Returning to Us

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Returning to Us

Lauren Spigelmyer & Jessica Doering

226 episodes

2 days ago

Lauren opens the new year with an invitation to pause between “now and next.” This episode creates space to reflect on the past year, release what no longer serves, and move forward with more clarity and steadiness instead of urgency or burnout. Lauren explores how pausing supports nervous system regulation, sustainable leadership, and intentional design. Listeners are encouraged to do less on purpose and reset their systems for a more unhurried year ahead. Sign up for the University of Pen...

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Health & Fitness,

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Lauren opens the new year with an invitation to pause between “now and next.” This episode creates space to reflect on the past year, release what no longer serves, and move forward with more clarity and steadiness instead of urgency or burnout. Lauren explores how pausing supports nervous system regulation, sustainable leadership, and intentional design. Listeners are encouraged to do less on purpose and reset their systems for a more unhurried year ahead. Sign up for the University of Pen...

Show more...

Health & Fitness,

Episodes (20/226)

Returning to Us

The Pause Between Now and Next

Lauren opens the new year with an invitation to pause between “now and next.” This episode creates space to reflect on the past year, release what no longer serves, and move forward with more clarity and steadiness instead of urgency or burnout. Lauren explores how pausing supports nervous system regulation, sustainable leadership, and intentional design. Listeners are encouraged to do less on purpose and reset their systems for a more unhurried year ahead. Sign up for the University of Pen...

2 days ago

18 minutes

Returning to Us

Leading from a Regulated Core

In this episode, Lauren explores what it means to lead from a regulated core and why a leader’s internal state is the most powerful influence on culture, safety, and decision-making. She explains how nervous system regulation shapes teams long before words or strategies do and shares simple, practical micro-regulation tools leaders can use before meetings, conversations, and decisions to reduce reactivity, increase clarity, and build psychological safety across organizations. Sign up for th...

1 week ago

32 minutes

Returning to Us

Designing Rhythms that Regulate

Lauren explores how rhythm regulates both the nervous system and organizations, showing how predictable routines create safety, clarity, and capacity, while chaos increases stress and burnout. She shares practical examples of daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly rhythms leaders can use to replace urgency with coherence, and invites listeners to try one regulating rhythm and notice how it shifts energy and pace over time. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accred...

2 weeks ago

21 minutes

Returning to Us

When Culture Dysregulates

Lauren explores how organizational culture acts as a nervous system and the signs that show when it’s stuck in survival mode. She explains how unclear communication, chronic urgency, and dysregulated leadership quietly shape how teams feel, function, and perform. She also shares simple ways leaders can restore regulation through tone, emotional repair, and small moments of co-regulation that rebuild trust and create a calmer, more sustainable workplace. Sign up for the University of Pen...

3 weeks ago

22 minutes

Returning to Us

Growth & Feedback Without Fear

In this episode, Lauren explores how leaders can promote growth and give feedback without triggering fear or threat responses. She explains why traditional evaluation systems dysregulate staff and why regulation, clarity and collaborative feedback matter for culture and performance. She shares strategies like predictable check ins, strengths first framing, and micro goals to make feedback supportive instead of punitive. Learn how to build systems that create clarity, trust, and empowere...

1 month ago

33 minutes

Returning to Us

Onboarding as Co-Regulation

In this episode, Lauren explores onboarding as a nervous-system experience rather than paperwork. She shows how predictability, belonging, clarity, and emotional tone shape a new hire’s first 30 to 90 days and influence whether they feel safe, confident, and connected. She also offers regulating structures like clear roadmaps, warm welcomes, buddy systems, and communication norms to help organizations create a more grounded onboarding experience. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Beh...

1 month ago

26 minutes

Returning to Us

Policy as a Nervous System

Lauren shares how policies and procedures act like an organization’s neural pathways, shaping safety, trust, and overall regulation. Punitive or confusing policies create anxiety, while clear and compassionate ones build stability and support. She explains the difference between stress-driven and safety-driven policies and offers simple steps to make them more regulating. Lauren encourages listeners to reflect on their own policies and take one small step toward a safer, more supportive workp...

1 month ago

16 minutes

Returning to Us

Meetings That Calm, Not Drain

Meetings set the tone for an organization. Lauren explains how structure, pacing, tone, and clarity can calm the nervous system and keep teams grounded instead of drained. She also shares simple practices like ritualized starts, sensory grounding, one word check ins, and clear closures to help meetings become stable, productive spaces that support a healthier culture. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accredited Course Learn about the Staff Sustainability System...

1 month ago

22 minutes

Returning to Us

The Regulated Organization: What It Means to Be a Regulated Organization

Lauren launches The Regulated Organization series, exploring how stress and regulation affect entire workplaces, not just individuals. She explains how an organization’s “nervous system” shapes culture, communication, and trust, and how the Five Ives framework helps bring balance and sustainability to teams. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accredited Course Learn about the Staff Sustainability System a proven system to reduce burnout at the root Other re...

1 month ago

29 minutes

Returning to Us

Retain: Sustaining Staff, Culture, and Capacity

In this episode, Lauren explores how organizations can move beyond burnout to build lasting staff retention through the Three M’s: Moments, Memories, and Meaning. She explains that small daily interactions, shared experiences, and a sense of purpose create connection, stability, and momentum. True retention, she says, isn’t just about keeping people; it’s about helping them thrive. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accredited Course Learn about the Staff S...

2 months ago

35 minutes

Returning to Us

Reinforce- Ensuring that Change becomes Cultural Muscle Memory

In this episode, Lauren dives into Reinforce, the third phase of the Staff Sustainability Program. After moving through relief and reset, this stage is about turning new, healthy patterns into lasting habits that define an organization’s culture. She shares how repetition, reflection, and consistent routines help build stability, trust, and regulation across teams. By focusing on reinforcement, organizations can move beyond short-term fixes and create a culture of well-being that truly lasts....

2 months ago

28 minutes

Returning to Us

Reset: Moving from Relief to Real Transformation

In this episode, Lauren explores what it means for organizations to truly reset after burnout. She shares how leaders and teams can move from short-term fixes to lasting change by addressing root causes, rebuilding trust, and fostering compassion-driven accountability. Through small, consistent practices and reflective leadership, Lauren shows how organizations can build cultures that support well-being, connection, and sustainable growth. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior B...

2 months ago

35 minutes

Returning to Us

Stage 1: Relieve — Stabilizing in Survival Mode

In this episode, Lauren explores why many organizations try to build sustainability while running on empty and how real change begins with creating relief. She shares how survival mode shows up through reactivity and disconnection and offers practical ways for leaders and teams to calm their systems, rebuild trust, and create the foundation for lasting change. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accredited Course Learn about the Staff Sustainability Sy...

2 months ago

37 minutes

Returning to Us

Why Women in Leadership Micromanage

In the second episode of the Staff Sustainability series, Lauren explores why women in leadership often turn to micromanagement and how it’s rooted in stress, trauma, and cultural expectations. She shares practical steps to move from control to co-regulation, helping leaders build safer, more sustainable workplaces grounded in trust and collaboration. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accredited Course Learn about the Staff Sustainability System a pr...

3 months ago

34 minutes

Returning to Us

Understanding Burnout & Turnover in Trauma-Impacted Organizations

In this episode, Lauren launches a new series on staff sustainability and explores the hidden costs of burnout and turnover in trauma-impacted organizations. She shares why quick fixes like pizza parties or gift cards fall flat and how deeper systemic change is needed. Through the lens of the nervous system, Lauren reframes burnout as a collective issue rather than an individual failing. She explains how creating cultures of belonging, safety, and regulation can shift organizations from survi...

3 months ago

24 minutes

Returning to Us

The Five Ives Hot Seat: Honest Answers for Hard Questions

In this Q&A episode, Lauren tackles some of the most pressing challenges organizations face including burnout, high turnover, and behavior struggles in both staff and students. She explains how the Five Ives framework, rooted in nervous system science and trauma-informed care, offers practical micro-strategies that boost morale, improve regulation, and create sustainable cultural shifts without adding extra burdens. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accredit...

3 months ago

20 minutes

Returning to Us

The Regulated Team: Creating Cultures That Breathe

In this episode, Lauren unpacks how nervous system regulation shapes workplace culture. She explains how stress and micromanagement spread through teams, and why leaders who model calm can shift an entire organization. Lauren also shares simple rituals like intentional meeting openings, midday resets, and predictable rhythms that help teams move from survival mode to thriving together. Sign up for the University of Pennsylvania Behavior Breakthrough Accredited Course Other related resources f...

3 months ago

28 minutes

Returning to Us

No Off Switch: Why Regulation Belongs in All Your Roles

In this episode, Jessica explores how nervous system regulation shows up across the many roles we play, whether we’re leading, teaching, parenting, or supporting others on the front lines. She explains why our nervous system doesn’t switch hats when we do, and how our presence impacts the people around us in every setting. Jessica offers practical strategies for bringing calm, steady energy into classrooms, meetings, and family life. From co-regulating with students to repairing after rupture...

4 months ago

13 minutes

Returning to Us

“Why wasn’t I good enough?”: Walking Away from What Wasn’t Meant for You

In this heartfelt episode, Jessica turns toward a question many of us have wrestled with: Why wasn’t I good enough? Drawing from her own experiences with rejection, criticism, and seasons of struggle, she reflects on how painful moments can shape our identity, hold us back, and make us doubt our worth. Jessica invites listeners to reframe those experiences not as proof of inadequacy, but as protection from what was never meant for them. Through stories, encouragement, and gentle guidance, she...

4 months ago

20 minutes

Returning to Us

Can’t Sleep, Can’t Think? Resetting Rhythms That Rule Your Day

In this episode, Lauren explores the hidden power of daily rhythms and how they shape our ability to stay calm, focused, and resilient. From sleep and meal times to email habits and screen use, she shows how predictable patterns support the nervous system and how disruptions can quietly lead to stress and dysregulation. She shares why building consistent routines matters, offers examples of small shifts like winding down without screens or adding rhythmic movement, and explains practical ways...

4 months ago

20 minutes