We’re continuing our “When the Going Gets Tough” series today with Elena Brower, a mother, mentor, poet, artist, volunteer, bestselling author, and host of the Practice You Podcast. You may also recognize Elena from the yoga app, Glo, as she’s taught yoga and meditation since 1999.  In addition, which you’ll hear more about today, Elena received the Buddhist Precepts from Roshi Joan Halifax in 2023 and is now a candidate for Chaplaincy.

Today, Elena and I speak about her sobriety journey, how she navigated major career shifts, the sudden death of her mother, her recent transition into menopause, and how she begins each day. 

This conversation with Elena is the fourth of six I’m hosting here this spring. Together, we’re diving into stories of several prominent women who weathered various life challenges– and found ways to keep showing up for themselves, their loved ones, and their careers.

I offer these to bring support and inspiration to all traversing similar dark valleys in their own lives or work AND to celebrate the arrival of my new book, Handbook for the Heartbroken this month.

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Order Sara’s new book: Handbook for the Heartbroken
• Elena Brower 
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect with Sara on Instagram

I always love hearing candid, behind the scenes conversations, and that’s what we’re sharing here today. Yes, we’re flipping the script, in anticipation of my new book’s publication this week!

To help with this, I invited my friend, relationship and executive coach, and fellow podcast host, Krista Van Derveer, to join us. We delve into a deep conversation around all things “Handbook for the Heartbroken.”

From spotting red flags in relationships to suicidal ideation and shock after loss, we explore the path of healing after the unthinkable– along with my process of writing about it. I also share some of the preparation I’ve done recently to support me in bringing my most vulnerable piece of work to the world this week.

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Pre-order Sara’s new book: Handbook for the Heartbroken
• Krista Van DerVeer & The Art of We Podcast 
• Krista’s heartbreak story
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect with Sara on Instagram

We’re continuing our “When the Going Gets Tough” series today with Michaela Boehm, an internationally renowned expert in intimacy and relationships.

In December of 2017, Michaela experienced one of everyone’s worst nightmares. While teaching and traveling abroad, she learned that her home– including all her animals– was lost to the Thomas Fire in Ojai, California.

In the final weeks of finishing her book and with only one suitcase remaining of her belongings, when Michaela returned home to the ash and rubble of her beloved home, she embarked on a long journey of healing and rebuilding. 

Michaela’s joining us today to share an intimate look inside what that time was like for her and the key daily practices and mindset shifts that helped her through such a heartbreaking time. 

Known for her work with high-performing individuals, Michaela’s ongoing private clients include Oscar-winning actors, multiple Grammy-winning musicians, producers, and business pioneers. She’s the author of “The Wild Woman’s Way” and the founder of The Non-Linear Movement Method®, a powerful somatic release modality. Her work has recently been featured in Gwyneth Paltrow's Netflix Show “Sex, Love & goop” and Will Smith’s bestselling memoir ‘Will’. She lives on an organic farm in California where she rescues and rehabilitates animals.

This conversation with Michaela is the third of six I’m hosting over the next several weeks. Together, we’re diving into stories of several prominent women who weathered various life challenges– and found ways to keep showing up for themselves, their loved ones, and their careers.

I offer these to bring support and inspiration to all traversing similar dark valleys in their own lives or work AND to celebrate the arrival of my new book, Handbook for the Heartbroken, into the world on May 7.

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Pre-order Sara’s new book: Handbook for the Heartbroken
• Michaela Boehm
• Connect with Michaela on Instagram
• Michaela’s podcast episode about the journaling protocol 
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect with Sara on Instagram

We’re continuing our “When the Going Gets Tough” series today with Jordan Gill, a multi-seven-figure business strategist whose mission is for high-achieving business owners to prioritize rest without sacrificing revenue. 

Last fall, after weathering a season of grief, coupled with chronic health challenges, Jordan got clarity that it was time to dismantle her business, let her team go, and reinvent. 

Today we’re talking about how she maneuvered that time both personally and professionally. She’s a role model for listening to one’s true calling, prioritizing self-care, courageously navigating uncertainty, and staying authentic and transparent with her audience along the way. 

This conversation with Jordan is the second of six I’m hosting over the next several weeks. Together, we’re diving into stories of several prominent women who weathered various life challenges– and found ways to keep showing up for themselves, their loved ones, and their careers.

I offer these to bring support and inspiration to all traversing similar dark valleys in their own lives or work AND to celebrate the arrival of my new book, Handbook for the Heartbroken, into the world on May 7.

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Pre-order Sara’s new book: Handbook for the Heartbroken
• Jordan Gill 
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect on Instagram

Welcome to the first episode in our special, six-part series: “When the Going Gets Tough: Stories of Resilience in Business and Life.”

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing conversations with six prominent women who weathered various life challenges– and found ways to keep showing up for themselves, their loved ones, and their careers in the process.

I offer these to bring support and inspiration to all who are traversing similar dark valleys in their own lives or work AND to celebrate the arrival of my new book, Handbook for the Heartbroken, into the world on May 7.

We’re beginning our series today with a very candid conversation about a life-quaking betrayal that my long-time friend and colleague, Jennifer Racioppi, experienced. 

Jenn is a certified Duke Integrative Medicine Health Coach, holistic health counselor, Positive Psychology coach, and a beloved astrologer. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, MindBodyGreen, Forbes, Business Insider, The Numinous, Netflix Family, and Aerie. Her first book, Cosmic Health was released in January 2021 with Little, Brown Spark.

Together, let’s go deep over these next several weeks through these intimate conversations.

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Pre-order Sara’s new book: Handbook for the Heartbroken
• Jennifer Racioppi
• Ep 12 with Jennifer Racioppi on “Manifesting Desire in Harmony with Lunar Cycles” 
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect on Instagram

What do you do when you feel hopeless, discouraged, or frustrated? When the outer actions you’re taking aren’t yielding the results you want?

And/or when you know you’ve been getting in your own way by procrastinating or staying busy with things you know aren’t aligned with your soul’s destiny? Or you’re playing small and avoiding going after what you really want?

These are all common experiences along the path of stepping into our true callings and fulfilling our soul’s destinies. The key is not to stop here or to stay stuck here for too long. 

Today I’m going to share the framework to help you become unstoppable in pursuing your destiny. It’s one I haven’t found anywhere else. This process, or ongoing initiation, into embodying our souls is an important, tender, and intricate process. And, It’s the most important work of our lives, no doubt.

So, tune in to learn how, after following this guided path, you, too, can, become the woman you’re destined to be– in business and in life.

And, as a special gift, I want to offer you free access to one of my most popular programs, “Getting Out of Your Own Way” (an IFS Daily Parts Meditation Kit to help you cultivate inner wholeness, harmony, and Self-Leadership at the start of each day).

All you have to do is: 

• 1) Leave a review of this podcast. 
• 2) Email a screenshot of your review to [email protected]

It’s as simple as that! 

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Free masterclass: Embody Your Brilliance
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect on Instagram

Enjoy this limited-time replay from my most recent free masterclass, "Embody Your Brilliance: How to Break Free of Limiting Beliefs so You Can Become the Woman You're Destined to Be."

In this one-hour masterclass, you’ll discover how to get out of your own way, shed outdated stories about yourself, and rise to new levels of self-worth.

After listening, if you’re ready to take the next step to become the woman you’re destined to be (in business and life)....

Becoming You, my Internal Family Systems and Women’s Spirituality immersion is open for enrollment. 

We officially begin on April 15 and doors are open until next Wednesday, April 10. 

This will be the 4th round of this program and each time I’ve offered it, I’ve taken the curriculum to a new level. 

While I no longer offer private (non-business-focused) IFS and women’s spirituality mentoring, Becoming You is the space where I support women in these ways. 

Becoming You is an intimate journey that walks you step-by-step through how you can fulfill your potential to live the life and offer the work you know you’re meant for.

Over these six weeks, you'll learn how to get out of your own way and break free of past limitations so you can cultivate the clarity and confidence you need to embody who you truly are.

Plus, you’ll do this with my mentorship and a supportive community of women by your side. 

The path I’m sharing with you has changed my life, and I know it will change yours too. 

To learn all the details of this 6-week group experience, head to Becoming You here: https://www.programs-saraavantstover.com/becomingyou

At the physiological level, it’s often said that high blood pressure is a “silent killer” amongst women because most people who have it don't have any symptoms. And that silence can be deadly.

I would say that, in entrepreneurship, at the mental/emotional level imposter syndrome can also lurk silently below the surface– stopping professional growth in its tracks, or, even worse, preventing big, dreams from being born in the first place.

Today we’re going to look at Imposter Syndrome in a new light, through the lens of the model I work within, Internal Family Systems, or IFS, so you can start letting your courage and your desires take up more air time inside you than your fears and doubts.

And, as a special gift, I want to offer you free access to one of my most popular programs, “Getting Out of Your Own Way” (an IFS Daily Parts Meditation Kit to help you cultivate inner wholeness, harmony, and Self-Leadership at the start of each day).

All you have to do is: 

1) Leave a review of this podcast. 

2) Email a screenshot of your review to [email protected]

It’s as simple as that! 

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Free masterclass: Embody Your Brilliance
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect on Instagram

At least once today, you’ve likely experienced some form of self-sabotage. This could look like getting on Instagram right when you wake up, instead of taking that intended time for yourself. Maybe you stayed up too late last night watching TV when you really wanted to get enough sleep so you could wake up earlier today, feeling refreshed. Or you have a big project you know in your heart is important to you, but you keep letting smaller projects and emergencies pull you away from making any real progress on it. 

Let’s be real: Self-sabotage is an inherent part of the entrepreneurial journey. The more we take risks and step outside our comfort zones, the more we’re going to contend with it. Given this, wouldn’t it be wise to cultivate the skills you need to heal your self-sabotage at the root? So that it’s not only no longer an obstacle on your path, but it’s a true ally, helping you do what it once blocked you from doing? 

Yes, that’s very possible! And that’s what we’re exploring in today’s episode. In it, I share a painful experience of self-sabotage from my own life. I also share the single (surprising!) question you need to ask yourself the next time you experience it. 

And, as a special gift, I want to offer you free access to one of my most popular programs, “Getting Out of Your Own Way” (an IFS Daily Parts Meditation Kit to help you cultivate inner wholeness, harmony, and Self-Leadership at the start of each day).

All you have to do is: 

• 1) Leave a review of this podcast. 
• 2) Email a screenshot of your review to [email protected]

It’s as simple as that! 

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Join us inside The Inner Critic Cure
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect on Instagram

I’m about to say something pretty big that’s not an exaggeration: The Inner Critic is the biggest thing I see holding women back. This is true today, and this has been true since I started doing this work twenty-five years ago. It also used to be the biggest thing holding ME back. Many of us still have unhealed experiences in our past that are keeping us overworking, undercharging, or not enforcing appropriate boundaries. These unhealed wounds are keeping us stuck at the same level in our work and lives and unable to move forward, even though we’re investing in courses and coaches.

To help shift this, today I’m talking with an Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist and assistant trainer, Nancy Wonder, about the pathway of healing our Inner Critics– and the Inner Little girls they’re protecting. 

In our conversation, we talk about:

• How to reach a tipping point in your healing work where you consistently feel more space inside
• Why you need to stop combatting your Inner Critic, and what you need to do instead
• How an embodiment practice like yoga fit into this approach
• Ways to end inner wars and addictive patterns
• How to lessen the charge in your triggers so they don’t dominate you as much

At the end, Nancy leads you through a meditation to help you begin to make powerful shifts with your Inner Critic. Above all, healing your Inner Critic is a crucial piece in doing what you most want to do and being who you most want to be. 

And, as a special gift, I want to offer you free access to my on-demand course, “Getting Out of Your Own Way” (an IFS Daily Parts Meditation Kit to help you cultivate inner wholeness, harmony, and Self-Leadership at the start of each day).

All you have to do is: 

• 1) Leave a review of this podcast. 
• 2) Email a screenshot of your review to [email protected]

It’s as simple as that! 

If you'd love to watch the video versions of these episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast's YouTube channel here.

Resources:

• Join us inside The Inner Critic Cure
• Nancy Wonder
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect on Instagram