In this Sacred Over Sacrifice panel, we gathered a circle of powerful women for a transformational breathwork journey followed by a raw, honest conversation about releasing the martyr role, breaking people pleasing patterns, listening to the body, and choosing truth, softness, and self honoring over obligation. You’ll hear real breathwork shares, mystical experiences, emotional releases, boundary breakthroughs, stories of healing, and the practical tools these women are carrying into the holiday season to stay rooted, rested, and real.

Panelists:
Tasha Rose — Herbalist and CEO helping families feel better faster through plant medicine @tasharose.herbalist
Vida Delrahim — Co-founder of WeNatal transforming fertility care for both partners @vidadelrahim
Melody Godfred — Poet and author devotionally guiding us back to self love @melodygodfred
Dawn Nikole — Sound healer and wellness guide harmonizing body, mind, and spirit @dawn_nikole
Jeni Dodd — Tea specialist and educator celebrating connection through handcrafted teas @jenidoddtea
Amanda Folkestad — Realtor and home stager creating intentional, story-filled spaces @portlandpink
Katy Chen Mazzara — Money and trauma coach helping creatives release scarcity and reclaim freedom @katychenmazzara
Dr. Celeste Chiam — Pianist and spiritual educator weaving art, practice, and awakening @celeste.chiam
Krista Williams — Podcast host, guide, and teacher supporting life’s biggest transitions @itskrista
Robyn Cohen — Actor and mentor illuminating creativity as devotion and daily practice @robyncohenactingstudio

Hosted by Siri Baruc Thornton, founder of sage + blush wellness and the Goddess of Light retreat ecosystem @siribaructhornton

What we explore
• Breathwork shares, mystical visions, somatic release
• The body’s signals when a yes is actually a no
• Overgiving, people pleasing, burnout, and boundaries
• Receiving as a spiritual practice
• Nature as a holder when no one else is available
• Money fears, creativity, motherhood, and emotional overload
• How to move through the holidays without abandoning yourself

About Goddess of Light Retreats

Goddess of Light is a sanctuary for leaders, artists, healers, mothers, and visionaries: women who hold it all. Each retreat is a living ceremony where we return to truth, release what no longer serves, and remember that we are already radiant, powerful, and enough.

🌙 Goddess of Light Retreats — Mt. Hood Village, Oregon
Explore upcoming retreats: sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat

www.sageandblushwellness.com

Send us a text

Support the show

In this unguarded conversation, we explore what it means to live in relationship with the unseen; to call it God, Source, Spirit, Universe, or simply Love.
Fresh from a transformational breathwork infused with Reiki session, a circle of luminous women gather in reverence and curiosity to speak about faith, energy, grief, and the mystery that breathes us. What unfolds is an unveiling that every path, whether rooted in Christianity, Buddhism, Shamanism, or the language of nature, ultimately leads us home to the same place: love, connection, and belonging.

In this episode we explore:

• What it means to feel the divine through the body, breath, and nervous system
• Finding trust after burnout, grief, or resistance
• How nature, sound, and art become languages of Spirit
• The bridge between religion and spirituality and how both can serve love
• The importance of reclaiming mystery in a world that wants certainty

Featuring:

• Weina Dinata — Native Plant advocate and educator, reconnecting us to nature as God @mypoppyandfinch
• Megan Sky — Singer-songwriter and sound healer, channeling music as light @meaganskymusic
• Lesley Alberts — Somatic and trauma-informed coach exploring safety as prayer @groundedmamapodcast
• Val Dupré — Shaman and seer bridging spirit and science through ancestral wisdom @v.a.l_coaching
• Hannah Ashenden — Musician and mentor guiding hearts home after burnout @Hannah_Ashenden
• Robin Cohen — Actor and teacher illuminating creativity as communion with God @robyncohenactingstudio 
• Dr. Celeste Chiam — Buddhist practitioner and teacher on chanting, karma, and awakening @celeste.chiam
• Hosted by Siri Baruc Thornton, founder of sage + blush wellness and the Goddess of Light retreat ecosystem @siribaructhornton

Upcoming Retreats:
Join us in 2026 in Mount Hood Village, Oregon, for immersive Goddess of Light retreats weaving Transformational Breathwork, Reiki, live music, nutrition and ceremony. 🌿 March 15–18 | 🌸 May 3–6 | 🍂 October 4–7

Register here: https://www.sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat

Send us a text

Support the show

In this luminous and deeply grounding dialogue with writer and teacher Ashmi Pathela we explore what it really means to anchor the light within the human experience.

From her home in the forests of Western Australia, Ashmi shares how motherhood, nature, and everyday life have become living gateways to presence, awareness, and love. Together we talk about what it means to live as your higher self now, not as an idea or something far away, but as a daily practice of compassion, embodiment, and trust.

This conversation was so nourishing. We touched on so many of the themes I’m feeling alive in right now: embodiment, motherhood, sisterhood, devotion, and remembering that the divine is already here, moving through every ordinary moment.

In this episode we explore:

• The end of “endless healing” and the invitation to simply be
• How our challenges and emotions are soul-designed for expansion
• Living from awareness instead of fixing
• Motherhood, sisterhood, and creating community rooted in safety and light
• Releasing the illusion of separation and remembering who we are

I also read one of my favorite passages from Ashmi’s book You Are the Light: Remembering words that moved me to tears: “One day you will see that all of your lifetimes of thinking you aren’t good enough have served you. Even when you felt utterly lost, you never stopped reaching for love. You have never been truly lost. You have never been alone.”

This episode feels like a meditation and reminder that even in the mess and beauty of daily life, we are anchoring the light.

Connect with Ashmi Pathela: Instagram → @ashmi.path Website: ashmipath.com
Book → Anchoring the Light
 

About Goddess of Light Retreats

Goddess of Light is a sanctuary for leaders, artists, healers, mothers, and visionaries: women who hold it all. Each retreat is a living ceremony where we return to truth, release what no longer serves, and remember that we are already radiant, powerful, and enough.

🌙 Goddess of Light Retreats — Mt. Hood Village, Oregon
Explore upcoming retreats: sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat

www.sageandblushwellness.com

Send us a text

Support the show

In this radiant and deeply real panel, I gather in sacred sisterhood with the luminous women of the Goddess of Light team: creatives, healers, mothers, and visionaries who embody what it means to live, lead, and create from the light within. We recorded just after a transformational breathwork infused with Reiki journey, still in the softness and vulnerability of that space. What unfolded was a conversation about surrender, self-worth, and remembering who we are beneath all the roles we play. Together we explored what it means to expand our capacity not just to feel good, but to feel everything. You’ll hear stories of burnout and rebirth, devotion and doubt, artistry and healing, the kind of realness that only emerges when women feel safe to be fully themselves.

Featuring the Goddess of Light Team

🌿 Desiree Maher — Photographer and founder of Desi Maui Photography. With fifteen years of experience, Desiree captures sacred moments of healing and transformation, preserving authentic stories of light for generations.

🎶 Mēagan Sky — Soul singer, award-winning songwriter, mother of twins, and certified Self-Love Master Practitioner & Coach. Her gospel-infused music, including her EP I’ll Be The One and song Am I Already Found, invites listeners to return to love and authenticity.

🎤 Lola Kristine — Award-winning singer-songwriter whose soulful, honest music inspires connection and healing. Through voice and piano, she channels divine frequency and reminds us that our voices are instruments of light.

🔮 Dawn Nikole — Founder of Paradigm Wellness Clinic and sound-bath practitioner. Dawn bridges energy medicine, ceremony, and holistic wellness to help others harmonize body, mind, and spirit and reconnect with the sanctuary within.

🍃 Marné Minard, MS Nutrition — Nutritionist and owner of Bastion, a Portland restaurant rooted in nourishment and education. Her food-as-medicine philosophy honors that healing can be beautiful, sensual, and sacred.

✨ Hosted by Siri Baruc Thornton, founder of Goddess of Light Retreats and The Authentic Creative podcast.

In This Episode We Explore

• The courage to surrender control and trust divine timing
• Expanding our capacity to feel
• Healing burnout and the “good girl” conditioning
• Creativity and self-expression as medicine
• How each woman’s relationship to her light evolves
• The power of sisterhood and co-regulation
• Remembering that softness is strength and rest is holy

About Goddess of Light Retreats

Goddess of Light is a sanctuary for leaders, artists, healers, mothers, and visionaries: women who hold it all. Each retreat is a living ceremony where we return to truth, release what no longer serves, and remember that we are already radiant, powerful, and enough.

🌙 Goddess of Light Retreats — Mt. Hood Village, Oregon
Explore upcoming retreats: sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat

Connect with the Goddess Team

Desiree Maher — Desi Maui Photography
Mēagan Sky — @meagansky
Lola Kristine — @musicoflola
Dawn Nikole — Paradigm Wellness Clinic
Marné Minard — Bastion Eatwell
Siri Baruc Thornton — @siribaructhornton
Offerings & Retreats: sageandblushwellness.com

Send us a text

Support the show

In this luminous episode of The Authentic Creative: Expanding Our Capacity to Feel Good, I sit down with the remarkable Jeni Dodd, international tea importer, Certified Tea Specialist, award-winning speaker, and founder of jeni.dodd.tea.com

We met by pure serendipity in an airport while I was traveling with my 12-year-old son, Phoenix, to visit my 100-year-old grandmother, and our connection was instant. What unfolded next was a conversation filled with warmth, wisdom, and wonder, so alive that I asked Jeni if we could record it.

Together we explore:
🌿 The artistry and soul of tea as a practice of presence and connection
🌏 Jeni’s journey from law to founding a tea company rooted in ethics, sustainability, and love
💫 How sensory experiences like tea and cacao awaken creativity and intuition
🌸 Ritual versus chore, finding joy and meaning in the everyday
🫖 Lessons from Jeni’s courageous travels through Nepal, Japan, and beyond
🤍 The power of aligned action, authenticity, and intentional living

A Kansas native now based in New York City, Jeni has traveled to nearly every major tea-producing region in the world, from Japan and China to Nepal, learning directly from growers and artisans. She has been recognized as Best Speaker at the World Tea Expo five years in a row, has keynoted international tea festivals, and even created Grape Grain & Leaf™, a virtual tea cocktail experience that brings together the worlds of tea, wine, and story.

In this conversation, Jeni also shares how she transformed her health after an MS diagnosis and how her devotion to tea, presence, and reducing stress led to deep healing and a new way of life.

Connect with Jeni:
https://www.jenidoddtea.com/

Instagram: @jenidoddtea

Connect with Siri:
✨ Instagram: @siribaructhornton
✨ Retreats + Offerings: sageandblushwellness.com

Send us a text

Support the show

In this heartfelt episode of The Authentic Creative: Expanding Our Capacity to Feel Good, I dialogue with my friend and fellow creator, Heather Dimick, host of the What’s That Whisper podcast and founder of the What’s That Whisper product line.

We dive deep, fresh from a transformational Breathwork infused with Reiki session, into the themes of presence, motherhood, creative entrepreneurship, and what it really means to listen to the whispers within.

Heather shares her personal journey of healing, motherhood, and creative expansion. Together, we explore:
✨ The power of slowing down and finding truth beneath old stories
✨ Releasing shame and softening into compassion
✨ How listening to inner whispers can guide us toward purpose
✨ Creating space in our homes and hearts for what’s meant for us
✨ Letting go of control and embracing flow

I open the episode with a poem written for Heather during her breathwork session, titled “Becoming More Me,” a reflection on transformation, forgiveness, and remembering who we’ve always been.

This episode is a reminder that you are the answer you seek, and that when we listen closely, life whispers back.

Connect with Heather: Instagram: @whatsthatwhisper Podcast: What’s That Whisper. Shop her affirmation tees, mugs, and journals: whatsthatwhisper.com

Connect with Siri:
✨ Transformational Breathwork infused with Reiki (live online, $33)
Join the next class: https://www.sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/daily-breathwork-zoom-class-drop-in

🌙 Goddess of Light Retreats at Mt. Hood, Oregon
Explore upcoming retreats: https://www.sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat

🌿 Website: sageandblushwellness.com
📸 Instagram: @siribaructhornton

Send us a text

Support the show

In this solo episode of The Authentic Creative, I invite you into a gentle, fifteen-minute episode: a space to breathe, reflect, and remember that rest is part of creation.

After several weeks away from the mic, I share what I've been learning through my own pauses: how slowing down doesn’t diminish growth, how the nervous system teaches us what safety really feels like, and how true creativity flows when we stop pushing and start listening.

Inside this episode, you’ll experience:
🌿 A short transmission on what breathwork has been teaching lately
🌿 Field notes from recent Goddess of Light retreats, including the moments that remind us why women gather: healing the sisterhood wound.
🌿 A listener reset to help you exhale and soften your body
🌿 A transparent look behind the scenes at what’s coming next: new panels, upcoming guests, and ways to connect more deeply

If you’ve been moving fast, this episode is your permission slip to slow down. To rest. To trust that the space between things is still sacred.

Mentioned in this episode:
✨ Transformational Breathwork infused with Reiki (live online, $33)
Join the next class: https://www.sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/daily-breathwork-zoom-class-drop-in

🌙 Goddess of Light Retreats at Mt. Hood, Oregon
Explore upcoming retreats: https://www.sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat

Connect with Siri
🌿 Website: sageandblushwellness.com
🎙️ Podcast: The Authentic Creative
📸 Instagram: @siribaructhornton

Send us a text

Support the show

So many of us were raised to be “good girls," to smile, to say yes, to overdeliver, to smooth things over, to be endlessly reliable. But at what cost?

In this minisode of The Authentic Creative, I open up about why good girls burn out, and why it’s not your fault. Together we explore the cultural conditioning that keeps women stuck in fawn and freeze, the hidden toll on our bodies and creativity, and the radical reframe that allows us to step out of “good” and into whole, authentic, radiant, and true.

Along the way, I weave in wisdom from Glennon Doyle’s Untamed and Brené Brown’s research on boundaries, perfectionism, and authenticity, along with stories from my own breathwork practice and retreats.

✨ Inside this episode:

• What the “good girl” archetype really means
• How people-pleasing keeps our nervous systems stuck in burnout cycles
• Why perfectionism is a trauma response, not a virtue
• How boundaries become acts of self-respect
• A powerful reflection prompt from Untamed Journal

You’ll walk away with both compassion for yourself and practical invitations for shifting into authenticity, so you can stop burning out and start living from truth.

If this conversation resonates, I’d love to hear what it stirred in you. Share your reflections with me on Instagram @siribaructhornton

And if you’re craving spaces where we practice this together, in breathwork, Reiki, and sisterhood, you are always welcome to...

🌿 Work with me 1:1 or in group breathwork/Reiki: www.sageandblushwellness.com
🌿 Join an upcoming Goddess of Light Retreat (Mt. Hood, OR): March 15–18, May 3–6, Oct 4–7, 2026: https://www.sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat
🌿 Follow my journey + inspiration @siribaructhornton
Subscribe here and wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss upcoming conversations with artists, healers, and creators who remind us that miracles are always within reach.

Send us a text

Support the show

Anxiety. Burnout. Dysregulation. So many of us are living in constant fight-or-flight, our nervous systems fried from overgiving, overworking, and overthinking. What if healing wasn’t about pushing harder, but about slowing down and receiving?
In this luminous panel, three radiant women — Sierra, Dana, and Tange — share their journeys of healing through Reiki attunements at our retreat. Together we explore the mystical and the practical: how Reiki connects us to lineage and unconditional love, and how it rewires the nervous system toward rest, safety, and peace.

🌀 Why Reiki heals the nervous system
Modern science now confirms what ancient traditions have always known: practices like Reiki activate the parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” state that lowers stress hormones, regulates heart rate, and brings the body into balance. Studies show Reiki reduces anxiety, supports emotional regulation, and creates a measurable shift into calm.

🌟 Stories from the circle
Sierra: “I felt this armor fall away, like I was breaking free of a protective shield.”
Dana: “It was always me. Thousands of years behind me, thousands ahead. This moment was always meant to happen.”
Tange: “My nervous system was fried. I couldn’t turn it off. Reiki gave me a way to regulate again — not just for me, but for my family.”
These are not metaphors. These are lived experiences of the body, heart, and spirit remembering how to heal.

✨ What you’ll receive in this episode
• A guided grounding practice you can experience right now
• Raw and tender stories of sobriety, grief, parenting, and everyday miracles
• Proof that when we give Reiki, we also receive
• The reminder that presence is enough
• An invitation to trust the lineage that is always at your back
This is not just a conversation — it’s a transmission of love, lineage, and healing. If your nervous system longs for calm, let this be your breadcrumb.

🌿 Explore upcoming Reiki Certification and Goddess of Light Retreats:
https://www.sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat

Reiki Practitioner Panelists: 
Sierra · Agoura Hills, CA · Author of How to Attract Your Cosmic Love Partner (Amazon) · The Planet Love Times
Dana Schmit · San Luis Obispo, CA · Reiki + Sound Healing (Sound Mind) · danaschmit.com · IG @danaschmit
Tange · West Hollywood, CA · Family Culture Coach + Reiki Practitioner · IG @auntiefamilyculturecoach · @myfriendscallmetange

• “When we give Reiki, we also receive.”
• “Presence is enough. Reiki teaches us to unlearn the efforting.”
• “It was always me. This moment was always meant to happen.”
• “My nervous system was fried. Reiki gave me a way to regulate again.”
• “The lineage is behind you. You are never alone.”

Send us a text

Support the show

This was a life-changing gathering and more than just a panel. Especially this time. I played with surrendering the structure and let it flow.

We began with a powerful hour of Transformational Breathwork infused with Reiki. In that space, masks came off. Roles fell away. Women who are used to holding so much for others let themselves be held. The rawness of the shares that followed set the tone for everything. One participant said through tears, “I realized I’ve been living as a role, not as myself. For the first time in years, I felt the real me breathe.”

From there, we circled in conversation: resilience coaches, actors, healers, artists, comedians, spiritual mentors, and mothers, exploring together how we expand our capacity to feel in a world that so often rewards us for silencing ourselves.

The vulnerability was palpable. Stories of recovery, laughter, ancestral healing, nourishment, and nervous system wisdom flowed like medicine. Each voice cracked something open. Together we remembered that sensitivity is not weakness, that joy is not frivolous, and that standing firm in our truth without guilt is the most sacred gift we can give ourselves and others.

Panelists:
Sarah Tacy (@sarahtacy) • Marné Minard (@bastion_eatwell @marneminard) • Tosca Fasso (@itstoscafasso) • Julia Thornton (@jthornton444) • Robyn Cohen (@robyncohenactingstudio) • Dana Hunter Fradella (@girls.who.recover) • Ellen W.B. (@kaleidoscopereflecting) • Sohm Kapila (@sohmkapila) • Jackie Dragone (@iamjackiedragone)

This episode will invite you to:

• Reclaim sensitivity as a strength and a compass.
• Drop the masks of perfection, “good girl,” or self-sacrifice, and feel what’s really there.
• Explore how resilience, nervous system wisdom, and creative practices help us hold more joy and aliveness.
• See how laughter, art, and storytelling connect us across differences.
• Nourish your body and spirit so you no longer burn out from over-giving.
• Redefine success beyond tradition, guilt, or “shoulds.”

The result was extraordinary. We left not only more connected to each other, but more connected to ourselves, rooted in the knowing that to feel deeply is to live fully. This conversation is raw, vulnerable, and alive. May it open something true in you, too.

✨ Stay Connected with Me
I’m Siri Baruc Thornton, Reiki Master Teacher, breathwork facilitator, retreat curator, and host of The Authentic Creative. If you’re ready to expand your capacity to feel good and live in your truth, here are ways we can connect:
🌿 Work with me 1:1 or in group breathwork/Reiki: www.sageandblushwellness.com
🌿 Join an upcoming Goddess of Light Retreat (Mt. Hood, OR): March 15–18, May 3–6, Oct 4–7, 2026: https://www.sageandblushwellness.com/purchase/p/goddess-of-light-retreat
🌿 Follow my journey + inspiration @siribaructhornton
Subscribe here and wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss upcoming conversations with artists, healers, and creators who remind us that miracles are always within reach.

Opt Out Of Urgency with Sarah Tacy: https://www.sarahtacy.com/opting-out-of-urgency

Send us a text

Support the show