[PODCAST 321]: Permission to Slow Down

Note from April: I am SO excited for you to listen to this episode with Raelan! You can use the podcast player up above or view it on YouTube by clicking the image below! And just for the LearnDoBecome community, if, after listening to the episode, you’re excited to try out her Brain Training 101 course (which I personally went through, and it was transformative!), there’s a special link and coupon code in the related links at the bottom of this page. Okay, enjoy!!

The Quick Story About Why I Invited Raelan Onto the Podcast

I experienced post-viral fatigue back in November and ended up in bed for all of December and January, as well. The doctors couldn’t do anything further at that point and said it might take months or years to recover, and that kind of sent me into a panic. But then I found Raelan’s YouTube channel, and she helped me walk out of the illness step by step–because it wasn’t a physical issue, it was my nervous system, and I am healthier now than I have been in years. However, what I learned from Raelan wasn’t just about “recovering from an illness.” It was about how to calm our nervous systems–and I realized that her work and our work here at LearnDoBecome actually go together beautifully. We want to get organized and create clear space so we don’t have to stress about papers, clutter, and piles of stuff. That calms our minds. But there are other facets to achieving “calm” that are often overlooked–like how we view “achievement,” in general, how we care for ourselves while we’re caring for others, and how we incorporate joy into our lives, even when it feels like the to-do list never stops.

I hope you’ll love this interview because it’s about calming down and slowing down–without sacrificing our purpose, living “mediocre” lives, or giving up what matters most.

Raelan’s Bio:

Raelan Agle knows firsthand how debilitating chronic symptoms can be. At 30 years old, almost overnight, she became incredibly unwell and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. It would take a full decade before she finally found her way past it. During those years, one of the hardest parts was how little clear, hopeful information seemed to exist for people trying to understand what was happening to them. That experience sparked a deep passion to share the kinds of insights and resources she wishes had been easier to find when she needed them most.

As she began to understand her own recovery more deeply, that personal journey gradually grew into a passion to help others make sense of their symptoms and find their own path forward. Along the way, Raelan’s professional background helped shape how she approaches this work today. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and previously worked as a clinical social worker in medical settings. With training in psychoeducation and years spent helping people make sense of complex health information, she further developed an ability to translate complicated science into practical, actionable tools people can actually use in their daily lives.

Today, Raelan is an author, YouTuber, and the founder of the recovery program Brain Retraining 101, a space where she has worked with hundreds of people to help them move past conditions like ME/CFS and long COVID. Through her popular YouTube channel, she also reaches millions of people around the world with videos sharing recovery stories, practical tools, and insights into the science of neuroplastic symptoms.