Mindful, Kindful Living

Guiding the Next Generation: Danielle Warden’s Journey in Education

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0600

Teaching with Heart: Trauma-Informed Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence with Danielle Warden

Host Connie Warden welcomes listeners to the Mindful Kindful podcast and interviews her daughter-in-law, Danielle Warden, a certified classroom teacher with nearly two decades of experience, a mother of four, and a passionate advocate for social emotional learning and trauma-informed teaching. Danielle explains trauma-informed teaching as understanding the whole child and being mindful of how expectations, tone, and reactions affect students. She shares how pausing to consider what lies beneath behavior helps bridge the gap between intent and impact, and emphasizes restorative “repair” through apology and relationship-building to cultivate trust. Danielle recounts classroom practices like check-ins, student sharing, and writing to process strong emotions, highlighting the importance of validating feelings. She recommends The Anxious Generation and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families, and outlines a practical framework: notice, pause, choose, repair, and begin again.

00:00 Welcome to Mindful Kindful

00:38 Meet Danielle Warden

01:42 What Trauma Informed Means

03:00 Intent vs Impact in Moments

06:31 Repair and Restorative Practices

07:54 Camping Story with Luna

10:40 Classroom Trauma Check In

13:18 Writing It Out to Reset

16:22 Books That Shaped Danielle

18:11 Notice Pause Choose Repair

22:08 Begin Again Closing Thoughts

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Unveiling Trauma: The Path to Authenticity with Elizabeth Ormes

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:00:00 -0600

Trauma-Informed Healing for High Achievers: Polyvagal Tools, Burnout, and Authentic Growth with Elizabeth Ormes

Connie Warden interviews licensed clinical professional counselor Elizabeth Ormes, who has 28 years’ experience and owns Actualizing Your Best Self, working primarily with high achievers struggling with burnout, perfectionism, and disconnection. Ormes explains her level two trauma professional certification as extensive continuing study to better serve trauma survivors, and describes SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol) and RRP (Rest and Restore Protocol), sound-frequency tools based on Dr. Stephen Porges’ polyvagal theory that support nervous system regulation and help clients feel safe enough to go deeper in therapy. She shares a case example of an Ivy League–educated lawyer who, after months using SSP and RRP with therapy, became less catastrophizing and more attuned to bodily needs. They discuss common signs overachievers need help, the “sandwich generation,” brain maturation near age 30, and parting encouragement to seek support, stay curious, and embrace authenticity, including Ormes’ July 17 virtual Independent Women’s Conference appearance.

Learn more about Elizabeth on her Website, Linkedin, YouTube, Instagram

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

02:00 Trauma Certification Explained

04:38 Polyvagal Tools SSP RRP

09:08 Client Success Story

11:32 When High Achievers Hit a Wall

13:00 Life in the Sandwich Generation

17:01 Letting Loved Ones Choose

21:52 Shedding Layers and Greatness

22:33 Hopeful Parting Advice

25:28 Conference Plug and Closing

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Stories We Tell Ourselves: How a Motorcycle Class Led to More Mindfulness

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -0600

Catching the Stories We Make Up: A Motorcycle Class Lesson in Mindfulness

In this episode of Mindful Kindful Living, Connie shares a personal story from a weekend motorcycle workshop at Red Rocks Community College to illustrate how often people invent untrue stories in their heads with limited information. She describes the class dynamics, learning to ride through small steps, and ultimately passing the motorcycle test, then being told by one of three whispering classmates that they had assumed she wouldn’t make it. Reflecting later while writing her book Speeding To Compassion, Connie recognizes she also made judgments, labeling others and reducing them to stereotypes. She emphasizes mindfulness as becoming aware of repetitive thoughts, catching the stories before believing them, and choosing to drop or rewrite them more kindly in everyday situations like driving, relationships, and texting.

00:00 Welcome and Theme
00:35 Motorcycle Class Begins
02:03 Parking Lot Riding Basics
03:21 Test Day and Results
04:05 A Surprising Comment
04:29 Mindfulness and Made Up Stories
06:34 Rewriting Stories with Kindness
07:38 Challenge and Closing

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Mindful, Kindful Living Podcast Trailer

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:00 -0600

Life doesn’t always go as planned. We get stressed. We react. We miss the exit. And sometimes… we forget to be kind to ourselves along the way.

Welcome to Mindful, Kindful Living — a podcast for people who want to slow down, laugh at their humanity, and live with more mindfulness and compassion.

I’m Connie Warden, mindfulness teacher and author of Speeding to Compassion, and each week I sit down with thoughtful guests to explore real-life stories — the messy moments, the turning points, and the small shifts that help us move from reaction to reflection.

This podcast is for you if you:

feel the pressure to be perfect
know that your health is your wealth.
want to respond to life with more calm and clarity
are curious about mindfulness in everyday situations
or simply want to feel a little more at ease being human

We talk about things like emotional intelligence, stress, relationships, resilience, and self-compassion — all through the lens of real stories and honest conversation, with just enough humor to keep things light.

New episodes drop weekly on Wednesdays and each one is an invitation to take a breath, reset, and gently steer back toward what matters.

If that sounds like something you need, hit follow, and come join us in Mindful, Kindful Living.

Check out my website