Embodied Writing Warrior: Where Inner Work Feels Like Spicy Fanfic

If you’ve ever felt too weird, too intuitive, or too powerful for the world around you… this one’s for you.

In this soul-stirring conversation, Kayla sits down with holistic transformational coach and somatic mystic Maya Lila to talk about what it really takes to reclaim your creative fire, own your feminine magic, and stop self-sabotaging your brilliance.

Maya Lila shares her story of following intuitive breadcrumbs around the globe, leaving behind the old paradigm of martyrdom and stepping fully into her role as an embodied creator, spiritual teacher, and mother raising daughters to follow their dreams.

Together, they explore:

✨ Why movement and dance are the gateway to soul-led writing
 ✨ The deeper connection between “weirdness” and witch wounds
 ✨ How ancestral and past-life fears keep women from expressing their full power
 ✨ The danger of confusing control with safety - and why magic lives in the unknown
 ✨ Using somatic embodiment to heal without needing all the cognitive details
 ✨ How to stop leaking power into food, drama, or perfectionism and reclaim it for your art
 ✨ Maya Lila’s book-writing journey, mystical synchronicities, and why now is the time to write your damn book
 ✨ A simple but powerful embodiment practice to release tension and reconnect with your body’s wisdom

If you've ever wondered how to let your creativity lead, how to own your magic without fear of being “too much,” or how to finally stop hiding—this episode will resonate on a deep, cellular level.

💎 Featured Guest:

Maya Lila is a holistic transformational coach, somatic facilitator, and splenic projector who weaves together human design, movement, emotional alchemy, and soul expression to help women return to their truth and live fully. She’s currently living nomadically with her daughters while writing her book and expanding her body of work.

Connect with Maya Lila:
🔗 Instagram
🌐 Website
📧 Substack
📺 YouTube

In this raw and wildly personal origin story, I’m pulling back the curtain on what really healed my relationship with food. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t macros, mindset work, or meal prep.

It was fan fiction. Yes, really.

From binge eating and body shame to reclaiming my self-worth, sexuality, and soul through storytelling, this episode shares how writing became my sacred medicine. You’ll hear how creating characters, worldbuilding, and journaling literally saved my life - and how it can transform yours, too.

If you’ve ever struggled with emotional eating, perfectionism, or feeling like you’re too much, this episode is a permission slip to stop forcing and start creating. Because your story isn’t over. You’re not broken. You’re just unwritten.

💫 What You’ll Hear Inside:

• Why traditional health coaching failed me after 7 years in the industry
• The real reason I binged (and what actually stopped it)
• How fan fiction became the portal to healing, self-trust, and even true love
• The surprising power of character work and fantasy in emotional alchemy
• How I accidentally wrote my soulmate into existence
• Why I believe storytelling is a more powerful tool for transformation than discipline or willpower

Learn More About The ReWrite Program Here

Find Kayla's Books Here

Book Your Call To Adventure

In this heart-expanding conversation, Caleb Nelson returns to the podcast - this time under its new Embodied Writing Warrior identity. 

Since his last visit, life has brought him into a brand new role: fatherhood. And he shows up for it with rawness, depth, and grounded love. From midnight cries as mirrors for our shadows to a dinner table moment that revealed generations of pain in real time, this episode is a rich tapestry of healing, growth, and redefinition.

Caleb shares his signature “Alignment Blueprint,” reflects on being a stay-at-home dad, and speaks to what it really means to embody the sacred masculine. This one’s for the cycle breakers, the dads doing the inner work, and anyone healing their relationship with masculinity - inside or out.

🔥 In This Episode We Cover:

• How fatherhood became the ultimate mirror for personal evolution
• Caleb’s “Alignment Blueprint”: 6 tools for living from embodied values
• The generational healing moment that changed everything—at a dinner table in France
• Masculine/feminine energy, integration, and redefining accountability
• Why Millennials are the transitional generation (and what that means for healing the collective)
• The sacred dance between self-acceptance and self-accountability
• Zone of Genius vs. Zone of Excellence—and how to stop self-sabotaging your magic
• Building a legacy on love instead of hustle

Listen To The Naked Sunday Podcast

Connect With Caleb On Instagram

Have you ever had a moment where your emotional reaction felt way bigger than the situation? Like sobbing under a blanket because someone said something slightly hurtful… or clenching your jaw so hard your dentist would be concerned? 😅

What if that wasn’t you overreacting?
What if you were feeling something ancient?

In this powerful, vulnerable, and mystical episode, I’m sharing how ancestral trauma can live in your body - how emotions and patterns that seem “too much” may actually be sacred clues that you're breaking cycles that go back generations.

You’ll hear:

• A story involving cherry blossoms, electric shocks, and multi-generational mice.
• The personal breakdown I experienced in 2022 that I thought was about launching a business… but was actually about marriage, lineage, and freedom.
• The mediumship session that connected me to a rage-filled ancestor - and how that moment clarified my mission.

And you’ll walk away with:

• Three ways to deepen your ancestral healing journey
• Somatic and energetic tools that actually work (no re-traumatizing required)
• A soft place to land if you’ve ever wondered, “Why does this hurt so much?”

This is not a surface-level convo. It’s deep soul work, wrapped in love, magic, and just the right amount of unhinged energy. 🔥

🌟 Resources & Links

• 💥 The Power Portal (2-day free experience):
  https://embodiedwritingwarrior.com/powerportal
  → Somatic, Superconscious, and sacred support for cycle-breakers ready to alchemize food struggles, emotional patterns, and resistance.
• 💃 Episode 175: The 15 Minute Morning Routine That Transforms Emotional Eating & Ignites Confidence + Creativity
• 📚 Patriarchy Stress Disorder by Dr. Valerie Rein (the cherry blossom study & so much more)
• 🎙️ Full podcast archive + other magical episodes:
   https://embodiedwritingwarrior.com/podcast

What if 10–15 minutes every morning could transform everything — your relationship with food, your confidence, your creativity, even your connection to your purpose?

In this episode of The Embodied Warrior podcast, Kayla MacDonald shares the one daily ritual that radically changed her life—and how you can use it to collapse timelines, ignite your inner fire, and break free from binge and emotional eating.

It’s not another rigid routine. It’s Dance Alchemy—a soul-led, element-based movement practice that brings your entire being online in the most magical way. Kayla shares how this ritual helped her stay consistent, confident, and grounded through major life transitions—and why it might just be the portal you’ve been searching for.

In this powerful episode, you'll learn:

• 💃 Why Dance Alchemy has become a non-negotiable daily ritual for Kayla
• 🔥 The science of why movement unlocks creativity, confidence, and healing
• 🧠 How this practice activates your whole brain (and calms your overthinking!)
• 🌱 The exact ways it helped her stop binge eating and reconnect with her body
• 🪄 Why creating emotional “states” is a skill—and how to practice them like a pro
• ✨ What happened during Kayla’s 40-day challenge—and how her life transformed

Plus: the truth about upper limits, what really helps with cravings, and why replacing habits works better than trying to “just sit with the urge.”

🎧 Listen now and reclaim your morning magic!

🔗 Links + Resources:

💜 Join The Power Portal (Free 2-Day Masterclass):
https://www.embodiedwritingwarrior.com/powerportal

🎧 Referenced episode – #071: The Most Important Skill You’ll Ever Build
https://embodiedwarrior.buzzsprout.com/1797135/10735901

💫 Dance Alchemy Global on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/dancealchemyglobal/

💫 Brooke Jillian Yantzi (Founder of Dance Alchemy):
https://www.instagram.com/brookejillianyantzi/

📲 More podcast episodes + rituals:
https://www.embodiedwritingwarrior.com/podcast

You don’t need more discipline. You don’t need to push harder. And you definitely don’t need to be perfect.

What you do need? A united will—a deep inner alignment between your desires, beliefs, emotions, and actions.

In this vulnerable, fiery comeback episode of The Embodied Warrior, I share:

• Why relying on willpower alone keeps you stuck
• What to do when your inner parts are at war
• My personal pattern of self-sabotage (yep, including Popeyes and Crazy Bread 🙃)
• How to collapse the timeline by leading through the mess—not after it

Plus: a powerful reframe on your cravings, your perfectionism, and your visionary path.

✨ This episode is also your invitation to join me inside The Power Portal, my two-day live experience designed to transmute your biggest food, body, and self-image struggles into embodied sovereignty.

🔥 Let’s move from force to flow, from shame to power, and from scattered energy to unstoppable alignment.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why willpower alone doesn’t create lasting change
• The emotional cost of perfectionism (and how to reparent the part that’s scared)
• How to move from internal war to internal unity
• Two transformational channels: releasing resistance & adding creative power
• Why your cravings are not the enemy—they’re the invitation

Perfect For:

• High-achieving women with big dreams and even bigger inner critics
• Listeners who are tired of the binge-shame-repeat cycle
• Creators and coaches who want to show up more authentically (even in the mess)

Links + Resources:

• 💥 Sign up for The Power Portal: https://www.embodiedwritingwarrior.com/powerportal
• 📝 Full transcript & journal prompts: https://www.embodiedwritingwarrior.com/podcast
• 🎙️ Patrick’s episode: 012 – How to Set Goals & Achieve Anything

What if your struggle with food was never just about food? In this power-packed episode, Kayla shatters the illusion of a traditional weight loss journey and invites you into something much deeper—a Warrior’s Journey. Through seven soul-stirring signs, she reveals how your drama with food, body, and health might be the sacred battleground where your true identity is fighting to emerge. This is the episode for every woman who knows she’s powerful—except when it comes to food—and is ready to reclaim her fire, her focus, and her fierce feminine force.  

In This Episode, You’ll Discover: 

• Why your food struggle might actually be a portal to power
• The hidden cost of making food and weight your main character
• How to tell if you’re on a Warrior’s Journey vs. a health journey
• Why cycles of burnout and perfectionism don’t mean you’re broken
• The real reason your inner “crazy” is actually sacred and essential

Referenced in This Episode:
 

• Kayla’s signature journaling process (free with email signup at EmbodiedWritingWarrior.com)
• Join the waitlist for upcoming offers & deep-dive experiences

In this empowering episode, Kayla sits down with women’s wellness guide and fasting coach Nicki Thompson to explore what it really takes to heal emotional eating and create aligned health from the inside out.

They cover:

• ✨ How fasting helped Nicki regulate her emotions and rebuild trust with food
• 🧠 The role of journaling, subconscious work, and future-self embodiment
• 🍽️ The difference between coping mechanisms and true nourishment
• 💥 Why food freedom isn’t about perfection — it’s about presence
• 🌱 How to meet resistance with love and show up for your future self today

Nicki shares her story with depth, honesty, and practical wisdom. This episode is an invitation to come home to your body, release old patterns, and reclaim your health as sacred.

Connect with Nicki:

• Instagram
• Website: Fasting With Nicki
• Join the waitlist for the next fasting group:
  https://fastingwithnicki.com/fasting-program/
• 2 Week Mindset Reset:
  https://fastingwithnicki.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2-Week-Mindset-Reset-.pdf

More from Kayla:

• Podcast: Embodied Warrior: Deep Health, Food Freedom & Spiritual Growth for Wild Women
• Instagram: @embodiedwritingwarrior
• Website: https://www.embodiedwritingwarrior.com/

You already are your future self—and this episode is your 3-part roadmap to living as her now. In this deeply personal and insight-packed episode, I share how to move beyond mindset and into embodiment. You'll walk away with powerful truths, journal prompts, and aligned actions to activate your next chapter.

We explore:

• Why failing as your future self is better than succeeding as your current one
• The sneaky ways we procrastinate in the name of “healing”
• How to step into the arena of your future self—even when it’s scary

Mentioned in this episode:

• [Episode 170 – You're Not Too Much - You're Just Meant For More. Welcome To Your Embodied Warrior Era]
• [Be Your Future Self Now by Dr. Benjamin Hardy]
• Podcast Show Notes & Journal Prompts

Welcome to Embodied Warrior — a power portal for women who are done with surface-level self-help and ready to reclaim their full-spectrum power.

In this raw and activating rebirth episode, I’m sharing what this new era of the podcast is all about, who it’s for (and who it’s not), and why I’ve returned with a deeper mission than ever before. You’ll hear the real story behind my evolution from personal trainer to embodiment guide—and why this show isn’t just a podcast... it’s a movement.

We’ll dive into the 7 most common roadblocks that the Embodied Warrior faces—and how to begin alchemizing them into fuel for your evolution. Then I’ll introduce the 7 core principles that will guide everything we explore in future episodes.

If you’ve been stuck in burnout, perfectionism, and self-sabotage… if you crave depth, freedom, and spiritual expansion… if you’re ready to live as your future self instead of endlessly “fixing” the current one—this episode is your invitation.

This is the beginning of something big. Let’s rise.

Journal Prompts & Embodied Action Steps:
📓 Available at embodiedwritingwarrior.com