Hosted by Jodi Hildebrandt We all desire and need connection, yet many of us have never been taught the skill-set to connect in our relationships. It does not “just happen” as we might think. When bonding (including honesty, compassion, responsibility, validation, vulnerability, safety and humility) is present in any relationship, connection is the outcome, with anyone and every time. When we are honest and responsible, we embody and claim our roles as men and women, and we are able to create connection and experience the fulness of our sexual and spiritual power.

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There are many types of connection which we share with one another, including spiritual, emotional, intellectual, sensual, physical and sexual. So often, so many of us are deceived to believe that "connection" requires sexual connection. This is not the case. Sexual connection is only one type of connection, and unless the other types of connection are present, sexual acts will not lead to connection at all. There is great confusion surrounding these topics of what love, sexuality and connection are. Jodi breaks down these topics and explains them clearly, along with some real-world examples of how we are taught very confusing messages by our culture.

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Many of us struggle to forgive ourselves, even after we "clean up" or make right our mistakes with all others who have been affected. We may feel not only that we did wrong, but that we are bad. This The Voice (shame) precludes us from feeling guilt, offering forgiveness and experiencing a change of heart. Choosing guilt, repentance and forgiveness rather than The Voice (shame) will alleviate and protect you from suffering. Forgiving self is very challenging. In this podcast, Jodi walks through the process of recognizing, forgiving self and moving on. This process allows us to experience a change of heart, which is permanent change.

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Hosted by Jodi Hildebrandt The word “repentance” has triggering or religious associations for many people. I’d like to use the word not in a religious way, but instead to mean a complete, thorough process of change. When the process of repentance is engaged rigorously and completely, you change—your shame dissipates, your responsibility increases, your guilt is cared for, and your character is modified for the good. There is a specific, 10-step process we must all engage in order to engage the power of repentance and reconnect with self, others and God.

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This week, I expand on the idea of The Voice (shame) and introduce the idea of Faulty Core Beliefs -- a super important topic. When we feel shame and don't take responsibility (or don't know how) to move out of it, we "swallow" impressions that we are different from others, bad, unlovable, unworthy, etc. Our brains try to make sense of why we feel this way, and the results are beliefs about our core person that are distorted, self-aggressive, and flat wrong. As you can probably imagine, these beliefs are quite destructive. So how do we deal with them? That's the topic for this week.

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This week, I discuss the often-difficult emotion of anger. It can be difficult to manage, but anger is not bad. Emotions aren't "good" or "bad." They simply give us information, and we get to learn to respond to our emotions appropriately. How do we do that? I talk with a caller about anger and its relationships to shame and resentments. I also talk about how our expectations lead to resentments, and how we can choose to manage them.

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Most of the time, we lump shame and guilt into a general idea of "feeling bad about self." In fact, shame and guilt are more opposite than they are similar. In this episode, I talk with two callers about how the two are different, and why shame (The Voice) is so destructive.

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Hosted by Jodi Hildebrandt Very often, the words “sobriety” and “recovery” are used interchangeably, yet they are vastly different. In this episode, Jodi explains in detail the differentiation between these two key terms. Sobriety is the illusion of controlling the body by not partaking of one’s Drug of Choice. Recovery, on the other hand, is a complete change of character, incorporating impeccable emotional honesty, rigorous personal responsibility, and humility.

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Hosted by Jodi Hildebrandt We always have choice, and with the power of our choice, we can choose humility or pride. Humility opens us to Truth and frees us from illusions—illusions of hatred & bigotry. Living in humility creates an experience of freedom from the illusion of being in control of your external world. Pride is a cover-up for The Voice (shame), and comes from the same source. Humility allows us to feel gratitude, pure love, wisdom, and the ability to empathize with and love others unconditionally—without being judgmental of behavior, but rather recognizing the power of peoples’ spirits. (Note: this does not mean condoning inappropriate behavior. It does mean having compassion for others). Humility is the ability to keep commitments, grow, change, mature and live in gratitude and faith. The choice to engage humility or pride is a choice regarding how we will act, how we will think, how we will perceive and how we will feel. We each have the power to choose humility and Truth.

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Hosted by Jodi Hildebrandt. In this episode, Jodi tells a powerful personal story illustrating the connecting power of emotional vulnerability and the disconnecting power of the desire to control one’s experiences. The Truth is, we are all vulnerable all the time. And when we have an experience that shows us our vulnerability, The Voice (shame) entices us to attempt to control the experience so that we “don’t have to” experience the discomfort of being out of control. Everybody is looking for connection. It’s so easy to become addicted to anything, precisely because addictions give a false sense of connection!

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