Happy Monday ✨
I hope you are well and you had a wonderful weekend 😊
As mentioned in my last post, I am switching things up for Mental Health Awareness Month by sharing podcast episodes that have been helpful in my journey towards mental fitness. I will share four episodes across the four Mondays in May for Mental Health Monday, and my intention is that they help you as much as they have helped me.
First up is this episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast that made me cry.
I first came across this episode on my GP’s WhatsApp status, and while I was intrigued, I did not immediately press play as I was already listening to another podcast. I consume podcasts the same way I consume books, preferring to finish one before diving into another. I finally gave it a go in October 2025, and I have recommended it to so many people since then. The thumbnail on YouTube reads, “THIS CONVERSATION WILL CHANGE YOU”, and that is not an exaggeration.
In the episode Mel Robbins sits down with renowned physician and trauma expert Dr. Gabor Maté to unpack why so many people feel lost, disconnected, or unfulfilled despite outward success. Dr. Maté explains how unresolved childhood trauma – often subtle and rooted in unmet emotional needs rather than obvious abuse – shapes our behaviours, beliefs, and coping mechanisms in adulthood, leading to patterns like people-pleasing, addiction, or chronic stress. The conversation emphasises that healing begins with awareness and self-compassion, not self-blame, and highlights the importance of reconnecting with one’s authentic self by acknowledging suppressed emotions. Ultimately, the episode reframes feeling “lost” not as a personal failure, but as a signal pointing toward deeper emotional wounds that, when addressed, can lead to genuine freedom and wholeness.
PS: This was my first introduction to Dr Gabor Maté, and since then I have been on a mission to engage with everything he has written or spoken about.
Lwile the Leo 