Mindful Moments with Pedro Morante

Holding It All Together: Rural Health Nurse, Mom, Leader

What does it really mean to hold it all together?
In this episode of Mindful Moments, we sit down with Marilyn Doster, Nurse Practitioner and President of the Philippine Nurses Association of Colorado, for a heartfelt and honest conversation about life beyond the title.
From the realities of rural healthcare to navigating life as a single mom and going through personal transitions, Marilyn shares what it looks like to keep showing up—even when things feel heavy.
This is a story of resilience, quiet strength, and choosing to move forward… one day at a time.
💙 You don’t have to have it all figured out to keep going.
 
🎧 In this episode:
Rural health nurse practitioner life
Motherhood, separation & life transitions
Emotional resilience in healthcare
Giving back & Filipino nurse leadership
PNAA Conference in Colorado
 
🌿 About Mindful Moments
Real conversations about mental health, life, and the human side of healthcare. 🎙️ New episodes weekly
 
#MindfulMoments #NurseLife #RuralHealth #FilipinoNurses #PNAA #MentalHealthMatters #NursePodcast #HealingJourney

Eating Disorders Beyond the Stereotype | You Don’t Have to Look Sick to Be Struggling

When people think about eating disorders, there’s often a certain image that comes to mind—someone very thin, visibly struggling, and easy to recognize.
But the truth is, many people who are struggling don’t look that way at all.
In this episode of Mindful Moments, we sit down with eating disorder and OCD therapist Allyson Inez Ford, host of the Body Justice Podcast, to talk about the realities of eating disorders beyond what we typically see or expect.
Together, we unpack:
Why many people don’t feel “sick enough” to ask for help
The connection between eating disorders, control, and anxiety
How culture, family, and everyday language shape our relationship with food
The impact of social media and modern pressures
What healing really looks like—and why it’s possible
This conversation is for anyone who has ever questioned their relationship with food, felt unseen in their struggle, or wondered if what they’re experiencing is “normal.”
Because the truth is—you don’t have to look sick to be struggling.
🤍 If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who might need to hear it.
Follow: @bodyjustice.therapist on Instagram
Visit: www.eatingdisorderocdtherapy.com
 
#MindfulMoments #EatingDisorderAwareness #MentalHealthMatters #YouAreNotAlone #BodyJustice #EndTheStigma #HealingJourney #MentalHealthConversations

LOVE IN THE ER: Identity, Advocacy & Finding Love on the Frontline

This February on Mindful Moments, we’re celebrating love—not just the kind we see in grand gestures, but the kind that shows up in quiet understanding, shared purpose, and choosing each other even after the hardest shifts.
In this special Love Month episode, we sit down with Luis Caso Vega and Vicente Figueroa Feliciano, emergency nurses and partners, whose lives are rooted in both frontline care and deep connection.
Together, they open up about what it means to:💗 Navigate identity and visibility as LGBTQ+ nurses in high-pressure environments🩺 Deliver care in the ER while advocating for more inclusive, affirming healthcare systems⚖️ Turn everyday nursing into meaningful advocacy, even without formal titles❤️ Build a relationship grounded in understanding, resilience, and shared purpose🌱 Support each other through burnout, healing, and the emotional weight of care work
This is a conversation about love in all its forms—romantic love, community care, and the kind of love that keeps you going when the work gets heavy.
Because sometimes, the most powerful kind of love…is the one that says, “I see you. I’ve got you. Let’s keep going.”
🎙️ Tune in, reflect, and celebrate love that heals—both in and beyond the ER.
Follow Mindful Moments for more conversations on identity, healing, and human connection.If this episode resonated, share it with someone who needs to feel seen this Valentine’s season 💕
 
#MindfulMoments #LoveInTheER #ValentinesWithPurpose #NursesWhoLove #LGBTQNurses #HealthcareWithHeart #EmergencyNurseLife
 

From the ED to Executive Leadership: Carving Your Own Nursing Path with Rayne Soriano

What does it really take to grow from surviving the Emergency Department to leading at the executive level—without losing yourself along the way?
In this episode of Mindful Moments, we sit down with Dr. Rayne Soriano for an honest, reflective conversation about mental health, leadership, identity, and purpose in nursing.
Rayne shares how his journey into nursing began—shaped in part by Filipino cultural values and family expectations—and how his early years in the ED taught him resilience, adaptability, and the emotional cost of survival mode. We explore the mental health realities of emergency nursing, cumulative stress, moral distress, and the quiet moments that signal when it’s time to evolve.
As his career unfolded, Rayne intentionally leaned into his passions—education, informatics, operations, and leadership—carving a nursing path uniquely suited to who he is. Now serving as a nurse executive in Hawai‘i, he reflects on how living and leading there has deepened his sense of kuleana—a responsibility to care for people, community, and place—and how that perspective shapes his leadership, mentorship, and commitment to nurse well-being.
This conversation also dives into:
Mental health in emergency nursing and leadership
Burnout, moral injury, and learning to leave survival mode
How data, technology, and informatics impact nurses’ well-being
Caring science as a foundation for sustainable leadership
Mentorship, Filipino identity, and shared humanity
Designing a nursing career that supports both success and mental health
This episode is for nurses, nurse leaders, students, and anyone navigating change in their career—especially those wondering if it’s possible to lead with both science and soul.
🎙️ Take a mindful moment.🌱 Reflect on your own path.💙 And remember—you’re allowed to build a career that fits who you are becoming.
 
#MindfulMomentsPodcast #NurseLeaders #NurseMentalHealth #EmergencyNursing #NursingLeadership #FilipinoNurses #Kuleana #CaringScience #HealthcareLeadership #NurseMentorship #WellBeingInHealthcare #NursesOfSpotify #NurseLife #HealthcarePodcast

Holding Space & Making History | Black History Month Special

In this special Black History Month episode of Mindful Moments, we are honored to sit down with Dr. Anyi Atabong—a doctorally prepared, dual board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health and Family Nurse Practitioner, educator, community leader, and advocate for culturally affirming mental health care.
With nearly two decades in healthcare, Dr. Atabong brings a deeply human perspective to healing—one that centers mindfulness, representation, and community. Together, we explore how mental health care can become more inclusive, how mindfulness can extend beyond the therapy room into our communities, and why being truly seen and heard is essential to healing.
This conversation also reflects on leadership, legacy, and what it means to hold space while carrying history forward. From launching a PMHNP program at an HBCU to co-founding the Society of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners of Color, Dr. Atabong reminds us that representation is not optional—it is mental health care.
✨ Expect real talk, mindful reflections, rapid-fire moments, and grounding insights you can carry with you long after the episode ends.
🎧 Listen now 💬 Share this episode with a colleague, student, or loved one⭐ Follow Mindful Moments for more conversations rooted in presence, purpose, and care
Pause. Reflect. Heal forward.
 
#MindfulMoments#BlackHistoryMonth#MentalHealthMatters#BlackMentalHealth#CulturallyAffirmingCare#PMHNP#NursePractitionerLife#MentalHealthPodcast#Mindfulness
 

Bold Notes: Garth Garcia on Family, Music, and Building Dreams

What happens when music, caregiving, fatherhood, and entrepreneurship collide?
In this powerful episode of Mindful Moments, we sit down with Garth Garcia—musician, founder of Doctors on The Go, caregiver-turned-entrepreneur, and devoted father—for a conversation that goes far beyond the stage.
Garth opens up about his flourishing music career and the meaning behind his upcoming birthday concert, sharing how life experiences shape the songs he writes and the stories he tells. We trace his journey from working as a caregiver in the U.S. to building a purpose-driven healthcare platform, and how service, resilience, and risk-taking became the foundation of his dreams.
This episode also takes an intimate turn as we play the Mindful Talk card game, diving into four powerful categories—Emotions, Mindfulness, Inquiry, and Expression. Through these prompts, Garth shares raw reflections, unexpected truths, and never-before-heard perspectives that reveal the heart behind the artist, the entrepreneur, and the father.
In one of his most personal conversations yet, Garth reflects on parenting a child with Down syndrome, the lessons that reshaped his definition of success, and the quiet moments that taught him resilience, compassion, and courage. Paired with daring rapid-fire questions, this episode captures the fears, hopes, and values that continue to guide him—onstage and off.
This conversation is a reminder that bold notes aren’t just written in music—they’re written in how we live, love, and build our dreams.
🎶 Whether you’re a creative, a caregiver, a parent, or someone standing at the edge of a big dream—this episode is for you.
🎧 Tune in and catch Garth’s full episode before his birthday concert on January 24 at the Nocturne Theatre.
 
#MindfulMoments #BoldNotes #GarthGarcia #MindfulTalk #MusicWithMeaning #CaregiverStories #EntrepreneurLife

Bridging Cultures, Breaking Stigma: A Mental Health Conversation with Dr. Williams

Bridging Cultures, Breaking Stigma features an open and refreshing conversation with Dr. Michael Williams, APRN, DNP—a bilingual Internal Medicine and HIV-PrEP specialist, educator, and community advocate.
Dr. Williams begins by candidly sharing that nursing wasn’t always a clear path for him. Like many young people, he initially viewed the profession through stereotypes—including the idea that nursing was female-dominated. What started as curiosity (and a lighthearted push) eventually became something far deeper: a calling grounded in purpose, representation, and service. Today, he reflects with gratitude on a decision he never once regretted.
Raised in New York City and shaped by his Panamanian heritage, Dr. Williams explores how culture, identity, and lived experience influence mental health, access to care, and trust—especially in Black and Latino communities. The conversation also addresses stigma surrounding HIV-PrEP and sexual health, the emotional barriers patients face, and why culturally responsive care is essential to mental wellness.
As a clinical instructor, board member of the Black Men’s Health Clinic and DNPs of Color, and co-founder of a scholarship for first-generation students, Dr. Williams emphasizes that community care, education, and representation are powerful tools for healing.
This episode is a reminder that growth is allowed, passion can evolve, and sometimes the path that starts unexpectedly leads exactly where you’re meant to be.
🎙️ Tune in, reflect, and join the conversation.
 
#MindfulMoments #BridgingCulturesBreakingStigma #MentalHealthAwareness #RepresentationMatters #MenInNursing

Rewiring Hope: Healing, TMS, and Building Better Mental Health Care

In this episode of Mindful Moments, we sit down with Robbie Westermann, PMHNP, DNP—clinician, innovator, and entrepreneur—for an honest and deeply human conversation about healing, resilience, and reimagining mental health care.
Dr. Robbie opens up about his own journey through addiction and recovery, sharing how lived experience shaped not only who he is as a provider, but why he is so committed to building systems that actually work. Having been on the other side of care, he understands firsthand what it feels like to struggle, to navigate broken systems, and to search for treatments that offer real hope. That experience became the driving force behind his mission to create more compassionate, effective, and accessible mental health care.
We explore Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)—what it is, who it helps, and why it has become a powerful option for individuals living with depression, ADHD, anxiety, substance use disorders, and other mental health challenges, especially when traditional treatments fall short. Robbie breaks down TMS in a way that feels approachable and grounded, centering the conversation on people—not procedures.
Dr. Robbie reflects on mindfulness in leadership, the responsibility of innovating in healthcare, and how thoughtfully designed technology can support both providers and patients without losing the human connection at the heart of healing.
This conversation is a reminder that recovery is possible, that care should never be one-size-fits-all, and that the most meaningful innovation often comes from those who have walked the path themselves.
Whether you’re a patient, provider, or someone seeking hope, this episode invites you to pause, listen, and remember that healing is not just about treatment—it’s about understanding, empathy, and meeting people where they are.
 
#MindfulMoments#MentalHealthLeadership#HealthcareInnovation#AddictionRecovery

From Cocoon to Clarity: A Mindful Conversation on Healing, Transformation, and Conscious Love

We open 2026 with this deeply human episode of Mindful Moments, we sit with Celeste Friedman—author, entrepreneur, and film producer—for an honest conversation about what it truly means to heal.
Celeste opens up about her journey through depression, seeking support through medication, and navigating the grief and identity shifts that came with divorce. She shares what the cocoon phase of healing really looks like—the quiet, unseen work of choosing yourself when life feels broken.
From there, the conversation unfolds into transformation. Inspired by her book Butterfly and her film Love & Karma, Celeste reflects on how healing helped her break old patterns, approach relationships with greater awareness, and eventually open her heart to love again—this time, consciously.
This episode is a gentle reminder that healing isn’t about erasing the past. It’s about becoming aware enough to choose differently, love intentionally, and honor the growth that pain can bring.
✨ In this episode, we explore:• Living through depression and the courage to ask for help• The emotional aftermath of divorce and identity loss• The cocoon phase of healing no one talks about• Breaking karmic patterns in love and relationships• Finding clarity, purpose, and love again after heartbreak• What conscious, mindful love really looks like
If you’re navigating heartbreak, personal transformation, or learning how to love again—this conversation is for you.
#MindfulMomentsPodcast #HealingJourney #ConsciousLove #MentalHealthMatters#Transformation #ButterflyEffect #LoveAndKarma #EmotionalHealing
 

Crossing Oceans, Rebuilding the Self with Kim Delos Santos

What happens when the life you once knew no longer fits—and you’re asked to begin again?
In this powerful episode of Mindful Moments, we sit down with Kim Delos Santos, a former Philippine actress who crossed oceans after heartbreak, navigated body image struggles shaped by life in the public eye, and rebuilt her life in the United States. Kim opens up about leaving behind a familiar career, starting over in a new country, and embracing nursing—not as an escape, but as a path toward healing and purpose.
The conversation gently explores the mental health impact of loss and transition, including grief after the recent passing of her mother, the emotional weight of reinvention, and what it means to hold space for others while doing your own healing. As a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, Kim reflects on how lived experience has shaped the way she cares for patients—with empathy, presence, and compassion.
This episode is a reminder that healing is not linear, identity is not fixed, and rebuilding the self doesn’t mean erasing who you were. It means learning how to stay—with grief, with growth, and with yourself—one mindful moment at a time.
 
#MindfulMoments #CrossingOceansRebuildingSelf #MentalHealthConversations#HealingJourney #StartingOver #GriefAndHealing #BodyImageAwareness#ImmigrantStory #PMHNP