The Head Trash Show is back!

01/21/20 • 17 min

The Head Trash + Healing Show with Alexia Leachman

I’m so excited to bring the Head Trash Show back. It’s been a long break, but one that has been worth it.

So in this opening episode this is what I want to share with you;

Where I’ve been

You might be wondering why I took a break and what I’ve been up to. If I said to you that I had a baby, you’d probably think “oh sure, you’ve been at home with the kids” But that’s not strictly true. The experience of having my second daughter took me on a different trajectory work-wise and head trash-wise.

As a result of my own experience in overcoming my fears of birth and pregnancy, I wrote a book Fearless Birthing and launched the Fear Free Childbirth podcast. Just this month I hit 525,000 downloads, which I find a little bit crazy. But such is the importance of fear when it comes to birth and pregnancy.

As a result of this detour into pregnancy and birth I’ve learned a lot about the nature of fear and anxiety and I’d like to bring that back now into how fear and anxiety affects us in day-to-day life.

The ‘Clear Your Head Trash’ book

Last year I brought out the book Clear Your Head Trash. In this book I share the Head Trash Clearance MethodTM which is the technique that I’ve refined and use to clear head trash.

The book is available from all online book sellers.

As you can see, the podcast has a new website too, so this is now your destination for all things head trash.

What would you like to hear on the show?

I’m really interested to know what you would like to hear on the Head Trash Show. What are you struggling with? What head trash are you wrestling with in your life?

I’ve created a tiny little 3-question survey for you use to let me know.

FILL IN THE SURVEY HERE.

This will help me to come up with content that will be helpful to you.

Podcast Transcription

If you would like to access the transcription for this podcast episode, then head over here.

I’m so excited to bring the Head Trash Show back. It’s been a long break, but one that has been worth it.

So in this opening episode this is what I want to share with you;

Where I’ve been

The ‘Clear Your Head Trash’ book

Last year I brought out the book Clear Your Head Trash. In this book I share the Head Trash Clearance MethodTM which is the technique that I’ve refined and use to clear head trash.

The book is available from all online book sellers.

As you can see, the podcast has a new website too, so this is now your destination for all things head trash.

What would you like to hear on the show?

I’m really interested to know what you would like to hear on the Head Trash Show. What are you struggling with? What head trash are you wrestling with in your life?

I’ve created a tiny little 3-question survey for you use to let me know.

FILL IN THE SURVEY HERE.

This will help me to come up with content that will be helpful to you.

Podcast Transcription

If you would like to access the transcription for this podcast episode, then head over here.

Previous Episode

My fear of vomit made my kids sick

I'm not the first person to say this so it shouldn't be news to you, but if you want to change the world start with yourself. The "world" doesn't have to be some grandiose idea about changing humanity, it can be as simple as changing YOUR world. And this couldn't be truer when it comes to your stresses.

If you find yourself being stressed out by LIFE and the people in it, maybe it's time for you to take a look in the mirror, because maybe it's YOU that's creating the stress in the first place.

Hear me out!

When you're stressed, people will pick up on your stress... maybe not consciously, but it will be affecting them on some level. And this is even more so when it comes to your kids. If your kids are running riot and stressing you out, maybe they're simply responding to your stressy state; your stress is stresssing them out which is making them go a wee bit crazy.

Something happened to me on holiday this year which really brought this home to me. And it involved VOMIT! I want to share it with you because it really brings this idea to smelly light.

Our holiday this year involved quite a bit of driving... airports and planes with a 10 month old is NOT a holiday! But, my two girls are prone to being sick in the car and this is something that completely stresses me out. I think I was traumatised when my eldest was one and she was being sick in the back while I was doing a long drive on my own. We were in road works and I couldn’t stop the car... All I could hear was liquidy vomit gurgling in her throat and splatting everywhere, and I was panicking that she was choking on it. It was horrible! Not to mention the state of the car! And the smell! Ever since, long journeys get me stressed before we start because of my fear of vomit and either one of them being sick. Looking back, that was clearly the moment that my fear of vomit was instilled.

So I was just starting one such journey; a 4-hour drive to Wales. I was picking up my French Aunt at the airport on the way. Timing was everything and stresses were high. Once we picked her up I knew we’d have to stop the car soon... preventative measures and a possible nappy change... We were just over an hour into the journey.

We got back into the car and things seemed to go ok for a while. Then the the little one started whimpering. That was it! I was sure this was a cue to an imminent vomit fest, so you can imagine what state I was in. We stopped for some fresh air and a bit of a wander around some greenery. And then we stopped again. And again. There was no vomit, but as far as I was concerned this was because I was managing this situation beautifully... ha! #delusional

My aunt dared to suggest that the only reason she was crying was because she was picking up on my stress-vibes, and that I needed to do the work i.e. clear my head trash! Ha! Perceptive lady!

By the time we reached our destination, our 4-hour drive had turned into a day trip. Not good. So when the time came for the return journey I knew I had to do some head trash clearance before we started. I needed to shake my fear of vomit stress. The practical stuff was done as I had already covered the back seats in loads of blankets, so really I just needed to sort my head out.

So I worked on clearing my fear of kids vomiting in the car , and then just vomit and people vomitting (loving and hating vomit etc). It didn’t take me long and I only did the super quick emergency version. Once that was done, I was super chilled about the thought of vomit. In fact I didn’t care. They could be sick all over the place for all I could care. The car would be fine, they would be fine. IT’S OK!

So we set off on our 4-hour journey. It wasn’t long before they fell asleep. An hour into the journey and just before the motorway (we were in Wales remember!) I stopped for diesel and a pee. And then I could finally put my foot down. And I did! They were asleep so I wanted to get as many miles done before they woke up and felt sick.

And then that’s when it started getting weird. Weird as in NORMAL. The 10 month old woke up and started singing and playing with her toys. Then after a bit, she fell back asleep. The 4-year old who never sleeps for more than an hour in the car just kept sleeping.

My aunt and I were getting hungry and wanted to stop for a drink and a snack but as long as they were both asleep we thought we’d best carry on. Surely it would be better to just get back as soon as possible. Thank goodness I went for a pee back in Wales!

The miles were zipping by and my two kids were still sleeping. I was super chilled because I didn’t really care if they would be sick, I just wanted to get home. And the crazy thing is that they just kept sleeping. They finally woke up when I got off the motorway 20 minutes from home. THEY SLEPT for 3 1...

Next Episode

Mindfulness, Meditation & Clearance

On today’s show I’m chatting with Louise Hallam who is a mindfulness and meditation teacher. The reason I wanted to get Louise on the show is because Louise recently did some head trash clearance with me and I thought it would be useful to share her perspective on using meditation and head trash clearance, and how they can be best used side by side. Meditation and Head Trash Clearance We often hear how mindfulness and meditation is the answer to our problems if we want to reduce the stress and anxiety in our lives. And yes, they can help. But I think there are quicker ways of going about this. Personally, I wouldn't use mindfulness and meditation in that way. I think meditation is a powerful technique that is brilliant for giving you the space to connect to your intuition, to create space for mental and emotional processing, and for being guided in our lives. But, I believe that there are quicker ways to reduce stress and anxiety. And using the head trash clearance method is one such way. I talk about combining meditation and head trash clearance in my book, but I think it’s always worth getting a second opinion on these matters because I don't for one minute believe that I have the final word on this. This is why I wanted to dive into this with Louise. As a mindfulness and meditation teacher, who has now experienced an intense period of head trash clearance, I thought she would be the perfect person to challenge me and put me right (if indeed I needed to be put right!). Those of you who do mindfulness and meditation will be interested in Louise’s experience of doing both meditation and head trash clearance and how she uses them to help her to become a better version of herself. Building Confidence But this conversation isn’t only about that. We also talk about the how head trash clearance helped Louise to build up her confidence. By exploring those aspects of herself that were sapping her confidence we were able to clear them away which created the space for her confidence to step forward. Connecting to her authentic self Getting rid of the fears and doubts also created the space for Louise's authentic self to emerge. No longer trying to fit in with people's expectations of her, or from feeling hemmed in from her fears, Louise is now much more accepting of who she is and is happy to own that. A healed introvert? Louise, a self-confessed introvert used to find it hard to go out networking. It was exhausting for her. She would worry about not being taken seriously and saying something silly. This was holding her back in her business. During our chat, Louise shares how within weeks, she was organising her own networking event with over 100 people interested in attending and how now she has no problems going out meeting new people and putting herself out there. Her networking event is now a regular feature in her local business community. Podcast Transcript

To access the transcript for this podcast episode, head over here.

About Louise

Louise has a background in leadership learning and development and is able to provide a bridge between the corporate world and a holistic approach to employee wellbeing. Her employee wellbeing work has included Volvo and recently CTG, an aerospace company in Banbury and an automotive electronics company in Warwick. She also works with individuals, groups and charities and is passionate about making mindfulness and meditation accessible to everyone.

Louise has been practising mindfulness and meditation for over 10 years and started Still Calm after seeing that the benefits were not only relevant for her own circumstances, but a whole range of factors that people are facing in the modern world. We live in a time when we can be stimulated by information 24 hours a day and more is expected of us in the workplace. Mindfulness is becoming an essential, rather than an optional tool for running anyone who looks after their wellbeing and forward thinking company. With benefits including increased productivity, performance, innovation, building resilience, communication and managing stress, Louise is able to see the synergy between making mindfulness adaptable for employers as well as the wellbeing of employees.

Louise is committed to developing her own practice and continues to practise mindfulness and meditation on a daily basis and attend regular training and CPD events to update her teaching and knowledge.

Louise is also pleased to be a Meditation Teacher accredited with the British School of Meditation.

You can find Louise at her website StillCalm, on Twitter and on Faceb...