FTBM Podcast Ep314: Three Questions Every Overwhelmed Mom Needs This Summer

FTBM Podcast Ep314: Three Questions Every Overwhelmed Mom Needs This Summer

Vanessa: [00:00:00] We talk a lot on the show about slowing down, and I'll be honest with you, this is something that I am consistently working on. Every summer I think, "This is the year I actually receive the rest and the calendar will lighten up a little bit." But the brain, it seems like the brain is a whole 'nother story.

Today, I wanna talk about what intentionally slowing down actually looks like and what gets in the way of it.

You're listening to the Free To Be Mindful podcast, where busy moms get practical tips and real talk conversations to find calm, joy, and a little more breathing room in everyday life. I'm Vanessa, licensed therapist, mom coach, and a mom to a tween and toddler. Each week, we get honest about motherhood and mindset, helping you live with more presence, less pressure, without losing your... well, you know. Here we go

welcome back to episode 314 of the Free to Be Mindful podcast. I hope that you're feeling good, looking good, and doing better in this world [00:01:00] than you were yesterday.

So if you're listening to this in real time, it is the end of June or maybe early July. Hopefully kids are in camp right now, and suddenly, as a mom, I personally start thinking about the mental to-do list on the drive home from dropping him off at camp .

And that's what I actually want to talk to you about today because if you're anything like me, something shifts in this time of year. The pace changes a little bit, the schedule loosens up at least a little bit. But our brains, our brains apparently just don't get the memo.

I spent almost two decades in education, and even though I'm not in that world, my internal calendar is still completely run on school time. My son's schedule runs my life, of course, and then my practice shifts because my clients, a lot of moms and a lot of kids, and everyone's adjusting. Their kids are home or in camp, routines are off, and there's this collective almost exhale that happens across the board once June and July hits.

But here's the funny thing about me, and we'll call it [00:02:00] funny. Every summer without fail, I start mentally planning for the next academic year, right? Ideas for the podcast, contents I want to create, frameworks I want to build. I'm not even in school anymore, and I still feel this end-of-year debrief in my head, brainstorming about what comes next and treating July like a planning quarter.

And I literally had to stop and ask myself, "Vanessa, why? Why is rest just so hard to receive? And why does slowing down feel something that I have to justify even to myself?"

Maybe you're a teacher and July is your first real breath of fresh air in the past 10 months. Or maybe you're in corporate and nothing technically stops, but something in the air shifts anyway. Maybe your kids are finally at camp or with your family and you have like three unscheduled hours on a Tuesday, or maybe you have Fridays off in the summer. And instead of sitting still, you just fill this time.

Because sitting still [00:03:00] feels unproductive maybe. Because your nervous system has been calibrated to go, go, go, and slowing down just doesn't feel like rest. It feels like actually falling behind.

We as high-achieving women are not wired to stop. We're wired to deliver. And more often than not, nobody taught us that receiving rest is also a form of excellence, and that protecting our energy is a leadership skill, and that slowing down is not the opposite of moving forward. It's actually what makes moving forward sustainable.

So I want to offer you something today, and of course, it's not a to-do list. You have enough of those. It's not a self-care checklist. Just three questions, three invitations for how you might actually use the month of July with intention instead of surviving or accidentally sprinting through it.

And the first is, where can you slow the pace without stopping the purpose? Slowing down doesn't mean doing [00:04:00] nothing. It means doing things at a pace that lets you actually be present for the things you have to do, but also for your family.

This summer, what is one thing that you can do just a little slower? Just one meal, one morning, one conversation with your kid where you're not mentally somewhere else.

The second is, where can you connect more intentionally? Summer has a different kind of access to the people we love. Kids are around more, the evenings seem to stretch a lot longer, and there's a softness to the month of July that doesn't quite exist in October. And I know it's easy to be physically present, of course, but also then being mentally absent. We're all guilty of that, myself included.

So this July, what is one relationship that you can show up for differently? Not perfectly, my friends, just more intentionally.

And the third is: Where can you let yourself dream without immediately executing? And [00:05:00] this is where I'm giving myself, and you, permission to think about what comes next, because it's real, it's human. We're all driven women, and that's what we do. But there's a difference between anxious planning and intentional visioning. One is driven by fear that you'll fall behind, And the other is driven by excitement about what you're building. 

This July, let yourself dream about what fall could look like for your work, for your family, for yourself, for your health, without turning that dream into a project plan overnight.

So here's your takeaway for today. Before July is over, I want you to pick one day, just one, and name it your intentional rest day. Not a day where you're catching up on laundry and calling it rest. An actual day where you're giving yourself permission to be unproductive on purpose.

And then, as always, notice what comes up. Notice the guilt. Notice the [00:06:00] urge to fill it. Notice the discomfort of stillness, and then stay in it anyway. That discomfort is information. It's telling you exactly how much you've been running on.

And when you do it, I wanna hear about it. So send me a DM on Instagram at counselorvdejesus or tag me in your stories, because I do read every single one of them and I wanna know what that one intentional rest day looked like for you.

So before I take you into our guided reflective meditation today, I wanna pause and say something that I don't say often enough. And this is, by the way, the season seven finale of the Free to Be Mindful podcast, and I just wanna tell you how grateful I am that you are here.

This season, we covered everything from navigating family triggers to rebuilding emotional connections, from the loneliness of being highly capable to what it means to actually trust your intuition and to live a more fulfilled [00:07:00] life. We talked about positive psychology, about the mom guilt that shows up around the holidays, about breaking free from autopilot. We went really deep into a lot of topics, and you stayed with me, and that truly means everything.

And sometimes I need to even remind myself that this year, the Free to Be Mindful podcast was named the number one Latino mental health podcast of 2026 by Feedspot. So every time you listen, every time you share an episode with an amiga who needs it, every time you leave a review or send me a message, that says that this show got through something, through someone, so thank you.

Know that we are taking July intentionally off. I'm practicing what I preach. And then season eight will launch, and I wanna come back to you with even more intention, with more depth, and with more of what actually serves you. And if you have any particular topic or angle that you'd like for me to talk about, you can of course always hit me up [00:08:00] on Instagram @counselorvdejesus.

So enjoy your summer, and remember to slow down a little beginning right now.

Notice what's around you right now, the sounds in the room, the light in the room, the temperature, and know that you don't have to do anything with it, but just notice. And bring to mind one thing you've been carrying around with you lately. Not a problem that you have to solve per se, but just something that's been taking up a lot of space in your mind and in your body.

Maybe it's a decision you haven't made yet, or a relationship that's been on your mind, or a version of yourself you keep telling yourself you'll get back to when things slow down. You are already here. Things are already a little slower. So ask yourself, "What would I do differently if I actually believed that I had enough time?" Not more time, we don't ever get more [00:09:00] time, but just enough time. Let that sit with you for a second, and don't rush to answer it. Maybe it's a question that gets left open on a tab in your brain until you can truly dedicate the time and energy that it deserves.

And now think about one person in your life who could use a little more of your presence this summer. The kind where you're actually there, not half somewhere else. See their face in your mind and hold that for a moment.

And finally, allow yourself to think about what the fall could look like. Don't go into planning mode, friends. Just think about what you actually want it to look like after these months of rest, what you want it to feel like. And let it feel good before you make it a task.

When you're ready, bring yourself back to the room. Take a breath, and let that exhale be much longer than your [00:10:00] inhale. And carry this idea, this thought, this podcast with you. Know that it's not a plan or a list of things to do, but just allowing yourself the permission to just be.

You're allowed to slow down. It doesn't make you less, it makes what comes next possible.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a mom friend or an Amiga Mom who needs permission to slow down this summer. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do for each other is to say, "Hey, I thought about you while listening to this."

And if this resonated with you on a deeper level, if you heard yourself in what we talked about today, and you're ready for more than a podcast can give to you, know that I'm available for speaking engagements and private one-to-one mom coaching for the mom CEO- those women who are ready to deliver at home the way that they deliver at work.

You can find everything at FreeToBeMindful.com and at AmigaMoms.com. All the links are in the show [00:11:00] notes.

And my friends, always remember that in a world where you are free to be anything, you're always free to be mindful. Catch you next time. 

​