No Shrinking Violets Podcast for Women
No Shrinking Violets is all about what it truly means for women to take up their space in the world – mind, body and spirit. Mary Rothwell, licensed therapist and certified integrative mental health practitioner, has seen women “stay small” and fit into the space in life that they have been conditioned to believe they deserve. Drawing on 35 years in the mental health field and from her perspective as a woman who was often told to "stay in your lane," Mary discusses how early experiences, society and sometimes our own limiting beliefs can convince us that living inside guardrails is the best -- or only -- option. She'll explore how to recognize our unique essential nature and how to use that to empower a new narrative.Through topics that span psychology, friendships, nature and even gut-brain health, Mary creates a space that is inspiring and authentic - where she celebrates the intuition and power of women who want to chart their own course and program their own GPS.
Mary's topics will include sleep and supplements and nutrition and how to live like a plant. (Yes, you read that right - the example of plants is often the most insightful path to knowing what we truly need to feel fulfilled). She’ll talk about setting boundaries, communicating, and relationships, and explore mental health and wellness: trauma and resilience, how our food impacts our mood and the power of simple daily habits. And so much more!
As a gardener, Mary knows that violets have been misjudged for centuries and are actually one of the most resilient and ecologically important plants in her native garden. Like violets, women are often underestimated, and they can even mistake their unique gifts for weaknesses. Join Mary to explore all the ways the vibrant and strong violet is an example for finding fulfillment in our own lives.
Episodes
150 episodes
Discernment: How to Make Life's Big Decisions
A pro and con list can’t tell you why a choice feels right in your bones. We start with a deceptively simple question: why would two frequent travelers in a small city townhome with three cats decide to get a dog? That “on paper it makes no sen...
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Using Immediacy To Facilitate and Deepen Communication
We’re running on puppy time and talking about why a new dog can upend your routine fast. Then we share a therapy tool called immediacy and show how naming what’s happening right now can break through shutdowns, jokes, and stalemates in relation...
Emotional Restoration: Overcoming Fear through Rest and Reflection
Fear can be quiet, rational-sounding, and incredibly persuasive. It tells us to stay small, keep the peace, hustle harder, and accept “good enough” because change feels risky. I sit down with Gilza Fort-Martinez, a licensed marriage and family ...
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Flashbulb Moments: How Memories Shape your Life
In this mini-episode, I talk about• defining flashbulb moments as memories that stand out in bold relief • noticing how siblings can remember the same event differently • sharing a childhood story about breaking an elbow a...
Transformation Through Action: Rebuilding Confidence in Midlife
You know that moment when you catch your reflection and realize you’ve been getting through life instead of really living it? That’s where this conversation begins, and it’s where a lot of real change starts. Mary shares a vivid memory from the...
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Expand Your Life: Ignoring the "Yeah, Buts"
The “yeah, but” voice can sound sensible, even caring, but it can quietly shrink your life. Today we’re pulling that voice into the light and asking a bigger question: what would you do if you truly believed it’s not too late?As we're scramblin...
Single Parenting With A Plan
Single parenting can feel like you are carrying a whole household on your back and getting judged at the same time. We wanted to cut through the noise and talk about what actually helps, so we brought on Pat Hankin, author of The Field Guide fo...
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What If Your Life Vision is Limiting What's Possible?
Your biggest goals can quietly turn into blinders and you might not even notice until you feel stuck. We’re sharing a mindset shift that hit hard after reading Austin Kleon’s “Don’t Call It Art”: when we grip our visions too tightly, we can mis...
Forest Bathing: The Health Benefits in Your Own Backyard
Your body already knows how to relax, it just might be waiting for you to step outside. We sit down with Kim Little Hoover, a mindful outdoor guide certified through the Kripalu School of Mindful Outdoor Leadership, to talk about forest bathing...
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Communication: Clarity and Self-Awareness are Key
A question: why does communication break down so easily when we have so many ways to connect? We talk through how silence, softened needs, and rushed messages create confusion, then lay out simple ways to speak clearly in relationships and prof...
Somatic Therapy: Does the Body Keep the Score?
Your body reacts before your brain can explain it. A glance from the wrong person, a headline on your phone, a tense meeting at work, and suddenly it hits your stomach, your throat tightens, or your chest feels heavy. We talk about why that hap...
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A Garden Story About Self Trust
We use a struggling shade plant as a mirror for the moments we stop trusting our own eyes and instincts. We connect gardening lessons to burnout, identity, and the relief that comes from changing the environment instead of blaming ourselves.
What If Midlife Is Where You Begin: Boundaries, Burnout & Reinvention
If you’ve been the competent one for decades, you can get so good at holding everything together that you stop noticing you’re not actually inside your own life. Mary Rothwell opens with a personal turning point, leaving a career-defining job a...
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Trigger Warnings, Trauma, And The Skills To Tolerate Life
We explore why trigger warnings and the word trigger can feel both helpful and limiting, especially when avoidance starts to shape daily life. I share stories and nature-based metaphors to show how resilience grows when we build tolerance, not ...
Comedy As Power: Gender and Trauma through the Lens of Humor
When a woman makes people laugh, she is doing more than entertaining the room. She is taking up space, steering attention, and quietly testing the rules of what society says is “acceptable” for women to do, say, and even feel. Mary traces her o...
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Nature Holds the Key to What You Need
Nature isn’t something you “get to” after you finally have a free weekend, the right gear, or the energy for a long hike. Nature is already here, and we’re already part of it. In this mini episode of No Shrinking Violets, I share what my recent...
The Trauma of Betrayal: How to Recover and Thrive
Betrayal has a special kind of aftermath: you’re not only grieving what happened, you’re questioning your judgment, your sanity, and whether you can trust yourself at all. I open with two betrayals that shaped me in different ways, one in a rel...
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The Hidden Agenda in Conflict and How It Keeps You Stuck
A tough truth about relationship conflict is that we often walk into “the talk” with a hidden agenda: we want the other person to change. I unpack why that hope can keep you stuck, especially when you’re dealing with chronic behavior patterns t...
Finding Healing from Childhood Trauma in Sobriety and Grace
Anger can feel like protection until you notice what it’s doing to your body. That’s where we start, with a hard truth and a hopeful one: you can have every right to be angry and still choose grace when you’re ready to stop carrying the weight....
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Is Empathy Getting in the Way of Healthy Boundaries?
Chasing the reason someone hurt you can feel productive, but it often turns into a maze that drains your energy and delays the one thing that actually helps: a clear boundary. I’m sharing a short, practical mindset shift for anyone who keeps re...
How to be "Bad": Finding Your Authentic Voice Through Nature And Sass
Being “too much” is often just another way the world tells women to be smaller. Mary Rothwell sits down with author and writing teacher Amy Lou Jenkins to trace how a strong, sassy voice gets mislabeled as “bad” and how reclaiming that voice ca...
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The Simple Shift that Increases Emotional Regulation
Your mind can spin a thousand explanations in seconds, but your body just wants one clear answer: what are you feeling right now? In this mini No Shrinking Violets conversation, I share a deceptively simple technique that can reduce emotional p...
Surviving Tragedy: How a Near Death Experience Changed Her Priorities
We talk with Pam Warren about how a single catastrophic day reshapes identity, priorities, and the meaning of a life well lived. We dig into trauma, chronic pain, PTSD, and the practical mindset shifts that help us stop shrinking and start choo...
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Are You Loving Well?
The easiest reaction to a stressful world is to pull back, close the shutters, and decide you’re done with people. We’ve felt that impulse too, especially when politics, headlines, and even everyday friction with neighbors can make connection f...
Tiny Reframes For Positivity And Self-Acceptance
A lot of “positive quotes” sound good and vanish two hours later. We wanted something different: real stories that earn the takeaway, the kind you can carry into your day when you’re driving, cleaning the sink, or lying awake with your brain on...
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