Tata Islem is a Human & Business Strategist, speaker, and Executive Contributor known for her unique approach to leadership, self-trust, embodiment, and human transformation. With a background in biomechanics, movement analysis, nervous system work, and integrating neuroscience into her work, she helps individuals, leaders, and entrepreneurs reconnect with themselves, make aligned decisions, and create success without sacrificing their authenticity. Having completed advanced trainer development programs, she also trains and mentors others in communication, leadership, and personal transformation. In this interview, Islem shares her perspective on why so many high performers become disconnected despite achieving success, how self-trust shapes leadership and decision-making, and why true visibility, fulfillment, and personal growth begin with staying connected to who you truly are. Tata Islem, Human and Business Strategist What first made you realize that success without self-connection can become a form of self-betrayal? Success without self-connection becomes self-betrayal when we stop trusting our own way of moving through life and begin forcing ourselves into systems, processes, or identities that are not aligned with who we are. For me, the signal was always in the body. The more disconnected I became from myself, the more tension, overthinking, and effort appeared. The moment I returned to my own rhythm, clarity, execution, and aliveness returned as well. How has your background in biomechanics and nervous system work changed the way you understand leadership? My background in biomechanics and nervous system work completely changed the way I understand leadership because I realized that big problems rarely start as big problems. Most of the time, they begin with small habits, small patterns, and small daily decisions that are repeated over time. When I was working with people, I noticed that physical pain was often not the real problem. The real problem was usually something much deeper: the way they breathed, the way they moved, the habits they repeated every day, or the things they were no longer paying attention to. When the root cause was addressed, the pain often disappeared. When it was ignored, the problem kept returning and became chronic. Over time, I started seeing the same pattern in leadership. Small moments of self-disconnection, repeated over time, create confusion, overthinking, fragmentation, and a loss of clarity. People begin hiding parts of themselves and adapting to what they think will bring success instead of staying connected to who they truly are. What I learned is that leadership is not primarily about leading others. It starts with leading yourself: your body, your energy, your decisions, and the way you move through life. Because people do not only follow your words. They feel who you are, and they follow that. People feel you before they listen to you. What do most people misunderstand about embodiment when they try to apply it to business or visibility? Most people misunderstand embodiment because they think it is something they need to perform rather than something they need to become. They focus on strategies, visibility, content, and external results, but there is often a mismatch between what they say they want and how they actually live. The first thing I notice is that their actions do not match their words. They say they want to grow a business, become visible, or build a personal brand, but they are not consistently doing the things that bring them closer to those goals. They often follow external expectations instead of listening to themselves. For me, embodiment is the alignment between what you truly want, what you say, and how you act. When people start listening to themselves, their decisions become much clearer. They stop wasting energy on things that do not matter and become very precise in their actions. They know why they are doing something and where it is leading them. As a result, their communication becomes coherent. They speak what they genuinely feel, and people can sense that authenticity. That creates trust, credibility, and resonance. They attract the people who are aligned with their message because they are no longer trying to be someone else. In business and visibility, embodiment creates clarity, precision, and consistency. It allows people to move through life and work with less friction and more trust in themselves. That is what makes a business unique, authentic, and ultimately scalable. Why do you think so many high performers feel disconnected from themselves even after achieving success? I believe many high performers become disconnected because they start valuing external success more than their relationship with themselves. They keep chasing one goal after another, believing that the next achievement, milestone, or result will finally make them feel fulfilled, complete, or at peace. In the process, they stop listening to themselves. They adapt to external expectations, follow rules that others created, and slowly disconnect from their own truth. Many people believe that success requires sacrificing parts of themselves, so they learn to conform rather than remain authentic. Over time, they become so identified with the persona they created that they forget who they are underneath it. They get what they wanted, but they lose the person who wanted it. For me, the signs are very clear. Even when someone is successful, I can feel when they are no longer fully present. They are more in their head than in their body. Their decisions become predictable, their energy changes, and they lose a sense of aliveness. True success is not only about what you build externally. It is about staying connected to yourself while building it. I believe it is possible to create success without abandoning your own truth, and that is the kind of success that brings both achievement and fulfillment. What patterns do you notice in people who constantly overthink instead of moving forward? One of the biggest patterns I notice is that people become identified with their thoughts. They believe that overthinking, fear, doubt, or uncertainty are the problem, when in reality, they are often a normal part of the journey. When someone tells me they are stuck, I rarely see a lack of knowledge. Most of the time, I see someone who is trapped in an identity or a story about themselves. They keep thinking about the next step instead of taking it. I often use the example of climbing a mountain. When you climb a mountain, you cannot jump from the bottom to the top. You have to focus on where you place your hands and feet, one step at a time. If you keep looking at the entire mountain, you become overwhelmed. But if you focus on the next move, you keep progressing. Overthinking works the same way. People become so focused on the whole journey that they stop moving completely. The irony is that overthinking itself is part of the journey. Fear, doubt, and uncertainty will appear whenever you step into something new. The difference is that some people believe those thoughts and stop, while others acknowledge them and keep moving. For me, the people who move forward are not the ones who think less. They are the ones who know how to speak to themselves when fear appears. They can say, “It’s okay. This is part of the process. Let me do it anyway.” What I have observed is that once they take action, most of the overthinking disappears. Action creates clarity. Staying still creates more thinking. What is one practical way someone can reconnect with their intuition during periods of pressure or uncertainty? One of the simplest things I tell people is to stop trying to force the answer and instead change their state. If someone comes to me feeling overwhelmed, confused, or unable to make a decision, I often tell them to go get a massage, take a walk, go swimming, stretch, or do something that allows their body to relax. Most people try to think their way out of uncertainty, but the more pressure they put on themselves, the more external noise enters the process. They start hearing the opinions of mentors, social media, friends, experts, and everyone else except themselves. For me, intuition is not something mysterious. It is something that becomes easier to hear when the noise becomes quieter. When the body relaxes, the nervous system relaxes, and suddenly there is space to listen. Most people live life on autopilot. Intuition requires participation. It requires taking the time to ask yourself what you truly want and having the courage to listen to the answer. The reason I trust the answer that comes after rest more than the answer that comes after three more hours of overthinking is that it is usually my answer. It is not influenced by external expectations or other people's opinions. It comes from a place of clarity, not pressure. In my experience, the decision that brings the most fulfillment is often the one that remains when all the external noise is gone. How can entrepreneurs build a personal brand that reflects who they truly are instead of who they think they should be? One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is trying to build a brand based on who they think they should be rather than who they truly are. They follow rules about how they should look, what they should post, how they should speak, and what image they should present. Over time, they start building a brand around a fixed persona instead of allowing themselves to evolve as human beings. A personal brand is not about creating an image. It is about expressing the truth of who you are. That truth will naturally evolve as you evolve. I have never wanted to fit myself into one identity because life continuously changes us. My brand has always been a reflection of my journey, my observations, my experiences, and the ideas I choose to share with the world. People do not only buy products or services. They buy the energy around them. Everybody can build a brand, but not everybody can build an authentic brand. Authenticity creates trust, and trust creates connection. The easiest and most sustainable way to build a personal brand is to build it on truth. It requires less energy, less performance, and less pretending. It allows you to keep growing while remaining connected to yourself. For me, that is what makes a brand powerful, Expensive, unique, and truly alive. You often speak about trusting yourself deeply, so what helped you develop that trust in your own life? What helped me develop trust in myself was observing the difference between what happens when I trust myself and what happens when I don't. Every time I followed someone else's process without adapting it to myself, I noticed the same pattern. I would start overthinking, analyzing everything, and moving further away from the actual action that would create the result. What could have taken me one week would sometimes take two or three months because I was trying to follow a path that worked for someone else instead of listening to myself. When I trust myself, things become much simpler. I have an idea, I take action, and I move. There is less effort, less resistance, and less wasted energy. I feel alive while doing it. I love learning from other people, and I believe we can learn from everyone. But I also believe that nobody knows me better than I know myself. No mentor, expert, or system can fully understand what I feel, what I have lived, or how I naturally operate. For me, self-trust is not about rejecting advice. It is about listening to yourself first. I can learn from many people, take what resonates, and leave the rest. But if I am giving myself the time, attention, and care to listen clearly, then I trust that the final decision should come from me. Because nobody can know me more than I know myself. What do you hope people remember about themselves after experiencing your work? More than anything, I hope people remember that they are already whole. I want them to realize that no part of them is wrong. Not the confident parts, not the fearful parts, not the strong parts, and not the vulnerable parts. They are all part of being human. The moment we stop fighting ourselves and start accepting all parts of who we are, something changes. We stop searching outside for permission to be ourselves. I also hope people remember that they are far more powerful than they have been taught to believe. I truly believe we are born with greatness already inside us. Life is not about becoming someone else. It is about remembering who we are and learning how to express that fully. In many ways, I see human beings as magical creatures living in a magical world. We have the ability to create, transform, evolve, and build lives that reflect our deepest truth. If people leave my work remembering anything, I hope it is this: there is nothing missing in you. There is only more of you waiting to be discovered, expressed, and lived. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Tata Islem

Written by Sonia Grant, Certified Health and Wellness Coach Sonia Grant is a certified health and wellness coach specializing in helping adults 50+ restore energy, improve digestion, and build sustainable vitality through whole-food, plant-based nutrition. Through her signature E.N.E.R.G.Y Method, she empowers clients to transform their health with real food, gut-healthy support, and lasting habits. Do you wake up tired before the day has even started? You pour your first coffee just to feel human, and by mid-afternoon, you are running on empty. Sound familiar? I hear this from so many women and men over 50, and I want you to know something important: this is not just aging. Low energy is often your body's way of asking for better nourishment. The good news is that small, consistent changes to your eating and drinking habits can make a significant difference in how you feel. No strict diets. No expensive supplements. Just simple habits that work with your body, not against it. What causes low energy after 50? As we get older, our metabolism slows, our digestion shifts, and our bodies become less efficient at absorbing key nutrients. The eating habits that worked beautifully in your 30s simply may not cut it anymore. Hormonal changes, loss of muscle mass, and shifts in gut bacteria all affect how your body converts food into energy. It is not your fault. It is biology. But here is the encouraging part: food is one of the most powerful tools you have for changing how you feel. Research from the National Institute on Aging shows that older adults who eat nutrient-rich diets consistently report higher energy and better overall well-being. Why are your old habits no longer working? Your body's ability to absorb nutrients like B12, iron, magnesium, and vitamin D declines with age. These are exactly the nutrients your body relies on to make energy. If you have been eating the same way for years and wondering why you feel worse, this is likely a big part of the reason. You are not doing anything wrong. Your body has simply changed, and your nourishment needs to change with it. Knowing this is actually really freeing, because it means the solution is not to eat less or try harder. It is simply to eat smarter. 1. Start your day with real food What you eat for breakfast sets the tone for your entire day. Processed cereals, white toast, or skipping breakfast altogether cause your blood sugar to spike and then crash, leaving you tired, irritable, and reaching for caffeine before 9 in the morning. Over time, this pattern is exhausting. Instead, try building your morning around whole foods. A bowl of oats with berries and seeds, a green smoothie with plant protein, or avocado on wholegrain toast with hemp seeds and a drizzle of tahini are all wonderful options. These foods release energy slowly, keeping you steady and clear-headed for hours. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recommends filling half your plate with vegetables and fruit at every meal, and breakfast is a great place to start. What a good plant-based breakfast looks like It really does not need to be complicated. Oats with plant milk, a handful of blueberries, some ground flaxseed, and a few walnuts take about five minutes and give you slow-release energy, healthy fats, and antioxidants all in one bowl. On busy mornings, blend frozen spinach, half a banana, and a scoop of plant protein with some soy milk. Done in two minutes and genuinely delicious. If you are someone who truly cannot face eating first thing, try having something small within the first hour of waking, even a small handful of nuts, and a piece of fruit is far better than nothing. Just please, do not skip it. Breakfast is one of the kindest things you can do for your energy levels. 2. Eat more plants at every meal This is one of the simplest and most powerful things you can do for your energy after 50. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains are packed with fiber, antioxidants, and the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function well. One thing that is not discussed enough is inflammation. Chronic low-grade inflammation becomes more common as we age and is one of the biggest reasons people feel so tired and heavy. Eating a wide variety of colorful plant foods helps calm that inflammation and gives your cells the fuel they need. You do not have to change everything at once. Start small. Add a handful of spinach to your smoothie. Swap white rice for quinoa. Throw some lentils into your soup. Little changes, big results. The best plant foods for energy after 50 Leafy greens like spinach and kale are rich in iron and magnesium, both of which are often low in older adults, and both of which your body needs to make energy. Lentils and chickpeas give you steady protein and slow-releasing carbohydrates that keep blood sugar stable. Oats and buckwheat deliver the B vitamins your body uses to turn food into fuel. Berries, sweet potatoes, and beetroot are fantastic too, full of antioxidants that protect your cells and support steady energy throughout the day. The more variety you can bring to your plate, the better. Think of it as feeding your body a rainbow. 3. Stay hydrated throughout the day This one surprises a lot of people. Dehydration is one of the most common and most overlooked causes of fatigue, especially after 50, when our thirst signals naturally become less reliable. By the time you actually feel thirsty, you are already mildly dehydrated. Even mild dehydration causes tiredness, brain fog, headaches, and low mood. Many people reach for more coffee when their bodies are actually asking for water. Aim for 6 to 8 glasses a day. Herbal teas, warm lemon water in the morning, and water-rich foods like cucumber and watermelon all count. A simple trick that works beautifully is to leave a full glass of water on your bedside table and drink it before you even get up. Signs you may be dehydrated without knowing it Afternoon tiredness that does not improve with rest, difficulty concentrating, dry skin, constipation, and headaches are all classic signs of mild dehydration. Most people blame these on age or stress. Check the color of your urine throughout the day. Pale yellow means you are doing well. Dark yellow or amber means drink more water now. It is that simple. 4. Balance your blood sugar with every meal Unstable blood sugar is one of the biggest hidden energy drains for people over 50, and so many people do not even know it is happening. When your meals are high in refined carbohydrates or sugar and low in protein, fiber, and healthy fats, your blood sugar shoots up and then crashes, leaving you exhausted, irritable, and craving something sweet within a couple of hours. Sound familiar? The fix is not complicated. Every meal, aim to include a plant-based protein like beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, or edamame, plenty of colorful vegetables, and a source of healthy fat such as avocado, nuts, or a drizzle of olive oil. This combination slows everything down in the best possible way. Steady digestion, steady blood sugar, steady energy. Over time, you will also notice better sleep, improved mood, and fewer cravings, all because your blood sugar is finally working with you instead of against you. What a balanced plate looks like in practice Think in thirds. One-third protein, such as a lentil stew or tofu stir-fry. One-third of vegetables, whatever you love. One third slow-releasing carbohydrate, like sweet potato, brown rice, or wholegrain bread. A little healthy fat to finish. That is it. This is the kind of meal that keeps you going all afternoon without needing a nap or a cookie. 5. Nourish your gut for better energy Your gut does so much more than digest food. It absorbs nutrients, supports your immune system, produces B vitamins your body needs for energy, and communicates directly with your brain through what scientists call the gut-brain connection. When your gut is out of balance, which is incredibly common after 50, you may notice bloating, discomfort after meals, and persistent tiredness even when you are eating reasonably well. The problem is often not what you are eating but how well your body is absorbing it. To support your gut, include fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, or kombucha regularly, along with plenty of fiber-rich foods like oats, flaxseed, garlic, onions, and legumes. Cutting back on processed foods and artificial sweeteners also makes a real difference. How poor gut health shows up beyond digestion Gut imbalance shows up as fatigue, low mood, poor focus, and a weakened immune system just as often as it shows up as bloating. If you are ticking more than one of those boxes, your gut may need some extra love. The really encouraging thing is that your gut microbiome can change quickly with the right support. Many of my clients notice a genuine shift in their energy and mood within just a few weeks of consistently nourishing their gut with whole plant foods. It is one of those areas where you really do feel the difference, and it can be quite remarkable how quickly things can turn around. Start feeling energized today You do not have to accept feeling tired all the time. These five habits are not about being perfect or following a rigid plan. They are about nourishing yourself a little better each day and trusting that those small choices add up to something really meaningful. You deserve to wake up with energy, to feel clear-headed, to enjoy your life fully. If you would love some personalized support on this journey, I would be so happy to help. Come and book a free discovery call with me and let us talk about how the Empower and Nourish program can help you get your energy back and feel like yourself again. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Sonia Grant Sonia Grant, Certified Health and Wellness Coach Sonia Grant is a certified health and wellness coach and founder of Empower and Nourish, helping adults over 50 restore their energy and improve digestion through simple, whole-food, plant-based nutrition habits. Through her signature E.N.E.R.G.Y Method, she guides clients to build lasting habits so they can wake up feeling energized, clear-headed, and confident in their health again.

Sarah Pearce is a highly sought-after birth and postpartum expert, previously a licensed practical nurse, and founder of Trinity Doula Services, a rapidly growing full-spectrum doula agency serving Missouri and Illinois. With over a decade of experience supporting families through fertility, pregnancy, birth, postpartum recovery, and newborn care, she has become known for blending evidence-based education with deeply compassionate support. In this interview, Sarah shares how her own birth experiences shaped her mission to prevent trauma in childbirth, why postpartum care remains one of the most overlooked areas in healthcare, and how emotional support, education, and nervous system regulation can profoundly impact a family’s transition into parenthood. Sarah Pearce, Certified Doula What first made you realize that emotional support during birth was just as important as medical care? After experiencing my own challenging births – including an induction, cesarean, VBAC, and unmedicated VBAC – I realized there had to be a better way to support families emotionally through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. While I received medical care, I often felt unsupported emotionally, unheard, and unprepared for the mental and physical impact those experiences would have on me afterward. That realization became the foundation of my work. I never wanted another parent to walk away from birth feeling traumatized, powerless, or alone, the way I did at times during my own journey. Medical care is essential, but emotional safety matters just as much. When parents feel informed, respected, and genuinely supported, it changes how they experience birth entirely. Birth is not only a medical event – it’s a deeply transformative life experience that can shape a person for years afterward. How has your background in pediatric nursing shaped the way you support families during pregnancy and postpartum recovery? My background in pediatric nursing gave me a strong clinical foundation and a deeper understanding of pregnancy, birth, postpartum recovery, infant development, and family dynamics. It allows me to bridge the gap between medical information and emotional support in a way many families truly need. Healthcare providers are often rushed, and parents can leave appointments or hospital stays overwhelmed by medical terminology or unsure about what’s normal. I’m able to help families better understand what’s happening with their bodies, their babies, and their emotions in a way that feels approachable and reassuring. More importantly, my nursing background taught me that no two families are the same. Every parent deserves individualized, judgment-free support regardless of how they choose to feed, birth, or parent their child. Combining medical knowledge with compassionate care allows me to advocate for families while helping them feel confident and empowered during one of the biggest transitions of their lives. After attending more than 300 births, what patterns do you notice in the mothers who feel most empowered after delivery? The biggest pattern I notice is that families with the strongest support systems tend to have the most positive postpartum experiences. Support changes everything. When parents feel emotionally cared for, physically supported, educated, and rested, they are far more likely to recover confidently and enjoy the transition into parenthood. One of the most overlooked factors is sleep. Consistent emotional and practical support – especially overnight support – can dramatically reduce overwhelm and exhaustion during the fourth trimester. In many cases, I’ve seen postpartum depression and anxiety symptoms lessen significantly when families have access to reliable, hands-on help instead of trying to navigate everything alone. Empowered mothers are not necessarily the ones who had “perfect” births. They’re the ones who felt informed, respected, heard, and supported regardless of how birth unfolded. Feeling safe and cared for makes an enormous difference in how parents process both birth and postpartum recovery. What do hospitals and healthcare systems still misunderstand about postpartum care? I think healthcare systems still underestimate how deeply a birth experience – whether physically or emotionally traumatic – impacts the fourth trimester. Hospitals are often focused on immediate recovery and discharge, but postpartum healing extends far beyond the first few days after birth. Most mothers are only seen once or twice during postpartum follow-up appointments, yet they’re navigating massive hormonal shifts, sleep deprivation, emotional changes, breastfeeding challenges, healing, and a complete identity transformation. There’s a huge gap in care during that period. That’s where postpartum doulas and midwives become incredibly valuable. We help fill the space between medical appointments by offering practical support, emotional reassurance, education, and early recognition of when additional care may be needed. Postpartum care should never be treated as an afterthought. The way a mother is supported after birth has a lasting impact not only on her mental health, but on the entire family’s well-being. Why do you believe doula support should be viewed as essential care instead of a luxury service? Every family deserves support while transitioning into parenthood, whether they’re welcoming their first baby or their sixth. Doula care should not be considered a luxury because emotional, educational, and physical support directly affects outcomes for both parents and babies. Research consistently shows that doula support improves birth experiences, lowers intervention rates, increases breastfeeding success, and reduces feelings of fear and trauma during labor and postpartum recovery. Yet many families still cannot access these services because of financial barriers. I believe all insurance providers should cover doula care, and I would love to see OB-GYNs and midwives routinely encourage families to build professional support systems before birth. We prepare extensively for weddings, careers, and major life events, but many families are expected to navigate birth and postpartum with little preparation or support. No parent should have to struggle simply because quality support feels financially out of reach. What are some of the most overlooked signs that a new mother is emotionally overwhelmed after birth? One of the most overlooked signs is loss of appetite. People often expect postpartum depression to look like constant sadness or crying, but emotional overwhelm can present very differently from person to person. Postpartum anxiety, for example, is frequently dismissed as “normal new parent worries” when it can actually become debilitating. Some mothers become hypervigilant, unable to rest, constantly fearful, or emotionally numb rather than outwardly emotional. I also think our healthcare system too quickly jumps to medication as the first solution without addressing the lack of practical support many families are experiencing. Medication absolutely has its place and can be lifesaving, but sometimes what parents truly need is sleep, nourishment, reassurance, education, and hands-on support within their home environment. We were never meant to raise babies in isolation. Many postpartum struggles improve dramatically when parents feel supported consistently and compassionately. How do you help parents regulate fear and anxiety during labor when birth plans suddenly change? Education is my biggest tool. I believe preparation should go far beyond simply creating a birth plan. Families deserve education about all possible outcomes – not just the ones they hope for most. When parents understand interventions, complications, alternatives, and options ahead of time, unexpected changes during labor become far less frightening. Instead of feeling blindsided or powerless, they can make informed decisions and still feel involved and respected throughout the process. I always tell families: we hope for the best, prepare for the unexpected, and usually land somewhere in the middle. That preparation creates confidence. Even if birth unfolds differently than planned, parents are far less likely to feel traumatized when they understand what’s happening and feel supported while navigating those decisions. Over the last decade, I’ve seen again and again that education helps prevent trauma because informed parents are empowered parents. You often talk about nervous system regulation and emotional safety, so what does that actually look like in real life for a new parent? Nervous system regulation and emotional safety often look much simpler than people expect. It’s having someone who listens without judgment, answers questions honestly, reassures them when they’re overwhelmed, and reminds them they don’t have to do everything alone. Sometimes support means helping with the baby so parents can sleep. Sometimes it means folding laundry, walking the dog, preparing food, or simply sitting beside someone while they cry or process their birth experience. Support is support. Emotional safety also means parents feel safe asking questions they worry might sound silly or insignificant. New parents need reassurance, encouragement, and reminders that they are doing better than they think they are. When families feel emotionally safe and practically supported, their nervous systems can finally begin to relax – and that impacts everything from healing and bonding to confidence and mental health. What do you hope every parent remembers about themselves after the birth experience is over? I hope every parent walks away remembering just how strong and capable they truly are. Bringing new life into the world – no matter how birth unfolds – is an incredible act of strength. I want parents to know they are resilient, worthy of support, and capable of handling hard things even when they doubt themselves in the moment. Birth changes people. It stretches them emotionally, physically, and mentally, but it also reveals strength many never realized they had. Most importantly, I hope they remember they were never meant to do this alone. Asking for support is not a weakness – it’s wisdom. Parenthood was always meant to happen within community, care, and connection. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Sarah Pearce

Rachel Simms, RGD, is the founder of Broadbent Studio, a strategic brand and web design studio in Hamilton, Ontario. She holds the RGD designation, the highest professional credential in graphic design in Canada, and she's spent over ten years building brands for health and wellness practitioners and professional services firms who are exceptional at their work and ready to show up online like it. Her signature methodology, the Diamond Blueprint, is a strategic discovery process that happens before a single design element is touched. It's the reason her clients are still on their original brand five to ten years after launch. In this interview, Rachel talks about why strategy has to come before aesthetics, what it actually feels like to find the right practitioner when you're the one searching, and why she believes visibility is one of the most important equity issues nobody in her industry is talking about. Rachel Simms, RGD, Creative Director Rachel, your work emphasizes "strategy before aesthetics." How did you develop this approach, and why is it essential for professionals who rely on trust? Honestly, it came from watching what happened when I skipped it. Early on, I took projects where we'd jump straight to visuals because that's what the client was excited about. What I ended up with were beautiful things that didn't work. They looked polished and fell flat in the real world. The problem was never the design. We'd built a solution without understanding the problem. For health and wellness practitioners, especially, that gap is costly. These are regulated professionals who can't use patient testimonials in many cases. So everything the brand does must build trust, which is essential for long-term relationships. The logo, the website, the words. They are the testimonial. That responsibility demands that we understand the person behind the practice before we touch a single design element. The Diamond Blueprint came out of that need. A way to slow down before we accelerate. Can you walk us through your Diamond Blueprint methodology and how it has transformed your clients' branding processes? It starts with a conversation that most designers don't have. Not 'what colours do you like' or 'send me websites you admire.' Before any of that, I want to know your origin story-what inspired you to choose this work, and what kind of client brings out your best? I also ask about your vision for the practice in ten years, so we can build a brand that aligns with your long-term goals and values. From there, we map the ideal client as a real person, what she's carrying when she finds you, and what she needs to feel before she'll trust you enough to reach out. Then we look at the competitive landscape and compliance considerations. Only after all of that do we design. What I see consistently is that the process changes how practitioners talk about their work. They come in knowing they need a new logo and leave with greater clarity about their practice than they had before. That clarity is what makes the brand work. The design just makes it visible, giving practitioners a sense of control and confidence in their branding. You specialize in branding for health and wellness practitioners. How does effective branding influence the way clients perceive their expertise and trustworthiness? I want to answer this from a place most designers don't come from – the perspective of the person searching. I've been in therapy for a significant part of my adult life. Before I found the therapist who genuinely changed things for me, I tried a few who weren't the right fit. Every time I sat across from someone who was almost right but not quite, I felt it. I kept going because I needed to find the one where it felt easy. Where something in my gut said: this is her. That feeling isn't magic. It's communication. It's a practitioner whose whole way of showing up says clearly: I understand what you're carrying, and you're in the right place. For regulated professionals who can't rely on testimonials, the brand carries that entire weight. When I build a brand, I think about the woman who lands on that website at eleven o'clock at night, finally ready to ask for help. She deserves to feel she's found exactly the right person. What trends are you currently seeing in the branding space for health and wellness professionals, and how can they stay ahead in a competitive market? The most significant shift I'm seeing is practitioners moving away from the generic wellness aesthetic – sage green, minimalist template, soft script font, stock photo of someone meditating. It's been the default for years because it feels safe. But when every practitioner in a city looks identical, none of them are actually saying anything. The ones breaking through right now aren't afraid to be specific about who they help and what makes them different. I'm also watching accessibility become a genuine differentiator rather than a compliance checkbox. A website that's easy to navigate and doesn't overwhelm someone who's already overwhelmed isn't just the ethical choice. It's the smart one. For professional services firms, there's real movement toward brands that communicate both authority and warmth. The old model was all credentials and gravitas. What works better now is specificity paired with approachability – expert enough to trust, human enough to call. In your opinion, how can professional service firms, like lawyers or accountants, communicate their deep expertise through branding? The first thing I tell professional services clients is that credentials are the floor, not the ceiling. By the time someone's looking for a lawyer or accountant, they're assuming a baseline of competence. What they're actually trying to figure out from your brand is something harder to quantify: do you understand my situation, and can I trust you with something that matters? That means communicating specialization clearly. A family law firm shouldn't look identical to a corporate litigation firm. Your brand should signal the specific problems you solve and the people you solve them for. When it does, the right clients recognize themselves. When it doesn't, you spend the first ten minutes of every meeting establishing credibility your brand should've built before you walked in. I build what I call the expert's expert positioning. The brand of the person whom other professionals refer their complicated cases to. That takes both authority and warmth to pull off. Your work emphasizes building long-term relationships through branding. How do you ensure your designs foster trust and lasting client connections? The short answer is that I build for truth, not trends. Trends change. What's visually current in 2026 will feel dated by 2029. But a brand rooted in who the practitioner genuinely is doesn't age the same way. The majority of my clients are using their original brand five to ten years later. Every design decision I make serves a specific psychological need of the client's client. The page structure, the white space, and the first thing you read on the homepage. All of it is answering one question: what does she need to feel to trust you enough to reach out? I also built compliance and ethical standards into the brand foundation from the start. For practitioners, knowing their messaging is already built around what they can and can't say removes a layer of anxiety. That confidence becomes part of the brand, too. As someone dedicated to equity in design, how do you believe branding can be used as a tool for social change and visibility in the community? I've experienced firsthand what the right professional in your corner can do. And I've watched what happens when someone doesn't have access to that. A few years ago, I was in a work situation that was genuinely damaging my well-being. I reached out to an employment lawyer – someone I wasn't sure I could afford. She translated my contract into plain language, told me what I could and couldn't do, and helped me find the door out. Within a month, I was free. What came after wouldn't have happened if I'd stayed. I've also watched what it looks like when someone doesn't have access to the right support. The difference between having the right advocate and not having one isn't small. It can mean years of your life. The barrier is so often just a matter of visibility. Someone doesn't know the right practitioner exists, or finds her and doesn't feel confident enough to reach out. Branding that's clear and specific closes that gap. Visibility is access, and access changes things. That's why I do this work. What role do you think design plays in shaping the legacy of a business, and how do you approach creating a legacy-driven brand for your clients? I think of a brand as the artifact that outlives the day-to-day. Long after a practitioner has retired or passed her practice on, the brand continues to communicate who she was, what she valued, and the standard she held herself to. When I'm working on a legacy-driven brand, I'm asking different questions than I do in a typical design brief. Not just what do you want it to look like, but what do you want to be known for in ten years? What'll clients say about you after five years of working together? What won't you compromise on? Those answers are why two practices in the same specialty end up with completely different brands, even if their service lists look similar. The brand isn't the services. It's the person. A therapy practice owner told me after we worked together that she finally felt like she was running a real business, not a side project, but something she could grow into and eventually hand off. That's the shift I'm building toward. You've had a profound impact on the next generation of designers. What's your personal philosophy on the intersection of design and business, and how do you pass that on to your students? The thing I say to my students that lands hardest is this: design without business understanding is just craft. And craft alone won't sustain a career or create real change. I see young designers who've been taught that caring about the commercial side of their work compromises their integrity. That's a false choice. Understanding a client's revenue model and what success looks like for their business isn't selling out. It's what makes you a strategic partner instead of someone executing someone else's vision. I teach using StoryBrand and Human Design frameworks, always grounded in the RGD code of ethics – professionalism, accountability, and genuine respect for the public good. I'm deliberate about showing students that financial sustainability and values-driven work aren't in conflict. I also want them to see where the real work is. Designing for a therapist who helps survivors, building brands for minority-led firms, creating accessible spaces for people who're often excluded, that's where design actually changes things. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Rachel Simms, RGD

Written by Nadija Bajrami, Strategic Hypnotherapist, Mind Coach Nadija is a multi-award-winning trauma and empowerment specialist with a double diploma in hypnotherapy, mind coaching, and online therapy. She is also a Reiki Master and a grief educator, and she has been trained by an international grief specialist and best-selling author, David Kessler. Nadija is also an end-of-life doula. Have you ever reacted in a way that surprised even you? Perhaps you sabotage love when it finally feels safe. Perhaps you overwork to prove your worth. Perhaps anxiety follows you even when life seems “fine.” Or maybe you carry an unexplainable heaviness, guilt, fear, or emotional burden that does not entirely feel like your own. What if I told you that some of the struggles you carry did not begin with you? For generations, humanity has understood that family stories, wounds, beliefs, and emotional pain are passed down. Today, science and psychology confirm what many ancient traditions already knew: trauma can travel through generations. This is called transgenerational trauma. Understanding it can completely transform the way we see ourselves, our families, and our healing journey. We inherit more than eye colour We inherit behaviours, emotional patterns, and survival strategies. When our ancestors experienced war, abandonment, poverty, abuse, oppression, betrayal, grief, or emotional neglect, many of them never had the opportunity to process those experiences. Survival became more important than healing. When pain is not healed, it is often unconsciously passed on. A grandmother who never felt emotionally safe may raise a daughter who struggles to express emotions. A grandfather who lived through scarcity may pass down deep fears around money and security. A lineage shaped by silence may produce generations who struggle to speak their truth. Without realising it, we can begin living from inherited fear instead of authentic truth. This does not mean we are broken. It means we are carrying stories that were never fully resolved. The body remembers what the mind forgets Many people believe trauma only exists when we consciously remember painful experiences. But trauma is not only memory. It is energy stored within the nervous system. Sometimes we become the emotional continuation of what our ancestors could not express. This can show up as chronic anxiety, people pleasing, fear of success, fear of intimacy, hyper-independence, emotional numbness, self-sabotage, perfectionism, feeling responsible for everyone else, or a deep sense of “not being enough.” These patterns are often survival responses that once protected someone in our lineage. Here is the powerful truth: what once helped our ancestors survive may now be preventing us from fully living. You are not meant to carry everything One of the most healing realisations we can have is this: we can honour our ancestors without carrying their pain. Many people unconsciously believe that healing means betraying their family. Especially in cultures where suffering has become normalised, joy can feel unfamiliar. Freedom can feel unsafe. Success can even trigger guilt. But healing is not rejection. Healing is evolution. When you choose awareness, boundaries, emotional healing, and self-love, you are not abandoning your lineage. You are becoming the one who transforms it. You are the bridge between survival and liberation. Breaking generational patterns requires courage Healing generational trauma is not simply about “thinking positively.” It requires radical self-awareness. It asks us to gently observe what patterns repeat in our family, what emotional roles we learned growing up, what fears we carry that may not even belong to us, what beliefs about love, money, success, safety, or self-worth were inherited, and what part of us is still trying to survive instead of thrive. This work can feel emotional because it touches deeply rooted identity and conditioning. But awareness is where freedom begins. The moment we become conscious of a pattern, we stop being unconsciously controlled by it. Honouring our ancestors in a healthy way Our ancestors deserve compassion. Many of them did the best they could with the awareness and resources they had. They survived unimaginable hardships so that we could exist today. We honour them not by repeating their suffering, but by creating a new reality. We honour them when we choose emotional healing, learn healthy boundaries, create conscious relationships, speak openly about mental health, allow ourselves joy and rest, break cycles of silence, raise emotionally aware children, and live authentically instead of fearfully. True ancestral healing is not about staying loyal to pain. It is about becoming loyal to the truth. Releasing what does not belong to you One of the most empowering questions you can ask yourself is: “Is this truly mine?” Is the fear yours? Is the guilt yours? Is the shame yours? Is the constant need to prove yourself yours? Or have you simply inherited emotional patterns that were never questioned? Healing begins when we stop identifying with inherited wounds and start reconnecting with our authentic selves. This may involve therapy, somatic healing, journaling, meditation, breathwork, energy healing, nervous system regulation, or spiritual practices that reconnect us to ourselves. The goal is not to blame the past. The goal is to free the future. You are the turning point Perhaps you are the first in your family to choose healing. The first to speak openly. The first to feel deeply. The first to set boundaries. The first to choose peace over chaos. The first to break toxic cycles. If so, understand this: your healing matters far beyond you. When one person heals, generations begin to shift. Although this journey is not always easy, it is deeply sacred. Because every time you choose awareness over unconsciousness, every time you choose self-love over self-abandonment, and every time you choose healing over survival, you rewrite the story of your lineage. Final thoughts You are not here to endlessly carry the emotional weight of the past. You are here to transform it. Your ancestors may have given you survival skills. But you now have the opportunity to create freedom. Honour where you come from. Respect the journey that came before you. But remember: you do not have to inherit suffering to belong. You are allowed to heal. You are allowed to thrive. You are allowed to become the healthiest expression of your lineage. Perhaps that is the greatest gift you can offer both your ancestors and yourself. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit her website for more info. Read more from Nadija Bajrami Nadija Bajrami, Strategic Hypnotherapist, Mind Coach French by birth, Nadija lived in Scotland for 7 years and travelled the world. After recovering from some serious health issues, Nadija had a wake-up call and came to Ireland to find her path. She has been living in Dublin since 2017. Nadija is working mostly online worldwide and shares her time between Ireland, France, and Switzerland. Nadija is a multi-award-winning trauma and empowerment specialist with a double diploma in hypnotherapy, mind coaching, and online therapy. She is also a Reiki Master and a grief educator, and she has been trained by an international grief specialist and best-selling author, David Kessler. Nadija is also an end-of-life doula. She is dedicated to helping her clients get empowered, supercharge their confidence and self-esteem, overcome their limiting beliefs, and manage anxiety and trauma responses. She also helps people on their grief and healing journey through her therapy, coaching, grief education and support programmes, and spiritual work.

Written by Miriam Garcia-den Boer, Brain-Based Vitality Coach Miriam Garcia-den Boer is a passionate brain-based vitality coach and founder of Wellbrain.nl. She empowers people to understand their brain, transform their behaviour and create lasting vitality through science-backed awareness and practical tools. What if the change you’ve been searching for isn’t somewhere out there, but already within you, waiting to be activated? In a world that constantly pushes us to do more, achieve more, and become more, it’s easy to believe that transformation is something we must chase. Yet, real and lasting well-being doesn’t come from adding more to your life. It begins by understanding the inner patterns quietly shaping it. Your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours aren’t random. They are the result of deeply ingrained patterns your brain has learned over time. Rewire your life through six powerful pillars: connect deeply, move daily, learn continuously, embrace nature, nourish your brain, and rest fully. You are not alone in this journey. As a brain-based coach, I guide you step by step through real, lasting change. Together, we turn small shifts into powerful transformations. This is where the six brain-based pillars come in. These are not quick fixes or surface-level strategies. They are foundational shifts, rooted in both science and self-awareness, that help you reconnect with your natural state of balance, resilience, and purpose. Six brain-based powerful pillars 1. Love and social connection Your brain is wired for connection. It feels safest when you feel seen and supported. Simple moments of genuine connection can calm your nervous system instantly. A heartfelt conversation can shift your entire emotional state. Even small acts like a smile, a message, or eye contact matter deeply. Connection releases feel-good chemicals that reduce stress and increase resilience. Isolation, on the other hand, keeps the brain in survival mode. Reach out, share, and listen. Connection is not a luxury, it’s a biological need. 2. Move your body Movement is one of the fastest ways to change your state and energy. Your brain thrives when your body moves. It increases blood flow and clarity. You don’t need intense workouts, consistency matters more than intensity. A 10-minute walk can reset your mood and reduce stress. Stretching, dancing, or even standing up more often makes a difference. Movement signals to your brain that you are alive, active, and capable. When you move your body, you shift your mind. 3. Novelty and learning Your brain loves new experiences. It grows when challenged. Trying something new creates fresh neural connections. It can be as simple as taking a different route or learning a new skill. Curiosity keeps your mind flexible and engaged. Repeating only what you know keeps you stuck in the same patterns. Growth begins when you step into the unfamiliar. Stay curious. Your brain expands with every new experience. 4. Time in nature Nature has a calming effect on your brain and nervous system. It helps reduce stress, anxiety, and mental fatigue. Even a short walk outside can improve focus and clarity. Natural light supports your mood and sleep rhythms. Listening to birds, feeling the wind, or touching the ground reconnects you. Nature reminds your brain that you are safe and grounded. Step outside, and your mind will follow. 5. Omega-3 nourishes your brain Your brain needs the right fuel to function at its best. Omega-3 fatty acids support memory, focus, and emotional balance. They are essential for healthy brain cell communication. You can find them in foods like fatty fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds. What you eat directly impacts how you think and feel. Poor nutrition can increase brain fog and low energy. Nourish your brain, and it will support you in return. 6. Pause and sleep Rest is not a weakness, it’s where transformation happens. Your brain resets, repairs, and integrates during sleep. Without rest, everything feels harder: focus, emotions, and decisions. Pausing during the day helps regulate stress and restore balance. Even a few deep breaths can shift your nervous system. Quality sleep strengthens memory and emotional resilience. Slow down and rest deeply. Your brain needs it to thrive. Through awareness and intentional shifts, you have the ability to reshape your inner world and, with it, your entire experience of life. When you begin to work with your brain instead of against it, subtle but powerful changes start to unfold. Clarity replaces confusion, energy flows where there was once resistance, and a deeper sense of alignment begins to emerge. How your brain impacts your behaviour Before you can transform your life, it helps to understand one powerful truth: your brain’s main job isn’t to make you happy, it’s to keep you safe and conserve energy. Every day, your brain is scanning your environment, asking one simple question: Is this safe? If the answer feels uncertain, it will guide you toward familiar patterns, thoughts, habits, and reactions it already knows. Not because they are the best for you, but because they are efficient. Your brain loves efficiency. It builds shortcuts based on what you repeat most. This is where a simple but powerful principle comes in: neurons that fire together, wire together. In other words, the more you think a thought, feel an emotion, or act in a certain way, the stronger that pattern becomes. Your brain doesn’t judge, it just reinforces What you focus on, you strengthen. What you repeat, you become better at. Over time, these patterns turn into automatic behaviours, your default way of responding to life. Whether supportive or limiting, your brain doesn’t judge. It simply reinforces what is used most. Here’s another important rule: use it or lose it. The connections you don’t activate begin to weaken, and the ones you practice grow stronger. This means your current patterns are not fixed, they are trained. Anything that has been trained can be retrained. Once you understand this, something shifts. You’re no longer “stuck” in your habits or reactions. You begin to see that your brain is not working against you, it’s working exactly as it was designed to. The question is, are you consciously guiding it? This is where the six brain-based pillars become essential, helping you move from autopilot to awareness and from survival mode to intentional living. Start your journey today You can rewire your brain at any age. Your habits are not fixed, they are patterns that can be reshaped with awareness and repetition. The truth is simple: a calm brain is a productive, focused, and resilient brain. You don’t need to change everything at once. Start small. Choose one pillar. Take one step. Consistency, not perfection, is what creates lasting transformation. Notice your progress. Track it. Celebrate even the smallest shifts, because those small changes are exactly how your brain rewires. This is your moment to begin. If this resonates and you’re looking for a space to explore this more deeply, this is your invitation to begin with support. As a brain-based coach, I walk this journey with you. Book your free Discovery Vitality call with me and take the first step toward a more aligned, energised, and empowered life. Follow me on LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Miriam Garcia-den Boer Miriam Garcia-den Boer, Brain-Based Vitality Coach Miriam Garcia-den Boer is a brain-based vitality coach. Life changer at the end of 2023, she was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis). After that, she transformed her life by learning how the brain works. This turning point led her to build a sustainable, vitality-driven lifestyle rooted in brain awareness and behavioural change. Today, she helps individuals and corporations in understanding their brains, boosting vitality, and creating lasting energy. Her mission: Make your brain your best friend.

Written by: Nadija Bajrami, Senior Level Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Let’s explain hypnosis, what it can be used for and debunk the myths about it. "You're the only one who can unlock your true potential & hypnosis is the key." – Juliet C. Obodo When talking about hypnosis and hypnotherapy, we use the words conscious and subconscious, and before going any further, let’s explain these different levels of consciousness and what they represent. The levels of consciousness are conscious, and subconscious. Explaining the conscious mind The conscious mind is what we operate with during our daily activities and waking hours. It represents only a small portion of our consciousness and awareness. 5% approximately. The conscious mind, or thinking mind, or critical and rational mind, contains all the thoughts, memories, feelings, and wishes of which we are aware at any given moment. This is the aspect of our mental processing that we can think about and talk about rationally. It has no memory, and it can only hold one thought at a time. The conscious mind works on the principle of reality. Our conscious mind accepts or rejects data when making choices and decisions. It can deal with only one thought or idea at a time, like positive or negative, "yes" or "no." It is continually sorting impressions, deciding which are relevant to you and which are not. Explaining the subconscious mind The subconscious mind lies below the level of conscious awareness. Its physical seat in the body is the lower brain and the spine. It records everything we do: every activity we engage in, our thoughts about those activities, and our likes and dislikes about what we encounter each day. Although nothing is forgotten by the subconscious mind, for the most part, this part of our consciousness remains hidden from our everyday awareness. The subconscious has a tremendous influence on how we think, feel, and act when in the conscious state, and approximately 95% of our life is ruled by the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is like a huge memory bank. It permanently stores everything that ever happens to you, and its capacity is virtually unlimited. The subconscious mind stores your beliefs, your previous experience, your memories, and your skills. Everything that you have seen, done, or thought is also there. It is also your guidance system. By the time you reach the age of 21, you will have already permanently stored more than one hundred times the contents of the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica. The subconscious mind defines all reactions and automatic actions we can become aware of if we think about them. For example, our ability to drive a car: once we get skilled, we stop thinking about which gears to use, which pedals to press, or which mirror to look at, yet we can always become aware of what was done once we think about it. The subconscious mind does not know the difference between reality and fiction and considers everything it hears as the truth, hence the importance of being mindful of how you talk to and about yourself! What is hypnosis? Hypnosis is a safe and natural state of relaxation with increased awareness during which you are not asleep and are fully in control. You will experience a pleasant state of mind with increased attention and focus. The hypnotic state is similar to some moments in your life when you are daydreaming or fully absorbed in a specific activity, like reading, for example. Hypnosis is a shift in consciousness that enables you to tap into your core thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and beliefs and, with the guidance of a trained hypnotherapist, change your thinking pattern to make sustainable changes in your life. There is absolutely nothing to fear, as therapeutic and clinical hypnosis is different from stage and entertainment hypnosis, and as you remain in control, you will never be asked to do anything foolish or against your will. For the hypnotherapy session to be successful, the hypnotherapist must have your consent, collaboration, and full commitment, as the purpose is to help you reach a feeling of being more in charge and in control of your life. While in a relaxed state of mind, new information can make its way into the subconscious, which transforms old beliefs and thought patterns. Hypnosis delves into your subconscious mind to plant positive thoughts and suggestions, which can create meaningful and lasting changes in your thought process. Hypnosis replaces the old with the new. Changing your thinking will change your beliefs, fears, desires, habits, and anything else that creates resistance when achieving new things. Guided by a fully trained and certified hypnotherapist, hypnosis allows you to be more open to suggestions for making healthy changes in your perceptions, sensations, emotions, memories, thoughts, or behaviours. What is hypnotherapy? Hypnotherapy is the application of psychological therapy during a state of hypnosis, to change or modify behaviour patterns. Hypnotherapy can deal with psychosomatic problems, that is, problems that are rooted in and controlled by the subconscious mind. Hypnotherapy can bypass the conscious mind, allowing positive, life-affirming suggestions for change to be fed directly to the subconscious mind and acted upon. Hypnotic suggestions have a cumulative effect; over time, there is a buildup of reinforcement in the subconscious that will be acted upon by the conscious mind. The word hypnotherapy comes from the Greek: Hupnos meaning ‘sleep.’ Therapeia ‘healing’ So, putting those two Greek words together, hypnotherapy could be summarized as ‘healing through a sleep state.' Hypnotherapy is not a real sleep state but a state of heightened awareness, as previously mentioned. As a hypnotherapist, I believe I work in a profession that is fantastically placed to help people align with what they really desire in life, appreciate themselves, and see their true potential. The memories of any trying events and experiences we went through can be extremely painful to deal with and can be debilitating. Our brain tends to work as a coping mechanism and store these difficult moments deep within our subconscious. What your mind does as its form of coping mechanism is it takes your negative, emotionally charged memories, and pushes them into your subconscious as a means of protecting you from re-experiencing the pain. This is what is commonly known as repression. As we may know from experience, the emotions from these memories can be resurfaced by a trigger, which often causes a rollercoaster of emotions and can also create complete paralysis in our minds. And while hypnosis cannot erase memories, it can reframe them to make them less painful, and will help manage those memories in a more productive and healthier way. Memories, with their associated thoughts and emotions, are adaptable and flexible, making us open to suggestions and more able to accept small changes to some of their original meaning. You can change what a particular memory means to you, how you feel about it, and how you respond to it when you create and attach new pairs, associations, and narratives to that memory. Hypnosis is your reframing tool to change and "re-edit" the memories in your mind and your negative pairs and associations with a memory. Hypnosis will help you change how you remember rather than the "raw" memory itself. By releasing the emotional response to the memory, you release the symptom. Using hypnosis, we plant new seeds in your subconscious mind, which will then take root and grow. When that happens, you can take pleasure in knowing that your subconscious mind is working for you. And once those changes are completed and have become part of your mental processes, they will emerge into consciousness in the form of a new feeling of confidence, belief, and acceptance that you are becoming the best that you can be. This is when you become the driver of your life, move towards your goals with confidence and optimism, and take care of the vehicle that your mind is. What hypnosis can help with: Hypnosis is a powerful modality that can help with a wide range of issues. I have listed some of them below. Confidence and self-esteem boost Phobias, Fears, Anxieties management (social phobia/anxiety, fear of flying, fear of driving, fear of water, fear of public speaking, insomnia and sleep issues...) Easing symptoms of traumatic experiences Past Life Regression and Future Life Progression Breaking bad habits Panic attacks Grief and loss management Relationship issues Increasing your motivation and overcoming procrastination Stress management Anger management Pain management Performance-related issues (exam nerves, improving your performance at work...) Grief and loss management Inner child, attachment, and core wounds healing Fertility and IVF Weight management and weight loss Reduce / Quit smoking Let’s debunk the nine most common myths about hypnosis. Myth 1: Hypnosis is the same as sleep. Fact: The hypnotized person is an active participant who remains responsive and aware of their surroundings. Myth 2: Hypnosis is the same as meditation. Fact: There are similarities between the two, but the main distinction is how focused hypnosis is on changing and updating your thoughts, unlike meditation which is generally about noticing, observing, and accepting your thoughts. Myth 3: A hypnotherapist might pull some embarrassing tricks on you or make you act against your will. Fact: A fully trained clinical hypnotherapist would never do this. People often confuse a stage hypnotist with a therapeutic or clinical hypnotherapist. A stage hypnotist will do this because that is what is expected of them. You agree to this by stepping on stage and joining the show. However, you will easily return to your normal state at the end of the performance. In a clinical setting, you only agree to the therapeutic goals for the session, so that is all that will occur. It is important to remember that Stage and Clinical hypnosis are two very different disciplines. The hypnotherapist is merely a guide or facilitator. They cannot "make" you do anything against your will. Myth 4: Hypnosis can be dangerous in the event of an emergency. Fact: A person in a hypnotic trance is just as aware, if not more so, of any potential danger. Should an emergency happen during a session, a person would easily come out of the trance state and deal with the situation immediately, and in an appropriate way. Myth 5: Some people can’t be hypnotized. Fact: The hypnotic state is not unusual or rare. It is similar to the naturally occurring shifts in awareness that happen as we fall asleep and awaken each day. Not everyone is equally susceptible to hypnosis, but research has found that about two-thirds of adults are. It is also very important to mention that since no one can be hypnotized against their will, the real question is whether a person wants to be hypnotized rather than whether they CAN BE hypnotized. Myth 6: One of the risks of hypnosis is getting stuck in a trance. Fact: No one has ever been stuck in a hypnotic trance when working with a trained practitioner. Myth 7: You are not hypnotized if you can hear the hypnotherapist Fact: This is not true at all. Each person has a unique experience with hypnosis. Some people consciously hear the hypnotherapist, whereas others do not. This has no bearing on the success of the session whatsoever. It is usually down to choice. You can choose to allow your mind to drift away, or you can choose to listen carefully to what the hypnotherapist is saying. Some people may be prone to drift away, just like daydreaming, or you might be concentrating on the therapist’s voice. Myth 8: Hypnotherapists have special powers Fact: I have heard this quite often over the last couple of years. A hypnotherapist is a normal person who eats, sleeps, feels happy and sad, and loses their car keys. There is nothing special or magical about them at all. As hypnotherapists, we have simply been trained, and have honed this training with experience, to help guide people into a hypnotic state and help them make sustainable changes. Myth 9: Hypnosis is not an effective modality Fact: Results of a 2007 Comparative Study by American Health Magazine: Hypnotherapy: 93% success after 6 sessions Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: 72% success after 22 sessions Psychoanalysis: 38% success after 600 sessions I hope this gives you an overview and a better understanding of what hypnosis is, how it can help you create positive and sustainable changes and I also hope to have been able to debunk the most common myths about it. Follow Nadija on her Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and visit her website for more info. Read more from Nadija! Nadija Bajrami, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine French by birth, Nadija lived in Scotland for 7 years and travelled the world. After recovering from some serious health issues, Nadija had a wake-up call and came to Ireland to find her path. She has been living in Dublin since 2017. Nadija is a multi-award-winning trauma and empowerment specialist and holds a double diploma in Hypnotherapy, Mind Coaching, and online therapy. She is also a reiki healer as well as a grief educator and trained with the international grief specialist and best-selling author David Kessler. She is dedicated to helping her clients get empowered, supercharge their confidence and self-esteem, overcome their limiting beliefs as well as manage anxiety, and symptoms of traumatic experiences and help people on their grief and healing journey through her therapy, coaching, grief education programmes and spiritual work.

Written by Charlotte Cheetham, Gut Health Coach Charlotte Cheetham is an expert coach in gut health for menopausal women. She is the founder of Lifeinsights and aims to help all menopausal women one by one to heal their symptoms, which are preventing them from living a normal life. She has also written articles for Healthieyoo magazine about gut health, menopause, and psychobiotics. Gut health plays a crucial role in digestion, energy, mental clarity, and overall well-being, especially for women over 40. This article explores how fibre, fermented foods, and prebiotics work together to support a healthy gut microbiome, reduce common symptoms such as bloating and brain fog, and promote long-term health through simple, sustainable dietary habits. Spring cleaning isn't just for your home When spring arrives, many of us feel inspired to clear out closets, open the windows, and create fresh space in our homes. Yet one area that often gets overlooked is our gut. For many women over 40, symptoms like bloating, brain fog, fatigue, irregular digestion, and stubborn weight gain can start to feel like an unavoidable part of aging. The reality is that these symptoms are often signs that the gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria living within our digestive system, needs attention. Just as a garden thrives when it is nourished and tended regularly, your gut ecosystem flourishes when it is fed the right nutrients. Three of the most powerful tools for supporting a healthy gut are: Fibre Fermented foods Prebiotics. Together, these nutritional powerhouses help support digestion, reduce bloating, improve energy levels, and may even enhance mental clarity. Let's explore how each one works and how you can begin incorporating them into your daily routine. Understanding the gut microbiome Before diving into specific foods, it is helpful to understand why the gut matters so much. The gut microbiome consists of trillions of microorganisms that influence digestion, immune function, hormone balance, metabolism, mood, and cognitive function. Researchers often refer to the gut as the body's "second brain" because of its close communication with the nervous system through the gut-brain axis. In fact, approximately 90% of serotonin, often called the "feel-good neurotransmitter," is produced in the gut. When the microbiome is balanced, many women experience better digestion, increased energy, improved focus, more stable moods, and reduced inflammation. When it is out of balance, symptoms such as bloating, constipation, brain fog, and fatigue often emerge. The good news is that small dietary changes can create meaningful improvements. Fibre: The unsung hero of gut health Despite its importance, fibre remains one of the most under-consumed nutrients in modern diets. Many women consume less than half of the recommended daily amount. What is fibre? Fibre is a type of carbohydrate that the body cannot fully digest. Instead of being broken down and absorbed, fibre travels through the digestive tract, where it supports healthy digestion and feeds beneficial gut bacteria. There are two primary types of fibre: Soluble fibre: Soluble fibre dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance. Its benefits include slowing digestion, supporting blood sugar balance, helping manage cholesterol levels, and feeding beneficial bacteria. Sources include oats, apples, chia seeds, flaxseeds, and beans. Insoluble fibre: Insoluble fibre adds bulk to stool and supports regular bowel movements. Sources include whole grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruit skins. How fibre supports brain function Many women are surprised to learn that fibre does not just help digestion. When gut bacteria ferment fibre, they produce compounds called short-chain fatty acids. These compounds help reduce inflammation, support the gut lining, influence brain health, and improve communication between the gut and brain. Emerging research suggests that a fibre-rich diet may contribute to improved cognitive function and reduced brain fog. Signs you may need more fibre You may benefit from increasing your fibre intake if you experience bloating after meals, constipation, irregular digestion, energy crashes, persistent hunger, or difficulty concentrating. One important note: increase fibre gradually and drink adequate water to avoid worsening digestive discomfort. Fermented foods: Nature's probiotics Long before probiotic supplements existed, cultures around the world relied on fermented foods to support health. Fermentation is a natural process in which beneficial bacteria transform food. The result is a product rich in probiotics, live microorganisms that may help support gut health. Popular fermented foods include yogurt with live cultures, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, tempeh, and kombucha. Why fermented foods matter Fermented foods can help increase microbial diversity within the gut. A diverse microbiome is often associated with better digestion, improved immune function, reduced inflammation, and greater resilience to stress. A landmark Stanford University study found that participants consuming fermented foods experienced increased microbiome diversity and reductions in inflammatory markers. This is particularly relevant for women over 40, as inflammation often increases during the menopausal transition. The connection between gut health and brain fog Brain fog is one of the most common complaints among professional women. It can show up as forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, mental fatigue, and reduced productivity. While many factors contribute to brain fog, gut health is increasingly recognised as an important piece of the puzzle. An imbalanced microbiome may contribute to increased inflammation, blood sugar instability, nutrient deficiencies, and disrupted neurotransmitter production. Supporting gut health through fermented foods may help create an environment that supports clearer thinking and improved mental performance. How to start using fermented foods If you are new to fermented foods, start small. Try one tablespoon of sauerkraut with lunch, a serving of kefir at breakfast, or yogurt with berries as a snack. Consistency matters more than quantity. Prebiotics: Feeding the good bacteria If probiotics are the seeds, prebiotics are the fertiliser. Prebiotics are types of fibre that nourish beneficial bacteria already living in your gut. Without prebiotics, many beneficial microbes struggle to thrive. Common prebiotic foods Excellent sources include garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, chicory root, Jerusalem artichokes, green bananas, and oats. These foods provide fuel that allows beneficial bacteria to grow and multiply. Why prebiotics are often missing Many women unintentionally avoid prebiotic foods because they have been told to eliminate carbohydrates or certain vegetables. While some individuals with digestive disorders may need temporary dietary modifications, unnecessarily restricting prebiotic-rich foods can reduce microbial diversity over time. The goal is not perfection. The goal is building tolerance and supporting a thriving ecosystem. The power of combining fibre, fermented foods, and prebiotics While each of these components offers unique benefits, together they create a powerful synergy. Think of your gut like a garden. Fibre improves the soil, prebiotics feed the plants, and fermented foods introduce beneficial new species. When combined consistently, they help create an environment where beneficial microbes can flourish. A simple "gut spring clean" plan Instead of restrictive detoxes or juice cleanses, consider a gentler approach. Week 1: Add fibre. Focus on one extra serving of vegetables daily, along with foods such as chia seeds, oats, and legumes. Week 2: Introduce fermented foods. Add yogurt, kefir, or sauerkraut to your routine. Week 3: Increase prebiotics. Include foods such as garlic, onions, asparagus, and oats. Week 4: Build consistency. Create meals that combine all three elements. For example, enjoy grilled salmon with roasted asparagus, quinoa, and a side of sauerkraut. Common mistakes to avoid Going too fast: Suddenly increasing fibre may temporarily increase bloating. Gradual changes are more sustainable. Relying solely on supplements: While supplements can be helpful, food-first approaches provide additional nutrients and plant compounds that support overall health. Ignoring lifestyle factors: Gut health is not just about food. Sleep, stress management, physical activity, and hydration all play important roles in supporting a healthy microbiome. The bigger picture: Progress over perfection One of the greatest misconceptions about gut health is that it requires an extreme protocol. Many women are already overwhelmed by conflicting nutrition advice. The truth is that small, consistent changes often create the most meaningful results. Adding a little more fibre, including fermented foods regularly, and feeding beneficial bacteria with prebiotics may seem simple. However, over time, these habits can help support digestion, energy, mental clarity, and overall well-being. Final thoughts Spring is a season of renewal. It is an opportunity to create healthier habits that support how you feel every day. Rather than focusing on restriction, consider what you can add to nourish your gut microbiome. By incorporating fibre, fermented foods, and prebiotics into your routine, you are not simply supporting digestion. You are investing in the health of your brain, immune system, metabolism, and future self. Your gut is constantly communicating with the rest of your body. When you support it well, you may be surprised by how much better you can feel. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Charlotte Cheetham Charlotte Cheetham, Gut Health Coach Charlotte Cheetham is an expert Gut Coach for menopausal women. After suffering from an acute gut infection, she had to learn how to manage her gut health to prevent another massive flare-up. She has learned how to manage her nutritional needs to become healthy and happy during menopause. Her mission is to help as many women as possible manage their diet and lifestyle, so they can also learn how to become healthy and happy again.

Written by Danielle McKinnon, Equine Leadership Facilitator, Social Entrepreneur Danielle McKinon, founder of Eat Sleep Ride, a rural-based charity in Scotland, and a certified Equine Leadership Coach. Part of the global TeachingHorse network, Danielle applies the Diamond Model of Shared Leadership to help individuals and teams lead with confidence through uncertainty. How many of us, to get into the rooms that matter, have had to climb into a box? A box that says, “Be professional. Be certain. Don’t be too much. Show them the part of you that fits the role, and keep the rest out of sight.” Leaders do it more than anyone. We perform composure we don’t feel. We lead by the spreadsheet because numbers feel safer than people. We hide the parts of ourselves that don’t match the job title. I’ve spent most of my life being put in boxes and the last few years learning that the best leadership begins the moment you climb out of them. The boxes I was handed I grew up in care. I’m neurodivergent. When I started out, I didn’t understand finance or strategy at all, and for a long time, I believed those were boxes I was stuck inside, too different, too far behind, not the kind of person who leads anything. I had it the wrong way round. Those boxes weren’t my cage, they were the source of everything I now bring as a leader. The empathy, the pattern-spotting, the refusal to accept that broken systems have to stay broken, none of that came in spite of my history. It came because of it. Lived experience isn’t the thing you apologise for in leadership. Increasingly, it’s the thing that sets a leader apart. What I built It started in 2017 with one pony I rescued online for fifty pounds a pony, the world had written off as worthless. I founded Eat Sleep Ride around that single act of refusing to accept what something was “worth,” and for the next seven years, I built it, piece by piece, mostly learning as I went. Over those years, it grew into something far bigger than I had first imagined. We outgrew our first home and, just a week before the pandemic, moved to Quarry Farm, twenty-four acres of old landfill that nobody else wanted. Ninety local volunteers gave more than two thousand four hundred hours to turn a rubbish tip into a living place that runs entirely on the sun. We became an accredited riding school, teaching as well as rescuing, and took on horses of every kind: rescue, rehabilitation, working, and livery. In 2024, we became a registered charity after seven years of proving the work first. Out of all of it grew Herd Dynamics, my leadership and development work, born the day I realised that what the horses were teaching our young people, they could just as powerfully teach leaders. The systems meant to support people like us were broken, so we built our own. Building something from nothing over seven years teaches you more about leadership than any course. But the deepest lessons didn’t come from the spreadsheets or the strategy. They came from the horses. What horses teach about leadership Here is the thing about a horse: it cannot be fooled. It doesn’t care about your title, your diagnosis, or whether your numbers balance. It reads your nervous system, not your CV. Walk into a paddock pretending to be calm while your insides are in knots, and the horse will know before you’ve taken three steps and it will respond to the truth, not to the performance. That is the most honest feedback a leader will ever receive. Horses are prey animals, which makes them exquisitely attuned to the emotional state of everyone around them. They co-regulate. When you are genuinely calm and present, they settle. When you are braced and tense, they brace too. We understand the science of this now. Our nervous systems are wired to sense safety or threat in one another, well below conscious thought, which the neuroscientist Stephen Porges named neuroception. It runs both ways between species. Studies tracking heart rate variability have shown that the heart rhythms of a human and a horse can genuinely synchronise as they interact. Leaders do this to their teams every single day without realising it. Your people are reading your regulation, not your words. A horse simply makes it impossible to ignore. So horses teach the things leadership courses struggle to. Presence over performance. Influence without force, because you cannot bully a half-tonne animal into trusting you. You can only earn it. Reading a room before a single word is spoken. The humbling truth is that real authority starts with regulating yourself first. Lead like the lead mare Spend time with a herd and you notice something that quietly dismantles most of what we’re taught about authority. The horse the others choose to follow is rarely the biggest, the loudest, or the most forceful. Force creates movement a panicked, scattering kind of movement but it doesn’t create followers. The horse the herd actually trusts to lead them to water, to safety, to rest, tends to be the steady one. The consistent one. The one whose calm the others can borrow. We see the same thing in every organisation. There’s the leader who drives from behind with pressure and fear, and gets compliance and churn. And there’s the leader the team genuinely follows, not because of the org chart, but because being near them feels safe enough to do good work. One commands. The other is chosen. Horses have known the difference for millions of years, we’re only now catching up. Why do leaders come to the herd This is exactly why, through my leadership practice, Herd Dynamics, I bring leaders and teams to the herd. Not to ride for sport, but to learn through intuitive, ground-based and ridden work what it feels like to lead a being that responds only to who you actually are. Picture it. An executive who can hold a boardroom of forty people steps into the arena, asked to do nothing more than walk a pony a few paces beside her. She squares up, takes the lead rope, gives the instruction in her boardroom voice and the pony plants its feet and refuses to move. She tries again, firmer. Nothing. You can watch the frustration rise, the old reflex to push harder. Then, usually, something gives. She exhales. Her shoulders drop. She stops performing leadership and simply becomes present. The pony, without a word, falls into step beside her. People feel that shift in their own body in a way no slide deck could ever teach them. They carry it back to their teams, their negotiations, their kitchen tables. The horse becomes the most truthful coach in the room. The proof If you doubt how powerful this is, let me give you the smallest example. A girl came to us when she was ten years old. She wouldn’t speak a word to anyone at school. But she would talk to a horse. Years on, she is thriving, full of voice and purpose. If the herd can reach the most guarded, shut-down ten-year-old, imagine what it can unlock in a guarded executive who has spent twenty years in the box. The mechanism is the same. So is the result. Regeneration: Leadership as creating the conditions There’s a reason our sanctuary sits on an old landfill site. We took ground that had been written off as poisoned and useless, and we didn’t force anything to grow. We created the conditions, we cleared what was toxic, we planted, we waited, we trusted the process. Today, there are a thousand trees, ponds full of frogs, and birdsong where there used to be seagulls and waste. People are no different. Teams are no different. You cannot force a person to flourish any more than you can shout at a field and demand a harvest. What a leader can do, the only thing a leader can really do, is create the conditions in which growth becomes possible. Safety. Time. Belief. Then get out of the way and let it happen. The best leadership I know isn’t extraction. It’s regeneration. Leading without emptying yourself There’s a leadership lesson I learned the hard way, too. For years, I was the one who absorbed every shortfall, every tight month, every gap, every job nobody else would do. Capacity was just me, stretched thin across everything. But you cannot pour into other people from an empty cup. A leader who never regulates their own nervous system, who treats themselves as the shock absorber for the whole organisation, eventually has nothing left to give. The horses taught me that self-regulation isn’t self-indulgence. It is the precondition for leading anyone else well. Redefining what leadership is for We talk a great deal about building wealth and success. Here is what those words have come to mean to me: they’re shared. Leadership at its best isn’t command from the top of a hierarchy. It’s every voice being taken into account, and decisions being made with people, not done to them. That isn’t soft. That’s shared leadership, and in my experience, it’s the only kind that builds anything that lasts. I didn’t get here alone, either. People believed in me long before the numbers did, and that belief may be the truest form of wealth there is. Good leaders create that same belief in others. For the leader reading this So, if you’ve been climbing into a box to lead, and most of us have, here is what the horses would tell you. Regulate before you direct, because your team is reading your nervous system, not your strategy. Calm is contagious, and so is panic. Lead like the lead mare, remembering that authority isn’t the loudest voice, it’s the steadiest presence. Be the calm others can borrow. Create the conditions, don’t force the growth. You can’t command a person to flourish, but you can make it safe enough that they do. Seek the honest feedback you’ve been avoiding, and find the people, or the animals, who respond to who you are, not to who you’re performing to be. Lead as your whole self, because the parts of you that don’t fit the box are usually the very parts your people most need to see. Being human isn’t a box Someone asked me recently what box I’m in today. For once, I don’t mind the answer. I’m in a box of grace. I’m steadier than I used to be, and I can even make people laugh. But here is how I’d like to be remembered, as a leader and as a person, as someone who got up every single day to bring value, and who refused to leave any part of herself in the box. Nature never puts anyone in a box. Neither should leadership. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Danielle McKinnon Danielle McKinnon, Equine Leadership Facilitator, Social Entrepreneur Danielle McKinnon is the founder of Eat Sleep Ride | Rural-Based Charity in Scotland, a rural charity using horses, nature, and coaching to support disadvantaged and neurodiverse young people. She is a qualified equine-facilitated learning practitioner, coach, and licensed facilitator of shared leadership, working locally and globally to build brave spaces for change. Her work is rooted in lived experience, community care, and the wisdom of the herd. To explore Danielle's leadership programmes, visit the Leadership at Eat Sleep Ride page at Herd Dynamics | Equine Leadership and Personal Development. These programs support Eat Sleep Ride. References: Porges, S. W. (2022). ‘Polyvagal Theory: A Science of Safety.’ Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 16 – on neuroception and co-regulation. Marchant-Forde, J. et al. (2024). ‘Unveiling directional physiological coupling in human–horse interactions.’ Scientific Reports – on heart rate variability synchronisation between humans and horses.

Written by Daryl Henderson, Transformational Facilitator & Creative Visionary Daryl Henderson is a master coach, facilitator, and artist known for blending spiritual traditions, shadow work, and leadership training. He is the co-founder of Odyssey of Man, the creator of True North Coaching, and the founder of One11, a health & wellness brand. You've probably felt it, maybe even for years. I know I did. It's like an itch that never fully gets scratched. A hunger that gets sated for a short time, and then it's there again. Gnawing at you, quietly at first, and then louder until it gets fed by another peak experience, another ceremony, or another new "medicine" experience that leaves you flying high for a while. It's that empty feeling after the retreat high fades. The moment your meditation app notification pops up, saying "Time to be mindful!" and you feel irritated rather than invited to drop in. It's the realization that you've read seventeen books about awakening and somehow feel more lost than when you started. If that sounds familiar, you're in the right place. Keep reading to find out what's really happening, and where to go when you finally stop seeking. How we got here To understand why pop spirituality is collapsing, you have to understand why it rose in the first place. The late twentieth century left a generation with a particular exposed wound, the wound of the disenchanted. The ones who know there's more to life than just working for a paycheck. Those who hear the echoes of their ancestors deep in their bones and have no idea how to connect with them. Those who dare to seek answers beyond the prescribed narrative we've been fed since birth. At that time, exploring oneself spiritually was still on the fringes of Western society. Science was consistently dismantling the mysteries of the cosmos in favor of something far more tangible and reasonable. Organized religion had, for many, become synonymous with control, shame, or simple irrelevance. This is where the dormant desire to deeply know what life is all about started to re-awaken. The grumbling in our guts began to stir and slowly take root. It's a hunger hardwired into our DNA, older than language itself. The upside of that era was a growing sense of safety and stability, a feeling that we finally understood the world and could control it. The downside was that many people became complacent, or worse, afraid of their own potential, condemning their dreams to gather dust. This created a vacuum where the search for meaning was lost for a while, and into that vacuum rushed something new. Nature abhors a vacuum. A new chapter of awareness and transformational experiences began. A tidal wave of seekers rushed in. Many of them are dissatisfied with their lives, wanting nothing more than to become enlightened people living "transformed" lives. Oh, was it glorious. The breakthroughs, the light bulbs going off, the ecstasy of healing old wounds. All of it was a welcome salve for years of prescribed numbness. So the Wellness industry was born. Eastern practices, stripped of their philosophical roots, arrived in Western gyms and office parks. Slowly, yoga trickled into the tiniest of towns across the Western world. Even into my little ole hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia. The language and rituals of indigenous ceremonies began showing up at festivals and weekend workshops. Shamanism, tantra, ayahuasca, breathwork, astrology, crystals, and every healing modality imaginable suddenly became accessible, searchable, and schedulable. The supply was there to meet the demand. This is how the transformational junkie was born. A transformational junkie, TJ for short, is someone who, like me, has perpetually chased the next experience, hoping it will "change everything." It does, for a little while. Then something else happens to remind us we're "not there yet." So the healing continues, endlessly. For me, it started at 25 with the Landmark Forum. That was the gateway to a world I knew existed but couldn't access before. After that, I was obsessed. Always the next course, the next retreat, the next teacher, the next ceremony. For fifteen years, I was convinced this one would finally crack it open and I'd be free to live the life I'd always dreamed of. TJs have done the work. God knows we've done the work. Passport stamps, journals full of insights, a long roster of modalities explored. What we haven't quite managed is staying still long enough for any of it to actually land. Yet, for a time, it was real. Liberating, even. I had life-altering experiences, traveled the world, and created memories I'll cherish for the rest of my life. It was a remarkable time for people like me. I had no access to living traditions outside the Christian church, no wise elders, no intact mystical or cosmological framework. Somehow, I was able to follow the bread crumbs to finally find something that felt real. Like it was actually mine. It was as if suddenly, a door cracked open. The light peeked in, and like a moth to the flame, I went straight for it. My body softened. My mind loosened its grip. Something opened in me, and I started to understand what had been missing from my life. But doors are meant to lead somewhere. After walking through the door, I found myself standing in a very nicely decorated hallway that didn't go anywhere, with a bunch of my equally confused friends. The healing I was seeking was just a soothing Band-Aid on a deeper wound. The problem with Band-Aids The great spiritual teacher and one of my favorite authors, Martin Prechtel, who spent years learning from the Tz'utujil Maya of Guatemala, describes a particular kind of grief that runs through modern Western culture like an underground river. It is the grief of a people who have forgotten how to grieve. Who have lost the rituals, the language, the cosmological home that would allow genuine sorrow, and by proxy, genuine joy, to move through the body the way weather moves through a landscape. Pop spirituality, at its worst, offers not a cure for this grief but a way to avoid feeling it. "High vibes only. Manifest your desires. Release what no longer serves you." As long as you stay positive and focus on your vision, the life you're really here to live will be yours. Just do this course, this retreat, this medicine journey, and you'll heal your worthiness wound and finally achieve your highest potential. There is nothing wrong with wanting to feel better and improve your life. But there is something worth examining in a spiritual culture that has made transcendence the goal and immanence, the messy, embodied, relational, mortal fact of being here, the enemy. There's the rub. We love a good enemy to defeat. It's in every great story. A villain so diabolical that it seems impossible to beat until the hero, you, in this case, receives magical powers and assistance that finally allow them to conquer the darkness once and for all. It's not necessarily a lie, but it's not the whole story. Because eventually the cycle returns, and we must face the darkness again and again in our lifetimes. The real goal is to become at peace with this cycle and accept your journey as your own unique story, to be treasured. To know and love ourselves so authentically and so deeply that what was once a terrible insecurity becomes our cherished guidance, showing us where we still have work to do. This is where we get to the real meat of it. Those beguiling, persistent feelings. Those old triggers that just won't go away, no matter what they are not there to be gotten rid of. No, they are actually your guidance system, pointing you to the next chapter of your life. Somatic therapist Peter Levine, whose decades of work with trauma gave us Somatic Experiencing, makes a point that sounds simple but goes very deep: the body is not an obstacle to healing. It is the site of it. Trauma doesn't live in the story you tell about what happened. It lives in the nervous system, in the tissues, in the place where time stopped and never started again. You cannot think your way out of it. You cannot vibrate your way out of it. You have to go in. You have to sit with and tend to those tender, uncomfortable places inside yourself. This is precisely what genuine spiritual practice, one that's rooted in actual lineage, in the long conversations between a people and their land, in the accumulated wisdom of generations, has always understood. The Q'ero healers of the Andes do not separate the healing of a person from the healing of their relationship to the living world around them. In fact, many shamans believe that modern seekers carry souls fragmented through generations of trauma and living in a world that doesn't support the deep spiritual understanding of who we are and where we came from. The Lakota understanding of Mitakuye Oyas'in, "all my relations," is not a cool phrase for ceremonies or a bumper sticker. It is a core cosmological statement about the web of reciprocity that holds all life, and the consequences of forgetting it. The real work begins with being willing to understand that each of us comes into this life whole and complete. Nothing lacking. Then something shatters us. Some more than others. That is all a part of your unique story. Our job isn't to seek out more understanding and experiences. It's to find those lost shards of our soul and slowly start piecing them back together. This is where I love the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where they take broken pottery and put it back together with golden glue, creating something more beautiful because it was broken. Accept that this is a process that takes time. You cannot download this. You cannot get it in a weekend. Period. What lineage actually offers This is the part that tends to make people uncomfortable, because it often sounds like gatekeeping and exclusivity. It's not. Lineage doesn't mean you need to have been born into a specific culture or initiated into a specific tradition to access depth in your spiritual life. It means something more fundamental that you are in a right relationship with something older and larger than yourself, and that this relationship has continuity, accountability, and cost. The Toltec seers spoke of the human being as a dreamer. One who has the capacity to wake up within the dream of ordinary consensus reality and begin dreaming deliberately. But this waking up, in their understanding, was not a solo project. It happened within a tutelage of practitioners who had mapped the territory, who knew the pitfalls, who understood that the ego's first response to genuine spiritual work is to co-opt it and sell it back to you in a form that keeps you comfortable. Oh, that daft ego! It gets more and more clever. As you evolve as a spiritually conscious person, so does the ego. This is why so many spiritual leaders get so caught up in their own stories that they end up believing their own bullshit and become the reason many of us have grown jaded about the world of spirituality. Alberto Villoldo, who trained with Q'ero masters of the Peruvian highlands and founded the Four Winds Society, describes the Munay-Ki, the nine rites of the medicine way, not as a set of techniques to acquire but as seeds that take root in you and change you over the years, even decades. The emphasis is always on the long arc. On a transformation that reorganizes you at the level of the luminous energy field, not just the psychological narrative. Munay is most closely translated as unconditional love. My very first Ayahuasca ceremony, I set an intention I honestly didn't understand, and it's still one of the most powerful ones I have ever created. My intention for that first weekend with my grandmother was to unconditionally love myself. I didn't realize how powerful that intention was until four years later, when I looked back to see all the events that had unfolded in my life that had stripped me of who I thought I was and what gave me value, and what was under that clutter was simply me. For the first time, I could look in the mirror with real love for the man staring back at me without the distortion of my flaws and shortcomings. No, those all became part of this hodgepodge of pieces that is my masterpiece in progress. The farther I get down the path of my own spiritual journey, the deeper this learning goes. It's a lesson I revisit constantly, even over a decade later. Still evolving. I believe it will continue for the rest of my life. Enter Vedic astrology. In its classical form, it operates from a similar premise. The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, the foundational text of Jyotish, is not primarily a tool for predicting what will happen to you. It is a map of karma as a living, dynamic field of cause and consequence, and your engagement with it is meant to cultivate discrimination, which is the capacity to see clearly what serves the deepest evolution of your soul and what keeps you cycling through the same patterns. What all of these traditions share, and what pop spirituality largely lacks, is a cosmological seriousness. They take reality to be stranger, deeper, and more demanding of you than the surface level of the wellness industry suggests. They do not promise that your higher self is waiting patiently for you to find the right journal prompt. They suggest, with varying degrees of gentleness, that genuine transformation requires genuine surrender. Not the aesthetic of surrender, but the actual relinquishing of the small self's control. That, my friend, is one of the most terrifying things for the ego. Hence, the tendency to bypass the uncomfortable stuff and head straight for the party on the beach in Bali and call it awakening. The seeker is not the problem One point I want to be clear about is that the millions of people who have turned to crystals, horoscopes, and breathwork retreats are not foolish. Nor is their interest, money, or time wasted. It just isn't the end of the story. They are hungry. They are trying, in the language and resources available to them, to find something real. Something deep. Our modern culture failed them, not the other way around. When almost an entire civilization loses its rites of passage, loses its respect for elders, loses its teachers and guides, loses its connection to the land and the dead and the unborn, people must improvise. So they reach for whatever shards of the sacred they can find. That reaching is beautiful. It's courageous. Honorable, even. It is the same instinct that built the great temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and painted the cave walls at Lascaux in France. So what's the lingering question most seekers wish to answer? Quite simply: who am I, really? Under the accomplishments, bank accounts, family wounds, and social programming. This is where the broken shards come back in. So what do you do when you realize you've been hoarding the shards instead of seeing how they all connect? You go deeper. You get curious about how they fit together, and you really take the time to file off the sharp edges and begin doing the painstaking work of piecing yourself back together. Not better, not faster, not more. Deeper. Stronger. Find a practice that has roots for you. Trust that your inner guidance system knows exactly where you need to go. Exactly the path that will take you to the next piece of yourself that needs to be found and tended to. When you're ready, you'll find a teacher, a real one, with their own lineage and their own scars and their own unfinished becoming. One you don't have to fawn over or perform for. One who sees you so clearly that it makes you uncomfortable sometimes, and yet you also feel okay to be just the way you are. Accept that this will take longer than you want it to, cost more than you planned, and ask things of you that the Instagram version of spirituality never could. You let yourself be changed by something you cannot predict. You finally surrender to the process and humbly take the next step, and then the next. "Left foot, right foot," as my dear friend Michelle always says. What's coming So, where is all this leading? Here's what I see. There's a shift happening right now in the cultural conversation around spirituality. Many of us have grown disenchanted with the promise of living the life of our dreams and manifesting our first million while working remotely from a beach in Costa Rica. We've lost interest in chasing our highest potential and are slowly coming to terms with the deep work needed to actually be prosperous and at peace. People are moving away from whitewashed eclecticism, which is basically a spiritual buffet, the mix-and-match menu of enlightenment that defined the wellness era, and moving toward something with more substance that has deep roots and dirt under its nails. There's a growing hunger for practices that are embodied rather than aesthetic, rooted in particular traditions, particularly relationships with land and ancestry, and hard-won understandings of what it means to be human. We're starting to choose depth over what just looks and feels good. Growing roots so our branches have greater reach. This is where we get to integrate the best of what we've learned and experienced, because everything you've done up till this point is part of your unique story. It will contribute to crafting the lens you see the world through next. So all is not lost and nothing is wasted. It's grist for the mill. Don't throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. That would be a mistake. This is not a regression. It is a maturation. It's the stripping away of all the things you thought were you, to find out who you really are. Getting down to your naked truth. How beautiful that is. Warts and all. This is accompanied, I think, by a willingness to sit with what genuine practice actually requires: continuity and consistency, not just peak experiences. Real community, not just content. Grief, not just gratitude. This is where we get to do the daily labor of becoming someone who can actually show up for their own life. The long way home to yourself, and remember that age-old truth that life is about the journey, not the destination. Astrologically speaking, Neptune, the great dissolver, is shifting signs, moving from the dreamy fog of Pisces, where illusions flourished and everything felt potentially magical, into the fire of Aries, where things are called to be real or be burned away. Astrologers across both the Vedic and Western traditions are marking this as one of the most significant collective thresholds in a generation. What dissolves is what was never solid. What remains is what was always true. The death of pop spirituality is something to celebrate At the end of the day, the death of pop spirituality is not something to mourn. I think it's something to celebrate, actually. This is a time of great awakening, and the most profound awakenings come with disillusionment, the recognition that we need to shine a warm light into the darkness that has been left in the cold recesses of humanity for far too long. The ache you feel when the retreat high fades, the restlessness that no amount of content can quiet, that is not your own shortcoming. That is your soul asking for more than any product or experience can give you. There is a living, breathing world that is profoundly and deeply interconnected, waiting for you beneath the noise. There is an end to the seeking, but it won't come from the world, it will come to you in the quiet places. In the moments where you finally put down what you've been carrying and allow life to bring you to your knees. There's power in that surrender. That's where the traditions that have been patiently carrying this knowledge through centuries of forgetting and subsequent reclamation will find you. When you're ready, the teacher will appear. Then the work is to dive into the practices that will ask everything of you. In return, they will give you back something that cannot be packaged or sold. Something that, once you find it, can never be taken away from you. Your peace. The ability to stop seeking and start truly living. You only have to be willing to be honest and go deeper than you've ever gone before. If you're ready to start that conversation, reach out here. Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Daryl Henderson Daryl Henderson, Transformational Facilitator & Creative Visionary Daryl Henderson is a master coach, facilitator, and artist with over two decades of experience blending creativity, men’s work, and spiritual practices. He has photographed top brands and artists worldwide, including Nike and Michael Kors, and documented indigenous and peace gatherings across the globe. Drawing on this experience, Daryl guides high performers, artists, and businesses to express their stories through soul-aligned photography, branding, and personal transformation. He is the co-founder of Odyssey of Man, the creator of True North Coaching, and the founder of One11, a health and wellness brand. His work is playful, transformative, and designed to unlock authentic expression.

Written by Paula Miles, BACP-Registered Psychotherapist Paula Miles is a psychotherapist, BACP-registered, who helps people navigating anxiety, stress, and burnout. Drawing from her own experience in high-pressure corporate roles, and childhood trauma she offers a grounded, compassionate space for root-cause emotional change. She has the qualifications. She has built the career, earned the title, and delivered results that others openly respect. She is, by any reasonable standard, good at what she does. Yet, she sits in meetings with a quiet, persistent certainty that, at some point, someone is going to notice. That the competence she has demonstrated is not as real as it appears. That she has somehow been getting away with something, and it is only a matter of time before the gap between who people think she is and who she actually is becomes visible to everyone in the room. This is imposter syndrome, and it is one of the most common and least discussed experiences among high-achieving women. It does not announce itself loudly. It works quietly, running beneath the surface of an accomplished life, draining the confidence out of real achievements and replacing genuine pride with a persistent undercurrent of unease. This article explores what imposter syndrome actually is, why it is so prevalent among capable women, how it connects to anxiety and perfectionism, and what it takes to begin to move beyond it. What imposter syndrome actually is The term imposter syndrome was first introduced in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, specifically to describe an experience they observed in high-achieving women: a persistent inability to internalise success, combined with a fear of being exposed as less capable than others believed. In the decades since, the concept has expanded considerably, but the original observation has held up remarkably well under research scrutiny. A meta-analysis published in Current Research in Behavioral Sciences in 2024, drawing on data from over 100 studies and more than 40,000 participants, confirmed that women consistently score higher than men on measures of imposter syndrome. A 2025 systematic review found that the global prevalence of imposter syndrome among health service providers sits at approximately 62%. Among high-achieving female executives specifically, some estimates reach as high as 75%. What these figures describe is not occasional self-doubt. They describe a structured pattern of thinking in which a woman discounts her own competence, attributes her success to luck or circumstances rather than ability, and lives with a background fear that she will eventually be found out. The achievements are real. The credentials are real. The fear that none of it truly counts, and that she does not quite deserve to be where she is, is also real. Why high-achieving women are particularly vulnerable Imposter syndrome was originally identified in women, and the research continues to show that women experience it more frequently and more intensely than men. Understanding why matters, because the experience is not random. It reflects something specific about how women are conditioned to relate to success, to criticism, and to their own worth. Many of the women I work with grew up in environments where being capable was expected but rarely acknowledged, where praise was conditional or absent, and where love and approval were available in response to performance rather than simply in response to existing. In those early environments, the child learns something quietly but durably: that her value is not inherent. That it must be proved, maintained, and protected through achievement. That she is only as safe as her last successful performance. This is where the seeds of imposter syndrome are often planted. Not in adulthood, not in the competitive workplace, but much earlier, in the relational climate of childhood. The adult woman who cannot accept a compliment without immediately qualifying it, who cannot receive praise without suspecting it is not quite deserved, who works twice as hard as anyone around her and still does not feel like enough, is not irrational. She is carrying a very old and very understandable belief into a new context. "Imposter syndrome is not a thinking error. For many women, it is the logical conclusion of a childhood in which worth had to be earned rather than simply received." A 2025 study found that imposterism is strongly positively correlated with rigid and self-critical perfectionism, a pattern that reinforces exactly this picture. The imposter and the perfectionist are often the same person, running the same underlying programme: that she is not quite enough, and that she must keep working to prove otherwise. How imposter syndrome shows up in everyday professional life Imposter syndrome rarely announces itself as such. Most women experiencing it do not think of themselves as having imposter syndrome. They think of themselves as realistic, or as someone who just needs to work harder, or as someone who got lucky and needs to make sure they do not let anyone down. The pattern hides behind the language of humility and diligence, which makes it very effective at perpetuating itself. In practice, it tends to show up as over-preparation, the compulsive need to know everything before speaking, to rehearse before a meeting, and to triple-check before sending. It shows up as difficulty taking credit, an automatic deflection when someone compliments the work. It shows up as staying silent in a room where you have relevant knowledge, because the risk of being wrong feels greater than the benefit of being heard. It shows up as taking feedback personally in a way that cuts deeper than the comment warrants, because any evidence of imperfection feels like confirmation of the fear that has been running quietly all along. Research from the Survey Center on American Life, published in 2023, found that young professional women are significantly more likely than young men to feel like imposters in the workplace, even when their objective qualifications and performance records are equivalent. The gap is not explained by ability. It is explained by what women have been taught, explicitly and implicitly, about whether their ability is really theirs to claim. The connection between imposter syndrome and anxiety Imposter syndrome and anxiety are closely related, and research confirms what clinical observation has long suggested. A 2025 cross-sectional study found that individuals with high imposter syndrome scores are nearly three times more likely to report moderate to severe mental health symptoms. Research also shows associations with depression, emotional exhaustion, and burnout. The two conditions do not simply coexist; they amplify each other. The anxiety in imposter syndrome has a very specific quality. It is anticipatory. It is the constant, low-level vigilance of waiting to be found out. The nervous system, trained in childhood to monitor for the moment when approval might be withdrawn, carries that monitoring function into professional life. Every new project, every performance review, and every public presentation activates the same system: scan for evidence that you are not good enough. Find it wherever it can be found. What makes this particularly exhausting is that success does not resolve it. If anything, success raises the stakes. Each achievement creates a new and higher standard to maintain, and the more visible the success becomes, the greater the perceived risk of the exposure the woman fears. This is why imposter syndrome tends to intensify, rather than diminish, as a career advances. The achievement treadmill accelerates, and the fear of falling off it accelerates with it. "Success does not cure imposter syndrome. For the woman who believes she does not deserve what she has built, each achievement becomes another thing she is afraid of losing." What actually helps, and why understanding matters more than strategies Most advice about imposter syndrome focuses on strategies: reframe the thought, keep a success journal, and remind yourself of your achievements. These approaches are not without value, but they tend to address the surface of the pattern rather than its roots. Because the roots are relational and emotional rather than cognitive, cognitive interventions tend to produce only partial or temporary relief. What tends to create more lasting change is understanding. Not just knowing that the pattern exists, but genuinely tracing where it came from, what it was originally protecting, and why it made sense given the emotional environment it developed in. When a woman can see her imposter syndrome not as a flaw in her thinking but as a completely understandable response to a specific set of relational experiences, her relationship to it changes. She is no longer fighting a character failing. She is beginning to understand herself. This is the kind of work that psychoanalytic therapy is particularly well-suited to support. Not because it provides techniques, but because it creates the conditions in which a woman can slow down enough to explore the beliefs she carries about her own worth, to notice where they came from, and to begin, gradually, to relate to herself differently. Many women find that the imposter voice does not disappear entirely through this process, but it loses its authority. It becomes one perspective among several, rather than the final word. When imposter syndrome starts costing more than it should For many women, imposter syndrome is a background hum: uncomfortable, but manageable. For others, it crosses into territory that significantly affects their quality of life. When self-doubt is preventing a woman from speaking in meetings where she has relevant knowledge, from applying for roles she is qualified for, from accepting recognition she has earned, or from resting without anxiety about what her productivity says about her worth, it has become something that deserves more than strategic adjustment. The same is true when imposter syndrome is fuelling panic, chronic anxiety, or a persistent sense of emotional exhaustion that no amount of achievement seems to shift. These are not signs of weakness or of a career that needs to be managed differently. They are signs that the underlying beliefs driving the pattern need to be understood and, over time, changed at the level where they actually live. If you recognise yourself in this, it may be worth giving yourself more than another article to read or another strategy to apply. The women who tend to benefit most from therapy are not the ones who lack insight. They are the ones who are already insightful, who understand their patterns intellectually, and who have found that understanding alone has not been quite enough. What tends to shift things is not more information about the pattern, but a relationship in which something different can be experienced. Frequently asked questions Is imposter syndrome more common in women than in men? Yes. A meta-analysis published in 2024, drawing on 115 effect sizes and over 40,000 participants, confirmed that women consistently score higher than men on measures of imposter syndrome. The original 1978 study by Clance and Imes was itself conducted exclusively with high-achieving women, and subsequent research has broadly confirmed that pattern, though imposter syndrome is experienced by people of all genders. Can you have imposter syndrome even after years of professional success? Yes, and this is very common. For many women, success intensifies rather than relieves imposter syndrome, because each achievement raises the perceived stakes of eventual exposure. The more visible and established the career becomes, the greater the imagined fall. This is why imposter syndrome often goes unaddressed for years, because the outward evidence of competence makes the inner experience difficult to take seriously. What is the difference between imposter syndrome and low self-esteem? The two can overlap, but they are not the same. Low self-esteem tends to be more pervasive, affecting how a person relates to themselves across all areas of life. Imposter syndrome is more specifically tied to achievement and recognition, to the belief that one’s professional success is undeserved or fragile. Many women with imposter syndrome have genuinely good self-esteem in other areas of their lives, which can make the professional self-doubt feel particularly confusing. Is imposter syndrome something therapy can help with? Yes. Therapy, and particularly approaches that work with the emotional and relational roots of the pattern rather than just the cognitive surface of it, tends to be effective. The goal is not to eliminate all self-doubt, which would be neither realistic nor desirable, but to reduce the authority the imposter voice holds, and to help a woman develop a relationship with her own worth that does not depend entirely on her next performance. How is imposter syndrome connected to perfectionism? Research has found a strong positive correlation between imposterism and self-critical perfectionism. Both patterns share the same underlying logic: that worth must be earned through flawless performance, and that falling short, even slightly, carries disproportionate personal consequences. The perfectionist and the imposter are very often the same woman running the same fear with different vocabularies. A final note If you read this and recognised yourself in it, I want to say something directly. The fact that you doubt yourself does not mean your success is undeserved. It means you grew up in circumstances that made it difficult to fully receive what you were working toward. That is not a reflection of your ability. It is a reflection of something that happened before your ability had a chance to fully speak for itself. Understanding that distinction, and sitting with it long enough for it to become real rather than just intellectually acknowledged, is where things begin to shift. That is slower work than a strategy. It is also far more durable. If this resonates, you are welcome to reach out. Paula offers a free 30-minute discovery call, where you can talk openly about what you are navigating, ask any questions about the therapeutic process, and get a sense of whether working together feels like a supportive next step. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Paula Miles Paula Miles, BACP-Registered Psychotherapist Paula Miles is a BACP-registered psychotherapist working with anxiety, burnout, and high-functioning stress. With a background in demanding corporate environments and having grown up in a critical, emotionally unavailable, and neglectful family, she learned early to carry the pressure of being the “good,” capable, strong, and always-okay one in every relationship. She deeply understands the experience of performing while feeling depleted inside, broken, or like a failure. Paula transformed her own pain into a vocation, she supports clients in over eight countries, offering a deeply human space where people can understand their emotions, reconnect with themselves, and find a root-cause relief from the patterns that keep them overwhelmed. Sources and References: Clance, P. R. and Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high-achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 15(3), 241-247. Price, P. C., Holcomb, B. and Payne, M. B. (2024). Gender differences in impostor phenomenon: A meta-analytic review. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences. Survey Center on American Life. (2023). Women are achieving greater professional success, yet self-doubt is common. americansurveycenter.org Salari, N. et al. (2025). Global prevalence of imposter syndrome in health service providers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychology. The prevalence of imposter syndrome and its association with psychological distress. PMC / NCBI. (2025). KPMG. Study on imposter syndrome among female executives. University of Idaho. (2025). Imposterism and perfectionism correlations. Published study.

Colette Duvall Pondella’s work begins where many traditional recovery spaces cannot reach, in the quiet, instinctive connection between humans and wolves. As a recovery advocate, spiritual educator, and co-founder of Shadowland Foundation and Wolf Wisdom Healing, she has spent years helping Veterans, First Responders, Indigenous communities, and others reconnect with trust, belonging, and the parts of themselves shaped by pain. At Freedom Ranch in the Angeles Crest Mountains, ambassador wolves are not treated as symbols, but as teachers whose presence can soften fear, open emotional barriers, and remind people what it means to be part of a pack. In this interview, Colette shares how her own healing journey led her to this work, what wolves reveal about emotional pain and authenticity, and why recovering ourselves may begin with remembering the wisdom we have forgotten. Colette Duvall Pondella, Author, Executive Director, Co-founder of Shadowland Foundation What first showed you that wolves could help people heal in ways traditional recovery methods often cannot? Before I met Paul, my husband and our founder, wolves were not on my radar. I vaguely remember hearing about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in the 1990’s, other than that, I knew nothing. Part of their socialization was going out in public. People would stop us and ask to meet Shadow and Alaska. Many would pet them and weep. Just moved to tears by the connection. They would proceed to share stories of their dogs or times they encountered them in the wild or how much they love wolves and have pictures of them all over their walls. After establishing the nonprofit, Veterans and Indigenous Americans sought us out to just sit with them before we even had a program. One gentleman, both Indigenous and a Vet, would play his flute and spend hours with the wolves and came back once a week just to “be” with them. Eye contact with the wild moves us. It activates a remembrance inside us. A feeling about ourselves we have been searching for; a level of trust that eludes us between each other. People who are deathly afraid of dogs have visited and, within minutes, relax and beg for more contact. Visitors are met with wolf noses in their faces. Eye to eye with them. They kiss you, turn their bodies against yours, step on your feet and claim you before moving on to another. It's a demonstration of unconditional love and acceptance that some people never receive in a lifetime and the wolves give it in mere seconds. They touch hearts without having to earn it. How did your own healing journey shape the way you guide others today? Since I was three years old, I knew on every level I was on my own in this world. That soul decision kept me alive and made me a survivor, but also left me living in a constant state of wariness. In my mid-twenties, I had to address my eating disorder head-on, face the shame of exposure and do what had to be done to have even the possibility of a happy life. The hardest part was asking for help. I did many forms of therapy – 12 Step, individual and group therapy, acting classes, NLP, EMDR, hypnosis, weekend empowerment workshops, meditation, and reading books. All of it worked, except I still felt completely alone in the world. Then I met Shadow. Shortly after, I met my husband, Paul, who introduced me to his motherless female wolves, Shadow and Alaska. I spent the night. In the morning, as I awoke and sat up, Shadow and I were eye to eye. She jumped onto the bed, and this 110-pound black wolf put her forehead against mine, pushed me down onto my pillow, and held me there for what seemed like forever. When she released, she smiled and ran off to play with Alaska. Paul was standing in the doorway with a cup of coffee. I asked, "What was that?" He said, "She just made you part of the pack." I was initiated. That's when I realized: recovering alone rarely works. What do wolves reveal about emotional pain that humans often hide from each other? It's not that they reveal the emotional pain – they alleviate it for the time you spend with them. You feel joy, peace, acceptance, love, a lower heart rate, contact with true power and authenticity. In a short time, you experience emotions and create new neural pathways unfamiliar to people living in constant pain. The wolves sense out the needs, their outreach is energetic, emanating from their hearts, which is the first place we instruct people to touch them. Once there, they’ve got you. One cold afternoon, being outside with the wolves was too dismal. There was a 92-year-old gentleman visiting who got down on the floor face-to-face with our Takoda for nearly an hour. I don’t know what they were giving and getting from each other, I just know that it couldn’t have happened elsewhere. We had a dear friend who was dying of terminal cancer who never revealed his diagnosis with us. The last time he visited, he did the same. Got down on the floor eye to eye with Takoda, surrounded by Alaska and some of their adult pups. All we know is that on some level, the wolves know what you’re going through, and they offer what comfort they can give. Why do you think so many people feel disconnected from themselves despite having more access to wellness resources than ever before? We have learned through our families and everyday lives that people cannot be trusted with our deepest selves. Our worst traumas have often come from those who were supposed to love us most, whether intentional or not. The Indigenous People of the Americas believed that if you hurt a child, you injure seven generations and beyond. The legacy of that wound touches everyone. We all experience loss, grief, abandonment, betrayal, shunning, and shame before we ever graduate elementary school. The disconnection becomes a kind of homeostasis, established in childhood. Just because we have more resources and information than ever before doesn't mean the barriers have fallen. Help still comes at a cost to reputations and livelihoods. For example, we have the great honor to assist First Responders. A first responder or veteran diagnosed with PTS and self-medicating can ask for help – but risks being relieved of duty or involuntarily retired, so they suffer in silence. Suicide rates in these populations are increasing exponentially. We know PTS and addiction are not curable, but they are treatable. The real question is: would you rather have a police officer carrying a gun on the streets who is drunk and hiding their condition, or one who is present, accountable, and getting better every day? This applies to the truck driver, the ER nurse or the CEO alike. Even with the massive funding, we are failing each other by pretending we are addressing mental health. We are not. In simplistic terms, trauma splits a part of your brain away from your conscious mind. Stuck in a part of your brain inaccessible to your conscious mind, it activates involuntarily in unhealthy ways when triggered. Knowing and addressing the triggered responses is where evidence-based therapeutic techniques must be embraced to reclaim yourself. The brokenness individuals feel gets alleviated by participating in a session with the wolves during our Wolf Wisdom Healing program. What are the biggest misconceptions people still have about wolves and their emotional intelligence? It's interesting that we were just discussing childhood imprints and how difficult it is to confront ourselves with gentleness. The story of Little Red Riding Hood dates all the way back to 1697, and parents still read it to children today – creating an imprint of the big, bad, grandmother-eating, child-devouring wolf. Those imprints defy all logic and reasoning, which is exactly why changing hearts changes minds. It is getting easier, though. New archaeological findings reveal how wolves taught early humans to hunt and to refrigerate food in cold pools of water. They lived in ordered communities where everyone ate and was protected by the pack, led by a bonded male and female pair, with the female protected at all costs. They are literally giddy at the arrival of a new litter of pups, with every member of the pack responsible for raising them. Brutality is not tolerated. Wolves know what we humans have forgotten. How do pack dynamics influence the way you teach trust, belonging, and recovery? The wolves themselves break the trust barrier. Belonging grows gradually as the experience of knowing yourself as a whole becomes stronger than your dissociative self. Still flawed, still with more to learn – but gifted and uniquely deserving of the life given to you at birth. Rudyard Kipling wrote, "The strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf." It's masterful because each wolf's role is vital to the survival of the whole. Every rank carries a special talent, honored and protected. Pack members move to defend rather than attack. Losing one compromises the success of all. The necessary prescription for recovery mirrors this truth: recover yourself by discovering that you matter to your pack – your family and for us as humans, to the entire world. Observing our pack, visitors seems to relate to one wolf or another. They recognize themselves in the wolf they gravitate to the most. They tend to love in the wolf what they have rejected in themselves. The most striking lesson we highlight is that most people walk around with an invisible question mark, awaiting cues from others to determine their own worth, not fully aware of who they are. Wolves have no such question mark. They are who they are. They do not question it. They are truly, authentically themselves and it is unmistakable. The more someone wants to embrace these qualities, the pain starts to subside. Contact with the wolves is a once-in-a-lifetime embodiment of knowing your true self. Maybe for the first time. What shifts do people usually experience after spending time in one of your Wolf Wisdom Healing programs? The wolf visit tends to help people feel safe enough to open themselves up to us and to each other. We share stories about the wolves – including their own traumas and the origin stories Paul and I have patiently walked them through to healing. We share our own recovery journeys as well. These moments bring awareness that HOPE exists: Hearing Other People's Experiences moves mountains. Our pack family home, Freedom Ranch, sits in the Angeles Crest Mountains of Los Angeles County – a true safe haven where communing with the elements is inescapable. We offer a Medicine Wheel Ceremony: a healing prayer inside a sage-purified circle representing all stages of life. When the circle is closed, participants receive guided messages, clearing of adverse energies, and insight into memories, blocks, and unexpressed grief. Every person leaves with tangible healing tools for their emotional, physical, and psychological well-being and the promise that we are here for them. You often say healing is about "recovering yourself." What does that look like in everyday life? Creating new neural pathways is key. As I mentioned before, it is vital to trace back the origin of the pain that created the disconnect – how old you were, uncovering the mystery, and looking at it from an adult, cognitive point of reference. Clarifying what went wrong and why goes a long way toward forgiving your original response to a deep wound. Sometimes traumas happen during preverbal stages of development, which are harder to understand. A family member who remembers for you can ease that pain, if it is still available. We, humans, have an insatiable need to understand what, where, when, and how – especially after making the courageous decision to choose ourselves for the first time. Yes, courage is what it takes to shake the very foundation you've been standing on and let go of the version of yourself you needed in order to survive. True healing is finding meaning and connection through living authentically. You need tools that work for you. For me, I had a realization that I talked to myself in horrific ways. It was suggested to me to frame a picture of myself when I was a child and ask myself if I would talk to her the way I talk to myself. I ended that unconscious behavior quickly. Exercises that activate the senses and keep you present and connected are the best. Sitting up against a tree, feeling the veins in a leaf, lying in the grass listening to the birds, walking and brushing your dog, keep you present in your body. Start small. Journaling, meditating, and healing sounds can work their way into your daily routines as rituals as you discover what feels best for you. If someone feels emotionally lost or disconnected right now, where should they begin reconnecting with themselves? Embrace a touchstone you already depend on. The only place I felt safe as a child was at the top of a Live Oak in a field near my home in Houston. For others, it might be pounding the pain out in the waves of the ocean, putting your hands in the dirt of your garden, or holding a piece of jewelry gifted by someone you love. Close your eyes and ask, "Tell me what I need to know." Trust whatever surfaces as your first step. For some, the journey from the heart to the head can take a lifetime. No matter what you hear, reach out to someone you know who is safe. If you don't know who that is, close your eyes and ask, "For my highest good, who is safe for me to call?" Then reach out. It may be someone you know, a therapist, a group, a hotline, or an author whose writing made you feel truly seen. I wrote Wolf Wisdom for Recovery and Companion Workbook just for you. At Shadowland, the wolves are our teachers, inspiring transformation in a loving, gentle, and powerful way. We want to give to others what was unavailable to me and Paul as children. The wolves see you and so do we. Discover More: Shadowland Foundation Creating New Neural Pathways Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Colette Duvall Pondella