Just a Minute with Dr Kumari

Just a Minute with Dr Kumari

Just a Minute of Mindfulness and Self Care. Healing the Wounds of Childhood.

Episodes

September 29, 2025 18 mins

In this episode we talk about overwhelm, stress, the invisible load of mothering and the role that progesterone can have on working memory. 

Mark as Played

In this gentle and grounding episode, Dr Kumari Valentine shares the Just a Minute Manifesto—a compassionate philosophy of healing through micro-moments of self-connection. Rooted in trauma-informed mindfulness, this episode explores how just one minute can reconnect us with our body, our breath, and the parts of ourselves that need care. You'll be invited into reflection, regulation, and a quiet rebellion against burnout culture. ...

Mark as Played
May 9, 2025 20 mins

In this episode I talk about Dissociation and introduce the idea of the Dissociation Thermometer I developed this week. You are welcome to download it and use it. Please share:

https://pdflink.to/eccbd83c/   I also mentioned the petition that is taking up my time and is part of the concerning things happening for psychologists in New Zealand alongside other health professionals.    https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/prote...
Mark as Played

I had planned to talk about this at a later point, but recent events have caused me alarm. The Minister for Mental Health (NZ) revealed on Tuesday that the government is developing Associate Psychologist Scopes of practice, with the help of the Psychologists Board in NZ. The proposed pathway means that people with a basic undergraduate degree (where there is no clinical or hands on training) would do a one year training and then be...

Mark as Played

Can the way we eat affect how stressed we feel? The Christmas or holiday season is typically associated with a variety of stressors. In this episode with award winning chef and author, Bridget Foliaki Davis, we talk about gut health, stress, and eating. Bridget has some amazing tips to eat better this season in order to really nourish you and manage stress better. 

Bridget has TONS of free resources. She also has a transformative 2...

Mark as Played
September 21, 2024 20 mins

Low or depressed mood affects EVERYTHING. I am a clinical psychologist with almost two decades of clinical experience as well as previously having been a researcher and lecturer in psychological science. In this episode, I share some evidence based tips for lifting low mood or maintaining mood. The awful thing when you feel low is that it feels like "this is it"! It isn't! You can improve your mood.

Stress also affects mood. Would ...

Mark as Played
August 28, 2024 22 mins

Mindfulness has many benefits but can also be misunderstood. I talk about what mindfulness is and how it can be useful when we are dealing with relational trauma. 

Mark as Played

Episode 47: There is so much to the Gut Brain Axis but I give you a very quick overview and briefly cover Polyvagal theory. 

Mark as Played

Do you struggle with people pleasing and perhaps even identifying your own needs? In this episode I talk about the "fawn" response to relational trauma. 

My deeper self care course is available here:

https://kumari.gumroad.com/l/deeperselfcare

Mark as Played

I often talk about the nervous system and soothing it for dealing with stress and trauma. Here I talk about what I mean by the nervous system. A couple of weeks ago, I had an extra stressful week and was pleased with a few things I put into place - I'm always learning! I hope these tips are useful to you too! 

Here is a download to the handout I talk about: 5 strategies to soothe the nervous system and cope with stress:

https://drk...

Mark as Played
February 19, 2024 6 mins

Waitangi Day is pretty important in New Zealand and a day I have mixed feelings about. One the one hand, it is really important, I feel, to honour our known guardians of the land and the special history and culture. On the other hand, there has been so much wrong doing, bias, racism, and disadvantage to the indigenous people of this country. 

Mark as Played
December 27, 2023 17 mins

Best wishes for the holiday season! This is often a time of year when we start thinking about "resolutions" and "goals". These are more likely to succeed when they are driven by values. In this podcast, I talk about how we might discover or re-discover our values and some tips. 

 

Goal setting and values clarification are always easier when coming from a place of a more soothed nervous system. Here are 5 strategies I commonly teach...

Mark as Played
November 1, 2023 21 mins

I'm Dr Kumari Valentine, Clinical Psychologist. I'm interested in trauma, including relational trauma. I'm an EMDR therapist amongst other things. I'm talking about intergenerational trauma and intergenerational resourcing on this podcast.

 

I talk about soothing the nervous system and talk about 5 strategies I commonly teach and use. Here is the link for that download (on signing up to emails from me; unsubscribe when you would li...

Mark as Played

Terror Management Theory is one of Psychology's "Grand Theories", explaining how existential terror influences decision making and choices. This is my contribution to an observation that we are moving into a time of more right leaning politics. Change can be hard to manage and mean that dysregulated nervous systems struggle more. Download five strategies to help soothe a nervous system:

https://drkumari.ck.page/9f339e3e2b 

Mark as Played

What do we mean by Somatisation? In this episode I look at the connection between body and mind and what we mean by these diagnostic terms. I read some lines from the amazing book by Professor Bessel van der Kolk: "The Body Keeps the Score".

 

Relearning to be in our body means resetting our nervous system. Sign up to my newsletter to download five powerful strategies to soothe the nervous system:

https://drkumari.ck.page/9f339e3e2...

Mark as Played
August 20, 2023 6 mins

What would bring you more ease in this minute? Might it be easing your breath?

Mark as Played
June 24, 2023 14 mins

Perhaps not one to do actively while driving or doing something hazardous! We do a short mindfulness meditation aimed at increasing self compassion. 

Mark as Played

Our childhood experiences can mean that it is hard to be compassionate towards ourselves. I talk about why self-compassion is the magic ingredient in healing and how to develop more self-compassion. 

Mark as Played

Many of us are so skilled at being compassionate towards others. Here's Just a Minute of turning that outward reflex inwards....to build self compassion. 

Mark as Played

We are allowed to have things easy and to have ease in our lives! Our life experiences and messages from growing up might give us ideas against this. Let's take a moment to notice what comes up when we sit with the idea of ease. 

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

    My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.