Podcasts about Wholeness

If you've listened to a wellness or health podcast lately, you've probably heard loads of advertisements. We've decided that ads are not a good fit for Joy Lab because they can steal your focus from the important wellbeing-boosting work you do here. Of course, refusing to put ads in the podcast means we need support in other ways. Here are some ways you can join in our nonprofit mission, help keep Joy Lab going, and spread more resilience across our communities: Subscribe to Joy Lab Experiments. These are the hands-on resilience practices that pair with each episode. You can subscribe in Apple podcasts for $4.99/month with a free one-week trial. Spotify and other platforms are coming soon! Stay tuned for updates to Joy Lab+ (formerly the Joy Lab Program). You can receive Joy Lab+ with a monthly donation to our nonprofit. You'll get Experiments plus lots of other perks. We'll have this ready soon, but be sure to sign up for the newsletter at JoyLab.coach so you're in the loop. We'll soon launch our growth and mission partnerships. These are for organizations, companies, foundations, or individuals who want to make a bigger impact on mental health access. These will launch in the next few weeks and we only have 24 spots available! Head to JoyLab.coach or reach out through the website to learn more.  Most of all, thanks for being part of this resilience-boosting community. Your participation matters. It matters to your own mental health and it spreads out to others. Stay with us for our new Element of Letting Go, where we'll focus on releasing unhelpful thoughts, limiting stories, the "need" for closure, and control.  About: The Joy Lab Podcast is an Ambie-nominated podcast that blends science and soul to help you cope better with stress, anxiety, and depression. It's hosted by integrative psychiatrist Dr. Henry Emmons and holistic mental health researcher Dr. Aimee Prasek.   Questions this episode was made for: Q: How is Joy Lab funded if there are no ads? A: Joy Lab is powered by the nonprofit Pathways North. It's kept ad-free intentionally and runs on listener support through Experiments subscriptions, Joy Lab+, donations, grants, and additional partnerships; this episode explains ways to get involved. Q: What's the difference between Joy Lab Experiments and Joy Lab+? A: Experiments are the hands-on practices that pair with each episode, now available on Apple Podcasts for $4.99/month (coming soon to Spotify and others!); Joy Lab+ is a more full experience with additional resources and features. Existing Program members don't need to do anything when it launches.   Bonus: spread some joy and keep this podcast ad-free by donating (Joy Lab is powered by the nonprofit Pathways North and your donations are tax-deductible).   Listen & follow the Joy Lab Podcast on your favorite listening app: Spotify | Apple | YouTube   Full transcript here   Related Joy Lab Episodes: Enoughness Series: Ep. 287: Who Are You Trying to Be Enough For? The Psychology of Being Enough & Building Self-Worth Ep. 286: It's OK to Be Wrong: Releasing Perfectionism & Building the Skill of Knowing Enough   Ep. 285: Why Doing Enough Is Enough + Why Perfectionism Predicts Burnout, Depression, & Anxiety, Not Performance Ep. 284: Having Enough: Why Acquiring More Will Never Fill the Hole in Your Self-Worth Ep. 283: You Are Enough: The Science and Practices of Enoughness Grief Series starts here:  Ep. 248: Grief, Growth, & The Wholeness of Being Human   Ep. 239: Caring What Others Think Isn't Your Weakness    Key moments: [00:30] Preview of the Letting Go series: unhelpful thoughts and rumination, stories we tell ourselves, the myth of needing closure, and letting go of control [01:00] Why Joy Lab is ad-free — intentional choice; ads interrupt the work and can make you feel worse about yourself by design [01:30] Joy Lab is powered by Pathways North, a nonprofit focused on increasing access to empowering mental health tools [02:00] How to support: Joy Lab Experiments now available on Apple Podcasts — $4.99/month, cheaper annually, one-week free trial [02:30] Pairing an episode with an Experiment week after week is the consistent, sustainable approach that builds real resilience [03:00] Joy Lab+ — the updated name for the Joy Lab Program, coming in a few weeks with new features; existing members, nothing changes [03:30] New: mission and growth partnership spots opening for organizations, companies, foundations, or individuals who want to make a bigger impact — sign up for the newsletter or contact through the website [05:00] You matter — thank you for being here   Sources and Notes for Our Element of Enoughness: Bellam, S., Curran, T., Hill, A. P., & Stoeber, J. (2025). Perfectionism and work performance: A meta-analysis. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12570 Carver, C. S., Lawrence, J. W., & Scheier, M. F. (1999). Self-discrepancies and affect: Incorporating the role of feared selves. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167299025007002  Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.3.392  Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). Reaping the benefits of pursuing self-esteem without the costs? Reply to Schmuck and Sheldon (2004), Sheldon et al. (2004), Pyszczynski et al. (2004), and Kernis (2004). https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.430 Crocker, J., Karpinski, A., Quinn, D. M., & Chase, S. K. (2003). When grades determine self-worth: Consequences of contingent self-worth for male and female engineering and psychology majors. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.507 Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.593 Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Avoiding death or engaging life as accounts of meaning and culture: Comment on Pyszczynski et al. (2004). https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.473 Freudenberger, H. J. (1974). Staff burn-out. Journal of Social Issues, 30(1), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb00706.x Harari, D., Swider, B. W., Bujold Steed, L., & Breidenthal, A. P. (2018). Is perfect good? A meta-analysis of perfectionism in the workplace. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000324 Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.3.456 Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.94.3.319 Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Positive adjustment to threatening events: An organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.9.3.262 Kernis, M. H. (2005). Measuring self-esteem in context: The importance of stability of self-esteem in psychological functioning. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00359.x Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Ellis, B. J. (2001). An evolutionary-psychological approach to self-esteem: Multiple domains and multiple functions. In G. J. O. Fletcher & M. S. Clark (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Interpersonal processes (pp. 411–436). Blackwell. Leary, M. R. (2000). Sociometer theory and the pursuit of relational value: Getting to the root of self-esteem. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792772043000045  Maslach, C. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030020205   Park, L. E., & Crocker, J. (2005). Attachment styles and contingencies of self-worth. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167205277030 Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Arndt, J., & Schimel, J. (2004). Why do people need self-esteem? https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.435 Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2009). Burnout: 35 years of research and practice. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430910966406  Lynn Twist's Book: The Soul of Money   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!    Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Find more mental health resources here. 

What do you do when you believe God heals, but you are still carrying pain that has not gone away?In this honest conversation, Kristin talks with Pastor Ike Miller, author of Theology That Heals, about emotional healing, buried wounds, and the ways God restores our minds, bodies, and spirits.Healing is not always a single breakthrough moment. Sometimes it is a slow and layered journey that requires prayer, reflection, counseling, honest questions, and the courage to face what we have tried to bury. That does not mean God is absent. He may be working through every part of the process.Kristin and Ike discuss why unhealed pain often resurfaces, how to uncover the deeper roots beneath our reactions, and why faith and therapy do not have to compete. They also explore how the church can better care for hurting people by listening with compassion instead of rushing to offer easy answers.You will hear why true freedom is not simply doing whatever you want. It is becoming free to choose what reflects God's good design for your life.If you have wondered why healing is taking so long, felt guilty for still struggling, or questioned whether God can use the painful parts of your story, this conversation will remind you that your wounds do not disqualify you. God can meet you in them, heal what is broken, and eventually use your story to help someone else find hope.Key takeaways• Why healing is often a gradual journey rather than one dramatic moment• How God can work through prayer, counseling, reflection, journaling, and supportive relationships• Why ignoring or burying painful emotions does not make them disappear• How asking deeper questions can reveal the wounds beneath our reactions and patterns• Why needing therapy or practical support does not mean your faith is weak• How the church can care for hurting people without offering quick answers or spiritual clichés• What true freedom looks like from a Christian perspective• How God can redeem painful experiences without calling the pain itself good• Why your wounds do not disqualify you from serving or helping others• How your healing story can become a source of hope for someone who feels aloneConnect with Pastor Ike Miller hereCheck out Theology that Heals BookConnect with KristinStart with Rest Workbook- download hereGrab the Rewire Your Mind: From Negativity to Joy- download here.Grab the Joy Rising- Daily Gratitude & Joy Journal here.Download My Free Joyful Living Devotional: https://kristinfitch.com/devotionalReady to take your first step towards a more joyful, faith-filled life? Download our Reignite Your Passion Workbook and start living with purpose today!Theology That Heals, Ike Miller, Pastor Ike Miller, Faith Fueled Living podcast, Christian emotional healing, healing from past wounds, why am I still hurting, how God heals emotional pain, God redeeming pain, healing is a journey, mental health and faith, Christian therapy, Christian counseling, trauma healing for Christians, biblical healing, mind body and spirit healing, healing through prayer, buried emotional pain, finding the root of emotional pain, journaling for healing, Christian mental health podcast, how to heal from trauma, God and suffering, finding purpose in pain, church and mental health, supporting someone who is hurting, spiritual healing, freedom in Christ, how God uses your story, Christian women podcast, faith during emotional pain

What if you aren't broken and don't need to be “fixed”? In Fishing Without Bait Episode 533, host Jim Ellermeyer welcomes Melissa Carey for Part 1 of a four-part conversation about mindfulness, anxiety, self-awareness, and reconnecting with ourselves. Melissa begins with a powerful reflection on learning to love who she is today. From there, she and Jim explore her belief that we are already whole, even when layers of experience, relationships, expectations, and our own self-talk make that wholeness difficult to recognize. Melissa discusses the anxiety and life transitions that often bring people looking for support and explains why listening is at the heart of her approach. Drawing from her background in music therapy and her work with sound, meditation, breathwork, and energy practices, she shares one deceptively simple starting point: notice your breath. Jim and Melissa also discuss mindfulness during both difficult and positive moments, learning from obstacles, practicing coping tools before a crisis arrives, and why sometimes the most helpful next step is simply encouraging someone to seek an impartial ear through counseling or therapy. This is Part 1 of our conversation with Melissa Carey. Learn more about Melissa and her work with Into the Spirit Healing at: intothespirithealing.life Subscribe to Fishing Without Bait on your favorite podcast player. Support Fishing Without Bait on Patreon and receive ad-free episodes: https://www.patreon.com/c/fishingwithoutbait Pick up “Learn to Fish Without Bait: A 365-Day Mindfulness Journal and Adult Coloring Book”: https://www.lulu.com/shop/james-ellermeyer-lpc-ma-ncc-lpc/learn-to-fish-without-bait/paperback/product-6n9rd8.html?page=1&pageSize=4

What if you aren't broken and don't need to be “fixed”? In Fishing Without Bait Episode 533, host Jim Ellermeyer welcomes Melissa Carey for Part 1 of a four-part conversation about mindfulness, anxiety, self-awareness, and reconnecting with ourselves. Melissa begins with a powerful reflection on learning to love who she is today. From there, she and Jim explore her belief that we are already whole, even when layers of experience, relationships, expectations, and our own self-talk make that wholeness difficult to recognize. Melissa discusses the anxiety and life transitions that often bring people looking for support and explains why listening is at the heart of her approach. Drawing from her background in music therapy and her work with sound, meditation, breathwork, and energy practices, she shares one deceptively simple starting point: notice your breath. Jim and Melissa also discuss mindfulness during both difficult and positive moments, learning from obstacles, practicing coping tools before a crisis arrives, and why sometimes the most helpful next step is simply encouraging someone to seek an impartial ear through counseling or therapy. This is Part 1 of our conversation with Melissa Carey. Learn more about Melissa and her work with Into the Spirit Healing at: intothespirithealing.life Subscribe to Fishing Without Bait on your favorite podcast player. Support Fishing Without Bait on Patreon and receive ad-free episodes: https://www.patreon.com/c/fishingwithoutbait Pick up “Learn to Fish Without Bait: A 365-Day Mindfulness Journal and Adult Coloring Book”: https://www.lulu.com/shop/james-ellermeyer-lpc-ma-ncc-lpc/learn-to-fish-without-bait/paperback/product-6n9rd8.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Chapter 6, v. 19-23 What does it mean to become established in our innate wholeness? These verses explore the quiet mind, the boundless joy of the Self, and the inner freedom that unfolds through steadfast meditation. As awareness becomes anchored in the truth of our being, we discover a deeper capacity to meet sorrow without becoming identified with it. With perseverance and courage, the practice of yoga reveals the wholeness and peace that are already present within.

Continuing in our year's theme of Wholeness, we will spend the next nine weeks learning the Practices of Wholeness. This sermon is an introduction to the various practices we'll cover, and to one of the analogies we'll use to learn these practices: tending a garden. Scripture reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-9Learn more about Redeemer Church at redeemerclt.org.

Leadership can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be incredibly lonely. Many leaders know how to build organizations, solve problems, and care for others, but few know how to care for themselves. In this episode of The Wider Lens, Dr. Kim sits down with Todd Vinson, author of Mountains of My Mind, to discuss the internal journey every leader eventually faces. Todd shares the personal crashes that forced him to rethink everything he believed about success, productivity, identity, and leadership. Together they explore why burnout isn't a leadership badge of honor, how self-awareness changes everything, and why leading from God's peace—not pressure—is the only sustainable way to build a lasting legacy. Whether you lead a ministry, a business, a nonprofit, or simply influence the people around you, this conversation will challenge you to become healthier so you can lead others better.   Episode Highlights Why burnout is often a symptom—not the real problem How healthy leaders build healthier organizations The connection between identity, peace, and sustainable leadership Practical rhythms every leader needs to avoid isolation and lead for the long haul   Quotes from This Episode: Todd Vinson: "It was never meant to be all up to you. We take on that burden and it's really a badge of honor that we carry." "If working hard is good, then working harder is better. And I think working harder just got me to the ditch faster." "My drug of choice was being a workaholic. That's where I got my identity because I was seeking approval." "Brokenness is a great leveler. It gets you to the end of yourself. And that really, that's what God wants to begin with." "Peace is a manifestation of that relationship with Christ. It's not dictated by the externals around me." "There's dying to yourself as it talks about in Scripture and neglecting yourself are two totally different things." "You've got to have other people to surround you. And that's not weakness. That's just called wisdom." Dr. Kim: "I don't think God really needed to rest on the seventh day personally because He's God. But He did. And He set something for us." "We've got to have a rhythm of rest. We've got to have margin in our lives. And it seems like those are the things that we squeeze out." "I think a lot of times as guys, we sometimes would discount what our wife might say and not value it in the way that I think our wives have wisdom and insight and discernment in ways that we just don't." "We weren't created to be a Lone Ranger. We were created to live in a community." "Life's a good teacher, but the tuition is expensive."

Leadership can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be incredibly lonely. Many leaders know how to build organizations, solve problems, and care for others, but few know how to care for themselves. In this episode of The Wider Lens, Dr. Kim sits down with Todd Vinson, author of Mountains of My Mind, to discuss the internal journey every leader eventually faces. Todd shares the personal crashes that forced him to rethink everything he believed about success, productivity, identity, and leadership. Together they explore why burnout isn't a leadership badge of honor, how self-awareness changes everything, and why leading from God's peace—not pressure—is the only sustainable way to build a lasting legacy. Whether you lead a ministry, a business, a nonprofit, or simply influence the people around you, this conversation will challenge you to become healthier so you can lead others better.   Episode Highlights Why burnout is often a symptom—not the real problem How healthy leaders build healthier organizations The connection between identity, peace, and sustainable leadership Practical rhythms every leader needs to avoid isolation and lead for the long haul   Quotes from This Episode: Todd Vinson: "It was never meant to be all up to you. We take on that burden and it's really a badge of honor that we carry." "If working hard is good, then working harder is better. And I think working harder just got me to the ditch faster." "My drug of choice was being a workaholic. That's where I got my identity because I was seeking approval." "Brokenness is a great leveler. It gets you to the end of yourself. And that really, that's what God wants to begin with." "Peace is a manifestation of that relationship with Christ. It's not dictated by the externals around me." "There's dying to yourself as it talks about in Scripture and neglecting yourself are two totally different things." "You've got to have other people to surround you. And that's not weakness. That's just called wisdom." Dr. Kim: "I don't think God really needed to rest on the seventh day personally because He's God. But He did. And He set something for us." "We've got to have a rhythm of rest. We've got to have margin in our lives. And it seems like those are the things that we squeeze out." "I think a lot of times as guys, we sometimes would discount what our wife might say and not value it in the way that I think our wives have wisdom and insight and discernment in ways that we just don't." "We weren't created to be a Lone Ranger. We were created to live in a community." "Life's a good teacher, but the tuition is expensive."

To watch the video of this episode, please go to: https://youtu.be/YZskzOPvaqE   How can the ancient practices of Wisdom Healing Qigong help us reconnect with our physical bodies and heal from chronic, supposedly "incurable" health conditions? What is the underlying energetic connection between the body and mind, and how does overcoming mind-body disconnection address the root causes of our modern mental health crisis? How can practicing simple movements, sound healing, and deep body acceptance help us reclaim our power, peace, and life purpose in an increasingly complex world?   In this episode of Kaleidoscope of Possibilities: Alternative Perspectives on Mental Health, host Dr. Adriana Popescu welcomes Master Mingtong Gu, a globally recognized teacher, healer, and founder of the Chi Center and the Southwest Sanctuary for Embodied Wisdom. Named Qigong Master of the Year, Master Mingtong trained at China's famous Medicine-Less Hospital under Grand Master Dr. Pang Ming, where thousands healed from incurable conditions using energy alone. Over his career, he has empowered more than 100,000 seekers across 47 countries through Wisdom Healing Qigong. During the conversation, Master Mingtong shares his personal journey of growing up in post-Cultural Revolution China, struggling with poverty, hernia, asthma, and scoliosis, and later discovering Qigong while studying in the United States. He outlines the core philosophy of Wisdom Healing Qigong—a system that integrates teachings from Buddhism, Daoism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and martial arts into an accessible, evidence-informed approach. The discussion dives into the nature of illness, explaining how chronic health diagnoses often point to a conventional medical limitation rather than an absolute boundary on human healing. Master Mingtong leads Dr. Adriana and the audience through a live, experiential meditation centered on three core truths about the body, soul evolution, and energetic presence. He explains that true healing happens when we stop viewing the body as a machine or problem to solve and instead embrace it as our living home. He breaks down how stress and trauma reside in the body and how our tendency to bypass or suppress discomfort leads to distraction, mental health struggles, and addiction. A key highlight of the episode is Master Mingtong's explanation of the three-step framework for energetic transformation: Acceptance, Activation, and Appreciation. He outlines how gentle movement, specific sound healing practices for organ systems, and simple presence help release contracted energy patterns into flowing vitality. This process moves individuals out of victimhood and empowers them to take full responsibility for their health and spiritual awakening. Master Mingtong also discusses his bestselling book, Coming Home to Embodied Awakening: Reclaim Your Body, Your Power, and Your Purpose in the Age of AI, which provides a comprehensive map for reclaiming presence and fulfillment. He emphasizes the urgent need for humanity to ground back into the wisdom of the physical body as technological advancements accelerate. Ultimately, listeners are left with a profound realization: deep healing is a spiritual journey of returning home to oneself. By moving beyond rigid labels, diagnoses, and mental complexity, individuals can tap into the infinite possibilities of energetic wholeness, self-love, and lasting peace.   In This Episode: 00:00 – Introduction to Master Mingtong Gu: Dr. Adriana Popescu introduces Qigong Master Mingtong Gu, founder of the Chi Center, and highlights his training at China's Medicine-Less Hospital. 01:50 – Master Mingtong's Personal Healing Journey: From growing up in post-Cultural Revolution China with severe illness to discovering Qigong in Columbus, Ohio. 08:30 – Rethinking "Incurable" Diagnoses: Exploring how illness serves as a pathway to spiritual awakening and how conventional labels reflect medical limits rather than human potential. 16:00 – Guided Meditation: The Three Truths of the Body: A live experiential exercise connecting with the body, soul evolution, and source energy. 24:30 – Energy, Wholeness, and the Secret of Mind-Body Connection: Understanding how working with energy reveals the interconnected nature of the mind, body, and spirit. 28:30 – The Energetic Roots of the Mental Health Crisis: How mind-body disconnection, bypassing pain, and seeking external distractions lead to suffering and addiction. 34:40 – The 3-Step Framework: Acceptance, Activation, Appreciation: Practical tools using gentle movement, sound healing, and meditation to shift contracted energy into flow. 41:00 – Moving from Complexity to Simplicity in Healing: Why analyzing diagnoses creates mental victims while tuning into simple body sensations yields true empowerment. 43:10 – Coming Home to Embodied Awakening: Master Mingtong discusses his book and why reclaiming embodied presence is vital in the age of AI. 46:40 – Resources & Closing Thoughts: Where to learn more about retreats, online courses, and final words of wisdom on healing.   "When you go to the body realizing it's energy, there are only two patterns: a contracted pattern and an opening, flowing pattern. To embrace the truth inside your body is so liberating and so much simpler than you think." – Master Mingtong   Resources: Master Mingtong's Website: https://mingtonggu.com Chi Center & Retreats: https://mingtonggu.com Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mingtong-gu-60125119/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chicenter/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wisdomhealingqigong/   Featured Book (Coming Home to Embodied Awakening): https://mingtonggu.com You can get the first chapter free here: https://chicenter.pages.ontraport.net/t?orid=280237&opid=2  About Master Mingtong Gu: Master Mingtong Gu is a globally recognized teacher and healer bringing ancient wisdom to humanity's most urgent modern crisis: our disconnection from our own bodies. Named Qigong Master of the Year, he is the Founder of The Chi Center and the Southwest Sanctuary for Embodied Wisdom, a 150-acre retreat where he has empowered 100,000+ seekers across 47 countries through Wisdom Healing Qigong – a practice he trained in at China's famous "medicine-less" hospital under Grandmaster Dr. Pang Ming, where thousands healed from "incurable" conditions through energy alone. Master Mingtong Gu is more than a teacher – he is a cultural bridge, movement leader, and visionary founder. From post-Cultural Revolution China, he has established Wisdom Healing Qigong as a global movement of embodied awakening. His work moves beyond technique to the transmission of presence itself. Featured at Wisdom 2.0, Esalen, Omega, and PBS, his newly released best-selling book, Coming Home to Embodied Awakening (Spring 2026), offers a map for reclaiming power, presence, and fulfillment in the age of AI. His curriculum ranges from personal growth retreats to leadership empowerment programs.   About Your Host: Dr. Adriana Popescu is a clinical psychologist, addiction and trauma specialist, author, speaker and empowerment coach who is based in San Francisco, California and practices worldwide. She is the author of the books, What If You're Not As F***ed Up As You Think You Are? and EFT for Addiction.   For more information on Dr. Adriana, her sessions and classes, please visit: https://adrianapopescu.org/ To learn about her trauma treatment center Firebird Healing, please visit: https://www.firebird-healing.com/ To find the books please visit: https://whatifyourenot.com/ and amazon.com/dp/1604153164   You can also follow her on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAdrianaPopescu/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dradrianapopescu/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriana-popescu-ph-d-03793 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCflL0zScRAZI3mEnzb6viVA TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dradrianapopescu? Medium: https://medium.com/@dradrianapopescu   Disclaimer: This podcast represents the opinions of Dr. Adriana Popescu and her guests. The content expressed therein should not be taken as psychological or medical advice. The content here is for informational or entertainment purposes only. Please consult your healthcare professional for any medical or treatment questions. This website or podcast is not to be used in any legal capacity whatsoever, including but not limited to establishing “standard of care” in any legal sense or as a basis for legal proceedings or expert witness testimony. Listening, reading, emailing, or interacting on social media with our content in no way establishes a client-therapist relationship.

Questions? Comments? Text Us!Why are we sometimes afraid of love, even when love is exactly what we want?In this episode of What's On Our Mind?, Scott Langdon and Jerry L. Martin explore one of the most personal questions Jesus asks Jerry in God: An Autobiography: “Why are you afraid of love?”Jerry reflects on his unexpected encounter with Jesus, his resistance to letting love fully enter his heart, and the vulnerability that comes with allowing another person - or the divine - into our most intimate inner space. Scott connects Jerry's experience with his own questions about trust, disappointment, control, and the fear that love may be withdrawn.Their conversation moves from Jesus and God's love to intimacy, human relationships, spiritual vulnerability, and the idea that “love is always the love of something incomplete.” What does love ask of us when we feel separate, wounded, unfinished, or afraid?Scott and Jerry also discuss the heart as a spiritual symbol, the difference between separateness and connection, and how love may draw us toward healing, wholeness, and a deeper relationship with God and one another.Listen for a thoughtful conversation about Jesus, fear of love, God's love, vulnerability, intimacy, spiritual growth, and what it may really mean to let love in.Related Episodes:301. Special Episode: Finding God Beyond Religion- Spiritual Discernment in Everyday Life300. Special Episode: Who Are We to God?299. Jesus, Love, and the Reality of Evil | Jerry & Abigail: An Intimate Dialogue298. When You Feel Unworthy of Love: A Message from Jesus- From God to Jerry to YouGet the books:Radically Personal: God and Ourselves in the New Axial AgeGod: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher***Ultimate Questions***Listen to the full episode and explore the question with a community of philosophers and seekers.Join the Ultimate Questions conversation on calling and divine guidance: https://substack.com/@ultimatequestionsOther Series:The podcast began with the Dramatic Adaptation of the book and now has several series:The Life Wisdom Project – Spiritual insights on living a wiser, more meaningful life.From God to Jerry to You – Divine messages and breakthroughs for seekers.Two Philosophers Wrestle With God – A dialogue on God, truth, and reason.Jerry & Abigail: An Intimate Dialogue – Love, faith, and divine presence in partnership.What's Your Spiritual Story – Real stories of people changed by encounters with God.What's On Our Mind – Reflections from Jerry and Scott on recent episodes.What's On Your Mind – Listener questions, divine answers, and open dialogue. Stay ConnectedShare: questions@godanautobiography.comGet the books: God: An Autobiography, Radically PersonalShare Your Story | Site | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

This video podcast is the third in a series of three posts about the Hidden Hold of Horrors Golden Thread in the work of author Rowling-Galbraith. A Golden Thread is a plot point, scene, or character type that recurs repeatedly through an author's stories, a commonality that is evident only when looking at the writer's writings viewed as a whole. The ‘Hidden Hold of Horrors' repeated scene is of a location underground, be it a cave, a cellar, a tunnel, a tomb, or a basement pool, in which a frightening confrontation, a Near Death Experience, flat out murder, or transformative revelation occurs.The first post in this series was Nick Jeffery's exploration and explanation of Rowling's Church Cottage childhood home in Tutshill and its remarkable cellar beneath a covered access port, what has been mistakenly referred to as a “trapdoor.” In The Hidden Cellar Beneath J. K. Rowling's Childhood Home, Nick shares why a building in West England on the border with Wales from the mid 19th Century that was built as a Church of England school would have a substantial brick and cement vaulted basement and what this room, originally a cistern to prevent cholera outbreaks, was probably like during Rowling's childhood.[Golden Thread Image: Wovex.com; Ladder to Cellar Under Access Port: Pinterest]The second post was one I sent out yesterday in which I shared Nick's and my off-the-top-of-our-heads catalog of everything subterranean, frightening, and damp in Rowling's oeuvre, that is, her seven Harry Potter novels, eight Cormoran Strike mysteries, the Cursed Child ‘collaborative' play script, her Beedle the Bard fairy tale collection and Ickabog “political fairy tale,” the three Fantastic Beasts screenplays, her border-line autobiographical Casual Vacancy, and the Dante-meets-Dickens Christmas Pig classic. Rowling Golden Thread: The Hidden ‘Hold of Horrors Downstairs, Beneath the Trap DoorHogwarts Professor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The morning after posting it, readers are already adding scenes Nick and I overlooked and I am kicking myself for not including the “deepest dungeon” in ‘The Warlock's Hairy Heart' and “the trapdoor beneath the rug” concealing the tunnel beneath Poem and Pretense's sanctuary from the Loss Adjustors, a tunnel reached via a ladder. ‘The Tunnel' takes them “to the bottom of the mountain” where Compass joins them for their flight to the City of the Missed across the Wastes of the Unlamented, Pig's story turn and meaning-in-the-middle. As Nick and I note in the conversation above, a comprehensive list will require a repeated reading of Rowling's complete writings. Please add the ones you think of that we missed in your comments below, especially for Cursed Child, the only book for which Nick and I drew a complete Golden Thread blank.Those first two posts cover half of the four subjects Nick and I tackle in this Golden Thread conversation; the Ten Questions guiding that discussion with the relevant links and notes from our answers can be found below. What I want to write out here briefly are some notes about Golden Threads in general, their place in a Lake and Shed bifurcated critical environment, and then the importance of the ‘Hidden Hold of Horrors' Golden Thread specifically for understanding Rowling's work, its inspiration and intentional artistry, and for seeing what will happen in the remaining Strike novels. Not to mention the meaning of Hallmarked Man's fictional silver oligarch Murdoch's name!{Lake image source; Golden Thread image source; Shed image source]Are ‘Golden Threads' Evidence of ‘Lake' Inspiration or ‘Shed' Intentional Artistry?Since the time of our first Hogwarts Professor Substack posts and podcasts, Nick and I have described what we are trying to advance here in the niche field of Rowling Studies is Fourth Generation work. For a discussion of the four generations of Rowling scholarship, listen to On Reading ‘On Writing.' where we discussed the evolution of reader approaches to Rowling-Galbraith texts and how each generation, while typical of a specific time period, continues into the other generations (most of Strike-Ellacott fandom, for example, is reading that series as the ‘Shippers and speculators did the Hogwarts Saga during Potter Mania, the first generation of Rowling Studies).What distinguishes Fourth Generation thinking is, in essence, (1) the incorporation of biographical material in understanding the inspiration of Rowling's work (per her implicit instruction since the late 2019 Lake and Shed metaphor interview), (2) the creation of a gauge to measure the success or failure of her work out of the intention evident in her choices of literary tools, her Shed artistry, and (3) shifting the critical focus from the latest work and the book-next-in-queue to the oeuvre as a whole, everything she's written. The bumper-sticker version of that?Lake — Shed — Golden Threads. Lake? Rowling describes the source of her stories' inspiration as the ‘Lake' of her unconscious mind, her personal issues, the events of her life, her reading and education. This is the work of Fourth Generation specialists who sift through what is known about Rowling's life in pursuit of clues to the source material of her stories.Shed? Again, Rowling's bipolar metaphor for her creative process has a marker, her ‘Shed,' that represents the alocal place ‘where' she deploys her traditional tools to craft archetypal story out of her very personal Lake inspiration. These tools — I focus on seven — have a specific quality, both antiquarian and profoundly effective in producing the effect Rowling desires on her reading audience.And, at last, the Golden Threads, which are not explicitly Lake or Shed findings, but, as noted above, “a plot point, scene, or character type that recurs repeatedly through an author's stories, a commonality that is evident only when looking at the writer's writings viewed as a whole.” Examples?In two episodes of The Kanreki Series last July (here and here), Nick and I discussed fourteen Golden Threads in Rowling's work: The Bad Dad, Writing about Writing, Violence against Women, the Evils of Fleet Street, Mother Love, Ghosts, Pregnancy Traps, the Lost Child with Grieving Steward, Evil Government, Occult tropes, the Embedded Author, the Search for the Real, Embedded Texts, and Shadow Doppelgangers. ‘Blood' makes fifteen (see here, here, and here for that) and my post yesterday about the ‘Hidden Hold of Horrors' is sixteen.As Nick and I explain in the conversation above, most of these Golden Threads have a Lake element or point of origin, e.g., the Cholera Cistern cellar beneath Church Cottage. Understanding why Rowling returns to them again and again in reinventive ways in her work, though, requires more than a psycho-biographical connection. This is obviously the case with all the underground terrors to be found in Rowling's stories.[Basement Image from WallPaperAccess.com]How are We to Understand the ‘Hidden Hold of Horrors' Golden Thread? What does it mean?As I listed at the end of yesterday's post and the conversation with Nick above, Rowling's childhood home with its hidden depths beneath the floorboards and neighboring graveyard and attendant ghosts is only one part of the explanation for the Hidden Hold Golden Thread. It's a wonderful point of origin and launching pad for inspiration, certainly, but restricting the interpretation of her usage of this meme to nightmares and flights of fancy she had as a child about the sublimely subliminal spaces around her is, for lack of a better word, lazy. Her use of these spaces again and again reflects, I'm sure, to a certain degree her psychological Default Setting from childhood memories of the ‘Wet Nightmare Place' under the dining room table and next door. But Rowling's mind was shaped as much by her bibliography, the books she read and loved, as by her biography, the exterior circumstances of her life. Her reading is the bridge linking her Lake and Shed creative process and it plays an outsized role in her Golden Threads as well. Granting that the first inspiration of her unconscious mind may just have been childhood fears and fantasies, knowing that Rowling has read Homer, Virgil, and Dante and studied Greek mythology from her time at Wyedean Comprehensive through UExeter means that a Trip to the Underworld to speak to the dead is a touchstone of myth and epic. There's a word for this commonplace, katabasis, the going-down-and-coming-back. Odysseus visits Tiresias, Aeneas his father Anchises, Dante with Virgil tours the Inferno's multiple levels — and Psyche is sent by Venus into Hades on the last of her purgative trials.· Rowling, having entered into these stories, knows they are delivery vehicles for the cathartic transformative change to be found in consultation with the dead and in thinking about death.Joseph Campbell famously argued in Hero with a Thousand Faces that per James Joyce, ethnographers, and comparative mythology experts this descent into the nether worlds and return was an essential aspect of the “monomyth” or Ur story underlying all story and myth. Campbell's more important contribution was arguing that this was not an abstract historical or literary assertion but one fundamentally important in every human being's life and psycho-spiritual development.The Journey to the Underworld from this perspective is that it represents the conscious entry into the Unconscious Mind, the Hidden ‘Depths' of the Person Behind the Persona-Mask. Rowling has said that, if the writing dream had not worked out, she would have studied to become a psychologist. It is a touchstone belief of Fourth Generation Rowling Studies that, even though the writing gig did work out, that Rowling-Galbraith still became a psychologist in the sense of a person working to help her client-readers experience meaning (logos) more profoundly in their souls (psyche).Every time we descend into the depths with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with Cormoran and Robin, or with Jack Jones, we jump into a shared psychological crucible for our alchemical dissolution, purification, and reintegration. In this Golden Thread, we can see the Shed tools of literary alchemy, mythology, psychomachia, Christian symbolism, chiastic writing, and cathartic shock all at work.And, though speculating about the novel-on-the-near-horizon isn't a signature quality of Fourth Generation reading, I would be remiss not to point out that Rowling-Galbraith has left pointers in Hallmarked Man and throughout the Strike series that Robin Ellacott is on a ‘Heroine's Journey' — and overdue for a trip to Hades.Pointers to Trips Underground to Come in the Cormoran Strike Series' Remaining BooksSubscribers to Hogwarts Professor are familiar with Rowling-Galbraith's use of the Cupid and Psyche Myth as a template for the Strike-Ellacott series, a use the author highlighted in a tweet after the publication of Strike 8. That myth is about the Soul's trials to be worthy of Divine Love, Psyche being the Greek word for Soul and Cupid or Eros for love (Anteros for True Love). Psyche's great trial is her descent into Hell at Venus' command to receive from Persephone a gift for the Goddess of Beauty. As infernal as Robin Ellacott's sufferings have been, Serious Strikers have been anticipating that she will at last ‘go there' for real in Strike 9.Iris T. M. wrote in The Rowling Library Magazine, Issue #99 (March 2025), her belief that Robin's story arc conformed, intentionally or not on the author's part, with ‘The Heroine's Journey.' See ‘Robin's Heroine's Journey: How J. K. Rowling's Robin Ellacott from the Strike Series Follows the Classic Path of Self-Discovery' in that archived issue of TRL (and say a prayer for the return of The Rowling Library in 2027!). Iris mentions psychotherapist Maureen Murdock as the original advocate of a ‘Heroine's Journey' distinct from a Campbell-esque ‘Hero's Journey,' but uses the ‘Aletis' archetype of Jody Gentian Bower as her framework for tracing Robin's story arc. It's a brilliant exegesis and well worth reading in full.It misses the mark, however, in at least three important respects.First, it makes no mention of the Cupid and Psyche myth, which conforms to every ‘Heroine's Journey' marker and is Rowling's only admitted mythological template for the series;Second, it was written before the publication of Hallmarked Man so Iris T. M. could not have seen that Rowling-Galbraith gave a historical character, a 19th Century Freemason, silver millionaire, and author of Secrets of the Craft (see Ed Shardlow's discussion of his importance here), the name Alexander Hughson Murdock. Taking that as a pointer to Maureen Murdock and her groundbreaking The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness, we're obliged, I think, to look at the stages Dr Murdock assigns to this transformative odyssey.Last, that look reveals a stage that Iris, Bower, or both neglect, namely, ‘Initiation and Descent to the Goddess' after ‘Awakening to Feelings of Spiritual Aridity/Death.' Iris following Bower looks for a ‘Dark Night of the Soul' and attendant “descent into the underworld,” which she ties to Robin's being buried alive at the UHC's Chapman Farm in Running Grave. She argues that after this experience “two key stages remain in the Aletis Journey: Self discovery and integration—where she fully embraces her skills and authenticity—and the Establishment of a new home, where she builds a life that reflects her true self and her desires.”A Murdock reading, in contrast, suggests that Robin's descent into hell has not yet begun or is not yet over.Heroine Journey's Cycle image source; Maureen Murdock image sourceMurdock's ten stage Heroine's Journey looks like this per HeroineJourneys.com with my notes in [Brackets}:* HEROINE SEPARATES FROM THE FEMININE. The “feminine” is often a mother/mentor figure or a societally prescribed feminine/marginalized/outsider role. [Robin's decision to pursue her vocation to be a private detective despite her fiancee's and family's disapproval, especially Linda's]* IDENTIFICATION WITH THE MASCULINE & GATHERING OF ALLIES. The heroine embraces a new way of life. This often involves choosing a path that is different than the heroine's prescribed societal role, gearing up to “fight” an organization/role/group that is limiting the heroine's life options, or entering some masculine/dominant-identity defined sphere. [Her move from secretary to detective to partner at the Agency]* ROAD/TRIALS AND MEETING OGRES & DRAGONS. The heroine encounters trials and meets people who try to dissuade the heroine from pursuing their chosen path, or who try to destroy the heroine. [Insert list here of those who try to convince Robin to leave the Agency or to kill her.]* EXPERIENCING THE BOON OF SUCCESS. The heroine overcomes the obstacles in their way. (This is typically where the hero's journey ends.) [Partner status and respect of Strike and the Met as a First Tier detective]* HEROINE AWAKENS TO FEELINGS OF SPIRITUAL ARIDITY/DEATH. The heroine's new way of life (attempting the masculine/dominant identity) is too limited. Their success in this new way of life is either temporary, illusory, shallow, or requires a betrayal of self over time. [Robin's growing awareness that her vocation as a detective is in an undefined but certain way in conflict with her life as a woman and the roles of wife, daughter, and mother]* INITIATION & DESCENT TO THE GODDESS. The heroine faces a crisis of some sort in which the new way of life is insufficient, and the heroine falls into despair. All of the masculine/dominant-group strategies have failed them. [Strike 9! Robin breaks down but conferring with the Goddess-Crone, her Jungian psychoanalyst, she learns how imbalanced her life has become; she makes decisions a la those of Psyche in Hades per the Crone's instructions]* HEROINE URGENTLY YEARNS TO RECONNECT WITH THE FEMININE. The heroine wants to, but is unable to return to their initial limited state/position. [Ditto]* HEROINE HEALS THE MOTHER/DAUGHTER SPLIT. The heroine reclaims some of their initial values, skills, or attributes (or those of others like them) but now views these traits from a new perspective. [I suspect this healing will be akin to Strike's Chapel ‘conversation' with the late Charlotte Campbell; for reasons to be discussed, I think Linda Ellacott dies in Strike 9 which precipitates Robin's mental crisis]* HEROINE HEALS THE WOUNDED MASCULINE WITHIN. The heroine makes peace with the “masculine” approach to the world as it applies to them. [Strikes 9 and 10]* HEROINE INTEGRATES THE MASCULINE & FEMININE. In order to face the world/future with a new understanding of themselves and the world/life, the heroine integrates the “masculine” and “feminine” qualities/perspectives. This permits the heroine to see through binaries and to interact with a complex world that includes the heroine but is also larger than their personal lifetime or their geographical/cultural milieu. [The Alchemical Hermaphrodite or Rebis, Strike 10]I think there are two more Golden Threads to be explored in Rowling's work that are rooted in Tutshill's Church Cottage and Rowling's life there, both of which I began to pull in the conversation with Nick above, namely, the Nightmare Upstairs Room and the Neglected Dead Mother. But those will have to wait for another day!Hats off in salute to Iris T. M. for her work with Robin's ‘Heroine's Journey' (and Strike's in TRL Issue #100)! Writing as she was before Hallmarked Man and not being familiar with Rowling's Shed tools and how they work together, she still revealed the psychological template Rowling is deliberately following, it seems, if the Murdoch name drop is any indication.The Hidden Hold of Horrors, then, is an especially rich Lake-Shed-and-Golden-Thread story point in Rowling's work. Stay tuned for more of the same with respect to Mums and Upstairs Nightmares!The Ten Questions with Notes and Links1. Good day, Nick! What can you tell me about the trap door basement in Rowling's childhood home, Church Cottage in Tutshill?* The Hidden Cellar Beneath J. K. Rowling's Childhood Home2. So, it's bigger than I once thought. Are you asking for the reasons I think you're asking?* Golden Thread discussion above3. So, yes, that Ironbridge cellar and my recent revisits to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with its gauntlet run beneath a trapdoor, made me wonder: is the nightmare basement a Rowling Golden Thread? It's not as if all of them have been identified; you just came up with the Crimson Golden Thread this year --* See here, here, and here for that.4. How many Golden Threads have we discussed, John? Why do we care again?* Golden Thread 1: Kanreki (Bad Dad, Writing about Writing, Violence against Women, the Evils of Fleet Street, Mother Love, Ghosts, Pregnancy Traps, the Lost Child with Grieving Steward)* Golden Thread 2: Kanreki (Evil Government, Occult tropes, the Embedded Author, the Search for the Real, Embedded Texts, and Shadow Doppelgangers)* Lost Child Golden Thread: Kanreki Finale* See Golden Thread discussion above.5. So it's a Big Deal, really. Care to join me in reviewing Rowling's work to see what's lurking in her basements? (Harry Potter back and forth)* Rowling Golden Thread: The Hidden ‘Hold of Horrors Downstairs, Beneath the Trap Door6. How about the Stand-Alones, John: Casual Vacancy, the Ickabog, The Christmas Pig? And the collaboration exercises, Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts (back and forth)* Rowling Golden Thread: The Hidden ‘Hold of Horrors Downstairs, Beneath the Trap Door7. And Cormoran Strike? (back and forth)* Rowling Golden Thread: The Hidden ‘Hold of Horrors Downstairs, Beneath the Trap Door* Nick: “And the Dell, of course, in Lethal White's Chiswell House, where the remains of the Shetland pony are dug up in the pink blanket.”8. Okay, that was fun -- and we have sufficient evidence to say that Rowling thinks of the spaces downstairs as wet, scary, even horrible. So what? Tell me this isn't just a Lake inspiration bit; what is this very deliberate artist choosing to do with the basement image? Do we have any bibliographic pointers?* Discussion Above in text.9. What about the psychological piece here? Rowling has said she'd have been a psychologist if the writing gig hadn't worked out. Is her ‘underground' piece of Harry's Journey everywhere our moving into the subconscious of depth psychology?* Joseph Campbell ‘Hero's Journey,' Joyce scholar, Jung disciple, monomyth advocate – myth not only historical but important as individual psychological template;* Maureen Murdock ‘Heroine's Journey,' Jungian psychotherapist, writing for therapiss and patients not writers on Campbell model, “Initiation and Descent to the Goddess”* Victoria Lynn Schmidt ‘Heroine's Journey for Writers'* Iris T. M: The Heroine's Journeys of Robin Ellacott (TRL #99) and of Cormoran Strike (TRL #100)10. Do you think we'll be going underground in the last two Cormoran Strike novels? * YES, we will!Hogwarts Professor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

Are you struggling with not feeling like "enough?" This is actually a common feeling that can get wrapped up or conflated with stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, and so many other mental health struggles. The good news is that no matter what you're dealing with, you do have some influence here and can work on skills to build our sense of self-worth and enoughness. We'll dig into Self-discrepancy theory, which explains how the gaps between our actual, ideal, and ought selves can stir up dejection or anxiety. We'll also explore sociometer theory and the metaphor for self-esteem as a fuel gauge that rises with appreciation and drops with rejection. The truth is, these calculations and gauges will always fluctuate. The real work isn't eliminating the gauges or the dips, but building an internal reserve, a sense of enoughness, that doesn't depend on outside refueling.   About: The Joy Lab Podcast is an Ambie-nominated podcast that blends science and soul to help you cope better with stress, anxiety, and depression. It's hosted by integrative psychiatrist Dr. Henry Emmons and holistic mental health researcher Dr. Aimee Prasek.   Bonus: spread some joy and keep this podcast ad-free by donating (Joy Lab is powered by the nonprofit Pathways North and your donations are tax-deductible).   Listen & follow the Joy Lab Podcast on your favorite listening app: Spotify | Apple | YouTube   Full transcript here   Sources and Notes for Our Element of Enoughness: Related Joy Lab Episodes: Enoughness Series: Ep. 215: Are You Curious to Learn or Confirm?  Ep. 285: Why Doing Enough Is Enough + Why Perfectionism Predicts Burnout, Depression, & Anxiety, Not Performance Ep. 284: Having Enough: Why Acquiring More Will Never Fill the Hole in Your Self-Worth Ep. 283: You Are Enough: The Science and Practices of Enoughness Grief Series starts here: Ep. 248: Grief, Growth, & The Wholeness of Being Human  Ep. 239: Caring What Others Think Isn't Your Weakness Bellam, S., Curran, T., Hill, A. P., & Stoeber, J. (2025). Perfectionism and work performance: A meta-analysis. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12570 Carver, C. S., Lawrence, J. W., & Scheier, M. F. (1999). Self-discrepancies and affect: Incorporating the role of feared selves. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167299025007002  Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). The costly pursuit of self-esteem. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.3.392  Crocker, J., & Park, L. E. (2004). Reaping the benefits of pursuing self-esteem without the costs? Reply to Schmuck and Sheldon (2004), Sheldon et al. (2004), Pyszczynski et al. (2004), and Kernis (2004). https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.430 Crocker, J., Karpinski, A., Quinn, D. M., & Chase, S. K. (2003). When grades determine self-worth: Consequences of contingent self-worth for male and female engineering and psychology majors. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.507 Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.593 Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Avoiding death or engaging life as accounts of meaning and culture: Comment on Pyszczynski et al. (2004). https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.473 Freudenberger, H. J. (1974). Staff burn-out. Journal of Social Issues, 30(1), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb00706.x Harari, D., Swider, B. W., Bujold Steed, L., & Breidenthal, A. P. (2018). Is perfect good? A meta-analysis of perfectionism in the workplace. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000324 Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.3.456 Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.94.3.319 Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Positive adjustment to threatening events: An organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.9.3.262 Kernis, M. H. (2005). Measuring self-esteem in context: The importance of stability of self-esteem in psychological functioning. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00359.x Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Ellis, B. J. (2001). An evolutionary-psychological approach to self-esteem: Multiple domains and multiple functions. In G. J. O. Fletcher & M. S. Clark (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Interpersonal processes (pp. 411–436). Blackwell. Leary, M. R. (2000). Sociometer theory and the pursuit of relational value: Getting to the root of self-esteem. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792772043000045  Maslach, C. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030020205   Park, L. E., & Crocker, J. (2005). Attachment styles and contingencies of self-worth. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167205277030 Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Arndt, J., & Schimel, J. (2004). Why do people need self-esteem? https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.435 Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2009). Burnout: 35 years of research and practice. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430910966406  Lynn Twist's Book: The Soul of Money   Questions this episode was made for: Q: Why do I feel like I'm never enough no matter what I achieve or how hard I try? A: This episode maps some psychology of enoughness: self-discrepancy theory shows how unconscious gaps between your actual, ideal, and ought selves generate specific emotional consequences (depression from the ideal gap, anxiety from the ought gap); sociometer theory explains how self-esteem tracks with perceived relational value rather than objective achievement (and why negative feedback stings harder than positive feedback heals); the path toward enoughness is building an internal source of worth rather than depending on the gauge.   Q: Is it possible to genuinely feel like enough without abandoning the desire to grow or improve? A: Yes. Fighting to be someone different from who you are keeps you stuck; it's through accepting who you are that change and growth actually become possible. Self-worth, self-acceptance, and self-compassion are key factors for behavior change.    Key moments: [00:30] The central question: who are we trying to be enough for? A parent, a boss, a child, ourselves? [01:30] Self-discrepancy theory: three representations of self — actual, ideal, and ought — and how gaps between them generate negative emotions   [03:30] These calculations often run below conscious awareness; self-discrepancy theory maps which gaps produce which feelings [04:00] Actual vs. ideal gap: tends to produce dejection-related emotions — sadness, depression, shame, embarrassment [04:30] Actual vs. ought gap: tends to produce agitation-related emotions — anxiety, fear, guilt, feeling threatened [05:00] Feeling not enough isn't usually just one thing — it's multiple calculations happening at once, often measuring us against someone else's ruler [06:00] Henry: how accurately can any of us describe our actual selves? [07:30] Henry: we'll never become our ideal selves or have the ideal life — this might be another Gate of Grief worth naming and grieving [09:00] Toxic positivity pushback: this isn't about not dreaming big; it's about not attaching your worth to whether you get there [10:00] Sociometer theory: self-esteem isn't primarily about how good you think you are at things — it's about how valued you feel in your relationships [12:00] When we don't embrace our own worth, the gauge takes over how we see and value ourselves [13:00] Henry: intermittent reinforcement — if self-esteem depends on occasional good feedback and tanks on bad feedback, we're psychologically vulnerable [14:00] Rejection sensitivity: a potent clinical cause of anxiety and depression; the possibility of rejection alone can shrink a life significantly [15:30] Aimee: we're wired to care what others think; caring isn't the problem; the problem is being unconscious to how much it drives us [16:30] The gauges don't need to be broken — they're functioning; the goal is to not attach our worth to them [17:30] The sense of enoughness is an oasis of self-compassion and inner knowing — you matter, you're a person of value, even when rejected, even when empty [20:30] This isn't solitary work: support, community, and daily practices all help build the internal gas station [22:00] The happiness paradox: research shows that highly valuing happiness — treating it as something to actively pursue at all times — leads to feeling less happy and worse long-term wellbeing outcomes [24:30] Henry: the difference between valuing joy and grasping at happiness; grasping operates from scarcity — the very grasping creates stress [26:00] Series takeaways: feeling not enough is tragically common; the antidote is self-compassion; most of us hold an unreachable ideal — our job isn't to reach it, it's to let go [27:00] Preview of the next two Elements: Letting Go (October) and Self-Compassion (November) — more tools to embrace Enoughness [28:00] Closing wisdom from Brené Brown: "You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging."   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!    Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Find more mental health resources here. 

LESSON 266My Holy Self Abides In You, God's Son.Father, You gave me all Your Sons, to be my saviors and my counselors in sight; the bearers of Your holy Voice to me. In them are You reflected, and in them does Christ look back upon me from my Self. Let not Your Son forget Your holy Name. Let not Your Son forget his holy Source. Let not Your Son forget his name is Yours.This day we enter into paradise, calling upon God's Name and on our own, acknowledging our Self in each of us; united in the holy Love of God. How many saviors God has given us! How can we lose the way to Him, when He has filled the world with those who point to Him, and given us the sight to look on them?- Jesus Christ in ACIM

LESSON 266My Holy Self Abides In You, God's Son.Father, You gave me all Your Sons, to be my saviors and my counselors in sight; the bearers of Your holy Voice to me. In them are You reflected, and in them does Christ look back upon me from my Self. Let not Your Son forget Your holy Name. Let not Your Son forget his holy Source. Let not Your Son forget his name is Yours.This day we enter into paradise, calling upon God's Name and on our own, acknowledging our Self in each of us; united in the holy Love of God. How many saviors God has given us! How can we lose the way to Him, when He has filled the world with those who point to Him, and given us the sight to look on them?- Jesus Christ in ACIM

What if the constant effort to improve ourselves is quietly reinforcing the belief that there is something wrong with us?In this deeply inspiring episode of the Sacred Changemakers Podcast, I'm joined by Steve March, founder of Aletheia Unfolding and originator of Aletheia Coaching. Steve has coached for more than 26 years and has taught professional coaching around the world. After spending more than a decade working within the prevailing model of self-improvement, he began exploring a radically different understanding of how human beings change. Together, we examine what Steve calls the self-improvement trap: how our efforts to become better can produce genuine results while strengthening an underlying sense of deficiency. Steve introduces the Unfoldment Paradigm, which begins with the possibility that nothing is missing and that change can emerge through presence, attunement, care, and a deeper trust in our innate wholeness.We also explore what this moment in history is asking of coaches and changemakers, why our established approaches to change may no longer be sufficient, and how the coaching profession must evolve to meet growing complexity without reducing people to problems that need to be solved. This is a poetic, honest, and embodied conversation that invites us to reconsider how we meet ourselves, how we serve others, and how we participate in the changes unfolding around us.Key TakeawaysWhy self-improvement can create progress while reinforcing a belief in personal deficiency.How the Unfoldment Paradigm offers a different way of understanding human change.What it means to begin coaching from wholeness rather than trying to fix the client.Why presence, attunement, safety, and care create the conditions for lasting change.How coaching must evolve to meet the complexity and uncertainty of our times.Learn More About Today's GuestSteve's website → https://integralunfoldment.comSteve on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevemarch/About the HostJayne Warrilow is the founder of Sacred Changemakers, a global community and learning space exploring the intersection of human resonance, regenerative change, and conscious leadership.Learn more at sacredchangemakers.com

LESSON 264I Am Surrounded By The Love Of God.Father, You stand before me and behind, beside me, in the place I see myself, and everywhere I go. You are in all the things I look upon, the sounds I hear, and every hand that reaches for my own. In You time disappears, and place becomes a meaningless belief. For what surrounds Your Son and keeps him safe is Love Itself. There is no Source but This, and nothing is that does not share Its holiness; that stands beyond Your one creation, or without the Love Which holds all things within Itself. Father, Your Son is like Yourself. We come to You in Your Own Name today, to be at peace within Your everlasting Love.My brothers, join with me in this today. This is salvation's prayer. Must we not join in what will save the world, along with us?- Jesus Christ in ACIM

Contagious Wholeness Luke 8 This week we looked at the stories of Legion, the bleeding woman, and Jairus' daughter. In each of these stories, the unclean person should have made Jesus contagiously unclean. In each story Jesus meaningfully touched the unclean person. And in each story Jesus' cleanliness, holiness, and wholeness was instead contagious to them. This should empower us to go into the dark places.

Send us Fan MailWe all want to be whole, but what is wholeness?The Hebrew greeting "Shalom" helps us, I believe, what wholeness is all about. __________________________Do you have questions or comments?Please contact me: rtosguthorpe@gmail.comWant more info about my books and talks?Go to my website: https://www.russelltosguthorpe.com/Want to order a book? Just go to Amazon and type in Russell T. Osguthorpe Want to access my YouTube channel:https://youtube.com/@russellt.osguthorpe497Want know more about the music on this podcast? We are blessed to have M. Diego Gonzalez as a regular contributor of songs he has arranged, performed, and recorded especially for this podcast. My wife and I became acquainted with Diego when he was serving a as missionary in the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission. We were so impressed with his talent, we asked if he would compose and perform songs for Filled With His Love. He thankfully agreed. Hope you enjoy his work!Want to boost your mood and make someone's day?Go to the App store on your iPhone, and download the app—Boonto.Want a good introduction to my book? Morgan Jones Pearson interviewed me on the All-In Podcast, and it was one of the top 10 episodes of 2022. Here's the link:https://www.ldsliving.com/2022-in-review-top-10-all-in-podcast-episod...

LESSON 260Let Me Remember God Created Me.Father, I did not make myself, although in my insanity I thought I did. Yet, as Your Thought, I have not left my Source, remaining part of Who created me. Your Son, my Father, calls on You today. Let me remember You created me. Let me remember my Identity. And let my sinlessness arise again before Christ's vision, through which I would look upon my brothers and myself today.Now is our Source remembered, and Therein we find our true Identity at last. Holy indeed are we, because our Source can know no sin. And we who are His Sons are like each other, and alike to Him- Jesus Christ in ACIM

Male-female intimacy is a unique moment where the needs of each are met by fulfilling the needs of the other. This is the ultimate meaning of shalom.Source Sheet

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!Want to come inside La Menarderie? On Saturday, September 19, Wendy is opening the doors (virtually!) for a live tour of the château she and her friend Liz have been bringing to life in the French countryside. Come see the treasures she's sourced, what they've been working on, and this beautiful old property while it's still very much in progress. The tour is live on Zoom and will not be recorded.JOIN THE LIVE TOUR: wendy-harrop.myflodesk.com/lamenarderietourAnd if you're dreaming of more time in a French château, Wendy is also inviting just six guests to join her for Stories, Sourcing & Styling at Château de Brives, November 15–23. EXPLORE STORIES, SOURCING & STYLING: wendy-harrop.com/experiences-cart/p/antique-experience-franceIn this episode, Wendy sits down with Aline Ghorayeb, author of A Change of Heart with Mary Magdalene, to talk about the spiritual vision that changed the direction of her life. Aline shares how the experience and the messages that followed led her to Mary Magdalene, called her to write despite never considering herself an author, and opened a new chapter in her spiritual journey. Her search to understand what she had received eventually led her to A Course in Miracles, the Gnostic Gospels, and a message that continues to guide her: we are not separate, incomplete, or alone.They explore: How Aline discerns between fear-based reactions and choices that reconnect her with love  What it meant to trust a deeply personal spiritual experience and share its message with others  Why wholeness is not something we must earn or find outside ourselves, but something we are invited to remember This is a conversation about trusting your inner knowing, remaining open to the ways guidance may arrive, and releasing the conditioning that tells you something essential is missing from who you already are.Connect with Aline:Get her book, A Change of Heart with Mary Magdalene: Sacred Revelation, Gnostic Wisdom, Inner Alchemy: amazon.com/dp/B0G12DP4H6?tag=syty-20VitalitybyAline.comInstagram: instagram.com/vitalitybyalineReferenced in this Episode: A Course in Miracles:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acim-remind/id737568020https://www.amazon.com/Course-Miracles-Combined-Quality/dp/1883360242?tag=syty-20marianne.com/acim/________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with Wendy:LinkedinInstagram: @wendy.harropFacebook: Phineas Wright HouseWebsite: Phineas Wright House PWH Farm StaysPWH Curated Experience and TravelInterested in being a guest on the show? Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.comPodcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

LESSON 259Let Me Remember That There Is No Sin.Sin is the only thought that makes the goal of God seem unattainable. What else could blind us to the obvious, and make the strange and the distorted seem more clear? What else but sin engenders our attacks? What else but sin could be the source of guilt, demanding punishment and suffering? And what but sin could be the source of fear, obscuring God's creation; giving love the attributes of fear and of attack?Father, I would not be insane today. I would not be afraid of love, nor seek for refuge in its opposite. For love can have no opposite. You are the Source of everything there is. And everything that is remains with You, and You with it.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

Kit interviews me about my counterculture take on healing. Primordial Wholeness - what is it and how does it help adoptees? We dig deep and debate on whether we can / how to uncover our wholeness underneath our trauma.Kit Myers is an associate professor in the Department of History & Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. He was previously a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Merced. His teaching interests include the study of race as a social, relational, and intersectional category of difference and power. His forthcoming book, The Violence of Love: Race, Adoption, and Family in the United States, with University of California Press (2024), uses interdisciplinary methods of archival, legal, and discursive analysis to argue that while adoption is imbued with love, violence is attached to adoption in complex ways. The book comparatively examines the transracial and transnational adoption of Asian, Black, and Native American children by White families to understand how race has been constructed relationally to mark certain homes, families, and nations as spaces of love, freedom, and better futures against others that not. Myers has also published journal articles in Adoption Quarterly, Critical Discourse Studies, Adoption & Culture, and Amerasia. He serves as on the executive committee for the Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of California, San Diego in ethnic studies and his B.S. in ethnic studies and journalism from the University of Oregon.https://www.linkedin.com/in/kit-myers-21463417/Here's where I interviewed him https://thriving-adoptees.simplecast.com/episodes/the-logic-mystery-of-healing-kit-myers Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Garden Insights #17 for September 2026How are you after Fire Horse met the Lion's Gate? This message begins there — then turns us inward.September is a month of Within-ness. While the outer world grows louder with change, disclosures, and the falling away of old structures, the sacred call is simple: Breathe. Conscious breathing reconnects us with Ruach — the Holy Spirit, the Breath of Life — and with the Unshakable Knower already living inside us.In this Garden Insights message, I share:The Power of Within-NessConscious Breathing as first preparednessCommuning with Ruach, Sophia, Eve, and the Divine FeminineWitnessing the many movies of these times with sacred neutralityThe Living Garden awakening from withinAdmission is by vibrationA new dimensional reality of Higher Light, Love, Freedom, and Grace emerging from inside usThe Light has spoken. The Breath has spoken. We are the calm in the storm. It's us.If this message resonates, please like, subscribe, comment, and share.Support this work:https://buy.stripe.com/3csbIU4v8a52eR2aEEExplore more:https://www.frequencywriter.com/https://frequencywriter.substack.com/Connect:X: https://x.com/marie_mohlerYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@colorthemagicRumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-353585Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frequencywriterTruth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@frequencywriterDisclaimer: These videos are for educational and inspirational purposes only.Support the show

What if the constant search for healing is actually keeping you trapped in the idea that something is wrong with you? In this episode of the Unity Manifest Podcast, Gary speaks with Alex Urbina, a Sovereign Activator, author, and speaker with more than 30 years of experience in personal growth and soul-remembrance work. Alex challenges the traditional healing paradigm and explores the shift from trying to “fix” yourself to remembering your inherent wholeness. The conversation explores sovereignty, the “master within,” conscious creation, inner authority, higher consciousness, medicine music, and Alex's belief that transformation comes not from becoming something new, but from remembering what is already within you. His central message is that the goal is not simply healing, but sovereigntyAppleSpotify

John 5v1-9 with Tyler Staton Jesus asks the man at Bethesda, “Do you want to get well?” and then tells him to get up, pick up his mat, and walk. Wholeness is a gift of God's grace, but it also calls for our participation - choosing to get up, take a step, and follow Jesus into a new way of life.   Bridgetown.church/teaching   

In this episode, Christi Le Fevre shares biblical and practical steps from Chapter 2, “First Things First,” of Healed Heart | My Journey from Heartbreak to Wholeness. You'll learn how God's Word can help you get back up, fight the good fight of faith and begin moving forward again.Freedom starts with a decision: Will you continue in the Word?In this episode, you will learn:How continuing in God's Word leads to freedom from grief and heartbreakWhy small steps of faith can help you move forward after lossHow to speak God's promises when battling fear, sadness and discouragementREAD THIS WEEK'S DEVOTIONAL: If you need prayer, please contact our office at (866) 50-HEART or team@christi.org.CHECK OUT the rest of Christi's story at christi.orgSUPPORT Christi's New Season at christi.org/giveFind where Christi will be ministering next at christi.org/join-christi-liveCONNECT:FB: /ChristiLeFevreMinistriesIG: @Christi_LeFevre

LESSON 256God Is The Only Goal I Have Today.The way to God is through forgiveness here. There is no other way. If sin had not been cherished by the mind, what need would there have been to find the way to where you are? Who would still be uncertain? Who could be unsure of who he is? And who would yet remain asleep, in heavy clouds of doubt about the holiness of him whom God created sinless? Here we can but dream. But we can dream we have forgiven him in whom all sin remains impossible, and it is this we choose to dream today. God is our goal; forgiveness is the means by which our minds return to Him at last.And so, our Father, would we come to You in Your appointed way. We have no goal except to hear Your Voice, and find the way Your sacred Word has pointed out to us.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

LESSON 255This Day I Choose To Spend In Perfect Peace.It does not seem to me that I can choose to have but peace today. And yet, my God assures me that His Son is like Himself. Let me this day have faith in Him Who says I am God's Son. And let the peace I choose be mine today bear witness to the truth of what He says. God's Son can have no cares, and must remain forever in the peace of Heaven. In His Name, I give today to finding what my Father wills for me, accepting it as mine, and giving it to all my Father's Sons, along with me.And so, my Father, would I pass this day with You. Your Son has not forgotten You. The peace You gave him still is in his mind, and it is there I choose to spend today.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

LESSON 253My Self Is Ruler Of The Universe.It is impossible that anything should come to me unbidden by myself. Even in this world, it is I who rule my destiny. What happens is what I desire. What does not occur is what I do not want to happen. This must I accept. For thus am I led past this world to my creations, children of my will, in Heaven where my holy Self abides with them and Him Who has created me.You are the Self Whom You created Son, creating like Yourself and one with You. My Self, Which rules the universe, is but Your Will in perfect union with my own, which can but offer glad assent to Yours, that it may be extended to Itself.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

You are not in love with him. You are in love with who you think he COULD be.In 2 years. After he heals. After he gets money. After he finally leaves that situation. After he finally chooses you fully.Girl, that's not love. That's a project. And you are not Bob the Builder.In this episode, I'm asking you the question that will save you 2 years of your life: Who is he RIGHT NOW? Not in 6 months. Not when he's at his best. Right now. Today. On a random Wednesday.If the answer is "inconsistent, disrespectful, low effort, confused" - then that's who you're dating. Not his potential.IN THIS EPISODE:- Why smart women fall for potential (it's not stupidity, it's empathy)- The difference between potential and pattern- 5 signs you are dating potential, not reality- Why "He has a good heart" is keeping you stuck- Who is he RIGHT NOW? The 3 question reality check- How to grieve the fantasy so you can meet reality- Wholeness looks better than desperation - whole women date proof, not potentialThis episode is your permission slip to stop waiting for him to become the man you need and start choosing a man who already IS.Listen to this before you text him back. Then send it to the friend who keeps saying "but he could be so good."LISTEN NEXT:One Great Weekend Doesn't Erase 6 Months of Red FlagsMen Set The Tone In RelationshipsFor educational purposes only.

Ella Langley's country song "Be Her" describes a woman who seems to have it all figured out — grounded, secure, at peace — and an aching desire to become her. At first blush it sounds like a song about envying someone else. Yet, the lyrics aren't describing another woman; Langley sings about the version of herself she wishes she could become. In this episode, we use that ache as a lens on one of the sneakiest idols we build: not comparing ourselves to an influencer or a stranger, but to an idealized version of ourselves. It's a "her" that stays just out of reach. We talk about why that chase can never actually deliver peace, what Scripture says about being transformed into an image that isn't self-made. To have this kind of ache is human, but there's only one place the ache can be cured. Key Scripture references: 1 Samuel 16:7 (man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart) Romans 12:2 (do not be conformed, but transformed) 2 Corinthians 3:18 (being transformed into his image, from one degree of glory to another) Colossians 3:3 (your life is hidden with Christ in God) Ephesians 2:10 (we are his workmanship) Discussion questions for listeners / community: If you pictured your idealized self right now, what would she look like? What is she doing that you're not? What peace or security do you think "becoming her" would actually give you? Name it specifically. Where have you been conforming to a self-made image instead of letting yourself be transformed? What would it look like this week to bring your ache for peace directly to God instead of to another round of self-improvement? A note on the source material: This episode discusses themes and reported artist commentary about Ella Langley's song "Be Her" (from her 2026 album Dandelion) but does not reproduce song lyrics. Listeners are encouraged to listen to the song themselves for the full experience. Links: Join our next 40-Day Journey here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/40-day-challenge Check out Heather's books on body image, aging, and comparison here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/books-for-christian-women-body-image Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Have you felt disconnected from your emotions? In this episode, I talk with Marie O'Neill about coming back to yourself and:Reconnecting to all parts of your being after periods of chronic stress or self-doubtCaring for your nervous system to support self-explorationFinding meaning through connections with nature, community, or spiritualityMarie is a holistic psychotherapist and spiritual coach specialising in working with HSPs. She offers programmes, services and community for highly sensitive people who want to heal their relationship with themselves on all levels, body, nervous system, mind and soul, based on her Sensitive Soul framework.Keep in touch with Marie:Website: https://www.spaceforthesoul.co.ukInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/space_for_the_soul_therapyResources Mentioned:Sensitive Soul Sanctuary: https://www.spaceforthesoul.co.uk/join-sensitive-soul-santuary-membershipSensitive Soul Group: https://www.spaceforthesoul.co.uk/group-programmeFree Workbook: https://www.spaceforthesoul.co.uk/calm-connected-workbookFree Masterclass: https://www.spaceforthesoul.co.uk/sensitivity-masterclass#downloadmasterclassGet your copy of my new book, Big Feelings, Big Joy anywhere you get your books or at https://www.bigfeelingsbigjoy.com/book Thanks for listening! You can read the full show notes and sign up for my email list to get new episode announcements and other resources at: https://www.sensitivestories.comYou can also follow "SensitiveStrengths" for behind-the-scenes content plus more educational and inspirational HSP resources: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sensitivestrengths TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sensitivestrengthsYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@sensitivestrengthsAnd for more support, attend a Sensitive Sessions monthly workshop: https://www.sensitivesessions.com. Use code PODCAST for 25% off. If you have a moment, please rate and review the podcast, it helps Sensitive Stories reach more HSPs! This episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment with a mental health or medical professional.  Some links are affiliate links. You are under no obligation to purchase any book, product or service. I am not responsible for the quality or satisfaction of any purchase.  

What is Sin?Sin is insanity. It is the means by which the mind is driven mad, and seeks to let illusions take the place of truth. And being mad, it sees illusions where the truth should be, and where it really is. Sin gave the body eyes, for what is there the sinless would behold? What need have they of sights or sounds or touch? What would they hear or reach to grasp? What would they sense at all? To sense is not to know. And truth can be but filled with knowledge, and with nothing else.The body is the instrument the mind made in its efforts to deceive itself. Its purpose is to strive. Yet can the goal of striving change. And now the body serves a different aim for striving. What it seeks for now is chosen by the aim the mind has taken as replacement for the goal of self-deception. Truth can be its aim as well as lies. The senses then will seek instead for witnesses to what is true.Sin is the home of all illusions, which but stand for things imagined, issuing from thoughts that are untrue. They are the “proof” that what has no reality is real. Sin “proves” God's Son is evil; timelessness must have an end; eternal life must die. And God Himself has lost the Son He loves, with but corruption to complete Himself, His Will forever overcome by death, love slain by hate, and peace to be no more.A madman's dreams are frightening, and sin appears indeed to terrify. And yet what sin perceives is but a childish game. The Son of God may play he has become a body, prey to evil and to guilt, with but a little life that ends in death. But all the while his Father shines on him, and loves him with an everlasting Love which his pretenses cannot change at all.How long, O Son of God, will you maintain the game of sin? Shall we not put away these sharp-edged children's toys? How soon will you be ready to come home? Perhaps today? There is no sin. Creation is unchanged. Would you still hold return to Heaven back? How long, O holy Son of God, how long?LESSON 251I Am In Need Of Nothing But The Truth.I sought for many things, and found despair. Now do I seek but one, for in that one is all I need, and only what I need. All that I sought before I needed not, and did not even want. My only need I did not recognize. But now I see that I need only truth. In that all needs are satisfied, all cravings end, all hopes are finally fulfilled and dreams are gone. Now have I everything that I could need. Now have I everything that I could want. And now at last I find myself at peace.And for that peace, our Father, we give thanks. What we denied ourselves You have restored, and only that is what we really want.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

In this episode, Christi Le Fevre shares biblical encouragement and practical steps from Chapter 1 of her BRAND-NEW book, Healed Heart: My Journey from Heartbreak to Wholeness. Through her personal story of losing her husband, Mylon Le Fevre, Christi reveals how Jesus met her in heartbreak and began leading her toward healing, joy and hope again.In this episode, you will learn:How to acknowledge heartbreak and receive the healing Jesus offers.How gratitude and choosing joy can help you move forward.How to trust God with what you don't understand and find refuge in His presence.If you are walking through grief, emotional pain or a major life change, be encouraged: your heartbreak does not have to determine your future. Jesus is the Healer of the brokenhearted.READ THIS WEEK'S DEVOTIONAL: If you need prayer, please contact our office at (866) 50-HEART or team@christi.org.CHECK OUT the rest of Christi's story at christi.orgSUPPORT Christi's New Season at christi.org/giveFind where Christi will be ministering next at christi.org/join-christi-liveCONNECT:FB: /ChristiLeFevreMinistriesIG: @Christi_LeFevre

From our series titled The Poetry of Wholeness, in which we explore how the Psalms help us to live wholly before God. Moderator: Tara Quint; Panelists: Clay Barnes, Sarah Blumenstein, and Franklin McCoyScripture reading: Psalm 23, 27, 143, and 150Learn more about Redeemer Church at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠redeemerclt.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Hilary is a strategist and futures thinker who spent thirty years inside the corporate machine before trading the analytical for the artistic and alchemic. As she approached 50, she took an intuitive leap from the limiting box she had created for herself to better align her inner and outer worlds, explore the unknown, and reach her true potential.  Creator of the recent art exhibition ‘See: The Implicate Order- From Fragmentation to Wholeness', she draws on metaphysics, psychology, and neuroscience, and practices Reiki and the ceremonial arts to help dismantle outdated societal notions through her creative work.Join us as Hilary shares: How not quite fitting in in her younger years became her strength in charting her own courseHow the theoretic ‘perfection' of her life triggered a deep desire for changeHow her process of ‘individuation' was not only internal, but also prompted by changes in her industry and life around herThe lure of the unknown and trusting intuition to ‘make the leap'The perils of denying your creative spiritNavigating kick-back from loved ones when you choose to follow your purposeReiki as a ‘magical conduit to consciousness'The active and retrospective nature of her artistic processThe global arc of transformation happening in the world, and how we all have a role to playPainting as a portal, language as an activatorThe freedom that came with her recent diagnosis of autism and ADHDAlchemy, Hermeticism and the gifts of MagicHer wonderfully inspiring tips for all women to claim their ‘weirdy-bits' And so much more….You can follow Hilary and her beautiful artworks here: https://www.instagram.com/hilary_ridley_lee/ https://www.instagram.com/sundialstudiossg/And please take a moment to RATE & REVIEW The Modern Crone - this helps us enormously to reach more listeners.Enjoy!Big thanks to The Modern Crone team -Theme music and season intro tracks:Jason de Wilde: www.jasondewilde.com.auCover design and photographyLuana Suciuhttps://www.instagram.com/luanasuciu/Luanasuciu@gmail.com Voice editing:Christopher Hales - Mask Music Studiosmaskmusicstudios@outlook.comStudio and Reel production:Kymberly Sngkymberlysngcm@gmail.com    

James concludes chapter 1 by again getting in the business of his hearers and challenging them to turn from "double mindedness" and instead be whole people of integrity (the same throughout their lives). In responses, reflection of God, and religion, James will again introduce the topics he'll be expanding on in chapters 2-5. We'll have another opportunity to examine our own hearts and minds and practice repentance where needed.

LESSON 248Whatever Suffers Is Not Part Of Me.I have disowned the truth. Now let me be as faithful in disowning falsity. Whatever suffers is not part of me. What grieves is not myself. What is in pain is but illusion in my mind. What dies was never living in reality, and did but mock the truth about myself. Now I disown self-concepts and deceits and lies about the holy Son of God. Now am I ready to accept him back as God created him, and as he is.Father, my ancient love for You returns, and lets me love Your Son again as well. Father, I am as You created me. Now is Your Love remembered, and my own. Now do I understand that they are one.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

Prayer for Seeing the Wholeness In Others for her Daily Spiritual Espresso published on September 4, 2026 which you can access here: https://powerofloveministry.net/we-are-made-whole-in-our-desire-to-make-whole/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LESSON 246To Love My Father Is To Love His Son.Let me not think that I can find the way to God, if I have hatred in my heart. Let me not try to hurt God's Son, and think that I can know his Father or my Self. Let me not fail to recognize myself, and still believe that my awareness can contain my Father, or my mind conceive of all the love my Father has for me, and all the love which I return to Him.I will accept the way You choose for me to come to You, my Father. For in that will I succeed, because it is Your Will. And I would recognize that what You will is what I will as well, and only that. And so I choose to love Your Son. Amen- Jesus Christ in ACIM

Men set the tone in relationships. Period.And before you get triggered setting the tone is not about control. It's about responsibility.A man sets the tone for how safe you feel to be soft. How safe you feel to be honest. How safe you feel to not over-explain, not defend your character, not walk on eggshells.In this episode I'm breaking down the difference between a man who sets the tone with LEADERSHIP vs. a man who sets the tone with FEAR. One makes you bloom. One makes you shrink.If you have to be masculine to survive your relationship, he's not leading. He's competing with your feminine.IN THIS EPISODE:Why this episode will trigger some women (and why it should) Tone vs. Control: The difference that changes everything5 ways a healthy man sets the tone (without saying a word)Why your nervous system knows before your brain doesIf you feel anxious, masculine, and exhausted - check the toneHow to stop mothering him and let him lead (or leave)Wholeness looks better than desperation - choosing a man who sets a safe toneThis is not about being a "pick me." This is about being a woman who understands masculine energy and refuses to settle for a man who makes you feel unsafe in your softness.

Send us a voice noteIn this episode, cohosted by Forrest Inslee and Stephanie Vander Lugt, Julie Brams discusses the profound connection between nature and mental health, emphasizing the importance of re-rooting our minds in the natural world to foster healing and wholeness. The proposition at the heart of this conversation is, that humanity's fundamental separation from nature is at the heart of so many of the mental health struggles prevalent in society today. Julie Brams, has carefully and gracefully sought to make this case in her new book, The Nature Embedded Mind: How the Way We Think Can Heal Our Planet and Ourselves.  Drawing on her own process of discovery as a mental health practitioner, Julie makes a compelling case for a profound shift of thinking needed at this point in history, especially in light of the suffering of this planet brought about by humankind.Links:Julie Brams website: ElementalThe book: The Nature Embedded MindStephanie Vander LugtStephanie's community: Kinship Plot Key  Topics:The concept of the nature embedded mind and its importanceHow Western culture has separated humans from nature and the effectsPractical ways to foster relationship with nature in therapy and daily lifeThe role of language in shaping our relationship with the environmentResistance within the mental health field to ecological approachesThe collective stories that shape our worldview and how to transform themThe importance of playfulness and curiosity in reconnecting with natureThe scientific basis for the interconnectedness of mind, body, and earthKeywords: eco-psychology, nature-based therapy, mental health, relationship with nature, language, healing, wholeness, cultural stories, environmental psychology Find us on our website: Earthkeepers Support the Earthkeepers podcast Check out the Ecological Disciple 

LESSON 245Your Peace Is With Me, Father. I Am Safe.Your peace surrounds me, Father. Where I go, Your peace goes there with me. It sheds its light on everyone I meet. I bring it to the desolate and lonely and afraid. I give Your peace to those who suffer pain, or grieve for loss, or think they are bereft of hope and happiness. Send them to me, my Father. Let me bring Your peace with me. For I would save Your Son, as is Your Will, that I may come to recognize my Self.And so we go in peace.To all the world we give the message that we have received. And thus we come to hear the Voice for God, Who speaks to us as we relate His Word; Whose Love we recognize because we share the Word that He has given unto us.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

What a profound honor it was to sit down with Shea for this conversation. After our mom passed in November 2022, my sister introduced our family to Shea's work. Living near the church where Shea was hosting Healing Circles at the time, both my sister and dad found immense comfort and support through her gatherings—and they've continued to stay connected with the Doing Grief community in meaningful ways. I was also fortunate to spend one-on-one time with Shea, navigating my own journey through my mom's transition. I'm truly grateful to share this conversation with you. Whether you are actively moving through a loss or walking beside someone who is, I believe this dialogue will inspire you to show up with greater presence, vulnerability, and self-compassion—helping you tap into your own innate capacity for healing. Key topics and highlights from our conversation: The "Doing Grief" Philosophy: Why grief is an active, ongoing practice rather than a linear phase to "get over." The Wholeness of Healing: How loss touches the entire human experience—body, mind, heart, and spirit. Adaptive Grieving Dynamics: Understanding your unique grief style and uncovering your personal healing strengths. Everyday Rites & Rituals: Simple, heartfelt practices to help families, children, and individuals navigate major life transitions. Building Healing Communities: How holding compassionate space transforms isolated suffering into shared healing. To connect more with Shea Darian: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoingGrief IG: https://www.instagram.com/doing_grief_shea_darian Thanks for joining us! Be sure to Like, Subscribe, Comment, & Share if you feel so moved. We would also love to have you join the OUR HEALING VOICES community on YouTube, Instagram, & Facebook: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBmXugv76zbAidTWUMAoqOg?sub_confirmation=1 IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourhealingvoices/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/our.healing.voices.podcast **The OUR HEALING VOICES episodes are designed to inform & entertain - not provide medical advice. You should always consult your doctor or healthcare practitioner when it comes to your personal health, or before you start any treatment.**

This talk was given by Gil Fronsdal on 2026.08.26 at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. ******* A machine generated transcript of this talk is available. It has not been edited by a human, so errors will exist. Download Transcript: https://www.audiodharma.org/transcripts/24835/download ******* For more talks like this, visit AudioDharma.org ******* If you have enjoyed this talk, please consider supporting AudioDharma with a donation at https://www.audiodharma.org/donate/. ******* This talk is licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License

Do you write 3 paragraphs when "no" would be enough?Do you feel guilty for hours after setting one small boundary?You don't have a communication problem. You have a trauma response called over-explaining. And in this episode, I'm breaking down exactly where it comes from and how to stop.Over-explaining is what happens when you were raised to believe that your "no" wasn't enough. That you had to JUSTIFY your feelings to be taken seriously. That if you just explained BETTER, he would finally understand you.He understood you. He just didn't care. And your 10-paragraph explanation won't make him care.Wholeness looks better than desperation and whole women don't explain. They state.If this episode makes you feel seen, share it with the friend who also sends voice note essays.She needs this.

You set out to have more faith, not to practice witchcraft, so nothing about your prayer life ever felt like sorcery. You were quoting Scripture the whole time. You learned to declare the promise, stand on the Word, and pray until the breakthrough came. But somewhere in there your prayers quietly stopped being surrender and became leverage; you found the verse that guaranteed the outcome you already wanted and began aiming it at your finances, your marriage, your body, less like a child asking a Father and more like a technician working a system, and you never stopped to ask what He might want to change in you before He changed anything around you. My guest today is Christa Black Singh. Christa Black Singh spent years at the center of Christian worship, writing songs the church still sings and touring the world's biggest stages, before a search for healing pulled her one degree at a time into manifestation, astrology, tarot, energy work, and finally ayahuasca and plant-medicine ceremonies in Costa Rica, where she lost nearly everything before Jesus brought her home. She came back able to name what most of us cannot see: that the New Age and the prayer meeting are often running the same operating system. In this conversation, we take the cover off all of it: manifestation, Christian witchcraft, the divine feminine, New Thought and the law of attraction, and the self-help gospel that has climbed into too many pulpits under the name of a life-coach Jesus who asks nothing of you and changes nothing in you. Here is what makes it dangerous. It works. The counterfeit really does deliver the house, the outcome, the feeling, and it sends the invoice later, because a power that gives you what you want has become the source you now answer to. The question this conversation forces is not whether the New Age is real. It is whether you have been trying to run your own life as god and calling it Christianity. Wholeness never comes through control; it comes through surrender, through the fear of the Lord, through daily repentance and a hunger for Jesus Himself rather than what He can get you. So before you decide this one is about someone else, look honestly at your own prayers and ask which of them have been trying to bend God's arm instead of bowing your knee. Guest Bio Christa Black Singh is a songwriter and worship musician who spent years at the center of the Christian music world, writing for artists and movements the church still sings and touring for more than a decade with Michael W. Smith, before a long search for healing led her out of the faith and into the New Age through manifestation, energy work, and plant-medicine ceremonies that cost her nearly everything. She has since returned to Jesus and now speaks openly about the deception she once taught, helping others recognize the counterfeit and close the doors it opened. She hosts the Head to Heart podcast and teaches on spiritual discernment, deliverance, and healing. Show Partner SafeSleeve designs a phone case that blocks up to 99% of harmful EMF radiation—so I'm not carrying that kind of exposure next to my body all day. It's sleek, durable, and most importantly, lab-tested by third parties. The results aren't hidden—they're published right on their site. And that matters because many so-called EMF blockers on the market either don't work or can't prove they do. We protect our hearts and minds—why wouldn't we protect our bodies too? Head to safesleevecases.com and use the code WINTODAY10 for 10% off your order. Episode Links Show Notes Buy my book "Healing What You Can't Erase" here! Invite me to speak at your church or event. Connect with me @WINTODAYChris on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

This talk was given by Gil Fronsdal on 2026.08.26 at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. ******* A machine generated transcript of this talk is available. It has not been edited by a human, so errors will exist. Download Transcript: https://www.audiodharma.org/transcripts/24835/download ******* For more talks like this, visit AudioDharma.org ******* If you have enjoyed this talk, please consider supporting AudioDharma with a donation at https://www.audiodharma.org/donate/. ******* This talk is licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License