What happens when your entire life crumbles in a matter of months? When the people you trust betray you, your health gives way, and you're left staring into a future you never expected? For Dr. Lisa Nezneski, that wasn’t a hypothetical—it was her reality.

In this powerful episode of Warriors Unmasked, Chuck Thuss sits down with Dr. Lisa—pharmacist, poet, mindfulness teacher, and shamanic healer—to explore her extraordinary journey from heartbreak and upheaval to deep healing and transformation. Lisa opens up about the moment she learned her wages were being garnished, how that shock pulled the veil off years of hidden dysfunction, and how she picked up the pieces of her life with unwavering spiritual discipline, emotional honesty, and daily mindfulness practices.

You’ll hear how she went from living on 10 wild acres in a sulfur-scented North Carolina forest (yes, with bears and snakes!) to finding emotional refuge in beach sunrises, spiritual teachers, and eventually, love. Dr. Lisa also offers grounded wisdom on how meditation, journaling, and letting yourself feel grief—even in the most inconvenient places—can offer a path through the hardest seasons of life.

If you’ve ever felt like life knocked you down too many times… this episode is your reminder that healing is possible, the journey is worth it, and you are never alone.

GUEST LINKS:

• Facebook: Lisa Nezneski
• Jnstagram: Instagram (@LisaNezneski)
• LinkedIn: https://www.https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-nezneski/
• Twitter: https://www.Dr. Lisa | Pharm.D, Shaman, & Meditation Teacher (@LisaNezneski) on X

 

LINKS:

• www.thecompassionateconnection.com
• www.warriorsunmasked.com 
• Join Chuck’s Text Community: 251-418-7966

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 00:00 – Intro and welcome to episode 192
• 02:00 – Lisa’s story: “Putting on the armor of God” during the hardest season
• 04:15 – Facing IRS garnishment and selling the family home
• 06:00 – Moving to North Carolina and feeling totally out of place
• 08:00 – Surviving isolation, bears, and emotional breakdowns
• 10:15 – Divorce, healing on the beach, and Hurricane Florence
• 13:00 – How Lisa found herself again through structured healing
• 15:00 – Meditation: the practice that helped her navigate chaos
• 18:00 – Why journaling + movement + meditation became non-negotiable
• 21:00 – Becoming a shaman: learning to trust what the Earth provides
• 23:00 – How nature and spiritual rituals helped rebuild her identity
• 26:00 – The importance of feeling emotions and letting grief move through
• 31:00 – Chuck shares the loss of his sister and the power of feeling deeply
•  34:00 – Honoring her aunt’s death and learning to sit with loss
• 39:00 – About her book Grounded in Chaos and the journey behind it
• 43:00 – Writing poetry as a tool for emotional healing
• 45:00 – Lisa’s advice to anyone walking through their own chaos
• 48:00 – The story of the man and the open manhole: healing takes time
• 49:00 – Final words: You are worthy, you are not alone, and healing is possible