Here are two surprising self-care tips that you maybe haven't considered before.

*Share this episode with a friend that needs some out-of-the-box self care ideas.*

Tara and Jess each share an accessible and free self-care practice that they try to implement in their daily or weekly lives.

Consumer culture tells us that we have to spend money on self care. But Tara and Jess reject that sentiment! It's okay to spend money on self-care treats, but you don't have to.

A couple specific topics touched on:

-What IS self-care?

-Does self-care need to be a big investment of: money, time, energy?

-De-influencers!

-Walking outside first thing in the morning

-Circadian rhythm

-Sunlight on your eyes in the morning

-Theta brain state: https://nhahealth.com/brainwaves-the-language/

-Reciting 3 things you're grateful for (feeling gratitude) when your eyes are still closed when you first wake up in the morning: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_changes_you_and_your_brain

https://drjoedispenza.com/dr-joes-blog/the-transformational-power-of-gratitude

Follow us on Instagram here: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us here: lettersforgirls.submissions@gmail.com

Submit a letter completely anonymously: https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

Have you or a loved one received a neurodivergent diagnosis in adulthood? You're not alone!

Our letter writer shares about an autism diagnosis she received in her late 20's. She writes about her journey with getting to know herself, accepting herself and becoming okay with being misunderstood by others.

*Remember to click the subscribe or follow button your podcast app! It tells the app that you like what we're doing.*

Tara and Jess relate to getting a later-in-life neurodivergent diagnosis, and they each share a bit about their own journey.

Tara mentions Dr Gabor Maté's theory on neurodivergence as an interesting piece to add to the conversation.

https://drgabormate.com/adhd/

https://www.melrobbins.com/episode/episode-235/

Jess speculates that a lot of people from generations past have likely been misdiagnosed, or not diagnosed at all, and made it through life not knowing they were neurodivergent.

Tara shares how she always felt a little different growing up and in her 30's ended up with an ADHD diagnosis. She too, is becoming more and more okay with being misunderstood by others.

Understanding neurodivergence allows us to have more compassion for others and their behaviour and how they move through the world!

Jess points out how the majority of research on autism and other neurodivergence is primarily done on white male boys. In general, most health research is done on men and boys. Very limited research is done on women and girls. Depending on your demographic, you can be impacted by different mental and physical health conditions, disabilities and other diagnoses and only have access to certain (or very limited) support and resources.

Advocating for your own mental and physical health is important!

The letter writer references a speech made by a public figure related to autism. Jess expands on what was said in the speech and who said it. She shares some of her own theories surrounding the speech.

No matter if you are neurodivergent, or neurotypical, we are all human! Life is made up of struggles and a lot of joy and happiness. Tara and Jess want to be more mindful of noticing and appreciating joy, and leaning into their unique strengths. They encourage listeners to consider this too!

Follow us on Instagram: @lettersforgirlspod

Email us: lettersforgirls.submissions@gmail.com

Send us a letter completely anonymously here: https://surveymars.com/q/eJcvFaRDy

Send this episode to a loved one who you think might like to listen!

Let us know what you think about the podcast! Leave us a review on your podcast app.

Autism Resources:

https://www.autismcanada.org

https://aidecanada.ca

https://autismalliance.ca

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day

⁠https://uppbeat.io/track/mark-july/today-is-the-day⁠

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

Welcome to our first mini-chat!

Our mini-chats are shorter and more lighthearted episodes.

In this episode Tara and Jess take turns reading listener reviews that have been sent to their DMs or their email.

*Click the follow or subscribe button on your podcast app to tell the app that you like this podcast!*

Tara and Jess are so honoured that the podcast has connected with our listeners, as well as the letters written in by other women. It's fuel to keep moving forward!

They celebrate breaking 100 listens on Spotify and almost reaching a combined 200 listens between Spotify and Apple Podcast. This episode was recorded in early mid May, when they only had four episodes out. Since recording this, they have well surpassed 200 listens! (It's important to celebrate the little wins.)

They share about the concept of mini-chats. Originally the plan was to release these episodes on another day, in addition to Tuesday's weekly episode drops. But they need more letters to create more content to grow the podcast and expand on offerings! So for now, the plan is to sprinkle in mini.chats on Tuesday mornings while rotating between letter episodes and deep dives as well.

Thanks for being here, for listening, and for writing to us!

Stay up to date and know what's coming on their Instagram account: @lettersforgirlspod

Please take a moment to leave a review on your podcast app for Tara and Jess, it means a lot.

Talk soon.

Music credit:

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

Follow us us on Instagram: @lettersforgirlspod

Have you struggled with making friends in adulthood? Or noticed you've been attracting friendships that don't feel like a good fit for you?

Listen to this follow up to episode 1 (The Right Relationships Feel Effortless) which explored a letter submitted to us about how to recognise the right relationships throughout life. If you haven't listened to that first episode, maybe go back and have a listen!

*Remember to click the subscribe button! It tells the app that the content we're putting out there is valuable and important.*

In this deep dive, Tara and Jess talk about how they met, how they've struggled at points in their adulthood to make positive female friendships for different reasons, and strategies that they use now to develop and navigate new friendships.

Jess mentions that there a lot of resources available and different ways for people to make friends. Here are some of them that we know of:

• Bumble For Friends (BFF mode - if you already use Bumble, you can toggle between modes on the app!)

• Timeleft (sets you up with 5 strangers that you have things in common with, for a Wednesday night dinner at a restaurant - available in 60 countries and 300 cities)

• Gofrendly (founded by two like-minded strangers that met for a coffee while searching for friendship, and created an app to helps women make new friends and build meaningful connections)

*As always, be careful online and make sure you're safe. Make sure you tell someone before meeting strangers and always meet in a public place. As a general rule, don't go to a strangers house alone! When Jess first went to bookclub hosted at someone's house, she had her sister-in-law with her and when Tara went to writer's club, it was in a public setting and her husband knew the address of where she was and how long she'd be gone for.*

Tara and Jess chat about how joining a local club doing an activity or sport that you enjoy is a great to meet people with the same interests–it is, after all, how they met!

Showing up when you're not 100%. Tara shares how she is making an effort to show up when she's having an off day, or only feeling like she's operating at 30%, because she's leaning into friendships and being honest about how she's feeling. No one feels 100% everyday. Only you can decide what is best for you.

Brené Brown's strategy with her husband and how they navigate day-to-day in their marriage, in their household and as parents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfL4RTuC9Bk

Mel Robbins shares some tips on how she builds friendships

and stays in connection.

https://www.melrobbins.com/episode/episode-82/

You can send us your letters at lettersforgirls.submissions@gmail.com

Music credit: Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

Have you ever loved someone, but they bullied you? Did you feel stuck, or have tools that you felt confident using to navigate the situation? Did you have someone to turn to for help?

This episode we are reading a letter from a writer whose childhood best friend, was also her bully. Their relationship started when she was only six-years-old, and continued for eight years. She navigated the friendship with the knowledge she had at the time, but the relationship was hard on her. The school system made it even more challenging. School never felt like a safe place for our writer, but it was for her bully.

Tara and Jess talk about some ideas on how we can make public schools a safer place for everyone, including the importance of prioritizing mental health, and having access to counsellors.

Parents and caregivers can do a lot to make home safe, so that kids feel they have a trusted adult to turn to for help.

Jess highlights the importance of voting, it makes a difference.

Tara shares how the school system is still operating from it's original framework from almost 200 years ago. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/history-of-education#:~:text=The%20leading%20figure%20in%20Ontario,which%20the%20school%20promoter%20functioned.

Jess share about reaching out to old friends and the positive impact it can have.

Tara shares about a harmful female friendship. She also opens up about not always being the kindest friend when she was younger and how she reached out to an old friend to apologize and to own her behaviour and struggles.

Jess shares about her husband being bullied when he was younger, and then became the bully in turn.

A big thank you to our letter writer for sharing her story with us!

*Subscribe to our podcast! It tells the app that you like our content.*

Music credit:Music from #Uppbeathttps://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-dayLicense code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

Surprise Episode drop in celebration of our Podcast Releasing!

Have you ever experienced a time in your life where you had to make intentional changes? This Letter Writer shares her thoughts on "Burning it down" to make positive shifts in her life and to seek growth from the struggle.

Write to us! Tell us about a time you went through a big transition or change and send it to lettersforgirls.submissions@gmail.com

Tara and Jess talk about what burning it down means to them. Is it external factors? Internal factors? Both? Jess shares about a transition she's currently experiencing and how she's trying to own who she is.

Tara shares about working with and being aware of, her life-long self-limited mindset. While Jess shares a neat strategy to practice seeing herself as if she is viewing someone else.

Tara shares her understanding of what the dark night of the soul is and a time she experienced it. She also touches on the loss she experienced, the internal work she did to heal from that scary and challenging time and the post-traumatic growth that came after.

Jess shares about the history of witches and how the term was used to make women fear getting education and used to control them.

Your heart is your guide – a powerful message from our letter writer, Karena. Tara shares how she's been trying to tune in to her internal messages and truth more and expands on a strategy she learned from Melli Obrien about tuning in to make decisions:

https://melliobrien.com/the-head-heart-gut-check-in/

Jess talks about the line "watch the flames light the path" from our letter writer. Rather than focusing on what is potentially lost, let the light that is created guide you to where you should be.

Which leads us to this podcast and its creation–where is it going to take us?! We're open and leaning in to whatever happens.

Thank you to our letter writer, Karena!!

If you'd like to write to us, email us at lettersforgirlspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: @lettersforgirlspod

Talk soon!

Music credit:

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9

Have you ever struggled with relationships that feel forced or struggled to make friends as an adult? Tune in to hear Kirsten's letter on relationships, our own experiences, and how we approach some of these struggles. Since talking it out usually helps, if you want to share about a relationship experience you've had, write to us about it!

Send your own letter to lettersforgirls.submissions@gmail.com

A couple things we referenced in this episode:

“You are the love of your life. And I think that when you start with yourself; loving yourself, creating boundaries, advocating for yourself, being honest with yourself, not being so good that you’re not being honest, you know, especially as a woman, then I think everything grows from there. It is the greatest seed you can plant in the world to create great friendships and relationships. Is to love yourself.” –Viola Davis

Mel Robbins Let Them theory, link to her podcast: https://www.melrobbins.com/podcast

Link to an episode where she introduces the Let Them Theory: https://www.melrobbins.com/podcasts/episode-226

Tara shares about a journaling practice she engages with as an adult that she wishes she could've used as a tool to get to know and understand herself better as a teenager. See our Instagram page @lettersforgirlspod for more journal prompts

Jess references a poem about friendship: "People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime." –Brian A. Drew Chalker

And vintage Taylor Swift, "The Best Day"

Some friendships come to an end, and even though its often what naturally happens, it can still be really hard.

We chat about love languages and how they can help us understand the people in our lives, and even ourselves, better.

Tara reflects on a surface-level, non-reciprocal friendship she had in her early thirties and her take-aways from it.

Jess shares how she moved to a new town and how this impacted her social life and relationships as an adult relocating.

We recognize that as adults we don't have to be new at many things, we develop comfort zones and try to avoid failing at anything. Maybe it's time for us all to try being new at something and be open to where that adventure takes us.

Thank you so much to our letter writer, Kirsten!

We hope you all enjoy this conversation about relationships.

Let us know in a review what you thought about it.

Talk soon!

*Friends! Please bear with us as we learn the ins and outs of recording. We promise audio quality will get better as we build on our skill and equipment.*

Music credit: Today is the Day by Mark July

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/today-is-the-day

License code: PR8M0SMSX51KSUG9