For years, I carried anxiety without knowing what to call it—just a constant hum in the background. Hiking changed that. Time outdoors offered me something other grounding practices hadn’t: a calm, clear presence in my body and mind. In this post, I explore how nature became a transformative part of my healing journey, how it deepened my sense of self-trust, and how embodiment plays a key role in therapy for anxiety and disconnection.
When someone we love is grieving, most of us freeze. We're not taught how to help, and our discomfort gets in the way. This post offers practical, compassionate ways to show up—without relying on worn-out phrases or emotional guesswork.
True authenticity isn’t about perfection or polished outcomes. It’s about the willingness to risk being fully seen. Practicing a conversation doesn’t have to be a form of manipulation or performance. It can be a way to stay more grounded and present, to get clearer about what we need to say and why.
Sometimes I gaslight myself. I think something’s really wrong, but then I spiral—‘Doctors say I’m fine, so maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the problem.’ And then you’re in this Spoonie loop: physical health, mental health, anxiety, self-blame. It’s relentless. And when your symptoms are invisible, it’s even harder to trust yourself…
“It sucks here, but sometimes it’s kind of nice.” That’s how we describe the Spooniverse. This group—of therapists who also live with chronic illness—wasn’t built to fix anything. It was built so we could stop doing it alone. We talk about grief, weird symptoms, feeling like a burden, and yes, peeing our pants. But we also laugh—a lot. Because even when bodies fail us, connection doesn’t.
For those of us who have grown up as siblings of individuals with disabilities with high support needs, it can feel strange (or even wrong) to acknowledge the complexity of that experience. Many of us carry deep care and fierce loyalty toward our siblings, but also feelings of confusion, frustration, sadness, or loss. These emotions can be hard to name, especially in an ableist world that continually devalues disabled lives.
You are not in this alone. You were never meant to be. Each and every one of us innately possesses strengths to live more enriching, joyful lives; let us help you to (re)connect to your strengths to find well-being.
“Improv masks it, makes it fun. Like, oh, yeah, I'm just playing this silly game. But then when we sit and we start to debrief what that game brought up for us, we see that it brought up a lot more than just funny space aliens.”
Shannon Stott’s approach to improv isn’t just about laughter—it’s about listening to your body, accessing your truth, and practicing how you want to move through the world. In this conversation, Logan Kim and Shannon dive deep into how playful, low-stakes games can help us explore identity, make intentional choices, and connect more fully with ourselves and others.
“Most of the moments that we have are actually low stakes,” Shannon reflects. “And improv helps us remember that it’s possible to be right here—in this moment—making one choice at a time.”