"Take Me Out to the Slow Game," Episode #178, May 8, 2026
The Wellness Compass Podcast
This podcast is a companion to our Wellness Compass column. What follows is the text of the column we emailed out this week on this same topic: “Baseball is too slow for me—I prefer sports like basketball with its constant action and scoring” is a comment we overheard at our grandson’s Little League game this week. Because it wasn’t said directly to us, we didn’t have the opportunity to respond with all the ways we love the slow pace of baseball. We’d like to share those with you now, and because this is a wellness column, we can’t resist the opportunity to reflect on what the...
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Sharing Awe: What 19,000 Likes Can Teach Us About Supporting One Another's Mental Health
The Wellness Compass Podcast
Sharing Awe: What 19,000 Likes Can Teach Us About Supporting One Another's Mental Health Wellness Compass Podcast Hosted by Holly Hughes Stoner, LMFT & Scott Stoner, LMFT Episode Overview Something unexpected happened after Holly and Scott's last column and podcast about the Artemis II astronauts — a quote about the view of Earth from space, and how it reveals no borders, no divisions, only our shared humanity, went viral on Facebook with nearly 20,000 likes and almost 7,000 shares. In this episode, Holly and Scott reflect on what that overwhelming response reveals about what people...
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"What Artemis II Can Teach Us About Mental Health," Episode #176, April 9, 2026
The Wellness Compass Podcast
Wellness Compass Podcast — Show Notes Episode: What Artemis II Can Teach Us About Mental Health About This Episode Scott and Holly Stoner, licensed marriage and family therapists and co-founders of the Wellness Compass Initiative, reflect on the Artemis II moon voyage and draw out four wellness lessons for our everyday lives. Recorded the night before the crew's scheduled return to Earth, this episode connects the wonder of outer space exploration to the inner work of mental health and well-being. In This Episode 1. There Is Power in Expanding Our Perspective The Artemis II...
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"Only Love Can Do That," Episode #175, March 27, 2026
The Wellness Compass Podcast
What follows is the Wellness Compass Column that was send out today and based on the same topic as this podcast episode: Only Love Can Do That Theo of Golden by Allan Levi is the book I (Holly) am currently reading and loving. Only three quarters of the way through it, the main character Theo and his story has really captivated me as he is everything I’d like to be: curious about others, a good listener to everyone, generous, and non-judgmental. I’ve been telling Scott about it all week, sharing many of the stories about Theo’s loving kindness and how I find it to be...
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"The Gift We So Often Forget to Give Ourselves," Episode #174, March 13, 2026
The Wellness Compass Podcast
The Gift We So Often Forget to Give Ourselves Wellness Compass Podcast Self-Compassion and Self-Care Episode Summary We hear about self-compassion and self-care so often that the words can start to wash over us — and yet most of us are still much better at offering compassion to others than to ourselves. In this episode, Holly and Scott Stoner explore why these practices are not luxuries or signs of self-indulgence, but the very foundation of sustained wellness, healthy relationships, and genuine care for others. Drawing on their work as marriage and family therapists, their...
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"The Courage to Reset: Lessons from an Olympic Champion," Episode #173, February 27, 2026
The Wellness Compass Podcast
Wellness Compass Podcast Show Notes Episode #173: The Courage to Reset: Lessons from an Olympic Champion, Overview Scott Stoner and Holly Hughes Stoner explore the power of making intentional resets in our lives — drawing inspiration from Olympic figure skater Alyssa Liu, who took two years away from skating at age 16 to prioritize her mental health, then returned to win gold at age 20. The Inspiring Story of Alyssa Liu Alyssa Liu's journey offers a compelling model for all of us. At 16, at the height of her competitive career, she stepped away from elite figure skating because the...
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"Love as Practice: Beyond the Feelings of Valentine's Day," Episode #172
The Wellness Compass Podcast
What follows is our Weekly Wellness Column that is always on the same topic as our Weekly Podcast: Valentine's Day invites us to celebrate love with cards, flowers, and chocolates—gestures that honor the warm feelings we have for the people we care about. Feelings are an important aspect of love, but love is so much more than that. What sustains love through ordinary days, difficult seasons, and genuine hardship? This week, nineteen Buddhist monks completed a 2,300-mile walk from Texas to Washington, D.C., covering over twenty miles each day for 108 days. Some walked barefoot. Some nights...
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"Start With Why" (Part 2 of a six-part series on change) Episode #171, January 30, 2026
The Wellness Compass Podcast
What follows is our Weekly Wellness Column that is always on the same topic as our Weekly Podcast: Start With Why (Part 2 of a six-part series on change). Most attempts to make a change will fail if they are not connected to a clear "why"—a clear reason for making the change. The "why" is the root system that grounds and nurtures change. Without a strong root system, most attempts at change will wither or die out altogether. For example, if a person makes a New Year’s resolution simply because it’s the popular thing to do, there is a good chance that resolution won’t stick. If,...
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"Listening for a Change," Episode #170, January 16, 2026
The Wellness Compass Podcast
In this episode we mention our Wellness Compass Self Assessment. Here is a link to our assessment(s). Click to learn more, and/or to download the self-assessment for your own use. And Holly mentions her personal trianer in this episode--the amazing Luanne Vogel. You can learn more about Luanne, including her contact info . And if you would like to join our upcoming Wellness Compass "pop up" session on Thursday, January 22, 7:00 PM Central Time, click . There are 8 dimensions of wellness in our Wellness Compass and for this session we will focus on the Relationship dimension...
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"Sharing Light in the Darkness," Episode #169, December 19, 2025
The Wellness Compass Podcast
Sharing Light in the Darkness In the 1990’s, there was a children’s show on the Nickelodeon Network that our children and we loved, called Are You Afraid of the Dark? One thing that made the show special was that it was just scary enough, without being terrifying. We find ourselves thinking about that show now as we in the Northern Hemisphere approach the darkest night of the year. There is a lot of fear, a lot of scary things happening in the world, things that can seem dark and overwhelming at times. As therapists, we find ourselves invited into so many conversations these days about how...
info_outlineWhat follows is our Weekly Wellness Column which is emailed every Friday morning and addresses the same topic as each week's podcast episode.
Well Connected
We recently came across an extended quote from Albert Einstein that we would like to share with you today.
“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.
Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”
As we reflect on the connection of Einstein’s words to wellness, the focus of this column, we are aware that a foundation of our wellness is acknowledging our deep inter-dependency with all people, and with all of creation. Certainly, the contagion of the COVID virus was a clear reminder of just how interconnected we all are.
Imagine a mobile hanging from a ceiling over a baby’s crib. If someone were to jiggle one piece of the mobile all the other pieces would also jiggle, even though you weren’t directly moving them. Why? Because they are all interconnected.
As family therapists, we often observe this when a family member faces a crisis or challenge. The person facing the challenge is clearly distressed, but soon, those who are closely connected to the person will also feel distressed. It also works the other way. When one person in a family, team, or group feels centered and joyous, that can also radiate out to those with whom they are connected.
Our deep inter-connectedness, as the intellectual icon Albert Einstein so eloquently explained, is a gift. When we remember it and nourish it regularly, not only do we benefit, but so does everyone with whom we are connected.