117: The Umbrella Hour with Dr. An Goldbauer & Zander Keig LCSW & guest Mischa Christie

117: The Umbrella Hour with Dr. An Goldbauer & Zander Keig LCSW & guest Mischa Christie

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This Umbrella Hour instalment centres on mental health, minority stress and practical self-care, making it especially relevant if you’re juggling recovery with wider life pressures. Pharmacist and health coach Mischa Christie joins hosts Dr. An Goldbauer and licensed clinical social worker Zander Keig to talk about “the minds of the marginalised” and his self-reflection book, *The Self-Care Journey*.

Mischa shares how growing up around pharmacy, edging towards burnout at university and feeling stuck early in his career pushed him to rethink what genuine wellbeing looks like. That process led him to tools like the Japanese concept of ikigai and self-care wheels, which he turned into a guided workbook to help people map their own health across physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual areas. Mischa is clear that self-care isn’t spa days and shopping sprees.

As he puts it, “it’s anything that involves an activity done purposely with the aim of achieving physical, mental, emotional, social or spiritual well-being.” You’ll hear how he uses creative skits and short e-books to give bite-sized health information, and how social media can prompt both simple “does this herb work?” questions and deep conversations about mental health.

The trio move into heavier territory: political hostility, anti-immigrant protests, violence at Pride, online hate and how all this fuels hypervigilance, isolation and minority stress for LGBTQ+ people and other marginalised groups. Mischa explains why allies who listen, stay informed and calmly challenge ignorance can help reduce harm, even if they never stand on the front lines.

His mantra is to focus on small, doable actions: “Don’t think about the fact that you need to rock the boat immediately… one pebble in the water can set a whole wave in motion.” If you’re trying to protect your mental health, build supportive connections and make self-care feel realistic rather than glamorous or guilty, this conversation might spark a few changes of your own. What small pebble could you drop into the water today?