Grace + Boundaries: Navigating Intergenerational Trauma with Erin Hearts

What does it take to leave a narcissitic relationship?  I believe it took me lots of education, enough anger to keep on going, a lot of planning, and... faith that a better future was possible for me and my son! I'm so grateful for my journey towards freedom. It took me about seven years to finally feel free.  I share my story of leaving a narcissistic+codependent relationship and how hard it...

Are you in a victim's story or a hero's journey?  My spiritual leader friend and guest, Terra Jennings, shares with us how to enhance our self-talk towards EMPOWERMENT. Through years of self-discovery and practice, Terra has faced religious trauma and bodily pain to become "divinely awesome."  I think you will enjoy this enlightening discussion we had about opening up our minds...

I signed a pledge to myself in December, 2023, and it's helped me clarify what I might look for when I start to date again. I share about a program I've been part of this year by Gloria Zhang, and I, of course, share my #1 dating tip! Hint: it has to do with personal boundaries!  Thanks for listening!  Healing is possible! I'd love to hear from you! https://www.instagram.com/ihearts...

How do we grow spiritually, allow for authenticity, and practice presence? My guest today, Diana Lockett, has been on a 25-year quest do learn just that. With radical self-love and following the call to freedom, she believes we can "turn our pain into love."   Diana Lockett is a 6 x International Bestselling Author and International Speaker who uses her superpower of vulnerable storytell...

Do you have a sense of over-responsibility? Does it come out as unrealistic expectations for yourself and for others around you?  These could be a response to trauma, or conditioning, from your childhood.  I discuss three places in my life that I am battling my unrealistic expectations. When I can acknowledge them and accept that I might be expecting too much from myself or others, it helps me to...

Today's guest hosts the podcast Foreign-Born Mamas. She hopes to help immigrant moms listen to their bodies, learn how to self-care and grow to become their authentic selves in this new country they call home. Nurzhan shares about growing up impoverished physically and emotionally before immigrating to the United States as an adult. The trauma she faced as a young person was not discussed or...

List your top three priorities... Go! Can you name them with certainty? How do you feel about them; is it honestly how you devote your energy? Would the people closest to you agree?  Today I share my top three priorities and how they have changed in the past years. I discuss how I might want to alter them in the future.  I was inspired for this topic by Lewis Howes and Jay Shetty in their recent i...

Sean Bloch, host of the podcast Happy Brain, is my guest today. Sean is a corporate trainer, facilitator, and storyteller focused on mental wellness. We discuss tips and tools to ameliorate our mental health and how podcasting has helped express creativity and lead to all types of relationships. We mention Sean's documentary, Presenting Lisa: A Journey to Athenticity that you can watch here:...

Have you ever had a therapist that was dismissive, insensitive, uneducated, or just plain rude? I sure have. My intention is to share my experiences with bad therapy so that it might empower you to speak up or leave a therapy situation in the future if it's not the right fit for you.  I share about many experiences I've had on the path to finding the right, kind, knowledgeable, golden th...

Have you heard of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)? There is a 10-question test to see how much trauma you endured as a child. This test is a great start towards building more awareness around mental health in our world, but for me, a survivor of invisible abuse (emotional neglect/abuse), it falls very short in encompassing the vast ways trauma can be inflicted on a human.  I discuss ACEs and...

 Do you journal as one of your tools in your coping-with-emotions tool box? Journaling is an excellent practice to take care of ourselves! Today's guest, Becca Rae Eagle, is the host of the Joyful Journaling Podcast.   https://thejoyfuljournalingpodcast.buzzsprout.com We discuss how journaling as enriched, soothed, and even saved Becca's life.  If you'd like to contact Becca Rae her...

Are you emotionally mature? If so, how emotionally mature are you?  We've all heard of emotional intelligence, but is emotional matuirty something you've ever thought about before? I sure hadn't pondered the concept prior to the start of my spiritual journey ten years ago.  Emotional maturity is a huge marker for me in my life these days. I can look back and see how far I've gr...

Have you ever noticed your body reacting to media? I'm talking about scenes in a movie making you cover your eyes, or videos that you happened to glimpse that you wish you could un-see. Or, maybe you've even read some sensationalized news that made you nauseous or evoked rage.  I share some experiences I've had lately with the affects of media on me and my son, two highly sensitive...

Why could "clamming up" be a red flag in a relationship?  I share details of a past relationship and unpack the signs that showed I had been uncomfortable way before I ended things months later.  Do you have an idea for a dating deathtrap? Let me know @iheartserin! Healing is possible! I'd love to hear from you! https://www.instagram.com/iheartserin/ Please rate and review the podca...

My first interview! I'm proud to share with you this conversation between me and my wise friend, Susan Tuttle.  Susan is a life coach and teacher of all things recovery. She  shares valuable advice about her journey to find balance in her life and to learn how to stop self-abandoning. We speak about breathwork, body image, and how to respect and acknowledge our bodies for the miraculous syste...

If you've experienced thoughts of suicide, then you've had "suicidal ideation." These thoughts can be active or passive. I share some information about these thoughts today on the podcast because someone close to me has been feeling this way. I can relate, because I experienced passive suicidal thoughts while being in an emotionally abusive relationship. I take passive suicidal...

Happy Valentine's Day!  I have a special episode to share with you. If you're single, do you celebrate Valentine's Day? I sure do! Besides giving gifts and cards to my son and my family, I do some little things for myself. I've always wanted flowers, chocolate, and a beautifully written card from partners of mine, but never have dated anyone that cared about V-Day. So, now I bu...

**Trigger Alert! This episode contains discussion of sexual abuse** I felt compelled to share a story from my 8th grade year in jr. high school, circa 1993.  I had a serious EMDR session last weekend with my therapist, where we unpacked some behaviors that have been ailing me. I've had some insomnia due to a hypervigillent part of me that needs to be perfect to avoid public humiliation. There...

Have you "leveled-up" lately? How are your New Year's resolution's going? I share what lelveling up spiritually means for me and how it happened.  Have you ever heard of "parts" therapy? I do some IFS- Internal Family Systems-therapy and I'm talking about a part of me that I met recently. She is my loving, vulnerable part, and she's been exiled for years; pr...

Have you ever experienced a panic attack? They can be so scary. I share some details about why panic attacks form in our bodies and what they are trying to tell us.  I mention The Body Keeps the Score:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693771-the-body-keeps-the-score Healing is possible! I'd love to hear from you! https://www.instagram.com/iheartserin/ Please rate and review the podcast...

“The moment that you feel, just possibly, you are walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind, and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself...That is the moment, you might be starting to get it right.” -- Neil Gaiman Today I share about creating art and the sobering truth it takes to do so. I mention a movie I saw this weekend and loved, "The Fa...

I start the episode sharing my tribulations about my son not wanting to go to bed. He had a "bad" day today, according to him, and I am learning to accept that his emotions are different from mine. I can't change his world view from pessimism to optimism, but I can listen, validate, and try to understand.  I talk about my two best friends and how they have taught me, through their b...

Survivors, get out your journals! I lead you through a reflection exercise to process and celebrate your big and little wins in 2022.  I mention The Inner Child Podcast and the host, Gloria Zhang:  https://bygloriazhang.com/ Happy New Year!  Healing is possible! I'd love to hear from you! https://www.instagram.com/iheartserin/ Please rate and review the podcast to let me know you're list...

I've had a wacky Christmas this year! None of my normal family traditions have been followed and I even ended up alone on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I did get invited a couple places, and I chose to say no to those invitations. I actually like spending time with myself in place of just having SOMEWHERE to go.  I share what I did to turn my non-traditional Christmas this year into a Self...

Being able to share my feelilngs of gratitude for my parents has been a long process for me. I was 36 years old when I lifted the veil of denial and realized that my childhood wasn't as perfect as my parents had told me it was. After realizing I'd suffered a lot of emotional neglect that led to other abuse, I had a lot of anger towards my parents, especially my mom. It's taken seven...