Hayley Hasselhoff writes about Redefine You: A Conversation for Wellbeing

Podcasts have been a great way to help feel connected during the pandemic. And for many, having their favourite famous person start a podcast has helped to get them through some tough times. We asked actor, model, and activist  Hayley Hasselhoff to tell us about her own lockdown podcast, Redefine You. 

Redefine You: A Conversation for Wellbeing has been a true blessing in my life. At the beginning of lockdown, like many, I went from an abundance of travel for work, to a stand-still. During this time, my mind was racing on how I could give back some of the knowledge I have accrued over my years in the body image and wellness space.

As artists, we regularly deal with the fear of the unknown professionally and still have to show up for ourselves. Now the whole world was dealing with the fear of the unknown and they may not have explored the tools they already had access to within themselves.

I wanted to give back my knowledge on how I’ve walked alongside my anxiety, even on the most challenging of days, and still showed up for myself. Then I became curious about friends of mine in the industry. What was in their toolbox? We often get asked about our professional achievements, but what about our personal ones? The ones where we struggled yet still succeeded; felt lost yet suddenly became found through an ‘AHA!’ moment; when we finally took ownership of who we are and all that we are.

I wanted to celebrate those moments – the good, the indifferent and beyond. I wanted an audience to know they are never alone in their journey to become grounded in the power of them. Even the people they admire the most experience these feelings and have had challenging moments behind the scenes.

Once you find the courage to make ‘you’ a part of your daily practice and build a personalized toolbox to revert back to on your stumbled moments that you too will be okay, succeed and live a beautiful life.

What started as an InstaLive series (purely created to give back inspiring stories of ownership to self and mental health awareness) has now turned into this overpouring love of a podcast, with a community of people waiting to support you in your journey to become grounded in the power of you.

As we hit our twentieth episode, the impact I get from each one of the stories being told is far too much to put into words.

I have been a body activist for years, yet silently suffering with crippling social anxiety at times, and feeling shame for not being able to grasp why these emotions would arise when I am such a people person. To hear stories outside myself is a true reflection that there is so much strength in vulnerability, and you are not alone in where your mind may wander. It gives me another reason to feel grounded in knowing it’s okay to not be ‘okay’ in a journey to become connected to an ever-evolving self.

We all struggle at times, fall down, turn those moments into life experiences and work hard to find our way out. It just so happens that we just don’t talk about it publicly enough to know that this has been true, time and time again. The stories shared in Redefine You will surprise you and leave you feeling encouraged to look within. What may serve you from their journey that you can apply to yours? When a guest shows vulnerability in such a way, it encourages us all to look within.

Redefine You with Hayley Hasselhoff shares conversations with inspiring friends of mine in the industry. We hear their stories of true ownership in self and their mental wellbeing journey along the way. I’ve learned how we all experience mental health challenges but that they can arise in different forms for each person; that not one mental health condition can be categorized yet it helps another when you put a face to it; how validating our emotions – even without knowing the answer – is always the first step; that hearing another lived experience can help us in healing our own; and how feelings like grief can catapult into many aspects of someone’s lives.

We have had guests speak about living with an eating disorder, grief, imposter syndrome, losing a loved one through death by suicide, the beauty of putting ‘pain to purpose’ when being diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and so much more.

I thank each and every beautiful, fearless guest I have had on for the impact they are making by telling their truth and the beauty in that. I can only hope the podcast inspires you to look within and guides you to lead a life being grounded in you.

Listen to Redefine You with Hayley Hasselhoff now on SPOTIFY, Hayley’s website, or other podcast platforms.