How many times have I wished I could take those negative thoughts out of my head, those thoughts projecting a future that may not actually happen? This doesn’t mean that we don’t prepare for the worst, but do we want to live in that state or space where it virtually eliminates being in the present/ our present? How can we enjoy anything if we are always thinking about what might be? Conversely, thinking about what might be from a positive standpoint might actually be soothing, and yet again, it takes us out of the present, which is the only place that can drive our actions, as it is all we actually know. I remember sitting on my bathroom floor as a high schooler in hysterics, breaking up with my then boyfriend, and suffering because I couldn’t face hurting him, and the idea of loss was just overwhelming due to the early losses that I had experienced in my own family. How I would have benefitted from the comfort of knowing that others suffer too and perhaps if I had had our featured organization’s App, I would have certainly managed better or at least been in the great company of others who had experienced loss - my reaction may have been over exaggerated, but it was because I had experienced early losses - what I didn’t know then and know now is that often a previous loss can be triggered by a current loss although the two seem completely disconnected - that would have perhaps allowed me to grieve my relationship without feeling crazy.

Mental health is an incredibly complicated topic. So many of us have had experiences either personally or with our children; no one wants to see their children in pain, and emotional pain is often frightening, because it’s hard to find the source of the pain as compared to physical pain, and emotional or psychological injury is often invisible. We understand when someone is in physical pain, but we often blame the individual for being in emotional pain. Raising children is tough, all that goes into daily schedules, etc. now, let’s complicate the typical with a complex world, access to more information that can have negative impacts, biological changes and we can have tweens and teens in pain without the benefit of always knowing how to manage it or letting them know that they are not alone as so many others go through similar anguish. Why isn’t that taught in schools?

Mood’s goal is to put free, fast and effective mental health tools into the hands of every tween & teen, ages 9-17 and for the adults, teachers and providers in their world, enabling them to build skills and resilience through fun and engaging content - Where were you when I was a teen and even as a young adult and parent? Their website is fun and their mood tools are practical coping skills that are easy to understand and use. The Mood tools are proven stragteties designed to help tweens and teens bring their feelings into managageble bite-sized mood moments rather than gigantic, scary floods of emotion that feel never-ending. I am also incredibly impressed that Mood has an advisory board filled with tweens and teens who bring innovative, creative ideas that are inviting to their cohort.

For more information, go to: www.mood.org

And for additional information on all the podcasts: www.smallandgutsy.org

What happens when you mix the love of Jiu-Jitsu and the love for community? Guardian happens! This podcast recording offers insight into how learning to manage our emotions through martial arts, and specifically through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has its own magical ingredients with real and lasting impact. Guardian was founded by Ben Kovacs and Joel Lunenfeld in 2015, initially starting as a single academy in Oakland, California. The original gym supported over 1,000 youth across the Bay Area by providing mentorship, free training, and a welcoming community. From the outset, they envisioned Guardian as more than just a physical space; they aimed for it to have a global impact. In 2020, they introduced the Guardian Scholarship. This initiative was designed to broaden their reach, offering support to children worldwide to engage in training. Leveraging their extensive network of friends and academy partners, they started integrating scholarships within their schools, ensuring that financial barriers would not prevent children from accessing their programs. Their goal is to enable more youth to experience the transformative benefits of Jiu-Jitsu. Ben is one of the founders of Guardian, where he has played a strong role in shaping the organization's branding and long-term strategy. His involvement in Jiu-Jitsu began in 2006 at Yamasaki Academy, and he earned a black belt in 2019. This experience inspired him to create a non-profit focused on making Jiu-Jitsu training accessible to all. Ben has a background in tech, having worked at Twitter, where he met Joel Lunenfeld, his co-founder. Both have been deeply committed to the sustainability & mission of Guardian.

For more information: www.guardiangym.org

For more Small & Gutsy episodes and information to refer an organization or to be on the podcast:

www.smallandgutsy.org

For more information, check out their website: www.helpingherdersrescue.org

This podcasting story will resonate with anyone who is still living and wants to fully embrace life.

There are plenty of words in the English language that are disdainful, hurtful, nasty, & downright awful, but there are two words that are unavoidable and from which we often run: death & dying - no one enjoys grief, sadness, or loss - those words are so dam final! When I was in social work school, I read Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s book aptly titled On Death and Dying, seminal work at that time. Kubler-Ross introduced what is known as the 5 stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance; a 6th stage was more recently added by a colleague of Kubler-Ross’, David Kessler, Finding Meaning. It turns out that this concept may have been in Kubler-Ross' initial model, but her editor told her to remove it, as 5 stages are better than 6, although, as anyone who has experienced grief knows, this is not a linear process.

One incredibly gifted creator, producer, and writer decided to take on this subject, but not as a passive project, but a fully engaging, head-on discussion to move us, make us think, and maybe make us less afraid of the inevitable.

Grief Dialogues: The Experience brings timely conversations about death, dying, and grief to the stage in innovative, humorous, and touching ways. Part theatre, part therapy, this “edutainment” love that creative name, project began in 2016 with an open call for short plays and was developed from nearly 200 submissions. The original performance was composed of 6 short plays from playwrights across the country. It is a thought-provoking and honest look at the subject of death that invites audiences to reconsider some of the rhetoric and stigmas around the topic. As one of my guests shares: Theatre is the great empathy generator, and out of grief comes art. Grief Dialogues is also committed to offering accessible and affordable training in compassion for health care providers, counselors and therapists, end-of-life specialists, funeral homes, and at-home caregivers.

Let's Write a Musical was born out of this concept of 'out of grief, comes art.'

A Musical About Love, Loss, and the Power of Storytelling. A joyous celebration of the power of love and an ode to classic musicals.

A heartfelt and inspiring journey that follows David Hamilton and his wife, Lucy (based on Ben and Lawrie), as they write a romantic comedy in the wake of David’s cancer diagnosis. As their real-life challenges unfold, so does the story of Olive and Blake, a young couple in the 1950s navigating love, laughter, and misadventures.

For more information, check out their website: https://www.griefdialogues.com/

Tickets for Let's Write a Musical are on sale now:

https://www.griefdialogues.com/lets-write-a-musical/

It has been an honor and a privilege to host this nonprofit podcast to benefit nonprofits and social enterprises

Our 100th episode is a montage of what our interviewees shared with us about their experience on Small & Gutsy, as well as some advice for those yet to be interviewed. We are grateful for the opportunity to have interviewed the most amazing organizations over the past 4 1/2 years and look forward to many more interviews, celebrating the work of smaller nonprofits and social enterprises. From Small & Gutsy to Big with Impact!

www.smallandgutsy.org

Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, second only to water. It comes in many varieties: black, green, white, oolong, and herbal. Tea is celebrated for its health benefits, from antioxidants to its calming effects, and it continues to play a major role in global culture and commerce.

In recent decades, tea has experienced a revival in interest, with a growing market for specialty teas, such as artisanal blends, organic teas, and matcha. The modern-day global tea market is vast, and tea continues to evolve as both a daily beverage and a symbol of tradition, health, and innovation. It can solve 3 key problems, particularly in the Himalayas:

• Urban migration - young folks are moving to megacities in search of work which fragments the family and drives unsustainable urban growth

• Land degradation - abandoned farmland due to the fragmented family deteriorates into unusable dirt

• Climate change - increased droughts and floods trigger catastrophic landslides

Tea is one clear solution:

• Tea creates rural jobs and reverses urban migration

• Tea revitalizes wasted farmland and is an anchor crop for biodiversity

• Tea leaves drink CO2 which gets stored in their roots and removed from the atmosphere

• Tea is a gender economic equalizer -

• And the outcome of what my guest has started is aligned with many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Young Mountain Tea partners with farmers in North India to get a new factory up and running. Tea farmers, 90% being women, will launch their region’s first community-owned tea factory. This factory will be a blueprint for a model of sustainable change in the tea industry, eventually throughout the Himalayas and the world.

Building A Sustainable Future For Himalayan Farmers And Their Families is truly a social enterprise.

For more information, go to:

www.youngmountaintea.com

Finding inner peace is a process that leads to a practice; there are important rituals that guide us in self-discovery. Derived from the Sanskrit word for “circle”, the Mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. It is a sacred art form that connects us to our inner selves and the world around us. Their profound wisdom and tranquil messages, serve as a powerful medium to contemplate and find peace within.

Mandalas are typically circles with repeating symmetrical shapes, and are considered a sacred symbol. In Sanskrit, mandala translates to “sacred center” or “circle.” Mandalas symbolize harmony and unity, and represent that everything is connected.

Pema Chodron, the incredible American-born Tibetan Buddist and ordained nun who is soulful and wise shared, “Each person’s life is like a mandala – a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear, and think forms the mandala of our life.”

I love that imagery.

One organization has discovered that bringing in the concept of inner peace through an evidenced-based curriculum using the Mandala as a cornerstone enables youth to build and strengthen their capacity to manage stress and conflict in new ways, giving them lifelong skills that serve to build a more compassionate society. Building that society begins with our youth.

Tools for Peace is a mental wellness program for youth that provides curricula to grow compassionate minds.

Their Mission is to inspire kindness and compassion in everyday life. Their mindfulness-based social-emotional learning programs support mental health, academic and professional success, and community health and wellbeing. Studies show that the Tools for Peace curriculum improves focus, conflict resolution skills, and confidence, and reduces stress in participants.

For more information, please check their website for more information:

www.toolsforpeace.org

Investing in youth and education aligns directly with Sustainable Development Goal # 4 (Quality Education) and indirectly fuels several others like Decent Work and Economic Growth (goal # 8) and Reduced Inequalities (goal # 10). This perspective reinforces how crucial it is to view sustainability as not just environmental, but deeply tied to social and economic development.

It takes a village is a common expression, used by so many to essentially mean…we all need to lift one another up to attain the most robust society for long-term sustainability

Lifting up any society often begins with opportunities that offer economic sustainability - those opportunities can only be realized when individuals are schooled and trained. If we don’t invest in our youth, we are essentially saying that the next generation isn’t worth the investment…what does that say about sustainability? What does that say about building competition that creates a landscape of creativity and forward-thinking products and services?

Domestic violence and Early pregnancies among young girls are rampant in communities and are caused by poverty and unemployment forcing families to lack basic needs.

Dependable Youth Initiative Uganda is a registered Community non-governmental organization committed to empowering youth and women through vocational skill building, agri-business, Gender rights and equality, environment conservation, and reproductive health education.

Please check out their website: https://dyinitiative.org/