PODCAST · education
How To Human
by Marta Brummell
This podcast cultivates real conversation for young adults and parents as they navigate the often treacherous and sweet road of being human. We will discuss how to build the life skills necessary to live a healthy, happy, meaningful, and kick-ass life. It will include all things: relationships, self-care, emotions, mindset, anxiety, adulting, motivation, confidence, parenting, marriage, and just plain showing up for it all. We’re all in this together, and we’re all here to walk each other home. Welcome! Interested to learn more about Marta? You can find her at www.martabrummell.com.
Episodes
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Taking the Road Less Traveled: Learning to Trust Your Own Path
In this episode, Marta sits down with Grace, who has been part of The Practice behind the scenes for the past year and a half, to talk about what it means to listen to your own voice and trust your own path when the world around you is telling you what you should be doing. Drawing from Grace's...
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Ask Better Questions, Build Deeper Relationships
In this week's spontaneous episode from her car, Marta reflects on the transformative power of asking different questions and how a single thoughtful question can open the door to deeper connection, greater self-awareness, and more meaningful conversations. Drawing from recent moments with close...
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Performance vs. Formation (Part 2): Raising Humans, Not Performers
In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, Marta reflects on what it means to raise humans instead of performers, and why belonging should never have to be earned through achievement. She explores how parents can move from fixing to supporting, from controlling to guiding, and from measuring…
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Performance vs. Formation (Part 1): Why Becoming Matters More Than Achievement
In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Marta explores the difference between performance and formation, and why becoming who we are matters far more than simply looking successful. Inspired by philosopher Paul Blasco's reflections on education, she examines how grades, resumes, internships, and...
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When Life Doesn't Go According to Plan
In this episode, Marta reflects on an unexpected and deeply personal week after her son sustained another concussion, prompting her to explore what it means to stay grounded when life doesn't unfold the way we hoped or planned. Drawing from her own experience as a mother, wife, coach, and human...
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What Life Is Teaching Me at 56 (Part 2)
In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, Marta shares a personal story about an honest conversation with her son that transformed the way she thinks about parenting, connection, and love. She reflects on the courage it takes to receive difficult truths, the importance of allowing others to grow…
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What Life Is Teaching Me at 56 (Part 1)
In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Marta reflects on the lessons that have emerged as she celebrates another birthday and the invitation each new season of life offers to pause, awaken, and become. Through stories from her own life, she explores marriage, parenting young adults,...
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The Power of a Morning Practice: Begin Your Day with More Peace and Presence
In this episode, Marta explores the quiet power of beginning each day with intention, presence, and self-connection. Drawing from her own morning practice and conversations with clients navigating stress, transition, and emotional overwhelm, she reflects on the difference between immediately...
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Learning to Trust Yourself Through Uncertainty
In this episode, Marta explores the fear, uncertainty, and emotional growth that often accompany major life transitions. Inspired by a conversation with a young woman preparing to graduate from college, she reflects on the stories we create when life feels uncertain, the courage it takes to ask…
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How to Be Okay When You Don't Know What's Next
In this episode, Marta explores the uncertainty, loneliness, and growth that often accompany life's major transitions. Inspired by a conversation with a young man preparing to begin college, she reflects on the space between one chapter ending and another beginning, and the emotional challenges...
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The Freedom of Choosing Yourself
In this episode, Marta explores the difference between seeking validation from others and learning to trust and choose yourself. Inspired by a conversation with a young man navigating relationship challenges and recurring patterns, she reflects on the ways life continually reveals where we have…
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How Love, Marriage & Parenthood Change Us From the Inside Out
In this episode, Marta explores the deeply human ways that marriage, parenting, and love shape us over time. Inspired by a full-circle reunion with a former babysitter now navigating motherhood and marriage herself, Marta reflects on the tenderness of watching life stretch, soften, and transform…
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Getting Naked: How to Deepen Connection in Relationships
In this episode, Marta and Craig explore the deeper meaning of intimacy and what truly creates connection in long-term relationships. Together, they unpack the idea that intimacy is not limited to sex, but lives in the everyday moments that help us feel seen, safe, connected, and emotionally...
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We Need More Than Optimization: AI, Productivity & What Actually Matters
In this episode, Marta explores what it means to live in a world increasingly focused on optimization, efficiency, and doing more, while gently inviting us back to what it means to be human. Inspired by a conversation about AI and the future of work, she reflects on how we can use tools to…
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10 Free Habits That Help Us Human Better
In this episode, Marta explores what it means to return to the simple, foundational habits that support us in feeling more grounded, regulated, and well. Inspired by a conversation on metabolic health, she expands into a deeper reflection on how we metabolize life including how we move, rest,...
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The Love We Choose to Create: 10 Questions to Build More Intentional Relationships
In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Marta moves beyond understanding the love we’ve learned and into the love we have the capacity to create. Building on the foundation of awareness from Part 1, she explores what it means to love with intention in the present—through honesty, repair,...
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How We Learned to Love: 10 Questions to Understand Your Patterns (Part 1)
In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Marta explores how we learn to love and how those early patterns continue to shape our relationships today. Through ten thoughtful and intentional questions, she opens space for deeper reflection around family dynamics, emotional patterns, and the ways we…
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The Unexpected Healing of Being Heard: Voice Memos and Siblinghood (Part 2)
In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Marta reflects on what her voice memo exchanges with her brother revealed about family, memory, and identity. She explores the realization that while siblings may share the same home, they do not share the same experience, and how this understanding opens the...
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The Unexpected Healing of Being Heard: Voice Memos and Siblinghood (Part 1)
In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Marta shares a deeply personal reflection on the unexpected healing that emerged through exchanging voice memos with her brother. What began as a simple form of communication became a space for truth-telling, witnessing, and reconnection. Through this slow and...
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Changing the Meaning of Our Story
In Part 2 of this conversation, Marta explores how changing the meaning of our story can transform the way we understand our past and the way we show up in our lives today. Building on the reflections from Part 1, she shares how a shift in perspective helped her reconsider the role she occupied...
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How Perspective Shapes the Stories We Live By
In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Marta reflects on how perspective shapes the stories we form about our childhood, our identities, and the roles we play within our families. Drawing from a recent session that shifted her understanding of her own past, she explores how children adapt to…
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Designing Your Life: How to Build Your Relational Resume (Part 2)
In Part 2 of this series, Marta unpacks the real foundation of confidence, and why achievement alone cannot create it. Inspired by a brave question from a high-achieving student who admitted, “I’ve achieved a lot, and I still don’t feel it,” this episode explores the gap between external success...
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Designing Your Life: How to Build Your Relational Resume (Part 1)
In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Marta introduces the concept of the relational resume: the internal foundation that shapes how we lead, love, repair, regulate, and belong. Drawing from a recent talk with university students, she explores how many of us design our lives from performance, fear,...
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The Other Side of the Diagnosis: A Mother’s Story of Love, Community, and Faith (Part 2)
In Part 2, Marta and Denise explore what happens after survival — when the crisis passes, but life is permanently changed. This is a conversation about faith, surrender, letting go of control, and learning to trust life even when certainty is impossible. Denise shares how walking through her...
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The Other Side of the Diagnosis: A Mother’s Story of Love, Community, and Faith (Part 1)
In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Marta is joined by Denise Harris, mother of cancer survivor Holly Harris, for a deeply human exploration of caregiving, faith, resilience, and what it means to love someone through a life-altering diagnosis. Together, they reflect on the moment everything...
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Differentiation in Relationships: Staying Connected Without Losing Yourself
In this episode, Marta explores what it means to stay rooted in yourself while staying deeply connected to the people you love. Building on her conversation with Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, Marta brings differentiation into real life through a story of a young woman navigating a brave,...
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Yearning to Belong Part 2: Love, Differentiation & Growing Together Without Losing Yourself
In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, Marta and Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife explore what it truly means to love in a way that allows both people to grow, remain connected, and stay true to themselves. This episode focuses on differentiation, emotional maturity, and the lifelong work of...
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Yearning to Belong Part 1: Spirituality, Identity & the Human Need for Connection
In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Marta is joined by Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife for a thoughtful exploration of belonging, spirituality, identity, and the deep human longing to feel connected — to ourselves, to each other, and to something larger than us. Together, they reflect on how…
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Understanding Trauma and the Nervous System: The Real Path Back to Safety
In this episode, Marta explores trauma, the nervous system, and the body’s remarkable capacity to adapt, protect, and heal. Through grounded psychology, nervous system science, and deeply human reflection, this conversation reframes trauma as an incomplete survival response — not a personal...
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The Five R’s of Parenting: Relationship, Regulation, Reflection, Repair & Resilience
In this episode, Marta explores the Five R’s of Parenting — relationship, regulation, reflection, repair, and resilience — and how these pillars shape the humans our children become. Rather than striving for perfection, this conversation centers on presence: how connection builds safety, how...
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Sturdy Parenting Part 2: Anxiety, Regulation, and Raising Humans Who Feel Safe to Be Themselves
In Part 2 of Sturdy Parenting, Marta explores anxiety, nervous system regulation, and what children truly need in order to feel safe, connected, and worthy. Building on the foundations of Part 1, this episode focuses on the difference between false anxiety (a body out of balance) and true anxiety...
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Sturdy Parenting Part 1: Staying Connected to Yourself While Raising a Human
In Part 1 of this episode on Sturdy Parenting, Marta explores what it means to stay grounded, present, and connected to yourself while raising another human being. Parenting can feel tender, overwhelming, and humbling, especially when we realize that many of the skills required for emotional...
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Change Your Algorithm, Change Your Life
In this episode of The Practice , Marta explores how changing your “life algorithm” — the thoughts, habits, and patterns you bring into each day — can change everything. She shares the deeply personal story of her mother’s passing, which opened the door for her to dive deeper into herself and…
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10 Truths to Human Better Part 2
Welcome back to The Practice of Being Human. In this final part of her “10 Truths to Human Better,” Marta guides us through five powerful truths that invite a return to agency, integrity, and love. We’ll explore how to: Step out of victimhood and into responsibility Regulate your nervous system...
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10 Truths to Human Better Part 1
Welcome back to The Practice of Being Human. Today, Marta shares the first five of her “10 Truths to Human Better.” These aren’t self-improvement hacks, they’re invitations to return to the heart of what it means to be alive, aware, and whole. We’ll explore how to: Question the stories that keep...
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Healing the Ego with Love
This week, Marta explores the ego through a new lens, not as something to fix, but as something to understand. Drawing wisdom from Byron Katie and Kelly Brogan, she invites us to meet the ego as a terrified child, one who clings, defends, and controls, not because it’s evil, but because it’s...
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Coherent Parenting: How to Lead Without Controlling
What do we do when our child’s self-expression—through their tone, choices, or clothing—triggers something deep in us? In this week’s episode, Marta shares how to parent with coherence: aligning your thoughts, emotions, and energy so your guidance comes from love, not fear. You’ll learn how to...
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Parenting with Presence: What Our Children Really Feel
In this episode of The Practice of Being Human, Marta reflects on the heart of conscious parenting — not as a performance, but as a practice of presence. Through stories of friendship, belonging, and lessons inspired by Gabor Maté, she explores how our children don’t experience our intentions…
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Why Real Relationships Require Friction
In this episode of The Practice of Being Human, Marta reflects on the growing role of AI companions and what their rise reveals about our longing for ease, validation, and control. But she reminds us — friction is not a flaw in human connection. It’s the fertile ground where growth…
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Marta's Musings Episode 1: You and Your Body
In this month’s musing, Marta invites you into a gentle, honest reflection on your relationship with your body — the one that has carried you through every joy, heartbreak, and moment of becoming. In a world that teaches us to treat our bodies as projects to perfect, Marta offers a different…
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How to Change the Stories We Tell Ourselves
So often, it’s not the circumstances of our lives that hold us back—it’s the stories we tell ourselves about them. Old narratives, rooted in fear or self-doubt, can keep us stuck in the same cycles of negative belief. In this episode, Marta shares a personal story about rewriting one of her own...
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Let's Talk About Real Self Care
Self-care isn’t bubble baths, spa days, or a once-a-year vacation. True self-care is the daily, often uncomfortable work of living in alignment with your values, honoring your needs, and stepping into the person you aspire to be. In this episode of The Practice of Being Human, Marta shares what…
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Why ‘I’m Proud of You’ Isn’t Helping Your Child
We all want to encourage our children, but what if the words “I’m proud of you” are doing more harm than good? In this episode of The Practice of Being Human, Marta unpacks how this well-meaning phrase can create a cycle of codependency and external validation—teaching kids to chase approval...
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How to Stay Grounded and Loving as Your Child Leaves for College
Sending your child off to college is one of the biggest transitions in parenting—and it can stir up fear, uncertainty, and a deep letting go. In this episode, Marta shares simple but powerful practices for staying grounded (‘hand on heart, feet to floor’), loving with healthy boundaries, and...
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To Moira: What I Wish I Knew at 18
Marta shares a heartfelt letter to her daughter, Moira, as she heads off to college. In this episode, she reflects on the lessons, reminders, and gentle wisdom she wishes she had known at 18—words to carry into adulthood, navigate new beginnings, and stay grounded in who you are becoming....
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Breaking Free from Family Roles
In this episode, Marta unpacks the 6 family roles we often unconsciously adopt—or assign to our children. These roles are shaped by silence, praise, tension, or absence and can be passed down through generations. Marta helps you identify the roles at play in your own family ecosystem and offers...
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Boundaries Are Bridges, Not Barriers
In this episode, Marta explores how boundaries are not walls or acts of rejection but powerful bridges that foster authentic connection. She shares stories of a young adult client learning to set healthy limits with her mom’s constant calls and another client who gently expressed her discomfort…
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The Nonchalance Epidemic
After a client asked me to watch Love Island (yes, really), I started noticing something deeper beneath the surface: an epidemic of nonchalance — a cultural pull toward aloofness, detachment, and performative indifference, especially in dating and relationships. In this episode, I unpack what…
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What If Nothing’s Wrong With You?
In this solo episode, Marta unpacks a quiet but powerful belief many of us carry—that something is inherently wrong with us. Drawing from a recent message she shared with a client, Marta explores how this belief subtly shapes the way we relate to others and to ourselves. She invites listeners to...
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Strength in the Storm: Liz Anthony on Lupus, Leadership, and Finding Yourself in Your 20s
In this inspiring episode, Marta Brummell sits down with Liz Anthony to explore the deep lessons that emerged from her journey with lupus. Liz shares how navigating chronic illness in her twenties reshaped her sense of self, gave her a new understanding of strength, and laid the foundation for…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
This podcast cultivates real conversation for young adults and parents as they navigate the often treacherous and sweet road of being human. We will discuss how to build the life skills necessary to live a healthy, happy, meaningful, and kick-ass life. It will include all things: relationships, self-care, emotions, mindset, anxiety, adulting, motivation, confidence, parenting, marriage, and just plain showing up for it all. We’re all in this together, and we’re all here to walk each other home. Welcome! Interested to learn more about Marta? You can find her at www.martabrummell.com.
HOSTED BY
Marta Brummell
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does How To Human have?
How To Human currently has 97 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is How To Human about?
This podcast cultivates real conversation for young adults and parents as they navigate the often treacherous and sweet road of being human. We will discuss how to build the life skills necessary to live a healthy, happy, meaningful, and kick-ass life. It will include all things: relationships,...
How often does How To Human release new episodes?
How To Human has 97 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to How To Human?
You can listen to How To Human on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts How To Human?
How To Human is created and hosted by Marta Brummell.
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