The Positive Mind

Oct 30 2022

The Positive Mind Podcast artwork

Join Host Kevin O' Donoghue, LMHC, and Niseema Dyan Diemer LMT, SEP for provocative conversations about the entire spectrum of mental health topics. We explore innovative techniques and modalities for identifying what causes us pain and anxiety and for finding sources of comfort, healing and momentum in our lives-- and practical ways to engage them for personal growth and greater daily satisfaction. Our guests include authors, researchers, therapists, healers, and artists who consider the ways we can learn to care for ourselves and others. Together we invite you to embrace tools to help you lead a more positively minded life.

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Home: It's a Feeling

Oct 30 2022 57 mins

The feeling of home is as universal as it is personal. Home can be a place of safety and refuge, or chaos and instability. No matter which, home is the place you identify with in some way, it carries meaning, memories and shapes your identity. Homesickness is a powerful feeling that something just isn't right, coupled with a longing for things to be stable, predictable, familiar an

Hygge: The Danish Art of Feeling Good

Oct 23 2022 57 mins

This week Kevin and Niseema talk about the Danish word "Hygge," which is a way of creating comfort and ease in your life. It is amazing how many ways we can create more comfort and ease in our daily rituals, from how we wake up in the morning, to how we live our day, to how we go to sleep. In the fall/winter season, there are so many ways to add pleasure to our lives, like wearing

The Vagus Nerve Connection

Oct 16 2022 58 mins

This week, Kevin and Niseema talk about the Vagus Nerve, a major nerve in the body that begins at the brain-stem and travels all the way through the vital organs to the sacrum. The Vagus Nerve helps control several muscles of the throat and voice, plays a major role in regulating the heart rate and keeps the gastrointestinal tract in working order. The Vagus Nerve has also been sho

The "Good Child" Syndrome and Resilience, Part 4

Oct 09 2022 57 mins

In our final show on Resilience, Kevin and Niseema talk about how "programming" in childhood can lead to inflexibility and a low level of resilience as an adult. Most often, children are programmed through negativity: "Don't do that. Don't touch that. Don't complain." This can force a child to create a "good child" persona that causes them to detach from a feeling self. They will c

Resilience: Strain and Stress, Part 3

Oct 02 2022 57 mins

In Part 3 of our series on Resilience, Kevin and Niseema talk about the difference between "strain" and "stress." Notice what happens when we change a familiar word like "stress" into a more accurate description like "strain." Are you "strained out?" One of the most universal sources of stress is strain. It can be a physical or psychological strain, and it can be caused by many dif

The Art of Resilience, Part 2

Sep 25 2022 57 mins

In Part 2 of our series on Resilience, Kevin and Niseema talk about defense mechanisms and an internal mechanism called "The Engineer" which wants to keep us from changing. "The Engineer" will work to sabotage any kind of alterations you want to make, even positive ones. This week's show is centered around learning how to have a dialogue with, and make friends with, "The Engineer"

The Art of Resilience, Part 1

Sep 18 2022 57 mins

We are kicking off a four-show series on resilience. In this time of COVID/post COVID stress and all that it entails, people's sense of resilience is very low. How are you doing with your resilience? Do you feel tapped out, that you cannot handle one more demand? Tune in as Kevin and Niseema talk about ways to refill your resilience tank to move forward with knowledge and purpose.

Love and Zen, Interview with Dr. Brenda Shoshanna Ph.D, Part 1

Sep 11 2022 58 mins

This week Kevin and Niseema welcome Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, Ph.D, psychotherapist, Zen practitioner, speaker and author of the book, “Zen and the Art of Falling in Love.” Brenda shares with us her journey and understanding of how every person we meet can teach us how to love. In sharing this, she shows us ways that we can love without judgment, shame, or blame.

What happens when "that" feeling goes?

Sep 04 2022 58 mins

Falling out of love is a heartbreaking feeling. The expansiveness. warmth, and joy of being with your beloved is just gone. It may have happened suddenly or overtime, but there is no doubt that 'the loving feeling" is gone. This week Kevin and Niseema explore some of the reasons why what used be a "tuning in" to our partner, suddenly turns into a "tuning out." Expectations, lack of

Love and Trust: Why We Fear Closeness

Aug 28 2022 57 mins

This week Kevin and Niseema talk about the fear of letting people get close to you. How many people really know you? How many people do you feel close to? Closeness is often a trigger for most people. What happens to your body when people get too close? Kevin and Niseema explore the common fears that consciously or unconsciously keep relationships at an arm's length. The fear of be