Welcome back C&S peeps!!

This week I'm coming on solo to share a deeply personal reflection sparked by a slow spring walk in the sunshine.

Standing in front of the first blooming forsythia of the season, watching bees dance through yellow flowers, I found myself moved to tears by the simple experience of being fully alive.

This episode is an invitation to rethink sensuality. Not as something performative or sexualized, but as the ability to reaaaaally feel life through your senses; the warmth of the sun on your skin, the smell of soil and spring air, the sweetness of a slice of fruit. The quiet magic of being present enough to actually receive the world around you.

I explore how slowness allows our nervous systems to soften and our sensory “gating channels” to open, giving us access to a richer, more vibrant experience of life (something many people only associate with psychedelic experiences, but it's available to all of us naturally when we slow down and pay attention)

I also reflect on the powerful truth that opening ourselves to joy means opening ourselves to grief, too. Life is never either/or...it’s ALWAYS both, and.

I share the humor and lightheartedness my sister held on to through her cancer journey, processing years of built up grief around my father’s health struggles, and the creation of my program Flow Into Joy. Allowing emotions to move through the body can create more space for vitality, creativity, and connection, and that's what this month long self-paced program will help you to do.

This episode is a reminder that aliveness isn’t something we have to buy, optimize, or biohack our way into. Often, it’s found in the profound simplicity of being human: walking slowly, tasting fruit, breathing fresh air, and letting life actually touch us.

PLUS exciting updates about the upcoming relaunch of Flow Into Joy this April and a sneak peek into Season 3 of the Cycles & Shadows Podcast.

Connect with me on Instagram @cyclesandshadowshealing

THIS EPISODE IS YUM.

We're back for round 2 with Pia, and I honestly get chilllllls listening to this potency of what we chat about in this episode all about beauty as subjective, pleasure as more important than aesthetics, and confidence coming from the way you feel...NOT how someone else perceives you.

Women’s fitness coach and retreat host Pia Lara and I get into a real, expansive conversation about busting the myth of the “beauty standard” and reclaiming confidence on our own terms.

We talk about how so many of us were taught to shrink ourselves: to be quieter, thinner, more agreeable, more polished, and how exhausting that performance can be.

Together, we unpack the conditioning around what’s considered “beautiful” and who gets to take up space, and we fiercely challenge it all.

This conversation centers on pleasure as a compass and a pathway back to our bodies. Pia shares why confidence isn’t something we hustle for it’s something that emerges when we feel safe, expressed, nourished, and connected to what actually feels good.

We express the harmful roots of where the beauty standard comes from, how confidence and insecurity can exist side by side, and how to speak up for what you want and deserve from the smallest situations to the most intimidating boundary setting spaces like the office and the bedroom.

We also dive into:

• The power of not making yourself small to make others comfortable

• Celebrating all shapes, sizes, and seasons of our bodies

• Letting your body evolve without tying your worth to it

This episode is an invitation to take up spaaaaace loudly and proudly. To stop waiting until you “arrive” at some ideal version of yourself. To dress the way you want now. To speak your truth now. To experience pleasure now.

We don’t need to earn our confidence. We don’t need to fit a mold. We get to define beauty for ourselves, and we get to do it together.

If you’ve ever felt like you had to shrink, silence, or reshape yourself to belong, this one’s for you. 💛

Connect with Pia on Instagram @itspialara

Connect with Holly on Instagram @cyclesandshadowshealing

xoxoxoxo see you next week!

Don't forget to rate, review and share the podcast, it helps us grow + reach more lovely people like you :)

In this episode, we sit down with embodiment leader, Reiki and sound practitioner, and licensed esthetician Ella Byrne to explore what it really means to come home to yourself.

We begin by reflecting on illness, embodiment, and the ways our bodies hold our stories. Ella shares her journey from dog trainer to esthetician to energy practitioner, and how Reiki, sound healing, and deep spiritual work reshaped not just her career, but her relationship to herself and her clients.

This conversation is layered, tender, and powerful.

Ella opens up about growing up in a home marked by alcoholism and violence, and the steady love of her mother.

She shares how a third-grade teacher, Mrs. Bradley, introduced her to breathwork and meditation, planting seeds of healing that would carry her through bullying, grief, and even a near-death experience. We talk about the life-changing impact of having just one safe adult, and how forgiveness (for our parents and for ourselves) becomes a turning point in reclaiming our power.

We explore:

• How emotions are communication not character flaws

• The parallels between dog training and nervous system regulation

• Solar plexus + throat chakra healing and finding your voice

• The role of high sensitivity as a strength

• Nature as medicine (loons, lake days, lobster boats, and barefoot grounding)

• Vagus nerve resets and simple grounding rituals

• Firewalking as a rite of passage and ancestral reclamation

Throughout the episode Ella is vulnerable, open, and excited to share her passion for all of the things that helped her to heal and find meaning through the chaos of humanness.

We also talk about her work at AP Skin Society in Portsmouth, NH, where she blends skincare, Reiki, and tarot in her signature T-Facial treatment...and why tending to your energy is just as important as tending to your skin.

This episode is about resilience, about sensitivity as strength, about forgiving the past without bypassing it, about grounding before we give and about remembering that the unseen world is not separate from our lived experience.

And most of all, it’s about walking through the fire and discovering the inner strength that was always there.

We can’t wait for you to listen. 💛

Connect with Ella:

Instagram @embeauttyy and @embodyempresshealing

Book her signature T facial at AP Skin Society in Portsmouth, NH

Connect with Holly:

Instagram @cyclesandshadowshealing

Website cyclesandshadowshealing.com

1:1 Coaching and in person classes and events

What if your business, your body, and your life got to move at nature’s pace? In this episode, we’re joined by Mindfulness + Nature Educator, Kaitlin Muller Cusack, to talk about blending science and spirituality, building nervous system resilience, and creating a seasonally aligned life and/or business rooted in self-trust, cycles, and deep connection to the natural world.

Kaitlin shares how her lifelong love of nature led her to study environmental science, work as a wetland scientist, and eventually pivot into education after a transformational moment in New Zealand. From there, she followed the nudge into yoga teacher training, left public school teaching, and built a business that blends science, spirituality, and deep connection to place.

We talk about what it looks like to honor both the logical, science-loving parts of ourselves and the artistic, spiritual parts, and why those two things don’t have to be in conflict.

Kaitlin explains how learning plant identification and local ecology can actually deepen our relationship to the land, and we explore how natural cycles show up in our bodies and lives (like dandelions in spring and seasonal rhythms so many of us have forgotten how to listen to).

We dive into seasonal living and cyclical business; how winter invites rest, how spring invites emergence, and how Kaitlin now lets nature guide what she offers and when. From postponing workshops to aligning with the equinox, this conversation is a gentle reminder that we don’t have to force productivity year-round.

On the nervous system and somatic side, we explore what it really means to be in relationship with your body. Kaitlin shares that somatic practice is about noticing sensations without judgment, and that the goal isn’t to eliminate stress, but to learn how to move fluidly between different states with more awareness and care. We talk about how building joyful, consistent practices helps us stay connected, instead of only checking in with our bodies when we’re already burnt out.

We also get honest about self-investment, imposter syndrome, and self-compassion. Kaitlin opens up about investing in therapy and business coaching, choosing sobriety as part of her self-care, and the very real tension of teaching what you’re still learning. We talk about giving ourselves grace (literally hehe Kaitlin wears a bracelet to remind herself), and why choosing to invest in yourself is an act of self-worth, especially when you’re building something “non-traditional.”

This is a chat to remind you that small, consistent practices can anchor you even when life feels full.

Find Kaitlin & her work:

• Website: takingrooteducation.com

• Instagram: @takingrootedu

• Special Cycles & Shadows listener discount for: Spring Emergence: Nervous System Renewal !!! (usually $444 and she's sharing with us for just $300 till March 4th!)

• Subscribe to her newsletter for updates on workshops and offerings

Work with Holly (me!):

• Website: cyclesandshadowshealing.com
• Instagram: @cyclesandshadowshealing

Annnnnd we're back! This time with a solo episode!!

It has been a long while since I hopped behind the mic to bear my heart and drop in for storytime, and YA'LL...

This was so fun.

On today's episode I share the real story of how the Gene Keys helped me get really clear + honest with myself about my own shadow of Fantasy: being stuck in the daydream instead of taking action.

And of course, I take you through the entire journey of how I learned about the Gene Keys, what they are, and how I used them to not just face this shadow but ACTUALLY CHANGE my way of being in the world.

This is a fun, honest, and vulnerable look into my own process, self-reflections, mistakes, and wins that helped me in the past two years to:

• Get my photography accepted into a gallery show at a historic Portsmouth gallery
• Pursue my dreams seriously
• Become Yoga teacher certified in Costa Rica
• Become Reiki and Sound healer certified
• Teach at not just one but SEVERAL dreamy studios
• Start a successful online coaching business and podcast
• Become an Insight Timer contributor
• Attend a soul-expansive Creator Circle retreat in Mexico
• Quit the jobs that were draining me
• Become a better partner and friend who feels safe enough to actually take accountability and grow
• and so. much. more. it blows my freakin mind!!!

Sign up for my upcoming in-person Gene Keys Series at Cinder & Sound in Rye, NH here.

Listen to last episode on the Gene Keys with expert & soul-business mentor Ellisa Mae.

Connect with me on Instagram and explore working together through coaching, yoga classes, meditations, and more!

See you next week! xoxoxo

Drumroll please for the fabulous Ellisa Mae!

Gene Keys expert, Akashic records reader, spiritual business mentor, and recruiting manager for a big automotive company, this gal truly does it all. She is here today to teach us how our own path is actually supposed to look + feel wildly different from everyone else we see. Using the Gene Keys to lean into your unique soul blueprint instead of drowning in a sea of comparison is the secret sauce we'll reveal in this episode.

We don't just talk from a surface or textbook level , but actually share our own experiences of how the Gene Keys have helped us transform our own lives. From relying on drinking & smoking to cope to years of sobriety, taking 10 years to finish college to creating an aligned business...we reflect on approaching both shadows and purpose with compassion and commitment.

Ellisa shares how the Keys are your hero’s journey mapped through your birth information. They blend ancient wisdom, Western astrology, Human Design, the Chinese I-Ching, epigenetics and mysticism. We explore how the Gene Keys aren’t about fixing yourself, but about gently turning toward your shadows and letting them blossom into your gifts.

We talk openly about what it’s like to outgrow old coping mechanisms, choose sobriety in your own way, and stay honest with yourself when familiar shadows keep resurfacing.

We also get into entrepreneurship and soul-led business; breaking rules, trusting your own rhythm, and designing a life that actually fits who you are. Ellisa shares how she went from receiving her first Gene Keys reading to becoming a Gene Keys reader and mentor herself, and how learning to trust her own resourcefulness changed everything.

Along the way, we talk self-care, daily practices, meditation, and what happens when you skip the things that keep you grounded (even when life gets busy). We touch on Ellisa’s Healing Bubble membership, her Gene Keys readings, weekly cosmic forecasts, and private mentorship for spiritual entrepreneurs: all rooted in compassion, awareness, and real-life integration.

We wrap by reflecting on purpose, how it’s not one-size-fits-all, how it evolves, and how true success and happiness come from aligning your everyday choices with what actually matters to you.

This episode is honest, grounded, and deeply affirming...especially if you’re navigating growth, sobriety, entrepreneurship, or learning how to meet your shadows with a little more kindness.

You can connect with Ellisa on Instagram @iamellisamae and find all her offerings, from the Healing Bubble, to Cosmic Forecast, individual readings, and her 1:1 mentorship here.

Connect with me at @cyclesandshadowshealing and on my website PLUS super excited to share my upcoming in-person Gene Keys Path of Purpose workshop series at Rye, NH at Cinder and Sound Healing Studio, perfect for beginners and folks that want to dive deeper into exploring their hologenetic profile intuitively, in community. Learn more here.

In this cozy episode, I sit down with Sara Bennett; Yoga teacher, Yoga educator, wellness mentor, and future chiropractor, for a grounded conversation about rest, rhythm, and coming back to the basics of well-being.

We explore our shared love of embracing the rhythm of nature in all her seasons and cycles, and how paying attention to these rhythms can radically shift the way we care for ourselves. Sara shares her lifelong path into wellness, sparked by a deep curiosity around what it actually means to thrive rather than exploring health solely in the face of illness like many of her family members.

She emphasizes throughout how yoga became her most dependable tool for building a more personal, sustainable relationship with true vitality and how she's turned her own experience into work she's passionate about.

We chat about how modern wellness culture often overcomplicates (and biohacks, and overprices) things, and conversely…how much support can come from returning to simple foundations like sleep, movement, rest, and connection. We reflect on how rest looks different for everyone, and how our own definitions of rest includes integration, presence, and slowing down enough to notice the world around and within us rather than rushing by in the busy mode so many default to.

Sara then shares how cycle syncing transformed her relationship with yoga and self-care through different phases of the menstrual cycle. As my peeps know, this is one of my deep passions as well so we are spreading the good word + truth: women’s needs change week to week (really everyones but we're honing in on the hormonal shifts here)!!! Forcing the same practice every day isn't sustainable or beneficial, honoring rest is a beautiful way to increase energy and vitality long-term.

We close by talking about Sara’s upcoming Living Rhythm Wellness membership, an online yoga and wellness community launching March 20th, designed to support sustainable at-home practice through on-demand classes, meditations, breathwork, 'soul snacks', and live community calls.

Connect with Sara on Instagram @iamlivingrhythm

Get on the Living Rhythm Wellness membership waitlist

Connect with Holly on Instagram @cyclesandshadowshealing

1:1 Intuitive holistic coaching: Intro call | 3-call package | Trust Your Path 4 month mentorship

In this episode, I'm joined by the lovely Emma Deschamps of Spicy Soul Kitchen for a deliciously honest conversation about choosing intuition over logic, even when it doesn’t make sense to anyone else (and even upsets people you love).

Emma shares the deeply intuitive pull that led her to leave a stable life in Canada and move to Mexico during the pandemic, without a clear plan or explanation. Together, we chat what it means to trust gut feelings in a world that prioritizes certainty, structure, and external validation...and the courage it takes to follow an inner knowing when practicality can’t keep up.

The conversation weaves through Emma’s journey of intuitive migration, navigating isolation and value clashes during the pandemic, and the synchronistic moments that affirmed her decision along the way. From teaching yoga at hostels in exchange for housing, to discovering a love for hands-on work, cooking, and building a life through lived experience rather than a linear career path, Emma reflects on how letting go of expectations opened the door to self-discovery.

They also dive into entrepreneurship life and share experiences with imposter syndrome, pricing your work with integrity, and the freedom that comes from allowing yourself to be a beginner, especially as an adult.

Toward the latter half of this convo, I steer us toward discussing how yoga, self-reflection, and solitude can support entrepreneurs and creatives in rewriting those limiting stories about worth, success, and identity.

This episode is a powerful reflection on trusting yourself, embracing imperfection, and honoring your values even when it means disappointing others or walking a lonelier path. A reminder that life isn’t about having it all figured out, but about listening closely, choosing courage, and allowing yourself to evolve.

In this episode, we explore:

• Intuition vs. logic and why trusting your gut takes really BIG courage

• Making spontaneous, life-altering decisions without a clear plan

• Moving to Mexico during the pandemic and navigating complete uncertainty

• Letting go of external expectations to discover your true path

• Embracing beginner’s mindset, creativity, and imperfection

• Overcoming imposter syndrome and learning to value your work

• Solitude, self-trust, and standing firmly in your values

• The cost, and liberation, of living in alignment with yourself

Choose yourself, trust your intuition, and take that leap even without knowing the outcome...this conversation is for YOU.

Don't forget to rate, comment, and share the show <3

Stay in touch on Instagram and on my website :)

In this expansive, honest, and deeply mystical conversation, I sit down with women’s fitness coach, retreat leader, and astrologically attuned witchy woman Pia Lara to explore cycles of death and rebirth, Saturn returns, ancestral magic, embodiment, and what it means to truly transform from the inside out.

Coming from two heavy scorpio placement gals, we are living the stories shared and hope you feel less alone in your own cycles by tuning in.

We weave astrology, lived experience, spirituality, physiology, and leadership into a grounded yet cosmic exploration of becoming that sounds like two girlfriends chatting over tea (cause that's literally what happened hehe).

From heartbreak as initiation, to pain-free menstrual cycles in sacred lands, to reclaiming ancestral spiritual traditions, this episode reminds us that transformation is deeply human and profoundly sacred...even written in the stars.

TL;DR:

• Death / Rebirth cycles as sacred initiations
• Healing, embodiment, and feminine leadership
• Astrology as a lived language
• Belonging, identity, and ancestral reconnection
• Courage, devotion, and self-trust
• Magic in the everyday world

Share this with someone navigating transformation, Saturn return, heartbreak, or rebirth. Leave a review, subscribe, and help this conversation reach more hearts.

Connect with Pia on Instagram at @itspialara, @curvygirlyclub and @sistercirclesco

Connect with Holly on Instagram at @cyclesandshadowshealing and the C&S website

Xoxoxo,

Your Saturn in Aries Scorpio moon host and Scorpio rising guest ;)

Welcome to a very special Cycles & Shadows Podcast episode!

I'm joined by co-host Liz Ridgely to sit down with Adam, Ryan, and Pete as they introduce their new album: a hip hop project shining a light on vulnerability, authenticity, spirituality, sobriety, grief, change, cultural norms that oughtta be questioned, friendship, and topics worth tuning into.

It's been an epic privilege to watch this project unfold over the past two years and I cannot wait for you to listen and fall in love with these guise.

Join the Parliament: find the 3 Wise Guise on Spotify and Instagram