Sideline Sisters

Julia Nepini is a clinical and forensic social worker who owns the group practice, Compassionate Counseling Company, and the consulting business, Compassionate Consulting Company, where she helps entrepreneurs start, expand, and diversify their businesses. She also hosts the Compassionate Climb Podcast where she discusses being successful in business while maintaining integrity.

Julia's Notes from the Sidelines

1. The alternative to spiritual bypassing is to be able to fully sit in good feelings and acknowledge how far we've come, and experience joy.
2. Many people who grow up in chaotic homes learn to just be quiet, not ask for help, and do what they're supposed to do, thus becoming "the good girl."
3. Podcasting offers an opportunity to reflect on successes and take credit for them.
4. Know that you are not alone, and you have the capability within yourself to handle whatever comes your way.
5. Know that whichever direction life goes, there's purpose and something to be learned.
6. Lean into the discomfort of vulnerability. Make mistakes and own them. Share what you've learned throughout the process, because that's where real connection comes from.
7. Let the minutia go and lean in to your unique gifts, and share them.

Karen Bernetti is a yoga and meditation teacher, and recovery support specialist, dedicated to supporting families impacted by a loved one’s addiction. The founder of the Serenity Circle, an online membership community empowering families to grow healthy and strong emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially, she believes…. families need recovery too! A leader in the Family Recovery Movement, Karen’s mission is to create a world where the shame and stigma around mental health and addiction no longer exist. Having personal experience with addiction in her own family, she understands the fear, anxiety, and isolation that come with loving someone who struggles with addiction. Her own healing journey began over a decade ago. Her yoga practice and Al-Anon program helped her navigate the darkest days of her life. A believer in the power of mindfulness and community support, the Serenity Circle is a testament to her belief in healing through connection and compassion.

Karen's Notes from the Sidelines:

1. Even if children don't grow up in a household with alcoholics, grandparents can be considered qualifiers, because they raise the people who serve as parents to these children and pass on the -isms.
2. Al-Anon isn't about healing the drinker in the home or getting them to stop drinking, but rather finding out it's not about them at all and instead, it's about you.
3. When you live with addiction, there is chaos, so naturally we want to bring order, but it's difficult to control the uncontrollable, and we've heard many times on this show that we can't change anyone but ourselves. The drinker becomes an obsession.
4. The family member living with the addict is likely to become hypervigilant, self-righteous, acting like a martyr, overdoing, overgiving, altering themselves to please, blurring boundaries, and developing insecurities. All of these behaviors together fall into the category of codependency.
5. Addiction is contagious and impacts the whole family unit.
6. One out of four families are impacted by addiction.
7. As of 2022, 46 million people in the United States over the age of 12 have substance use disorder; less than 10% of them seek treatment.
8. "We can't incarcerate our way out of this problem... We can't just punish people because they have a problem." Karen speaks about the importance of compassion.
9. The problem isn't the substance; it's why are they reaching for it in the first place. It's not about what's wrong with the addict, it's about what happened to them. We should be wondering why, as a society, we are reaching for ways to numb our pain.
10. The majority of women is prison have been sexually assaulted. The majority of men in prison have grown up without a father. Many inmates are in prison for drug-related crimes. For many of them, drugs weren't "the problem," they were the solution. We pathologize people and say everything is a disorder; maybe it's the culture that's the problem.
11. Families need to get strong - body, mind, and spirit - and only then can we possible lead our loved ones to recovery. One regulated person can impact the whole family unit.

In 2012, concerns about her daughter wanting to go vegan forced Stefanie Ignoffo to start researching and find that not only can we survive without consuming animals, we can thrive without them. After recognizing the negative effects of the standard American diet, in 2013 she transitioned herself and her family and they lost a total of 240 pounds with diet and lifestyle changes.

After regaining her own health and reversing her own diseases, Stefanie earned her certificate in Plant Based Nutrition at eCornell and T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. She also became a Licensed Food For Life Instructor with the Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine. Stefanie went on to complete the American College Lifestyle Medicine Coaching Program.

Today Stefanie is a Plant Interventionist, Lifestyle Medicine Coach, Food For Life Instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and founder of Plantspiration NFP Inc.

Stefanie's passion is advocating and promoting Lifestyle Medicine by educating, motivating, and inspiring people to adapt a healthy plant-based lifestyle to prevent and reverse health issues, including heart disease, type two diabetes, certain cancers, auto immune disorders, obesity, and chronic illness. 

Stefanie's Note's from the Sidelines:

1. We are a culture that's comfortable being uncomfortable and sick.
2. America is one of two countries that allows pharmaceutical commercials direct to consumers.
3. If nothing changes, nothing changes.
4. 8 of the top 10 deaths are food-related. Doctors give medications, partly, because they aren't taught that you can reverse conditions, and prevent them in the first place, with food.
5. Take the shitty moments of your life and learn from them, and don't be so mad about them.
6. We shouldn't be dying of chronic diseases. We should be dying of old age, like in the Blue Zones.
7. Stefanie's attitude and method is accessible, attainable, and easy.
8. The #1 change she's experienced since going plant-based is SELF-CONFIDENCE. You can do anything you want when you put your mind to it.
9. Everyday we have an opportunity to become a better, healthier self, and IF IT DOESN'T EVOLVE YOU, IT SHOULDN'T INVOLVE YOU!!!