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Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
Have you ever noticed that it's easier to give love than to receive it?As recovering people pleasers and codependents, many of us learned to care for everyone else first. We became experts at giving our time, our energy, our love, and our attention, but when it comes to receiving those same gifts, we often hesitate.Why?In this episode, I share a very personal story about buying a new car and how something that seemed so ordinary uncovered a much deeper invitation to healing. What surfaced wasn't really about the car at all. It was about an old belief that had quietly followed me through much of my life—that other people deserved more than I did.As I became curious about those feelings, I realized that learning to receive has been one of the greatest spiritual lessons of my own Soul Recovery journey.Healing isn't about getting more.It's about releasing the beliefs, patterns, and stories that tell us we aren't enough.When we begin to receive the same love, compassion, and kindness that we so freely offer everyone else, we open ourselves to a life rooted in abundance instead of lack, trust instead of fear, and wholeness instead of striving.If you've ever struggled to believe you deserve love, support, joy, or simply something beautiful for yourself, I hope this conversation reminds you that you have never needed to earn your worth.You already are enough.A New Weekly RhythmBeginning July 2026, you'll receive a new episode every Monday between the 2 Recover Your Soul Podcasts.One week you'll hear a full Recover Your Soul Podcast episode, and the next week you'll receive a Recover Your Soul Bonus Podcast, where I share spiritual tools, practices, guided meditations, and inspiring interviews to support you on your healing journey.Thank you for being part of this beautiful community. Whether you're just beginning your healing journey or you've been walking this path with me for years, I'm honored that we're recovering our souls together.Until next time… Namaste.
Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
A New Rhythm for Recover Your SoulAfter over six years of sharing two new podcast episodes every week, Recover Your Soul is beginning a new weekly rhythm.Going forward, you'll still receive a new Recover Your Soul episode every Monday—alternating each week between the main Recover Your Soul Podcast and the Recover Your Soul Bonus Podcast.Here's how it works:
Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
Join the 9-Step Recover Your Soul CollectiveEvery once in a while, I revisit a Bonus Podcast episode that feels especially relevant to where we are on our soul journey, and this is one of those conversations.A longtime listener recently reached out to tell me this was one of the most impactful episodes I've shared. As I listened to it again, I realized how beautifully it connects with so many of the conversations we've been having lately about authenticity, healthy boundaries, self-awareness, and choosing peace over old protective patterns.One of the greatest gifts of healing is learning to be authentic. To be vulnerable. To speak our truth.But authenticity doesn't mean sharing everything with everyone.There is a profound difference between processing and sharing, and understanding that difference can transform our relationships, our healing, and the way we connect with others.In this deeply personal episode, I share an experience where I found myself processing a painful story in a space that wasn't meant to hold that level of healing work. What felt embarrassing and uncomfortable at the time became a powerful gift on my own Soul Recovery journey.I realized that sometimes our deepest healing doesn't happen by telling our story over and over. Sometimes it happens by finding the right container to process it, allowing ourselves to move through it with compassion, fully release it, and then sharing the wisdom that remains.Healthy boundaries aren't only about saying "no."They're also about honoring ourselves enough to know what belongs in a safe healing space and what belongs in everyday conversation.As we recover our souls, we begin to recognize that authenticity and discernment can exist together. We don't have to choose between being real and protecting our peace. We can honor both.In This Episode:
Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
Letting Go of Being Right: How to Take Your Power Back and Choose Inner PeaceAs recovering people pleasers and codependents, many of us learned that if we could just explain ourselves better, convince someone of our point of view, or get them to see things our way, everything would finally feel okay.The problem is that living this way keeps us on an emotional battlefield.We become exhausted trying to manage, control, fix, defend, and prove. We fight for approval. We fight to be understood. We fight to be right. And underneath all of that fighting is often something much more tender: a desire to feel safe, valued, heard, and enough.In this episode, I share a very personal story from my own marriage that reminded me how quickly old patterns can surface, even after years of healing. What started as an innocent comment from my husband unexpectedly activated a deep fear inside me, creating an opportunity to witness an old protective system that still occasionally shows up.The beautiful thing about this work is that awareness changes everything.As we heal, we begin to recognize that letting go of being right does not mean giving up our voice. It doesn't mean abandoning our needs, our boundaries, or our truth. Instead, it means releasing the belief that our peace depends on someone else agreeing with us.When we stop fighting every battle, we discover something powerful: we can stand in our truth without needing to control anyone else's.When we release the need to prove, convince, defend, and manage, we create space for something much deeper: compassion, connection, and inner freedom.Your voice matters.Your feelings matter.Your perspective matters.And you don't need anyone else's permission for that to be true.Until next time, namaste.
Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
Have you ever looked back on a season of your life and wished it had been different?Maybe you wish you had known then what you know now. Maybe you wish you had made different choices, shown up differently, or been able to protect the people you love from pain. Perhaps there are memories that still carry regret, remorse, sadness, or a lingering sense that things should have gone another way.In this episode, I share a deeply personal experience that arose as I prepared to send family photo albums and keepsakes to my sons. Looking through pictures from years gone by brought forward an unexpected wave of emotion and a question many of us have asked ourselves:Why did it have to be so hard?As I sat with those feelings, I was reminded that healing isn't about pretending the past didn't happen. It's not about bypassing the pain or convincing ourselves that everything was perfect. Healing is about learning how to hold our memories with compassion, tenderness, and grace.When we continue to replay our past through the lens of judgment, regret, and self-blame, we keep old wounds alive. But when we bring awareness, self-compassion, and spiritual understanding to those experiences, something begins to shift. The past remains the same, but our relationship to it can heal.In this episode, we explore how to honor our feelings without becoming trapped in them, how to release old judgments, and how to view our lives through the lens of a soul's journey rather than a story of mistakes and failures.Because the truth is, you cannot change the past.But you can heal the way you carry it.Send a one way text to Rev Rachel
Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3041: Dr. Margaret Rutherford explores how the meaning of codependence has evolved from enabling addiction to losing yourself in a relationship, while also explaining why healthy interdependence is something to value rather than fear. She offers a balanced perspective on trust, boundaries, and mutual support, showing how strong relationships help both people grow instead of holding each other back. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://drmargaretrutherford.com/what-is-healthy-dependence-in-a-relationship/ Quotes to ponder: “Interdependence builds trust.” “Don't be afraid of depending on someone, if it's the right someone.” “Interdependence doesn't mean you lose yourself, or become less of a strong individual. It means life isn't quite so hard, because you've got a partner.” Episode references: Codependent No More: https://www.amazon.com/Codependent-No-More-Controlling-Yourself/dp/1954118155 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why do driven, high-functioning people sometimes find themselves trapped in codependency — bound to others in ways that feel obsessive, compulsive, and impossible to escape? In this episode, psychotherapist and Jungian analyst Gary Trosclair explores the hidden connection between compulsive personality types and codependent relationship patterns. Drawing on attachment theory and Jungian psychology, Gary breaks down how the four compulsive types — the Mentor-Boss, the People-Pleaser, the Workaholic, and the Overthinker — each fall into codependent relationships in their own distinct ways. You'll learn how popular culture romanticizes dependency, how your attachment style shapes your relationship habits, and why interdependence — not codependence — is the healthier model for lasting love.
Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
While I usually reserve guest interviews for the Recover Your Soul Bonus Podcast, today's conversation is one I felt called to bring to all of you here on the main show.I'm honored to welcome Michael Mirdad, a Spiritual Teacher, Healer, Mystic, and Best-Selling Author. Michael has spent more than four decades helping people heal, awaken, and deepen their connection to God, blending wisdom from Christianity, Buddhism, A Course in Miracles, and recovery in a way that is both profound and deeply practical.In this conversation, he shares a powerful perspective on addiction, recovery, and healing, reminding us that beneath many of our struggles is a longing to reconnect with our true nature and remember the wholeness that has always existed within us.Together we explore addiction as a spiritual issue rather than a moral failing, the relationship between recovery and awakening, the role of compassion and self-forgiveness, and how spiritual connection can help us heal the sense of separation that so many of us carry.Whether you are in recovery yourself, love someone who struggles with addiction, or are simply walking a path of healing and spiritual growth, I believe you'll find wisdom, hope, and encouragement in this conversation.Michael serves as the Spiritual Leader of the Global Center for Christ Consciousness in Sedona, Arizona, where he offers weekly teachings, workshops, retreats, and healing programs dedicated to spiritual awakening and personal transformation. He is the author of numerous best-selling books and the founder of the Daughters of Heaven Conference, a gathering devoted to healing, empowerment, and conscious living.Michael Mirdad & The Global Center for Christ Consciousness: https://michaelmirdad.com/Daughters of Heaven Conference: https://daughtersofheaven.comThe Heart of A Course in Miracles Workshop:https://courses.michaelmirdad.com/courses/the-heart-of-a-course-in-miracles-2026Weekly Sunday Service live on YouTube 11 am: @MichaelMirdadFacebook: Michael MirdadSend a one way text to Rev Rachel
Carol grew up in a home where church and service to others was paramount. This was a wonderful thing as it prompted her to pursue social work, but it also had its detriments - which Carol didn't recognize for many decades. She didn't know she had a savior complex. Or codependency issues. Or a desire to control people and situations. But then a series of heavy circumstances hit Carol and her family, and she could no longer ignore the truth. One, she had work to do, and two, she needed help. Carol joined Al Anon and Celebrate Recovery, and in finding the support of others in recovery, she began her own journey to hope and true strength. Now it's her mission to share that hope with others.Join Sanghoon and Michelle as they talk with Carol, a social worker, consultant, and advocate for quality family support and training. Working across the non-profit sector and state government, she works to prevent child abuse through family resource centers, home visitation, and child development and parenting programs. Carol is also the co-dependent spouse of a recovering opioid and alcohol addict, a part of her story she honestly shares on this episode. Listen in and be encouraged.To connect with Carol: carollopinski@gmail.comTo learn about Carol's consulting services: https://lopinskiandassociates.com/
Recover Your Soul: A Spiritual Path to a Happy and Healthy Life
Have you ever noticed that even when things are going well, there can still be a part of you looking for what's missing, what's not working, or what needs to change before you can finally feel at peace?In this episode of Recover Your Soul, I share a teaching from Pema Chödrön's book How We Live Is How We Die that has stayed with me for weeks: the propensity for discontent.The phrase struck me because I could see how often many of us move through life carrying an unconscious habit of looking for what's wrong. We think that if we could just fix the relationship, heal the wound, change the circumstance, or get to the next goal, then we would finally be okay.But what if peace isn't waiting on the other side of everything changing?What if the invitation is to become aware of the lens through which we're already seeing our lives?In this conversation, I explore the Buddhist teaching of the kleshas: attachment, resistance, and delusion. These are the habitual ways we become disconnected from our peace and our true nature. As I share in the Recover Your Soul process, these patterns often show up as our unconscious beliefs, stories, fears, judgments, and attempts to control life around us.Together we'll look at how attachment keeps us grasping for things to be different, how resistance keeps us fighting reality, and how delusion can keep us trapped in old stories and misunderstandings that prevent us from seeing ourselves and our lives clearly.This isn't about pretending everything is fine or pushing away difficult feelings. It's about learning to be present with what is, while bringing more awareness, compassion, and curiosity to the patterns that create suffering.The beautiful gift of this work is that the very places where we get stuck can become doorways to wisdom, healing, and awakening.In This Episode:What Pema Chödrön means by "the propensity for discontent"How the habit of looking for what's wrong affects our happinessUnderstanding the three kleshas: attachment, resistance, and delusionThe connection between Buddhist wisdom and the Recover Your Soul processHow our patterns, beliefs, and stories shape our experience of lifeLearning to witness difficult emotions without judging ourselvesWhy awareness is the first step toward healing and transformationHow to find greater peace in the present moment, even when life isn't perfectMy hope is that this episode helps you become a little more aware of the ways you may be searching for what's missing and instead begin noticing what is already here. We are all learning together how to release old patterns, soften our judgments, and reconnect with the wholeness that has always existed within us.As always, thank you for being part of the Recover Your Soul Community. It is an honor to walk this healing and awakening journey with you.Send a one way text to Rev Rachel