Welcome to Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning, the podcast for high-functioning women who are tired of holding it all together at the cost of their well-being.

In this short trailer, your host, Women’s Wellness Coach Ronél Pretorius, shares why this show was created and what you can expect each week—honest conversations, practical tools, and gentle encouragement to help you set boundaries, reduce stress, and create a life that feels truly yours.

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➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.

In this episode of Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning, host Ronél shares her personal story of experiencing burnout and what led to her realisation that a significant change was needed in her life.

She describes the physical and emotional symptoms she faced, how she sought help from a therapist and a coach, and the ongoing strategies she uses to maintain a healthier work-life balance.

Ronél emphasises that burnout is preventable and provides insights into recognising early warning signs, the importance of seeking support, and prioritising one's own needs. She encourages listeners to take proactive steps toward a more meaningful and less stressful life.

✍🏻Here's the link to the recent blog post, Thriving Beyond Survival Mode: Why I Created This Programme for High-Functioning Women

📥 Don’t forget to download your copy of the 14 Small Steps to Reset Your Survival Mode Toolkit

🎧 Subscribe so you never miss a moment of calm clarity and grounded support.

➡️ Subscribe to Newsletter:

Do you want weekly inspiration and tips right in your inbox? Click here to subscribe.

➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.

Ever find yourself physically on the couch but mentally knee-deep in tomorrow’s to-do list? You're not alone. In this episode of Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning, we explore what it truly means to switch off — not just log out — and reclaim your evenings from the always-on work culture.

Join me, Ronél Pretorius, Certified Women's Wellness Coach, as I share three practical, research-backed strategies to help you unwind after work, without guilt:

• How to create micro moments of recovery throughout your day
• The power of a simple shutdown ritual to signal to your brain it's safe to stop
• Why digital boundaries are essential (and how to set them without going off-grid)

You’ll also hear common objections like “I don’t have time to rest” or “People will think I’m not committed,” and why they might be holding you back from real recovery.

By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away with small shifts that can help you feel more present, less stressed, and genuinely restored.

📥 Don’t forget to download your free copy of the Reset Your Stress Guide
🎧 Subscribe so you never miss a moment of calm clarity and grounded support.

➡️ Subscribe to Newsletter:

Do you want weekly inspiration and tips right in your inbox? Click here to subscribe.

➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.

As the year comes to a close, many of us feel tired, reflective, and unsure about what comes next. In this gentle year-end reflection episode of Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning, I invite you to slow down, breathe, and step out of the noise long enough to reconnect with yourself.

This is about creating space — for perspective, clarity, and presence — and allowing insight to surface naturally.

Through six grounding reflection questions, we explore what this year has revealed about your energy, boundaries, clarity, and direction, and how to move into the next year with intention rather than pressure.

Six Gentle Year-End Reflection Questions

You may want to pause the episode or come back to these questions over the next few days:

1. Where did you feel most like yourself this year?
2. What drained you the most?
3. What moments brought you clarity?
4. What did you learn about what you want — or no longer want?
5. What is asking for your attention right now?
6. What do you want to carry forward — and what can you leave behind?

There’s no need to rush these. Clarity often unfolds when we stop trying to force it.

A Note on What’s Coming Next

In 2026, this podcast will continue to be a calm, grounding space — with a deeper focus on clarity, direction, intentional decision-making, and living at a pace that feels human again.

Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning remains your weekly moment to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what truly matters.

Your Gentle Invitation This Week

What do you want more of next year?

What do you want less of?

What feels genuinely meaningful to you now?

Please subscribe, follow, or share this episode with someone who could use a moment of calm and clarity.

➡️ Subscribe to Newsletter:

Do you want weekly inspiration and tips right in your inbox? Click here to subscribe.

➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.

Have you noticed how quickly your world can shrink when you’re stressed? One minute you feel steady and in control… and the next, one email or unexpected request pulls you into tunnel vision.

Suddenly, all you can see is the problem in front of you — and everything else fades into the background.

In today’s episode of Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning, I explore why this happens, what it means for high-achievers in survival mode, and how to gently widen your perspective again when stress narrows your field of view.

You'll learn why your brain defaults to hyper-focus, why December intensifies this pattern, and five simple strategies to help you step back and see the fuller picture.

This is a grounding, practical episode designed for the moments when you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or unable to “zoom out.”

In this episode, I talk about:

• The brain’s natural tendency to narrow attention under stress
• Why year-end pressure makes perspective feel harder to access
• A personal moment of tunnel vision — and what shifted it
• Five “mental wide-angle lenses” to widen your perspective
• The gentle reminder you may need this week

You’ll learn how to:

• Create spaciousness when your thoughts feel cramped
• Interrupt the stress cycle with small, intentional resets
• Ask grounding questions that expand your awareness
• Reset your sense of time and urgency
• Reconnect with meaning when the world feels too tight

A gentle reminder:

Your world hasn’t actually gotten smaller — it just feels that way when stress takes over. Perspective returns when you pause long enough to see the bigger picture.

Next week:

Don’t miss our final episode of the year — a short, reflective pause to help you enter the festive season with more presence, perspective, and calm.

Listen now and give yourself a moment to breathe.

💬 Book your 30-minute free, no obligation clarity call here.

🎧 Follow Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning so you don't miss the next episode!

➡️ Subscribe to Newsletter:

Do you want weekly inspiration and tips right in your inbox? Click here to subscribe.

➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.

Are you on the edge of burnout and wondering whether quitting your job is the only way out?

If you’ve found yourself fantasising about resigning just to breathe again — yet you’re torn because you have bills, responsibilities, and a memory of a time when work didn’t feel this draining — this episode is for you.

In today’s conversation, I explore one of the most stressful, emotionally loaded decisions high-functioning women face:

Should you quit… or is there another way through?

This isn’t an episode about giving advice or telling you what to do.
It’s about helping you pause, unpack the truth beneath the overwhelm, and approach this crossroads from a grounded place rather than a panicked one.

What you'll learn:

• The Stormy First Draft: Why messy, uncensored journaling helps you understand what’s actually going on beneath the burnout.
• The Second Draft: Guiding questions to help you separate the job itself from the environment, the season you’re in, your boundaries, and your coping patterns.
• Making decisions from clarity, not crisis: Why big choices should never be made from emotional space — and how to support yourself before you decide.

If you’re wrestling with the “Should I stay or should I go?” dilemma, this episode will help you slow down, reflect honestly, and take the next step with intention.

Questions for Reflection:

• What is the most compassionate next step I can take for myself right now?
• If I weren’t afraid of disappointing anyone, what truth would I admit?
• What would my future self want me to know today?

Work With Me:

If you’re standing at this crossroads and want support unpacking your situation without pressure or panic, you’re welcome to book a clarity call.

💬 Book your 30-minute free, no obligation clarity call here.

🎧 Follow Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning so you don't miss the next episode!

➡️ Subscribe to Newsletter:

Do you want weekly inspiration and tips right in your inbox? Click here to subscribe.

➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.

If you’ve ever watched a true crime documentary, you’ve probably heard investigators talk about “controlling the narrative.”

In everyday life, we do the same — not to manipulate others, but to make sense of our world.

The problem? Many of the stories high-functioning women tell themselves are harsh, fear-based, or outdated. And these internal narratives quietly fuel chronic stress.

In this solo episode, I unpack how the stories you rehearse internally shape your reality, and why learning to re-author your story is a powerful act of self-care.

I also share three simple, compassionate steps to help you shift out of overwhelm, interrupt unhelpful thought loops, and choose a narrative that supports your well-being.

You’ll also hear a personal moment from my recent guest interview on Women’s Health Unwrapped, where she had to work through her own narrative before stepping behind the microphone.

This episode is an invitation to pause, reflect, and consider:

If this moment is just one chapter… what do you want the next chapter to be?

Key Takeaways

• Why internal narratives can intensify stress — even when circumstances haven’t changed
• The difference between reality and interpretation in stressful moments
• How self-compassion and narrative awareness help high-functioning women step out of survival mode
• Three practical tools for re-authoring your story

Reflection Questions

• What’s a story you’ve been telling yourself that no longer feels helpful?
• What might a kinder, truer version of that story sound like?
• If this moment is one chapter, what do you want the next chapter to look like?

Links & Resources

• Listen to Ronél’s guest interview on Women’s Health Unwrapped (host: Nicola Farndell): Go to the podcast

🎧 Follow Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning so you don't miss the next episode! While you are there, would you mind leaving a rating?

➡️ Subscribe to Newsletter:

Do you want weekly inspiration and tips right in your inbox? Click here to subscribe.

➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.

Ever find yourself eating, typing, and planning all at once — without really tasting your food or noticing where you are? That was me the other morning, until a poem by Mary Oliver, a cappuccino, and some unexpected wisdom from a coffee shop manager reminded me of the power of pausing.

In this episode of Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning, I share how one ordinary morning became a turning point in presence.

From Tommy Rivs’ story of healing to Mary Oliver’s “Invitation,” to Wendy’s simple yet profound reminder: “Don’t let the work do you. You do the work,” this is an invitation to take a few moments amid a busy day to slow down, notice the little things, and focus on what truly matters.

If you’ve been running on autopilot, this episode is your nudge to pause.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why presence doesn’t happen by accident — it’s a practice.
• How a simple moment of pausing can shift the entire tone of your day.
• What Mary Oliver’s Invitation can teach us about slowing down.
• The surprising wisdom from a coffee shop manager that might just change how you see your work.
• My invitation to you: What small conversation or cup of coffee might hold more meaning than any task on your list?
• And a powerful reminder from Mary Oliver: “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

📥 Download your copy of the 14 Small Steps to Reset Your Survival Mode Toolkit

🎧 Subscribe to Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning so you don't miss the next episode!

➡️ Subscribe to Newsletter:

Do you want weekly inspiration and tips right in your inbox? Click here to subscribe.

➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.