This is a curious search for balance. An honest conversation between two humans who explore what it really means to pursue peace and contentment, when both our inner and outer world offer so much contrast, dissonance and variety.

In this episode I am joined by Joana Castro, a Food Therapy Educator and consultant rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). We use a big and generous canvas to uncover what a holistic approach to our wellbeing could look like. Taking us from the abstract waves of acknowledging and processing emotions, to the practicality and necessity of gentle and patient self-care through the different seasons of life.

Sharing our personal experiences, successes and disappointments, we shed light on the true pace of change and the role that curiosity and willingness to adapt our methods - little by little - can lead to personal growth and healing…that we are also able to sustain.

About Joana:

Joana is a modern creative polymath with a love for blending disciplines in unexpected ways—science, art, health, food, design. Her life’s work is a canvas made of all of them. Curious by nature she is likely to question everything and soak in new perspectives.

As a founder of My Own True Balance, she offers her services as a Food Therapy Educator & Consultant. (But never without creating space for her other big love - songwriting)

Get in touch:

Website: https://www.myowntruebalance.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanadscastro/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myowntruebalance/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@myowntruebalance_

Medium: https://medium.com/@joana.7.castro

PLUS:

Find your own personalised path to health with

Food therapy consultation (1:1) - at a discounted price with promo code: TB20

Rebalance Meal Plan - with promo code TAKE15

This episode in headlines:

• The Transformative Power of Music
• Balancing Science and Art
• Embracing Multitudes
• What is balance even?
• How is the concept of balance applied in life?
• Inner harmony through the seasons
• The Role of Emotions in Health
• Embracing our emotions
• The Pursuit of Contentment
• Mood Swings or flow of emotion?
• Meeting Emotions with Actions
• Taking accountability for your healing
• The Power of Food
• Gentle Recovery and why we struggle with it
• Personalize your healing
• The Importance of Patience and Sustainability
• Mindfulness and Breath Control

This is an intimate conversation about our relationship with life. And all the raw material that it gives us - whether pleasant or painful - to expand, learn, create and connect.

In this episode I am joined by Sofìa Laria, a concert pianist, piano-mentor and researcher of creativity and creative expression. Together we explore the idea of effort, what it can mean to our process and to our sense of self-worth. And we talk in depth about what it means to trust and engage with the impermanence of our experiences and performances…

Through the lens of our personal practices in music, art and human interactions, the episode sheds light on how engaging with an object, whether it's a piano or clay or a desired change (or impact), can help us not just understand, but also integrate and put to use valuable life lessons.

About Sofia:

Since the age of six, Sofia has passionately pursued piano, beginning her journey in Argentina and continuing her studies in piano performance in the Netherlands and Sweden with dedication and curiosity.

After completing her bachelor's in classical piano and studying anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires, Sofía followed her lifelong dream of studying in Europe. She earned a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of the Arts Utrecht in the Netherlands. Now based in Sweden, she’s pursuing a second Master’s while researching how music and artistic learning can support personal growth and positively impact society, bringing together her love for the arts with insights from psychology and cognitive science.

Her piano studio is a space for creative learning, where both lessons and one-on-one consultations offer a way to grow, reclaim agency, and find clarity in a noisy world through creativity.

Get in touch:

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/sofia-laria-piano

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sofialaria

Website: https://www.sofialaria.com/

This episode in headlines:

• What is so good about effort?
• The role of effort for self-worth
• The Importance of Process Over Goals
• Is it effort or suffering?
• Can effort be playful?
• What does it mean to be engaged?
• Transitioning from Listener to Player
• The Role of Honesty in Art
• Integrating Theory and Practice - of anything
• Being honest and being of service
• Embracing Impermanence
• The Power of Presence in Art
• The performing persona - that is actually you
• The role of trust in presence