her Self: IFS & Spiritual Entrepreneurship

As the second part in our series on Internal Family Systems, I've invited Certified IFS Therapist and the Assistant Trainer, Crystal Jones, to join us. Crystal and I speak about her upcoming summer sabbatical (which I find very inspiring and sense you will too), what it's like to be the second BIPOC individual in a leadership role within the Internal Family Systems Institute, how she wants to use...

Over the next couple of months, I’m offering a focus on Internal Family Systems (or IFS) here on the podcast. IFS is a cutting-edge psychotherapeutic model that’s sweeping the world right now– if you haven’t noticed! More than being a very effective, gentle, and transformative model of therapy (that’s been both life-changing for me and my clients), it’s also a paradigm of living. IFS gives us the...

In this dharma talk, an excerpt of one I offered in my online feminine spiritual practice community, Women's House of Wisdom, in the spring of 2020, I speak on the importance of calling on the archetype of the Divine Mother at this time in history, as well as practical ways to do that. We touch on ancestor reverence, devotion, cultivating self-trust and spiritual authority, and more. On this Mothe...

One of the themes I’ve worked with a lot in both my personal life, as well as in my private practice over the years is healing from narcissistic abuse and codepenency. And, the flip side, on cultivating a secure, healthy relationship (first with oneself, and then, ultimately, with an intimate partner). To help go deeper into this exploration as a larger community, I’ve invited to join us today Car...

Here we are on the equinox, welcoming the season of rebirth in the Northern Hemisphere. In addition to introducing a new name and look to the podcast today, I'm also introducing you to Miranda Macpherson, a true modern-day embodiment of the divine feminine. Miranda's an author, teacher with the Shift Network, kirtan musician and singer, and spiritual guide who shares a holistic approach to spiritu...

Today, I want to speak about something that I get asked about a lot– and that’s how to cultivate a regular (ideally daily) spiritual practice. And, in turn, how to overcome resistance to this when it inevitably arises. With the increasing levels of uncertainty we're facing in our world, grounding more deeply into ourselves through daily practice is more essential now than ever. We not only need it...

In time for Valentine’s Day, today's conversation is aimed to help us all have more fulfilling, connected relationships– by turning towards conflict (rather than running in the other direction!). Plus, today I’m welcoming our first male guest (during the interview I share why I’m shifting towards having mixed genders on the podcast from now on). Jayson Gaddis, a fellow Boulderite whom I’ve known f...

Welcome to the 100th episode of the podcast! In celebration of this, I answer your questions-- on everything from spotting red flags (to avoid destructive relationships), my favorite skincare products, the books I gift most often, the daily rhythms and practices that help me feel my best, and more. Thank you for listening during these first 100 episodes, and, if you're new here, welcome. Enjoy! Wo...

Hello friends: Welcome to 2022. I’m inviting on the podcast as the first guest of the New Year, a long-time friend and colleague, Heidi Rose Robbins. Heidi and I met about 14-ish years ago while attending a retreat with our shared teacher, Sofia Diaz, at the Mount Madonna Retreat Center just outside of Santa Cruz, California. We’ve stayed in touch since then, and I have always appreciated Heidi’s...

It feels fitting, for the last episode of 2021, to invite my own long-time mentor, Sarah Powers onto the podcast. I first met Sarah serendipitously, while assisting her Yin/Yang Yoga Teacher Training at Kripalu about twenty years ago. Since then, I've continued to study and mentor with Sarah– she's been a tremendous influence on not only my teachings but also who I am as a woman. Today, we're spea...

Within these increasingly complex and uncertain times, we need to navigate our lives from a greater and higher place than our five senses. Rather, to best navigate three-dimensional living, we need to soar to new heights. Today's dharma talk is an excerpt of one I gave at an in-person retreat I led this past October at Shambhala Mountain Center. In it, I tell a story of an eagle, a snake, and the...

For all who celebrated, I hope you had a nourishing Thanksgiving. And, I also want to acknowledge that this can be a (very) triggering time of year– for many people,  on many levels. Especially for those who are single and/or childless (not by choice). Mass media touts this as a time of family and togetherness. We can often feel excluded, forgotten, and not understood by family and friends who DO...

Today I'm sharing the recording of a tried-and-true practice I led several years ago during a retreat at Shambhala Mountain Center. In it, I lead an exercise called "The Four-Part Check-In." Those of you who have been studying with me for a long time will be very familiar with this, and it's also a practice I include in both of my books. I'm sharing it here today because I find it to be a foundati...

Happy October! Today's conversation is fitting for this season, as it prepares us for the deep rest of winter. Tracee Stanley is a teacher and author inspired by more than 20 years of study in the traditions of the Himalayan Masters and Sri Vidya Tantra. Her new book, Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity follows the focus of her teachings: yoga nidra, meditation, self-...

This past week, we crossed the threshold into a new season. In honor of this, today I'm sharing an excerpt of a talk I gave last week in a retreat that welcomed the Autumn equinox. In it, I share suggestions for how to align with the energetics and lessons of this season. May it be of benefit! Abortion Healing Circle: www.womensyogateachertraining.com/septretreat My website: www. SaraAvantStover.c...

Here we are, on Labor Day weekend in the U.S. The last unofficial weekend of summer. It’s fitting that today we also have the last episode in our summer series on women’s yoga and meditation. I’ve been sharing this series in celebration of a more feminine approach to spirituality-- one that I highlight in my upcoming online women’s yoga and meditation teacher training. We have a wonderful circle o...

With just about another month left of summer here in the northern hemisphere, the special series here on the podcast on “women in yoga and meditation” continues. I’m sharing this series in celebration of the creation of my online, 200-hour women’s yoga & meditation teacher training that starts at the end of September. Registration is open for a few more weeks! Today, as part of this series, I’m sh...

I don’t know how it got to be August already! I’m feeling the summer wind-down starting to happen, but, here on the podcast, we’re still enjoying a special summer series on Women’s Yoga & Meditation. I share this series to give you a taste of my 200-hour online women’s yoga & meditation teacher training (which also happens to be the world’s first women's yoga teacher training!), taking place onlin...

Over the next several weeks, I'm sharing a special summer series here on the podcast on the topic of Women's Yoga & Meditation. In it, I'll feature interviews with interesting women in the field, as well as replays of well-loved dharma talks I've given on these topics over the years. I’ll share stories from my own life and practice. Hard-won insights and life-changing lessons from my own mentors,...

This month I'm starting a special, summer series here on the podcast, where I'm featuring interviews and talks about the path of women's yoga & meditation. I'm sharing these in celebration of my soon-to-open (later this month!) online, 200-hour Yoga Alliance Women's Yoga & Meditation Teacher Trainiing. To start this series out, I'm sharing an interview with Angela Farmer, one of my yogini-heroines...

Summer is officially here in the northern hemisphere. Huzzah! Bike rides, swimming, hikes, picnics: this is the season of pleasure. Yet, living in a (mostly) pleasure-adverse culture–- and emerging from the underworld of the pandemic-- can make feeling good feel hard at times. Today I'm sharing an excerpt of a dharma talk I gave a couple of months ago during an online course I taught called "The B...

Today I have another important conversation to share with you. It’s for women who are childless(not by choice), women who are childfree (childless by choice), and for women who DO have children, so you can better understand and empathize with women who do not. In her mid-forties, after years of trying to get pregnant, Jody Day found herself still childless– and overcome with grief and unsure how l...

This May marks the 10-year anniversary of the publication of my first book, The Way of the Happy Woman. One of the ways I'm celebrating is to share two episodes here on the podcast, where I reflect on the ten things I've learned since then. Those of you who have been part of this community during this time know that I've been on quite a journey. A journey of tremendous heartbreak, healing, and tra...

This May marks the 10-year anniversary of the publication of my first book, The Way of the Happy Woman. One of the ways I'm celebrating is to share two episodes here on the podcast, where I reflect on the ten things I've learned over this past decade. Those of you who have been part of this community during this time know that I've been on quite a journey. A journey of tremendous heartbreak, heali...

One of the (many) shadow sides of living in a patriarchal world is the idealization of motherhood. Women are expected to be– and to want to be– intrinsically all-loving, all-nurturing mothers, regardless of our circumstances or individual dispositions. The inevitable failure to live up to this ideal leads to feelings of shame, inadequacy, and wonderings of "what's wrong with me?". My conversation...