Season 1
Building a Life in Layers: Motherhood, Career & the Reality of Foster Care with Dr. Courtney Vezina
From Insight to Embodiment: Faith, Core Beliefs, German New Medicine and Identity w/ Annalea Jayne
In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Courtney Vezina, psychotherapist, clinic owner, mom, and foster parent for a conversation about building a life and career in layers while navigating motherhood, foster care, and all of the unexpected transitions that come with both. Courtney shares her journey from studying psychology to becoming a psychotherapist, opening her own clinics, and eventually earning her doctorate all while raising young children. We talk about the systems and structures that helped her hold all of these roles and the importance of knowing when to loosen the structure and give yourself permission to pivot. We also get into the realities of foster care, including attachment, transitions, grief, community and the experience of loving children who may not be staying forever. Courtney shares what it was like growing up as a biological child in a foster family and how that experience shaped the way she approaches fostering with her own family today. In this episode, we discuss: - Building a Career in Layers: Courtney shares how she continued adding new layers to her career while raising a family, rather than waiting for the “perfect” time to take the next step. - Structure & Flexibility: How colour-coded calendars, nap windows, protected work blocks, and a whole lot of planning helped Courtney hold multiple roles — and why flexibility was just as important as structure. - Parenting Through a Clinical Lens: What happens when your professional understanding of attachment, trauma, and emotional regulation comes home with you. - When Knowing Changes How You Parent: The humbling experience of learning about attachment and trauma while simultaneously realizing you’re parenting actual human beings who are going to challenge every theory you’ve ever learned. - Growing Up in Foster Care: Courtney gives us a glimpse into what foster care looked like from the perspective of the biological child in the family. - Loving Children Who May Leave: The complicated reality of attachment, transition, grief, and allowing yourself to love deeply even when you don't know how long someone will be part of your family. - The Reality of Foster Care: Why foster care is so deeply needed and yet often misunderstood by those who have never experienced it firsthand. - How We Can Help: Courtney talks about respite care, community support, and the many ways people can support foster families without necessarily becoming foster parents themselves. - The Space Between Knowing & Being: We come back to the theme of the podcast and explore what it means to actually slow down, turn inward, and live what we already know. - Learning to Rest: Why reaching the next milestone doesn't always mean it's time to immediately find the next thing to accomplish. Whether you're building a career, raising a family, fostering, or simply trying to figure out how all of the different pieces of your life are supposed to fit together, this conversation is a beautiful reminder that there doesn't have to be one perfect way to do it. Connect with Courtney: https://www.instagram.com/drcourtneyvezina __________________________ Embodied Insight Podcast; Honest conversations exploring the space between knowing and being. Hosted by Tiara Brouse, Coach and founder of One Wise Body. This podcast blends practical insight with lived experience, and embodied wisdom to help you reconnect with yourself in a deeper, more meaningful way. Around here, we believe growth doesn't have to be perfect. We start messy, stay curious, and trust the process! Follow us behind the scenes on Instagram @embodiedinsightpodcast https://www.instagram.com/embodiedinsightpodcast
Welcome back to the Embodied Insight Podcast! In this episode, I’m joined by Annalea Jayne for a conversation about the space between knowing something intellectually and actually living it in your body. We dive into the beliefs that quietly shape the way we see ourselves and the world around us — beliefs like “I’m not enough,” “I’m not safe,” or “I’m not lovable” — and explore what happens when those beliefs become so deeply embedded that they begin to feel like who we are. Annalea and I talk about embodiment, German New Medicine, motherhood, people pleasing, fear, faith, and the ways our search for answers can sometimes become another way of staying disconnected from ourselves. We also explore the pendulum swing that can happen when we begin questioning everything we once believed, and what it can look like to find a deeper sense of trust on the other side. In this episode, we discuss: - The Space Between Knowing & Being: Why having insight doesn't necessarily mean we're actually living what we know. - When Information Becomes Identity: How our desire to understand, fix, and figure everything out can sometimes keep us stuck. - Core Beliefs & the Body: Exploring beliefs like “I’m wrong,” “I’m not enough,” and “I’m not lovable,” and how they can shape the way we experience ourselves. - German New Medicine: Annalea shares her perspective on conflict, self-devaluation, and the body's physical responses to our experiences. - The People-Pleasing Pendulum: How learning to stop being “nice” can sometimes swing us to the opposite extreme — and what it means to find the middle. - Motherhood & the Fear of Getting It Wrong: The pressure to protect our children from every possible mistake, wound, or difficult experience. - From Catholicism to Christianity: Annalea shares her journey through grief, atheism, spirituality, and ultimately finding her way back to God. - False Identity vs. Beloved Identity: What happens when we stop trying to prove who we are and begin asking God who He says we are. - Trusting the Body: Exploring the possibility that symptoms aren't simply problems to eliminate, but experiences that can invite us into deeper understanding. - From Fear to Trust: What changes when we no longer see our bodies, our symptoms, or our lives as something we constantly need to control. Whether you've ever found yourself collecting insight without quite knowing how to become what you know, or you've questioned the beliefs you've built your life around, this conversation invites you to get curious about what might be happening beneath the surface. Links Mentioned: Beyond Religion w/ Brandon Bozarth: https://youtu.be/H2WRKw0G2ic?si=QQcIunSbK7B_4tyL Bio-Skool: https://www.skool.com/bio-skool/about Find Annalea on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annalea.jayne _____________________________ Embodied Insight Podcast; Honest conversations exploring the space between knowing, doing and being. Hosted by Tiara Brouse, Coach and founder of One Wise Body, this podcast blends practical insight with lived experience, and embodied wisdom to help you reconnect with yourself in a deeper, more meaningful way. Around here, we believe growth doesn't have to be perfect. We start messy, stay curious, and trust the process! Follow us behind the scenes on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embodiedinsightpodcast
Welcome to the very first episode of the Embodied Insight Podcast! I’m your host, Tiara, founder of One Wise Body, and I’m so excited to kick things off with a guest who has been a huge inspiration in my own journey, Tara Shaw! Tara is the founder of Loose Grip Athletics and the Loose Grip Loft, but her path to becoming a movement leader and life coach wasn't always straight line. In this episode, we dive deep into the discomfort that often comes from following your passion while living within the space between knowing what you want and when you get there. In this episode, we discuss: - Answering the Call: How Tara recognized the moment her life needed to change and had the courage to "pick up the phone." - Faith Over Fear: Practical indicators of fear-based thinking and how to choose movement even when you’re scared. - The Journey to Authenticity: Peeling back layers of conditioning to find your truest self. - Emotions as Messengers: Why anger, sadness, and joy are vital information for setting boundaries and living authentically. - From Government to Growth: Tara’s personal story of transitioning from a "desk jockey" to a business owner. Whether you're feeling stuck in your career or looking for ways to better connect with your body and mind, Tara’s story is a powerful reminder that every experience in life leads you to where you are meant to be. Connect with Tara Shaw: Visit the Loose Grip Loft in Kemptville, Ontario! https://www.instagram.com/the.loosegrip.loft https://www.instagram.com/loosegrip.coaching Connect with Tiara Brouse: Coaching// https://www.instagram.com/onewisebody Podcast// https://www.instagram.com/embodiedinsight Subscribe for more episodes on embodiment, insight and authentic living.