The mental health counselor wanted to share those benefits with others and soon noticed the positive impact for her clients dealing with anxiety and depression. According to the Mayo Clinic, meditation offers benefits for both emotional and physical well-being — from increased focus and creativity to reduced negativity and stress. Research also suggests that meditation can be utilized to help treat conditions such as chronic pain, asthma and heart disease.
“And for athletes, it can help in preparation for an event or game to be in a better mindset,” Castillo said.
The Brookville resident and Wright State University graduate went one step further in her quest to share the meditation message by developing the “Love Your Calm: Mini Meditations” podcast.
“I wanted to offer a resource that’s free for people who are navigating challenges,” she said. “And I wanted to make meditation less intimidating.”
The mini meditation episodes are just 5-10 minutes long, offering an opportunity for listeners to pause and reconnect with themselves.
“I often invite people to commit to listening to an episode every day for one week and encourage them to take note of any differences they notice,” Castillo said. “Usually, people who accept this challenge continue the practice.”
Castillo’s work has been recognized nationally as she won the 2025 American Writing Awards Podcast of the Year in the leisure category and was a finalist in both the health and science categories. She was recently featured in “Women Who Podcast” magazine and was the winner of the Repping the Midwest award category and was second in the Change the World category.
“Love Your Calm” has also been recognized as the “Goodpods Podcast of the Month” in both the meditation and alternative health categories.
“Of course, everyone likes validation but, for me the bigger benefit of these awards is the awareness,” Castillo said. “My goal is to be a resource and help create little pockets of calm and this helps boost awareness of the podcast.”
In just more than a year, Castillo — a licensed professional clinical counselor at Healing Hearts Counseling & Wellness in Englewood – has reached listeners in 69 countries and 1,016 cities and counting.
“It’s been really heartwarming to read the stories and connect with people who listen,” she said. “I plan to be a resource as long as there is a need.”
MORE DETAILS
“Love Your Calm: Mini Meditations” can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast platforms or directly https://loveyourcalm.buzzsprout.com.
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