The Hidden Way

Never trust me when I say that I'm taking a break.

Over the summer, as I focus on writing over on Substack, I will post the audio version here on my podcast feed.

If you'd like to support my work, one of the best ways you can do that is by subscribing to my Substack, which you can find here. 

Find me on Instagram: @rudibetzold

Never trust me when I say that I'm taking a break.

Over the summer, as I focus on writing over on Substack, I will post the audio version here on my podcast feed.

If you'd like to support my work, one of the best ways you can do that is subscribe to my Substack, which you can find here.

Find me on Instagram: @rudibetzold

Never trust me when I say that I'm taking a break.

Over the summer, as I focus on writing over on Substack, I will post the audio version here on my podcast feed.

If you'd like to support my work, one of the best ways you can do that is subscribe to my Substack, which you can find here.

Find me on Instagram: @rudibetzold

Never trust me when I say that I'm taking a break.

Over the summer, as I focus on writing over on Substack, I will post the audio version here on my podcast feed.

If you'd like to support my work, one of the best ways you can do that is subscribe to my Substack, which you can find here.

Find me on Instagram: @rudibetzold

In this episode of The Hidden Way, therapist and host Rudi Betzold sits down with fellow therapist Laura from @helping.you.flourish for a deeply honest conversation about motherhood, identity, emotional healing, and the intense inner transformation that often happens when we become mothers.

Together, they explore the emotional realities of motherhood that many women experience but rarely talk openly about: postpartum overwhelm, rage, guilt, anxiety, identity loss, nervous system overload, people-pleasing, and the pressure many mothers feel to “get it right.” 

They also discuss the difference between codependency and attunement, why motherhood can feel so emotionally exposing, and how healing often begins when we learn to reconnect with ourselves.

This episode is especially for mothers who feel overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, disconnected from themselves, or unsure how to balance caring deeply for others while also caring for themselves.

Topics discussed include:
Motherhood emotions and emotional overwhelm
Postpartum support and maternal mental health
Nervous system regulation and emotional safety
Rage, guilt, shame, and identity shifts in motherhood
Self-care for mothers and reclaiming selfhood
Emotional healing and learning to trust yourself
Millennial motherhood and perfectionism

Connect with Laura:
Instagram: @helping.you.flourish
Website: Greenhouse Belleville CounselingThe Instagram post that inspired this conversation:
Motherhood is a sacred call to deep healingConnect with Rudi:
Instagram: @thehiddenwaypod
Substack: After Eden

In this episode, I’m joined by therapist Cindy Payne for a conversation about nervous system safety, complex trauma, and the patterns many women find themselves stuck in—like people-pleasing, perfectionism, and overthinking. We talk about what it means to feel safe in your body, and why so many people feel anxious, overwhelmed, or shut down—even when their life looks “fine” from the outside. 

Cindy explains the difference between top-down approaches (like trying to change your thoughts) and the deeper, body-based work of creating safety underneath those patterns. 

We also explore:
 – why you can be doing everything “right” and still feel off
 – how early relationships shape your sense of safety and belonging
 – the role of shame in keeping you stuck
 – and what it actually looks like to begin building safety in everyday life

This isn’t about quick fixes. It’s about learning how to listen to your body, understand your patterns, and relate to yourself in a different way.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re trying really hard but something still isn’t working, this conversation will likely resonate.

You can find Cindy at cindypayne.com or on Instagram @cindypaynerooted, and her podcast Reclaiming Me.You can find me on Instagram @thehiddenwaypod or on Substack.

In this episode, I’m joined by Enneagram coach and grief educator Mandy Capeheart for a conversation introducing the Enneagram—a powerful framework for understanding your personality, core motivations, and the patterns that shape how you think, feel, and relate to the world.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why you react the way you do, why certain struggles keep repeating, or why growth can feel so hard even when you’re trying your best—this conversation offers a starting point.

We walk through:
- What the Enneagram is (and what it’s not)  
- The 9 personality types and how they differ  
- Why the Enneagram focuses on motivation, not just behavior  
- How this framework can help you grow in self-awareness and compassion 

This is an Enneagram 101 episode—simple, approachable, and designed to help you begin to see yourself more clearly.

Connect with Mandy Capehart:
Website: HERE
Instagram: @mandycapehart
Book: Purchase here

Connect with host, Rudi Betzold:
Instagram: @thehiddenwaypod
Read my essays about things like The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives here.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure what to do next, this episode offers a simple, grounded way to find clarity.

So much of the advice around productivity and decision-making focuses on doing more—more discipline, more structure, more consistency. But for thoughtful, sensitive people who tend to overthink or carry too much, that approach often leads to more stress, burnout, and confusion.

In this episode, we explore a different kind of practice for finding clarity:

Fill what’s empty.
Empty what’s full.
Scratch what itches.

This simple framework (from Amelia Roosevelt Longworth) helps you slow down, tune into your body and inner life, and discern what actually matters right now—so you can move forward without forcing, overthinking, or shutting down.
We’ll talk about how this shows up in: 
moments of overwhelm and decision fatigue  
feeling stuck or unable to start  
low motivation or scattered energy  
overfunctioning and carrying too much 

If you’ve been wondering what to do next, how to make a decision, or how to feel more clear and grounded in your life, this episode will give you a practical and compassionate place to begin.

Find me on Instagram: @thehiddenwaypod
My writing lives here: Substack

Many people who look strong and capable on the outside feel quietly exhausted and disconnected on the inside. This episode explores the balance of “soft front, strong back” — a simple framework for understanding burnout, people-pleasing, over-functioning, and how to live with both openness and grounded strength.
In this episode, therapist Rudi Betzold brings together Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and real-life experience to help thoughtful, overwhelmed people find clarity, steadiness, and a more sustainable way of living.

Instagram: @thehiddenwaypod
Substack: The Hidden Way

What happens when we force our way through life? And what happens when we quietly hold ourselves back?

In this episode, I explore the nervous system through the metaphor of a river, and what it costs us when we chronically override or inhibit our inner experience.

Drawing on research around stress physiology, the ACEs studies, and the connection between emotional suppression and long-term health outcomes, we’ll look at two common survival strategies:• Forcing — chronic mobilization, over-functioning, pushing through
• Holding back — suppression, people-pleasing, dampening ourselves to preserve connection

Both are intelligent adaptations. Both have physiological consequences.

This is an episode about sympathetic activation, inhibition, immune and stress responses — but also about tenderness, self-awareness, and allowing what is within you to move.

Rilke wrote, “May what I do flow from me like a river — no forcing and no holding back.”

What would it mean to live that way?