The Unshakeable Self

⚠️ Trigger warning: this episode talks about rage, sexual violence, genocide, a loved one in hospital, and violent thoughts.

In This Episode:

What You’ll Discover:

Why rage feels so much better than grief or fear, and how the survival self goes looking for more fuel

Episode Highlights:

00:38 - Fair warning: this one’s spicy, so protect your peace first

02:04 - I wrote Sacred Anger, and I’m still furious: Kali and the fierce feminine

06:19 - Let me tell you about September: hospital stays, shoplifters, a hex sign, and trolls coming for Baby

10:24 - Helplessness, over-responsibility, and when witnessing becomes self-harm

13:49 - Rage has a spine: why the survival self keeps reaching for more fuel

15:29 - Where our fire really goes, and the scary absence of a high road

20:53 - Fire needs a hearth, and what’s underneath the rage

24:10 - Returning to stillness inside the fire

26:38 - Choosing your fuel, plus two questions to give your rage direction

About Rage, Helplessness, and Finding Stillness Inside the Fire:

In this episode, Seryna maps her own September from the untouchable (the genocide in Gaza, US politics, the stories flooding our feeds) to the barely touchable (her wife’s body, the surgery) to the very touchable (a shoplifter, a troll). When the fire can’t reach what we’re actually helpless about, it jumps to whatever’s within reach. She’s honest that mocking the trolls felt powerful at a time she felt powerless, and equally honest that the missing high road is the part that scares her.

This isn’t about making the rage wrong. Seryna still believes all of this fury is medicine, showing us what matters and what needs to change. But fire in a hearth heats the house, and fire without one burns it down. And when she digs underneath it, what’s there is love: for her wife, for Baby, for people she’ll never meet, for the shop and community she’s built. Wrath is what love looks like when it’s protecting something.

Years ago, “stillness inside the fire” was her mantra, and like healing itself, she’s spiralled back to it with new eyes. The goal isn’t to build enough capacity to handle more shit. It’s to build enough capacity that when shit comes, it doesn’t take you out. That means choosing your fuel, training your algorithm toward glimmers and not just triggers, and having a few small things queued up to bring you back to yourself. So if you’ve been feeling a little spicy lately, you’re not alone, and you’re not broken. You’re paying attention.

Resources Mentioned:

Sacred Anger by Seryna Myers (see chapter four, “You’re not angry, you’re...”)

A Note on Support:

Continue Your Journey:

In This Episode:

What You'll Discover:

Episode Highlights:

00:48 - Meeting Hawksley, and his spiritual roots from United Church hymns to the Gospel of Thomas

07:29 - The fall from grace: Lover/Fighter, losing his hearing in France, and the Bowie tour

11:54 - The corner store astrologer who has guided him since he was 15

15:40 - Letting things compost: when old hurts don't need to be rehashed

24:53 - The medicine of joy: why transformation doesn't have to be heavy

31:47 - Energetic protection and the love in the room

36:32 - The story behind the name Hawksley, and why freedom and authenticity are everything

44:55 - How the internet became the dealer for our despair

54:10 - Why creative people need to be careful what they put into the world

01:01:38 - An artist is someone who stumbles publicly

01:08:48 - What being unshakeable means to Hawksley

About Fame, Freedom and Falling Into Grace:

But the unshakeable self tells a different story, one that usually takes a few decades to hear. Looking back now, Hawksley sees the fall as something closer to grace. The bruises taught him, the cancelled tours protected him, and the long road home brought him back to what actually matters to him: freedom, authenticity, and an honest connection with the people in the room.

Seryna and Hawksley also explore a trap many of us fall into on the healing path, the belief that transformation has to be hard. We get so focused on digging into trauma that we forget joy, play and curiosity are medicine too. And when we stop living life like a fight, we might just discover it was a game all along.

A note on this episode: This conversation includes honest discussion of suicidal thoughts, restricting food to meet image pressures, and heavy drinking. Please listen with care and take what you need. If any of this touches something for you, support is available. In Canada, you can call or text 9-8-8 any time to reach the Suicide Crisis Helpline, and NEDIC offers eating disorder support at 1-866-633-4220. Outside Canada, findahelpline.com can connect you with local support.

Resources Mentioned:

Lover Fighter (Hawksley's gold-certified album)

About Hawksley Workman:

Find Hawksley:

Continue Your Journey:

In This Episode: What happens when a trusted source of information challenges something you've built your entire worldview around? Seryna is mid-certification in somatic psychedelic integration when a single quote stops her in her tracks — and sends her straight to the microphone. In this honest, unscripted solo episode, she unpacks the question she didn't expect to be asking: is personal transformation the same thing as spiritual awakening, or are they genuinely different paths? And more importantly — does it even matter? This episode is about challenging your assumptions, holding your truth without needing to recruit anyone else to it, and what it really means to teach from a place of integrity rather than certainty.

What You'll Discover:

Episode Highlights:

00:32 - The certification moment that launched this episode

02:15 - Is personal work the same as spiritual transformation? Seryna's honest answer

04:00 - Renovating the house vs. asking who the homeowner is

06:10 - Why willingness matters more than method

07:45 - Shadow work: where personal and spiritual paths start to blur

10:00 - Calling herself out: the assumptions she's been making as a teacher

12:30 - The Kyle Gray retreat and the room that couldn't let him be wrong

16:00 - Your permission slip to hold your truth and let others hold theirs

19:00 - Seryna's invitation: how do you define the distinction?

On Assumptions, Frameworks, and Trusting Your Knowing:

There's a quote that landed in Seryna's training notes and wouldn't let go: humans are born with an innate capacity to heal from trauma, and healing can become a catalyst for profound personal and spiritual transformation. For most people, that sentence flows right by. For Seryna, it stopped everything — because she realized she'd been treating "personal" and "spiritual" transformation as the same thing, without ever stopping to ask if that was actually true for everyone.

The distinction, when she unpacks it, comes down to this: personal transformation is about working on the self — healing patterns, integrating wounds, changing behaviours. Spiritual awakening is about questioning the self doing that work. One is renovating the house. The other is asking who the homeowner even is. And she's clear: neither is deeper or more advanced than the other. They're different in intention and framework, not in value.

But here's where it gets really interesting. Seryna argues that willingness — the genuine, uncomfortable, embodied kind — may be the most powerful force in either path. Someone who has never opened a spiritual text but is willing to sit honestly with their own suffering might access something that a seasoned practitioner chasing peak experiences cannot. Because intellectualizing without integration is just another form of bypassing.

And then there's shadow work, which is where the lines between personal and spiritual start to blur completely. Surface-level, it begins as personal inquiry. But follow it deep enough — into the exiled emotions, the lineage, the systemic threads — and something much larger starts to crack open.

What this episode is really about, though, is what Seryna does next. She doesn't double down. She doesn't dismiss the challenge to her worldview. She sits with it, examines it, and shows up to share the messy middle of that process — not because she's changed her mind, but because her responsibility as a teacher is to be transparent about what she knows to be true without assuming it's true for everyone. That's the teaching underneath the teaching: you can be secure enough in your own knowing that someone else's different truth doesn't threaten yours.

Resources Mentioned:

Continue Your Journey:

Deep Dive: Ready for transformational coaching? Apply to work with Seryna

Explore In-Person: Energy healing, angel readings, and spiritual guidance at Golden Soul Sanctuary in Nanaimo, BC

Join Community: Monthly gatherings and events for local seekers

Connect: Follow Seryna on Instagram or Tiktok @serynamyers for inspiration, behind-the-scenes moments, and daily tools for stepping into your power

In This Episode:

What if your anger isn't something to manage, suppress, or spiritually bypass — but one of the most direct pathways to your truth? In this rich conversation, Seryna is joined by clinical herbalist and plant folklore enthusiast Claire Bonin, who blends medicine, mythology, and magic into her work with emotional healing. Together they explore why rage is the language of growth, how herbs can bridge us back into our bodies during intense emotions, and what it actually means to extract wisdom from your anger instead of being consumed by it. There's also a detour into divine feminine goddesses, a very satisfying rant about Deepak Chopra, the one herb Claire recommends for activist burnout, and details on their upcoming collaborative workshop.

What You'll Discover:

Episode Highlights:

00:01 - Welcome + introducing Claire Bonin: clinical herbalist, folklore nerd, and Nanaimo legend

02:16 - The anger-embodiment connection: why intense emotions pull us out of our bodies (and herbs as the bridge back)

08:13 - How rage became the focus of Claire's workshops + anger as a portal to your own divinity

18:46 - Anger is the language of growth

22:30 - On Deepak Chopra, the Epstein list, and the abuse of spiritual authority

26:51 - The 4-week workshop as a hero's journey through plant medicine

37:30 - Plant folklore and the archetypes of feminine rage: Sekhmet, Kali, and the full cycle from destruction to abundance

46:45 - Claire's top herbal ally for compassion fatigue + workshop details

50:40 - What does being unshakeable mean to Claire?

About Rage as a Pathway to Truth: Most of us were taught that anger is low-vibe, dangerous, or something spiritually evolved people have moved beyond. But both Seryna and Claire know from lived experience — and from sitting across from clients and workshop participants — that the opposite is true. The people who've integrated their darkness create the deepest safety. The emotions we reject most fiercely are the ones most likely to come out sideways. And rage, in particular, carries precise intelligence: it knows what's out of alignment, what boundary has been crossed, what can no longer be tolerated.

That doesn't mean living in rage. Claire's workshop is intentionally sequenced — four plants, four weeks — to first nourish the nervous system enough to hold the work, before moving into the more potent territory. The folklore thread running through it matters too. When we have archetypes to anchor to — a Sekhmet, a Kali — we can see that this journey through fire into clarity isn't new. It's ancient. And it's ours to take.

This episode is also, quietly, about the courage it takes to stop performing okayness. To show up as you are. To be in community with people who've also been somewhere dark and came back with lanterns instead of lectures.

About Claire Bonin: Claire is a clinical herbalist and witch. She has been working with herbs since 2015, graduating with her Community Herbalist Certificate and Diploma of Phytotherapy from Pacific Rim College in 2019. Through each adventure and misadventure life has presented since then, there has always been a herb friend patiently waiting to guide her back home to herself. This love affair with plants is the backbone upon which she has built a following of over 100k on tiktok, and her craving for community, connection, depth, and long form love notes to plants drives the classes and client work she does.  

Workshop Details — Rage + Herbalism with Claire Bonin and Seryna Myers*:

Online (botanical focus): Fridays in June | 5:00–6:30 PM Pacific | Via Zoom | Herb kit mailed to participants

In-Person Nanaimo (botanical + *energetic/emotional work): Sunday mornings in June, 9:30 AM–12:00 PM | Golden Soul Sanctuary

Registration details: https://www.markedbyawitch.com/about-5

Resources Mentioned:

Continue Your Journey:

Deep Dive: Ready for transformational coaching? Apply to work with Seryna

Explore In-Person: Energy healing, angel readings, and spiritual guidance at Golden Soul Sanctuary in Nanaimo, BC

Join Community: Monthly gatherings and events for local seekers in Nanaimo (and Vancouver Island)

Connect: Follow Seryna on Instagram and Tiktok @serynamyers for inspiration, behind-the-scenes moments, and daily tools for stepping into your power

Follow Claire: Find her on Instagram and Tiktok @markedbyawitch or visit her website: markedbyawitch.com

In This Episode:

Episode Highlights:

Resources Mentioned:

Golden Soul Sanctuary – Angel Cafe and intuitive community events in Nanaimo, BC

Continue Your Journey:

TAGS: energetic consent, spiritual community, unsolicited readings, intuitive gifts, spiritual arrogance, mediumship, healing ethics, boundaries, personal transformation, spiritual growth, shadow work, unshakeable self

⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains open discussion of suicidal ideation, mental health struggles, domestic violence, and abuse. Please listen with care and find the support resources at the end of these show notes if you need them.

In This Episode:

What happens when you write the book you desperately needed as a child – and then the world doesn't get to read it? Author, book coach, and mental health advocate Rocky Callen joins Seryna for a conversation that refuses to sanitize anything. They talk about carrying suicidal ideation since age 11 with no one knowing, how writing A Breath Too Late became a reckoning with everything she'd hidden, and what it really looks like to bet on yourself before the world is ready to bet on you. Plus: the difference between vulnerability and vulnerability porn, why life is always in revision, and why your first draft – of a book or a life – is always worth celebrating.

What You'll Discover:

Episode Highlights:

00:53 - Meet Rocky Callen: author, book coach, and co-conspirator in dismantling the polished projection

05:14 - Why sanitizing mental health conversations is dangerous – and what we actually need instead

08:17 - Writing A Breath Too Late in a week, sobbing every day, and finally naming the suicidal ideation she'd carried since age 11

13:02 - The difference between trauma dumping and purposeful storytelling

17:21 - The book's wild ride: pandemic release, critical acclaim, and going out of print

20:30 - Getting the rights back, Times Square, and re-releasing September 2026 for World Suicide Prevention Day

38:24 - Life as revision: taking the red pen to the story you're living

56:37 - Being vs. doing: the big exhale this whole conversation builds toward

About Vulnerability That Actually Heals:

There's a difference between vulnerability and vulnerability porn. Rocky names it clearly: if you're going to share the hard things, share what you're holding within them – not just the terrible thing that happened, but the question, the insight, the messy uncertainty you're sitting with. That's what creates connection. That's what makes someone feel seen instead of spectated.

Rocky spent a lifetime performing competence. Interned at NASA at 12. College at 16. Exceptional by every external measure – while quietly carrying suicidal ideation since she was 11 years old. Not even her husband knew. It wasn't until she wrote A Breath Too Late that she began to reckon with what she'd been hiding. And then the letters came: from young people navigating suicidal ideation, from people inside domestically violent homes, from mothers who had left those homes and remembered how it felt. One letter described a young person who read the book, brought it to their mother, and together they left.

That is the medicine of stories told with honesty and care. And it's exactly why Rocky fought to get this book back into the world.

Resources Mentioned:

Find Rocky:

Continue Your Journey:

Deep Dive: Ready for transformational coaching? Apply to work with Seryna

Explore In-Person: Energy healing, angel readings, and spiritual guidance at Golden Soul Sanctuary in Nanaimo, BC

Join Community: Monthly gatherings and events for local seekers on Vancouver Island

Connect: Follow Seryna on Instagram @serynamyers for inspiration, behind-the-scenes moments, and daily tools for stepping into your power

🆘 IF YOU NEED SUPPORT

If anything in this episode landed heavily, please reach out. You don't have to hold it alone.

Canada: Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis, 24/7) | Family violence resources: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/stop-family-violence/services.html

United States: Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 24/7) | National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788

In This Episode:

Sometimes the medicine we teach is the medicine we need most. Seryna records this episode on the road (with imperfect audio and a whole lot of F-bombs) to share a raw, real-time story about what happened when a stranger moved her bag on an airplane and she completely lost it. This isn't a polished lesson about boundaries—it's the messy truth about what happens when old conditioning takes over, when survival self strategies kick in, and when you realize you've self-abandoned in a moment you thought you were past that pattern. This episode is about fawning responses, righteous anger, the patterns we inherit about deferring to men, and why it's okay that you're not going to get it right 100% of the time—even when this is literally the work you do.

What You'll Discover:

Episode Highlights:

00:00 - Recording on the road: Pushing through perfectionism to get the message out

We talk a lot about fight or flight, but we don't talk enough about fawn and freeze—the nervous system responses that prioritize safety through appeasement and people-pleasing. The fawn response is what happens when your body decides that going along, deferring, accommodating, or self-abandoning is the safest strategy in a moment of stress or threat. It's the "yes, of course" when you mean "absolutely not." It's the automatic prioritization of someone else's comfort over your own needs. And it's often rooted in deep conditioning about whose needs matter more.

For many people raised as women, this conditioning runs especially deep. We're taught to be accommodating, to not take up too much space, to defer to male authority (even when that "authority" is just some random guy on an airplane who has no actual power). This isn't about blaming anyone—it's about recognizing how these patterns get wired into our nervous systems and continue to run the show long after we've done years of healing work.

What makes it so deeply maddening is when you know better. When you've done the work, when you teach this work, when you have a podcast literally called The Unshakeable Self—and then some stranger moves your bag and you freeze. You fawn. You self-abandon. The survival self takes the wheel, and suddenly you're not in control anymore.

But here's the real medicine in this episode: You don't have to get it right 100% of the time. Your capacity fluctuates. Stress, hunger, existing anxiety—all of these reduce your ability to respond from your most grounded, regulated self. And when capacity is reduced, of course you're going to revert to old patterns sometimes. That's not failure. That's being human.

The key is what you do after. Do you beat yourself up? Or do you get curious? Do you recognize the pattern, understand what happened, and put strategies in place for next time? Do you give yourself grace while also recommitting to your boundaries and your truth?

This episode is Seryna doing exactly that—getting curious, recognizing the pattern, understanding that her rage was actually masking deeper feelings of shame and vulnerability, and ultimately realizing that the medicine she teaches is the medicine she needs too. This work isn't about perfection. It's about awareness, compassion, and doing a little better than yesterday when you can—and being gentle with yourself when you can't.

Deep Dive: Ready for transformational coaching? Apply to work with Seryna

Explore In-Person: Energy healing, angel readings, and spiritual guidance at Golden Soul Sanctuary in Nanaimo, BC

Join Community: Monthly gatherings and events for local seekers

Connect: Follow Seryna on Instagram @serynamyers for inspiration, behind-the-scenes moments, and daily tools for stepping into your power

unshakeable self, survival self, fawn response, self-abandonment, boundaries, people-pleasing, anger management, sacred anger, nervous system, conditioning, trauma response, shadow work, personal growth, spiritual podcast, core values, self-compassion, grace, healing journey, women's conditioning, feminist podcast

After a 6-month hiatus, Seryna shares vulnerable truths about opening Golden Soul Sanctuary, community work, and what it really takes to stay aligned with your path.

In This Episode:

Sometimes our unshakeable self asks us to pause the things we love to create space for something even more aligned. After six months away, Seryna returns to share the truth about what happened during her "break" – opening a physical sanctuary, rediscovering the power of face-to-face connection, and learning that inspiration doesn't always look like we think it should. This episode is about honouring the seasons of your work, recognizing when the survival self is running the show (even in our most sacred projects), and trusting that your path is unfolding exactly as it needs to.

What You'll Discover:

Episode Highlights:

00:32 - Welcome back: What really happened during the 6-month "break"

01:23 - The universal lessons hidden in personal journeys (yours, mine, ours)

03:36 - Why January 1st energy isn't about fresh starts – it's about continuation

12:51 - The survival self trap of needing feedback to know your work matters

14:42 - Witnessing vulnerability in circle: The unexpected gift of physical community

17:00 - Sneak peek: Bali writing retreat and finishing The Unshakeable Self book

About New Year Energy and Survival Self Patterns:

We've been conditioned to see January 1st as a magical reset button – a chance to become someone new, leave the old behind, start fresh. But what if that's actually a survival self strategy keeping us from the deeper truth? The survival self loves new beginnings because they feel safe. They're full of potential without the risk of actual follow-through. They let us imagine ourselves transformed without doing the uncomfortable work of transformation.

Your unshakeable self knows that growth isn't linear, that "new year, new you" is a myth, and that real change happens in the messy middle of sustained effort, not in the sparkle of January intentions. This episode explores what happens when we stop treating our lives like projects that need constant relaunching and instead recognize that we're already in the middle of our becoming.

Seryna also gets vulnerable about one of the survival self patterns that showed up in her own work: the need for external validation. When the podcast wasn't getting regular feedback, when the downloads felt inconsistent, the survival self whispered that maybe the work didn't matter. But opening Golden Soul Sanctuary and being face-to-face with people showed her something important – sometimes we need to change the container to remember why we do the work at all. Not because the podcast wasn't valuable, but because her soul was asking for something different: real-time connection, witnessing vulnerability, holding space in person.

This is what living as your unshakeable self actually looks like – messy, tired, inspired, uncertain, and deeply aligned all at once.

Resources Mentioned:

Continue Your Journey:

Deep Dive: Ready for transformational coaching? Apply to work with Seryna

Explore In-Person: Energy healing, angel readings, and spiritual guidance at Golden Soul Sanctuary in Nanaimo, BC Canada

Join Community: Monthly gatherings and events for local seekers

Connect: Follow Seryna on Instagram @serynamyers for inspiration, behind-the-scenes moments, and daily tools for stepping into your power

TAGS: unshakeable self, survival self, new year intentions, external validation, spiritual growth, community healing, shadow work, personal transformation, spiritual podcast, soul alignment

What happens when the life you planned stops matching the truth you're being called to live? This honest and grounded reflection is a soul-level invitation to pause, reassess, and let yourself shift. Seryna shares what it looks like to surrender to a new direction, release timelines that no longer feel aligned, and stay rooted in radical self-honesty—even when it means letting go of goals you once held close.

This is about honouring what’s real, not just what was written on a vision board in January. It’s a reminder that rest is not a reward, truth can evolve, and you are allowed to change your mind.

This Episode Is Perfect For You If...

"Let's ask ourselves the questions about if the things that we are pursuing... are actually the things that we want to do, or if we need a little nudge and a little course correction.”

"Congruence is such an ugly word and it is like the highest praise for me, because congruence is something that I am looking for, for myself as a standard—more than joy, more than happiness, more than success."

About The Unshakeable Self

The Unshakeable Self is your guide to building unwavering confidence and authentic self-trust. In each episode, we explore practical strategies and powerful insights to help you break free from self-doubt, embrace your true potential, and create a life that aligns with your deepest values. Whether you're navigating career transitions, relationships, or personal growth, you'll find the tools and inspiration to stand firmly in your power.

Need a moment to check in with yourself before you charge ahead? Download the Mid-Year Check-In Workbook for journal prompts, an oracle spread, and a permission slip to shift what no longer fits.

If you're craving deeper clarity and embodiment, The Unshakeable Immersion is here to support your next bold move.

Seryna Myers

Instagram: @serynamyers 

Tiktok: @serynamyers 

YouTube: @serynamyers 

Website: www.seryna.ca

Support The Show

Love The Unshakeable Self? Here's how you can help:

Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts

Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it

Screenshot while listening and tag us @serynamyers

Music by Artem Hramushkin from Pixabay

Pride isn't always parades and glitter. Sometimes it’s quiet, complicated, and hard-earned. This heartfelt episode weaves together intimate mini-interviews with voices from the LGBTQ+ community across generations, backgrounds, and lived experience. Seryna creates a space that celebrates truth in its many forms—raw, tender, funny, and fierce—while honoring the complexity of queer identity and joy.

From confronting shame to claiming space, each voice brings something real and necessary to the conversation. This isn’t just about rainbow flags and parades. It’s about authentic truth, chosen family, and the deeply personal, sometimes messy, journey of becoming.

This Episode Is Perfect For You If...

"The thing I love the most about being trans is that I am a fully customized person. Everything about me is my decision." — Dana

"Real love isn't about who's approving you. It's about being authentic. It's about being yourself and honoring who you really are." – Pasquale

About The Unshakeable Self

The Unshakeable Self is your guide to building unwavering confidence and authentic self-trust. In each episode, we explore practical strategies and powerful insights to help you break free from self-doubt, embrace your true potential, and create a life that aligns with your deepest values. Whether you're navigating career transitions, relationships, or personal growth, you'll find the tools and inspiration to stand firmly in your power.

Your Next Step: The Unshakeable Self Starter Kit

Ready to deepen your journey? The Unshakeable Self Starter Kit includes:

DOWNLOAD YOURS TODAY

If you’re ready to meet the parts of yourself that have been waiting to be seen, take the Survival Self Quiz and begin the journey back to your truth.

Seryna Myers

Instagram: @serynamyers 

Tiktok: @serynamyers 

YouTube: @serynamyers 

Website: www.seryna.ca

Support The Show

Love The Unshakeable Self? Here's how you can help:

Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts

Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it

Screenshot while listening and tag us @serynamyers

Music by Artem Hramushkin from Pixabay