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One shaky flight turned a routine family trip into a minefield of “what ifs.” We dig into how a single turbulent experience can snowball into fear, why reassurance doesn’t always land, and how to shift from endless rumination to real coping. The surprising pivot: it’s rarely the "event" that scares us most—it’s the memory of the feeling we had when we felt helpless.

We walk through practical, repeatable tools you can use the next time anxiety hijacks a moment. You’ll hear how to identify the core emotion using a feelings wheel and creative drawing, then map the thoughts that keep it alive. We explore a counterintuitive favorite—time-boxed worry—so anxious thoughts stop interrupting every hour of the day. We add body-first resets like quick movement breaks and simple yoga inversions that change brain state fast, plus short grounding mantras that keep you afloat during spikes. Along the way, we separate facts from fiction to stop story-building and show how an ABC review (before, during, after) helps kids and adults see their progress in real time.

Parents will appreciate the honest talk about not becoming the solution to someone else’s anxiety and the risks of over-padding stressful situations. By naming the true fear and meeting it directly, we help build confidenc. If you’ve ever spiraled at 2 a.m., second-guessed a conversation, or watched a child brace for the worst, this conversation offers a clear path back to calm, grounded, and capable.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who overthinks, and leave a quick review—what tool will you try first?

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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What if the kindest thing you can do for yourself and the people you love is a clear, respectful no? We open Season Six with a candid look at boundaries, burnout, and the deeper relief that comes when you stop trying to be everywhere for everyone. One of us walks through a surprising decision to turn down a fully funded academic program—an offer that looked ideal on paper but conflicted with our family’s golden years and the energy we want to protect. That story becomes the springboard for reframing no as how you protect your most meaningful yes.

Across the conversation, we share the tools that make boundary setting less scary and far more practical. You’ll learn body-first cues that flag overcommitment before your calendar does, the pause phrases that buy you time (“I need to check my calendar”), and simple scripts for a no-yes response that keeps relationships warm without sacrificing your bandwidth. We dig into people pleasing, social pressure, and the myth that good parents sign kids up for everything. Instead, we offer a values-based approach that helps families pick fewer, better commitments so weekends feel like living, not logistics.

To build confidence, we recommend micro no’s—those everyday moments at checkout counters and casual asks where you can practice declining kindly. We also explore focused generosity: choosing where to give and serve on purpose, so your yes remains meaningful. With the new year ahead, we talk about using clear goals to streamline decisions, aligning choices with what matters most, and letting go of perfection in favor of steady practice. If your life feels stretched thin, this conversation is your permission slip to set boundaries, protect your peace, and show up fully where it counts.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a boundary boost, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Your support keeps the conversation going.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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What if most of your stress isn’t from your schedule, but from the stories your mind keeps telling? We celebrate 100 episodes by building a season-long survival guide that turns mental traps into practical tools you can actually use. Two friends with mental health training get honest about the habits that trip us up—then show how to get unstuck with simple steps that fit a real life.

We start by dismantling all-or-nothing thinking with a pen-and-paper exercise that creates space between extremes and points you toward what’s reasonable and effective. Then we take on catastrophizing, shifting from scary possibilities to likely outcomes while using movement, environment resets, and calming statements to cool a spiraling nervous system. Self-criticism gets a double hit of compassion and structure: kinder self-talk, plus a calendar audit that adds people, places, and activities that refill your energy instead of draining it.

Communication sits at the center of better days. We tackle mind reading by swapping assumptions for clear asks, and we curb overcommitment with the “polite no” and the “yes-no” technique that protects time without burning bridges. We explore how gratitude weakens the comparison trap, how naming feelings—beyond “fine”—undoes emotional numbing, and how nostalgia loops can make the present feel smaller than it is. Finally, we trade perfection for progress, embracing good enough as the engine of growth and the antidote to procrastination.

If you’ve ever felt stretched thin, stuck in your head, or trapped by your own expectations, this conversation offers permission and a plan: find the middle, say what you need, and make space for what matters. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review telling us which tool you’ll try first.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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Holiday magic shouldn’t require a spreadsheet and a stress headache. We talk candidly about the creeping pressure that starts when stores roll out Christmas before Halloween, why time suddenly feels so fast, and how easy it is to confuse tradition with obligation. Together we take a hard look at the rituals we’ve inherited, admit where they’ve stopped serving our families, and model a better path: ask who it’s for, invite your kids into the decision, and choose the version that actually brings joy.

We share a real shift in our own home—pressing pause on the “perfect” day-after-Thanksgiving tree farm outing—and what happened when we finally asked the kids what they wanted. The answers surprised us and freed everyone. From there, we get practical. You’ll learn a simple stress inventory to identify your top three pressure points, a coin-flip gut check to cut through indecision, and no-guilt scripts to say, “No, thank you,” when your calendar is already full. We also explore how to navigate extended-family expectations with respect, clarity, and options that keep connection at the center without burning you out.

If you love certain traditions, keep them and savor every minute. If you’re carrying rituals that feel heavy, modify them or let them go. Nothing has to be forever; reevaluate each year and let the season of life guide the plan. Expect concrete ideas for scaling back cards and parties, creating simpler gatherings, and practicing boundaries so you can be present for what matters most. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs permission to opt out, and leave a quick review to tell us which tradition you’re changing this year.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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A clean report card can still hide a hard truth. When spelling lists melt down into tears and progress graphs flatten, parents are left wondering if it’s effort, maturity, or something deeper. We open up about the moment a seasoned school psychologist realized her own child needed more than time—she needed an evaluation, a plan, and a different kind of help. That shift from “try harder” to “teach differently” becomes the turning point.


This is also a story about protecting self-worth. We share scripts for talking to kids about learning differences, shifting praise from outcomes to effort, and inviting children into the plan so they feel empowered, not singled out. Behavior is reframed as communication; avoidance becomes a clue to skill gaps, not a character flaw. By partnering with teachers, requesting the right data, and acting early, families can move from confusion to steady progress.

If report cards raised questions or your gut says something isn’t clicking, you’re not alone—and you’re not powerless. Listen, take notes, and share this with someone who needs a nudge toward early intervention. If the conversation helped, follow the show, leave a review, and tell us what topic you want next.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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A sudden internet blackout forced us to look up—and what we saw changed how we handle news, social feeds, and family time. We talk about the invisible cost of constant stimulation, how algorithms narrow our world, and why even “content we agree with” can quietly poison our mood. The conversation turns practical fast: we share the small switches that actually helped—curating feeds, muting hot-button topics, and building simple transition rituals between work and home so we don’t carry doomscroll energy into dinner.

We get honest about parenting through all of this. Kids don’t have the language for a dopamine comedown, and frankly, many adults don’t either. We explore modeling consistent tech boundaries, replacing screens with paper books and tactile activities, and using empathy when limits spark big feelings. There’s also a candid detour into managing stress during a home remodel, noticing when reactions are outsized, and asking for a short, peaceful break before re-engaging. It’s not about perfection; it’s about protecting the nervous system and choosing inputs that support the people we want to be.

If you’ve felt your mood bend after a 30-second reel—or realized that evening scrolling ruins the next 25 minutes—this one will resonate. You’ll come away with strategies for an algorithm detox, ideas for evening resets, and a gentler way to hold both productivity and presence. Less noise, more real life. If this spoke to you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a quick review so others can find it too.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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Some weeks stretch forever, and some feel like three at once. Instead of forcing old routines, we choose the pivot: trading six-mile runs for rock climbing, swapping comparison for curiosity, and learning to measure progress by small, honest wins that actually sustain motivation.

Small wins become deposits in a self-worth bank—non-scale victories, a clean problem explanation in a meeting, or a compliment so unexpected it lights your whole day. Yes, even being mistaken for your son’s sister at brunch can be a tiny miracle.

We also talk candidly about Botox, identity, and why a subtle change isn’t about chasing youth but about finding a little confidence. Throughout, we return to a simple practice: notice what you can influence, celebrate the micro-moments, and offer others a win when you can. If you’ve been navigating fatigue, perimenopause, recovery, or just a season that won’t let up, this one’s a hand on your shoulder and a map for the next foothold.

If this resonates, share it with a friend who needs a small win today, subscribe for more honest midlife and mental health conversations, and leave a review telling us your latest tiny victory—we’d love to cheer you on.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com

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The doors opened, the old photos stared back, and suddenly twenty-five years collapsed into one loud, bright weekend. We didn’t just throw a reunion—we built a space where people could arrive as they are, remember who they were, and leave feeling lighter. From a free-roam school tour to a family picnic to a dance with our original DJ, we engineered a four-part arc that moved from nostalgia to connection to full-on joy, and even a little catharsis to boot.

If you’re debating whether to attend, here’s our take: go. You can’t buy the feeling of laughing until you cry with someone you haven’t seen in decades, or the clarity that comes from meeting your past with your present. Hit play, then tell us your best reunion moment—or your biggest hesitation. And if this story resonates, subscribe, share the episode with your group chat, and leave a review so more classmates can find their way back.

This episode of The LYLAS Podcast is dedicated to our high school, Class of 2000.

Please be sure to checkout our website for previous episodes, our psych-approved resource page, and connect with us on social media! All this and more at www.thelylaspodcast.com