The Mothers’ Empowerment Podcast

Why The Holidays Hijack Your Nervous System

The holidays arrive at the exact moment nature is inviting us to slow down — but modern holiday culture pushes us to speed up. In this episode, Isabelle explains why that mismatch can strain the nervous system, why holiday “overreactions” are often nervous system state shifts (not personality flaws), and how old brain patterns can get triggered by scents, songs, family dynamics, and sensory overload.
You’ll learn a simple 3-step reset — Name it, Orient, Regulate — plus boundary and rest practices that help you move through the season with more steadiness and self-trust.
What You’ll Learn
Why winter biology + holiday overstimulation can dysregulate the nervous system
What “neurotags” are (and why one small cue can trigger a big reaction)
Why story follows state and how to interrupt the loop
A simple regulation sequence you can use in real time
Why boundaries are nervous system protection — not selfishness
How “winter moments” of rest rewrite your holiday experience
Journal Prompts
What holiday cues tend to trigger me?
What state do I shift into most often?
What boundary would protect my capacity this year?
What’s one daily winter moment I can give myself?

Stop Walking On Eggshells

As the holidays approach, many women find themselves walking on eggshells — carefully managing other people’s emotions to avoid conflict, guilt, or drama. In this episode, Isabelle explores why “offense” can become a subtle control mechanism in relationships, and why being willing to disappoint someone (kindly) can actually create more honesty, trust, and intimacy.
You’ll learn how to stop living under the “tyranny of the tantrum,” how to tell the truth without over-explaining, and how to set simple holiday boundaries that protect your peace.
What You’ll Learn
Why you can’t feel close to someone you can’t be honest with
How offense can function as a control tool (even unintentionally)
The difference between integrity and “keeping the peace”
A holiday-ready mindset for saying no without collapsing into guilt
Simple boundary scripts you can use immediately
Holiday Boundary Scripts Mentioned
“We’re staying home this year.”
“We need to head out by 7 — bedtime.”
“That doesn’t work for our family.”
Journal Prompts
What do I avoid saying because I fear someone’s reaction?
What boundary am I ready to set this season?
Can I care more about what I think of me than what others think of me?

How to Be a Team During the Holidays (Without Mom Doing It All)

If the holidays tend to leave you feeling like the overworked event planner, caterer, housekeeper, and emotional support human all rolled into one… this episode is for you.
In this conversation-style solo episode, Isabelle invites you to gently rewrite the “mom does everything” script and begin relating to your family as an actual team during the holidays.
You’ll receive real, word-for-word scripts you can use with:
Younger kids who want to help but need a clear “job”
Tweens and teens who are ready to share real responsibility
Partners or co-parents who genuinely want to support you but don’t always see the full mental load
Extended family members when you’re setting calmer, more sustainable boundaries
We’ll explore:
Why so many moms end up carrying the invisible labor of the holidays
How to name a shared “holiday vision” so everyone’s experience (including yours!) matters
Age-appropriate ways to bring your kids into the magic-making
Language that shifts your partner from “helper” to true co-owner
A simple 3-step weekly ritual to bring your family into team energy
You are not meant to be the entire village.
You’re allowed to be inside the magic you’re creating—not just behind the scenes.
🎧 Listen in and then try one single sentence from this episode with your family this week. Tiny shifts count.
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Breaking the Trance of Unworthiness with Monica Rodgers

Breaking the Trance of Unworthiness with Monica RodgersThis conversation with Monica Rodgers cracked something open in me, and I have a feeling it’s going to do the same for you.Monica is a mentor, catalyst, and art-loving creatrix who talks about something she calls the “trance of unworthiness”—and wow, did I feel it in my body when she named it. We’re talking about all the tiny messages we get as girls and women that slowly teach us to doubt ourselves, shrink, and disconnect from our own truth.We also talk a lot about breath, the body, and how to start giving ourselves actual approval instead of waiting for it from everyone else.In this episode, we chat about:- What the trance of unworthiness is and how it can feel like “death by a thousand paper cuts”- How many of us were raised by wounded maidens (mothers who never got to fully become themselves)- Why girls often start dimming their light around ages 10–14 and what we can do differently now- The difference between keeping the peace and making peace (and why Monica loves irreverent, “oh hell no” women)- A super simple way to “microdose worthiness” with the phrases:“Thank you. It’s true.”“I approve.”- How to notice when you’ve literally stopped breathing freely, and what that says about your sense of safety- What it looks like to raise daughters (and sons) who trust themselves, even when it’s inconvenient for us as parents 🙃
Your Next Empowering Action:
Put your hand on your heart and say:“I approve.”Even if you snapped this morning. Even if you didn’t get everything done. Even if you feel messy.Notice your breath.Are you breathing? Like really breathing? If not, can you soften your shoulders, unclench your jaw, and let a deeper breath in?These tiny moments are how we start to step out of the trance and back into our own lives.Mentioned in this episode:Monica’s Women’s Bill of RightsYou can download it (and write your own) at: jointherevelation.com
After you listen, send me a note and tell me:Where are you ready to stop living in the trance of unworthiness and start practicing “I approve”? 💛

Standing at the Crossroads with Terry Taytosian

What do you do when you're standing at a crossroads between the familiar path that terrifies you and the unknown path that calls to you?
Serial entrepreneur and women's hormone specialist Terry Taytosian shares her journey from health crisis at 37—facing 210 pounds, pre-diabetes, heart palpitations, and early perimenopause—to radical transformation. But this isn't your typical before-and-after story.
Terry reveals her brilliant "board meeting" technique for working WITH your inner saboteurs instead of against them. If you've ever told yourself you don't have enough time, money, or support to make a change, this episode will shift everything.
Perfect for the holiday season when stress runs high and old patterns resurface.
 
About Terry Taytosian
Terry is a serial entrepreneur, certified personal trainer and nutritionist, emotional eating coach, yoga teacher, and certified women's hormone specialist. She's also a mother of two teenagers who have grown up watching her navigate 20 years of entrepreneurship.
Connect with Terry: thouseofrose.com
Your Empowering Action
Complete an Energy Audit:
Where is your energy going right now?
What actually gives you energy?
What fills you up?
How can you do more of that?
What can you deprioritize to make space for what matters?
Sister, if you're standing at your own crossroads right now, you're not alone. This week, practice presence. Call that board meeting. Ask your inner critics what they really need.
You've got this, mama.
~ Isabelle

The Truth About Feeling Safe with Nicole Dreon

What does it really mean to feel safe—especially when the world around us feels anything but?In this heart-opening conversation with my dear friend and somatic-based life coach, Nicole Dreon, we explore what it means to come home to your body, to your truth, and to your own sense of inner safety.
Nicole helps us understand how our nervous systems are designed to protect us, even when that looks like shutting down, snapping at our kids, or scrolling to numb out. She offers simple tools to bring ourselves back into balance—through awareness, breath, and gentle presence.This episode feels like a warm blanket on a cold day. It’s a reminder that empowerment begins within: the more we trust ourselves, the safer the world feels around us.
✨ Inside this episode:
What it means to feel safe vs. be safe
Why our nervous system’s reactions are actually wisdom in motion
How to honor your emotions without abandoning yourself
A guided embodiment exercise to help you anchor calm in your body
What it takes to be a safe space for others
🧘‍♀️ About Nicole:
Nicole Dreon is a life coach, speaker, and facilitator known for her grounded, embodied approach to growth and transformation. She helps clients reconnect with their body’s wisdom, regulate their nervous systems, and create change that feels deeply authentic and sustainable. With a calm yet powerful presence, Nicole supports people in moving beyond old patterns and returning to a sense of inner safety, trust, and alignment within themselves. You can connect with her and learn more about her work at
Website: https://coachnicoledreon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoledreon_/
Podcast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6MIjmcqtkbKD1bnyQngtOQ
🎧 Listen now: isabellebridges.com/podcast
Join our sisterhood: isabellebridges.com/membership
Follow along: @isabellebridgesboesch

Bringing Back Judgement, Guilt, and Shame

What if the emotions we've been taught to eliminate—judgment, guilt, and shame—are actually essential tools for raising grounded, accountable children?
In this episode, I'm challenging the cultural narrative that says all judgment is bad, all guilt is toxic, and all shame is damaging. While anger, sadness, and offense are celebrated in our culture, we've made it taboo to discern right from wrong, to feel guilty when we've hurt someone, or to experience shame when we've crossed a moral line.
But here's the truth, mama: without judgment, we can't guide. Without guilt, we lose empathy. Without shame, we abandon our moral compass.
I'm breaking down why these three "negative" emotions are actually appropriate, necessary, and healthy—and how we can teach our children to use them as internal signals for growth, accountability, and integrity.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why judgment is actually discernment—and why your child needs it to make good decisions
How guilt promotes empathy, responsibility, and moral development
Why shame isn't toxic when it's appropriate—and how it reinforces healthy boundaries
The difference between being judgmental and having judgment (more on this in an upcoming episode!)
How to create a family culture with clear values, expectations, and a moral compass—without becoming controlling or punitive
Why swinging too far away from these emotions leaves our children searching for guidance
This episode is for you if:
You've been told never to let your child feel guilty or ashamed
You're uncomfortable setting clear standards because you don't want to seem judgmental
You want to raise accountable, empathetic children who can discern right from wrong
You're ready to reclaim your role as a confident, values-driven leader in your home
Resources Mentioned:
Mother's Empowerment Sisterhood – My 12-month membership (IsabelleBridges.com/sisterhood) where we dive deep into creating a life with clear values, warm leadership, and empowered mothering. Enrollment opens soon—join the waitlist today.
Connect with me:
Website: https://isabellebridges.com
Instagram: @IsabelleBridgesBoesch
#MothersEmpowerment #ConsciousParenting #MoralCompass #ParentingWithValues #Discernment #EmotionalIntelligence #EmpoweredMotherhood #FamilyCulture #AccountabilityInParenting #MotherhoodReimaginedSisterhoodReclaimed

GIRL Goals

GIRL Goals: Cultivating Dreams That Feel As Good As They LookHave you ever set a goal that felt exciting at first... but then turned into a source of stress and pressure?
In this episode, I'm sharing a brand new framework for goal-setting that honors feminine energy, removes false urgency, and makes the journey as delicious as the destination.
Say goodbye to the stress of SMART goals (especially that time-bound T!) and hello to GIRL Goals: Grounded, Intuitive, Resonant, and Luscious.
In This Episode, You'll Learn:
✨ Why traditional SMART goals can trigger our nervous systems (and disconnect us from source)
✨ What GIRL Goals are and why they work for feminine energy
✨ How to create goals that are grounded in self, source, and sisterhood
✨ A step-by-step process for setting your own GIRL Goals
✨ Why "there is no there there"—and what that means for sustainable joy
✨ How to make your goals feel luscious and nourishing along the way
The GIRL Goals Framework:
G - Grounded
Rooted in self, source, and sisterhood. Anchored in what truly matters to YOU.
I - Intuitive
Following your inner compass, not someone else's timeline. Trusting the wisdom of your body.
R - Resonant
Does this goal light you up? Is it connected to your heart? Does it feel like a full-body yes?
L - Luscious
Making the journey delicious. Filling yourself up along the way. Savoring every step.
Resources Mentioned:
🌸 Want to dive deeper into this work? Join us inside Mother's Empowerment Sisterhood Waitlist (https://isabellebridges.com/sisterhood/) to be the first to hear when the membership reopens. This is where we explore grounded, intuitive, resonant, and luscious goal-setting all year long.
🌸 Ready to reimagine your relationship with money using this same feminine framework? Check out Blossom Into Money Mastery (BIMM) at https://isabellebridges.com/bimm/
Love this episode?
Please take a moment to rate and review the podcast—it helps other women find this work! And if this resonated with you, screenshot this episode and share it on Instagram. Tag me so I can celebrate you! 🌸@IsabelleBridgesBoesch
Next Steps:
Take one goal you've been working toward and run it through the GIRL Goals framework. Ask yourself: Is it grounded? Is it intuitive? Is it resonant? Is it luscious?
Give yourself permission to adjust. To soften. To remove the timeline. To make it feel good.
You deserve goals that nourish you. You deserve dreams that feel as good as they look. 💫

The Art of Self-fullness

In This Episode, I Share:
✨ Why I start my day with ME (even just 5 minutes) – and how my morning walk with Pepper is non-negotiable
🍽️ How I eat for ME – why planning meals ahead (including breakfast and lunch) helps me avoid the "forget to eat" trap
🎧 The content I consume that fills MY cup – from Mel Robbins podcasts to reading Heart's Desire with my women's circle
🥾 Why I go to places I love – hiking with friends, beach days with Grace and Ben, and those sacred summer drives to Montana
🏡 How I organize my home for ME – setting boundaries around clutter and teaching my kids that our family culture requires their participation
🛒 The freedom of shopping for ME – saying no to toys, snacks, and stuff that doesn't align with my values
👯‍♀️ Building "framily" – finding friends who become family and creating full-family friendships that enrich everyone
ALSO, join me for a free, live mentor conversation with registered dietitian Adi Wyshogrod on Monday, October 27th at 11:00 AM PST to transform your relationship with food and build sustainable nutrition habits that actually stick – register at isabellebridges.com/adi.

Why You Don't Need to Fix Everything at Once with Adi Wyshogrod

Guest: Adi Wyshogrod, Co-founder and COO of Everlong - a national telehealth nutrition counseling company helping people transform their relationship with food through a behavior-first approach.
What We Covered:
What empowerment means when it comes to building sustainable habits
Why focusing on 1-2 habits at a time leads to lasting success
How to change (not break) habits that aren't serving you
Real strategies for navigating nutrition struggles with kids and family meals
The importance of including children in meal planning and prep
When and how to talk about food labels with kids (without creating food fear)Giving yourself grace during busy seasons of life
Key Takeaways:
Empowerment = knowing your next step and having the tools to take it when you're readySmall, consistent changes are more powerful than dramatic overhaulsInclude your kids in the process - it teaches executive functioning and reduces mealtime battlesAll food is neutral - avoid "good" and "bad" language around nutritionLife isn't linear - give yourself permission to not do everything at once
Resources Mentioned:
Everlong telehealth nutrition services (covered by most insurance)
Website: geteverlong.com
Upcoming Mentor Conversation: October 27th at 11am PST- https://isabellebridges.com/mentor-convo-adi/