Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Welcome to Chasing Life podcast where we talk about fitness, running, career, and life tips to inspire you to live your best life. I'm your host, Sarah Kane, and I hope you enjoy today's episode. Welcome to another episode of Chasing Life. I'm your host, Sarah, and today's guest is Leah Marie. Leah, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much, Sarah, for having me. I'm really excited to talk with you today. We've known each other for a couple years, but we really kind of connected more at the beginning of this year when I started a walking challenge and you are a participant in that group. Can you kind of, you want to just get started talking about your experience in that group, what you enjoyed about it, and how that kind of helped you during the pandemic?
Yeah, absolutely. I was actually really thrilled when you had shared that group with me. I know that you had reached out to me several times once we became friends on Facebook. And I really appreciated this group in particular because of the focus on the accountability and the community. Because like you said, you started it during the pandemic. And I
I think during that time, there was just a sense of isolation in general, isolation from others, isolation from the world. And I found it very motivating to be able to remind myself and have other people kind of hold me accountable to get outdoors and go for a walk.
I think when you have other people that are supporting you and your experience, it is a lot easier to go out and do it. And so I just really appreciated you starting that group. And for me to challenge myself to walk a certain amount of miles each day.
You live in an area where it's pretty nice weather most of the year and you have some great areas to explore with hiking. Do you have a favorite memory or place that you've walked? That's a good question, actually. There are
I'm very lucky where I live. There are a lot of like hills. And so it's nice if you like to, you know, get your heart rate up. There's a lot of hills. And so I think just some of the walks that I've done have honestly been in the hills, like kind of sightseeing and the views like that I that I get.
like as far as like a particular I mean anytime I go in the woods is always a good time so um and thankfully I do live in a place that has a lot of woods a lot of places a lot of hiking trails and so I think um I mean anytime I can get out in nature is like really positive and one of my favorites I guess each time like each time I go it's different I think uh some of my favorite times to walk are
are in the morning when the world still kind of feels asleep you know and when everything is kind of quiet and sometimes you know there's more more humidity in the air it's a little bit more like and the birds are singing and everything like that's my that's my favorite time to go um and I and I did do that through this challenge I did do a couple morning hikes which were really nice yeah and you had some beautiful pictures that you shared we appreciate that
Yeah, yeah. Thank you for creating a space to be able to share them and, you know, join the community. Yeah, it was my pleasure. I kind of jumped right into things with you. But can you maybe share a little like brief intro about who you are and, you know, what you do and maybe some other hobbies that you enjoy? Absolutely. So I'm
I, whenever people say like, tell me about yourself, I'm always like, oh man, I need to work on my elevator pitch. Currently, I am a coach. Not officially yet, but I'm working on it. I'm getting there. I'm being trained into this role, which I'm really excited about. A little bit about myself. I've worked in the nonprofit sector for a little over 10 years. I have a background in public health.
as well as an undergraduate degree in political science. I
love the different types of work I've done throughout time, but me, myself personally, I, I love to be outdoors. I love to be active. Um, I am not the best at creating like goals for myself around like, Oh, I'm going to run a marathon. Like I know you're really into like marathon running and training and everything. And I'm kind of one of those, like,
I'll dabble in this. I'll do a little bit of this. So I'll do a little bit of hiking and I'll do a little bit of biking and you know, I'll do a little bit of dancing. So I'm kind of one of those types of people where I like to do a lot of different things, but I'm a pretty regular person. I love yoga. I have my yoga teacher certification and I just believe that it's such a healing modality. I believe in,
I don't know, like healing, like healing others, healing the world, healing people's trauma. And I think that there's so many different healing modalities out there in the world. And I'm really interested in them and studying them.
So you touched a little bit about your nonprofit work. And when we had a conversation, you described to me how influential your nonprofit work has shaped you. Can you share a little bit more about your experiences and kind of how that led you to your new role as a health and wellness coach?
I've been working in nonprofit. Following my undergraduate degree, I started volunteering, working with LGBTQ youth and doing mentorship and support and health education with them. And then that supported me with getting an opportunity to be an AmeriCorps member. So I did AmeriCorps for a year where I was doing HIV and AIDS education and
and helping raise awareness around, you know, condom negotiation skills and things like that. And I really enjoyed that. And that role actually is what interested me in getting and pursuing a master's in public health because I was so interested in how like we as ourselves as human beings, like there are so many external factors to our lives, but we also as ourselves have
you know, efficacy and ability to be able to make healthy choices and make changes for ourselves that can lead to better health outcomes, can lead to a better quality of life. And so I was really interested in that aspect of public health, like how you can take public health and focus on, you know, the individual.
And then also, I was a young domestic violence survivor. And so since that time, I've always just been interested in like the helping professions and working with, you know, even DV survivors and helping them with their youth.
moving forward and healing and also in moving forward in their lives and pursuing what they want to do next and just kind of holding space for them and being with them. I have like all this interest like in like public health also and just like the helping professions. And so once I received my master's, I actually directly went into work with DV survivors. So I was working actually in the family court, which is kind of like a
kind of not related to public health directly, but I felt like in a way I was still contributing because, you know, I was holding space for women who would come in who had just undergone really like traumatic experiences. And I would support them with filling out petitions to file for orders of protection or filed for custody of their children and different things like that. And that was a really meaningful experience for me because I got to, you
hear how like women and different survivors of domestic violence are kind of re-traumatized, like learn about how they're re-traumatized by these like systems that are in place, like the court systems and, and how, um,
devastating it can be to like, you know, first off, like maybe leave a situation and then to, you know, be in the court system and then have like your kids possibly even be taken away from you depending on the situation. And, you know, there's so many different layers of complexity and I
I just felt really grateful to be able to be there and be with these women through this process and being in the courtroom with them and everything. And then after that, I moved into another position where I was working in a domestic violence shelter kind of as a case manager.
And that also just opened my eyes to so much like being able to work with women and support them and, you know, kind of like safety planning. Some of the women I work with would go back to their abusers. And that's very normal for domestic violence in general, like often.
Oftentimes, you know, people will go back to their abuser. And so I was just there to just be present with them, hold that compassionate space for them, help them if they had goals to move forward, like to their next steps and what it is that they wanted to do. And then since then, I've held several different roles.
And most recently I was working with people experiencing homelessness, which is working with a very, very marginalized community. I was doing some public health work, supporting them with getting access to certain health services, as well as linking them to various miscellaneous other services
in the city. And so I feel like just the culmination of experiences kind of led me to where I currently am. And I noticed that in this work that I was doing, I felt like I was helping, you know, people,
the way that I could, but not helping in the way that I wanted to. I don't know how to explain that, but almost like I helped space. I was there for people. I provided like health education, information, resources, but I'm, like I said, in the beginning, I'm kind of more interested in like healing and then those types of modalities and also in, you know, meeting people where they're at and helping them get to their next step. And that's,
And that's kind of where this health and wellness coaching opportunity kind of manifested itself, I guess you could say, even though I feel like that word is very woo-woo and I'm like, oh, like manifest. But in a way, it really feels like it did kind of happen like that. And I'm really excited for this opportunity because I get to be
be in a space with people, I get to hold space with people. But then I get to, you know, kind of support and guide people on their journey and help them use their own tools that they already have to move forward in a way that I think might be more impactful than I've been able to professionally before.
So I'm really looking forward to this new change and also really grateful for the experiences that have helped shape me to get me to where I am. First of all, thank you for all of the work that you have done in supporting the various communities of homelessness, of domestic violence survivors. I think that it takes a very special person to be able to be in those situations and to
hold that space. And so thank you for sharing your experiences and being of service to those communities. And second, I really like what you said about guiding people on their journey. I feel like that kind of is in line in one of the reasons why I wanted to have you as a guest on Chasing Life podcast, because I feel like that's kind of the, you know, the positive, you
advancement in our lives. And so as a coach, it's an opportunity for you to make a difference to people in a different manner than you were able to do before. So that's pretty exciting. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I'm really, I'm really excited.
So you've only been in that position for a few weeks now. And you mentioned a few minutes ago that you were still kind of getting training on those. What's that been like? Because the coaching position is through a corporation, correct? And then you're just kind of like getting training. Yeah, I mean, I'm really loving it so far. I'm loving what I'm learning. I'm realizing I have a lot of
of growth. I feel like I'm a sponge right now. And I am soaking it all in and being very patient with myself and really gracious with myself and kind of viewing it with a growth mindset because I am a recovering perfectionist myself. I definitely have perfectionist tendencies and there's no such thing as perfect. So I think for me, it's like,
realizing that like, I'm going to make mistakes and I'm not always going to do the right thing. And I'm going to try my best and I'm going to, you know, kind of stumble through it. I'm sure in the beginning, but you know, I'm going to get there. And I feel like right now I'm just really grateful for the educational opportunity that it's providing me as well to develop professionally. Yeah. I love what you said. I can connect to a lot of what you said. I'm sure our listeners can too of just,
kind of overcoming that barrier of trying to be perfect at new things. You know, I love that you have kind of taken a leap from what you were doing to a new position that is maybe a bit out of your comfort zone and you're open to the
the new learning and the challenges that it's going to provide. And so that's another reason why I wanted to have you on here was because I just feel like that's a great reminder for people that growth doesn't just happen with fitness and running, but also in your career. And that's kind of why I wanted to merge, you know, this podcast is about fitness, running career and life tips. And I feel like our conversation is addressing all of those things. So thank you for sharing that. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. And yeah, I absolutely agree. I definitely think that, you know, the learning, the learning never stops and the growing never stops, no matter what, you know, field you're in and everything. So with your kind of career growth,
and mind or even just life in general, what is some of the best advice you've ever given or received, whether it's related to your career or elsewhere? - Yeah, that's a really great question.
I think one of the ones that I've been trying to practice more recently was actually a piece of advice from my life coach, because I also have a life coach. And it was more of an observation than it was like a piece of advice.
But it was that I was saying like, oh, like, you know, I feel like I'm not accomplishing my big goals. Like I have all these little goals I'm doing, but I'm not accomplishing my big ones. And she kind of called me out, but not like called me up, called me in. And she's like, Leah, she's like, you did this and you did that, you know, X, Y, Z. Like you accomplished three really major, like big goals in your life.
And, you know, it's okay to take some time to celebrate that and to acknowledge that and to be, you know, to kind of be with that for a while and hold that for a while and maybe just have some fun and enjoy yourself and enjoy your successes. And I was like, you know, I feel like it...
it brought me back to like grade school or like, you know, even college and you, you graduate and you walk down the, you know, the aisle or whatever, and you get your degree diploma in your hand and you get your photo taken and it's very celebratory, but I feel like there's, um, you know, for the remainder of your life when, you know, you're not in school, you're working, maybe you get employee of the month or whatever. I don't even know if that's a thing anymore, but, you
You know, I feel like we have to celebrate our successes and celebrate ourselves because, you know, we are amazing. Like everybody is so amazing in their own way. And we all are also the experts of our lives. And I just feel like,
We deserve to be celebrated. And yeah, like maybe it's not like the graduation party or the thing you used to do, but like finding a different way to celebrate that in your life, I think is really important. Whether you treat yourself to like a vacation or you go get your nails done or whatever it is, that's your self-care that maybe is just like, you know, I'm going to treat myself tonight or I'm going to go out for dinner or whatever.
You know, I think that that was a really important reminder for me because as adults, I think we don't celebrate our successes enough. I think we tend to be hard on ourselves and be like, I sucked at this or I didn't do good at this. And, and a lot less focused on like the things that we did succeed at and the things that we did accomplish. And I think that focusing that lens or changing that, that lens a little bit is really important. Yes. I've,
there's so many of those things i was like yep i need to work on that too or i've been trying to work on that i can completely relate so thank you for sharing that i hope other people
found that reminder just as helpful as I did, because I do feel like as adults, it's always like, okay, what's next? Like, it's like, okay, we graduated, you know, it's that quote unquote standard, like life stages, right? Of, okay, you go to college and then you get a house or you find a partner or you have kids or like, you know, what those, but I feel like those standards are changing. But, you know, maybe people are pursuing like other goals of like,
So for like a runner, for example, it's like, oh, half marathon and then a marathon and then an ultra marathon. It's like, when do we take a moment to just reflect on what we have accomplished without saying, okay, what's next? And so I think that that's a really great reminder. You know, we can continue to have goals because I feel like that helps us grow in life. But to take a second and celebrate and be okay with just being where you are right now
Celebrating what you've achieved and then when you feel like you're ready to, you know, go on to the next goal or whatever else you want to work toward.
Yeah, I absolutely agree. And I also like how you said that, like, and not just celebrating, like the big things also, like you said, yeah, like, absolutely, things are changing. And I think that, you know, it could even be you had a really shitty day, but you got your butt out of bed, and you went for a walk, or you went for a run, or, you know, it's like,
That's a win. That's a success. Like, I mean, maybe to someone else, it might not be, but to you, like, that should, you know, you should celebrate that. So I appreciate, I appreciate what you said. Yeah. And I think that's a great point, too, is to especially, I mean, anytime, but more so even in the last, you know, year and a half.
our scale of quote unquote accomplishments, we shouldn't compare that to other people because we're all experiencing the stresses or the impacts of the pandemic differently. And so, yeah, just kind of set, okay, what's one thing that I can focus on today? And then just focusing on that, not, oh, I will,
I went for a walk and comparing yourself to say me where maybe I went for a six mile run or something. We're different people, we're working on different things. And so to be conscious of that comparison game. Yeah, that's a great point. I guess this is kind of a good segue. You did mention earlier that you don't tend to set any goals or you struggle with goals. Do you have an intention that you're currently working toward?
Yeah, I do. I think for me, one intention is really learning my job well, and training up and giving myself permission to make mistakes and to learn and to grow. And so that's one intention I have. And I think another is I've been focusing a lot on gratitude lately. So like,
I actually started a gratitude journal and it has like some hot pink and some blue squiggly lines. It looks like it's straight out of the 90s, like the Rugrats or something. I got it from a local bookstore and I've been journaling in it every night. So I write about
Four to seven, it depends on how ambitious or how tired I am that evening. But four to seven things that I'm grateful for each day. And I really enjoy and I do it right before bed. And I do that intentionally because
Before bed, I used to be one of those like doom scrollers, like reading the news and getting really depressed about the world. And this is also actually something that was recommended by my life coach, who I give lots of kudos to. And but it's something that's been really helpful for me. And it's an intention that I've been setting is just to be more grateful and to be
even take time in the moment. Like I might not journal on it right then and there, but if there's a moment like, oh, look at that gorgeous sunset or wow, listen to that bird chirping, you know, like,
enjoying the small things or the big things and the beautiful things about being alive. And I also started a gratitude practice earlier in the year, except then it kind of evolved to more journaling. But it was a way for before bed to kind of just process my day and focus on
the things that I could control or the positive things that happened in that day. And so I can appreciate what you're doing as well. Do you allow yourself to repeat things that you're grateful for? Yes, I do. And I noticed it too. Like, I'm like, Oh, like one of the things I said I was grateful for was my air purifier. Yeah.
I know I've written that at least like three times. But you're really grateful for it. I'm very grateful for the air purifier. Yeah. I got, you know, I love breathing clean air. Again, this is another great segue of what are you obsessed with or loving right now besides your gratitude journal? Yeah. Well, I just bought roller skates, which is kind of really...
parallels a new job because I feel like roller skating is something I did as a child and doing it as an adult is very liberating and very scary because, you know, as a child, I feel like you're used to falling on your butt over and over and you get right back up and you run, run around. And for me, it's been actually,
I realized like my adult anxiety, like kicking in like, Oh, like what if you fall? Oh, be careful, you know? And I'm trying to,
move about space in a new way and feel my body moving through the air in a new way. And I feel like roller skating is something that's like kind of bringing me back to my childhood, challenging me new in this new way, going back to that growth mindset, like I've actually already fallen a couple times.
And I get back up and it's always a little scary and I get back up and I keep on skating and I do have a protective, you know, the, the knee pads and the elbow pads. So that's helped me a little bit as well, feeling a little bit more confident, but yeah,
yeah, I've been really enjoying it so far and I hope to continue to do it. And I am really loving it. Like every time I do it, I'm so grateful I did. I'm like, yes, like you feel good. Like, and I try to remind myself that when I'm like, Oh, like, should I go today? And then another thing I've been really loving right now is my air fryer, which I feel like is what a lot of people probably are loving right now. Like I just,
got one recently and I'm making a lot of kale chips and then home improvement projects because that is one thing I learned about owning a home is that it never ends and I'm learning to love it. I don't, I didn't love it at first, but I'm learning to love it. What's your current home improvement project? Where I live, crawl spaces are common and like I'd never heard of a crawl space before until actually until I like
you know, bought my home. And so right now I'm working on encapsulating it, which just means protecting the house from the elements of the earth, like the moisture and everything from the ground. So putting down a moisture protective barrier, fixing insulation that's fallen. I have a very old home, so it needs a lot of love. Yeah.
And what's been your favorite project that you've done? Probably fixing my closet. For a while, we temporarily didn't have a closet and getting that closet put back in shape and, you know, taking all the clothes that were, you know, just lying everywhere and putting them into one space just felt very good. And it felt good to organize as well. Did you use any of the Marie Kondo tips of whether the clothes brought you joy? Did you sort through your clothes when you were reorganizing them?
You know, I did actually. And I got rid of a lot of stuff. I actually have it in a big stack waiting to go to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. I just need to get out and do it. I feel like that's the tough part, right? You put the clothes in the bag, but then the clothes sit in the bag in your car for like months or something, right? Yeah, exactly. Also address your roller skating. I love that you're
Going back to kind of a childhood movement, right? There's not many adults that you see rollerblading, at least not where I go. I see a couple of people on like the rail trail that I run on, but it's not as common as if we see kids. But as adults, we have that higher fear.
mentality than we were kids. So I give you so much credit. And the fact that you're kind of reflecting on the lessons and the growth that it presents you to as well for trying this new activity or going back to an activity that you enjoyed as a kid, I'm really glad that you shared that. Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, it's been fun. There's been...
I feel like it's this trend, like more people are starting to roller skate and roller blade again. Like I've been seeing it a little bit more recently.
recently and I'm like, oh, like that's actually what kind of inspired me as like, I was like, I miss that feeling. You know, I miss that feeling of free, you know, being on wheels, being in a different, you know, plane. Cause I feel like I'm usually mostly on foot. Like I'm doing a lot of walking. I'm doing a lot of hiking. I'm doing yoga, but you know, not a lot of free, you know, movement in that way, I guess. Like, it's just a different way to move through the, through
through space i guess yeah one thing that i remember from rollerblades do you experience this like once you take the rollerblades off do you feel like you're still on them like that motion do you know what i mean oh you know kind of or like i i feel like for me
What happens is because usually I'll go drive somewhere, skate and then like skate back to my car and then get in my car, take off my skates, put on my shoes, drive. And I noticed that when I'm.
like kind of like taking off the skates and everything that like, I, I automatically like miss that motion. Like I want to be back in motion. Like, I'm like, I'm like, Oh man, like, why can't like the shoes when I put my shoes on after I roller skate, I'm just like,
Like, I just want to, like, do that. You know, I want to roller skate more. Like, I don't want to put on my shoes. Like, that's so boring. Do you remember? I mean, this was, I think, popular when we were in high school, those sneakers that had the roller blades built in. Yes. Those were really cool and really dangerous, but really cool. Yeah.
I never owned a pair, but I was a little envious of the kids who did have them. Right. They seemed like the coolest thing. I never owned a pair either. But because I thought I would just like fall on my face, like all of a sudden the wheels would come out and you'd fall on your back. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Like skating down the stairs. No, thank you. Right. Yeah. To wrap up the podcast, I always ask all my guests one question, which is the name of the podcast.
What does chasing life mean to you? Oh, I like this question. I feel like when I read this question initially, I was thinking about how like life moves really fast. And because I'm like reflecting, I'm like, oh man, you know, I'm, you know, this many years old and
And I kind of feel like if you aren't participating and you aren't taking initiative and working towards something, whatever it may be, little by little, that it can go by really fast. It can almost outpace you. So I feel like it's really important just like as human beings that we are, you know, just doing as much as we can, like celebrating, enjoying life.
And yeah, like just being an active participant in our lives, you know, and taking initiative in whatever ways that we can. I recognize that, you know, different people have different privileges and some people are able to have much more than others. But I think, you know, however you can play a more participatory part of your life to help, you know, keep up and I guess chase it or to, you know, keep living it to the fullest.
I think one of the things I heard recently, it was like a song that I like, and it's like, may you live until you die. And then I'm just like, oh, that sounds so simple. But it's like, you know, so many people, I feel like it's easy to kind of zone out and you are just waiting for the weekends and, you know, and then like years pass by. And I think that it's important to kind of just enjoy every moment and be proactive in every moment.
Yeah, I love that positivity and the reminder to celebrate and enjoy life. So thank you for that. Yeah, of course. So thank you so much for joining me today. I appreciate your time and sharing your experiences and your advice and all the fun things that you're doing.
Yeah, thank you so much, Sarah. It was nice to speak with you. And I really appreciate you inviting me onto your podcast. And I wish you all the best. I really appreciate you. I appreciate what you're doing, the inspiration and the love that you're putting into the universe. So thank you. Oh, thank you.
Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it on social media. Tag me at Sarah Chasing Life or at Chasing Life Podcast. If you haven't already, please be sure to subscribe and rate this podcast. That helps me to reach more listeners.