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What if the “small changes” you keep putting off are actually the ones that would change everything?

In this episode of Manders Mindset, host Amanda Russo sits down with author and acupuncturist Elizabeth Bruckner, creator of The Homesteader Mindset, for a conversation that feels equal parts grounding, funny, and quietly life-altering. Elizabeth shares how a lifetime shaped by immigrant family history, chronic illness, and deep curiosity led her to the unexpected path of homesteading… starting in a Southern California suburb with a concrete backyard and a history of killing plants.

Together, Amanda and Elizabeth explore what integrity really means, why routines outperform willpower, and how “tiny increments” can pull someone out of survival mode and into self-trust. From habit chaining and gratitude practices to the power of frivolous joy, this episode is a reminder that healing and transformation don’t usually happen through massive overhauls… they happen through small, doable choices repeated with grace.

💡 In this episode, listeners will discover:

🌿 How chronic illness became the turning point that shifted Elizabeth’s relationship with self-care
 🏡 What “homesteading” can look like even in a suburb with limited space
 🧠 Why routines work better than willpower when building lasting habits
 ⏳ The “five-minute rule” that helps people restart habits without shame
 💛 How gratitude can interrupt hopelessness and bring someone back to the present
 ✨ Why “frivolous joy” is not optional... it’s nervous system medicine
 📝 What Elizabeth means by “badly done is better than well said” (and why it changes everything)

⏰ Timeline Summary

[0:49] Elizabeth’s core values: integrity and being a lifelong learner
 [3:11] Family history, immigration trauma, and how early stories shaped her worldview
 [10:52] Chronic illness in her 40s and the moment everything had to change
 [13:09] Starting homesteading during COVID and building community through curiosity
 [15:57] Learning languages during illness and why it helped her avoid identifying with being “sick”
 [22:08] Why Elizabeth wrote The Homesteader Mindset and the power of tiny increments
[28:01] Willpower vs. routines and how habits live in the brain differently
[31:42] Practical tools for getting back into habits (five-minute rule + function stacking)
[35:30] Gratitude as a mindset shift, especially in hard seasons
[58:35] “Badly done is better than well said” and why action beats perfection

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:

📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

To Connect with Elizabeth Bruckner:
Website: https://createwellnessproject.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/createwellnessproject/

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What if the reason “starting over” feels so hard… is because you’re trying to change habits before you’ve changed the way you see yourself?

In this episode of Manders Mindset, host Amanda Russo sits down with mindset and movement coach Christiaan Hoffman for a wide-ranging, thought-provoking conversation about identity, comfort zones, and why real transformation starts in the mind long before it shows up in the body. Christiaan shares how his life experiences—from growing up in the Netherlands to solo backpacking across Australia and training in martial arts—influenced the way he coaches people to close the gap between who they are and who they’re meant to be.

Together, Amanda and Christiaan unpack why “discipline” isn’t just about willpower, why most people burn out after a few months of trying to change, and how black-and-white thinking can quietly keep you stuck. Expect a conversation that challenges the typical fitness narrative, reframes emotions and identity, and brings everything back to one simple question: 

What’s the outcome you actually want? 🎯

💡 In this episode, listeners will learn:

🧠 Why identity and belief systems shape results more than motivation
 🔥 Christiaan’s “80/10/10” framework (psychology, diet, movement) and why it works
 🏃‍♂️ How to rebuild confidence in your body using simple, effective movement
 🥤 Why deprivation backfires and how small reductions create big change over time
 🧩 The difference between self-conception vs. self-definition (and why it matters)
📖 How Christiaan spent 8 years building a psychological model and writing his book
⚖️ Why “no black-and-white thinking” could change everything from fitness to conflict
😮 His take on emotions, stability, and staying focused on outcomes
👟 The Dutch saying about “soft healers” and when a kick-in-the-butt is actually love

⏰ Timeline Summary

 [2:24] Growing up in the Netherlands as the “middle child fighter” and what that shaped in him
 [4:46] The spontaneous decision to backpack Australia solo and why waiting until retirement doesn’t make sense
 [11:15] Why desk jobs didn’t work for him and the importance of understanding how you function
[13:23] His philosophy on movement: simple, effective, and built for real life capability
[16:57] The “80% psychology” truth bomb and why most routines fail without support
[20:43] Why restriction backfires and how Amanda approached weight loss by adding “more good” instead of cutting everything out
[30:25] When diets become identity and why black-and-white thinking makes change harder
[40:09] How writing a book forced him to define concepts and led to his psychological model
[47:34] The Dutch saying: “soft healers make stinking wounds” 👣 and when people need a push
[51:15] “Emotions are overrated” 😮 his perspective on anxiety, reaction vs. response, and stability

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:

📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

To Connect with Christiaan:

Website: https://www.sportnaturel.com/

📘 His Book: To Meet Yourself, Think For Yourself 

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What happens when someone has been “the strong one” for so long… they forget they’re allowed to need support too?

In this episode of Manders Mindset, host Amanda Russo sits down with PK (Prakash) for a conversation that’s equal parts grounding, honest, and deeply human. PK opens up about growing up in the UK in a South Asian family while helping care for two older siblings with profound learning disabilities, one of whom is his twin and how that responsibility shaped his identity, empathy, and purpose.

Together, Amanda and PK explore the pressure of holding everything together, the moment his friends lovingly intervened and changed his life, and why his biggest lesson is simple but powerful: It’s okay to not be okay. 

From using travel as a form of mental reset, to navigating unexpected open-heart surgery, to learning how to let community show up...

This episode is for anyone who carries a lot… and is ready to stop carrying it alone.🎙️

 In this episode, listeners will discover:
❤️ How being a lifelong caregiver shaped PK’s identity, empathy, and resilience
🧠 Why hiding what you’re going through can feel safer… until it doesn’t
🤝 The power of community and what changes when people are finally allowed in
✈️ How travel became PK’s reset button for mental health and recovery
🫀 What open-heart surgery taught him about surrender, support, and perspective
🌍 Why letting go of others’ opinions can become a turning point
🌿 A reminder that applies to everyone: It’s okay to not be okay

⏰ Timeline Summary:

 [1:44] Growing up South Asian in the UK while caring for two siblings with complex needs
 [7:47] PK’s education journey through engineering, career pivots, and finding his path
 [11:07] College, commuting, and the exhaustion of living with his head in two worlds
 [15:57] The friend intervention that broke the silence and changed everything
 [23:03] Learning to stop putting himself last and why 10–15 minutes of “me time” matters
 [25:32] Travel, music, and switching off to come back stronger
 [36:09] Open-heart surgery, unexpected support, and why tough times bring out the magic
 [41:47] PK’s biggest aha: Control isn’t required to get through life.

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:

📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

To Connect with PK:

Instagram: @official.thisisme

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What if healing, success, and freedom weren’t about pushing harder… but about clearing what’s been running the show beneath the surface?

In this expansive and thought-provoking episode of Manders Mindset, host Amanda Russo sits down with Dr. Alain Salas, bestselling author, chiropractic physician, and mind-body expert, to explore how subconscious programming shapes our health, relationships, goals, and sense of self. Dr. Salas shares his unconventional life journey from chasing freedom across the world on a sailboat to answering a deep calling to become a healer—and how burnout, divorce, and an early-stage cancer diagnosis forced him to look beyond traditional solutions.

Together, Amanda and Dr. Salas unpack the subconscious mind, why willpower and mindset alone often fail, and how unresolved emotional patterns can quietly manifest as physical pain, illness, or repeated self-sabotage. Dr. Salas explains his 3-step clearing process, deleting limiting beliefs, installing new programs, and creating real-world change and why true transformation requires aligning the mind, heart, and action. This conversation invites listeners to rethink healing, goal-setting, intuition, and what it really means to reclaim personal power.

This episode is for anyone who feels stuck in old patterns, overwhelmed by burnout, or curious about how deep inner work can create lasting, embodied change.

🎙️ In this episode, listeners will discover:

🧠 Why the subconscious mind drives up to 95% of behavior and decision-making
 🧩 How limiting beliefs form early in life and quietly shape adult outcomes
 ❤️ The connection between emotional stress, trauma, and physical pain
 🔥 Why burnout often signals deeper misalignment rather than failure
 🗑️ The 3-step clearing process: delete, install, and create
 🎯 How removing internal resistance makes goal-setting easier and more sustainable
 🌿 Why intuition is a form of higher intelligence, not randomness
 ⚖️ How aligning the head, heart, and action creates true freedom
 ✨ Why experience, not theory, is the key to lasting transformation

⏰ Timeline Summary:

 [4:30] – Defining freedom and how early life experiences shaped his path
 [9:50] – Living on a sailboat, chasing adventure, and external freedom
 [15:20] – Answering a calling to heal and becoming a chiropractic physician
 [22:40] – Burnout, divorce, depression, and an early-stage cancer diagnosis
 [31:10] – The subconscious mind explained: programming, awareness, and power
 [41:30] – The 3-step clearing process for healing and transformation
 [52:00] – Why most goal-setting fails and how to remove resistance instead
 [1:03:40] – Intuition, higher awareness, and trusting inner knowing

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:
📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

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What if the moments you brushed off as “just being good at your job” were actually something deeper... an inner intelligence quietly guiding you long before you had language for it?

In this powerful episode of Manders Mindset, host Amanda Russo sits down with ER nurse and author Jen Johnson for a raw, honest, and unexpectedly hopeful conversation about intuition, burnout, and survival inside one of the most demanding professions. With over 16 years in emergency medicine, Jen opens up about toxic workplace culture, bullying, and the emotional weight nurses carry, especially in the aftermath of COVID and how these experiences ultimately led her to uncover the role intuition had been playing throughout her career all along.

Together, Amanda and Jen explore why intuition is often dismissed as “instinct” rather than recognized as an evidence-backed skill, how the nervous system quietly gathers information faster than logic, and why learning to trust your gut can be the difference between burnout and sustainability. The conversation also sheds light on what the public often misunderstands about ER wait times, violence toward healthcare workers, and the unseen decisions nurses make every shift. It’s candid, insightful, and deeply human.

💡 In this episode, listeners will discover:

🧠 How intuition shows up in high-pressure environments like emergency medicine
 💔 The lasting impact of workplace bullying and unsupported systems
 🧬 How COVID forced unresolved trauma and burnout to the surface
 🚨 What ER wait times actually mean and why waiting can be a good sign
 🧠 Why nurses rely on intuition long before test results arrive
 📖 How Jen’s stories became the foundation for her book Nursing Intuition
🪞 Everyday ways to recognize and trust your own gut instincts
🕊️ Why listening to inner cues can be a form of self-protection, not fear

⏰ Timeline Summary

[2:00] Jen shares her path into nursing and the moment she knew she was in the right field
 [7:45] A career-redirecting “failure” and why it became a blessing in disguise
 [13:30] The reality of toxic nursing culture and being bullied as a new nurse
 [21:50] Finding healing and support in a larger ER system
 [30:15] COVID, exhaustion, and the emotional breaking point that changed everything
 [38:40] Realizing intuition had been present all along, especially at triage
 [48:55] What the public doesn’t see inside the ER: wait times, staffing, and violence
 [57:30] How anyone can begin paying attention to intuition in daily life

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:
📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

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What if true wealth had less to do with how much you make… and more to do with how consciously you live?

In this powerful and grounded conversation, host Amanda Russo sits down with Terry Nicklas, certified financial planner, wealth coach, and success coach, to explore the emotional side of money and what it really means to build a life of true wealth.

Terry shares her journey from a shy child with little confidence to a successful entrepreneur who redefined her entire career, letting go of the parts of business that drained her and creating a model centered around purpose, joy, and alignment. Together, Amanda and Terry unpack how early experiences shape our relationship with money, why most people spend unconsciously, and how awareness is the first real step toward financial peace.

This episode goes far beyond budgets and numbers. It’s about money as a tool, forgiveness over shame, breaking emotional spending patterns, and learning how to create a life that feels rich from the inside out.

This conversation is for anyone who feels triggered by money, stuck in paycheck-to-paycheck cycles, or ready to stop surviving and start living with intention.

🎧 In this episode, listeners will discover:

🧠 Why most money habits are emotional, not logical
 💸 How unconscious spending keeps people stuck in cycles of stress
 🌱 What “true wealth” really is and why it doesn’t have a number
 🔁 How to begin shifting a negative money mindset
 📝 Why writing down your spending creates immediate awareness
 🧘‍♀️ How forgiveness breaks the guilt shame spending loop
 🛠️ Why money is simply a tool and how to use it intentionally
 ❤️ How to build financial confidence without perfection
 ✨ Why joy, purpose, and balance are the real indicators of wealth

⏰ Timeline Summary:

[0:00] – Introducing Terry Nicholas and the concept of “true wealth”
 [4:40] – Being a lifelong seeker and quitting too soon
 [10:30] – Childhood influences and early money impressions
 [19:45] – Shyness, self-doubt, and returning to college as an adult
 [27:20] – Building confidence through education and career shifts
 [34:10] – Creating wealth coaching and combining life, business, and financial planning
 [43:30] – Letting go of asset management and choosing alignment over income
 [50:15] – Money mindset, paycheck-to-paycheck beliefs, and subconscious patterns
 [58:40] – How to start shifting negative money beliefs
 [1:06:20] – Unconscious spending, awareness, and weekly money check-ins
 [1:14:10] – Emotional spending, forgiveness, and self compassion
 [1:21:30] – Why money is a tool, not a trigger
 [1:28:40] – Rapid-fire reflections: identity, advice, legacy, and truth
 [1:35:00] – Terry’s closing wisdom on creating your next chapter with purpose

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:
📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

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What if the path to healing, motivation, and self-trust wasn’t about fixing yourself… but about staying long enough for change to happen?

In this deeply honest episode, host Amanda Russo is joined by Nita Sweeney, bestselling author, ultramarathoner, mindfulness coach, and mental health advocate. Nita shares her powerful journey from growing up in a family shaped by alcoholism, navigating depression and addiction, and surviving suicidal ideation, to finding healing through sobriety, meditation, and movement.

Together, Amanda and Nita explore what it really takes to rebuild a life when motivation feels impossible, why small shifts (like “60 seconds of jogging” or 2% of your day) can change everything, and how community, boundaries, and self-honesty play a crucial role in long-term growth. Nita also reflects on writing her books Depression Hates a Moving Target and Make Every Move a Meditation, and why staying, on the planet, in the process, and with yourself.... matters most.

This conversation is for anyone who’s struggled with depression, addiction, burnout, or self-doubt and needs a reminder that change doesn’t require perfection... just presence.

🎙️ In this episode, listeners will discover:

🧠 Why sobriety alone isn’t always enough without mental health support
 🏃‍♀️ How “60 seconds of jogging” sparked a life-changing running journey
 🌱 Why the ground has to be “fertile” before change can take root
 ⏳ How small percentages of time (like 2% of your day) create massive shifts
 💬 The importance of finding motivation that pulls you forward
📖 Why one size fits all advice often fails, especially in healing
❤️ What it means to be kind while still holding strong boundaries
🌤️ Why Nita’s most powerful message is simply: stay

⏰ Timeline Summary:

[0:00] – Introducing Nita Sweeney and her path from depression to ultramarathons
 [6:15] – Childhood on a farm, loneliness, and growing up around functional alcoholism
 [12:10] – Alcohol blackouts, losing control, and the early attempts to quit drinking
 [20:40] – Sobriety, marriage, meditation and why everything seemed to fall apart
 [27:30] – Hospitalization, suicidal ideation, and what actually saves lives
 [39:40] – Couch to 5K, “60 seconds of jogging,” and starting in a hidden ravine
 [49:10] – Charity runs, community, and finding motivation outside yourself
 [1:05:30] – Rapid-fire reflections on identity, advice, legacy, and authenticity
 [1:14:40] – Nita’s closing wisdom: why staying gives life a chance to change

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:
📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

To Connect with Nita:

Website: nitasweeney.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nitasweeney/?hl=en

Check out Nita's Books that she referenced in the show:

Depression Hates a Moving Target

Make Every Move a Meditation

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2025 Year in Review: Listening Sooner

In this solo Year in Review episode of Manders Mindset, I reflect on a year that didn’t ask me to do more, it asked me to listen sooner.

2025 was expansive, tender, and slower than I expected. While parts of the year looked grounded and productive on the outside, much of the real work was happening beneath the surface. I learned that stillness doesn’t always mean rest, and movement doesn’t always mean progress.

This episode isn’t a recap of everything I did. It’s a reflection on what the year taught me about my body, my nervous system, grief, and letting go of urgency. It’s about choosing steadiness over speed and learning to honor what I can actually hold.

If your year felt unfinished, confusing, or tender, this episode is for you.

Take a breath.
Choose steadiness.
Remember... Everything is figureoutable.

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:
📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

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What if confidence isn’t something you’re born with but something you earn by taking action before you feel ready?

 What if fear isn’t a sign to stop, but an invitation to step forward anyway?

In this episode of Manders Mindset, host Amanda Russo sits down with Devin Gonzalez for a grounded and empowering conversation about mindset, self-belief, and what it truly means to bet on yourself. From teaching martial arts as a teenager to building a six-figure personal training business and eventually launching a fitness franchise, Devin shares the pivotal moments that shaped his approach to growth, leadership, and success.

Together, Amanda and Devin explore why imposter syndrome is rooted in perception rather than reality, how fear often disguises itself as logic, and why seeing someone else succeed is proof, not pressure. The conversation weaves through fitness, business, and life, revealing how progress is built through small, intentional steps and why mindset is both the beginning and the end of every transformation.

💡 In this episode, listeners will discover:

🔥 Why confidence is built after action... not before
🧠 How fear shows up as hesitation, overthinking, and “being realistic”
🚫 Why saying no without explanation is one of the most freeing skills
💭 How to reframe imposter syndrome as a self-limiting belief
🏋️ Why fitness, business, and personal growth follow the same progression model
📈 The difference between wanting success and committing to it
⏳ Why time is the most valuable currency and how to protect it
🌱 How small, consistent wins create lasting momentum
🧩 Why mindset shapes both what’s possible and what feels unreachable

⏰ Timeline Summary

[2:10] Devin shares his core values and the importance of creating impact
 [6:45] Why learning to say no is essential for protecting time and energy
 [11:30] Childhood experiences, trying every sport, and early confidence lessons
 [18:20] The mindset shift that changed everything: facing fear head on
 [24:50] Teaching martial arts at 13 and discovering leadership early
 [32:40] Choosing passion over the “safe” career path
 [40:10] Imposter syndrome, masterminds, and realizing your voice still matters
 [48:30] “Common sense is only common to the person who knows it”
 [55:20] Why mindset determines what feels possible
 [1:03:45] Fitness advice that applies to life and business: start small
 [1:21:40] Legacy, impact, and why giving 100% matters

If someone in your life is standing at the edge of a leap, this episode might be exactly what they need. 💛

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:
📱Instagram: @MandersMindset
👥 Join the Manders Mindset Facebook Community HERE!

To Connect with Devan: 

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/devan.gonzalez/

Tune into the Mindset Cafe Podcast

Check out Amanda's Guest Appearance on The Mindset Cafe HERE

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What if the patterns you’ve been trying to “fix” the over giving, the overthinking, the holding on too tightly, were never flaws at all, but intelligent survival strategies shaped by the nervous system itself?

In this powerful episode of Manders Mindset, host Amanda Russo sits down with emotional healing specialist and Lift Oneself founder Natalie “NatNat” Bedard for a grounded and deeply revealing conversation about trauma, embodiment, nervous system safety, and the hidden motivations behind the choices we make. From surviving childhood trauma and life-threatening brain lesions to rediscovering her own emotional and somatic truth, Natalie shares how she returned home to herself and how listeners can begin doing the same.

Together, Amanda and Natalie explore why mindset work alone can’t carry you through every challenge, how the body stores what the mind tries to outrun, and why overgiving or “proving a point” often stems from fear rather than empowerment. The two also share an unplanned breakthrough moment as Natalie gently reflects a long-standing survival pattern Amanda didn’t realize she was still holding. It’s raw, honest, and deeply human.

This episode also marks a meaningful seasonal pause: Amanda announces that Manders Mindset will be taking the month of December off to rest, reset, and integrate after a transformative year, a reminder that pausing is powerful and allowed.

💡 In this episode, listeners will discover:

🧠 Why the nervous system operates to protect, not sabotage
 💔 How early trauma and emotional neglect shape identity, resilience, and coping
 🧬 Natalie’s near-death health crisis and how somatic work became her lifeline
 🌀 Why you can’t “mindset” your way through everything and where the body takes the lead
 💸 The connection between overgiving, self-worth, and fear of abundance
 💃 Regulation tools like dancing, humming, breathing, and sensory shifts
 🪞 A new way to understand shame, forgiveness, and emotional data
 📖 Why rewriting your story around relationships, purpose, and identity...is both valid and necessary
 🕊️ And why Amanda is modeling the importance of rest by pausing new episodes in December

⏰ Timeline Summary

[2:15] Natalie opens with a grounding mindful moment to drop listeners into presence
 [4:58] Amanda recounts how the podcast began and how breathwork unlocked her voice
 [7:37] Exploring fear, abundance, and the deeper wounds 
 [10:33] Why mindset alone isn’t enough, the nervous system’s role in real transformation
 [19:15] Natalie shares who she is at her core: compassion, pain, and embodied presence
 [20:50] Her childhood story: nature, trauma, emotional absence, and early motherhood
 [27:12] How meditation and somatic work helped her release stored trauma
 [31:17] Why dancing, humming, and movement can shift emotional states instantly
 [39:20] Shame, forgiveness, emotional honesty, and understanding the body’s signals
 [45:22] Marriage, societal pressure, and redefining partnership on your own terms
 [58:05] A real-time breakthrough as Natalie highlights one of Amanda’s survival patterns
 [1:02:00] Amanda feels the shift as she realizes what she was never meant to carry
 [1:11:11] Final reminders about following the body’s wisdom

To Connect with Amanda:

Schedule a 1:1 Virtual Breathwork Session HERE

📸 Instagram: @thebreathinggoddess

Follow & Support the Podcast:
📱Instagram: @MandersMindset