The Wisdom Within: How to Actually Know What You Need?

Series 2 Episode 12 Overview

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In this “powerful goose-bump land it” episode, we explore mindful awareness not as another item on our self-care checklist, but as the essential foundation that guides how we truly care for ourselves. Registered psychologist and mindfulness educator Liv Downing shares how tuning into each moment with presence and compassion can fundamentally transform our approach to wellbeing - moving us from prescribed solutions to authentic, responsive self-care.

This Episode

Liv Downing takes us on a journey through:

  • The distinction between mindfulness as meditation and mindfulness as a way of being

  • How mindful awareness transforms self-care from obligation to authentic response

  • Practical techniques for tuning into your body's wisdom and inner guidance

  • The power of treating yourself with the same compassion you'd offer a dear friend

  • Simple practices for creating "islands of sanity" throughout your day

About Liv Downing

Liv Downing is a registered psychologist, mindfulness educator and meditation teacher. She fell in love with mindfulness and meditation 16 years ago when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and was unable to walk or change her new baby's nappies without excruciating pain. This extreme ill health led her to deeply explore the world of mind/body medicine and in doing so, she discovered a whole additional part to her being. A part that is pain free, wise, kind and loving, she is now on a mission to empower others to discover that part within themselves through both evidence based psychology and ancient wisdom traditions. In her work she blends the scientific with the spiritual and the professional with the personal.

Quotable Moments

"Mindfulness is a way of seeing and a way of being. It's not something we do, it's something we are - it's our birthright." - Liv Downing

"If you can worry, you can meditate. Any self-care is good, but if we can add gentle presence to whatever we're doing, it supercharges it." - Liv Downing

"Before we can change anything, we need to see it and then accept it. And then with lashings of compassion for ourselves, our system, then we can change it." - Liv Downing

"What mindfulness offers us is an opportunity to notice the pain or discomfort, and then ask genuinely, what do I need in this moment?" - Liv Downing

"We can practice this work while answering emails, while folding laundry, while reading a storybook to our kids. It's about the quality of mind, the intention behind our choices." - Liv Downing

"My gift for your listeners is this capacity to connect with the power and beauty and agency and sovereignty that is already within you. It's already there." - Liv Downing

Practical Tools Mentioned

  • The STOP Technique: Stop, Take a breath, Open and observe, Proceed in line with your values

  • 30-Second Body Scan: A quick grounding practice for transitions between activities

  • Mindfulness Bells: Choosing three daily moments to practice present-moment awareness

  • Two-Minute Meditation: Starting with just two minutes of breath awareness

  • The Chess Board Metaphor: Understanding awareness as the board that holds all thoughts and feelings

Resources Mentioned

  • The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris (introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy)

  • Research by Kristin Neff on self-compassion

  • Tara Brach's teachings on the "two wings of awareness"

  • Atomic Habits by James Clear

  • Smiling Mind organization

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A Note on Wellbeing

She Speaks is dedicated to amplifying women's voices on self-care and wellbeing from diverse cultural perspectives. While we share research insights and personal experiences, please remember that this podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health.

She Speaks is proudly supported by the Western Australian Government and Department of Communities Women's Grants for a Stronger Future Grants Program.

 

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