I'm honoured to welcome back author, speaker therapist and podcaster Dr Hillary McBride Phd to the podcast today. 

In this episode we talk about embodiment, and 'the wisdom of our bodies'. Hillary talks about how through trauma, grief and messages from toxic systems, we can become disconnected from our bodies.

She shares how part of our transformation journey always has to be learning how to listen to our bodies, and the different ways our bodies communicates with us & we can learn to listen to them.

Dr McBride shares how systems like capitalism and evangelicalism directly impact our bodies, and how deconstructing those systems is key to having a healthy relationship with our bodies, and how our relationship with our bodies inherently political.

Hillary has so much wisdom and understanding on embodiment, mental/emotional health and how we heal. This is a powerful episode. 

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Dr McBride's book 'The Wisdom of Your Body' is available to buy at all online booksellers now!

Today my friend, author Sarah 'The Human', joins me to tell her story of deconstruction and spiritual awakening.

Sarah talks about what led her to begin questioning her faith, and where this path led her and the challenges she faced along the way. She also shares how the more she asked questions, the more she moved away from what she'd known, the more she saw how she'd been 'borderline brainwashed' by evangelicalism and toxic religion.

Sarah also shares how this impacted her relationships, with family, her husband and other communities - and how in the process she discovered a deeper, wider spirituality, and more of her true identity. 

My friend, tarot reader & eclectic witch Cat, joins me today to talk about an important and not often discussed issue - spiritual capitalism. 

Sharing their own experiences and insight, Cat unpacks what spiritual capitalism is, and how people can be & have been exploited by certain groups or individuals as they seek support and guidance on their spiritual journey, using some prominent examples.

They explain how we can discern the difference between truly wise and gifted people who genuinely want to help us on our journeys, and those just looking to manipulate us. 

TW: spiritual abuse, emotional abuse, domestic abuse, 

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In this episode my friend Kacey tells their story. They share their experience of growing up in an evangelical home, the expectations and demands, and their experiences of several types of abuse, in particular from their ex-husband.  They talk about the impact this had on them physically, mentally and emotionally. 

Kacey then talks about how they finally began to break free from this environment, in the process deconstructing their faith and their very identity. They tell us the challenges this brought, what they discovered about themselves, and how they've finally discovered freedom and embodiment in this process.

Kacey is both inspiring and courageous, and I'm so grateful they shared their story today.

Please Note: Since this was recorded Kacey has come out as non-binary. When this episode was originally recorded they had yet to do this and were using different pronouns (including she/her). As such different pronouns to their current ones are used in this episode.

I've used Kacey's current pronouns in these show notes and will do if they return to the podcast in future.

I'm honoured today to be joined by best-selling author, novelist, educator and activist Rashid Darden. 

Rashid tells us his story, and his lived experiences growing up and living as an LGBTQI black man raised by a single mother, and how this influenced his writing and his activism.

We explore together how pop culture and black & LGTQIA representation, past, present and future, and why it continues to be increasingly important. 

We also touch on examples from the MCU, Superman and even Doctor Who (a mutual love) where we are seeing more representation and his hopes for this. Rashid talks about his own experience of watching Black Panther, and the significance of that movie and the metaphors & messages within it. 

Rashid has so much wisdom and insight on all these important issues, and it was an honour to chat with him.

**TW: conversion therapy**

Today I'm joined by writer, PhD candidate and lecturer Luke Wilson, to hear his story of deconstruction, as well as his experience with and escape from conversion therapy.

Luke lays bare his lived experience of conversion therapy and how he broke free of this and how this impacted his own mental health, his spiritual journey and his work.

He also tells us about the advocacy and writing he does now, against conversion therapy and other practices which hurt the LGBTQIA community.

Special bonus episode today, with my friends Kevin Nye and Emma Morrison where they and I chat together about the award-winning show, Wandavision.

We explore the themes of processing grief, certainty and how this show gives us an echo of the roots of fundamentalism and oppressive systems. We explore some of the deeper themes and story arcs and reflect on what the story means for us, and what we can learn from it.

This is also a semi-preview of my second podcast, launching this coming week, "The Kryptonian, the Princess and The Avenger", where all three of us (me 'the Kryptonian', Emma 'the Princess', and Kevin 'The Avenger) and others will be chatting every fortnight about the stories which shape us, talking about movies, TV shows and other geeky stuff which inspires us. 

You can follow the new show on IG and Twitter @KalElLeiaKevin and it'll be on all podcast platforms soon.

Meanwhile the Poema Podcast will continue every week...with some great guests coming up in the next few months!

Today author Holly Smale, author of the bestselling Geek Girl books, joins me to share her story and talk about the lived experience of being autistic. 

She talks about her writing career, and how creating geek girl actually helped her discover she was autistic and get a formal diagnosis. We discuss together our shared lived experiences of being autistic and the challenges autistic people face living in the world as it is - and the stigma and lack of understanding which still exists. 

We also talk about how we've found solidarity and support in fictional characters such as Tony Stark (we're both MCU fans) and what we can do to create a better world for autistic people. 

Today is the 300th episode of the Poema Podcast (despite some numbering issues with iTunes), and to celebrate, my friend Becky Castle Miller is acting as host, in a semi-fun ask me anything!

Many listeners and friends sent in questions, and I had no idea what they were before recording. Questions on podcasts, how the podcast started, on my dreams, on creativity, spirituality, curiosity and a whole lot more.

This episode was so much fun and a perfect way to end 2021 on the podcast. I'll be back in January 2022 with lots more incredible guests and episodes. 

Today I talk with fellow singleton Kristyn DeNooyer about the challenges of singleness and stigma around this, and the importance of hospitality to and by single people in order to have healthy support networks. 

Kristyn shares her own story and the challenges she's faced and how its impacted her mental health. She also discusses the stigma single people can often face in spiritual communities and even society and how it can affect us.

And she gives us hope and insight into how we can make the world and churches more welcoming, and accepting of singleness.