Welcome back to the Embodied Baddie Podcast.

I’m your host, Chrystal Rose, and today we’re calling out something that gets thrown around a lot… but rarely actually understood:

“Toxic positivity.”

Because here’s the truth— positivity isn’t toxic. Avoidance is.

And in this episode, we’re breaking down the difference so you can stop bypassing your emotions and stop feeling like you have to live in the heaviness to be “real.”

✨ What toxic positivity actually is (and isn’t)

It’s not about being happy. It’s about forcing positivity instead of feeling what’s real. We’re dismantling the idea that emotions are “good” or “bad”—and why that thinking keeps you stuck.

✨ The two ways it shows up most (and why it backfires):

• Emotional bypassing – skipping over what you feel to get to the “better” emotion
• Invalidating others – using positivity to dismiss real experiences (even unintentionally)

✨ Why your emotions aren’t the problem

Sadness, anger, frustration—none of these are wrong. They’re information. And when you stop resisting them, everything shifts.

✨ How to actually move into positivity in a way that works

Not fake. Not forced. Not performative.

Real, embodied, integrated.

You don’t need to choose between

being positive or being honest.

You get to be both.

1. Feel it first.

You don’t get to skip steps. The faster you allow the emotion, the faster it actually moves.

2. Then shift it.

Not from denial—but from awareness.

That’s where real reframes come from.

3. Stop labeling emotions as “bad.”

They’re not problems to fix. They’re signals to understand.

4. Let it be a full spectrum experience.

You can feel grief and gratitude. Frustration and joy.

This is emotional maturity—not emotional suppression.

The goal isn’t to feel good all the time.

The goal is to feel safe enough in your body

that no emotion takes you out.

That’s the work.

That’s the power.

That’s what actually creates freedom.

Share this episode with someone who’s either:

• stuck in “just stay positive” mode
• or
• feels like they have to sit in the heaviness to be valid

And if you want to go deeper into this work—

this is exactly the kind of thing we do inside Embodied Baddie Academy.

Not just mindset.

Not just awareness.

Actual integration.

You don’t have to fake positivity.

And you don’t have to drown in your emotions either.

There’s a way to hold both.

And that’s where everything changes.