The Soul Horizon

If you’ve listened to The Soul Horizon for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me talk about the pitfalls of over-thinking as well as the perils of believing everything the ego says without question. You’ve likely also heard me speak talk about thinking as being a predominantly ego-based activity. In this 'mini' episode I’d like to clarify and clear the air, because the truth is that thinking is an imperative part of being human. And there's a certain type of thinking that's actually highly spiritual in nature.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

In this episode, we explore four life lessons that are repeated time and time again. In knowing that these lessons present themselves in perpetuity, we can begin to soften to their guidance in a gentle, non-resistant, and surrendered kind of way. And the more we embrace this sort of openness, the more fluidly and nimbly we can move through these lessons, and the more we're able to welcome their wisdom.

The 4 life lessons we cover in this episode:

1. Life gives us what we need to learn, not necessarily what we want to experience.

2. When it seems as if life as we've known it is "falling apart," we're being divinely cracked open so that we can open to ourSelves (big S) more fully.

3. The way of the heart is the Soul's chosen and destined path, yet it often conflicts with the ego's chosen path of safety, certainty, and comfort.

4. In every situation or circumstance, the seed of Wisdom and the most profound meaning is found in the middle.



Continued Reading + Resources

Book: The Places That Scare You* by Pema Chödrön

Book: When Things Falls Apart* by Pema Chödrön

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

In this episode, we're exploring the idea of 'safe self' or 'acceptable self' vs. authentic self, and how we’ll only ever be as authentic as our willingness to be rejected. In other words, our ability to show up authentically in life expands in direct proportion to our willingness to be “rejected” for who we are. 


Sources

Kalyani, B., Venkatasubramanian, G., Arasappa, R., Rao, N., Kalmady, S., Behere, R., Rao, H., Vasudev, M., & Gangadhar, B. (0168). Neurohemodynamic correlates of ‘OM’ chanting: A pilot functional magnetic resonance imaging study. International Journal of Yoga, 4(1), 3-6.

Autonomic Nervous System (Cleveland Clinic)

Continued Reading + Resources

Article: 5 Ways to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve (Cleveland Clinic)

Article: When Trauma Gets Stuck in the Body

Article: The Vagus Nerve in Trauma

Article: Increasing Vagal Tone + HRV

Article: Fight Anxiety with a Strong Vagus Nerve

Article: Butterfly Hug for Bilateral Stimulation

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Update: Part 2 will be released on Thursday, 6/29! Please stay tuned and thank you for your patience during this time—lots of big life changes happening all at once. 
Note: I became emotional and struggled to speak at one point while recording this episode. In the past, I've often deleted or shortened moments like this, because I didn't want to take up your time. However, this time around I felt it was important to leave it as is and unedited. Please skip this episode if you're not in a place to receive this or if you feel that it might trigger too much for you at this time. ❤️

Other notes and disclaimers:

1. This is part one of a two-episode series, so be sure to listen to both episodes to understand the full picture. The second part will be released next Thursday!
2. In this episode, we'll be discussing trauma as a collective and generational phenomena. We won't be discussing acute traumatic events (PTSD) and chronic childhood trauma (developmental trauma disorder—DTD). Not because they aren’t important—in fact, just the opposite. They’re incredibly important… too important to cover in a brief podcast episode.
3. We also won't be exploring specific traumas or traumatic events, rather we'll be considering a pattern of collective trauma that seems to be the resulting pattern of a very broken whole.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

This episode is a check-in and chat in episode similar to the last 'on the horizon' episode. In it, I share various anecdotes, musings, and teachings that I've been playing with or contemplating recently, including what I'm currently reading, what I'm currently feeling + intuiting energy wise, and the psychological and spiritual practices I'm actively focused on in myself right now.

Topics addressed:
Inner Child Healing
Generational Trauma
The wacky and wild energies of March + April 2023
Another way to tap into our intuitive 'no'
Why fighting for unity will never work
The reason we're uncomfortable with other people's dark emotions
How our willingness to feel pain is directly related to our ability to experience pleasure.

Continued Reading + Resources
Book: *Homecoming by John Bradshaw
Book: *Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path by Rudolf Steiner
Book: *When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön

Episodes Mentioned
'On the Horizon' Check-In + Chat (Part 1)
4 Simple Yet Transformative Teachings to Empower Your Life

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

In this mini episode, we're examining the stories we tell ourselves. More specifically: The fear-based stories the mind loops through that limit our actions or expressions in some way, shape, or form and the simple techniques we can use to free ourselves from their grip.

Continued Reading + Resources

Episode: Fear-apy: Face Your Fears, Find Your Purpose

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

In this episode, we explore four simple yet transformative teachings that can be used to empower our lives in a deeper and more meaningful way.

For each teaching, I share a quote or insight that captures the essence of the idea and then dive deeper into the heart of the wisdom that's held within each.

The four main topics we cover are: 

1. Satisfying needs (and how to differentiate between real and imagined needs).
2. How to say 'no' and a quick and easy way to determine which opportunities to say 'no' to.
3. Why our most sensitive triggers are the keys that unlock our deepest healing.
4. The quickest and easiest way to soften the voice of fear.

Sources + Resources

@the_ocdproject (Instagram account)

Continued Reading + Resources

Article: Give Yourself the Permission to Be Ordinary

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Note: One of the quotes I share in this episode contains a swear word (a gentle one, all things considered), but please beware in case you're sensitive or in case you're listening around little ears!

About a month ago, I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a quote that read,

It got me to thinking... 

Unconditional love is something that's spoken about a lot, especially in spiritual circles. But the loose and flowing nature of its definition has made it susceptible to misinterpretation.

It's imperative that we recognize and honor this distinction between unconditional love and unconditional tolerance—the former fosters unity consciousness whereas the latter can lead us to linger in toxic or even dangerous situations. In this episode, we explore unconditional love, unconditional tolerance, and the vast but often overlooked differences that separate these two distinct energies.

Sources

LaPorte, D. (2022). *How to Be Loving. Sounds True.

Ruiz, D. M. (1999). *The Mastery of Love: A practical guide to the art of relationship. Amber-Allen Publishing, Inc.

Article: Unconditional Love ≠ Unconditional Tolerance

Continued Reading + Resources

Episode: Mind-Based Love vs. Heart-Based Love

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

The true function of feelings is to elicit healing. 

They arise within us to inform us. Their sole purpose is to grab our attention so that we can respond with an appropriate healing response. 

This typically isn't how we respond to feelings though. We typically respond to feelings—especially “negative” ones—not by feeling them but by thinking about them...

In other words, instead of feeling our feelings and opening to their wisdom, we react to our feelings by thinking about them (resisting), therefore creating thinkings about our feelings... and more feelings about our thinkings.

In this episode, we'll explore why we do do this and what we can do to stop thinking and start feeling our feelings.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

If you feel as if your life as you've known it is imploding and everything you once knew, loved, and identified with no longer feels aligned with who you're becoming, this one is for you. In this episode, we'll explore what it means to be spiritually catalyzed.

This process of inner catalyzation is identified in a variety of ways in spiritual teachings and literature...

Tower Moment
Dark Night of the Soul (DNOS) 
Initiation
Spiritual Transformation 
Ego Death
The Big Hairy Breakdown

Yet, all of these names describe the same thing: A pivotal event or experience that initiates a process of deep inner transformation. 

Sources

Bertrand, A., & Bertrand, S. (2017). Womb awakening: Initiatory Wisdom from the Creatrix of all life*. Bear & Company.

Steiner, R. (1994). How to know higher worlds*. Anthroposophic Press.

Article: Materialism vs. Spiritualism

Article: Deepak Chopra on Object Referral and Self Referral

Article: Spiritual Transformation: 9 Signs You're Evolving

Continued Reading + Resources

Higher Self Q + A on Spiritual Catalyzation

Episode: The Ego is an Instagram Filter

Episode: The 7 Veils of Illusion

Article: 15 Symptoms of a Kundalini Awakening (and why it's so powerful)

Article: What is Kundalini Awakening? (19 Intense Symptoms)

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports my work at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

Become a member of The Soul Horizon community (or give a one-time donation) to support the podcast. Thank you for your generous support—it breathes life into The Soul Horizon. 💕🪽✨

Work with me—schedule a free 30-minute breakthrough consultation today.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not substitute individual psychological advice.

No AI—all content and episodes created and written by Ashley Melillo.

*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports The Soul Horizon at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!