Podcast Magazine, December 2021
Mind Body Spirit.fm is a podcast network that expands the realms of what is typically covered in the health category. The brainchild of Diane Ray, a radio professional with over 30 years of radio and podcasting experience, and Tina Williamson, a marketing and advertising professional and entrepreneur who loves to bring new ideas to market, this network is a labor of love that offers help to listeners on their journeys to spiritual, emotional, and physical wellness.
Tina explained, “Coming from the ad agency world, I followed all forms of media and became amazed at the growth of podcasting. And yet its popularity makes complete sense, because it’s a medium that allows people to consume their favorite content anywhere at any time. “Diane and I both love to follow people with content that can help others in a variety of complementary ways. We found that categories on the major podcast platforms didn’t always reflect what we were looking for. For example, religion and spirituality are typically grouped together, yet spirituality is not always religious.
“On our network, there is a podcast called Shamanic Alchemy that is not anything like religion. The host, Liana Xochitl Soria, shows how you can unlock the use of energies within you for self-healing. “This type of podcast belongs to the mindbody- spirit space, yet there’s no category called ‘Mind, Body, Spirit.’ However, there are conventions and groups that bring people with different mind-body-spirit modalities together at expos or conferences.”
After Diane and Tina created Mind Body Spirit.fm, they started attracting podcasters whose shows had great synergy.
“We recently added the podcast Dynamic Healing, which is hosted by David Hanscom, MD, who practiced complex orthopedic spine surgery for 32 years, and Les Aria, PhD, a pain psychologist who has been practicing for the past 18 years.” These co-hosts have both dared to go off the beaten path. Dr. Hanscom quit his practice in Seattle to share his insights into solving chronic pain, which evolved from his own 15- year battle with it, and his discovery that mental pain is the biggest issue.
Dr. Aria is one of the co-founders of RemedyPain.co, an online pain recovery program. He is also a board member for Curable, an app designed to help people with chronic pain by addressing the psychology of pain. He specializes in treating psychophysiological disorders, or persistent pain, and medically unexplained problems. Through their podcast, listeners discover how their nervous system is a gamechanger in the pain-recovery journey. They also learn science-backed mind-body skills to rewire their brain. Tina added, “A lot of doctors are recognizing what others have known for a while—that the mind and the body are one, and sometimes, you can be freed from chronic pain by looking at the mind.
“Another recent addition to the network is Living with Intention: Working from the Inside Out to Promote Well-Being, hosted by April Wyett. It’s all about the power of thought in the mind-body connection, helping you to unlock your potential to live a happier, healthier life. At first glance, it might not seem to fit into health and fitness, but it actually does.”
On Mind Body Spirit.fm, you’ll also find the shows Heartcast: A Coach for Your Heart with Ed McShane and How to Be Happy with Mo Abdelbaki. The mission of both? To help listeners live with meaning, direction, and happiness. Tina noted that the network also includes a mental health podcast. “Hosts Helen Sneed and Valerie Milburn have overcome severe, chronic mental illnesses. They live in recovery and show how others can, too. When you listen to their podcast, you’ll hear them say that it’s like ripping the Band-Aid off your body. They openly share their personal experiences with self-injury, bouts of suicidal thoughts, and some of the drugs that doctors throw at mental illness. “Helen and Valerie have psychiatrists and social workers on the show, and through NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, they also have the opportunity to speak to judges and the police. They help everyone understand that oftentimes, a call to the police is in fact a cry for a social worker’s help. They explain the distinction. And they are living proof that people can heal themselves.”
Mind Body Spirit.fm is designed to be a one-stop resource for anyone looking for inspiration and advice to heal or improve their well-being in revolutionary ways. From Angel Talk with Rachel Corpus and the guided meditations on All Aboard the Mediumship to Do Joy! with Lisa McCourt: The Vibration Elevation Podcast, this network challenges preconceived notions about the path to living a healthy life. Over the past 19 months, many people have been writing the next chapter of their lives. The pandemic has driven home the reality that change is the one constant in life, and it has put the spotlight on the need to therefore handle it in a healthy way. The podcast Second Acts with Joan Herrmann is a timely addition to Mind Body Spirit.fm.
On the network, you’ll also find Beauty, Love & Transformation with celebrity makeup artist and women’s empowerment coach Michelle Phillips. She helps women have a healthy self-image by breaking free from the pressure to look ‘perfect’ in our media-driven culture. Tina advocates a different way of looking at what really supports our health and well-being. “We’ve carefully curated this group of shows that work well together to help people understand that health is not just about surgery or going to the doctor. Maybe one day on Apple Podcasts, instead of seeing ‘Religion & Spirituality’ and ‘Health & Fitness,’ we’ll see ‘Mind, Body, Spirit.’” For anyone looking for healing or just needing to pause amid the busyness of everyday life, Mind Body Spirit.fm proves that wellness is not limited to physical health, because spiritual and mental health cannot be excluded from the equation.
