Pretty Spiritual Podcast

How are you feeling today? Are you grateful, in fear, overwhelmed, feeling anxious, depressed, happy? Or maybe some other list of feelings entirely! Identifying emotions is the first step in making space for them. The more we allow our feelings and emotions to be here the less power they have to control and overwhelm us. Can we allow our feelings to teach us? In this episode, we share our feelings and experiences and then the tools we are using to make peace with our current reality. Join us! Want to share your experience or tools with us? Find us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Insight Timer, Google Play, Spotify, Soundcloud, Podbean, and Stitcher (or our Contact page) and share your feelings, thoughts, and anything else! Thanks for listening to our spiritual podcasts. We love ya!

How To Be Courageous This week on Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we're talking about how to be courageous. For so many of us, the idea of courage makes us think of alliance and bravery, the absence of fear. But it turns out in practice, it looks pretty different. So, what is courage? It's not the absence of fear. Courage means we do what we need to do despite the fear. Join the fun as we talk about how to have courage to face the life that's right in front of us one moment at a time. We'll share about where courage is alive in each of our lives. This includes courage required to live our fullest lives, to be present with our own experience, and to love ourselves exactly as we are.  Want to share your experience or tools with us? Find us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Insight Timer, Google Play, Spotify, Soundcloud, Podbean, and Stitcher (or our Contact page) and share your feelings, thoughts, and anything else! Thanks for listening to our spiritual podcasts. We love ya!

Find soothing from within. There's a current of anxiety in the larger world and maybe in our own homes. From covid and systemic racism to fear and disconnection, we share our current fears and unmet needs and wants. Then, we discuss the spiritual tools we’re experimenting with to address our unmet needs. Many of us notice an impulse to reach for soothing from outside things. Can we find that soothing and sense of belonging from within? This is a tender time, be gentle with yourselves.

Sweet friends, today we offer grounding techniques for uncertain times. It's natural to feel anxious or ungrounded at times, and especially during coronavirus. Here we talk about how to calm down when the world is topsy turvy. We share our own experiences with feeling anxious, scared, or ungrounded—and then we share practical tips and spiritual tools for ways to calm down. We may not be able to control pandemics or covid-19, but we can find safety within. Sending you love. You're not alone.

How To Deal With Loneliness These are some weird and stressful times! What better topic for our newest episode than feeling lonely. We recorded this episode about a month before the coronavirus reality started impacting our lives in the United States, but we’re hoping that it can still be helpful, especially if you’re feeling alone with fear or anxiety about our present circumstances. All of us have some experience with feeling alone. In this modern time, we are more connected than ever, but that can also make us feel farther away. Join us as we explore the question of how to deal with loneliness, especially in these unique, global circumstances.  Annie takes the lead in episode 49 and offers this definition of loneliness: “a state of mind characterized by a dissociation between what an individual wants or expects from a relationship and what that individual experiences in that relationship.” Or, in very simple terms, it’s perceived isolation. We’ll borrow that definition from Stephanie Cacioppo’s study of lo

  How To Heal A Broken Heart   Wanting to know how to heal a broken heart? We’re with you friends. Turns out, how to get over heartbreak is something everyone deals with, sooner or later. In this very sweet and very tender episode, your spiritual best friends dive into the topic of getting over a breakup.   We may not have a magic potion for you, but we do have some experience and hope to share around breaking up with someone you love. You see, we all have had a broken heart, too. Ella shares very sweetly about the experience of being in the midst of a breakup. Annie talks about being in two different loving relationships, one where she was the person breaking up with someone she loved and the other where she was the person being broken up with. Poni shares very tenderly about breaking up with someone you love, even if that someone is not a romantic partner. This means you might be experiencing a breakup with a family member or a friend if the relationship has become troubling.   Sometimes we have to create s

Why So Serious? On the special one year anniversary of Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we are talking about how to have fun in life. Yes, even when it feels like the end times. Even in times of global pandemic, presidential elections, and whatever other fun stuff might be happening in your personal life. Smile! But seriously, life is hard enough. How can we learn to let go of some of our seriousness? How can we be more exuberant with our lives and laughter? How can we relax and let ourselves play...even as adults? If you’ve ever tried to lighten up, you’ve probably discovered that fear and pride can keep us really invested in looking good and being right. In so many ways, fear gets in the way of our ability to play. So how do we notice when we’re taking ourselves really seriously and what can we do to let go of all that seriousness? Let’s get into it. Don't Take Life Too Seriously? Um, okay... How? There are some really good reasons we started taking life so seriously. Maybe we had to act like adults when we were c

The Benefits Of Self Awareness Welcome back to Pretty Spiritual Podcast. So glad we can be together for today’s topic: self awareness. First off, what is self awareness? We love this simple definition: being self aware means knowing what we’re doing when we’re doing it.  We’re going to look at questions like, why is self awareness important? What happens when there are parts of our lives that are below the level of awareness? How do we check out and dull our awareness? And what tools can help us start to bring these habits and patterns into conscious awareness?  Self-awareness is often the link between our emotional lives and our actions. In other words, when we are practicing self-reflection, we have a choice about how we act. And, conversely, lack of self awareness can mean that we cause harm to ourselves and others. The unacknowledged parts of our lives can cause us great fear we don't even know exists. And this fear can actually drive our impulses and actions. And when we’re stuck in patterns or habits th

The Pains Of Spiritual Healing Welcome back to Pretty Spiritual Podcast. We’re so happy to be back together. Today, we’re talking about spiritual healing and spiritual growing pains.  Okay, wait what does that even mean? Truth is, we’re not totally sure. But here’s what it feels like to us to have these emotional growing pains. We’re not who we were before but we’re not yet where we want to be.  Usually, our brain has a lot to say about spiritual growing pains. It tells us stuff like, “you should be past this” or “you should be farther along.” Maybe it even tells us that people are tired of us going on and on about what we’ve been struggling with. Eventually, we start to feel like our “slow” spiritual growth is some kind of burden.  So that’s the topic. We’re going to dive in and see if we can find a way to be with today’s spiritual healing in a way that is loving and tolerant. What’s it like to be in the in-between place when it comes to emotional growth? How can we learn to love and accept the messy, work i

How To Deal With Overwhelm Today on Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we’re talking about what it's like to be stuck in a state of anxious overwhelm when it comes to daily life. Feeling overwhelmed with yours? Firstly, we want to say that you’re not alone! We all have times where we are caught up in obsessive thinking or we’re barely coping with anxiety. Secondly, we want to spread the good news. We can get through it together. To start, let's look ay the ways overwhelm shows up in our lives, both emotional and physical. Often overwhelm looks like the monkey mind, spinning around on all the things we need to do (hello, looming to-do list), all the things we haven’t accomplished, and why we’re never going to be quite enough to get it all done.  The story overwhelm and anxiety tell us is that the solution to this problem is “getting things done” or “getting ourselves together” or “getting control of our life.” And yes, of course, these can be healthy ways to engage with our lives and take responsibility for what is our

How To Create Healthy Relationships On a special episode of Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we’re talking about spiritual tools in love relationships. It’s only in really intimate relationships that we are seen in all our moods and aspects. In other words? There’s no hiding the parts of ourselves that we don’t like or that we’d rather other people not see. So join the fun as we share the relationship-building tools that help us be our best selves in romantic partnerships. We’ve all had our relationship problems. In fact, many of us don’t naturally know how to maintain healthy relationships. Yes, we hear that communication in relationships is the number one thing, but so many of us don’t even know where to start. Good news, we don't have to do it perfectly. One place we can start is by asking ourselves what we are looking for in our love relationships? If we’re honest, many of us are looking for some magical person who will somehow meet all of our needs. Or maybe we’re looking for worthiness or certainty or self-est

What Is Spiritual Bypassing? This time on Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we’re going to dig into a topic close to our hearts: spiritual bypassing. First off, what is a spiritual bypass? John Welwood coined this term to talk about a trend he observed in spiritual communities. Spiritual bypassing is when we “use spiritual ideas and concepts to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks.” Often, we fall into the trap of spiritual bypassing when we are in the thick of our messy, human process and we don’t love how it’s looking to others or to ourselves. Maybe we think it’s too much or not allowed or taking too long. We discard the messiness of the human process in favor of something that we think will look better to us or others.  We turn to this because we don’t accept the person who is here today or the experience we’re having. It’s not okay for some reason. Spiritual bypassing is actually a valid tool to pick up when we don’t have the capacity to b

What Is Emotional Regulation? This time on Pretty Spiritual Podcast we’re delving into the topic of emotional regulation. How do we make sense of and work with huge feelings without hurting ourselves? Can we start by dipping our toes into the unfelt feelings we think might destroy us? Rather than getting swept up helplessly by the big feelings, how can we learn to be active participants in our emotional lives?  If you’ve had a confusing relationship with your feelings, this episode is for you. No, we don’t have any final answers, but we do have our own experience and a bunch of helpful tools. Join us in episode 41, as we talk about self regulation of feelings as an act of self love. Maybe you’re wondering, what is emotional regulation? We’ll definitely get there. But first, let’s start with emotional dysregulation. What does that look like? Feelings come up, we push them away, try not to feel them by disassociating from our bodies, and then the feelings get lost somewhere in our bodies, only to come out sidew

How To Have A Spiritual Experience Today on Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we’re talking about spiritual awakenings. If you feel overwhelmed or confused or intimidated, we can totally understand. We weren’t sure what people meant when they talked about spiritual experiences until it happened to us. No, a spiritual awakening doesn’t necessarily involve a white light, burning bush, or celestial fanfare. (But no disrespect if it did... in fact, we might get a little jealous!) It turns out we get to decide for ourselves what constitutes a spiritual awakening. Since we get to make sense of our own spiritual life, there’s no one path to our personal destination. For some of us, these moments are dramatic and well-defined. And for others, they might be slow and almost imperceptible changes. A spiritual awakening can feel like a big moment or a slow change over the course of our lifetime. What Is Spirituality? In episode 40, we’ll share our personal experiences with spiritual awakenings. They look different for each of us

How To Stop Being Jealous This time on Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we tackle the swamplands of jealousy. (Remember how we felt about self-pity?) It's going to be a little cringey. Don’t worry, us too! In episode 39, we’ll look at this feeling, investigate its common causes, and see what it has to teach us about ourselves. Wondering how to overcome jealousy? Come join the party! Jealousy is one of those emotions that’s so hard to look at directly because it can feel toxic for so many of us. But today we’re going to try something new. What if we treat jealousy like it’s just another intelligent emotion pointing us toward something that needs our attention? What can we learn from this feeling about ourselves and our needs? It’s a tall order, but here we go. What Is Jealousy? To start, what is jealousy? Here’s what Psychology Today had to say by way of a definition: “Jealousy is a complex emotion that encompasses feelings ranging from fear of abandonment to rage and humiliation. It strikes people of all ages, gende

How To  Stop Blaming Others This week on Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we’re looking at all the reasons we play the blame game.  Some of us are really quick to place the blame on others (do the words it’s all your fault mean anything to you?). For others, it can feel natural to pick up the blame that others are putting down. Don’t worry, though. We’ve got plenty of experience to go around! So how do you usually play the blame game? Are you someone who habitually makes life problems about someone else? Or maybe you do place a lot of blame, but not on others. Some of us like to place all the blame on ourselves. You might be someone who blames “god” or Fate or some other entity for all the unfortunate things that happen in life. No matter where you land on this spectrum, we welcome you to the conversation. We’ll look at all the different ways we find fault and assign responsibility. But we won’t stop there. We’ll look at all these natural tendencies so that we can identify our habits and look toward spiritual tools

Money Matters This week your spiritual bffs are talking about money. We’ll give you all a moment to stampede away and  then another moment to let the dust settle. Anyone still with us? To those of you who are still here, get ready for the uncomfortable fun ahead! Though it’s often something we’d rather deny or avoid, we’re looking at our relationships with money in today’s episode.  More than just looking at financial stress, we’re digging deep to uncover our core attitudes about enough. Money isn’t good or bad. It’s just a mutual agreement, a neutral tool. But it’s one place our limiting beliefs and scarcity mentality can get triggered big time. We often end up assigning our core beliefs about life to our financial lives. What does this look like? Some of us with scarcity mindset think we’ll never have enough. Some of us mistake money for love. Others think that just a little more will make us feel safe. And still others are so afraid to even look at money that we bury our heads in the sand and wait for some

Sensitive Material Ahead Sweet friends, we want to let you know that today’s episode is a sensitive one. We’re talking about self destructive behavior and this content may be triggering for some listeners. If this episode starts to feel overwhelming or triggering, we’ve got plenty of other episodes you can check out. All we have to offer is our own experience with this topic, but if that isn’t what you need, we wholeheartedly encourage you to find the support you need. We want to reiterate that we are not experts or medical professionals. If you’re struggling with self-harm and need help, please send a text to the crisis text line at 741741. You can also call (800) 273-TALK (8255) to reach trained crisis counselors. Cycles Of Self-Destruction Do you struggle with addictive or compulsive behavior? Are there behaviors you find yourself doing that cause harm to you but that also somehow promise relief? All three of us have struggled with self destructive behavior patterns that bring momentary relief but that end

Going Through Changes This time on Pretty Spiritual Podcast, we’re talking about how to find our way through difficult changes in our lives. How flexible and emotionally resilient are we when adapting to change? How can we meet the small ups and downs, as well as the big life transitions, with perspective and a positive outlook? Welcome to the in-between place. Let’s get cozy! So what exactly do we mean when we talk about going through life changes? We’re talking about changes in behaviors, geographical moves, movement and change within relationships, what it’s like switching jobs or careers, the birth and death of people close to us, and all the other situations and circumstances in life subject to impermanence. Well, that’s pretty much all of it! Whether we’re ending relationships or changing careers or simply attempting to let go of old habits or ideas, there are so many times in life when we find ourselves “in transition.” In episode 35, we are neither here nor there. We’re somewhere in between. When we’r

Find Your Spiritual BFFs This week on Pretty Spiritual Podcast we’re talking about lifesaving moments of spiritual friendship and encouragement. Thought we invented the term “spiritual friendies”? We actually borrowed it from the Pali phrase kalyana mitta or spiritual friend. Today, we’re lucky to have a strong sense of spiritual community in our lives. But it wasn’t always like this. When first starting out on spiritual paths, each of us experienced loneliness, fear of people, and a deep sense that we didn’t belong. We were afraid of emotional intimacy, vulnerability, and letting people get to know the real us. So in episode 34, we’re talking about the people who encouraged us to get intimate with ourselves and the ways we try to pay that that loving encouragement forward by showing up as safe friends for others.  Of course, we’ve all benefited so much from the examples of love and warmth and friendship we’ve gotten from each other. But we also know what it’s like to feel alone and question whether we belong