A Year Ago Today

A year ago today...Raiane had sex for the last time.

Ten years ago today...Alex moved to NYC in hopes of becoming an actor.

A year ago today...Caroline told her husband of 24 years that she wanted a divorce.

A year ago today...Alicia said to her husband, "I love you so much, but I'm done."

Three years ago today...Buket landed at JFK with no friends, nowhere to live and no return ticket. Just the possibility of making it as a Turkish actor living and learning in NYC.

Welcome to Season 3! Eleven years ago today...Guada hid behind a refrigerator while her house was robbed.

Three years ago today...Cherranda Smith received the call letting her know that after 10 months of being unwell, her father Randy had passed away.

Four years ago today…Julia Comita went on her first “pseudo-date” with her now partner, Javier.

If I could just get my shit together, maybe we wouldn't be taking a break this week. Then again, maybe we would! Regardless, this is where we find ourselves, and I'm loving it! Keep listening, sharing your favorite episodes, and tagging us on social media @ayearagopodcast & @tylafowler -- it really helps! Also, if you haven't yet, rate and review us on iTunes, please and thank you!

A year ago today...Julie Harmon discovered she was spontaneously pregnant with triplets! To be clear, "spontaneous" in this context means without the support of any reproductive technology (like fertility treatments). It does not mean immaculate conception.

A year ago today...Anna Ritter settled into her new home in Nashville after a two-day drive from NYC with her now-husband Adam.

Three years ago today...Eliza Simpson witnessed the debut performance of "The Mother Line Story Project," a theater work she founded to support womxn in telling the stories of their mother line in the voices of their own ancestors.

A year ago today...after four years of being in a trans-Atlantic relationship, Colin Waitt married his partner, Harry Waller.

17 years ago today…Jacqueline Carvey's mother died of a heart attack. Jackie was only 15 years old at the time. This year, Jackie is now as old as her mother was when she made the decision--as a single woman--to adopt Jackie as her daughter, totally changing both their lives forever.

A Year Ago Today...David Monteagudo left his position as Chief of Operations at an arts and technology camp for kids in NYC--Steve and Kate's Camp--to take on a new role doing large-scale events for video game developers. Now, he's back to working at his artistic pursuits as a theater director in NYC.

A year ago today... Cindy Rainne released her debut single and music video, "Irresistible Me." Previously, we spoke with Cindy about her $20K crowdfunding campaign, through which she financed her album. You can find that (amazing) episode right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-year-ago-today/id1114212444?mt=2&i=1000371192292 Watch Cindy's music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxynXIQct7A Visit Cindy's website to learn more about her music: http://cindyrainne.com/ Follow us @ayearagopodcast and send emails to ayearagopodcast@gmail.com. You can find Tyla @tylafowler. Please rate and review us on iTunes and share us with all your pals!

16 years ago today…Melanie Elkin checked herself into the intensive eating disorder unit at UCLA medical. This was her second bout of anorexia—at age 12, her parents had taken her out of school and enrolled her in an intensive outpatient program. She recovered well and was able to make it through high school feeling relatively healthy. However, during her freshman year at UC Santa Barbara, she fell back into disordered eating. At the height of her disordered experience, Melanie was over-exercising and consuming only 250 calories a day. After an extended hospital stay and with a lot of support, Melanie was able to begin reclaiming her power. In this episode, we talk about her healing journey over the last sixteen years and get into how that experience has informed her life's work, which is all about supporting other women in coming home to their true essence and power.

A Year Ago Today...Lucy Trower was accepted to a Montessori teacher training program. She shifted out of a career in fashion to pursue her passion for nurturing and educating children.

A Year Ago Today...Jahna Ferron-Smith left a dog-walking job that she hated, creating room in her life for all the creative opportunities she'd been longing for to start coming in.

A year ago today...Britian Seibert was accepted to grad school--an MFA program for acting through NYU.

A year ago today... Katelyn Edgar led a group of sacred sisters through the experience of holding a "fake" funeral for Tyla at an epic and magical retreat in Mexico. Hear about that and lots more in the episode! Follow KATELYN EDGAR on social media (by searching her name) and learn more about her intuitive coaching school at www.katelynedgar.com

A year ago today... Marcia Maunder experienced the unexpected loss of not one, but two beloved pets over the course of a single weekend. In this episode we talk about: Grief (death of pets, of children, of parents) Animal Abuse School Shootings/Gun Violence Interbeing and Non-Duality The time Tyla spent a night in jail and much, much more.

A year ago today... Tyla and her mom, Tamara Curtis, got in a big fight while staying alone together at a villa in Mexico. An old wound surfaced in conversation, and it led to an explosive clearing of energy. Now, Tam and Tyla look back at that event with a year's perspective and deepen into the perfection of the unfolding and the importance of compassion, for one another and themselves.

A year ago today... Sally and Tyla got drastic haircuts on the same day without having planned it – because they're just that psychically connected obvi. Support Sally in bringing the Radically Sacred Retreat to life by visiting her PayPal (and let her know you came from the podcast!): https://www.paypal.me/SallyMercedes

A Year Ago Today... Gabriela and her family moved from Minnesota to Illinois, her husband's family home. To learn about Gabi's new offering, GO HERE: http://thenewfirm.co/shop/the-guided-career/ OR GO STRAIGHT AHEAD AND SCHEDULE A CALL! That's here: https://thenewfirm.as.me/theguidedcareer Learn more about her children's book here: http://thenewfirm.co/shop/mama-where-is-the-truth/ Follow her (and me!) on instagram: @thenewfirm.co // @gabriela.brunner // @ayearagopodcast // @tylafowler You can also engage with us on FB. Search "The New Firm" or "A Year Ago Podcast" to find us.

This one's so short and sweet I'm not even gonna write a description. If you've got something to share with me about your listening experience, you can reach me at ayearagopodcast@gmail.com or find me on social media @ayearagopodcast and @tylafowler.

A year ago today... Jill Filipovic's first book was released! It's called "The H Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness" and you can buy it here: https://amzn.to/2rjpZ9l At the end of this description, there's a list of topics covered in the episode. First, some important links! To support Sally Mercedes in bringing the Radically Sacred Retreat to life, visit her PayPal (and let her know you came from the podcast!): https://www.paypal.me/SallyMercedes Listen to Jill's previous appearances on A Year Ago Today... here https://apple.co/2riBkHA and here https://apple.co/2jrWcHU Read a brilliant article about the Danielle LaPorte situation written by friend of the podcast Sara Haile-Mariam here: https://bit.ly/2FEx2yt Find the Lenny Letter Jill mentions right here: https://www.lennyletter.com/story/emily-ratajkowski-baby-woman Phew! Okay, topics covered in this convo include: - Fear of "getting it wrong" when we're putting ourselves out there - Feelings of "not being ready" to release your work into the world - Bringing intersectionality into our work - Removing the blinders of our white privilege - Discerning between feedback/criticism that serves our growth and that which is meant to keep us small and silent - Boundary-setting - Racialized experiences of gender - Pervasiveness of white culture and the need to actively seek out opportunities to learn from experiences that fall outside of mainstream representation - Propensity of womxn and girls to take on emotional labor within relationships - Balance between doing the work in our local universe and also on a global scale that addresses systemic issues - Calling out micro-aggression in intimate relationships to shift the patriarchal/racial paradigms - How to participate in the system without compromising our integrity - Having compassion for ourselves and others when actions and stated values aren't necessarily aligned - Using meaningful routine and ritual to anchor us into our lives Enjoy!

In this episode, I touch on the topics of boundaries, stepping into visibility, using your voice, reclaiming your power, compassion in fear and self-doubt, claiming the shadow, and balancing yin and yang energies. I respond to the question: "How do you move through the experience of receiving triggering feedback/feedback that doesn't feel good?"

Tyla and Alex Francis, our friendly neighborhood sound engineer, discuss this week's episode and everything it activated for them. Discussed in this episode: - Recommendation for a podcast on Stress and Everyday Life with Tara Brach as a follow-up to last week's discussion on surrender. - How love finds us when we're not looking for it and why that is. - The perfection of the NYC sound effects. - Tyla's efforts to find her voice and the resistance she's encountering in the process. - Refusing to back down when someone tries to bully you and the difference between asserting and aggression. - Whether or not it's possible to be "safe" in our expression on social media. - The cultivation of fierce personal integrity within relationships. - Growth spurts. - The importance of having strong boundaries and not abandoning yourself to make others comfortable. - The romantic comedy delusion. Additionally in this episode, Tyla speaks vulnerably about when she and Matt almost broke up this time last year, what factors were at play, and how those themes are showing up again as she steps into greater visibility in her life. If you'd like to read the FB posts referred to in this episode, you can visit: http://www.tylafowler.com/blog-2/2018/4/25/rage-against-the-machine Follow Alex's improv troupe The Bunker Dogs! They're @Bunkerdogsimprov on FB and @thebunkerdogs on Twitter. And if you're in Winston Salem, NC, go see their shows! Email us your experiences listening to the podcast at ayearagopodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media! We're @ayearagopodcast on both insta and FB. You can also follow Tyla on instagram @tylafowler. Please share this podcast far and wide and rate/review on iTunes. The more you circulate this energy, the more you receive from this experience, and the more love there is for everybody!

Three years ago today... Marlowe Holden met her person, and despite her resistance to being in a relationship, she fell hard. In this episode, Tyla and Marlowe talk about what it means to be in RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with ourselves and others. We explore how we can walk the line of PERSONAL SOVEREIGNTY and AUTHENTIC SELF-EXPRESSION while also respecting the privacy of those with whom we've been lucky enough to share our experience. We talk about the HARD WORK of being in deep commitment with another human and the REALITY of what it's like when one or both people in a partnership are going through a GROWTH SPURT. This is a brilliant, beautiful conversation about what it means to love ourselves above all else and what an incredible gift it is to discover a relationship in which you're not only allowed but ENCOURAGED to be who you truly are. Also in this episode, Tyla shares the story of how she and Matt came to be together (and how hard they've worked to stay together!), with more honesty than ever before, talking about how it all began, the times it's almost ended, and everything in between.

In this intimate recording, I share a lot around my fear of visibility, including discussing how I've upper-limited myself in the past when I've started to get too visible and where I believe my fear of visibility comes from. Spoiler: it comes from being sexually aggressed toward as a child by an adult male relative, and YES, I talk very openly about that experience here. In this podcast, I mention the book The Big Leap, by Gay Hendricks, which is totally great if you haven't read it. I invite you to consider offering me your support by sending some Words of Affirmation to ayearagopodcast@gmail.com or making a financial contribution to my work on my patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/ayearagopodcast Also please consider sharing this podcast, doing a little rate/review on iTunes (or wherever you listen), and following @ayearagopodcast on social media (I'm active on FB and instagram). You can also follow my personal instagram @tylafowler if you feel so inclined! Much love, peeps! Thanks for witnessing me.

Tyla and sound engineer, Alex Francis, discuss this week's episode featuring Francie Webb, The Milkin Mama. In this convo, Tyla and Alex mostly talk about SURRENDER...a major theme in this week's episode and in life. Send an email to let us know YOUR experinces with SURRENDER ayearagopodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media! We're @ayearagopodcast on FB and insta, and we're doing lots of fun stuff over there! (We being me, Tyla. Just me.) You can also follow Tyla @tylafowler on insta and keep up with what Alex has got going on by following his improv troupe, The Bunker Dogs. They're @Bunkerdogsimprov on FB and @thebunkerdogs on Twitter. Please share this podcast far and wide, and rate and review us on iTunes! All that stuff really helps, so thank you!

Three years ago today… Francie Webb did the impossible thing: birthing her second baby by herself. She'd planned a home birth with a powerful support team, and yet, when the time came, things happened so fast that she was thrust into this primal experience totally on her own, and it ultimately changed everything about her life and the way she sees herself.

Tyla and sound engineer, Alex Francis, discuss this week's episode with Crystal Pawlus. In this convo, Tyla shares her amazement that Alex thought he wouldn't have much to share around this episode and dives deep into what it brought up for here. There's a lot of talk about boobs, and also some talk about what it means to lean into discomfort for the sake of our own growth. Send an email to let us know how YOU feel about the episode to ayearagopodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media. We're @ayearagopodcast on FB and insta. You can also follow Tyla @tylafowler on insta and keep up with what Alex has got going on by following his improv troupe, The Bunker Dogs! They're @Bunkerdogsimprov on FB and @thebunkerdogs on Twitter. Please share this podcast far and wide, and rate and review us on iTunes! All that stuff really helps, so thank you!

A year ago today...Crystal boarded a plane, initiating her first ever separation from her two-year-old son. In this episode, we talk about motherhood; breastfeeding and weaning; pregnancy; energetic practices for communicating with children; BOOBS; inborn senses; the over-medicalization of birth; taboo around the female body; the importance of self-care, especially for mothers; the dynamic between the masculine and feminine, as it replies to relationships both with our children and with our partners; and so much more! If you'd like listen to the episode with Katelyn Edgar referenced in this podcast, you can find that here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-33-each-sisterhood-holds-its-own-magic/id1114212444?i=1000380672622&mt=2 Learn more about Crystal by visiting her website, www.crystalpawlus.com. Email us about your listening experience at ayearagopodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media! We're @ayearagopodcast on both insta and FB. You can also follow Tyla on instagram @tylafowler. Please share this podcast far and wide and rate/review on iTunes, because it really, really helps. The more you circulate this energy, the more you'll receive from this experience, and the more love there is for everybody! SUPPORT the Radicaly Sacred Retreat with a monetary gift by visiting www.paypal.me/sallymercedes and LEARN MORE at www.sallymercedes.com/radically-sacred-retreat.html

In this week's Monday Night Raw, Tyla shares her experience of shifting the narrative around what it means when we don't show up for our commitments in the way we think we "should." Topics covered: fear of visibility, reframing the story we're telling about our lives, allowing space for the creative process, calling in the structure we require to support our creation, and the phantom pressure we place on ourselves when it comes to how we show up in the world. In this segment, Tyla also speaks to the topic of this week's upcoming episode about weaning and considers why the topic of weaning is so relevant to all of our lives. We begin to look at weaning in the context of mindless consumption of soothing/numbing substances and weaning ourselves off of relationships/patterns that are no longer serving us. Lastly, we invite you once more to consider contributing to the Radically Sacred Retreat being brought to life by producer and former co-host Sally Mercedes. To learn more visit www.sallymercedes.com/radically-sacred-retreat.html and make a contribution at www.paypal.me/sallymercedes -- every little bit helps! Email us your experiences listening to the podcast at ayearagopodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media! We're @ayearagopodcast on both Insta and FB. You can also follow Tyla on instagram @tylafowler. Please share this podcast far and wide and rate/review on iTunes. The more you circulate this energy, the more you receive from this experience, and the more love there is for everybody!

Tyla and sound editor, Alex Francis, discuss this week's episode, and we get a chance to hear how Alex – freshly in a relationship after a long stretch of bachelorhood – resonates with Adam's story. Follow Alex's improv troupe The Bunker Dogs! They're @Bunkerdogsimprov on FB and @thebunkerdogs on Twitter. And if you're in Winston Salem, NC, go see their shows! Email us your experiences listening to the podcast at ayearagopodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media! We're @ayearagopodcast on both insta and FB. You can also follow Tyla on instagram @tylafowler Please share this podcast far and wide and rate/review on iTunes. The more you circulate this energy, the more you receive from this experience, and the more love there is for everybody!

A Year Ago Today...Adam Pearce agreed to a divorce, ending a 13-year romantic partnership. We explore how we frame our tiredness, the beauty of a measured approach when it comes to grief, and how amazing it feels to let go of the narratives that are keeping us stuck. The expression of desire and what it can look like when growing in the direction of our desires means letting go of the things, people, and belief systems we previously used to anchor our identity. Sense of self. How to use feeling in the body to live in the experience of the present moment (especially during really big life transitions). We get into how good it feels when the people around you reflect back generously and with love... in support of who you are choosing to be. Gestalt therapy. Technology. Capitalism. The list goes on and on... Dive in with us. Follow Adam on twitter @adamdpearce and @pearcead on instagram. Email us your experiences listening to the podcast at ayearagopodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media! We're @ayearagopodcast on both insta and FB. You can also follow Tyla on instagram @tylafowler. Please share this podcast far and wide and rate/review on iTunes. The more you circulate this energy, the more you receive from this experience, and the more love there is for everybody! SUPPORT the Radically Sacred Retreat with a monetary gift by visiting www.paypal.me/sallymercedes and LEARN MORE at www.sallymercedes.com/radically-sacred-retreat.html Oh, AND the Alanis song Sally mentions in the outro is "Utopia." Great song. We love Alanis.

In this week's Monday Night Raw, Tyla shares her experience around coming to a place of deeper commitment in her life with A Year Ago Today and opens up around what that experience has activated for her--specifically around boundary setting and the pursuit of her desires. She also invites listeners to open up around their own experience and requests support for the Radically Sacred Retreat, a vision currently being brought to life by Sally Mercedes (this show's treasured producer and former co-host). If you'd like to be part of Sally's vision to provide radical healing opportunity for women of color, please donate at www.paypal.me/sallymercedes or visit www.sallymercedes.com to learn more.

A year ago today... Rachel spent a day with her estranged father, having flown across an ocean to meet him.

Welcome to Season Two of A Year Ago Today...

A year ago today... we launched A Year Ago Today!!!

In episode 30, Jill shared with us her journey to Nairobi and what she was working on. She's got a great update! Listen to episode 30 at http://www.ayearagopodcast.com/episode-archive/ayat-ep30 (or your preferred podcast player). Buy The H Spot at http://amzn.to/2qzcTDh (or your local bookstore).

A year ago today... Briana witnessed the first play she wrote coming to life in a workshop performance.

A year ago today... Leyla officially launched her charity.

In episode 36, Sally opened up about her desire to manifest a new home. She's got an update! Here's a guide to crystal grids: https://www.crystalvaults.com/crystal-grids

A year ago today... we recorded our first episode of the podcast!

A year ago today... Alex stepped onstage to perform improv for the first time.

A year ago today... Katy decided to see a therapist after grief over a family tragedy led to a violent encounter with her boyfriend. To make a monthly donation to support our podcast, visit https://www.patreon.com/ayearagopodcast

A year ago today... Kristin was laid off.