“Your brain isn’t broken. It’s repeating what it’s been taught to protect you.”
This Earth Xperience explores how anxiety, grief, belief systems, and the body interact, and what healing looks like when we stop fighting our internal experiences and start working with them.
Marlin Bonds shares how his work emerged from lived experience rather than theory. The conversation centers on how anxiety, panic, and emotional distress are not personal failures, but learned patterns reinforced by the brain through repetition. Fear is reframed not as something to eliminate, but as information the nervous system is responding to, sometimes too well.
The discussion moves through how grief imprints the brain and how repeated thoughts and emotional responses create loops that shape behavior, anticipation, and panic. Marlin explains that the brain’s job is protection, not peace, and when belief systems reinforce fear, the body follows. Healing begins when awareness interrupts these loops and repetition is used intentionally to retrain emotional responses.
Faith and belief systems are explored as lived frameworks rather than abstract ideas. The episode reflects on how beliefs influence how the brain interprets uncertainty, loss, and purpose. Science and spirituality are not positioned as opposites, but as complementary ways of understanding how humans regulate fear, trust, and resilience.
The conversation also touches on purpose and creation. Marlin shares how his work with Hypno Loops was built by listening to patterns in himself and others, then creating tools that support long term nervous system regulation. Healing is presented as a process of consistency, patience, and compassion rather than a single breakthrough moment.
Throughout the episode, authenticity remains central. Anxiety and grief are not treated as flaws to hide, but as signals to understand. The body is included in the healing process, not bypassed. The episode invites listeners to reconsider their relationship with their thoughts, emotional responses, and internal narratives.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint. The X in Earth Xperiences represents the unique experience of being human in this body, with this brain, in this season of life. In this episode, the X is the experience of learning how to work with the mind and body instead of against them, with hookmantv.
Questions to explore
Can anxiety and grief be retrained rather than eliminated?
What role do belief systems play in how the brain responds to fear?
How does repetition shape emotional patterns over time?
What happens when we stop fighting the body and start listening to it?
Can authenticity support healing more effectively than suppression?
How do faith and neuroscience intersect in lived experience?
How to connect with the creator
You can learn more about Marlin Bonds and his work in brain training and emotional repetition at hypnoloops.com.
“Love and marriage is not about perfection. It’s about participation and waking up every day and saying that I still choose you.”
This Earth Xperience explores how identity is navigated across changing seasons of life, including marriage, friendships, success, faith, the body, and personal growth. Dr. ShantaQuilette reflects on how people often expect consistency in areas of life that are designed to evolve, and why knowing who you are matters more than keeping everything the same.
The conversation moves through marriage as an ongoing decision rather than a fixed achievement. Dr. ShantaQuilette speaks about choosing a partner daily, not because things stay easy, but because commitment requires presence, communication, and participation. Love matures when expectations of perfection fall away and responsibility takes its place.
Friendships and success are examined through the lens of growth. She discusses how success can quietly shift relationships, expose insecurity, and require boundaries that feel uncomfortable but necessary. Some relationships change not because of conflict, but because seasons change and alignment shifts.
Faith is explored as a relationship rather than a transaction. Dr. ShantaQuilette speaks about discernment, obedience, and trusting what God reveals even when the full picture is unclear. Growth, she explains, often requires movement before certainty.
The body enters the conversation as part of this larger navigation. While her body has changed over time, her identity has remained consistent. She reflects on how society responds differently to bodies, and why those reactions do not define worth. Caring for the body becomes stewardship rooted in respect rather than shame.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by lived experience. The X represents whatever is explored together. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Dr. ShantaQuilette, a speaker and educator whose work centers on self awareness, relational clarity, faith, and navigating life with intention rather than reaction.
How to connect with the creator
emcpower.co
You can follow and connect with Dr. ShantaQuilette through her professional platforms, where she shares reflections on identity, relationships, faith, and growth.
Questions to reflect on
• What does participation look like in your closest relationships right now?
• Where have you been chasing perfection instead of presence?
• How has success changed the way people relate to you?
• Which relationships are aligned with your current season?
• How do you respond when faith asks you to move without clarity?
• What does caring for your body from respect rather than pressure look like for you?
• What helps you stay grounded when life is shifting?
"I learned that life is not about me, my success, or my wins. It is about service." James Harris Jr., MD
This Earth Xperience explores faith, survival, purpose, and the long road from fear to service. James Harris Jr., MD shares his story of growing up in poverty, being raised by his grandmother in a dangerous environment, and navigating fear in a home that never felt safe. He speaks openly about childhood trauma, gang involvement, and the mindset of survival that shaped his early decisions.
James reflects on the near death experience in college that forced him to confront his past and the weight of choices he had never repented from. That moment, paired with a campus Bible study, became the turning point that shifted his direction. He explains how fear once drove his behavior and how faith later gave him clarity, responsibility, and purpose.
The conversation moves through marriage, long suffering, and love shaped by sacrifice. James shares the realities of becoming a teenage father, staying married for over three decades, and walking through tragedy as a family. He speaks in detail about his son Marcus’s life altering accident, the pressure of being both surgeon and father, and the grief he buried in order to survive. He reflects on how faith sustained him when logic, control, and professional skill were no longer enough.
James also shares how service reshaped his understanding of love, from caring for patients to serving refugee communities abroad. He challenges the idea that happiness comes from possessions or achievement and instead points to joy rooted in purpose, faith, and compassion. His story reframes success as obedience, humility, and the willingness to help others even when life feels unfair.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the life of the guest. The X represents whatever we explore together. In this episode, the X is an Experience with James Harris Jr., MD, a general surgeon at Johns Hopkins, associate professor of surgery, residency program leader, husband, father, and man of faith. He is currently working on a memoir that explores identity, resilience, and what truly makes a human.
You can learn more about his story and read sample chapters of his memoir at jamesharrisjrmd.com. You can also find him on Instagram at @jamesharrisjrmd.
Questions to reflect on
• What fears shaped the way you learned to survive?
• When did faith become more than belief and turn into action?
• How do love and sacrifice show up in your closest relationships?
• What grief have you buried in order to keep functioning?
• How do you define success when life strips away control?
• What does service look like in your everyday life?
• If everything you owned disappeared, what would still give you joy?
"Sometimes you do not know how selfish you are until love holds a mirror up to your face." Cory Lamont Hughes Sr
This Earth Xperience moves through love, failure, faith, and the courage to face the truth about yourself. Cory Lamont Hughes Sr shares the journey that shaped him into a father, man of God, entrepreneur, and community voice who helps people discover who they are beyond what they do. He begins with the story of being saved from drowning as a child, a moment he now sees as proof that God’s favor and protection have been with him his entire life.
We explore identity and the question of who we become when our environment tells us we are smaller than we are. Cory shares the story of the eagle raised among chickens, a reminder that environment can limit belief, but purpose still calls you higher.
The conversation then moves into marriage, divorce, and the emotional weight of love. Cory reflects on the vulnerability required to be fully seen, how marriage exposes selfishness, and how two people must constantly choose each other for a relationship to last. He speaks openly about long suffering, sacrifice, the biblical image of naked and unashamed, and how love must operate both spiritually and practically.
We also explore the moments when faith alone is not enough and why marriage requires maturity, communication, emotional intelligence, and self awareness. Cory shares the pain of loving through change, the reality of capacity, and the challenge of learning that sometimes love stays and sometimes love leaves. He discusses the gap between what the church teaches about marriage and the emotional complexity that real relationships demand.
This Earth Xperience reflects on what it means to grow after loss, why slowing down matters when choosing a partner, and how divorce can teach you more about yourself than victory ever could.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the life of the guest. The X represents whatever we explore together. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Cory Lamont Hughes Sr, a father, community activist, serial entrepreneur, and coach who helps people rebuild their lives, their mindset, and their purpose. He is the creator of three seven figure businesses and is currently writing his book The Journey to Self Discovery, focused on discovering who you are beyond titles.
You can connect with him on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at @thecoreylhughes. Coaching inquiries, business scaling, and upcoming book information can be found through his Instagram.
Questions to reflect on
• What does love reveal about you when you can no longer hide behind performance?
• When you look at your past relationships, what patterns keep repeating?
• How do you define love, and does your definition match how you show up?
• What do you bring into relationships that still needs healing?
• Where do faith and practicality meet in your understanding of partnership?
• Are you prepared to love someone in the seasons that do not feel good?
• What does choosing each other look like on days when emotions shift?
• What part of you is ready to grow beyond your old decisions?
"The moment I stopped trying to be the strongest guy in the room was the moment I finally started healing." Ryan
This Earth Xperience explores what it means to break patterns you did not know were running your life. Ryan shares his journey through anxiety, panic attacks, heartbreak, fear, emotional shutdown, and the moment he decided to stop performing strength and start becoming honest with himself. He talks about the thoughts he used to run from, the habits that numbed him and the stories he had to confront to rebuild his emotional foundation.
We walk through the moments that pushed him toward change. The breakup that broke his identity. The anxiety that started showing up in his body. The nights he could not quiet his mind. The fear of being alone. The pressure to always be strong. And the realization that healing requires stillness, honesty, and the willingness to understand your own patterns.
Ryan opens up about therapy, inner child work, the role of faith in shaping his character and the transformation that came from facing what he used to avoid. He talks about separating identity from performance, learning to communicate emotional needs, and shifting from comparison to purpose. This episode sits in the tension between the man he thought he needed to be and the man he is becoming.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the story of the guest. The X represents whatever we explore together. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Ryan, the creator behind Body By Ryan, a platform dedicated to fitness, mental health, emotional strength and personal growth. Through his coaching, videos and digital community, he helps people transform their bodies while also strengthening their mindset, identity and daily habits. His work focuses on sustainable growth, personal responsibility and becoming the healthiest version of yourself inside and out.
You can connect with him at bodybyryan.com and on social platforms by searching @bodybyryanfitness.
Questions to reflect on
• What part of you learned to perform strength instead of feeling?
• Which emotion do you avoid the most and why?
• What pattern keeps showing up in your relationships?
• What would healing look like if you stopped rushing it?
• What belief about yourself needs updating?
• When did you last choose yourself without guilt?
• What does emotional strength mean to you today?
"I got tired of surviving. I wanted to actually live and understand why my life felt like a cycle I never chose." Malace Dshae
This Earth Xperience explores identity, survival, emotional honesty and the courage it takes to sit with your own story. Malace Dshae shares how her journey through childhood instability, betrayal, resentment and spiritual questions shaped the woman she is today. She talks about the moment she became aware of her patterns, how old wounds were still running her decisions and what it took to stop performing strength and start acknowledging truth.
We explore what it means to grow up fast, to protect yourself before you even understand why and the ways unresolved trauma hides inside the decisions you make. Malace explains how emotional numbness became a shield, how resentment formed from being the strong one and how faith felt confusing when life made her question her worth. She opens up about losing people she trusted, learning to forgive herself and recognizing the small moments that showed her she was ready to change.
Our conversation also follows her process of rediscovery. She talks about choosing peace over chaos, how she learned to communicate what she feels, and why honesty became a turning point in her relationships. Malace shares the lessons that helped her rebuild her mind, her voice and her sense of direction.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the story of the guest. The X represents whatever we explore together. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Malace Dshae, a creator who uses reflection, storytelling and transparency to help others recognize patterns, protect their peace and rebuild their identity.
You can connect with her on TikTok and Instagram at @real.dshae. If you want to support her directly you can use her Cash App $royalkare.
Questions to reflect on
• What emotion have you been carrying that you rarely talk about?
• Which patterns feel familiar even though you never chose them?
• When did survival become your normal?
• What would it look like to release resentment without forgetting your story?
• How do you know when you are ready for real change?
• What does peace feel like in your body and how often do you give yourself access to it?
• What relationship in your life needs more honesty, either from you or toward you?
"Everything in me that longs for something bigger than earth finds its home in God. He is more real to me than life itself." Vihan Damaris
This Earth Xperience explores faith, identity and the intimate process of understanding who you are through the One who created you. Vihan Damaris shares how her rebellious years, her questions about truth and her unexpected spiritual encounters shaped her relationship with God. She talks about the moment she realized she was living through stories that were not her own, the prayer that shifted her direction, the miracle of a squirrel that led her to what she had lost and the forty day fast that revealed her limits and her need for God.
We explore what it means to grow up in India surrounded by many belief systems and how Vihan’s family came to faith through a direct encounter that transformed their lineage. She reflects on seasons when she drifted from God and the journey of coming back with honesty, hunger and curiosity. She explains how Scripture, music and personal experience helped her rebuild a relationship that feels real and present.
Our conversation also moves into the space where creativity and spirituality meet. Vihan explains how God asked her to sing only for Him and how that yes led her into a world of songwriting, artistry and spiritual growth. Music became a place of revelation, a tool for understanding Scripture and a language for communion with God. She also shares how she navigated psychology classes that dismissed spiritual experiences and how she held onto what she knew to be true.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the life of the guest. The X represents whatever we explore together. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Vihan Damaris, a Christian singer, songwriter and digital creator from India. Her work blends worship, storytelling and visual art. She has written hundreds of songs and her music video “Jesus” has been described as a Christian music gem of 2023. On Instagram she describes her work as collaborating with God through Jesus and extending that invitation to others. Her YouTube channel includes music videos, faith reflections and creative content that reaches audiences searching for clarity and truth.
You can connect with her on YouTube by searching Vihan Damaris or on Instagram at @vihan_damaris.
Questions to reflect on
• What does identity feel like when you give yourself permission to ask real questions
• When have you felt seen in a way you could not explain?
• How do your beliefs shape the way you understand yourself?
• What shifts when you release control and ask for guidance?
• What forms of truth or love shaped your understanding of God?
• How do you recognize God’s voice in your daily decisions?
• What does it mean for you to trust God with your story?
♡ About This Earth Xperience
This Earth Xperience brings in Mama Melanin, also known as HEALarious Melanin Bee, a comedian, author, vegan, spiritual millennial mom, and creator of Laughaste Yoga. She is an entrepreneur who teaches joy as medicine, invites people into higher vibration living, and reminds us that healing can be playful, intentional, and accessible.
This conversation was a life opportunity. It revealed how real growth happens when we stay present even when things feel awkward. We talked about joy, alignment, creative expression, spiritual identity, energetic protection, and authentic laughter. We explored what it means to move through the world without waiting for everything to be perfect and how to use the resources we already have. She showed how transmutation can turn heaviness into clarity and how sacred silliness keeps the spirit open.
She shared the emotionally charged side of being judged as a spiritual person and the pressure of facing Christians who behave more like bullies. Her crips and bloods comparison showed the intensity of the reactions she receives. She explained how she protects her portal, why she does not entertain certain debates, and how choosing peace over performance becomes a real spiritual boundary. These insights offer a new way to understand what experiences we may need to release so we can move forward.
We also talked about the fun parts. Her love for laughter, her joy in creative storytelling, her hilarious take on daily life, her laugh asanas, her entrepreneurial journey, and the way her son joins her in her comedic universe. She shared the sweetness in discovering her lane, the excitement of going viral, the lessons in building a brand, and the happiness that comes from watching people heal through humor.
This episode sits at the intersection of spirituality, comedy, wellness, creativity, and human growth. It encourages listeners to think, laugh, release, and expand.
♡ Explore Her Work
Website
https://www.holisticallyhealarious.com/healarious-healing-ringtones
Mama Melanin Show
@mamaMelaninshow
HEALarious Melanin Bee
@healariousmelaninbee
Laughaste Yoga
@laughasteyoga
Laughaste Out Loud
@laughasteoutloud
Her platforms feature wellness tools, comedic edutainment, laugh yoga sessions, healing ringtones, spiritual insight, interactive workshops, and the full Laughaste lifestyle that blends joy with transformation.
♡ Questions To Consider
What moments in your life feel ready for release?
How do you protect your spiritual and emotional portal?
Where can laughter create healing for you?
What does joy teach you about resilience?
How does your own story shift when you stop waiting for perfection?
"Faith isn’t a switch you flip or a muscle you flex. It’s like gravity ...when it’s there, you feel it pulling you, and when it’s gone, there’s no pretending it’s still there."
Colten Joel Thane Barnaby
This Earth Xperience explores belief, love, and what it means to evolve beyond what you were taught without losing your desire to understand. Colten Joel Thane Barnaby, a former Pentecostal raised in a multigenerational family of pastors, shares his journey from childhood faith to questioning every structure that shaped him. Once a Bible scholar and seminary student, Colten now identifies as an agnostic atheist with an open curiosity toward truth, consciousness, and human connection.
Together we explore what happens when the search for truth outgrows certainty. Colten recalls his early experiences speaking in tongues at five years old, his family’s deep church legacy, and the moment he realized that understanding mattered more than agreement. The conversation moves from deconstructing faith to redefining love through personal experience and philosophy, weaving insights from thinkers like Bell Hooks and Scott Peck.
Colten’s reflections extend beyond religion into what it means to live and love consciously. He describes marriage as both fragile and sacred, not because it is unbreakable but because it requires constant care. He challenges capitalist and individualistic systems that isolate people from community and argues that true humanity depends on interdependence, not independence.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the story of the guest. The X represents anything you choose to explore, express, or expand. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Colten Joel Thane Barnaby, a writer, creator, and podcast host who explores belief systems, spirituality, and human connection through honest conversation. You can connect with him on Instagram and TikTok at @coltenbarnaby and watch his new podcast Ask the Next Question on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Questions to reflect on:
• What does faith mean to you when it’s no longer tied to certainty?
• How much of your belief system was inherited versus chosen?
• Can love exist without belief in God?
• When you let go of a framework, what do you hold onto instead?
• What happens when truth and comfort no longer align?
• How can questioning become a form of worship?
• What makes a human if not what we believe, but how we connect?
"Forgive yourself. It’s okay that you don’t remember everything. Trust the bits and pieces; they are puzzle pieces meant to guide you." Coach Tonya Slaton
This Earth Xperience explores the connection between memory, trauma, and intuition. Coach Tonya shares how self-awareness became the foundation for rebuilding trust in herself after years of emotional confusion and manipulation. Through her reflections, she explains how trauma can affect the brain and memory, causing people to repeat patterns they don’t fully remember. Her message reminds listeners that healing begins with awareness and that remembering every detail isn’t as important as trusting what your body and spirit already know.
Together we talk about what it means to listen to intuition after trauma, how to recognize when self-doubt is learned, and how awareness shifts the way we experience relationships. Tonya shares how gaslighting once made her question her own reality, and how learning to pause, reflect, and pay attention to small inner cues helped her rebuild confidence in her discernment. The conversation encourages compassion for the self and curiosity about what it means to be guided by an inner knowing that never leaves.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the story of the guest. The X represents anything you choose to explore, express, or expand. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Coach Tonya Slaton (@coachtonyaslaton), a Writer, Artist, Coach, and Intuitive Reader who advocates for authenticity and emotional honesty. Her work invites people to stop pretending they are okay and begin real healing through truth and self-awareness.
You can connect with her and explore her resources at linktr.ee/coachtonyaslaton or on Instagram at @coachtonyaslaton.
Questions to reflect on:
• What does self-awareness look like in your daily life?
• How can you tell when you’re operating from memory versus intuition?
• What happens when you trust yourself even without all the facts?
• How do you recognize when someone is gaslighting you?
• What does it mean to forgive yourself for not remembering everything?
• How can awareness protect you from repeating the past?
• When did you last notice your body telling you something your mind ignored?
"You can’t fix a habit in the future. You can only fix a habit in the present." — Deirdre (@Deaevtte7)
This Earth Xperience explores what it means to break cycles, question belief systems, and rediscover identity through awareness, discipline, and love. Deirdre, known online as @Deaevtte7, shares her story of surviving a house fire, growing up in an unstable environment, and transforming trauma into self-awareness. Her voice has reached millions across social platforms as she helps others see that healing begins by learning to think, breathe, and choose with intention.
Together we talk about what it means to unlearn fear-based teachings and bridge the space between science, spirit, and faith. Deirdre opens up about growing up in a Christian home, struggling with mental illness, and learning that prayer without self-alignment can keep you waiting instead of walking. She shares how discovering the connection between the mind, body, and spirit gave her a new way to experience God and to teach others that the divine is not distant, it is within.
The conversation moves through themes of resilience, forgiveness, and redefining spirituality without rejecting faith. It is a reflection on how one person’s decision to heal themselves can create a ripple of change in the lives of others.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the story of the guest. The X represents anything you choose to explore, express, or expand. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Deirdre (@Deaevtte7), a creator who teaches consciousness, self-renewal, and practical spirituality. You can connect with her and explore her resources through her Stan Store.
Questions to reflect on:
• What are you holding onto from your past that keeps you small?
• How do you know when faith is rooted in fear rather than love?
• What beliefs about God have shaped how you see yourself?
• When do you feel most connected to your spirit, and what practices support that?
• What does it mean to fix a habit in the present instead of the future?
• How can slowing down help you see what you might have missed while rushing?
• What type of community would allow you to heal and expand at the same time?
"You can’t heal yourself and hate yourself. You have to come to a place of compassion, understanding, honoring your humanity, and then we can utilize the tools." Vernique Esther
This Earth Xperience centers on love, faith, and healing when lived honestly. Vernique Esther, a licensed clinical social worker and relational trauma therapist, shares how her upbringing in a single-parent home shaped her understanding of connection. She believes we are born in community and that genuine love and shared responsibility are what sustain us.
Together we explore how independence can sometimes isolate us, how love requires presence and accountability, and how church culture has shifted from discipleship to performance. Vernique reflects on what it means to rebuild authentic faith communities through honesty and participation rather than waiting for leadership to change.
She also shares her approach as a therapist who bridges faith and mental health, helping clients move beyond shame and harmful theology. Her words remind us that healing begins with compassion, not correction, and that being human is not something to fix but to honor.
Each Earth Xperience has its own fingerprint, shaped by the story of the guest. The X represents anything you choose to explore, express, or expand. In this episode, the X is an Experience with Vernique Esther, a relational trauma therapist and licensed clinical social worker whose work centers on love, community, and emotional restoration.
You can learn more about Vernique’s work and resources at verniqueesther.com.
Questions to reflect on:
• What does it mean to advocate for love in a world that rewards independence?
• How has your understanding of love evolved as you’ve grown?
• When you reflect on your upbringing, what patterns have you chosen to change?
• How can faith communities make space for honesty without becoming performative?
• When you seek healing, do you respond to yourself with compassion or correction?
• Can love exist without sacrifice, and how do you know when sacrifice becomes self-abandonment?
• What does it mean for you to embody the idea of being the church?
In this conversation, Dani sits with Pamela Merritt, a therapist based in Georgia who describes herself as a daughter, friend, wife, auntie, and someone who is self-discovering. Together, they explore faith, resilience, and the courage to reconstruct belief with honesty and grace. They reflect on how community can feel like belonging and pressure at the same time, why some teachings become weaponized, and what healthy spirituality feels like in the body. Pamela shares why she still claims parts of Christianity for the sake of lineage, even as she releases harmful interpretations, and how her work around religious trauma grew from her own deconstruction journey.
The episode opens with a creative game that sets a reflective tone. Pamela picks a two-minute timer, the topic of religion, and an opposite-outcome response, then walks through how people justify harmful behavior online and what it would mean to choose another path. Her reflections keep returning to inner honesty, context, and the limits of forcing confessions from others who have not yet admitted truth to themselves.
From there, Pamela traces her Pentecostal-adjacent upbringing, the strict rulebooks, and the difference between church culture and the compassionate space her parents created at home. She shares how losing her mother at 18 pushed her to decide what she truly believed and how trying to live by rules exhausted her connection with God. That season led to deconstruction, new communities, and a confident faith that no longer tears people down. Her guideposts are relationship with God, room to ask questions, and a commitment to liberating rather than controlling others.
Pamela also offers practical markers for discernment: notice fear-based messages that trigger anxiety and “or else” thinking, pay attention to how scripture gets lifted out of context, ask who funds the platform or school behind a voice, use curiosity and community to navigate deconstruction, and above all, give yourself grace in the back-and-forth of leaving and returning while you learn to trust your own sense of safety with God.
Questions explored in this episode include:
Why do so many of us feel torn between community and conscience when faith becomes rule-heavy?
How do you honor family faith without inheriting harmful interpretations?
What does healthy spirituality feel like in your body, and how do you recognize fear-based teaching?
Who funds the voices shaping your beliefs, and why does that matter?
How can grace become a daily practice while you reconstruct trust in God and yourself?
About the Creator
Pamela Merritt
Website: therapist.com/clinician/pamela-merritt
Instagram: @TFCATL
Podcast: Holy Smokes Podcast
Affiliation: The Faith Community, Atlanta
What does it mean to wake up inside your own life and realize the voice in your head might not be yours? In this Earth Xperiences episode, Dani sits down with Amber, also known as @cultlifeescaped, to explore the layered and often invisible impact of growing up in a high-control religious group.
Amber shares what it felt like to live inside a structure that used fear, isolation, and conditional love as tools for obedience. Together, they discuss how belief systems can become systems of surveillance, where language is policed, thoughts are suppressed, and silence is a requirement.
This conversation is not just about leaving religion. It is about recovering personal agency, noticing how programming shows up in daily life, and trying to rebuild self-trust after a lifetime of being taught to surrender it.
They explore questions like
Is questioning always framed as rebellion in groups that fear doubt?
Why do some belief systems claim love but punish autonomy?
What happens when the consequences of thinking for yourself include losing family, friends, and your spiritual identity?
How does it feel to be free physically but still trapped mentally?
Can you be spiritual without subscribing to religious obedience?
This episode holds space for those who were raised to believe that compliance was holiness and disconnection was discipline. Dani and Amber reflect on the unspoken grief of choosing clarity over comfort and how hard it is to explain spiritual abuse when the outside world only sees “faith.”
Questions explored in this episode include
How do you unlearn control when it was labeled love?
Why is spiritual trauma so hard to name?
What does spiritual freedom look like without fear of punishment?
Can you honor your family and still reject their beliefs?
Is God still with you when the group says you are lost?
Whether you are just beginning to ask questions or have been rebuilding your life for years, this conversation is for anyone who was taught to distrust their own mind in the name of faith.
About the Creator
Amber
Instagram: @cultlifeescaped
TikTok: @cultlifeescaped
In this thoughtful Earth Xperience episode, Dani sits down with Tara Clark, creator of Modern Mom Probs, to explore how childhood, religion, motherhood, and identity all shape the way we show up in life. From infertility and the longing for one healthy child to the reality of raising that child without a village, Tara reflects on the choices that shaped her path and the belief systems she kept, questioned, or let go.
They talk about the weight of people pleasing, why modern motherhood feels so isolating, and the quiet pressure to become a brand online. Together, they unpack moments that feel both personal and universal: learning to trust yourself, feeling alone while doing everything “right,” and the blurry line between faith and fear.
Questions explored in this episode include:
• What does it mean to believe in God but not follow religion?
• How do you raise a child without forcing your past beliefs on them?
• Why is it so hard to ask for help as a mother?
• What do we share online and what do we protect?
• Can you break cycles without breaking yourself?
Whether you are a parent, a content creator, or someone navigating the tension between tradition and personal growth, this conversation makes space for nuance, honesty, and quiet courage.
About the Guest
Tara Clark
Founder of Modern Mom Probs
Author of Modern Mom Probs: A Survival Guide for 21st Century Mothers
Find her on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @modernmomprobs
In this heartfelt conversation, Dorcas Adu Adjei (@_miss_wisdom) shares her powerful journey from feeling defeated by her body to transforming her life through a single prayer. After trying and failing multiple times to lose weight, she cried out to God and that moment sparked a turning point. A stranger introduced her to intermittent fasting and walking, and something in her shifted. She attributes the strength and consistency she gained to divine intervention.
This episode explores big questions:
Why do some prayers feel answered while others don’t?
Can faith really fuel physical transformation?
What happens when you’re honest with God instead of performative?
Is it possible to create your own body, mind, and life through belief?
Dorcas opens up about childhood comments on her weight, the decision to become an actress, and the spiritual encounters that shaped her identity. She also reflects on church culture, guilt-driven religion, and how shifting into relationship-based faith changed everything.
Together, we examine how the internet responds to vulnerability, how negative comments often dominate, and what it means when God tells you, “Take the praise, I’m cheering you on.”
Whether you’re navigating your own body journey, questioning your faith, or wondering what it really means to have a relationship with Jesus, this episode invites you to rethink creativity, self-image, and the power of prayer.
✦ About the Creator
Dorcas Adu Adjei
Instagram: @_miss_wisdom
TikTok: @misss_wisdom
YouTube: youtube.com/@misswisdom38
Email: dorcasaduadjei98@gmail.com
Can you leave the church and still be spiritual? In this intimate conversation, host Dani sits down with Zen Oasis (@purposefullyzenny), a healer, writer, and mother, to explore belief systems, reparenting, and the many ways we return to ourselves.
Zen shares her transition from traditional Baptist roots to spiritual healing through plant medicine, and what happened the moment she felt pulled to leave the church. Together, Dani and Zen reflect on how inherited beliefs, childhood disappointments, and emotional repression impact the way we form truth and identity.
This conversation unpacks what it means to listen to the gut, how lineage and trauma shape our inner world, and how we re-learn joy. Zen opens up about being a pole instructor, her first time taking MDMA for healing, and why it took two years of ayahuasca ceremonies before she could even feel grounded enough to face her lineage wounds.
They also explore honest friendship, the exhaustion of performance, and how women can build community through vulnerability, not expectation.
Questions explored in this episode include:
— What does it mean to “hear from God” or receive spiritual guidance?
— How do unspoken childhood experiences shape our adult reactions?
— Can healing from trauma happen without a formal therapist?
— What does reparenting really look like in everyday relationships?
— Is envy in friendships always a bad thing, or can it reveal something deeper?
— What does it mean to release ego in order to receive truth?
Whether you’re rethinking your spiritual roots, exploring healing outside of religion, or reflecting on your role as a parent or friend, this episode is a space for compassion, curiosity, and clarity.
✦ About the Creator:
Zen Oasis
Instagram: @purposefullyzenny
TikTok & YouTube: @purposefullyzenny
Website: zenoasis.net
Book: What Was Planted Here Before I Arrived: A Journey of Reimagining Your Patterns
In this layered conversation, host Dani sits down with Kellie Snider (@kelliesnider.art), a behavior analyst turned artist and author, to explore how upbringing, faith, and comfort can shape what we believe to be true.
Kellie opens up about her childhood in a fundamentalist Christian household, her journey through grief, Buddhism, and atheism, and the deep questions that sparked her decision to start speaking publicly about racism, power, and silence. Together, they unpack how white people are often trained not to ask questions, the psychology of obedience, and how systems preserve themselves by keeping communities divided.
They also reflect on how the church has been used historically as a vehicle for maintaining white supremacy, and whether it’s possible to separate individual believers from the institutions they inherited. With candid exchanges, personal stories, and honest questions, this episode invites listeners to sit with discomfort, explore personal accountability, and examine whether morality must be tied to religion.
Questions explored in this episode include:
What does it mean to purge yourself of false beliefs?
Why do so many people trust authority figures without question?
Is there really a meeting behind all this systemic design?
What role did religion play in shaping America's racial history?
Can people who were groomed by systems still choose something new?
This is a conversation about facing the uncomfortable, not with shame, but with the will to learn, to look honestly at the mirror, and to choose what kind of person you want to be moving forward.
✦ About the Creator:
Kellie Snider
Website: kelliesnider.com
Instagram: @kelliesnider.art
TikTok: @kelliesnider.art
Can we truly experience love if we’ve never confronted our loops? In this episode, Dani sits down with Justin Scott (@cypher.j on TikTok, @this.cypher on Instagram), a wordsmith and cultural thinker who helps decode trauma, nervous system regulation, masculinity, and the emotional architecture of dating. Together, they explore whether love requires evidence, whether peace is mistaken for healing, and why silence is sometimes the loudest part of a relationship.
The conversation takes a nuanced look at how trauma patterns create loops that shape how we love, communicate, and cope. Justin offers a powerful framework for re-parenting through relationships, explaining why dating isn’t about avoiding grief but building co-regulation through emotional stamina, discernment, and shared tools.
Questions explored in this episode include:
What does a trauma-informed relationship look like?
How can you tell the difference between peace and suppression?
Why do some people crave “proof” of love while others just want to be held?
Can you build something real without first naming your emotional loops?
What’s the difference between dating for depth and dating for access?
This dialogue is not just about love and relationships, but about the systems—both internal and societal—that keep us stuck. Whether you’re rethinking faith, romance, community, or emotional health, this conversation offers a map and a mirror.
✦ About the Creator:
Justin Scott
Website: cypherj.substack.com
Instagram: @this.cypher
TikTok: @cypher.j
What does it really mean to love as a Black man or woman in a society shaped by grief, abandonment, and unspoken expectations? In this Earth Xperiences episode, host Dani sits down with @this.cypher to explore the emotional cost of Black love in a world that often values performance over presence.
Together, they examine how unprocessed pain and systemic trauma shape our relationships. Justin Scott shares powerful insights on identity, grief, dominance, and the difference between performative love and real connection. He explains why many men remain uninitiated and why some women unknowingly become stages for men who have not yet met themselves.
They ask honest questions that too often go ignored.
Why do so many relationships start with a need to be seen but collapse from emotional neglect?
How does capitalism shape what we find attractive?
What are women risking by trying to fix men who have not faced themselves?
Can a mother teach her son to respect women if he only sees her through identity, not presence?
Are Black people mistaking patterns and perception for truth?
The episode also explores media culture and visibility, with a breakdown of shows like Pop the Balloon. Justin explains why we are stuck in a mirror world, where white supremacist metrics influence Black connection and love becomes a performance loop with no resolution.
Whether you are dating, parenting, healing, or simply observing the online chaos between Black men and women, this conversation opens a window into what is really happening beneath the surface. It reveals how much of our relationship pain is rooted in grief, misdirection, and a desperate need to be witnessed instead of fixed.
Questions explored in this episode include
What is performative love and how does it impact relationships?
Why do many Black men struggle to embrace humility?
Can women protect themselves without giving up on Black love?
Is the content in our feeds keeping us angry on purpose?
What does it look like to parent without rushing to a solution?
This episode is a call to name what hurts, not to assign blame, but to make space for real repair. If you are ready to think deeper, feel slower, and sit with the discomfort of truth, you are in the right place.
About the Creator
Justin Scott
Instagram: @this.cypher
TikTok: @cypher.j
Website: https://cypherj.substack.com