The Power of Community & Belonging
What does it truly mean to belong? In this episode, Renske and B explore the profound difference between being surrounded by people and actually feeling seen, heard, and understood.

B shares her journey from a deep sense of loneliness to finding real belonging — and how shifting her inner frequency changed the people she attracted into her life. Renske reflects on the courage it took to trust the universe when moving back to the Netherlands, and how her community transformed as she did.

Together they dive into:

✨ Why human beings are hardwired for connection

✨ The healing power of sharing out loud (and the rubber ducky method!)

✨ Letting go of relationships that no longer resonate — and grieving that with grace

✨ How community helps us access new perspectives and break free from our own blind spots

✨ Receiving support as an act of vulnerability and strength

Plus — joy sparks! Renske opens up about a beautiful moment of receiving support in her business, and B shares a tender moment with her partner Tom that left her overwhelmed with gratitude.

If you’ve ever felt like the “odd one out,” this episode is for you. 💛

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Join our Joy Circle here: https://www.schoolofjoypodcast.com/join-our-join-circle

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schoolofjoypodcast/

Episode 5 is all about people pleasing — why it happens, how it shows up, and how we can start to shift it.

We share our own experiences as lifelong, “hardcore” people pleasers, and explore the deeper root beneath the behaviour: the drive to be accepted (and feel safe) can lead us to sacrifice our authenticity, ignore our needs, and lose track of our boundaries. We talk about how people pleasing often leaves a residue — resentment, bitterness, passive-aggression — because we’re giving from obligation rather than love.

Renske unpacks how people pleasing can make boundaries feel vague or impossible, especially when you’ve spent years focused on keeping the peace outside of yourself. She shares how this played out in relationships, and a powerful lesson from family life and becoming a “bonus mum” — learning to balance everyone else’s needs without disappearing in the process.

We also share practical tools that help us come back to ourselves:

• The “Four A’s” check-in: where am I seeking acceptance, acknowledgement, appreciation, or approval?
• Heart-centred stillness: using meditation (and journaling) to bring unconscious patterns into awareness.
• Body wisdom + capacity: slowing down, sensing how a “yes” or “no” lands in the body, and asking: do I actually have the capacity for this right now?

As always, we finish with our Joy Sparks — small, ordinary moments that light us up — and a short closing breath to anchor back into the body.

Joy Circle (monthly newsletter + reflections/meditations/resources):

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In this episode, B and Renske explore acceptance as a lived spiritual practice—how it moves beyond the mind, into the heart, and becomes a doorway to unconditional love. Renske introduces the Law of Love (acknowledgement → acceptance → embrace), and together you reflect on the tension between control vs acceptance, the role of meditation and receiving, and how challenges can become catalysts for deeper trust and new pathways.

You’ll also hear personal stories on moving through resistance, how acceptance can arrive unexpectedly “in hindsight,” and simple tools—like zooming out and returning to gratitude—to support the shift.

• Acceptance as a state of being, not something the mind can force
• The Law of Love: acknowledgement → acceptance → embrace
• The heart (heart chakra / “heart portal”) as the gateway to receiving higher frequency states
• Why resistance and frustration can be part of the path (and sometimes a turning point)
• How meditation + receiving supports the transition from acknowledgement to acceptance
• Control as the “opposite” of acceptance (and why letting go can restore peace)
• Acceptance doesn’t remove grief— it changes how you hold it
• “Zooming out” into the observer to access gratitude and perspective
• Joy Sparks as a practice of noticing what is already here

• 00:00 Welcome + why acceptance matters (and will return as a theme)
• 01:01 Renske introduces the Law of Love: acknowledgement, acceptance, embrace
• 02:23 Why acknowledgement can stay mental—and acceptance asks the mind to surrender
• 03:25 Acceptance as receiving through the heart (heart chakra / heart portal)
• 04:49 Acceptance as a doorway into unconditional love and inner wisdom
• 09:43 How to move from acknowledgement to acceptance (and why it varies)
• 11:43 Meditation, breath, and receiving as the core tool
• 14:26 How you know you’re in acceptance (neutrality; no trigger)
• 16:55 B’s personal story: choosing acceptance after heartbreak
• 20:46 Trust/faith as a support when the ego doesn’t understand “why”
• 24:58 How acceptance opens new opportunities (and the “red car” analogy)
• 26:44 Control vs acceptance—and what control costs the nervous system
• 37:05 Renske’s tool: zooming out into the observer (and the gratitude shift)
• 40:09 B reflects on grief, time, and the gift that can emerge from suffering
• 42:48 Joy Sparks: noticing small moments of joy and gratitude
• 47:10 Closing grounding: breath, heart connection, gratitude

In this episode, we explore what spirituality really means and debunk some common myths. We share our personal perspectives on how spirituality isn't religion, how it shows up in everyday life, and why it’s more about practice than labels.

Renske also talks about her upcoming Master’s Way course, launching this spring, which is designed to support people in embodying spiritual teachings in a grounded, practical way.

Whether you’re curious about spirituality, navigating your own inner path, or looking for practical ways to bring more presence and meaning into daily life, this episode offers a thoughtful, honest conversation to inspire and guide you.

Find us on Instagram @schoolofjoypodcast
and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@School_of_joy_podcast

In this episode, we dive into what it really means to be a highly sensitive person (HSP) and how it shows up differently for each of us. We share our own experiences, the challenges we’ve faced, and the practices that help us stay grounded in a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming.

We also explore why being highly sensitive isn’t a limitation — it’s actually a gift, offering depth, empathy, and unique ways to connect with life and others.

Whether you’re an HSP yourself, know someone who is, or simply want to understand sensitivity more deeply, this episode is a gentle, honest conversation about honouring your nature while embracing the joy in being you.

Takeaways

• Highly sensitive person (HSP) traits include deep processing, emotional reactivity, and overstimulation.
• Acknowledging and embracing high sensitivity can lead to self-mastery and the transformation of burdens into gifts.

Find us on Instagram @schoolofjoypodcast
and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@School_of_joy_podcast

In today’s first episode, we share how School of Joy came to be — and why we chose this name for our podcast. We talk about our own journeys, the experiences and challenges that brought us to this moment, and why we felt called to create a space for honest, down-to-earth conversations about living spirituality in everyday life.

If you’ve ever felt like there’s “something more” to life, this episode is an invitation to explore presence, joy, and the small, meaningful practices that help us meet life as it is.

Find us on Instagram @schoolofjoypodcast
and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@School_of_joy_podcast

Trailer for School of Joy where we introduce what our podcast is all about.

Follow us on Instagram @schoolofjoypodcast
Or Find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@schoolofjoypodcast