How To Blow Up Your Life

In this deeply personal season finale of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry sits down with her mother, Sally Dunn , for a candid, tender conversation about family, addiction, recovery, and what it takes to interrupt generational patterns with honesty and compassion. Together, Sara and Sally reflect on the realities of growing up inside dysfunction, the long road of sobriety, and the quiet...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry is joined by life coach Kerry Rasenberger for an illuminating and compassionate conversation about breaking the cycle of toxic relationships . Together, Sara and Kerry explore how dysfunctional family patterns can quietly shape our romantic relationships — often without our awareness — and why toxic dynamics can feel so hard to leave, e...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry is joined by writer, teacher, and creative guide Tiffany Han for a powerful conversation about unperforming your life — and what it really means to stop living for approval, productivity, and appearances. Sara and Tiffany explore how many of us are quietly living in a state of barely getting by while telling ourselves it’s normal. They...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry is joined by empowerment coach Jill Vyn for a deeply honest conversation about old patterns — the familiar ways of thinking, behaving, and protecting ourselves that quietly resurface just as we’re trying to grow. Together, Sara and Jill explore how these patterns often emerge during moments of uncertainty, grief, or transition, bringing...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry introduces listeners to parts work , a powerful therapeutic framework rooted in Internal Family Systems (IFS) , developed by Richard Schwartz . Sara explores the idea that we are not one singular personality, but a collection of inner parts — each formed to help us survive, cope, and stay safe. She breaks down the core IFS parts — exile...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry explores the practice of embodiment — what it means to live inside your body instead of just inside your mind. Sara reflects on her own long history of ignoring her body’s signals, pushing through exhaustion, discomfort, and emotional overwhelm — and the cost of that disconnection. She unpacks how many of us were conditioned to prioriti...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry sits down with intuitive eating and body image specialist Kristi Koeter for an honest, nuanced conversation about food, body image, and the quiet ways diet culture shapes women’s self-worth — often without us realizing it. Kristi shares her personal journey through dieting, body dissatisfaction, and the turning point that came as a moth...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry takes on one of the most tender and charged topics of all: dysfunctional family systems — and how they quietly shape the way we love, relate, and see ourselves. Drawing from personal experience and years of coaching work, Sara explores how dysfunction often shows up not as chaos, but as emotional manipulation, conditional love, unspoken...

⚠️ Content Note / Trigger Warning This episode includes discussion of sexual trauma, childhood sexual abuse, coercion, grooming, repression, and their impact on intimacy, relationships, and the nervous system. Please listen with care and at your own pace. If you or someone you know is experiencing sexual violence or assault, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 800-656-HOPE (4673) f...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry completes the Adult Chair Model series by stepping fully into the Adult Chair — the part of you that is grounded, present, emotionally regulated, and capable of conscious choice. The Adult Chair represents your wisest and healthiest self — not a perfect version of you, but the one who can stay connected to emotions without being overtak...

In this episode of How to Blow Up Your Life , Sara Stansberry continues the Adult Chair Model series by introducing the Adolescent Chair — the part of us that learned to survive through control, protection, and resistance. Formed during moments of fear, uncertainty, or emotional overwhelm, the adolescent chair steps in when we don’t feel safe. It’s the voice behind perfectionism, people-pleasing,...

In this foundational episode of How to Blow Up Your Life, Sara Stansberry introduces the Adult Chair Model, beginning with the chair that shapes us first and often loudest: the Inner Child. Sara breaks down how our inner child is formed between the ages of zero and seven, and how unmet needs, early attachment wounds, and childhood coping mechanisms quietly continue to run the show in our adult liv...

🎧 How to Blow Up Your Life — Season 2 Trailer How to Blow Up Your Life is a podcast about deliberate change—burning down what’s breaking you so you can build what’s meant for you. Season 2 is the rebuilding. Host Sara Stansberry explores healing patterns, rebuilding identity, navigating ambivalence, and learning how to live from the Adult Chair—through honest solo episodes and powerful guest conv...

In this powerful conversation, Sara sits down with serial entrepreneur and author Jess Greenwood to explore the profound difference between happiness and joy. After navigating her mother's terminal cancer diagnosis, single parenting during COVID lockdowns, and her husband's devastating motorcycle accident that required ten surgeries, Jess discovered something life-changing: joy doesn't abandon us...

Ever catch yourself wondering why the same relationship drama keeps happening with different people? In this episode, we're diving deep into those sneaky patterns that keep us stuck in cycles we don't even realize we're in. Sara breaks down the most common unhealthy relationship patterns - from the rescuer who's always fixing someone to the conflict-avoider who'd rather suffer in silence than rock...

Ever feel like you're back in middle school, standing with your cafeteria tray, wondering where to sit? That's exactly how I felt at Cheryl Strayed's writing conference - until I met Amy and Kendra. We bonded over our shared anxieties: wrong socks, awkward parking encounters, and the universal fear of not being accepted. This episode dives deep into how three grown women navigated vulnerability, i...

In this episode of "How to Blow Up Your Life," Sara Stansberry dives deep into the often misunderstood concept of forgiveness. She explains that true forgiveness is more about acceptance than relationship restoration - it's cutting the invisible string that ties you to pain and resentment. Through a compelling client story, Sara illustrates how holding onto hurt actually makes us slaves to our pas...

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In this enlightening episode, Sara Stansberry interviews Dr. SG Gettman, a naturopathic doctor who specializes in treating chronic illness, burnout, and autoimmune conditions. They dive deep into the fascinating connection between unprocessed emotions and physical ailments. Dr. Gettman shares compelling research showing how emotional suppression increases inflammation markers in the body, while pr...

In this revealing episode, Sara Stansberry breaks down what codependency really is versus what most people think it is. Drawing from her 15+ years in codependency recovery, she explains that codependency isn't simply being financially dependent on a partner, but rather a trauma response rooted in childhood emotional neglect. Sara clarifies that codependents are those who overextend themselves in r...

In this heart-to-heart conversation, I chat with Shannon Yonge, an intuitive master life coach who specializes in helping women navigate midlife transitions. We dive into the concept of inner child work and how our early childhood experiences (ages 0-7) shape our adult relationships. Shannon explains that during those formative years, we develop strategies to belong and connect, which often contin...

In this first episode of "How to Blow Up Your Life," I share my personal journey from being a seemingly perfect suburban wife and mother who was secretly struggling with emptiness and rage to discovering a path toward authentic living through what I call "creative destruction." I reveal my "garage door moment" – when a simple malfunction triggered an emotional breakdown that became my wake-up call...

Ever catch yourself thinking: "This isn't how my life was supposed to turn out"? You're doing everything "right." Being the good daughter. The supportive partner. The one who keeps the peace, holds it all together, The one who makes sure everyone else is okay. But something's off. Maybe you're exhausted from walking on eggshells. Tired of doubting yourself. Sick of watching the same patterns play...

This post is part of my Holiday SOS series where we learn how to better navigate tricky relationships, especially over the holidays, so we can better understand ourselves and others. This week, I’m sharing my interview with Alexa Juanita Jordan , a fellow Substack writer and life coach, about ways to navigate holiday stress and cultivate a meaningful life. Our discussion delves into the pressures...

I was on deadline. Five thousand words due, of which zero words were written.  So, naturally, I did the thing you do (or rather the thing I do) sometimes when under a daunting deadline.  Procrastination is delaying or postponing a task despite knowing its importance and the potential consequences of not completing it.  It’s a simple concept, but it feels so big, especially when you’re in its throe...