The Discomfort Practice Podcast

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The Discomfort Practice Podcast Betsy speaks to leaders, activists, scientists & others about productive discomfort & the superpowers that lie on the other side of our comfort zones.

Season 3 focuses on the discomfort of change & what that means as we work through collective change. You can find The Discomfort Practice most places you might listen to podcasts -
Spotify, Audible, ApplePodcasts, PlayerFM, GooglePodcasts, Deezer, Stitcher etc. Follow, subscribe, like and leave written reviews to help me reach more listeners.

17/09/2023

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I talk to the mighty Oyinkansola ‘Oyin’ Adebayo, the Founder and CEO of Niyo Enterprises.

Oyin’s personal purpose is to empower Black women globally to upskill, transform their careers and create a world-class black female ecosystem of entrepreneurs. Niyo Bootcamps has trained over 500 black women to be upskilled in various tech roles through the “Black CodHer” Bootcamp & Black Disruptor bootcamps. Alumna have gone on to create their own tech businesses and work for big-name companies.

We wend our way through some juicy topics like colonialism and racism, which Oyin has experienced first-hand as a Nigerian, then as an immigrant to the UK. We also talk about entrepreneur life and how the world COULD work, so it actually supports the majority of humans in it.

Give it a listen via the link here, comment here and share. Let me know what you think of the episode!



https://five.libsyn.com/show/episodes/view/27745632

03/09/2023

Seven years is how long it takes for every cell in your body to regenerate. So every seven years, you literally have an entirely new body. Chuck in the cosmology/ astrology of seven year cycles and you've got total transformation every seven years (Astrology or not, it's A Thing. Get into it).

Hello from in the northwest of Spain. :-) That's me and Ruda the dog, my new best friend as I live and work for a bit at .

My latest solo episode for The Discomfort Practice is a bit of a chuckle, while also being deeply personal. I reflect on the last seven years of life - marking my seven year anniversary of living in Spain. So much has happened and so much has transformed.

One of the greatest things that has come out of this is my relationship to struggle and ease. And, as you listen to the clip on this post, you'll hear more about that.

It's a short one - just 20 minutes - so click on the link below to listen or find The Discomfort Practice on your favourite podcast platform. Share, like, subscribe, leave me a review and then... let me know what you thought of the episode. DM me or comment below!



https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-102-betsy-by-herself-on-the-end-of/id1537563720?i=1000626588480

22/08/2023

I'm on a farm and wifi has not been awesome. This episode of The Discomfort Practice came out this weekend past and it's a beautiful listen - about the role of pleasure, lust, love and exploration in finding and freeing yourself, from the perspective of the wonderful Isidra Mencos, Writer and Editor.

We talk about her years of finding freedom after growing up in Spain under a fascist dictator and how her story of discovery can free others, through her memoir, Promenade of Desire. For a juicy, lovely listen, check out the episode now.

Let me know what you think, follow Isidra and buy the book!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-101-isidra-mencos-on-lust-and-pleasure-as/id1537563720?i=1000625016119

07/08/2023

I can't believe I've gotten to episode 100 of The Discomfort Practice. It's been a real journey, which sounds like such a cliche, but it's true. To anyone else out there who's ever created something and put it out in the world, simply because they knew they had to - it was just asking to be brought forth - you might be able to relate.

So give this latest episode a listen and let me know what lands. In it, I reflect back on how focusing on discomfort as a path to wisdom and finding my own superpowers has gently (yet in some ways dramatically) reshaped my perspective since launching the podcast in October 2020. Because, it turns out, when you LIVE in the idea that discomfort is the path to your own superpowers, nothing hard is bad. No challenges are anything but part of the obstacle course. It changed the way I see life and the way I live it.

I'm asking you for a 'birthday gift,' whether you're a long-time, loyal listener or this is the first time you've listened: please subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform, like, leave me a 5-star and written review and then SHARE an episode with someone to help me reach new ears. I would love your help as my community of conscious people. Spread the message. Help me grow this virtual community.

I leave you with what I hope is a gift: the last half of the episode is a guided exercise in which you'll have the opportunity to reflect on what uncomfortable circumstances you've experienced over the past few years and gain a perspective of gratitude for them.

So click on the link below to access the episode, give it a listen, subscribe/like/share and leave me comments below or DM me. I truly do love hearing from you. Have a beautiful week, wherever you are. xx



https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-100-betsy-by-herself-celebrating-and/id1537563720?i=1000623566812

17/07/2023

“I define character as how you respond to times of adversity. How you navigate yourself through that? And no matter what the outcome is, but how you perceive what took place.”
I recently interviewed inventor and all-round fascinating person Charles McCarrick. He reflects on lessons from life - a lot of which he’s included in his book ‘Lessons my Brothers Taught Me.’ The nugget of wisdom in our conversation focuses on YOU - who YOU are and choose to be in the world and what you do with whatever life throws your way. Will you be overwhelmed, will you decide you’re the victim of circumstance, or will you alchemise it into wisdom?
Give it a listen via the link below and let me know what you think. What line or concept stands out to you? Enjoy the wisdom Charles shares in this episode, with his good humour and GREAT New Englander accent. DM me or tell me in the comments what you got from this episode.
Then please like it, leave me a five star and written review and share it with others!



https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/episode-99-charles-mccarrick-on-consciously-building/id1537563720?i=1000621280651

02/07/2023

Do you have time to just be?
To know who you truly are?
To get over the fear of what will come out when you’re quiet and by yourself?
What are you being?
What do you know? What do your instincts tell you - your gut, your heart?
Because that should be the basis of anything that you do.
Otherwise it’s like driving without having any awareness of the road. Any awareness of where you’re going or why.

Give my latest solo episode for The Discomfort Practice podcast a listen, via the link below. As usual, it’s raw, unfiltered Betsy, talking about my own need for solitude right now. I need time to ‘clear the decks’ and really tune into my own intuition, to let things flow and fall into place.

Let me know if it lands with you. And if my invitation at the end of the episode to reach out if you want to chat about your own path right now lands for you, please do reach out! DM me or drop me an email [email protected]



https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-discomfort-practice/id1537563720

19/06/2023

I recently had the wonderful Matisse Dupont back as a guest on The Discomfort Practice podcast. Between the last time I interviewed them and this time, they have transitioned their lives from being a Tik Tok influencer to leading a quieter life that allows them to be their full creative self - and, most importantly, to rest. It's a great reminder that, even when people celebrate you and you're doing something 'purpose-driven,' burnout can still happen and sometimes the healthiest thing can be to step back. So that's precisely what Matisse did.

Give the episode a listen for their beautiful insights on what it's like to choose happiness over influence and the beauty that comes from taking care of yourself first. Give it a listen! You can find The Discomfort Practice podcast via the link below or anywhere you like to listen to podcasts. Subscribe, follow, like, and/or drop us a five star and written review. Share this episode with others and help spread the word and grow our audience. Don’t forget to tune into our other episodes and share your favourite ones on social media!



https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/episode-97-matisse-dupont-on-transitions/id1537563720?i=1000617450448

05/06/2023

I recently chatted with Michael Youngblood, CEO and co-founder of Unsettled, which co-creates life-changing experiences for remote workers (aka people like me). SO much juicy content flowed from that, I will be making and sharing audiograms like this one for a while.

We talked a lot about Beautiful Questions, and it's something I think a lot of us need to hear right now, in a time of being uncertain, unsettled and going through massive, rapid changes in ourselves and the world around us.

Check out the episode on The Discomfort Practice, via the link below, or find the podcast on any of the main platforms. Share it. Like it. Leave me a 5-star review. But mainly... enjoy it. And let me know in the comments or by DM-ing me what you thought.
Audio is:
“A question that I like to ask when I'm feeling a little unsettled, you know, and I'm maybe overwhelmed, if there are decisions I need to make personally, professionally - and there's beauty, so much beauty in simplicity. Is 'What's important to me?'

Just ask that question and sit with. 'What's important to me? What's important to me, right now?' Depending on where you find yourself, I think that forces you into a moment of solitude, whether it is a very small decision or sometimes has ramifications for years or decades or in other lives for a long time. And to ask yourself, in the present 'What's important to me?' Then to get in touch with that (inner) voice.”

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/episode-96-michael-youngblood-on-the-value-of/id1537563720?i=1000615590284

21/05/2023

A few months back, when I was sitting in a mushroom ceremony, I got the message loud and clear ‘It’s safe now to be powerful.’ And it was a message that I knew was for me, but also one that I had been given to share with others. And, so, in this episode, I talk about what the world needs from you. How it needs you to be able to un-block those parts of you that you’ve censored, shut down, inherited shame around because your ancestors shut that part of their power down to be safe.

So the other day I sat down and recorded this solo episode, fresh out on pretty much any of the platforms you like to listen to podcasts - etc. Please do find it there or via the link below and enjoy.

Some of the questions I ask:
What of your own power are you denying or rejecting?
What parts of you are you afraid to bring to the world?
What parts of you are you keeping out of the limelight, out of your work, out of your consciousness because they’re so dangerous you’re scared to bring them to the world.
What would the impact be if you allowed yourself to bring yourself fully to the world, in all of your power?�What would change?

If you ever find yourself thinking ‘I wish I could…’ ‘I CAN’T do that…’ it’s pointing you toward something that you probably need to bring to the world. That’s part of being fully powerful in the world.

It's safe now to be powerful... It's what the world needs from you. It's what the rest of us need from you.

Go listen to the episode and let me know what lands for you.



https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/episode-95-betsy-by-herself-its-safe-now-to-be-in-your/id1537563720?i=1000613851183

07/05/2023

Oh, my, this is a good on. Check out my latest episode of The Discomfort Practice podcast, speaking to Nik Govier of Blurred. We talk personal challenges as a neurodiverse CEO and power player, hiring practices that create true diversity, discomfort and mindfulness.

Click on the link below to listen to the episode or find The Discomfort Practice on the podcast on any platform of your choice - Spotify etc.

This audiogram quote by Nik says:
“My clients have deeply complex problems that simply cannot be solved by a single sector of society. That's when we end up in a really negative place of group thinking: where everyone looks the same and sounds the same, because the same educational background and funny enough therefore have the same perspectives. I absolutely am. I'm willing to say that I am one of the oldest and most senior people in my team. But there are people in their 20s in my team who have far better perspectives on certain things that I will ever do, such as social mobility. For example, and DEI. So for me it’s fundamental for us to truly be Blurred’s collective best self. There are loads of people who might just tick boxes and just higher a diverse workforce. But unless you put the work into creating the right kind of culture, you know? They're going to walk out the door, as quickly as you bring them in. I am genuinely talking about proper diversity in terms of neurodiversity, socio economic background, ethnicity, gender, age, religious belief, physical and mental ability.”



https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-discomfort-practice/id1537563720

12/03/2023

My latest guest on The Discomfort Practice is Dan Schnur. Where to start about who Dan is... What a treat. He's worked on four Presidential and three Gubernatorial campaigns, as one of California's leading political strategists. He served as the national director of Communications for the 2000 Presidential Campaign of US Senator John McCain, and was the chief media spokesman for California Governor Pete Wilson. He's been an advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He's the founder of the leading University of Southern California (USC) LA Times state-wide political pol and currently teaches courses in politics, communications and leadership at UC Berkeley.The list could go on…

I share his optimism that teaching and interacting with younger generations fill us with the hope that keeps us going.

As he says in this clip from the episode, "... I've told my students in the last few years, you are this crisis generation... But the last crisis generation was the one that came of age during the Great Depression and World War Two. For all the reasons... they ultimately became known as 'the greatest generation.' And so, I share your hope in these young people and I will point to history for evidence that the generation that leads a society out of a crisis, the one that is really exceptional is (because) it ... has to be really exceptional.”

So take a walk, sit yourself down, do whatever you like to do while listening to podcasts and enjoy this one. It's juicy and beautiful.

Find The Discomfort Practice and this episode on any major podcast platform. Please subscribe, follow, like, and/or drop us a five star and written review. Share this episode with others and help spread the word and grow our audience. Don’t forget to tune into our other episodes and share your favourite ones on social media!



https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-discomfort-practice/id1537563720

26/02/2023

My latest guest on The Discomfort Practice podcast is Selina Donald. Selina is transforming the events industry, working with some of the biggest events producers, global brands and events (think Olympic and Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies). She was a client of mine a few years ago, then became a friend, and is now someone I'm working with again. (That's my new working model - I only work with people I already am or plan to be friends with.... I can highly recommend it if you want to never feel like you're actually working. It's more like 'getting paid to hang out with friends and do stuff you're really good at and already enjoy.')

Tune in to hear a super entertaining episode, full of laughs and deep, deep wisdom from someone I love and totally vibe with. She talks about failing, about rebuilding a life and a business, aligning with your values and a LOT of other gorgeous insights.

As usual, find The Discomfort Practice on any of your favourite podcast platforms or via the link here. Follow, like, share and give me the gift of leaving a five-star and written review so it can reach more of the people it's meant to reach.

Enjoy!
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-discomfort-practice/id1537563720

I grew up in a typical conservative Christian family in the US where we did a LOT of things because we ‘should’ - being ...
23/02/2023

I grew up in a typical conservative Christian family in the US where we did a LOT of things because we ‘should’ - being nice to people who were awful back, sacrificing for the cause when actually I needed that time/energy/money etc. And as a woman, I've been socialised to 'should' myself through life - to lean back, to keep my opinions to myself, to stay small in order to not draw criticism.

But then I realised all the people I admired as truly happy and truly powerful had broken up with 'should.' And so I started to experiment with a new approach: either I do something because I WANT to or I don't do it because I DON'T want to. No more 'yes' to the mo*********ng 'should.' So I started to joke with my friends that was my new mantra. And then it became one.
And guess what happened? My life started to change rapidly. I stopped getting offered work that wasn’t the right fit for me. I quickly lost the people in my life who weren’t comfortable enough with themselves to support me in being my full self all the time. And guess what replaced those things? Work I love. People who get me, can keep up with me, and are doing their own work to create lives they love.
Because in saying you are telling the world how to treat you. You are showing everyone what you want and don't want to do, what you will and will not accept. And then what follows is life fits itself around that standard.
So try it. Try it TODAY. What are you 'should-ing' yourself into that you don't actually want to do? it. Don't do it. Say no. Better things await you. Things you actually WANT to do.
Whadya think? Can you bring yourself to do this? What's stopping you, and is it reaaaaally stopping you? Or is that just you should-ing yourself into things? Sound off in the comments. Be bold. Let's do this. You never know who needs to hear what you have to say here.

12/02/2023

I was researching for a few social media posts to support my most recent solo episode on The Discomfort Practice. In it, I talk about my own rituals and how to create rituals and new habits, along the lines of what I teach leaders and their teams in the wellbeing workshops I deliver. It is SO important to set up rituals in your day - particularly if you’re busy and tend to get stressed.

WELL. I was delighted to discover an even greater bank of scientific studies showing the power of rituals and showing how making effort actually gives meaning to certain tasks and moments in life. I’ll be covering those in my posts over the next couple of weeks, so watch this space and enjoy!

In the meantime, let me know if you’ve managed to listen to my latest episode, ‘Creating Rituals to De-stress and Create Focus,’ which you can find via the link in my bio or by looking for The Discomfort Practice anywhere you like to listen to podcasts. I’d love to hear what you think.

What rituals do you already have? What habits do you want to change, and how can you ‘ritualise’ them to help you? Let me know in the comments below!

It’s not often you get a politician - and someone who’s been a Government Minister for Economy - who takes an intentiona...
18/01/2023

It’s not often you get a politician - and someone who’s been a Government Minister for Economy - who takes an intentional approach to making decisions based on love. But that’s exactly what my latest guest on The Discomfort Practice podcast did while serving in that role in the Government of Costa Rica during the darkest moments of the Covid-19 pandemic.

If you’re needing a bit of hope and a reminder that there are truly good people trying to do a good job in government (and in pretty much every field, for that matter), I encourage you to give the episode a listen. I found this chat immensely inspiring and just generally lovely and enjoyable. Look for The Discomfort Practice on your favourite podcast platform. Follow, subscribe, like and leave me a 5-star and written review. It really helps me reach new listeners.

And then... Let me know what you think of the episode. Did it give you hope? Make you think? Did you have a favourite line from me or Pilar? Let me know in the comments below or DM me. I always love to hear from you.

15/01/2023

An optimistic politician who makes decisions based on love for the people they serve.

Perhaps that sentence made you do a double-take. It’s certainly not a sentence I’ve ever read before.

So click on Linkin.bio to listen to my latest interview on The Discomfort Practice podcast to hear me talk to Pilar Garido, who served as the Economy Minister in the Costa Rican Government during the Covid-19 pandemic. I challenge you to NOT end with more hope, more joy and more to think about.

Pass the episode along to anyone who might find it interesting and let me know what you think of it! Find The Discomfort Practice podcast, on whatever platform you prefer to listen to podcasts. Follow, like, subscribe and leave a written comment and 5-star review for me. Thanks for helping spread the word and boosting listener numbers.

Who's with me on the truth of this quote:'Life is beautiful. Life is hard. Life is everything.'Because it is. Friendship...
11/01/2023

Who's with me on the truth of this quote:
'Life is beautiful.
Life is hard.
Life is everything.'

Because it is.
Friendships and romantic relationships: sometimes beautiful, sometimes hard.
Every day: sometimes beautiful, sometimes hard.
My approach to myself: sometimes beautiful, sometimes hard.

When I finally embraced the duality of this - that life is everything - that's when I started to suffer less. To be happier. And I still catch myself in moments of getting tunnel vision on the hard stuff (why oh why does that rarely happen with the beautiful stuff??), or of forgetting that things can go from hard to beautiful in an instant. And it's often more perspective than circumstance that decides whether life is beautiful or hard in that moment.

I'm feeling really confident that 2023 will be rich and magical and wonderful. And I'm confident that whatever happens in the world around me, that's the kind of year I've had. Because it comes from within me, and whatever life throws at me I know I can weather. I've spent the last few years building those 'muscles' and creating a practice that is my anchor in any storm, my temple in any beauty.

How are you feeling about life right now and over the coming months? Can you see and feel both the beautiful AND the hard? How do you deal with the crunchy bits in ways you perhaps didn't have the skill or wisdom to do previously?

Talk to me in the comments. :-)

At the end of my most recent solo podcast on The Discomfort Practice podcast, I read one of my favourite poems - Desider...
05/01/2023

At the end of my most recent solo podcast on The Discomfort Practice podcast, I read one of my favourite poems - Desiderata, written in 1927 and still relevant today. I've included a few of my favourite lines here, but it's well worth listening to the whole poem.

Check out the episode here and skip to minute 12.40 to hear me read the whole poem. Enjoy. :-) Let me know what you think of the poem, the episode, and if you're going through your own 'shedding skin' moment. What beauty are you finding in it? Talk to me in the comments or DM me.



https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-discomfort-practice/id1537563720

01/01/2023

This photo is the same one I recently posted with the caption ‘This is the face of someone who has just bought a one-way ticket to Mexico.’ Same face, closer departure date… Hence my latest solo on the trickiness of transition moments, and how they can sometimes bring out some of our traits we don’t particularly love. This transition period has certainly brought out my control-freak, moody, self-isolating self-saboteur. You hear it here first.

I just want to encourage you if you are going through your own transition moment, or if you're just kind of feeling icky as we turn the corner on a new year, you’re completely normal. Just remember that is just part of the process of being human, and the goal is not to transcend that. We're not here to stop going through difficult moments. We're here to learn from them. There will always be difficult moments, and there will always be moments of transition, and the two are linked.

This is why I like this metaphor of a snake shedding its skin, which I talk about in this solo. Like a snake, this is going to be uncomfortable, it’s gonna get ugly and it’s gonna happen every once in a while. Like, 2-4 times a year or more often if you're growing rapidly.

Which is ACTUALLY awesome. If you’re going through transition moments (ugly or not) quite often, it probably means you’re rapidly evolving and expanding in your power.

You're going to go through these uncomfortable moments. It’s part of the process of becoming conscious and trying to operate in the highest possible version of yourself. But appreciate yourself, ugly or not. Appreciate the moments of ugly, uncomfortable shedding. They are part of the process too.

Can you relate? Are you going through an ugly transition moment like I am? Give the podcast episode a listen and please do comment or reach out - DM me, people! I love to hear from you.

I teach leadership to students in their final year at a university in Barcelona. They're all in their early 20s and I li...
31/12/2022

I teach leadership to students in their final year at a university in Barcelona. They're all in their early 20s and I like to ask them on occasion: how are you feeling about the world? And their answer is always… ‘Sh*t.’

I see how smart they are; I see what they have within them, what they're capable of, and I want to be there handing them the arrows to shoot down the systems that are not working for them (or for most of us). THAT makes me excited about the future.

As so perfectly puts it in my most recent episode of The Discomfort Practice podcast: “Gen Z has the hearts and minds to dream bigger than what already exists. That's what we give the world; and all we need is the support and the holding of different generations who have come before us. So we can take ownership and make things change.”

Do you agree? Disagree? Have anything to add?

I say the same thing a lot - to my undergraduate students, to leadership teams and leaders I work with: Take three breat...
29/12/2022

I say the same thing a lot - to my undergraduate students, to leadership teams and leaders I work with: Take three breaths.

What comes next varies, but this time around, I want to ask: How can you connect to who you are? What's special about you, that you can bring to the world?

I’m not overstating anything when I say the answer to that is really, really important right now. For you and for our collective existence. Because the systems in which we exist are toxic. They are not meant for our thriving and survival. They're made to create profit and they are based on exploitation. Capitalism is working just fine - it’s working as it was designed to work.

But it has led us to forget our humanity and it is time to reconnect to that and to demand that the systems in which we live do so too. Remember our humanity, and our place in this beautiful ecosystem in which we exist and life changes a lot.

So take this moment…Remember the woods that you enjoy, the garden you loved, the adventures in nature you had as a child. What was beautiful for you? What in nature sparked your joy and imagination? Reconnecting to that is a really powerful place to start from, reclaiming your childhood hope.

So tell me: what did you find when you reconnected with yourself and your childhood hope? Is there still a bit more to be done to connect fully, or did it give you the joy I hope it did? Tell me in the comments or DM me. I want to hear from you, because I love hearing how people recapture their childhood joy. It’s a special kind of joy, and it can drive change in a way rational, grownup, sometimes-heavy efforts can’t.

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