podcast - Episode 592: Microdosing Wellness + A Year-End Reflection

Release Date: December 23, 2024

Hosts:

• Jon McCoy, CFRE
• Becky Endicott, CFRE

Special Guest:

• Lindsey Fuller

---

Introduction

In episode 592 of the We Are For Good Podcast, hosts Jon McCoy and Becky Endicott delve into a special year-end reflection centered around the theme of "Microdosing Wellness." Joined by Lindsey Fuller, a pivotal figure from the Teaching Well organization, the conversation explores the intersection of personal well-being and effective nonprofit leadership.

Year-End Reflection and Achievements

Jon McCoy opens the discussion by highlighting the podcast's milestones in 2024:

• 92 Episodes Released: Covering a wide range of topics pertinent to nonprofit professionals.
• Impact Uprising Launch: A significant initiative aimed at amplifying nonprofit impact.
• Impact Up Gatherings: Successfully conducted in numerous cities globally, fostering community and collaboration.
• Gather at the Well Series: A limited series featuring Lindsey Fuller, focusing on wellness within organizations.

Becky Endicott emphasizes the shift in focus for the year:

"This year we really, really wanted to focus on your wellness. We wanted to focus in on giving you this exhale as you close out 2024 and you take this great big inhale in for 2025."
[02:16]

Introducing Lindsey Fuller and Gather at the Well

Lindsey Fuller joins the conversation to discuss her journey and the inception of the Gather at the Well series. She shares insights into creating a culture of wellness within organizations:

"How do we build a life I don't need to heal from which later evolved to us helping build professional cultures we don't need to heal from."
[10:02]

Key Highlights:

• Authentic Leadership: Emphasizing vulnerability and authenticity as tools for effective leadership.
• Community Accountability: The role of community in supporting individual and collective wellness.
• Somatic Practices: Introducing body-focused techniques to manage stress and enhance well-being.

Microdosing Wellness: Practical Applications

The hosts and Lindsey discuss the concept of microdosing wellness—integrating small, manageable wellness practices into daily routines to foster long-term well-being.

Notable Quotes:

"Removing your presence from places where you don't feel loved, valued or respected is top tier self care."
[21:14] - Lindsey Fuller

"Proactivity is the way... we can start to bring others with us to Lindsay's one good thing, that is when the shift begins to really make a difference."
[45:22] - Jon McCoy

Practical Recommendations:

1. Sleep Optimization:

   "Study your sleep, figure out what you need to do. Sleep is vital."
   [30:33] - Lindsey Fuller

2. Audible Exhaling and Sighing:

   "Audible exhaling and sighing across your workday when you're in a moment of stress is critical."
   [30:33]

3. Targeted Somatic Practices:

   "Isolating the place on your body where you recognize holds stress and customizing your somatics to target that location."
   [30:33]

Organizational Wellness and Professional Development

Lindsey Fuller elaborates on how Teaching Well integrates wellness into its organizational culture through dedicated professional development:

"We build human-centered explorations and practices into our professional development. Who I am working with today is not who I was working with four years ago."
[34:02]

Key Practices:

• Weekly Learning Sessions: Allocating significant time for team growth and learning.
• Rotating Somatic Openings: Ensuring diverse voices and practices are incorporated.
• Scenario Analysis and Consultancies: Engaging the team in real-world problem-solving exercises.

Impact on Team Dynamics:

"It provides incredible amounts of sustainability, not just for myself as the leader, but also for my supervisory team."
[37:16]

Personal Journeys and Authentic Growth

Both hosts share their personal challenges and growth throughout the year, illustrating the podcast's emphasis on authentic self-care and leadership.

Becky Endicott opens up about her personal journey:

"I have recently found out that I am ADHD and maybe on the spectrum somewhere... in almost a month because I was that burned out."
[13:55]

Lindsey Fuller discusses the importance of balancing professional passion with personal well-being:

"I love work... but I also need to find boundaries for myself because I enjoy what I do so much."
[22:10]

One Good Thing: Embracing Proactive Wellness

As the episode concludes, each participant shares their "One Good Thing," encapsulating the episode's core message.

Lindsey Fuller:

"We need to find the messy middle... when we choose each other, we can do hard things."
[43:53]

Jon McCoy:

"Proactivity is the way. If you haven't listened, go listen to the five episodes... there's something proactively that you can do."
[45:22]

Becky Endicott:

"If you feel like you're on the wrong road... If you have no self care... you got some work to do."
[39:55]

Conclusion and Resources

The episode wraps up by directing listeners to resources for further exploration:

• Gather at the Well Blog: theteachingwell.org
• Digital Mindful Toolkit: Includes free somatic videos and downloadable PDFs.

Final Thoughts:

"Let's heal out loud."
[38:40] - Lindsey Fuller

Call to Action: Listeners are encouraged to integrate microdosing wellness practices into their lives and organizations to foster sustainable growth and impactful leadership in 2025.

---

Resources Mentioned:

• Gather at the Well Series: theteachingwell.org
• Digital Mindful Toolkit: Available on the Teaching Well website.
• Impact Up Gatherings: Visit weareforgood.com/impactup for more information.

Join the Community:
Stay connected with We Are For Good through their website www.weareforgood.com to access more episodes, resources, and upcoming events like Impact Up Multiply on January 23rd.

---

This summary captures the essence of episode 592, highlighting the integration of wellness into nonprofit leadership and the importance of proactive self-care for sustainable impact.

Transcript

[Becky]

Hey, nonprofit leaders, change makers and community builders, this one's for you.

[John]

Join us on January 23rd for impact up Multiply, a dynamic virtual gathering by day and an in person local meetups by night happening around the world. It's a day designed to inspire, connect, and equip you to multiply your impact in 2025.

[Becky]

At impact up Multiply, we're talking about how community is the force multiplier for your mission. So if you're looking to grow or start a movement or deepen your community engagement in your mission, this day is for you. It's more than a virtual event. It's your space to dream bigger, build smarter, and multiply your impact.

[John]

We've already saved you a seat, so join this movement. Visit weareforgood.com impactup to sign up for free today. We can't wait to see you there. Hey, I'm John.

[Becky]

And I'm Becky.

[John]

And this is the We Are for Good podcast.

[Becky]

Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more, and be more for the causes that improve our world.

[John]

We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.

[Becky]

So welcome to the good community. We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropists, world changers, and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.

[John]

So let's get started. Becky, special episode.

[Becky]

Are you special episode. We are wrapping up this year and we are wrapping it up with love and a special guest and some healing.

[John]

Yeah. And this year has been a year, y'all. I mean, do you feel that? I mean, it's a wrap on 2024. We're looking back and there's been 92 podcast episodes this year. The launch of Impact Uprising. Impact up gatherings have happened this year. Two of those dozens of cities around the world have gathered in community. We've met new friends, and you know what we also did? We launched an amazing limited series with the one and only Lindsay Fuller, who we're so overjoyed to be our special guest, surprise guest on today's wrap up episode. We got to intro in Lindsay though, and give a little bit of love about how she came into our world and really changed so much for us in this community.

[Becky]

Yeah, I think I want to like, just tell the community that we're shifting a little bit because if you've seen hung around us in any length of time, you know that we do these wrap up episodes and we start to break down through lines and trends and things that hung with us, things that episodes that really tracked on social media and in conversations and community. But this year we really, really wanted to focus on your wellness. We wanted to focus in on giving you this exhale as you close out 2024 and you take this great big inhale in for 2025, not because you have fear, but because you're, you are entirely regulated. Because you are ready, because you can be ready for 1, 1 2025. It is a whole new ball game. And when you go into it centered, we know this work is going to feel better for you and the output is going to be better for all who benefit. So yes, this is the longest tee up to say so good. Yes, that Lindsay Fuller is in the house and there one who takes our hand more warmly, lovingly, and I'll say also with a firm hand. And we love that about her. As someone who is a straight shooter, I value that she has been a co conspirator, a co dreamer. And then we were able to bring the series Gather at the well to life alongside Lindsay and her team. And so I'm going to kick that to you, John, because I feel like you and Julie have been instrumental in bringing Gather at the well to the forever.

[John]

I mean, as the teaching Wells vision. It was Lindsay's vision of a team of like, how do we take these ideas and share them in a bigger conversation? And so I remember us talking at Impact up that night to just say, what starts here, we don't want it to end, but how can it really ripple? And so we're, we're becoming more aware every day that we do not have all the answers. But I believe we can find answers in community about surrounding ourselves with people with different lived experience, with different expertise that can come in and be the shepherd alongside us to help us kind of create a new way. And so we love doing work with people that are in the work, that are doing the work. And the teaching well isn't just teaching from their platitudes, although they could totally do that and we'd be here for it. They do it from a place of like we're actually messily have worked through this and we can come with our experiences of trying to lead this way in our own cultures and our own team. And we're just here to share this outward. And so this podcast has brought to life how do we microdose wellness together in community and for ourselves to take care of ourselves so we can like everything you said Becky walk into 2025 with a new way kind of about our work. So, friends, I feel like we've teed up Lindsay so well, but there is something you said, Lindsay, I love that we're not even letting you talk yet. Oh, my gosh. Episode 513. You came into our house because we wanted to talk about retention. We wanted to talk about what do we do. We look around. Our sector's burnt out. We're struggling. And what Lindsay's such a great teacher in this is that the firm hand here is he says, before you want to jump ship, look around and see if we can tend the soil together. That is a quote that will hang with us for all time.

[Becky]

Definitely one of the most quotable quotes of all time. Like, on this podcast. For sure.

[John]

Yeah. Because we thought so much about it, like, personally of, like, how that hit us that, you know, sometimes we. We want to fight through this together. We. We see the light in each other, maybe on our team or in our community, and it's like we really want to be torchbearers of not just running away, but running into and having these harder conversations to really work through things together. And so Lindsay coming in with gather at the. Well, we're talking about a lot of the messy stuff in the middle, and she has unpacked this over five or six weeks. So without further ado. Oh, my gosh. My friend, Lindsay, get in this house. Welcome back to the podcast.

[Lindsay]

Thank you so much. I'm. I'm loving that. Messy in the middle.

[John]

That.

[Lindsay]

That actually is a whole alliteration bar.

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Lindsay]

I'm so glad to be with you all, because we typically talk about there's. There's a middle path. We usually don't see it. We often don't orient towards it. But when you think about any kind of binary, like, do I leave or do I stay? Probably there's something in the middle, which is I'm going to help to revolutionize the culture. We're going to paradigm shift it. We're going to turn it upside down. We're going to rewrite the rules for how to do work in a more balanced way. And I'm just grateful to be here. Messy in the middle. I love that.

[Becky]

I like messy in the middle better than my hot mess express that I usually use. And the alliteration is not quite as good there.

[John]

Just meet us in the middle, too. I mean, this is where we're at. So here's the thing as well, y'all. When we talk to Lindsay, we're also talking to the incredible team of the teaching. Well, it was just an honor for us to really elevate that team. And there's so many experts that are embedded that work together as a unit, too. And so I got to shout out Rebbe, specifically Rebecca Bernard. She has been a thought partner in bringing this series to life. And while she's not on the mic today, she is very much integral to all of this coming to be. So, Rebbe, we're giving you a shout out. She's coming on the podcast in January, too.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, she's a whole bless. That's our director of innovations, and I refer to her as actually my podcast doula. I don't know if y'all know that, but she is the podcast doula. She has been just instrumental in helping me embark on arguably the most vulnerable initiative that I've taken on professionally. And so without her, like, this isn't possible.

[John]

Yeah.

[Becky]

Well, we love you, Rebecca. I gotta. We're gonna start, like, loving on teaching. Well, we gotta give a shout out to Marisol, to Aaliyah. I know Selena's helped us in the past. Thank you so much for what you do. And I love that we're going to set some time today and actually talk about how do we all contribute to how wellness is incorporated into our organization and our lives, because I think that was one of the biggest takeaways from the podcast series is that everything truly starts personal. So I'd love for you to just chat about, you know, what you're thinking through and navigating this year, this. What this series has brought up for you, you know, and Lindsay, as you've gone through this process and want everybody at home to be thinking about this. John, get ready to answer. But, like, what is this stirred up for you? And what are we navigating? And what did this do for you? Lindsay, being on the other. I mean, being on the actual host mic. And what are you seeing?

[Lindsay]

Yeah, you know, and Marisol and I often share about this publicly, but I'd say the hardest part of working at the teaching well is that you're surrounded by mirrors who are also deeply committed to their own healing journey. Right. And so what that means is, like, you can't hide anymore. Even if you wanted to mask, you really can't, because there's just the most incredible group of people. I think about the. The African philosophy of Ubuntu, but just I am. Because we are, like, coming to the teaching law was an intervention for my life. I've shared that with y'all before. It Just has really forced me to reevaluate the relationship I have to, to work, um, and to recommit to myself and my family and my long term longevity. So I think that the level of accountability that just working at a wellness organization has brought forward, right, Like, I can't fake it. I'm on the public stage. It's bad for the brand if I'm burnt out.

[Becky]

Right.

[Lindsay]

Was evidently what I needed.

[Becky]

All of us, literally true, it is.

[Lindsay]

Bad for the brand. And so I didn't realize it, but I really needed that level of professional accountability to get healthy and to stay disciplined with my wellness journey. But I'll say that launching Gather at the well took it up a notch. The accountability got real, real, right? Because like, I'm publishing the receipts of our efforts to truly be a human centered organization. So that's been a really interesting process. I also think what one of my largest takeaways was, I had this hunch we needed a podcast that teaches we don't need more thought leaders, we need change leaders and we need scaffolding and instruction for how to do that in our organization within these specific context. And that idea now was really solidified. It's just true, like, folks are constantly asking us, but how do we do that? And. And these aren't trade secrets. They're not trade secrets. They're nothing that we should be hoarding and saving just for our own organizations. If you've figured out a way to sustain and retain your team, shout it from the mountaintops. Why wouldn't we all want that information to be public? So I think that's something I'm really sitting with.

[John]

Well, I appreciate you leaning into. I mean, we've talked about how vulnerable of a space it is. I mean, you also did a. So this was a solo podcast. And y'all, if you're listening, saying, what is Gather at the well, like, zoom back. It's dropped in feed over the last like 10 weeks, every other week on Wednesdays.

[Becky]

It will change your life. I'm not even being facetious with that. It has truly changed me.

[John]

And we're hearing from our community all the time, like, how it's all about this microdose of wellness. So it's like, how do we find these small moments, these 1% shifts that actually do add up over time, you know, like putting in the actual work to get to a better place.

[Lindsay]

So, you know, one other thing I have really been grappling with and, and when and how to share this, but I'm facilitating this whole podcast for Y'all on microdosing wellness. And actually, across the first several episodes, I hit a burnout window. And I want to share that. I want to share that with, with anybody who has been following and listening and participating and joining us in community because it doesn't matter that I'm the executive director of a wellness organization, right? I too can succumb to overextension and to the real consequences of fatigue and chronic stress. And so that was a part that was hard for me. I really wanted to always be authentic and true. And that's why episode two, which has gotten a lot of shine talking about the stressors of travel. That was so personal in that moment because I did six flights in six weeks and by the end of it, I was exhausted. And yes, we did all the. Could someone else go? And is this really based on my position and role? You know, were these trips that were absolutely mandatory and they were. And I was so run down trying to talk to others about microdosing wellness. And what I'll say is, over episode three and four, I managed to climb back out. And that is the power of microdosing wellness, right? It's like I hit a point of exhaustion and I knew what worked for me and I built myself, sst, teachers, self, your support team, your right student support team, but really for yourself. And I built an intervention plan and I adhered to it. I roped in who needed to be involved and I climbed back out. All of that happened during these recording windows.

[Becky]

So it's had no idea, couldn't tell. Which tells me, you know, that micro dosing wellness can be that big of a game change because while we're being vulnerable, you know, I've had an incredibly difficult year, personally and at home. And ironically, this series hit at a time when I needed it the most. And I've recently found out that I am ADHD and maybe on the spectrum somewhere. And I have realized my whole life has been so much masking that I wasn't even aware I was doing. And so this knowing thyself while trying to know how to raise your children, while knowing how to put some boundaries in place as a working professional and a working mom. And I will tell you all in 100% honesty, the week after Impact up in October, there were three weeks that I probably didn't work more than three hours a day for almost a month because I was that burned out. I was that personally emotionally and mentally exhausted. And I just laid. I literally just laid on my couch, I went for some walks, I spent time with My dog. I read, but mostly I just laid y'all and I breathed and I did talk therapy. And I am so much better as we are recording this now because those little micro dosing moments matter.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, that, that low key sounds like a macro, but that a little bit sounds like more of a macro intervention. But when you think about one month out of how many years?

[Becky]

Yeah, 45.

[Lindsay]

Like, that's what. Right. Like that's the thing. And what would be true if we had community and professional and maybe even government support to be able to engage in an intervention before we have kids? Just, just like dream with me for a moment. Doing work differently and doing adulting differently. Like what you're naming the amount of late stage diagnoses that are coming for Millennial and what is it? Gen X. Gen X, baby, baby. The amount of clients that we have and colleagues that I have that are currently being assessed and evaluated while trying to raise children. I'm like, how do we get a little pre intervention before we start building tiny humans and caring for them? We need to get our own lives. And that's kind of the essence of this podcast series too is like, get your org right before you go out to do service work. Get yourself right as a leader before you're trying to lead others. Right. Do the work first. It's me, we world.

[John]

I'm loving this convo because, I mean, taking you a little BTS over here, you know, our family's been on a full time family road trip since last. Not the band or maybe both, like last December. We've been full time travel with, you know, we're seeing all these national parks. Yeah, thanks. It's coming up. But blending the life and the family and like this dream slash goal together with the career goals and aspirations and then the personal and like kind of the lack of personal space. This last year has been like this perfect storm of all these things coming together and what's bubbled up for me and I learned this summer spending time at the Plenty retreat. So shout out to Jeff Schuck, Jennifer Mulholland. Thanks for having us out for the Plenty Retreat. It was about, you know, conscious leadership was really meditating on this idea of like, we have one life and not like in a YOLO sense, although that's a whole different conversation.

[Lindsay]

You could dabble in that.

[John]

Yeah, but like, we have one existence. And something I love about the way you teach Lindsay is that we're not trying to say, what does professional Lindsay over here do? It's like it's. We show up in our messiness as humans and especially talking to leaders. You know, this last episode, when you talked about the me we world, you know, how do we lead through macro events like a really contentious election or really whatever's happening in your community that's really a hotbed and you wake up the next day and you're there to lead, you know, but you also have to acknowledge, like, we've got to take care of our own soul human first so we can actually go outward from there. And I think this all just kind of like threads together. And it's very counter to how I spent the first half of my career thinking, okay, I wear khakis to work and I act this certain way and then at home I, you know, have these other pieces. But it's got to tend to ourselves because the same human moving from whatever we're facing during the day into how we walk into the home at night and how we show up on the weekends too. And I just think that there's something that's moving toward a life that I want to be in, you know, like, of having one life and realizing that. So that's, that's really been prevalent for me and it's just come together with everything that you've taught through this series. So thank you for that.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, I feel like, you know, one realization I had when I transitioned to the teaching well was that I was convinced I wouldn't have a long life. Which you're like, sorry, everybody that's listening. But I was just, I was convinced of it. No, but I was just like, you know what, it's just this. I have too much trauma. I have the stress. If you look at the research on trauma, like, it does impact your lifespan. Right. I'm just like, ah. And I was in this place of wanting to shift from victim to survivor, which is a theme in my life. Whenever I feel weighed down, I. I want to reorient to my agency, which I talk about a lot in the podcast series. So one thing I was like, I need to figure out how to heal some of the deeper trauma wounds. But I also can't always, you know, go on a month long retreat to another country without my kids. And like, with surrounded by therapists and just like, girl, he all the child wounds, it's just, it's not going to happen. So that the concept of microdosing wellness, which really started several years ago, personal musing that I then started to name in the teaching well, was like, how do I build a life I don't need to heal from which later evolved to us helping build professional cultures we don't need to heal from. But how do I extend my life? Like what, what is in the locus of my control? Like, how do I want to eat? How do I want to sleep? How do I want to be in relationship to movement? Right. How do I want to nurture relationships that. That really pour in, don't just pull out. I actually just saw this quote the other day, because y'all know I've been talking about the lies they tell with self care and what self care is, and that it's always just like this capitalist pursuit. But I saw this quote that said, removing your presence from places you don't feel loved, valued or respected is top tier self care.

[Becky]

Whoa, okay, say it again. Say it again.

[Lindsay]

Removing your presence from places that where you don't feel loved, valued or respected is top tier self care.

[Becky]

There you go.

[Lindsay]

And I was like, yeah, right. Like some of these relationships, my relationship to work, but also the workplace I was in, were not creating the conditions for embodied self care. And I can keep doing collective care, but I actually need both. So, John, I just think that what you're. What you're naming. And when I look back at my one life, the desire to not have regrets, right? Like composting that mom guilt, finding some balance, not a 50 50. Because that's the other thing I've learned about myself and in. In articulating my experience currently at the teaching. Well, I love work.

[Becky]

Yeah, me too.

[Lindsay]

But I. But I also, I feel like that's a little bit demonized at this point. Like, folks are like, oh, that's so unhealthy. And I'm like, no, I actually just love and am passionate about serving my community. I love to wake up and love to work. I love who I work with. I love the work I get to do. I love it so much that sometimes it doesn't feel like work, which means I have an extra responsibility to find boundaries for myself because I enjoy what I do so much and I want my children. And I've told them, find what you love to do that helps your community, and I'll be proud no matter what your profession is, you know, you know.

[John]

Something that stuck out to me because I want to get into some of these, like, big takeaways that we've taken from the show is that I just kind of alluded to that we have one life. And, you know, I think because I live in such close proximity to my family, so if you didn't know, we're living in a 28 foot Airstream and traveling the country together. So I've become acutely aware of, like, since your keynote specifically. But what called out to me that I didn't need to be 42 to understand this is that when you don't have rest modeled to you, you grow up kind of doing the same thing that maybe you inherited. But this is a chance to say, starting today, how do I start to relearn some of these things? And so it really stuck out to me, what you shared that day of like, this is our chance to actually be that change. The simple shift of, you know, Sundays are a different kind of chill around here, you know, and we can have those slower times together. And I don't want my kids to think that I just literally was connected to the laptop. And I'm saying, get off your screen at the same time, you know?

[Lindsay]

Okay, come on, John. This is a testimony.

[John]

Yeah.

[Lindsay]

And I might invite all the folks listening, like after that keynote. I mean, that keynote was a whole intervention too. Okay. Therapeutic invitation. I was like, oh, I didn't know I needed that. But what I've been reflecting on since is what are the five to ten things I want my children to be able to say? Mama always did, or Mama showed us how. And I've been praying and meditating on that ever since that keynote. Right? Like, you know, Mama napped. She. She showed us how to rest. Mama loved to take care of her community. She worked hard. Mama and daddy chose each other and stayed in love. They fought to stay in love. Like, when my girls are like, ew, Daddy's kissing mommy. I'm like, good know that I'm in a love filled relationship and that's what I want for you too. Right. So I've just been really meditating on this and praying on this. And you know, I think that, like, we're 42, so is it too late? Right? Or, you know, it's not the new year. I think it's so toxic. New York, New Year's resolutions and the culture of like, gotta wait till the first of the month.

[Becky]

Yeah.

[Lindsay]

And it'll be like the fourth of the month. And we're like, I'm gonna restart eating healthy on the first. Okay. And you're like, girl, you got like 26 days left. Okay. But like I was just telling my husband yesterday, like, I am an athlete. I played multiple varsity sports, I went to college. And that was like a part of what I wanted to do as well. And I've really lost my relationship with fitness for fun.

[John]

Yeah.

[Lindsay]

I Don't want to feel like it's a punishment. I walk past my peloton, which I begged him for, and I'm like, hey, girl, see you never. And I don't use her because I've realized I miss, like, going to classes and being in person and. And coming home sweaty. And I want that to be one of the things that my girls say is, like, mama moved her body and she had fun doing it. Not that there's a relationship with, like, weight or body image or fitness that's punishing. Right. So, yeah, I just. It's the beginning of December, and I'm going to purchase a couple of classes and try it out before my new year resolution, because that doesn't matter. That's a false start. I want to microdose right now how I move my body.

[John]

Okay, can we riff for a second about. Another takeaway from this series that's really cut through to me is the power of the somatic. Okay. This is so Lindsey Fuller, who you've come in and literally created pauses in this. In this podcast. If this is a new term for you, it was new to me. It's just like these mind body practices that we can target to areas that we're feeling stressed or tension. Literally. Where are you feeling it in your body? And there's some somatic practices that can help bring awareness, embodiment, and feeling better, like, moving forward for the rest of the day. And so I gotta lift this because this has stuck out so much that I keep hearing this in our community, too. I was talking to Amina Mohammed, the founder of Cameras for Girls, just like last week or maybe the week before, and she says, oh, my gosh, I've been loving Lindsay's podcast so much, and what stuck out to me is these, like, somatic pauses. And it's something that I've realized is something really easy I can add into just how we show up in meetings. And so when she's working with the girls in Uganda creating these, like, moments for teaching and whatnot, they take pauses now to have a somatic pause, whether it's breath work or whether it's the pauses or my personal favorite, the ocular reset, which is, like, so great. Like, how do we move into adding these into places where we all just need that moment, that breath? And I think you're teaching this in such a beautiful way. So I just had to lift that.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, I appreciate that. And I'll just add, when I came to the teaching, well, it was actually a. A place of uncertainty or insecurity for me, I'm like, oh, this is a group of healers. Right. That's what we've done in the industry. There's like the in crowd and the out crowd. The folks that have done it for long enough and have their certifications. Yeah. Have been blessed, right. By like someone's auntie's cousin's like, greatest healing. And I'm like, I love that for you. I first of all had to come in and, and really research because I was like, am I like, I don't have any experience? That's what that was. A lie. Prayer is a somatic. And I've been praying for a long time, right? Like my body movement, some of the trauma healing work I did with progressive muscle relaxation I had been doing for years. I just hadn't been healing out loud. And so I had this whole grappling with like, am I somatic enough? Right. And coming to the podcast, I'm sure they are somatic experts who go to silent retreats and no knock. I love that for them and have been certified for over a decade who might be like, I don't know, she made that up. You know what? So many of them I have. And actually, I'm kind of proud of that. Not in a ego way, but more.

[John]

Of a, this is accessible. Like you.

[Becky]

How do you know what works for me? Yes.

[Lindsay]

And like, don't we want people to innovate and play and practice and be messy in their healing? Like, why are we trying to rank people's expertise? So to any of the somatic experts out there, I honor you. And I, I, I believe in the work. And also I'm going to get it wrong. And that's more of what I think we need modeled than go and spend thousands of dollars on a certification. Also do that. But I don't have concrete somatic receipts. I just have experience and evidence of my own healing.

[Becky]

Like, the first 20 seconds that I met you, you asked if you could start a relationship off by doing a somatic exercise. And I knew in that instant after we were done breathing, I was like, we're going to be good friends. Because I just think that setting the tone in that way. And I'm talking to you leaders right now, setting the tone of a meeting, setting the tone of a zoom, where it's not about how we're going to just pile drive into this task list of things that we need to take care of. It's like, whoa, whoa, how are you doing? Let's level set, let's make sure everybody's okay. And Lindsay, just sit here and think about like the listener at the end, you know, listening to this podcast right now. And I want to be really tactical for them. They're in the middle of year end, they're getting ready for a new year. What are three simple practices you might recommend to help people start the new year in a more grounded state for their well being next year? What do you have?

[Lindsay]

I mean, there's so many, Right? But first of all, like, shout out to all the sleep groupies. Become a study of your own sleep. You are not getting enough sleep. You are not getting good enough sleep. Unless you're Marisol Pineda Conde, my deputy director, who like literally lays down and she will wake up in the same position. And I just love that for her. But if you have sleep envy of anyone in your life, I would say study your sleep, figure out what you need to do. Sleep is vital. And I would add in that same vein, so many of us set goals around fitness and food for the New Year's and that's wonderful for me, I'm like, sleep and hydration. I just, I don't feel like we talk about them enough. So do your thing. But I would just say there are some basic health tenants that we all need to recommit to and we need to start having much more frank conversations about what's happening when we are experiencing. Experiencing exhaustion. Yeah. And how to climb out of it. I would say that audible exhale is just critical. And I am so pleased that my 5 year old in particular, Aliyah, has really taken to this. So we'll be in the car. She's like, ah, let's make a noisy exhale, everyone. And we're like, I love that because that natural pressure valve release is just so good. Yes. Affirm her ICU queen. So I would say audible exhaling and sighing across your workday when you're in commute real time, when you're in a moment of stress critical. And then I think for me, I've just really benefited a lot from tense and release or working with the hands. Right. Like so isolating the place on your body where you recognize holds stress. Right. Whether it by. Because you're using it so much like your hands, or if it's your neck, it's your shoulders, it's your feet, it's your forearms, and actually customizing your somatics to target that location. And if you put all that together and you're, you're a hydrated queen that is well rested, you can make noisy exhales and you have a couple somatics to target your stress areas. I think you're going to experience a radically different you. And I love that for you.

[Becky]

Yep.

[John]

I mean, so good. Lindsay and I shared that. I've gotten to be witness to watching this whole thing get recorded and get to see the messy, like, construction of this. And so it's beautiful to me to watch you talk about not only like your family, because you light up your team, where you light up your co conspirators. Like, there's so much love in that in those different units. But I'm cap. I'm really caught with how you pour into PD as a result of that. And I think professional development to me used to seem like this very transactional thing. Like whatever I wanted to learn, we would go to a conference and then maybe we would hear about it from. If someone on our team went. But the way that y'all live and breathe and move as a team at the teaching well is like PD is part of your, like the way you show up. And I love how you know, you. It seems like you're a growing organism together. And I think that's just so beautiful. And it's really like reset in my mind what I think healthy PD professional development looks like on a team. So I wonder if you'd riff about that because I think y'all are really amazing at it.

[Lindsay]

Yeah. If it could have been an email, then just have it be a memo.

[Becky]

Please, please.

[Lindsay]

It's. It's giving webinar. I'm just like, how many people show up? And the staff meeting is actually like a list of updates. So I just think what inspires me to stay and to grow in both the social sector as well as in education is that I'm a forever learner. Right. That I value not only teaching, but also being a student. And so when we get to learn and grow together, it's hella fun. I just, I don't. I don't know how else to describe it other than like, I have the distinct honor of witnessing my team's professional and personal growth because we build human centered explorations and practices into our professional development. Who I am working with today is not who I was working with four years ago. Not because they weren't here, but because they are literally growing, healing, loving, learning. It is, it's so dynamic. And so some of the technical elements. Right. Or that we, we do. We spend three hours a week, nine to 12 on Tuesdays. We rotate who does somatic openings and check ins. We do have a Cadence, right. So if you want to know more about that, hit us up. But there's, there is an org update on the first one and then we have multiple focus areas that we study each year together to learn and grow. And we try and make sure there are a lot of different voices and multiple modalities. So we're in breakout rooms, we are doing scenario analysis, we are recording videos, we are analyzing and doing consultancies around client pain points. There's so much that we're doing together and it makes us better. And I love it.

[John]

I mean do the math. That is like 8% of your work week or something. I mean, you know, like that's a solid chunk of every week dedicated to learning and growth and community. Like that is amazing.

[Becky]

And, and I would even say it shows like I can see the evolution of your team and I, and I think that's what I want to make sure that I say right here because I feel like I was aging through my 20s and my 30s and part of my 40s, but I don't know that I was growing, if you know what I mean. And so I was learning new things, but I was not self actualizing. And I think that there is something about if you want to be a human of evolution. If you want to grow and get better every day, if you want to live your to John's point, one most essential, one most vibrant life, then there has to be this active output and activation of growth and evolution. And the fact that you have worked it as not a check the box as oh, this is is going to help us breathe physically, metaphorically, emotionally. I just think it's amazing.

[Lindsay]

Well, that was a whole bar and we need to write a poem and do an interpretive dance on that. But I will say I talk to EDs and board members specifically in the social sector that think I'm nuts for dedicating that much time and paying my people to be off the floor. But not only does it reinforce our org culture and relationships because as a hybrid, mostly remote organization, this is the glue to our team. But it also provides incredible amounts of sustainability, not just for myself as the leader, but also for my supervisory team because it gives a weekly touch point to recalibrate, to align, to ensure that folks aren't in long suffering around questions or curiosities or pain points, that there is a felt safety net of support and rigorous development and that is retention. It, it is decreasing work for me. It is making my job more effective and it is making my teammates jobs more effective. And when we experience that level of efficacy. Why would we leave? Why wouldn't we double down for our clients in our community? Right. We're getting better results because we're pouring into ourselves and each other. And that feels. That feels like something I want to get behind and stay behind, so I will.

[Becky]

And stay in the work. Yeah. Ten months. That's it. And. And I just think that you talked earlier, John, about, you know, what starts here ripples. And I think when you have a mentality of pouring into your team in that way and into yourself without guilt, without shame, when you can embrace that, that is going to ripple. And I don't just mean in the moment. I think that that is going to pay such dividends to you. It is core value number two for us, which is playing the long game, because we want you in this work as long as we have your vibrancy here. But I also believe this is community is everything. And we talked at Impact up. Pause that. This is community care and embracing wellness for yourself and your team is building this community of care. And as we're winding down, I got to give you the first right to jump in here and give your one good thing lens. But as we're kind of putting a bow on all of this, how would you tie up this series, this experience, this moment that we're standing in into a one good thing?

[John]

It's so hard, I know, to say goodbye.

[Becky]

Until next Microsoft, Motown, Philly. Yes.

[Lindsay]

Okay. I'll just. I'll start with an unpopular belief, but I promise I'll get to my one good thing. One of the ways I know I am in the healthiest work culture I have ever been in is that it's making my personal relationships a little tricky. What I mean by that is not that I'm toxically spilling in my personal life because of my workplace stressors, but actually the caliber of my teammates, their commitment to themselves, but also to my healing and the ways that we heal out loud as a collective have raised my standard and my bar around what I expect relationally from others. And so if you're not absolutely cheering when you hear, you know, a colleague is like, I went to therapy. I had a major breakthrough. I'm not going to spill all of it. Okay. Professional authenticity. But. But I'm going to share this. And here are the concrete behaviors that I'm doing now. And this is all the lightness that I feel. My health has improved Our team literally, like shouts, screams, dances, affirms. I'm finding that a lot of teammates in the teaching, well, are turning to each other to share these major life wins. And some of us aren't getting that level of healing cheerleading in our personal lives. And we deserve it. And I, I demand it now. And so I just want to name that. We talk a lot about the indicators of unhealthy workplaces and maybe there's a follow up series here. But what are actually the pro social positive indicators of workplace well being and how do they ripple into your personal, professional and provider lives? We'll talk about that later. But I think my overall one good thing kind of, you know, linking back to that other podcast episode where we said maybe before you leave because you assume the grass is greener, you can stay and tend to the soil. I think we need to find the messy middle. That's how we started this, this episode, right? Yeah. But I love the idea of a sabbatical. I love the idea of being able to completely shift every system. I love more the idea of microdosing wellness and finding the messy middle. Last year we started piloting something called supervision sabbatical. It is literally the idea that we can take rest and break from a responsibility, a duty or an initiative inside of our organization. It doesn't mean you need to leave the org, doesn't mean you're getting demoted. It doesn't mean you need to take a pay cut. It means I've microdosed wellness and yet I still feel out of balance. And this one particular part of my work is what is contributing the most to my stress and fatigue. I need a break from that. In lieu of, I need a break from working altogether. In lieu of, I need a break from this job. In lieu of I need to leave this profession or this company. And I would love to invite all of us to figure out innovative ways for the messy middle to live for us to micro and macro dose wellness and to be able to embed sabbaticals across our life without having to upend the company's health. There's just a different way forward. I feel like we are on the verge of figuring it out together. And my one good thing is just when we choose each other, we can do hard things. And that likely there is a middle path, something we haven't identified yet. That when we put all of our brilliance together, we can figure out a way to stay in the work, make the impact we want, and, and love our life while doing it.

[John]

Holy heck.

[Becky]

So good. John, how are you gonna come alongside that one? Steering wheel so I wouldn't have to go next?

[John]

You know, mine's very simple. But it's something that stuck out to me, this whole series is that proactivity is the way. And I think, you know, everything feels, like, very reactionary. We're trying to solve for today's crises. And, like, I think this series gives a window into how much better, like, life could be if we just took stock of, like, what are we trying to build to? What is the life that we're trying to build to? What are the relationships we want to build to and be taking the proactive steps to get there and not feeling like the defeat, but feeling like the what's possible. And maybe that's your optimist friend over here that likes to kind of sit on this side of that. But I just think it's the way, you know, and I just think that you've laid out so many guides and so many resources in this series. So my one good thing also is if you haven't listened, like, go listen to the five episodes. Like, hopefully you'll have some. Some time over the next few weeks to, like, we're not dropping a bunch of episodes. We're not adding to the overwhelm here on the we are for good feed. Like, cue these up because there is something proactively that you can do and especially thinking about the new year ahead that could result in compounding long game kind of effects for you and your lifestyle.

[Lindsay]

Come on. Proactivity. We love a proactivity. It's like, it's refueling your tank before you're completely on E. That's it. It's like sustainability snacking so you don't get hangry and burnt out. Okay.

[John]

Yeah, the hangover is real.

[Becky]

Well, okay.

[John]

B, bring us home.

[Becky]

No, I'm sad I went after you because that was so strong but so good. And I'm so glad that you can that we're telling and talking about this in such a holistic way. I'm so glad that we can come into this space and I can look at my two friends and say thank you for creating the safe space for me to talk about my crap and your crap. And we're all, you know, sifting through it. And I hope you listening right now feel as much that you're around this hearth, you know, that we are in right now. Because my one good thing, really, I'm bringing up the moment that stuck with me the most out of this series. I think it was in the first episode, Lindsay, where you were talking about liberatory leaders. And in my mind, I'm tattling on myself again. I was like, oh, yeah, I think I'm one of those. And as you're going through it, I was like, oh, crap, I got some work to do. Because you might know what that means to be a liberatory leader for yourself. But Lindsay's saying, what is the evidence that you are? If you have no self care, if you're taking no sick days, if you're taking no time off, if you're not modeling that which you are trying to receive for your staff, then you got some work to do. And friend, that was my cue that I've got to do something different. And I saw this Beautiful quote from C.S. lewis I wanted to share with everybody. And he says, if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road. And in that case, the person who turns back soonest is the most progressive person. So I'm telling you right now, if you feel like you're on the wrong road, which I feel like I've been navigating ever since we are for good turned on this, this power switch and turn this podcast mic on. Because the more you listen to other people, the more you start to listen to yourself, you will feel the shift. You will feel growth. Not aging, but growth. I'm in the middle of it, and I am telling you, friends, that once we start to be the action to John's point, that we can start to bring others with us to Lindsay's one good thing, that is when the shift begins to really make a difference, personally, intergenerationally, and I think culturally. And so I'm just asking you to join me on that progressive travel to turn back to where we need to go and start from there.

[Lindsay]

I just took my tambourine out.

[Becky]

Little triangle. Let's go.

[Lindsay]

That's the black church reference. Sorry. That is a whole testimony.

[Becky]

I'm learning, guys. I'm just grateful to be doing it alongside all of you. I love you dearly, and this work is a journey and I know I want to stay in it. You all want to stay in it. You listening? I hope you want to stay in it because we need you, but we need you to be healthy and we need you to take care of yourself to do so. Let's do that in 2025 if you haven't started already.

[John]

Okay. As we wrap up, we got to point to some of these resources because we've already pointed you to the podcast. If you've not listened, check it out on the feed or go to we are forgood.com. gather. You can find all the episodes there. But Lindsay Yalls team has been building resources like you. The scaffolding we talk about like y'all are not only teaching, you're giving us like playbooks, documents, PDFs, the wellness, the.

[Becky]

Meeting and your meeting agenda is such a good takeaway. Yes, we'll link to that.

[Lindsay]

Yeah. At theteachingwell.org blog you will find a blog that matches each of the episodes as well as embedded resources like freebies PDFs you can download. We also have a free Somatic video on our Digital Mindful Toolkit page. So if you are someone that was like okay, I'd like to see more of this. There is a full resource for you to share with your team with embedded check in questions. You don't have to plan anything, you just have to believe enough in getting yourself and your team well. And we've got your your back. So keep visiting us online my friend.

[John]

I mean our hearts are full. This community has not only just rallied around this, it's been bombed to this community. Thank you for your work, for your vulnerability, your team's precious time pouring into this project. We're just so grateful to be in this together.

[Becky]

Appreciate you, love you dearly. Happy New Year to all of you out there. Take care of yourself. Build in some rest over the holiday period and yeah, start working on that new path of wellness for yourself and for others. We believe in it and we believe it can literally change everything.

[Lindsay]

Yeah. Let's heal out loud.

[Becky]

The well take care friends.

[John]

Hey friends, before we wrap today's episode, we wanted to tell you about an incredible new tool designed for mission driven organizations like yours. It's designed to help you save time, reduce your workload and even help you raise more money for your mission.

[Becky]

Meet Cadenza, an intelligent AI backed hub for your organization's knowledge, storytelling and impact. Non profits use Cadenza as their source of truth by training the tool with their own impact data, relevant content, storytelling and more. Then Cadenza securely uses this knowledge to help you work smarter and with more ease.

[John]

Cadenza can also help you identify aligned funding opportunities. But even better, it helps you efficiently craft grant applications in your unique style and tone. And of course your impact and stewardship reporting becomes so much easier with just a few clicks.

[Becky]

With Cadenza, your org can move at the speed of AI. Sound like Cadenza might be a fit for your organization? Take a test drive with our friends today and experience how Cadenza can help you grow your mission's impact this year.

[John]

So schedule your free demo by visiting. Get cadenza.com or follow the link in this episode's description. Be sure to tell them we are for good.

[Lindsay]

Sent.