{"podcast":{"title":"Sit Around the Fire","slug":"sit-around-the-fire-7092992","podcast_index_feed_id":7092992,"rss_url":"https://api.riverside.fm/hosting/p7CgHNTy.rss","website_url":"http://www.sitaroundthefire.org","image_url":"https://hosting-media.riverside.com/media/podcasts/a1a89402-3cb2-4d0e-8271-1dc3f9195458/logos/1ca2cda6-5777-4806-9283-839da608aef6.png","author":"Ashlea Dillard","episode_count":62,"summary":"Welcome to Sit Around the Fire — the space where stories ignite transformation. Hosted by a former first responder turned licensed professional counselor and certified hypnotherapist , this podcast blends real-life experiences , powerful teachings, and practical tools for mental and physical health . Each episode invites you to slow down, reflect, and find your spark again. Together, we explore mindfulness, stress management, trauma recovery, and PTSD healing — all through the lens of someone who’s lived it. You’ll hear raw conversations with first responders, veterans, and mental health experts as well as other incredible human beings with amazing stories and missions who share their wisdom on how to move from burnout to balance, from survival mode to thriving. If you’re ready to break free from old patterns and beliefs , reclaim your peace, and live your most abundant, limitless life , this is your community. ✨ What you’ll learn: How to manage stress and trauma while building emotional resilience. Practical mindfulness and mental well-being techniques that fit your lifestyle. Real stories of healing from first responders and military families . Tools to strengthen both mental an…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T08:19:32.620717+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sit-around-the-fire-7092992"},"episode":{"title":"#055 The Most Important Investment You'll Ever Make","slug":"055-the-most-important-investment-you-ll-ever-make","published_at":"2026-06-09T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sit-around-the-fire-7092992/055-the-most-important-investment-you-ll-ever-make","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sit-around-the-fire-7092992","url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/947fa44f6997d21fbc69cb0d61f5be444eb7acbde3acc07a9edc2b87a74ad690/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI3YzgxZTVkMy1iNDFlLTQyOGYtYWI4MC05Zjg1N2RiMmE0ODYiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJhMWE4OTQwMi0zY2IyLTRkMGUtODI3MS0xZGMzZjkxOTU0NTgiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTFiODUwMTcyODQxMTU2YjI2M2VmY2QiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEyNzQ1NDk0MTdjYTNhYjczOWU0ZmZkL2FzaGxlYS1kaWxsYXJkcy1zdHVkaW8tY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTlfXzAtNDItMTcubXAzIn0=.mp3","audio_url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/947fa44f6997d21fbc69cb0d61f5be444eb7acbde3acc07a9edc2b87a74ad690/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI3YzgxZTVkMy1iNDFlLTQyOGYtYWI4MC05Zjg1N2RiMmE0ODYiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJhMWE4OTQwMi0zY2IyLTRkMGUtODI3MS0xZGMzZjkxOTU0NTgiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTFiODUwMTcyODQxMTU2YjI2M2VmY2QiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmEyNzQ1NDk0MTdjYTNhYjczOWU0ZmZkL2FzaGxlYS1kaWxsYXJkcy1zdHVkaW8tY29tcG9zZXItMjAyNi02LTlfXzAtNDItMTcubXAzIn0=.mp3","summary":"We pour money, time, and energy into everything outside of ourselves — our kids, our businesses, our homes, the people who depend on us — and then we wonder why we feel so depleted. In this episode, Ashlea makes the case that investing in yourself isn't the luxury you get to once everything else is handled. It's the foundation everything else is built on. Drawing on her background in emergency services and her work as a Licensed Professional Counselor and clinical hypnotherapist, Ashlea walks through three arenas of self-investment — therapy, coaching, and physical health — and reframes each through the lens of the nervous system and the brain. You'll learn why the guilt you feel when you choose yourself is just old programming defending itself, why you are the single asset that produces every other return in your life, and how to make one concrete investment in yourself this week. This one's a permission slip and a strategy, all at once. What We Cover Why investing in yourself feels so hard — and why the resistance isn't a stop sign How your brain runs the \"path of least resistance\" and why familiar isn't the same as safe Therapy as the investment in understanding where you've been — working on the rudder Coaching as the investment in where you're going — living from the future forward Physical health as nervous system care, not vanity — tending the vessel The compound interest of self-investment and why waiting is the most expensive choice The reframe that changes everything: you are the source Episode Timestamps (Adjust to final recording.) 00:00 — Intro 01:30 — When was the last time you invested in you ? 04:00 — Why this is so hard: the programming and the prediction machine 08:00 — Therapy: the investment in understanding yourself (the rudder) 13:00 — Coaching: t…","meta_description":"We pour money, time, and energy into everything outside of ourselves — our kids, our businesses, our homes, the people who depend on us — and then we wond…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1204,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/sit-around-the-fire-7092992/episodes/055-the-most-important-investment-you-ll-ever-make/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sit-around-the-fire-7092992/055-the-most-important-investment-you-ll-ever-make.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}