60. Dr. Ashley Sandeen On Finding Herself Again

Jun 9

Exercise, healthier coping methods, and safe group spaces can have an enormous effect on your life. Dr. Ashley Sandeen joins me to talk about how she rediscovered her self-worth, broke up with the scale, and shifted her mental perspective through group coaching.

Alternative Ways to Process Emotions

Practice thought work: Thoughts, Feelings, Actions, Results
Exercise regularly
Eat a healthy diet
Find a safe space or collaborative support group

Listen to Episode 60 Here

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About Dr. Ashley Sandeen

Ashley Sandeen, DO is a Pediatric Intensivist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in South Dakota. She is also a proud daughter, sister, wife, and mother to two energetic boys.

Ashley grew up an athlete, as both a competitive swimmer and dancer with her local ballet company. As her medical education path began at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and on through her training in pediatrics and critical care at the University of Iowa, fitness and her own health became less of a priority.

She has so enjoyed the journey to finding this part of herself again through yoga, strength training, and her peloton. She hopes to share her reinvigorated passion for health and wellness with her family and those she loves.

Discovering Exercise and Thought Work

Dr. Ashley Sandeen shares her childhood experiences as an athlete. But going through her demanding medical training and raising a family, Ashley lost a lot of that time she spent on herself. Not only that, she took a lot of her self-worth from the number on the scale.

Working together, Ashley not only rediscovered her love of movement, especially strength training, but she also shifted her worth outside of that scale number. This shift was a huge benefit to her mentally, emotionally, and physically. Ashely also learned how to trust the process we used together.

The biggest breakthrough for Ashley was learning how to shift her thoughts. By following a healthier thought model, her coping method shifted to thinking about a problem, solution, or exercise rather than reaching for food or shopping.

Group Coaching Dynamics

Group coaching added a unique element to training for Ashley. Having that group dynamic was an absolute gamechanger to her mentality, discourse, and enthusiasm in her personal development.

Ashley says that her favorite aspect of group coaching is the safe, collaborative space with other women in similar professions. Safe space is essential, especially for women physicians who don’t often have that outlet to work through their heavy thoughts and feelings.

Finally, Ashley talks about how she’s started using exercise again to help her process her emotions. She knows it’s much healthier than her former coping mechanisms, and it allows her to relax and figure out what she’s actually feeling.

Homework for Women Physicians

How are you building exercise into your routine this week? Do you process your own emotions while working out? Let me know in the comments below!

In This Episode

What happens when you shift your worth outside of aesthetic measurements [7:45]
Why you have to trust the process [9:15]
Why you should learn how to deal with your emotions in a healthy way [17:00]
The power of a safe, collaborative space [19:30]
How to work through heavy thoughts and feelings [23:30]
How exercise can help you process emotions [25:00]

Quotes

“My worth is really just something that’s inherent. It’s not defined by any of those numbers or any of that data.” [8:37]

“I catch myself doing mental thought downloads multiple times per day and working through the different steps of my thoughts, feelings, actions, results. I think that’s now just a way that my brain works. It’s really fascinating to think about how that’s changed over the last year. A lot of the buffering things I’ve used in the past are just not that exciting anymore. Food, shopping, or other things, I’ve now replaced with true thought work or exercise.” [23:21]

“I love that we do the group coaching. I think that’s really powerful for me and I know that a lot of other programs don’t have that. We can learn a lot from each other, given any of our similarities. It gives us an opportunity to help each other. That’s so uplifting and strengthening. It’s the back and forth of people helping each other that’s really powerful.” [26:33]