Your Kick Ass Life Podcast

We’re talking about stress and the body, the kind that simmers under the surface until something forces you to finally pay attention. This week’s guest, Stacey Garcia, knows that story intimately. After a lifetime of movement through dance, wellness, and “doing everything right,” she was hit with a breast cancer diagnosis that changed the way she thought about stress, healing, intuition, and what it really means to care for yourself. What unfolds in this conversation is an honest look at how stress wakes things up in the body (and not necessarily in a good way), why so many women minimize their symptoms, and how energy healing, daily practices, and self-advocacy become lifelines when your world tilts. Stacey, a dancer, trainer, Reiki practitioner, and host of Never Miss a Monday, brings a grounded wisdom to this episode that I know will stay with you long after it ends. In this episode, you’ll hear: Stacey shares how dance, wellness, and a breast cancer diagnosis shaped the work she does today (4:14)

Emotional intelligence is often reduced to “keeping your cool” or not reacting, which is only a very small part of the equation. The real work begins when you can understand why someone is behaving in a way that challenges you, stay grounded in your own truth, and respond with both compassion and clarity. In this solo podcast episode, I unpack the deeper evolution of emotional intelligence; the point where empathy meets boundaries, and self-trust becomes your emotional compass. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Why emotional intelligence is more than just self-control or politeness The five core components of emotional intelligence and how they actually show up in real life The stages of emotional growth—from reactivity to true compassion How to hold empathy and boundaries without falling into self-abandonment What it looks like when your nervous system becomes emotionally mature As you listen, you’ll be invited to notice where you might be confusing compassion with tolera

Let’s talk about pleasure. Yep, the thing women are taught to avoid, minimize, hide, or feel guilty about. And yet, as this week’s guest Dr. Kimberly Rose Pendleton says, “Pleasure has never been more radical, especially for women.” In a world that feels like it’s collapsing in real time (and let’s be honest, it mostly is), pleasure isn’t frivolous. It’s the way back into your body, your intuition, and your aliveness. Together, we get into how pleasure reconnects you to yourself when the world has trained you to disconnect, why so many women feel shame around wanting anything, and how small “what would feel good right now?” choices can quietly lead you home. Dr. Kimberly Rose Pendleton, intimacy scholar, trauma-informed coach, and founder of UNCOVER, brings her blend of research, real life, and hard-won wisdom to this conversation. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Kimberly shares the unexpected path that led her into intimacy work and how it shapes everything she teaches (5:30) Why knowing wha

Most of the time, I come into these solo episodes with a well-thought-out topic, complete with an outline and bullet points. But today, I wanted to riff organically with no structure. Just me talking about something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately: integration. Integration is one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around in personal growth, but it’s often misunderstood. It’s the moment where insight turns into embodiment, the thing I like to call the point of no return where you stop trying to “fix” yourself and start actually living what you’ve learned. Many people stay stalled or stuck here (me!), so I’m here to talk about it! In this episode, I talk about what integration really looks like, why emotions are at the center of it, and how to move through this phase with compassion and curiosity. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Why integration is the bridge between who you’ve been and who you’re becoming. The “point of no return” moment when personal growth stops being conceptual and s

I’m so excited to welcome Sabrina Bendory, author of Detached: How to Let Go, Heal, and Become Irresistible, for a powerful conversation about what it really means to stay grounded in yourself while building healthy, connected relationships. Sabrina shares what inspired her to write Detached and how learning to let go transformed her approach to love, self-worth, and emotional intimacy. We explore how fear and old conditioning keep so many of us stuck and what it looks like to show up as the fullest, most self-assured version of yourself in love and life. What you’ll hear about in this episode: What it means to be detached in relationships and how it actually creates deeper connection (4:44) The fear of ending up alone and how to get free from it (6:44) What emotional availability looks like in practice when you’ve been with someone for years and how to grow together (16:36) How to attract love and opportunities when you’re embodying your worth (you get to decide) (24:48) Shutti

Welcome back to my 2-part podcast episode, where I’m talking about how to “de-center” men (or really anything or anyone we’ve made the “sun” in our lives). We named the pattern: what it looks like to center men and the emotional, relational, and cultural costs when we orbit someone else’s needs at the expense of our own. Today we move from insight to action (Yay!). This episode is about how to stop self-abandoning without burning your life down, and what decentering looks like in real, everyday practice. I’ll walk you through a clear framework you can try this week—tiny choices, boundary language, nervous-system support, and specific drills for dating, work, and long-term partnership. You’ll also hear a couple of personal moments that show how these tools play out when things get clear, messy, and very human. This is what you’ll hear in this episode: A short recap of Part 1: a plain-language definition of “centering men” and why the costs keep adding up over time. How to spot the pattern in real

Michele Capots joins me to share her deeply personal story of depression, recovery, and the lifelong journey of becoming. Michele’s experience of hitting rock bottom and finding resilience through it led her to help others reclaim hope and mental wellness on their own terms. Michele is a transformational coach, international speaker, and storyteller on the power of mental wellness and resilience. Throughout our conversation, we talk about the self-stigma that keeps so many of us silent, the patterns that hold us back even when we’re aware of them, and how transformation often requires grieving who we used to be. Michele also shares why rest is medicine, and how redefining wellness starts with learning to be instead of constantly doing. What you’ll hear in this episode: Michele’s story of depression, sobriety, and the moment that changed everything (5:26) How self-stigma shows up and what it takes to unlearn what we’ve internalized (10:42) The first step needed to break old patterns (15:54)

I’ve been circling this topic for years in my personal life, and today I’m finally ready to name it out loud: what it means to center men—and the quiet, persistent ways it costs us. This isn’t a takedown of men. It’s a conversation about the water we swim in, how it shapes our choices, and why so many of us end up orbiting someone else’s needs while abandoning our own. In this first of a two-part series, I briefly unpack the language and the lived reality—androcentrism, “woman as Other,” the male gaze, compulsory heterosexuality, and self-silencing—and connect those ideas to everyday moments in dating, marriage, work, family roles, and even how we present ourselves. I also go deeper into patriarchal bargains,something I see over and over in my own life, the lives of my clients, and most (if not all) of the women I know. I weave in my own story and experiences from clients and friends so you can spot the pattern with compassion, not self-blame. This is what you’ll hear in this episode: A clear metapho

I’m so excited to welcome back Beatriz (Béa) Victoria Albina to talk about something so many of us quietly wrestle with: emotional outsourcing. Béa is a master certified somatic life coach, UCSF-trained family nurse practitioner, and breath work meditation guide who helps humans socialized as women break free from codependency, perfectionism, and people-pleasing so they can reclaim their joy. A lot of what we cover in today’s episode shows up in her brand new book End Emotional Outsourcing. We dig into what emotional outsourcing really is, how we hand over our sense of safety, belonging and worth to everyone and everything outside of ourselves, and the ripple effect that has on boundaries, relationships and your nervous system. Béa explains why talk therapy alone can leave you stuck, what is actually happening when you freeze in the moment, and how perfectionism can sneak into healing and personal growth. And because you know I love practical takeaways, Béa shares simple somatic tools you can use right now

When Maureen first reached out to me, she was carrying more than anyone should have to juggle at once. She was stuck in a business that was draining her, driving hours to care for both parents as their health declined, and feeling the weight of all that stress on her marriage. To cope, she turned to drinking… which wasn’t exactly a new coping mechanism. On the outside she looked like a successful fitness professional, but privately she was stuck in shame, self-judgment, and the feeling that she was out of alignment with who she truly was. In this episode we do something a little different. Every once in a while I invite a former client to share how coaching shaped their life, not as an infomercial but as a window into what is possible when curiosity and compassion replace shame and judgment. You’ll hear how a single intake question asking, “Is there anything else you want me to know?” opened the door to self-honesty, how coaching helped Maureen finally set boundaries and leave a job that was crushing her, an

I’m back with a deep dive into a topic that many listeners have either asked me directly or perhaps quietly wondered about but may not say out loud: what happens when one partner is invested in personal growth and the other isn’t? Drawing from my own journey, years of interviews with experts, and Gottman Institute research, I explore in this solo episode how this dynamic plays out in relationships and what it can mean for intimacy, compatibility, and long-term partnership. Relationships don’t always end because of one big betrayal or crisis. Sometimes, they slowly drift apart as one person evolves and the other prefers comfort and predictability. I’m unpacking the tension between growth-oriented partners and stability-oriented partners—and ask the hard question: can these two ways of being coexist, or does the gap eventually become too wide? What you’ll hear in this episode: How growth-oriented and stability-oriented partners value relationships differently  The ways personal transformation can unint

I’m welcoming back Wendy Valentine, a pocket full of sunshine, reinvention expert, and empowerment coach, to celebrate her brand-new book, Women Waking Up: The Midlife Manifesto for Passion, Purpose, and Play. Whether you’re in midlife yourself or looking for a thoughtful gift for the women in your life, in this conversation and throughout her book, Wendy shares inspiration and tools you can carry into any season.  In this episode, Wendy brings frameworks, strategies, and encouragement for waking up to your fullest self. We explore what it means to move through the dark night of your soul, those heavy, disorienting seasons that can actually serve as a sacred initiation into your next chapter. Plus, we talk about self-reflection as the foundation for all of it, including simple ways to carve out space to check in with yourself, even when life feels overwhelming. What you’ll hear in this episode: The most common disempowering thought in midlife and how to overcome it (5:20) The Freedom Framework: Wendy

Trauma-informed life strategist Elyssa Smith joins me to unpack procrastination, self-sabotage, reparenting, and the art of saying no, topics that shape how we show up every single day. Together we explore how these patterns are rooted in our nervous system from a young age, why they’re often survival strategies in disguise, and how compassion is the foundation for lasting change. As this conversation highlights, “There is another way of being, and I am going to be curious about it.” Elyssa’s stories and strategies will give you permission to start small, with what I call “turtle steps”, and remind you that self-compassion is always the key. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!  What you’ll hear in this episode: Procrastination: why it’s more than just a “bad habit” and how it often stems from trauma (4:26) Reparenting: practical and surprisingly simple ways we can support our own emotional healing (15:46) Self-sabotage: how it shows up, the role shame plays, and the importa

Welcome back to the third and final part of a “series” that’s become a whole love letter to personal growth, grief, and what happens when those two things crash up against the realities of our relationships. If you missed episodes 687 (The Perpetual Pregnancy of Grief) and 689 (The Grief That Comes After the Relationship Ends), consider this the closing chapter of a conversation on becoming more yourself, and what that means for the people who’ve been walking alongside you… your partner(s), friends, and family.  This episode is about that challenging, complicated (and often painful) space where your healing starts to create tension in a relationship. Maybe you’re in a season of deep inner work, therapy, journaling, finally setting boundaries… and suddenly, something in your partnership (or friendship or family dynamic) starts to feel off. This isn’t just about romantic relationships—though that’s often where it hits hardest. It’s about what happens when one person evolves faster, deeper, or differently than

What really happens in your brain during an ayahuasca ceremony? I’m talking with Dr. Jeff McNairy, Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Rhythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica, about the science, the spiritual side, and how plant medicine can support deep healing, if it’s right for you. Psychedelic therapy isn’t for everyone, and I get that. But when the soulful, spiritual side of healing meets actual neuroscience, I’m all in. At the end of the day, it’s about your health, your healing, and knowing all of the options available to you. Plant medicine is something I’ve been exploring, and it’s been profoundly helpful in my own growth. That’s why I’m bringing you this conversation with Dr. Jeff. We get into how trauma gets stored in the body, what’s really going on in your brain during ayahuasca, and why it’s not a cure-all (and not for everyone).  What you’ll hear about in this episode: How untreated trauma gets stored in the amygdala and shows up as anxiety and why our “push through it” cultu

I know, I know, I’ve been talking about grief a decent amount lately, and this week’s episode brings yet another angle—one we don’t talk about nearly enough. This is about the kind of grief that sneaks in long after the breakup papers are signed and the dust has settled. The grief that only makes itself known once you’ve created enough distance, or when—surprise!—you fall in love again and finally feel safe enough to feel. And this doesn’t just happen after a marriage ends and someone falls in love again. It can happen in our friendships, relationships with family, even jobs or careers.  In this episode, I’m sharing the surprising grief that surfaced two and a half years after leaving a long relationship. This isn’t the obvious “heartbreak grief” that hits you right after the end. This is the grief that comes from looking in the review mirror. From realizing how much you self-abandoned, finally feeling seen and loved, and grieving all the versions of yourself that didn’t get that. We’re also looking at wha

This week’s episode is all about spiritual deconstruction, what it is, why it happens, and what comes after. I’m joined by Brittney Hartley, an atheist spiritual director with a Master’s in Theology who has created a captivated following with her content. I love how Brittany talks about this topic with honesty, clarity, and depth. I wanted to bring this topic to the podcast because so much of what I teach is about deconstructing beliefs that no longer work for us and figuring out what does actually work for you. Religion is often one of those things. From both my personal experience and what I know so many of you have gone through, I think you’re going to love this conversation with Brittney. Here’s what really hit me in our conversation: spiritual deconstruction isn’t just about walking away from religion. It’s about rebuilding a sense of meaning that actually aligns with who you are, not who you were told to be. Brittney shares what helped her through the unlearning process, how religious trauma shows up i

Grief isn’t just for death and divorce, but can and is often woven into the everyday tapestry of our lives. It can be quiet, sneaky, and many times overlooked. In this solo episode, I’m talking about the grief we don’t always see: the loss of old dreams, former versions of ourselves, identities, even ambition. And how if we don’t acknowledge it, it finds a way to show up. Whether you’ve been triggered by someone on Instagram or you’re navigating life after a major loss, my hope is that this episode will meet you where you are, with curiosity, compassion, and the reminder that our healing starts when we’re willing to name what we’ve lost. What you’ll hear about in this episode: Why grief is more than just sadness and how it can manifest as anger, disconnection, or “What’s wrong with me?” How to recognize the invisible griefs in your life, from motherhood shifts to identity changes The power of curiosity to disrupt autopilot thinking and uncover deeper truths What a triggered Instag

This week, I’m thrilled to welcome back Erin Claire Jones to talk about her new book How do you choose? a human design guide to what’s best for you at work, in love, and in life. I geek out on anything that helps us better understand ourselves, like astrology, personality assessments, and of course, Human Design. So you know this conversation lit me up. Not just because I love the mystical-meets-practical vibe of Human Design, but because Erin dropped so many truths around self-trust, letting go of old patterns, and finally owning what fuels you. Here’s my biggest takeaway from our conversation: Human design can be a real tool for self-acceptance. It helps you look at parts of yourself you may have spent years trying to fix, and instead help you love the hell out of them. What you’ll hear about in this episode: What human design actually is (6:27) A breakdown of the five energy types and what they reveal about how you move through the world (7:56) What your design might say about your patte

What if healing isn’t a single moment or a fireworks-style breakthrough? What if sometimes healing is a long quiet burn - a long sunrise? In this solo episode, I’m sharing what it’s been like to be in the middle of the most gutting transition of my life. I’ve been through change before, but this one has stretched across years. It’s shed versions of myself I’ve lovingly, but slowly, let go of. And the truth is: there is no pressure to rush your transition, or what I’m calling a “sunrise”. It’s not a race. It’s a return to who you are at your core. What you’ll hear about in this episode: That “I thought I’d be done by now” feeling and the myth of arrival The metaphor of the longest sunrise and why your healing doesn’t need to look like a montage How ignoring your intuition in the past might still hold insight for today, and what changes when you believe your intuition now Letting go of the need for dramatic transformation and embracing slow, steady shifts If you’re deep inside your