What happens when you’ve done everything right, hit the milestones, followed the plan, built the “good life” and still feel like something’s missing? In this week’s episode, I’m joined by transformational coach and spiritual mentor Hélène Caniac for a powerful conversation about what it really means to move from achievement to fulfillment. Together, we explore the embodied, lived-in practice of self-trust, pleasure, and presence; how to sustain your power and purpose without burning out or betraying yourself.

We dive deep into the systems that have systemically severed our self-trust, from capitalism and productivity culture to patriarchal conditioning and the ways spirituality itself can become another form of performance. Hélène unpacks how disconnection has been woven into our collective DNA for generations, and why rebuilding trust with ourselves is one of the most radical, world-changing acts we can take.

If you’ve been craving a softer, truer way of living, a way that honors both your depth and your belonging, this episode will feel like a homecoming.

In this episode, we explore:

• The shift from achievement to fulfillment — how to move beyond external success and create a life rooted in alignment, joy, and embodied purpose.
• The systems that sever our self-trust — unpacking how patriarchy, capitalism, and performance-driven spirituality keep us disconnected from our power.
• Expanding capacity for joy and freedom — practical tools to cultivate presence, discernment, and nervous-system resilience through seasons of chaos or change.
• Pleasure as a path of leadership — how enjoyment, play, and authenticity become fuel for purpose, creativity, and sustainable impact.
• Embodiment in everyday life — living your spirituality “in traffic,” in your relationships, and in the ordinary rhythms of work, motherhood, and leadership.
• Redefining success — shifting from output and performance toward integrity, connection, and fulfillment that actually feels good in your body.
• The power of collective healing — remembering that true transformation happens in relationship, through community, curiosity, and shared humanity.

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect with  Hélène Caniac:

• Website: helenecanhelp.com
• Instagram: @helenecanhelp
• Join Le Salon — Hélène’s free Telegram community for thought-provoking seasonal musings, voice-note journal prompts, and early access to upcoming offerings. It’s a soft place to land for ambitious souls unlearning the hustle and returning to embodied fulfillment.

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

This week, I’m taking you behind the scenes of my own evolution through one of my favorite portals: reading. In this end-of-year solo episode, I walk you through all 26 books I read in 2025. These are the ones that cracked me open, challenged my assumptions, expanded my worldview, and quietly shaped the way I’ve shown up on the podcast, in my work, and in my life this year. Rather than sharing a quick top-five list, I take you on the full chronological journey, because the order matters. When you hear these books in the sequence I read them, you’ll notice the threads of curiosity, deconstruction, healing, and spiritual expansion that guided me month by month.

From faith and deconstruction, to ancestral wisdom, to the divine feminine, to creativity, to the witch wound, to energy work, to nature, to body literacy, these books formed a kind of breadcrumb trail for me — each one helping me ask bigger questions, soften old assumptions, and step deeper into the Wild & Waking journey we’ve been walking together. Some I devoured. Some I wrestled with. A few I didn’t finish. And all of them, in one way or another, became teachers in my own unraveling, remembering, reclamation, and rise.

Whether you want to expand your 2026 reading list, reflect on your own year of inner growth, or simply follow along with the journey behind the journey, this episode is a deep, thoughtful companion. And if any book sparks something for you, trust that. Pick it up, explore it, and see where it leads. The books that call to us often arrive right on time.

The full list, with links, photos, descriptions, and author podcast episodes, is available HERE so you can revisit any title or conversation that catches your attention.

In this episode, I explore:

• A full breakdown of all 26 books I read in 2025 and how each one shaped my personal growth, spiritual awakening, and inner transformation
• The reading themes that defined my year: deconstruction, spiritual healing, feminine power, ancestral wisdom, and embodied self-trust
• How books on Christian nationalism, faith deconstruction, and religious trauma supported my journey into a more authentic, expansive spirituality
• Titles that introduced me to ancestral healing, Indigenous wisdom, earth-based spirituality, and reconnecting with the cycles of nature
• Books exploring the divine feminine, goddess history, the witch wound, and women’s empowerment across history and mythology
• My honest reviews of astrology books, lunar cycle guides, moon-phase practices, and beginner resources on energy healing, Reiki, chakras, and auras
• Parenting and nervous system resources that helped me understand emotional regulation, generational patterns, and conscious parenting
• Nature-focused books on ecological consciousness, reciprocity, forest science, and our spiritual connection to the land
• Creativity and artistry titles that supported my writing process, mindset, and the shift from consumption to creation
• The books I didn’t finish, why I stepped away, and how I decide what’s aligned for my season
• My top five book recommendations of 2025 and who they’re ideal for (faith deconstruction, divine feminine, ancestral wisdom, midlife reinvention, spiritual identity work)
• How my 2025 reading list influenced the Wild & Waking podcast, The Coven, my coaching, and the wider conversations we shared this year
• An invitation to reflect on your own 2025 reading journey, personal evolution, and the topics you want to explore in 2026

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Get the complete 2025 book list and guide here
• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

​​In this conversation, Emily sits down with author, educator, and speaker Caroline J. Sumlin to explore the ideas behind her groundbreaking book, We’ll All Be Free: How a Culture of White Supremacy Devalues Us and How We Can Reclaim Our True Worth. Together, they unpack the systemic and cultural roots that shape our identity and self-worth, and how the beliefs we’ve inherited from society have kept us striving, performing, and disconnected from our inherent value.

This episode digs into the hidden characteristics of white supremacy culture including perfectionism, individualism, urgency, and fear of conflict, and how they quietly infiltrate our relationships, work, and daily lives. Emily and Caroline explore what it means to resist these patterns through community, rest, and intentional slowing down, and how collective liberation begins with personal awareness and small, everyday acts of resistance.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re constantly hustling to prove your worth, this conversation will help you trace that feeling back to its roots and offer a path toward freedom, healing, and belonging. Together, they remind us that reclaiming our worth isn’t just personal work, it’s cultural transformation.

In this episode, we explore:

• How white supremacy culture quietly shapes our standards of beauty, success, and worth
• The connection between perfectionism, hustle culture, and systemic oppression
• Why so many of us feel like we’re never enough—and how that belief is culturally conditioned
• The hidden traits of white supremacy culture (like urgency, individualism, and fear of conflict) and how they show up in daily life
• How burnout, self-criticism, and overachievement stem from systems designed to keep us striving
• What it looks like to begin unlearning urgency and embracing rest, community, and presence
• How reclaiming our inherent worth becomes a form of personal and collective liberation
• The power of curiosity, discomfort, and compassion in dismantling inherited conditioning

If this conversation opened your eyes to how deeply culture shapes our worth, don’t stop here. Share this episode, start a conversation in your community, and explore Caroline’s book, We’ll All Be Free, for a powerful next step toward personal and collective liberation.

Connect with Caroline J. Sumlin:

• Website: carolinejsumlin.com
• Grab her book — We’ll All Be Free: Amazon
• Instagram: @carolinejsumlin
• Threads: @carolinejsumlin

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

If astrology has always felt like a foreign language full of symbols, glyphs, houses, nodes, and mysterious lines running across a wheel you are in exactly the right place. In this episode, I’m joined by ancestral astrologer, Annie Bertrand, for a true beginner-friendly walkthrough of the basics. Instead of staying conceptual, Annie reads directly from my birth chart, so you can follow along with your own and finally make sense of what you’re seeing.

Annie breaks astrology down to its simplest, most foundational layers: the “big three” (sun, moon, rising), what the planets represent, how houses work, and how to interpret the symbols and placements on your chart. She explains astrology as your soul’s language, and offers a grounded perspective on what your chart can reveal about your life path, innate patterns, emotional wiring, and even the challenges your soul chose to work through.

This is part one of a two-part series with Annie. Today is the foundational “how it works” conversation. In part two, we’ll dive into Annie’s signature expertise: ancestral healing, mother wounds, soul-level contracts, and how our families’ charts interweave across generations.

In this episode, we explore:

• What a birth chart actually is and how astrology functions as a “soul language”
• How to download your chart and the easiest tools for beginners (Astro-Seek and the CHANI app)
• The Big Three—sun, moon, and rising—and how each one shapes your identity, emotions, and worldview
• How to read the houses in your chart and what each house represents in your life
• What the planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars) reveal about your communication style, love language, self-worth, motivation, and action
• How generational planets like Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus shape collective patterns across entire generations
• What the nodes mean (North Node and South Node) and how they point to your destiny path, past life mastery, and karmic patterns
• What Chiron represents as the “wounded healer” and how it shows up in your personal and relational story
• How to interpret the lines (aspects) in the center of the chart and what they reveal about inner tension, ease, and integration
• A live walkthrough of Emily’s chart as Annie explains placements, patterns, and how everything ties together

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect with Annie:

• Website: anniebertrand.com
• Instagram: @astrology_with_annie
• Threads: @astrology_with_annie
• Ancestral Astrology Course
• Free Family Karma Masterclass
• Free Moon Guide

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Emily is a speaker, facilitator, and host of the Wild & Waking podcast, creating spaces for women to unravel conditioning, reconnect to their truth, and rise in alignment with who they’re becoming.

Resources and Links:

• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In this powerful and multi-dimensional conversation, Emily sits down with intuitive healer, medium, and spiritual mentor, Nicolle Merrilyne, to explore the deeper layers of spiritual awakening, energy work, and feminine reclamation. Nicolle shares the origins of her intuitive gifts, the mediumship opening that transformed her life, and the profound initiations that led her into the work of shadow integration, embodiment, and spiritual depth. Together, they discuss the collective shift from surface-level “love and light” spirituality into a more grounded, embodied era of shadow work, emotional healing, and wild woman awakening.

Emily and Nicolle dig into the difference between mindset-level self-development and the deeper inner work required to truly evolve—grief, rage, ancestral patterns, past-life wounds, and the unconscious narratives that shape our choices. Nicolle explains the astrological landscape of this moment, including Pluto’s move from Capricorn into Aquarius, and how this transition mirrors the dismantling of outdated structures, the rise of feminine wisdom, and the increasing desire for authenticity, soul alignment, and personal sovereignty.

The episode takes a fascinating turn into the world of energetic home cleansing, spiritual hygiene, and energetic protection practices. Nicolle breaks down the foundations of maintaining a clear energetic environment—how to cleanse your home, how energy accumulates in physical spaces, how to ground and protect yourself, and why certain rooms hold more emotional imprint than others. Emily and Nicolle unpack the powerful house-clearing session they did together, including the intuitive messages that came through, the repeated water incidents in Emily’s home, and the connection between home energetics, emotional patterns, and the completion of old cycles.

This episode is an invitation to explore the unseen layers of your life; your energy, your home, your lineage, your body, and the truths rising within you. If you’re craving deeper self-awareness, a more grounded spiritual practice, or a clearer understanding of your own awakening, this conversation offers guidance, validation, and a willingness to go where transformation actually happens.

In this episode, we explore:

• Nicolle’s spiritual awakening story and how childhood intuition, mediumship, and trauma opened the door to her spiritual gifts
• The collective shift from “love and light” spirituality into deeper shadow work, embodiment, and feminine reclamation
• What shadow work actually looks and feels like in the body, and why it’s foundational to authentic spiritual awakening
• The rise of the wild woman archetype, feminine power, and the deeper layers of feminine energy beyond aesthetics or softness
• Spiritual hygiene practices for grounding, protection, and staying centered during emotionally heightened seasons (including the holidays)
• How energy accumulates in physical spaces and the basics of energetic home cleansing and space clearing
• What happened during Emily & Nicolle’s house-clearing session — energetic imprints, old contracts, stuck energy, and completing cycles
• Practical tools for energetic protection, including grounding cords, shields, smoke cleansing, salt, crystals, and intention-setting
• Why seasonal transitions can intensify emotional patterns and how to use seasonal grounding to navigate overwhelm
• Nicolle’s personal season of rebirth — moving overseas, navigating health challenges, and evolving her business and spiritual offerings

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect with Nicolle:

• Website nicollemerrilyne.com
• Instagram @nicollemerrilyne
• Threads @nicollemerrilyne
• 1:1 Sessions
• Free Signs & Spirit Guides Masterclass
• Free 7-Day Pass to RISE (Nicolle’s online spiritual sanctuary)

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

So often we expect transformation to be loud, dramatic, or instantly recognizable. But the truth is that personal evolution rarely happens in one defining moment. In this intimate solo episode, Emily reflects on the quiet, incremental, almost imperceptible shifts that have reshaped her entire inner world over the past year, while her external life has looked almost exactly the same. Through the lens of her own growth, she explores what it really means to evolve slowly, intentionally, and courageously.

Emily shares honest stories from her spiritual awakening, identity work, motherhood journey, and the subtle invitations that nudged her into deeper awareness. From the fear of being seen differently to the unexpected clarity that comes with hindsight, this episode illustrates how small daily choices, micro-yeses, and inner healing compound over time into profound change. It’s a reminder that you don’t need to burn down your life to become a new version of yourself; you simply need to pay attention to the slow burn within.

As Emily revisits who she was just one year ago—hesitant, questioning, unsure if she’d be rejected for exploring new parts of herself—she reflects on how dramatically her relationship with herself has shifted. The values she honors, the risks she takes, the conversations she’s willing to have, the intuition she trusts, the beliefs she has released: they all reveal the power of subtle, sustained personal work. This episode is a love letter to anyone walking their own path of growth, especially when it feels quiet or unseen.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re growing fast enough, if you’ve downplayed your progress because your external reality hasn’t changed, or if you’re craving a reflection of how far you’ve come, this conversation will help you see your evolution with clearer eyes. The slow burn of becoming is real, and chances are, you’re already living it, one subtle shift at a time.

In this episode, I explore:

• What personal evolution actually looks like in real time, and why slow growth is often the most sustainable and life-changing
• How subtle inner shifts—mindset work, self-awareness, healing, and nervous system regulation—compound into dramatic long-term transformation
• The difference between external change and internal identity shifts, and why your outer life may look the same even as you become a completely different woman
• How to recognize your growth by measuring backward instead of forward, and the surprising clarity that comes from reflection
• The role of spiritual awakening, intuitive development, and softening into self-trust in shaping your entire reality
• How micro-choices, daily habits, and small acts of courage create massive inner expansion over months and years
• The fears, resistance, and self-doubt that often accompany identity evolution, especially for women navigating motherhood, rural life, or community expectations
• Why subtle transformation is easy to miss in the moment and how to honor the deeper, quieter work you’ve been doing beneath the surface
• The power of curiosity, intentionality, and aligned decision-making in rewriting your beliefs and reclaiming your authentic self

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Episode 128 | Curiosity Meets Courage: Embracing the Joy of Reinvention
• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

What if your desire isn’t dangerous, but divine?

In this deeply transformative episode, Emily sits down with Dr. Kimberly Rose Pendleton, an intimacy coach, scholar, and founder of UNCOVER, to explore what it means to heal from purity culture and reclaim your body, your voice, and your power. Together, they unravel centuries of conditioning that taught women to equate goodness with obedience and holiness with self-denial, and invite listeners into a radical reframe: that pleasure is sacred, not selfish.

Kimberly shares her personal story of deconstructing evangelical beliefs, walking away from a marriage that no longer fit, and rediscovering her aliveness through the practice of pleasure. Rooted in her academic background at Yale and her years of coaching women around the world, she blends intellect and embodiment in a way that feels both revolutionary and deeply human. From the theology of Mary Magdalene to the lived reality of womanhood today, she illuminates how pleasure becomes a path back to the divine, and how reclaiming it is one of the most powerful ways women can heal from religious trauma, shame, and repression.

Emily and Kimberly dive into the hidden history of Mary Magdalene, a wealthy, powerful spiritual leader erased and rewritten as a sinner by the early Church, and what her true story reveals about the fear of feminine wisdom. They explore how purity culture and patriarchy sought to silence women’s voices, sexual expression, and intuition, and why remembering the Magdalene lineage is an act of both spiritual and societal revolution.

Whether you grew up in the church or simply absorbed the cultural messaging that your worth depends on being “good,” this conversation is an invitation to return to yourself. To soften the shame, to listen to your body, and to remember that your joy, your sensuality, and your truth are not something to hide, they’re the very portals to your power, purpose, and divine connection.

In this episode, we explore:

• How purity culture continues to shape women’s bodies, relationships, and sense of worth, even outside organized religion
• Why pleasure is sacred, not selfish, and how reconnecting with it helps women return to their power
• The connection between pleasure, spirituality, and embodiment, and why they were never meant to be separate
• The hidden truth about Mary Magdalene, her role as a wealthy priestess, spiritual leader, and symbol of feminine wisdom erased by patriarchy
• What the Gospel of Mary reveals about women’s direct access to the divine, and why her story was rewritten by the early Church
• How patriarchy and purity culture weaponized holiness, shame, and obedience to control women’s bodies and voices
• Practical ways to begin reclaiming pleasure and power in everyday life, through beauty, embodiment, and self-trust
• The ripple effect of women in their pleasure, how wholeness, joy, and desire create collective healing and transformation

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect & Work with Dr. Kimberly Rose Pendleton:

• Harlots & Heretics — a three-part journey through the hidden, holy history of women labeled “dangerous,” guiding you to reclaim your own sacred power.
• Pleasure After Purity Culture — a transformative experience to release shame, rewrite your relationship with your body, and rediscover pleasure as your birthright.
• Website: www.kimberlyrosependleton.com
• Instagram: @drkimberlyrosependleton
• TikTok: @drkimberlyrose
• Facebook: @drkimberlyrose

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

What if you stopped dreading the darker months and started seeing them as sacred? In this episode, Emily invites you to embrace the descent into the dark half of the year, a season of rest, reflection, and deep inner renewal. Drawing from ancestral wisdom, cyclical living, and her own evolution, she explores how “wintering” isn’t just about enduring the cold, but remembering that rest itself is holy work.

Emily shares how nature’s rhythm mirrors our own: trees release what no longer serves them, seeds rest underground, and the soil restores its nutrients, all in preparation for new life. Through these ancient patterns, we’re reminded that nothing in nature blooms all year long, and we’re not meant to either.

This is an invitation to slow down, to release the pressure for constant productivity, and to reconnect with what your body and spirit truly need in this season. From cozy rituals and nourishing rest to the invigorating clarity of cold air on your face, Emily offers tangible ways to lean into winter’s wisdom, even if you’re someone who craves sunshine and green.

Because on the other side of the darkness, there’s always a rebirth. Every spring you’ve ever witnessed began here, in the quiet, the cold, and the unseen. You are allowed to rest. You are allowed to not bloom. You are allowed to become.

In this episode, I explore:

• The power of wintering and cyclical living, how ancient and ancestral wisdom teaches us to honor nature’s rhythms, slow down, and find meaning in the darker months.
• Why nothing in nature blooms all year long, and how to apply that truth to your own life, leadership, and wellbeing.
• The invitation to rest, reflect, and restore, releasing the pressure for constant productivity and embracing deep rest as sacred, not lazy.
• The physical and emotional benefits of cold and stillness, from supporting your circadian rhythm and mental clarity to the invigorating healing power of cold air on your face.
• Practical ways to lean into winter’s wisdom, cozy rituals, slow living practices, journaling prompts, and simple ways to bring warmth, connection, and intention into this season.
• Embracing both light and dark within yourself, integrating the yin and yang of your inner world, finding wholeness through acceptance, and trusting that the pause is preparation for what’s next.

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Episode 121 | Beyond the Badge: Embracing Seasons in a World Obsessed with Busy
• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

What happens when your personal evolution begins to stretch the space between you and your partner? In this deeply honest and compassionate conversation, Emily sits down with feminist marriage coach Maggie Reyes to explore what she calls The Growth Gap, the tension that arises when one partner is actively growing, healing, or awakening, while the other clings to what feels safe, familiar, or expected.

Together, they unpack how to navigate seasons of self-discovery, faith shifts, and identity work without losing connection or abandoning yourself. Maggie introduces her signature “Power of One” philosophy, rooted in systems theory, which teaches that when one person in a relationship changes, the entire dynamic begins to shift. Through humor, real-life stories, and grounded examples, she offers practical tools for honoring your transformation while creating deeper intimacy, even when your partner isn’t “doing the work.”

They discuss what it means to “go first,” how to recognize the difference between fear and disrespect, and how to communicate your growth in ways that invite curiosity instead of defensiveness. Maggie also shares powerful re-frames around resentment, compassion, and the myth that both partners must grow at the same pace or in the same way.

Whether you’re deconstructing long-held beliefs, exploring new layers of yourself, or simply feeling the growing pains of change within your relationship, this conversation is a breath of relief and a roadmap for love that expands instead of contracts.

In this episode, we explore:

• What The Growth Gap is and why it happens when one partner evolves and the other resists change
• How to honor your personal growth without abandoning your relationship or yourself
• Maggie’s “Power of One” framework and how one person’s transformation can shift the entire relationship
• The myth that partners must grow at the same pace (and what actually sustains long-term connection)
• How to communicate your insights and new awareness without triggering defensiveness
• The difference between fear, indifference, and contempt, and how to know which you’re facing
• What to do when your growth brings up tension around faith, identity, or worldview differences
• The mindset of “I go first” and why it’s key for creating healthy change
• Why curiosity, consent, and compassion are essential for meaningful conversations
• How to know when growth differences are workable, and when they signal deeper misalignment

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect with Maggie:

• Download The Growth Gap Workshop, a free resource for when you're evolving and your partner isn’t on the same path
• Listen to The Marriage Life Coach Podcast
• Explore her self-study program, The Marriage Mindset Makeover
• Learn about Private Coaching
• Check out her bestselling book, Questions for Couples Journal
• Follow on Instagram: @themaggiereyes
• Visit her website: maggiereyes.com

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

Life is tender and messy and miraculous all at once. In this solo episode, Emily invites you into a reflection on the beautiful, brutal art of holding it all—the grief and the gratitude, the darkness and the light, the exhaustion and the quiet magic of simply being alive.

Fresh off a transformative retreat and deep in the waves of pregnancy, she opens up about what it means to sit in discomfort without needing to fix it, to honor both the shadows and the blessings, and to find holiness in the wholeness of being human. This is an episode about slowing down enough to feel it all—to remember that life itself is the occasion, not something to earn once everything feels perfect.

Emily explores the tension between what’s hard and what’s holy, sharing personal stories of grief, rage, beauty, and creativity. She reflects on the conditioning that teaches women to smile through pain, the ways we hide behind optimism, and the freedom that comes when we finally allow ourselves to be seen in every shade of our truth.

This conversation is an offering—a reminder that your presence, your essence, and your being are enough. You don’t have to rush through this season or mask the hard parts. You get to hold the darkness, create the magic, and call it all sacred.

In this episode, I explore:

• The beautiful and brutal truth of being fully alive — learning to hold both joy and grief, light and shadow, beauty and chaos as sacred parts of the human experience
• The power of sitting in discomfort without bypassing it, fixing it, or rushing it, and how this practice deepens emotional intelligence, presence, and embodiment
• How pregnancy, physical limitations, and seasons of surrender can become portals for personal growth, compassion, and feminine wisdom
• The conditioning that teaches women to “be fine,” to smile through pain, and to disconnect from their truth, and how to reclaim your wholeness by allowing yourself to feel it all
• The sacred work of shadow integration and self-trust—how to hold rage, grief, and sadness without shame and see them as gateways to authenticity and power
• The healing energy of sisterhood, nurturance, and creativity, and how gathering in safe, intentional spaces reminds us that we were never meant to do life alone
• What it means to live from wholeness instead of chasing it—remembering that your worth isn’t earned through productivity, perfection, or performance
• How to cultivate intentionality and ritual in everyday life by bringing presence, beauty, and creativity into the small, ordinary moments
• Why living an aligned, soul-led life is both mystical and mundane, and how to honor your humanity as deeply as your divinity
• A gentle reminder that life itself is the occasion—an invitation to slow down, feel deeply, and celebrate the sacredness of being here now

Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode!

Connect with Emily:

• Website: www.EmilyReuschel.com
• Instagram: @emilyreuschel
• Facebook: Emily Reuschel
• LinkedIn: Emily Reuschel
• Join my Book Insiders List: Sign up here!

Resources and Links:

• Episode 119 | How to Create Safety Within Yourself, Unpack Fear and Imposter Syndrome, and Tap into Your Unlimited Potential with Tracy Litt
• Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!
• Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call here
• Wild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More