Historically, I have been unconsciously afraid to stand in complete truth and authenticity within my relationships, and this has led to many instances of people-pleasing and self-abandonment while engaged in the experience of relating to others. 

As my journey unfolds and I become more audacious—more unafraid to take risks and to embody myself with more liberty—I've recognized that as a human, I don't know everything, I make mistakes, and that I can be wrong. Why fear something that is inevitable—such as being wrong? Such as not knowing? We are born to learn. 

I've recognized that taking full ownership of my life is my key to true freedom, sovereignty, and autonomy. Radical self-responsibility provides me the ability to remain completely honest with the ways my actions affect every aspect of my life, thus gifting me the power to enact the necessary changes I need to make in order to create my life in alignment with the deepest knowing of my heart and spirit. 

In the same vein, taking full ownership of oneself is what I believe creates real, authentic intimacy within human relationships. We all move from distorted perception at times, unintentionally cause harm, and can become more consciously attuned to the needs of those we love. However, when needs are not being met within relationship (romantic, platonic, familial, group and collective), I believe that it is easy to fall into a mental dance of the victim/villain dynamic (when that is not exactly the case). I have identified with both victim and villain many times throughout my relational conflicts, and now I see that these identities have completely disempowered me from sitting with the complexity of human psychology and from attaining objectivity when understanding the situation—thus creating an increased ability for finding solutions that are authentic and honoring to the needs of both parties.

This episode provides my understanding of and insights about radical self-responsibility, using my real life experiences and relational conflicts to illustrate how I have gotten to where I am now: feeling unafraid to pursue real relationships with others because 1. I trust that I have the tools to remain authentic, without abandoning myself, 2. I now see how valuable it is to hear when I can show up better in relationship when feedback is given to me from a place of love, 3. I trust that I will speak up when my needs are not being met, so that I give the other person a chance to show up for me before I assume that they are incapable, therefore losing that source of love when it may be unnecessary, and 4. I'm imperfect, and being human is inevitably a messy process at times. 

Valuable TedxTalks I watched before recording this episode: 

How Radical Responsibility Can Change Your Life - Erika Cramer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3RENEfxVEc

Sovereignty: Radical Self Responsibility on Steroids - Dierdre Karger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZEgdJ0clWY

IG: https://www.instagram.com/embody.faith/?hl=en

We tend to fear what we don't understand. What if we could reorient our relationship to death as a necessary process of transformation — to create more life? And, what if we could embrace the natural, cyclical process of growth, instead of resisting and shaming it?

As a menstruating woman, time and experience has shown me that shedding is an innate and necessary phenomenon in the process of becoming. And, we not only shed blood, but entropic energy, identities, and belief systems that are no longer in service towards the process of spiraling up towards the light.

This episodes shares my relationship to menstruation as a spiritual practice, including my interpretation and experiences relating to the four seasons of the cycle. And, in a larger sense, this is a deeper conversation that expounds how I see us creating life-serving solutions and enacting planetary healing: inviting the Divine Feminine energy back into our hearts and collective psyche, using the love and nourishment she provides as fuel in navigating grief and transformation as a society.

I get on my soap box a bit. Let's bring passion and conviction back into the conversational experience. Love you.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/embody.faith/?hl=en

I realized, it was never about my body. My body was never the issue; the issue lived in distorted perception. And the best part? That can be remedied.

Now, I am learning how to witness myself in the mirror, to see myself in action, and recognize my own power, authority, and value. This behavior is a result of deep, intentional inner work that supports the transmutation and alchemy of all energy, stories, and disempowering static that I have carried in my field for many years.

On this episode, I share my experience with a chronically negative body image, my relationship with shame, and what insights and wisdom have helped me shift my relationship to the body towards love, respect, and devotion.

May we be able to see things how they really are.

Article: "What Historical Ideals of Women’s Shapes Teach Us About Women’s Self-Perception and Body Decisions Today." Nealie Tan Ngo. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2019.879.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/embody.faith/?hl=en

“When you chose to prove to yourself how powerful you really are, you have no idea who you will be helping in the future.”
― Joe Dispenza, Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon

Here, Faith shares her story from fear, disempowerment, and dis-ease to confidence, magic, and miracles. She discusses her journey with yoga, psychology, altered states of consciousness, ceremony, menstruality, and navigating the unknown with authenticity and faith. Her story serves as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of devotion towards Truth and Love.

✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼

00:00 The Value of Reverse Engineering

03:15 Moving Past Fear and Making Creative Contact with the World

05:05 The Before Times: Dis-ease and Dissociation

09:54 Expanding Spirituality and Exploring Identity

13:55 Discovering the Body through Yoga

17:12 Processing Sorrow to Experience Real Love

18:57 The Elephant in the Brain

22:35 Rite of Passage: Receiving the Elders in Ceremony

32:32 Searching for Stable Ground after Graduation

35:27 Confusion Lights the Way

40:02 Dissolving into Meditation

43:19 There is No Choice but to Take Aligned Action

47:31 Melting into the Vibration of India's Ancient Wisdom

53:05 Leave Your Father and Mother and Follow Me

58:40 Learning Biomechanics and Shifting Identities as a Yoga Teacher

01:01:25 Dancing into the Quantum Field

01:08:47 Becoming an Integrated Person in the World

01:10:36 Surrendering to the Alchemy of the Jungle

01:20:22 The Spiral is Always Moving Up

IG: https://www.instagram.com/embody.faith/?hl=en

According to Metzner (2009), ceremony or ritual is a “‘...purposeful, conscious arrangement of time, space, and action, according to specific intentions,’” and this opening episode is just that. Faith calls upon the wisdom of all who came before, inviting the energy of birth and life-forwarding medicine as she shares her intention of the podcast's inception. May it be a rite of passage: an initiation for us to enter into the forest and befriend our own wildness, returning with more wisdom and clarity of how we are to serve.

Metzner, R. (2009). Green psychology, shamanism, and therapeutic rituals. In L. Buzzell & C. Chalquist (Eds.), Ecotherapy: Healing with nature in mind. Sierra Club Books.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/embody.faith/?hl=en