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Self-Care for Mental Health | Recovery, Anxious, Sadness, Bipolar, Emotions, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Self-Esteem

Self-Care for Mental Health | Recovery, Anxious, Sadness, Bipolar, Emotions, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Self-Esteem
A supportive podcast hosted by certified peer specialist Amy McVay, offering a safe space for honest conversations about mental health and wellness. Episodes focus on self-care, recovery from anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and other emotional challenges, with an emphasis on connection and community. The show aims to help listeners break cycles of shame and isolation, and to prioritize their own healing. Amy shares personal experience and practical encouragement to help others feel less alone in their struggles.
Episodes

53 | Show Up for Yourself This Holiday Season: Create Your Own Self-Care Action Plan (Part 2)
Practical self-care steps to reduce seasonal overwhelm and support mental wellness.
In Part 2 of this two-part series, Amy gently guides you through the final 2 steps of creating your own Self-Care Action Plan for the holidays.
🌿 You’ll learn how to:
🫶 identify your support people
🫶 name how they can support you
🫶 set weekly intentions to meet your CARE goal
🫶 feel like your true self this sea

52 | Show Up for Yourself This Holiday Season: Create Your Own Self-Care Action Plan (Part I)
Practical self-care steps to reduce anxiety and support emotional wellness.
In Part I of this two-part series, Amy gently guides you through the first steps of creating your own Self-Care Action Plan for the holidays.
🌿 You’ll learn how to:
🫶 gently check in with yourself
🫶 understand your emotional and mental starting point
🫶 set one supportive CARE goal
🫶 feel grounded and intentional this s

51 | Stigma Surrounding Bipolar Disorder and the Importance of Seeking Professional Help- with Mental Health Advocate, Jonathan Kemp
Hi friend 🫶 Have you ever felt resistant to seeking professional help for your mental health or that it’s too late?
My guest today, Jonathan Kemp, is a mental health advocate, entrepreneur, and creator of SmartWisdom- a scientifically validated note-taking technique. He was born into privilege as the future 3rd Viscount of Rochdale. He knew something wasn’t right since he was about 7 years old and

50 | Back to Self-Care Quick Tips: Dancing to Release Stress
🎶 Back to Self-Care Quick Tips: Dancing to Release Stress
Movement can be medicine. In this playful episode, I share how dancing helps release stress, reconnects us to joy, and even brings us back to our younger selves.
Together, we’ll talk about:
Why movement is a powerful way to release stuck energy
My story of remembering how dance helps me move through anxiety and stress
Simple ways to br

49 | Back to Self-Care Quick Tips: Cocooning for Rest
🪺 Back to Self-Care Quick Tips: Cocooning for Rest
Sometimes the most powerful form of self-care is retreat. In this episode, I share how cocooning—creating a safe, cozy space to rest—helped me move through exhaustion this summer.
Together, we’ll talk about:
How cocooning calms the nervous system and restores balance
My personal story of reaching burnout, unplugging, and recovering after rest

48 | Back to Self-Care Quick Tips: Conscious Breathing
🌬 Back to Self-Care Quick Tips: Conscious Breathing
Your breath is always with you—and it can be your reset button. In this calming episode, I share how conscious breathing can help reduce anxiety and bring us back into balance.
Together, we’ll talk about:
Why stress shortens the breath and keeps us stuck in fight-or-flight
My experience with waking up anxious and using deep breathing to calm

47 | Back To Self-Care Quick Tips: Watering Our Mental Health
💧 Back to Self-Care Quick Tips: Watering Our Mental Health
Sometimes self-care is as simple as a sip of water. In this short and gentle episode, I share how hydration affects our mental health and a personal reminder I had this summer about how easy it is to forget our own needs.
Together, we’ll talk about:
Why water matters for clarity, calm, and emotional steadiness
A personal story of learn

46 | Your Big Emotions Are Not the Enemy- Take This Baby Step to Silence Stigma
Hi friend 🫶 Are your big emotions overwhelming you?
I used to live in fear of my big feelings and where they would take me until I realized they weren’t there to hurt me but to inform me that I needed to take action to care for myself in some way.
In today’s episode I will be sharing who the real enemy is when it comes to caring for ourselves where we need to be. *Spoiler- it’s not our emotions.

45 | Summer Expectations Making You Irritable? How Prioritizing Time to Care for Yourself is Your Way to Peace
Hi friend 🫶 Are you carrying heavy expectations that are making you feel irritable this Summer?
Welcome to Self-Care for Mental Health 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
As a recovering perfectionist with chronic high expectations, I’ve found myself carrying unnecessary weights into new seasons of my life. I’ve learned that when I am feeling irritable, it’s a sign to check in with myself.
In today’s e

44 | When Anxiety is Knocking at Your Door - Try This Simple Self-Care Practice to Regulate Your Emotions
Welcome to Self-Care for Mental Health 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Feeling anxious? 🫤 You are not alone.
Anxiety can be a very debilitating feeling and so often in the moment we just don’t know what to do with ourselves.
Is there something we can do when we are feeling this emotion instead of letting it take the keys and drive our day??
The answer is YES!
This nervous/anxious energy i

43 | Overwhelmed By Your Emotions?- 3 Actions Steps To Choose Courage Over Fear When It Comes To Practicing Self-Care
Welcome to Self-Care for Mental Health 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Have you been experiencing overwhelming emotions lately that feel like a tidal wave coming to wipe you out? I see you. I know right where you are. 🛟
I used to live in fear of my emotions like they were the enemy, instead of embracing them as my friend. They were never surfacing to destroy me, instead they were serving

42 | “Are You OK?”- Spring, Suicide Awareness, & the Importance of Checking In
Welcome to Self-Care for Mental Health 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
*Disclaimer: There is mention of suicide in this episode. Please take precautions while listening and seek out support if needed.
Hi friend,
Do you find yourself dreading the “How are you” question? 🙋🏻♀️
For me it can often feel like there is pressure and an expectation to say “I’m good” or “I’m fine”, even though that may not b

41 | Stigma Got You Down? Learn How You Can Be Part of a Safe Community
Welcome to Self-Care for Mental Health 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Do you find yourself having thoughts like…
“There must be something wrong with me.”
“I’ll never be enough.”
“I feel so different. So other.”
When you have a thought like this, do you share it with a trusted someone or do you tend to hide what you are thinking and how it is making you feel?
What if I told you there is n

40 | When You Don't Feel Like Yourself- Simple Steps to Care for Yourself Where You Need to Be
Welcome to Self-Care for Mental Health 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Do you find yourself wanting to check out? Are you staring into space instead of being able to focus on what is right in front of you?
It can feel very scary and unsettling when we don’t feel like ourselves. It is important to be gentle and kind as we acknowledge what is going on and remind ourselves this is just a pla

39 | Navigating a Busy Season? How to Know When to Take a Mental Health Break
Hey friend 👋
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Are you in a busy season but find it hard to focus on what is right in front of you?
Has your body been giving you signs and signals that you just need to rest?
In today’s episode, I am sharing about my recent need for a mental health break and how I navigated my way towards things that nourish me.
Listen in.
Your presence matters here. <3
With you,
Amy

Love Memo 🫶
from me to you 🫶
with you,
amy

38 | No Time For Yourself? Create Space With This One Simple Practice Today
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi Friend,
Do you wake up feeling tired, unmotivated, and like you have no time for yourself to breathe before the day's activities begin?
Taking space for ourselves in the morning and throughout our day is so important for maintaining our mental health & wellness.
Today I am sharing one simple practice that I have been including in my day

37 | Is Anger Depleting Your Energy? How to Recognize the Signs and Take Action
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Do you struggle with suppressing your emotions when you feel upset?
Is internalized anger stealing your energy?
Today I am sharing an honest confession of my struggle with acknowledging my anger and expressing it in a healthy way.
Listen in.
Your presence matters here. <3
With you,
Amy
👉 Next Steps:
> Need support for your

36 | Respite for Wellness- Learning to Advocate for Our Recovery
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Have you been feeling like you need some time away from everything and everyone? It’s probably because you do. And though it may sound selfish, it’s not.
What you and everyone around you really needs is for you to take care of yourself. If that means taking a trip to a warm beach in the middle of winter, great! It may be a long driv

35 | Feeling Disconnected From Yourself? Shedding an “As-If" Personality to Recover Your Mental Health & Wellness- With Special Guest Stacy Blemaster
*Disclaimer:
There is mention of suicide in this episode. Please take precautions while listening and seek out support if needed.
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
🤔 Have you ever felt like you were not at home in your own body?
Like you were going through the motions but feeling totally disconnected from reality?
🤷🏻♀️ Have you ever wondered, who am I really?
T

34 | 3 Tips for When Your Mental Health and Wellness Tools Aren't Working
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Have you been feeling the weight of the Winter season?
Winter can be a challenging time for our mental health & wellness.
We tend to want to hibernate which leads to isolation followed by a shame spiral and it’s like a broken record on repeat.
Today I am sharing 3 Tips for when you are trying all the tools in your wellness too

33 | Positive Self-Talk For Our Mental Health & Wellness- With Special Guest Jay Pyfer
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Do you struggle with negative self talk? Is there a bully in your head constantly putting you down?
Our brains are like a program that can get stuck in a loop but the good news is we can reprogram our brains by taking action with positive self talk to silence the inner critic.
Today’s episode is a conversation I had with my big b

32 | Mental Health and Wellness Challenges in Winter
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Hi friend,
Do you find this time of year to be a struggle for your mental health and wellness? You are not alone. I will be the first to admit that the winter season can be very difficult for me.
In this episode you will hear…
Why Winter can be HARD on our mental health and wellness
How self love can be a powerful force in maintaining our we

31 | Managing Your Mental Health & Wellness With Laughter in Community- with Special Guest Katie Omri (Part 2))
*Disclaimer:
There is mention of suicide and suicidal ideation in this episode. Please take precautions while listening and seek out support if needed.
----more----
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Have you ever thought you weren't a good enough friend?
Is it hard to believe that you deserve loving friends in your life?
What would it look like to redefine what it means to be

30 | Managing Your Mental Health & Wellness With Laughter in Community- with Special Guest Katie Omri (Part I)
*Disclaimer:
There is mention of suicide and suicidal ideation in this episode. Please take precautions while listening and seek out support if needed.
----more----
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
You know that friend that makes you laugh anytime you are with them... like belly laughing so hard you are in tears? For me, that is my dear friend Katie, and you are in for a rea

29 | You Are Not Behind- 3 Wellness Tools to Boost Your Self Confidence
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Do you look around you and feel like you are behind even though the new year just started?
Do you feel pressure to move at a pace that doesn’t feel supportive of your mental health and wellness?
In today’s episode I am offering encouragement to block out the noise around you and pay attention to what you really need to remain confident in yo

28 | Support Your Goals With a Wellness Recovery Action Plan
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Happy New Year's Eve, friend.
I have so much HOPE for 2025 that mental health and wellness recovery is possible for ANYONE.
In today’s episode you will have space to reflect with me about what you’ve gained from 2024, what you want to take with you into the new year, and what your hopes and dreams are for 2025?
I am also sharing the reason

27 | Breathe the A.I.R.- Simple Breathing Techniques to Alleviate Stress
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Breathe…
Sometimes we just need to be reminded of the wellness tools we have within our reach at all times.
Today I am sharing with you some breathing techniques that you can practice anywhere at any time to help you alleviate stress and stay present in your body.
I will also walk you through a simple wellness tool called A.I.R.
Listen in.

26 | Stay Grounded- The 6 R’s of Recovering our Mental Health & Wellness
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
I invite you on a walk with me in our episode today, through the woods as I practice staying grounded during a very busy season.
It is not easy for me to share from where I am when I am not feeling well, but I know it is important for my mental health & wellness recovery.
My hope is that it will inspire you to share from where you are, eve

25 | It's Okay To Not Be Okay
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
“It’s okay to not be okay.”
A phrase we have likely said to someone in our lives when they were having a hard time, but how do we feel about extending that same kindness to ourselves when we are breaking down?
I find that it is much easier to say these words to someone else, than it is to actually receive them myself.
Do you need someone to

24 | Creating Your Mental Health and Wellness Budget for the Holidays
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Just because the holidays are upon us doesn’t mean we get an extra surplus of mental health and wellness. We have the same amount. And for those of us who choose to fiercely protect the wellness we have worked so hard for, this time of year can be extra challenging for us.
Our pace is our pace. <3
As we continue to carve out our own path t

23 | Taking Extra Tender Care of Your Mental Health During Thanksgiving
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
What I am sharing in today's episode friends, is as real for my life this week as anyone else's. So real that it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
There are many things I love about Thanksgiving. (Pumpkin pie for one, let's be completely honest. 😂) And also this time of year brings a lot of challenges for my mental health and wel

22 | How to Support Our Mental Health and Wellness When We Are Nearing a Meltdown
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Have you been feeling overwhelmed lately?
Does everything feel like too much?
If someone looks at you the wrong way do you think you might lose it?
I. Feel. You.
Today I am sharing some specific ways we can support our mental health and wellness when we are nearing a meltdown.
Grab that notebook and pen and listen in. ✍️
Your presence matt

21 | 5 Signs You Might Be Experiencing a Vulnerability Hangover
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable is courageous and also terrifying.
With it comes discomfort and uncertainty.
How can we lean in to vulnerability when what we feel like doing is running the other way or finding somewhere to hide.
Today I am sharing signs to look for when you might be experiencing a vulnerability hangover, and how to take st

20 | When Sickness Hits Your Home- 3 Ways to Support Your Mental and Emotional Wellness
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Is sickness a stressor for you, friend?
Something that enters your life and causes feelings of stress?
It definitely is for me.
As someone who lives with Bipolar disorder and cycling moods, it doesn’t take much to throw my mind and body off course.
So myself getting sick or a loved one can be very difficult on my mental and emotional wellness

19 | Discovering Your Own Path to Wellness Recovery with Special Guests Amanda Cady & Amanda Morrison (Part 2)
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
This episode truly feels like an invitation to grab your favorite emotional support beverage ☕️🥰 and pull up a chair. We can learn so much from each other when we actively listen.
The reality of us discovering our own path to wellness recovery is that it isn’t always pretty. We will cycle through good times and really difficult times.
Today,

18 | Discovering Your Own Path to Wellness Recovery with Special Guests Amanda Cady & Amanda Morrison (Part 1)
Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
🤔 Have you wondered where to even begin when it comes to discovering your own path to wellness recovery?
You are not alone.
In my experience of going from living invisible to being seen and known, I found that vulnerability and having safe spaces to talk about my mental health and wellness, has helped me see more clearly my own path to wel

17 | Becoming an Expert on Your Own Path to Wellness Recovery
Hi Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
When you hear the word expert, what comes to mind?
Do you picture yourself or someone else?
In today’s episode my hope is that you will feel empowered to see yourself as the expert of your own life.
I have not always seen myself in this way but I am learning more and more how to take the lead in my own life and walk confident

16 | On Days When You Feel Quiet- How to Accept Our Invitation to the Table and Communicate What We Need With Our Supporters
Hi Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Do you have days when you just feel the need to be more quiet?
I definitely do, and I find it can be harder to accept my invitation to the table where I am. I was reminded this week that I first need to accept my own invitation to the table where I am in order to extend that invitation to others.
Join me today as I share

15 | Embracing a Slower Pace on Your Path to Wellness Recovery
Hi Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Do you sometimes struggle to welcome a slower pace when it comes to your mental health & wellness recovery?
Me too.
In today’s episode I am sharing what my pace tends to look like this time of year and in the season’s to come, and what I do to embrace a slower pace.
Every tiny step matters, friend.
Listen in.
Your pr

14 | Seasonal Affective Disorder is Real! How to Practice Seasonal Awareness to Boost Your Mood and Care for Your Mental Health & Wellness
Hi Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Have you been experiencing a shift in your mood or feeling any changes in your body recently?
Do you ever wonder if it could be connected to the changing of the season? 🍂
I have found from my own lived experience that when the season changes it can sometimes make me feel disoriented or unsteady for a bit. I start to notice a

13 | Can Mental Wellness & Mental Illness Co-Exist? 4 Signs Someone is Experiencing Mental Wellness While Living With a Mental Illness
Hi Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Do you realize how much beauty is inside you?
Right now in this moment no matter where you are or how you are feeling today, there is a wealth of wellness inside of you even if you don’t feel like it in this moment.
For years after being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, it felt like any semblance of mental wellness was out o

12 | Self Acceptance and Finding the Beauty in Living With Bipolar Disorder - With Special Guest Jeremy Lynch (Part 2)
Hello my Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Today’s episode is part 2 of a conversation I had with my good friend Jeremy Lynch, live in studio. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to part 1 yet in episode 11, please do.
This conversation is so meaningful to me for many reasons, but it really highlights just how important having spaces where we feel safe to talk a

11 | Self Acceptance and Finding the Beauty in Living With Bipolar Disorder - With Special Guest Jeremy Lynch (Part 1)
Hi Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
I am thrilled to bring you part 1 of a 2 part conversation I had live in studio this week with my good friend, Jeremy Lynch.
I love how episodes can evolve and take on a special meaning of their own and it feels like that is what happened in this conversation.
What started as a conversation between two friends on how they met,

10 | How Having a Morning Routine is Helping Me Show Up to My Life and 4 Steps to Creating Your Own Morning Routine
Hi Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊
I'm so glad you are here! 🫶
Change is in the air, do you feel it?
Now more than ever I am leaning into my W.R.A.P., Wellness Recovery Action Plan. This is a living plan I have made in advance and continue to revise to fit my needs. Included in my plan is my morning routine. 🌅 ☕️
Having healthy routines I can count on makes a huge difference in how I sho

09 | Struggling to Show Up? Permission to Show Up However You Need to Be Today
Hi Friends and Welcome to Living Table! 🌊 🫶
The struggle to show up is real sometimes, right? Especially if you are someone who lives with mental health challenges.
I find what can be even harder are the messages that play in our minds when it feels impossible to show up.
Messages that say we are less than, not enough, unworthy, etc.
If you have ever experienced showing up to life to be a strug

08 | Why Living Community Matters for Our Mental Health & Wellness Recovery
Hello my friends and Welcome to Living Table 🌊
I am SO glad you are here.
🐚 🫶 🏝️
Here’s what I know friends, we are CRAVING COMMUNITY, of the best kind.
Living, active, LIFE-GIVING community!
When daily life takes and takes and takes, we need spaces to replenish.
We need living breathing community to recover our mental health & wellness.
That is what today’s episode is all about.

07 | Trying to Balance All the Things, but Not Feeling Well? Identifying Our Essential Needs and Reclaiming Our Mental Health & Wellness
Hello my friends and Welcome to Living Table 🌊
I am SO glad you are here.
You being here says you care about your Mental Health & Wellness and about creating Safe Spaces where others can recover their wellness too. I think you are amazing for that, because this is some of the hardest work and it's not easy to show up to.
🫶🫶🏻🫶🏼🫶🏽🫶🏾🫶🏿
You are BRAVER than you think and STRONGER than you know

06 | LIVE from the Beach! What the Ocean Has Taught Me About Being a Safe Space for My Mental Health & Wellness
Hi friends and welcome to Living Table!
It is really good to have you here.
Today's episode is very in real life, in real time as I share from my heart while I am standing on the beach. I was on vacation with my family this past week and away from the studio so I needed to be ok recording from where I was. It can still feel scary for me to allow myself to be seen in this way, but I know that is

05 | Finding Safe Spaces to Talk About Our Mental Health & Wellness - With Special Guest Natalie Coleman
Hello friends and welcome to Living Table!
I am so glad you are here today!
Have you ever wondered what is a safe place or who is a safe person to talk to about your mental health and wellness?
Do you wonder if communities like that even exist??
I used to think they didn't, or if they did I didn't know where to find them.
In today's episode I am joined by my dear friend Natalie Coleman, who

04 | HELP! When We Need a Guide to Help us Navigate the (Sometimes) Foreign Land of Our Mental Health & Wellness
Hi friend,
Have you been trying to navigate the foreign land of your mental health & wellness, only to end up paralyzed at yet another dead end road?
You are not alone.
You are in good company here.
I too have been there so many times where I attempted to analyze my mental health & wellness until I was paralyzed.
It's okay to ask for help when we need it.
What if you had someone

03 | Total Game Changer! Having an Action Plan for our Mental Health & Wellness
Welcome Friends!
I am so glad you are here! I wonder, where you are today? How do you feel at the start of a new week? This time is for you. Take a breath. Use this time to check-in, and to care for your mental health & wellness. <3
Do you ever feel sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? Have you tasted wellness only to have it seemingly vanish into thin air leaving you dazed and conf

O2 | 3 Ways To Care For Our Mental Health & Wellness During Life's Transitions
Hi friends!
Have you been experiencing any anxiety, fatigue, low energy, rapid thoughts, or the thought of being around people feels like too much lately?
You might be in a season of transition or life change right now and not even realize it. It's good to be aware of the signs our bodies and minds give us when things are starting to break down, but they aren't always easy for us to recognize. W

01 | How Having a Peer Champion Impacted My Mental Health and Wellness and Ultimately Saved My Life
Welcome Friends!
I am so glad you are here! Today I share a personal story about how having a Peer Champion actually helped save my life.
What is a Peer Champion? How valuable are they in pursuing our mental health & wellness? You will hear all about it in today's episode and I will share how finding and having your own could make the difference between you staying hidden in isolation or pu

Living Table Trailer
Welcome friends to Living Table!
A safe space to talk about Mental Health & Wellness.
Have you struggled to find a place where you can open up and share about your Mental Health without fear of judgment?
Do you dream about what it would be like to be known instead of living invisible?
Have you wondered if there was a Mental Health & Wellness community where you could grow and thrive?
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