Sophie Malahieude: Understanding Anxiety and Grief Through the Body
Sh!t That Goes On In Our HeadsNovember 12, 2026
14
00:38:0734.91 MB

Sophie Malahieude: Understanding Anxiety and Grief Through the Body

Sophie Malahieude joins G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to share how yoga, mindfulness, and body awareness have helped her navigate anxiety, grief, and emotional overwhelm. Through her experiences of moving countries and losing her mother, the author of Beyond Emotions explores self-acceptance, emotional balance, and simple ways to reconnect with the present moment.

What happens when you’ve thought through your feelings a thousand times, but still don’t understand what’s underneath them? G-Rex and Dirty Skittles sit down with Sophie Malahieude for an honest conversation about lifelong fear, complicated grief, and learning to approach yourself with curiosity instead of judgment.

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Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 8 million downloads and listened to in over 200 countries.

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Mental Health Quote

“Be in your body with curiosity and compassion.” — Sophie Malahieude

Content Notice

This episode includes discussions of anxiety, the death of a parent, grief, anger, and physical symptoms Sophie experienced while grieving.

Episode Description

Sometimes the hardest part of an emotion is admitting you’re having it. Especially when it’s anger toward someone you love, fear you think you should have outgrown, or grief that doesn’t look the way you expected.

In this episode, G-Rex and Dirty Skittles welcome Sophie Malahieude, author of Beyond Emotions and creator of The Emotion Process. Sophie shares how moving from France to Germany challenged her sense of belonging, and how a yoga class in an unfamiliar language became an unexpected place to feel at home.

After more than 28 years of practicing yoga, Sophie describes its greatest gift as knowing and accepting herself. Her morning practice gives her space to notice what she’s feeling before the demands of the day take over.

The conversation gets especially honest when Sophie talks about losing her mother. She describes feeling angry, then ashamed of that anger, and trying to convince herself everything was fine. Exploring those feelings helped her recognize how much energy she had spent trying to become the daughter she imagined her mother wanted.

Together, the three explore what it means to pause, notice your body, and meet difficult emotions without judging them right away. G-Rex connects that focus to the gym, while Dirty Skittles shares how learning to ski gave her a rare break from multitasking.

You’ll hear simple ideas for returning to the present moment, from noticing your five senses to leaving yourself a reminder to breathe. There’s humor, vulnerability, and a reminder that you don’t have to fit someone else’s expectations to deserve peace.

Keywords: anxiety, grief, emotional balance, body awareness, yoga and mental health, mindfulness, emotional overwhelm, self-compassion, present moment awareness, parental loss, self-acceptance, Beyond Emotions, Sophie Malahieude

Meet Our Guest — Sophie Malahieude

Sophie Malahieude is an Emotional Balance Coach & Consultant, author of Beyond Emotions, and creator of The Emotion Process. With more than 28 years studying and teaching yoga, Ayurveda, mindfulness, and breathwork, she brings a body-based perspective to understanding emotions. Her work combines body awareness, movement, breathwork, and self-inquiry to help people navigate stress, grief, life transitions, and emotional overwhelm.

Key Takeaways

  • Difficult feelings can come with another layer of judgment. Sophie’s grief included anger and shame about that anger; getting curious helped her understand her experience more clearly.
  • Presence can happen during ordinary activities. The hosts connect mindfulness to exercising, skiing, walking, and focusing on one thing at a time.
  • You can feel afraid and still move forward. Sophie describes continuing to try unfamiliar things while making space for her fear.
  • Self-acceptance means questioning who you think you’re supposed to be. Sophie’s reflection on being the “right” daughter changed how she understood her relationship with her mother.
  • Small reminders can support a practice. A note near your computer or a familiar object can remind you to pause and notice how you’re feeling.
  • Taking a step for yourself can include asking for help. Sophie distinguishes choosing to act from expecting yourself to handle everything alone.

Actionable Items

  • Try a brief senses check. Pause and notice something you can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. Use what’s available, without pressuring yourself to do it perfectly.
  • Replace one judgment with a question. When you catch yourself thinking, “I shouldn’t feel this,” try, “What am I feeling, and what might be underneath it?”
  • Create one gentle reminder. Put a note near your desk that says “Pause” or “Breathe,” then use it as a cue to notice your natural breath and check in with yourself.

Important Chapters

  • 00:00:36 — Meet Sophie Malahieude
  • 00:00:56 — Why Quiet Mornings Matter
  • 00:02:20 — Discovering Yoga and Coming Back to Herself
  • 00:05:37 — Breath, Compassion, and the Present Moment
  • 00:08:15 — Finding Focus at the Gym and on the Ski Slopes
  • 00:11:55 — Meeting Fear With Curiosity
  • 00:16:08 — Moving Countries and Finding Belonging
  • 00:20:07 — Making Room for Emotional Wellbeing
  • 00:21:29 — Grieving Her Mother and Facing Anger
  • 00:26:59 — The Meaning Behind Beyond Emotions
  • 00:28:29 — Small First Steps for Emotional Overwhelm
  • 00:31:43 — Simple Reminders to Pause and Breathe
  • 00:33:30 — Advice to Her Younger Self
  • 00:34:16 — Learning to Stand Up for Herself
  • 00:35:09 — An Anxiety Theme Song, Peace, and Expectations
  • 00:36:39 — Where to Find Sophie

Closing CTA

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#MentalHealthPodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #Grex #DirtySkittles #Podmatch #SophieMalahieude #BeyondEmotions #EmotionalBalance #AnxietyAwareness #GriefJourney #Mindfulness #BodyAwareness #SelfCompassion #YogaAndMentalHealth #EmotionalWellbeing #SelfAcceptance #PresentMoment #STGOIOH #Bleav #NormalizeMentalHealth

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