Collective Guidance

Most of us learned only two ways to deal with painful emotions: suppress them or explode. Both keep us stuck. In this episode, Charla sits down with Marty Simon, retired NYU professor, spiritual teacher, and author of "Spirituality for Effective Living: Teachings of the Masters Through an Unenlightened Disciple," to explore a third way: releasing emotions.

Marty explains how unprocessed emotions become energy blocks that get triggered by everyday events, why the exact same phone call can make one person furious and leave another unbothered, and how these blocks may drain our vitality as we age. He walks step by step through the releasing practice he learned from Mickey Singer, shares how he used it for four days after discovering his wife's affair, and offers a powerful reframe: the only thing any of us are truly afraid of is our own emotions.

IN THIS EPISODE:

- The difference between emotional pain and suffering

- What energy blocks are and why they cause overreactions

- Why suppressing and expressing emotions both fall short

- How to release emotions: relax the body, open the chest, witness

- Why "staying busy" makes grief harder

- The biggest mistake beginners make with this practice

- How gratitude dissolves resistance

- Why you keep repeating the same relationship patterns

- How emotional release can lead to a life with less fear

KEY QUOTE:

"Pain is natural. Suffering is optional."

📖 ABOUT MARTY SIMON

Marty Simon is a retired NYU professor of education (mathematics) who has spent more than 20 years as a spiritual teacher and meditation group leader. He teaches people how to apply spirituality to everyday life, writes "Spirituality for Effective Living" on Substack, and leads a free meditation group open to everyone.

🔗 CONNECT WITH MARTY

📚 Book: Spirituality for Effective Living: Teachings of the Masters Through an Unenlightened Disciple – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVG4KJ4Y?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

✍️ Substack (always free): https://substack.com/@martysimon

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

If this episode resonated, follow the show, leave a 5-star rating and review, and share it with someone who needs it.

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care.

In this episode of Collective Guidance, we explore fire, earth, air, and water not as a party trick but as a real framework for self-understanding. Olga traces the elements from Empedocles and Aristotle through Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna, explains how to read the elemental makeup of your birth chart, and shares simple, practical ways to bring in a missing element or calm an overactive one through food, movement, environment, and daily habits.

In this episode:

- How fire, earth, air, and water became the foundation of astrology

- How to count the elements in your own birth chart

- The four temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic

- What it looks like to be missing earth, fire, or water, and how to rebalance

- Early signs of imbalance and the hot, cold, wet, and dry qualities of each element

- How Olga balances her own air-heavy, water-light chart

- Why the elements are a language of self-compassion, not fortune telling

- Your first step to discovering your elemental makeup

🔗 CONNECT WITH DR. OLGA ROZZELL

Website: https://www.olgarozzell.com/

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a 5-star rating and review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

This episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is not medical advice.

What's the difference between being capable and having capacity? In this deeply personal conversation, licensed professional counselor and executive coach Dr. Cal Spinks explains why you can be highly skilled, successful, and "capable" — and still lose yourself completely in the process.

Dr. Cal shares his own story: growing up biracial in the projects of Central Illinois in 1968, developing an anxious attachment style, and spending decades as what he calls a "tugboat" — dragging other people's boats at the cost of his own peace. He walks us through his framework for identifying when you're operating from Fear, Obligation, or Guilt (the "FOG"), his personal practice of Head, Heart, Gut, Feet for making aligned decisions, and his journey into the Lukumi spiritual tradition, culminating in becoming a priest of the orisha Shango.

This episode covers:

- The real difference between capacity and capability

- How childhood experiences shape anxious attachment in adulthood

- The FOG framework: identifying Fear, Obligation, and Guilt as motivators

- Dr. Cal's path into African traditional spirituality (Lukumi/Ifa) and priesthood of Shango

- The Head, Heart, Gut, Feet method for distinguishing intuition from old trauma

- Shifting from a scarcity mindset to genuine abundance

- Why real growth is often about "unlearning" rather than learning

- The tugboat vs. lighthouse metaphor for healthy giving

About Dr. Cal Spinks:

Dr. Cal Spinks is a licensed professional counselor, counselor educator, executive coach, and organizational strategist with more than 20 years of experience in behavioral health, leadership, and organizational development. He is the founder of Quantum Counseling Group, operating a private behavioral health practice serving clients in Missouri, Texas, and Illinois, and the creator of the Capacity Architect Framework, which helps leaders and organizations build the clarity, structure, and human capacity needed for sustainable growth.

Connect with Dr. Cal Spinks:

Website: youbelonghere.live

Email: [email protected]

Instagram/TikTok: @drcal4u

Facebook: Cal Spinks

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review — it helps more listeners find the show.

This podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care.

Have you ever wanted to jump off the building of your current life and start over? In this episode of Collective Guidance, sits down with Betsy Pake — certified master coach, speaker, and author of Start Small and Live Big — for an honest conversation about one of the hardest questions a woman can ask herself: do I stay, or do I go?

Betsy has spent over 12 years helping women navigate midlife crises and marital conflict through her Navigate Method program. In this episode, she shares the frameworks she uses with her own clients, including her signature "Mirror, Mend, or Move" approach to conflict, why so many women reevaluate their marriages once their kids leave home, and how to finally release the guilt that keeps women stuck.

We also get personal — talking candidly about dating again after divorce, what changes in your body and nervous system when you're truly regulated with the right partner, and why "courageous conversations" (not winning arguments) are the key to any healthy relationship.

What You'll Learn:

- How to recognize when you've lost yourself inside your relationship

- The Mirror, Mend, or Move method for handling conflict

- Why values alignment matters more than chemistry

- How to release guilt around divorce, dating, or starting over

- What nervous system regulation has to do with who you're attracted to

- How to have a "courageous conversation" instead of an argument

- Betsy's honest take on dating, masculine/feminine energy, and finding a partner later in life

About Betsy Pake:

Betsy Pake is a certified master coach, speaker, and writer who uses trauma-informed care and neuroscience-based techniques to help women navigate midlife crises and relationship decisions. She's the creator of The Navigate Method and The Bridge program, host of The Art of Living Big podcast, and author of Start Small and Live Big.

👉 Listen to Betsy's podcast, The Art of Living Big

https://betsypake.com/art-living-big/

👉 Learn more about The Navigate Method and The Bridge program

https://betsypake.com/

👉 Follow Betsy on Instagram for daily guidance

https://www.instagram.com/betsypake/?hl=en

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

On this episode of Collective Guidance, host Charla Goodnight welcomes Allison Pagano, founder of Embodied Dance — a movement methodology blending somatic psychology, neuroscience, conscious dance, and embodied leadership.

Allison opens up about the eating disorder she faced at age 20 while studying abroad in Australia, and the unplanned, improvised dance performance that became the first step in her healing. From there, she and Charla explore what it really means to be "embodied," why our culture has taught us to override our own inner knowing, and how to tell the difference between fear and true intuition.

Topics covered in this episode:

- Allison's personal healing journey and first "healing choreography"

- Why movement processes emotion faster than the thinking mind

- The science behind mental, emotional, and physical alignment

- How to build self-trust through courage and curiosity

- Fear vs. intuition — and how to recognize the difference in your body

- Why some people release trauma patterns but don't fully heal

- Allison's two-part healing framework: Release and Reclamation

- Why she believes this moment in history makes embodiment essential

- Details on her Embodied Dance Teacher Training (enrolling now for October)

Connect with Allison Pagano:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embodied.dance/?hl=en

Website: https://embodied-dance.com/

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review — it helps more people find the show

What happens to your sense of self when a role you built your identity around disappears — without your full permission?

In this episode, Charla Goodnight unpacks the emotional and neurological truth behind identity shifts: losing a business, an empty nest, a marriage ending, a changing body, or a title that goes away.

Charla shares her personal story of building and eventually closing Cycle Guroo, the first indoor cycling studio in Naples, after seven years — and how that closure felt less like a business decision and more like grieving a version of herself. She connects this to her recent experience dropping her son off at college, and the realization that her 21-year role as "the mom who is needed" is shifting too.

Using sociologist Sheldon Stryker's role identity theory, Charla explains why our self-concept fuses so tightly to the roles we hold — and why the nervous system reads role loss as an existential threat rather than a simple life change.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why the brain doesn't separate "what you do" from "who you are"

• How role identity theory explains identity fusion

• Why nervous system dysregulation intensifies during major life transitions

• Practical tools: 5-count breathwork, box breathing, circular breathing

• Why movement, nutrition, and sleep matter during identity shifts

• How to reframe endings as evolution, not loss

Perfect for listeners navigating: empty nest syndrome, career transitions, business closures, divorce, motherhood identity shifts, or any major life change.

Connect with Charla Goodnight: If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

In this episode of Collective Guidance, host Charla Goodnight dives into guilt — specifically the guilt that comes up when we choose to distance ourselves from family members or relationships that no longer feel aligned.

Prompted by conversations with close friends, Charla explores why you don't have to feel guilty for protecting your peace, even when it means stepping back from people you're "supposed" to be close to. She breaks down the difference between guilt tied to genuine wrongdoing (which calls for accountability and apology) and guilt tied to boundaries (which serves no one).

Topics covered in this episode:

- Why misalignment with a family member doesn't require guilt

- How judgments from the past shape our present relationships

- The connection between guilt, nervous system regulation, and physical "dis-ease"

- A step-by-step self-forgiveness practice using a mirror exercise

- How to apologize with full accountability — without blaming the other person

- Why boundaries and love from a distance can coexist

- The difference between real apologies and reflexive, people-pleasing apologies

Charla reminds listeners that choosing your own wellbeing over obligation is not selfish — it's necessary. You are allowed to love someone and still choose not to be around them.

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

Have you ever felt a quiet nudge pulling you toward something you can't quite name? In this episode, Dr. Maria Catarina Inglesby explains why that nudge isn't random — it's your soul calling you home to yourself.

Dr. Maria is a transformational guide, energy channel, and author of "Soaring Beyond: Transcending the Known into Unbelievable Success." A PhD graduate of UC Davis and university medal recipient, she started her career in research before making the leap into spiritual work, and now blends scientific rigor with energy healing, inner alchemy, and soul-level guidance.

In this episode, Charla and Dr. Maria explore:

- The two biggest "knowns" humanity is being called to transcend — fear and judgment

- Why all judgment is really self-judgment in disguise

- A simple science-backed way to understand energy, atoms, and vibrational consciousness

- The real meaning of the Law of Attraction (and why most people get it wrong)

- What "ascension" looks like in practical, everyday terms

- Meet "Lily" — Dr. Maria's name for the little, fear-driven mind we all have

- What soul sovereignty means and how to reclaim it

- A simple daily practice for choosing love over fear in small decisions

- How to physically feel your own energy field (try it at home)

- Dr. Maria's personal story of "divine intervention" through her husband's cardiac arrest

- Why 2020 was a collective turning point on the path toward the New Earth

- How to stop hoarding emotions and start letting them flow through you

This conversation is a grounded, practical guide for anyone curious about spiritual awakening, energy work, or simply learning to move through life with more clarity and less fear.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

📖 "Soaring Beyond: Transcending the Known into Unbelievable Success" by Dr. Maria Catarina Inglesby

🎁 Free companion journal and resources — available on Dr. Maria's website

🔗 Full show notes and links: [insert episode page URL]

👉 Follow Dr. Maria Katharina Inglesby:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MariaInglesby

Website: https://mariainglesby.com/

Book:https://www.amazon.com/Soaring-Beyond-Transcending-Unbelievable-Success/dp/B0H4SGJ8WB

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a rating and review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. New episodes drop every week.

If you've ever felt like your sensitivity or intuition was something to fix or apologize for, this episode is for you. Host Charla welcomes Jay Vee Jackson — senior licensed Reiki Master Teacher, former ICU and hospice nurse, and founder of Illumine Reiki Academy — for a deep, honest conversation about energy healing, physical pain, grief, and what it really means to return to the light already within us.

Jay walks through the origin of Reiki, founded by Mikao Usui in early 1900s Japan, and explains the concepts of byoki (blocked, negative energy) and jinki (healthy energy). He shares how Reiki reduces physical pain — including a striking story of an orthopedic patient who fell asleep within three minutes of a Reiki session after a double knee replacement — and discusses the documented link between depression and lower pain tolerance.

Some of the most powerful moments come from real medical experiences: a colleague who survived a massive aneurysm against a 2% survival prognosis, two unforgettable ICU patients who reshaped Jay's understanding of unconditional divine love, and the peaceful, medically unexplainable decline of his own father at the end of life.

Jay closes with a short guided practice called "The Light Within" — a simple, accessible tool for pausing, listening inward, and letting your own inner wisdom shine a little brighter, plus reflections on meditation, ADHD/neurodivergence, lucid dreaming, and living close to nature in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador.

This episode is a gentle, honest reminder for anyone feeling weighed down by grief, physical pain, or the belief that they need to be "fixed": you are not broken. You are worthy of divine love exactly as you are.

Topics covered:

- The true history and origin of Reiki

- Byoki vs. jinki: blocked vs. healthy energy

- Why sensitive and intuitive people often feel shame around their gifts

- Reiki as pain relief: a knee replacement patient's story

- The link between depression and physical pain tolerance

- A 2% survival story doctors couldn't explain

- End-of-life peace, advance directives, and a father's story

- Distance Reiki and generational healing

- The Light Within: a guided presence practice

- Meditation, neurodivergence (ADD/ADHD), and lucid dreaming

- How to connect with Jay and explore working with him

👤 ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Jay Vee Jackson is a senior licensed Reiki Master Teacher with the International Center for Reiki Training, a former ICU and hospice nurse, a widowed gay man, and the founder of Illumine Reiki Academy. He teaches Usui Reiki, Holy Fire III Reiki, Holy Fire Karuna Reiki, Animal Reiki, and Reiki Crystal Healing — helping sensitive, spiritual, and intuitive people build confidence and a deeper relationship with their own inner light.

🔗 Connect with Jay: illuminereikiacademy.com

Here is a wonderful free meditation from Jay: https://illuminereikiacademy.com/podcast-gift/

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

Have you ever said yes to something you didn't want to do — just to avoid making someone else uncomfortable? In this episode, Charla sits down with Tiffany Braxton, author of Consent Comics, survivor, educator, and founder of Pennspire, to unpack what consent really means — and why it's about so much more than the bedroom.

Tiffany created Consent Comics using genderless, visual storytelling to teach peer pressure, boundaries, and consent in a way that's approachable for teens, parents, and adults alike. In this deeply honest conversation, she shares her own survivor story, how writing the book became part of her healing, and practical ways to recognize manipulation, guilt-tripping, and non-verbal cues most of us were never taught to see.

In this episode you'll learn:

• The real definition of consent (and why it's not just a "yes" or "no")

• How everyday guilt-tripping and pressure show up in parenting

• Why consent is one of the ultimate forms of self-care and empowerment

• How to recognize non-verbal "no" cues in relationships

• Why apologies and repair matter more than perfection

• How consent work supports healing from sexual trauma

• How to raise kids who understand boundaries, body autonomy, and self-respect

• Why genderless storytelling helps more people see themselves in the lessons

• How to keep the "consent conversation" ongoing with your kids — not a one-time talk

About Tiffany Braxton: Tiffany Braxton is the author of Consent Comics, an approachable, illustrated guide to peer pressure, dating, boundaries, and consent for teens and adults alike. She is the founder of Pennspire and a graduate of Northwestern University.

📖 Get Consent Comics: https://consentcomics.com/ 📱 Follow Tiffany on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamtiffanybraxton/?hl=en 🎥 More from Tiffany: https://linktr.ee/iamtiffanybraxton?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAafSQvkLN14qqGioWKjUF2VBIXcS6Zq4W1ZOBSvj573B1xubgQW9A-XjRzDxTA_aem_gs0CxV8MjIxbBcVTjo7VaQ

We'd love to hear from you! 💛 If you have a story to share, a question for the show, or just want to connect, reach out anytime:

🌐 Website: https://collectiveguidance.com/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectiveguidancepodcast/?hl=en 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collective-guidance-with-charla-goodnight/id1841118592 📺 Watch on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CollectiveGuidancePodcast

💫 JOIN THE COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP:

Weekly movement + meditation Zooms with Charla.

https://collectiveguidance.com/collective-membership-1289

Perfect for listeners interested in: consent education, healthy relationships, boundaries, parenting teens, trauma recovery, sexual assault survivor stories, people-pleasing, self-respect, dating advice, and personal growth.

⭐ If this episode opened your eyes, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify — it helps more parents, survivors, and couples find this conversation.