Some conversations you host. Others you just hold space for. This week's episode was the second kind.

My guest on One Eleven Podcast EP42 is Michelle Dosanjh-Johal. She's a teacher of 26 years, a poet, a resilience coach and, first and foremost, a mom to two kids with some very big challenges.

She showed up in a hat because she'd just gotten a new puppy and hadn't slept. Then she told me a story I haven't stopped thinking about.

[▶ Watch EP42 on YouTube] · [🎧 Listen on your podcast app]

That's what Michelle's daughter said at nine years old, on a beach in Maui, when her mom told her she'd been diagnosed with autism.

That optimism got her through a lot: a rare disorder called mosaic Turner syndrome, open-heart surgery at 15, and eventually a mental health crisis that put her in the hospital for months.

Standing outside the ER one day, furious at God, Michelle asked how this could happen to such a kind kid. The answer she heard: "But I gave her the best mom."

It didn't fix anything. But it put her back in her power, focused on the one thing she could control, which was showing up.

Today her daughter is stable. And she's outside playing with that puppy.

1. An illness of the mind is still an illness. If you have diabetes, you take insulin. If you have psychosis, you take your medication. Michelle's point is that staying quiet about mental health keeps the stigma alive, and that the behavior you see is the illness, not the person.

2. Stop waving your fist at the storm. Her FAST framework goes like this: Feel your emotions, Accept and Surrender to what you can't change, and Transform your mindset. Fighting what's already happening drains the energy you need to deal with it.

3. Anger gets a bad rap. You're allowed to be angry. You're not allowed to be abusive. Michelle channeled hers into kickboxing until, a few months in, there was nothing left to punch out. (I've had the same experience on long runs.)

Short on time? This week we posted vertical clips from the conversation. Start with these:

Michelle's closing message was simple: if you're in a dark place, find an anchor. That could be hope, faith, love, or just one person you reach out to.

Hit reply and tell me what your anchor is. I read every response.

And if this episode made you think of someone, forward it to them.

If you're struggling, you don't have to handle it alone. In the US or Canada, call or text 988. Anywhere else, contact your local crisis line.

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"I Gave Her the Best Mom" — Resilience, Mental Health & the FAST Framework with Michelle Dosanjh-Johal

What do you do when life keeps knocking down the people you love most?

Michelle Dosanjh-Johal is a teacher of 26 years, a poet, a resilience coach and, above all, a mom to two kids facing autism, a rare genetic disorder, open-heart surgery and serious mental illness. In this episode of One Eleven Podcast she shares the moment outside the ER that put her back in her power, why an illness of the mind is still an illness, and the FAST framework she built to stay standing, and even laughing, through it all.

We get into:

• Her daughter's unforgettable response to an autism diagnosis

• Breaking the cultural silence around mental health

• FAST: Feel, Accept, Surrender, Transform

• Why anger gets a bad rap (and how kickboxing helped)

• Her course "Make Stress Your B*tch"

• Coming back to yourself through creativity and poetry

• Why you never have to earn your worth

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE

Instagram: @mindfulwarriorsway

Courses: Mindful Warriors Way

Free self-love affirmations on Insight Timer

If you're struggling, please reach out. In the US or Canada, call or text 988.

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