The Discomfort Practice

She's baaaack. Well, I'm back. If you don't know me yet, I'm Betsy Reed, and I'm obsessed with the value of discomfort. The juicy, hot, cold, annoying, uncomfortable feeling of being outside of our comfort zones... and pushed to expand. Pushed to perhaps discover things about ourselves that are getting in our way. Or forced to innovate, to forge new pathways, to walk away from the things we though...

In this final episode of Season 4 of The Discomfort Practice, Betsy looks back at some themes that arose over the course of the year+ it has spanned, before taking a brief hiatus to prep the launch of Season 5 in March 2024. What she found in looking back was some striking themes - the greatest of which was love. This has woven its way into many episodes, including: Episode #76 with Kim Polman, fo...

In this solo episode, Betsy journeys her way through a personal question at the moment: 'What am I meant to be a channel for on this earth? What is meant to come through me?' It's a very personal question, and there are no wrong answers. She talks about experimenting with being a channel for love, and how that has transformed her life in just a short span of a few months. As with most of Betsy's s...

In this episode, Betsy speaks to Dr. Terence Lester, an activist and scholar who focuses on bringing justice to those suffering from poverty and racism. The founder of LoveBeyondWalls.org and The Dignity Museum, he is also the author of three books: 'I See You: How Love Opens Our Eyes to Invisible People,' 'When We Stand: The Power of Seeking Justice Together' and 'All God's Children: How Confront...

Looking back at your life, at some of the things that have been difficult or even traumatic, how have those things actually been part of your path to becoming who you needed to become? And how have some of the most difficult things you might have gone through actually been divinely chosen training to create the 'architecture' of your life, or gain skills you needed to deliver your mission in the w...

We're trying a new thing over here and have dug out a great episode from our archives. This is a revisit of Episode 55, which is a juicy, insightful interview with Paul William Davis, an intuitive personal advisor, an entrepreneur, a best-selling author, an award-winning business growth consultant, speaker with the best Irish accent you're likely to hear all day, lol. Betsy and Paul deep dive into...

This solo was recorded in November 2023, off the back of a 5-day spiritual retreat with teacher Sabrina Lynn in Ibiza, in which 22 wild souls went deep into their shadows. And healed themselves, their ancestral line and things they didn't even know they were healing for the collective. Shadow work is a term that many know and some of you might not. They are the part of us we haven't yet owned. The...

In this episode Betsy is joined by Carlos 'Charlie' Zimbrón, Co-Founder and CEO of Fuckup Nights, as well as The Failure Institute. Betsy and Charlie say the word 'fuck' a lot cuz... clue's in the name, really. So if you enjoy 'swear words' as occasional punctuation and appreciate a free-flowing, un-edited conversation, you're gonna LOVE this one. Fuckup Nights has become a global movement driven...

In this episode, Betsy talks about a subject that is near and dear to her heart (and her life): living magically. She talks about her own experience of having created a life that is full of synchronicity, support, ease, alignment and, well, MAGIC. As is her way, she encourages others to 'let things be magical' and talks about how she has learned to stop getting in the way of letting life and the g...

In this solo episode Betsy revisits a topic she loves to talk about: how her changed relationship with ease - and having greater ease with being at ease - has positively impacted her work, her productivity and her understanding of the world. She shares why she's become evangelical about helping others to create more ease in their lives, stepping away from the conditioning that 'the grind is the th...

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I talk to the mighty Oyinkansola 'Oyin' Adebayo, the Founder and CEO of Niyo Enterprises, which is an ecosystem of brands that exists to economically empower Black women to be builders of high-impact ecosystems. Oyin's personal purpose is to empower Black women globally to upskill, transform their careers and create a world-class black female ecosystem o...

This one is a bit of a chuckle, friends. I recorded it in August 2023, on the day I was marking seven years of living in Spain. I reflect on seven year cycles and who I've become over the past seven years. Who I've rediscovered I am, as I've let go of conditioning that kept me from being my truest, most powerful version of myself. In that seven years, the UK left the European Union in the most ill...

In this episode of The Discomfort Practice, I speak to Isidra Mencos, who was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain, about her journey through life as a young woman who grew up under Franco, a repressive dictator, and came of age as Spain was massively changing after his death. We talk about what happens when a young woman who grew up in a place where kissing in public was illegal finds herself sudd...

This is episode 100 of The Discomfort Practice! I reflect back on how focusing on discomfort as a path to wisdom and finding my own superpowers has reshaped my perspective since launching the podcast in October 2020. Join me for a guided exercise in which you have the opportunity to reflect on what uncomfortable circumstances you've experienced over the past few years and gain a perspective of gra...

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I'm talking with Charles D. McCarrick, entrepreneur, inventor, lead visionary (or 'Chief Comedian') and lead scientist of Micro-Ant. With more than 10 patents to his name, he pioneers and supplies unique equipment to the communications industry. Charles' most defining characteristic is enthusiasm—for new ideas, for the people who work with him, and for c...

This solo definitely builds on past solos about transitions and life processes because, surprise surprise, I'm still in a big life transition. This is a love letter to other secret introverts and to quiet moments. It's to those of you out there who crave quiet and alone time and to just be left alone for a while - regularly or from time to time. Right now I need and crave a lot of solitude, a lot...

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I'm excited to bring back a past guest: cultural consultant, performance producer and content creator Matisse Dupont. Matisse has spent the last decade facilitating interactive lectures and workshops on gender, sexuality, culture and identity. I enjoyed witnessing their evolution on social media - from being a TikTok-er famous for educating others about...

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I talk with Michael Youngblood, co-founder and CEO of Unsettled, an award-winning travel community for those who embrace the unknown and value meaningful human connection. He has worked in more than 60 countries, collaborated with the White House on entrepreneurship and global development, advised Fortune 100 companies on remote work, and has taught cour...

A few months back, when I was sitting in a mushroom ceremony, I got the message loud and clear 'It's safe now to be powerful.' And it was a message that I knew was for me, but also one that I had been given to share with others. And, so, in this episode, I talk about what the world needs from you. How it needs you to be able to un-block those parts of you that you've censored, shut down, inherited...

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I talk with Nik Govier, the Founder & CEO of Blurred - a fast growing global management, sustainability and communications consultancy based in London. She is a regular feature in PR Week's Top 10 Power List and was named PR Communicator of the Year in 2021. But the last five years have been a whirlwind of personal challenges and change, from leaving her...

In this solo episode, I reflect on the chaos, the confusion and the landing back in Spain after 3.5 happy months in Mexico. I wonder 'Did I do the right thing in coming back here?' muse aloud about 'Why am I here?' and navigate through my own process of feeling like I've landed in chaos... and I'm not sure why. I share a reading from the School of Metaphysics, where each Module I study as I go thr...

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I talk with entrepreneur, author and someone I'm rather a big fan of, Margaret Heffernan. We chat about Margaret's sixth book Uncharted, which lays out an inspiring picture of what can lie on the other side of uncertainty - which is a discomfort we as humans naturally avoid. We also dive into her own practice of surrendering to experiencing discomfort, b...

I sat down to intentionally record this episode without any notes and with minimal preparation, because I felt strongly this was a message that needed to come through me. It's one I needed to articulate and it's something someone out there needs to hear. The message is this: turn off the external noise so you can hear yourself and tap into your own wisdom. I've been given wise counsel and channele...

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I talk with Dan Schnur. We chat about the discomfort of his career trajectory: going from being one of the top Republican political strategists and campaign officials in the US to leaving and not affiliating with any political party. (In a bi-partisan political system where you've been a big player, that's a big move.) Dan gives an elegant master class i...

In this episode of the Discomfort Practice, I talk with my former client, friend and general badass Selina Donald. Selina has done so much already in her life, so prepare yourself to be inspired to think differently. She has worked on large-scale events, such as the Olympic and Para-Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and Vivian Westwood's climate revolution. She worked on England's 2018 World...