Today I want to talk about loneliness, about overwhelm, about numbing, and about why I'm creating a space for us to tend to all of that, starting in January. This is the origin story of the Revealing Wisdom Collective, a weekly sanctuary where we strengthen the nervous system, awaken the deeper self, and let buried wisdom rise.

What does it mean to rewild, decolonize, and reclaim our experience of pleasure and intimacy? How do we embody erotic sovereignty? Victor Warring, an Erotic ReWilder and Somatic Sexuality Educator, helps us to understand the distinction between the erotic and the sexual, and to expand our capacity to experience pleasure—even amidst chaos, collapse, and collective overwhelm.

This episode is about humanity’s place in the world and making sense of reality in times of tumult and suffering. I’ll also reveal what I’ve been cooking for you with my new program, Revealing Wisdom Revolution.

Shawna Reininger, with Conscious Enterprise, is one of the most skilled intuitive business and personal guides I know. In this episode we talk about why tapping into the power of intuition is more crucial than ever, and how we can start cultivating space for intuition in our everyday lives.

Ruth L. Schwartz, the founding director of the Conscious Girlfriend Academy, helps us explore paradigms of healing relational trauma, emphasizing conscious solitude, energetics of the heart and understanding one's relationship needs.

In this episode, I explore our deep human need for belonging and its counterparts of isolation and exile. I share insights on authentic belonging, from relationships with pets to embracing solitude, to help you develop a healthier sense of belonging both internally and in the world.

It’s been 2.5 years since I found myself slung deep into another dark night of the soul, which I am gingerly resurrecting from. Today I'm sharing some of the heartbreaks, the victories, and two key themes of this alchemical and harrowing journey.

What does it look like when mega-celebrity spiritual teachers misuse their power and authority? And, when do these teachers' blindspots recapitulate the student's trauma - especially when the teacher doesn't understand the student's trauma response and instead blames the student for not doing the practices "right"? How can we stay alert to the charming and persuasive tactics of leaders who hold high positions of power and authority - while remaining realistic that they are still a human-being expressing themselves in unintegrated ways? This conversation with Nicola Amadora, spiritual teacher, Hakomi therapist and trauma-informed guide, brings light to the reality that students of spiritual teachers can slip into power-over and dominating power dynamics with a teacher that cause them to lose faith in their own inner authority and self-authoring trust. Key topics we covered: * The dangerous traps of spiritual bypassing and transcendence * How can women reclaim their voice when there have been centuries of cultural conditioning that dismisses a women's direct experience and personal needs? How can someone's direct experience ever be wrong as opposed to a gateway to greater self-awareness and understanding? * Scapegoating Projections - a common practice of banishing the innocent to justify separation and off-loading of personal responsibility through blame and exile * The downfall of savior projections that become a slippery slope of needing to hold a teacher as perfect and whole while ignoring red flags such as justifying their abuse and hypocritical behavior. * The impact of spiritual teachers who rigidly hold a right and wrong about how a person should live their life that makes no room for the unique needs of that person's process of integration and embodied healing. * Creating safe resources to process our confusion -- how to find people who can listen to our pain in a neutral and open-hearted way * We all have blindspots -- how to create a world where we help one another see them more clearly

Today, I want to focus on the paradigm of superhuman compulsion. This socially esteemed and normalized way of operating that often requires us to neglect our need for rest, sleep, connection, play and self-care in order to sustain our self-image of being competent, valuable, and responsible. How many of us learned that our value is crystallized only after we have achieved the esteemed social status, the perfect job, the perfect family, perfect body, or the perfect healthy lifestyle? These pressures whisk us away on a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows — one day we feel accomplished, successful, and worthy, and a day later, we collapse into depression, unworthiness and feelings of self-doubt and failure. When we’re bombarded with social pressures of who we need to become it’s easy to forget who we are at our core — and what our life’s purpose is. We are not meant to do it all. Or, “be” it all. Nor are we meant to improve and fix all perceived shortcomings. Why? I share more about this during the episode — see topics below. Episode Topics: 1. Superhuman compulsion — an investigation into reclaiming our Wild Power 2. Two reasons why we are not meant to do it all. Or, “be” it all 3. The Wonder Twin Superhero’s- Zan & Jayna 4. Each one of us has superpowers and special medicine - what’s yours? 5. What is the superhuman compulsion? 6. Confronting the trap of a modern day superhuman idealization 7. The superhuman archetype: A conditioned behavior of domestication 8. Self-denial - a fast track to drying up our well of passion and resiliency 9. Understanding our collective inheritance (moving from outer-game to inner-game) 10. Exposing the voices that reinforce superhuman idealizations and beliefs 11. Two key factors that fuel the superhuman compulsion? 12. Seeking externally for validation 13. The addiction to busyness 14. When did the essential need for rest, self-care, and quiet time become a sin? 15. Disassembling the trappings of the superhuman compulsions — what’s possible?

It sounds easy to say, "welcome everything", but if you've tried, you'll know how many protectors and iron gates come down when circumstances that we don't like capture our attention or threaten our sense of power, safety and connection. It takes immense courage and consciousness to embark on this deep level of integration and healing. There is great power gained by learning to welcome our shadows and messiness. In this episode, Anne-Marie breaks down the arc of evolutionary leadership through the five developmental phases of leadership and consciousness. Episode Topics: 1. Being on my knees, dancing between despair & hope, led me to this recording 2. Why integral leadership? 3. "Please call me by my true name", a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh 4. What is integral leadership? 5. The movement from authentic leadership to integral leadership 6. Five phases of leadership development 7. The shift from reactive to creative leadership 8. The shift from creative to integral leadership 9. The key marker of an integral leader is a devotion to embracing one's shadows 10. Integral leadership immersions with Anne-Marie 11. Feeling safe enough to be messy -- an essential component for transformational growth

In this second episode of our two-part series, Rixt shares with us how she co-designed an integral leadership program for an executive based upon his desire to become a more integral leader through embracing more of his shadows. Rixt drew from the 360 leadership assessment tool, and foundational principles, from the Leadership Circle Profile. She also intuitively included other modalities to help this leader crack the code in a few key areas that were holding him back from his next level of leadership. Join us as Rixt shares the program's intention, design and co-creative process with the brave executive who was ready to embrace more of his shadows.

This conversation with Rixt Kuiper and Rob Sinclair is about integral leadership and shadow work. How do we as leaders, consultants, healers, therapists and change-makers lead and love through exploring our personal projections and exiled parts of self? Here is what we explore: 04.15: What is shadow and why does it matter? 09.50: Shadow work - the ability to consciously expose exiled parts of self 10.46: Is shadow always dark? What about the golden shadow? 12.40: How do you recognize shadow? 14.15: The importance of shadow work as it relates to integral leadership 19.10: What is a cultural shadow and how does it get reinforced by culture? 23.23: Why is shadow work important? 25.30: What shadow integration looks like for Anne-Marie 26.50: What shadow integration looks like for Rob 29.10: What shadow integration looks like for Rixt 33.17: The power of identifying missing experiences when working with leaders 34.53: Befriending our disowned parts 42.10: Why shadow work isn’t a destination – it’s a journey 43.50: The power of not doing shadow work alone – we need one another

What does it mean to reclaim our erotic power? This conversation with Darshana Avila, Erotic Wholeness Coach, is about healing and expanding our concepts of what it means to be an erotic and whole being. * What are the scripts that we all learn about sexuality and our sexual desires and scripts that keep us in smaller boxes? * What happens when we have the courage to explore these limitations and break through? * Who do we become when we liberate our erotic life force as a form of healing power? The conversation with Darshana begins with her personal journey related to her own erotic nature. We meander through her story of waking up from the conditioned scripts that had formerly kept her in the dark from her own power and wisdom. She shares about how she helps women, and couples, become more whole through healing the blocks that impede them from feeling liberated and whole as a sensual and alive powerhouse of love and wisdom. Other topics covered: * Tantra and the healing power of connected and embodied sensual and sexual exchanges * Wild Mind & SoulCraft- a body of work, through the Animas Valley Institute, that has deeply informed Darshana's activism as well as the creation of her map of erotic wholeness * Sex workers- the power of presence and embodied sensual and sexual services for healing and integration * Darshana was recently part of a Netflix series called Love, Sex and Goop, hosted by Gweneth Paltrow - in which she models her erotic wholeness coaching with one couple through three episodes.

What happens when stoicism and the learned behavior of compartmentalizing one's emotions and vulnerability stifle the individual who embodies them? What type of violence does this create within and externally? This phenomenon is called toxic masculinity — an exalted archetype of what it means “to be a man”, which is reinforced through socialization and conditioning. What happens when we're shown that to belong we must ascribe to certain standards and norms -- how does this conditioning result in the reinforcement of our own personal cages? You know, those rigid limiting beliefs and behaviors that contort us into a smaller version of who we are. Which effectively separate us from our multidimensional, emotional, physical, and spiritual self?

Today's show is with two guests, Hualani from Canada and Marie from South Africa. We cover the following topics and more! * What does it feel like to be exiled? * What does it mean to shift from the experience of not belonging to one of becoming a Holy exile? * Examining projections as our fuel for evolution * How do we discern what is others' projections and what is our own projections or patterns of protection? * Holy Exiles are the bearers of light with a mission to see beyond illusions * What is the role and medicine of the Holy exile During the episode, I realized that we were using the racist term black sheep. I felt really uneasy about it so I did some research to educate myself. I share a bit about this at the start of the episode. In my devotion to raising consciousness, I found this experience an opportunity to unravel more of the lingering impacts of systemic racism.

Are dark thoughts, painful emotional patterns always our psychology or hormonal imbalances? No! Sometimes they are foreign energy. Listen to qigong master, Damaris Jarboux, as she describes the framework for foreign energy and how it impacts our mental body (thoughts), emotional body, physical body and eventually our spiritual connection. "Foreign energy is a spiritual virus" -- it's an energy that interferes with our ability to sense and embody our true self. Some of they key topics we cover are: * Naming Foreign Energies * Clearing Yourself from Foreign Energies * The Unity of Soul and Spirit Depicted in Stories * The Expansion of Polarity * Healing the collective and personal divide through centering in our heart * Finding and Understanding the Foreign Energy Piece

How does the Vagal Nerve serve as one of our greatest inner allies, helping us to recover from activated states of threat, anxiety, fear, and helplessness? Patricia shares about this inner Jedi along with simple practices we can do while driving or in the middle of a business meeting to calm our triggers. What we cover today: * What is the vagal nerve? * How does the vagal nerve serve as our inner Jedi? * How does the vagal nerve empower us to better manage our threats, shifting moods as well as build our resiliency during times of chaos, loss, and isolation? * The power of paying attention to our body wisdom as a gateway to integration and self-regulation * The superpowers of self-awareness, discipline, and body sensations * What are simple practices to tone our vagal nerve into a strong presence and ally - 15 Simple Ways to Enhance Vagal Tone: published by Brain Harmony

Many of us are taught we have to find the one core purpose for our expression in the world and if we can’t do that then somehow it means we’ve failed.  That is NOT true. You’ll hear guest, Sajit Greene, debunk this outdated paradigm today through topics such as: * How has one’s soul purpose become distorted by patriarchal views? * The patriarchy paradigm is not gender-based * What are patriarchal views and how does it inflame anxiety, greed, and fear? * How is this viewed through an astrology lens? * How the framework of yin (feminine energy) and yang (masculine energy) helps to remove judgment and genderism from the conversations about the destruction created by power-over and non-consensual dominance. * Rescripting soul purpose: What does soul purpose express when it’s harmonized by divine feminine (yin) and masculine (yang) energies rather than the polarization of the patriarchy paradigm? * White privilege and the power of examining our inherited language and cultural norms

Mark shares about his relationship with the natural world as his teacher, beloved, ally, and sacred mirror. He is devoted to serving as a meditation teacher who guides others to engage directly with the natural world as a form of spiritual practice and remembering. We speak about: * simple ways to engage nature as a grounding and healing presence on a daily basis * Mark's work as a mindfulness teacher, nature adventure guide, and environmental activist * the heartbreak of environmental devastations, loss, and destruction * Two of Mark's simple tips: 1. Drop your devices and get outside!! 2. Find out what happens to your moods and states of mind-body when you spend time out in nature frequently -- walk to a park, sit by a tree, it doesn't have to be a big event. Just find some quiet time with nature's wisdom.

Jen shares about her journey of being lured into deep introspection through an inner fire in her heart and belly. Jen candidly shares with us about the vulnerability and liberation of living a life through radical self-honesty. She defines Midlife Emergence as "the process of coming into view or being exposed after previously being concealed." We covered these topics -- and more: * what is Midlife Emergence? How she helps other women to listen to their inner fire and explore their own inner fire. * opening her heterosexual marriage with a man while simultaneously exploring a romantic connection with a woman. * how she and her now ex-husband consciously uncoupled from their roles of husband and wife into a new form of love and friendship as they co-parent with their teenage daughter. * rewriting negative connotations and perceptions of divorce - how she and her ex-husband uncoupled with generous love, honesty, and care, which has brought them closer than ever before. As a result of this journey, she has written a book (still in the publication process) and is currently taking enrollment for her new program called, Midlife Emergence -- an invitation for other women to investigate their own inner fire and cultivate the courage to leap into new expressions of self and sovereignty.