How do you trust life when it takes you in unexpected directions? In this episode of Embodied, I sit down with Nick Matheson, leadership coach and business strategist, to explore how we can find clarity, strength, and growth in life’s most challenging moments.

Nick’s story is one of transformation. He began his career in healthcare, focusing on pain management, but personal challenges—including his daughter’s serious illness and his cancer diagnosis—led him to rethink his life and priorities. Now, as a leadership coach, he helps others align with their values and create lives they love.

In our hour-and-forty-five-minute conversation, we discuss:

• Letting go of control: How Nick learned to release rigid ideas of success and embrace life’s twists and turns.
• Turning challenges into growth: Why difficult times can lead to powerful personal breakthroughs.
• The strength in vulnerability: How being open and honest about struggles can deepen...

How do we embrace creativity as a divine force, even when it challenges our limits? In this episode of Embodied, I had the joy of speaking with Kristin Hanggi—Tony-nominated director, writer, and author of God, Sex, and Musical Theater. Kristin's work spans Broadway, film, and beyond, exploring themes of faith, identity, and authenticity. Together, we uncovered the sacred, mystical nature of the creative process.

Kristin shared how she views creativity as a living, divine energy flowing through her, requiring trust, surrender, and the courage to let go of control. She described how this approach has shaped her as an artist and as a person navigating life’s uncertainties.

The Mystical Nature of Creativity:

In our hour-long conversation, we explored:

• How trusting the creative process is like being ‘done by life,’ as Wayne Dyer famously said.
• The interplay between creativity and community, where collective visions come alive through collaboration.
• Why...

How do we learn to trust our gifts when the world feels chaotic and overwhelming? In this episode of Embodied, I spoke with Sarah Renee, a renowned medium and spiritual transformation coach, about the profound journey of navigating trust, healing, and divine guidance. With over 50,000 readings worldwide, Sarah shares her powerful story of embracing her spiritual gifts after years of doubt, trauma, and healing.

In our hour-long conversation, Sarah and I explored:

• Lessons from Sarah’s connection with Dr. Wayne Dyer, who continues to guide her from the spirit realm.
• The role of divine mentorship in navigating life’s most difficult moments.
• How life’s challenges prepare us for our spiritual purpose.
• Why trust is a daily practice and not a perfect state.
• How to create supportive spiritual containers for growth and awakening.

Sarah’s relationship with Dr. Dyer was particularly moving. She shared:

"I feel like he still is working, like just taking care of...

We all have moments that push us to open up to life in ways we never expected—moments that call us to trust, even when it feels impossible. This season of Embodied is all about that powerful kind of trust and the profound transformations it can lead to.

In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend Estelle Thomson, a yoga teacher, artist, and educator whose work blends embodiment, expressive arts, and psychology. 

Estelle shares how the loss of her son Tommy became a profound journey into healing, leading her to a deeper connection with life and purpose.

During our conversation, Estelle reflects, “How can I let grief move through me and widen me and expand me? … How can I let my karma be my dharma? This was given to me, so how can I carry it?”

Estelle’s words remind us that trust, healing, and self-love are deeply embodied experiences, and that listening to our bodies is a powerful act of self-compassion.

Tune in to this heartfelt episode,...

My body quickly forgets that life is on my side.

Even after years of healing, my animal suit tries to protect me from disappointment by attempting to control outcomes.

The protective instinct: Childhood and beyond

It wasn’t safe to be open and soft as a child. And if I put my guard down, my environment quickly reminded me to put it back up. That reminder often came as a surprise, out of left field, catching me vulnerable, reinforcing the need for more protection, more layers.

Sometimes, everything outside of me proves true my conditioned belief that life is not on my side—I am the only one on my side.

The cost of closed hearts: physical and emotional impact

When my heart is closed, and my fire is kept neatly at bay below my diaphragm, with shallow breaths and busyness, of course, the reality I project is one of disappointment, compromise, and smallness.

And if I stay like this for a while, my inner world starts to crumble too.

It’s harder to meditate, harder to...

Trust is essential for transformation. It lets us surrender to the unknown to create something new. Trust opens possibilities, eases changes, and accelerates spiritual growth.

But for many, trust is fragile. We fear making wrong choices and the pain that may come. Trusting ourselves, our body, intuition, life, or surrendering can feel like placing our fate in someone else's hands—reckless and impossible. Yet we need trust to move forward and allow new experiences into our lives. It is crucial for authentic fulfillment.

Ideally, trust allows vulnerability while making us feel safe and connected. It enables exploration and discovery without the fear of punishment for lowering our defences. Without trust, curiosity fades, preventing adventures and surprises. We become stuck in old patterns.

Learning to trust our ability to feel and discern emotions is the first step toward deepening our overall trust. We gain clarity when we live with an open heart.

Start here: Elevate your trust...

Fully feeling the depth of each moment without barriers is a capacity and gift we all possess. We were born sensing our entire body, inner world, and the environment around us, initially without the need for protective walls. We were born fully trusting the people around us, but we did not yet know how to discern what the energy meant. We were new to the world with the powerful instrument of our high sensitivity and, for the first few years, entirely depended on others to protect it.

Understanding the essence of a pure heart

At the centre of our unguarded high sensitivity, at the core of our being, was the most precious thing of all: our pure heart. No matter how old or young our soul is, where we were born and to whom, our gender, race, or ethnicity, we all were born with a pure heart. No exception.

Do you trust that your heart is pure and acts in your best interest? How deep can your trust go? Can you take full responsibility for its safety? Can you feel safe and be sensitive...

Deepening our trust in ourselves and in life allows us to reclaim a power we have disconnected from a long time ago, a power that lives in the body.

When rediscovered, this power helps us tap into our purpose from within and lead our life guided from within.

I'd like to share with you a visual guide—a compass of sorts—that beautifully illustrates the transformation that occurs when we choose to invite trust into our lives.

Deepen your trust at The Alchemy of Trust workshop! Learn more.

The chart below juxtaposes 'A life without trust' with 'A life with trust', illuminating the shift from self-doubt to self-love, from the fear of failure to viewing it as an opportunity for growth, and so much more.

It's a gentle reminder that when we choose to trust, we allow our inner light to guide us, transforming our fear into freedom. Now, let's dive into this exploration together.

From Fear to Freedom: 10 Powerful Shifts Through Embracing Trust

An audio version of this blog post is available. Navigate to the audio player above and select the play button to hear this blog post narrated by Anne Bérubé. 

The importance of trust in transformation

I've been thinking a lot about trust lately and how it is such an essential element for any true transformation.

For many of us, trust is fragile, so when we are asked to trust ourselves, our body, that life has our back, or in the process of surrendering, it feels like putting our life into something or someone else's hands and it feels impossible. Yet, we need it to move forward, to allow newness to come into our life, and it is a required ingredient to experience authentic fulfillment.

Trust allows us to be vulnerable while feeling connected and safe. It will enable us to go to new places and explore new territories without worrying that we will be interrupted, arrested, or punished for having put our walls down.

The absence of trust shuts down...