MIDDLE GROUND - Real Conversations on Faith, Identity & Becoming — Through Brynne's LDS Lens of Curiosity, Love and Doubt

In this episode, I sit down with my neighbor Rob Clark who shares his faith journey for the first time ever. Rob grew up in a very religious LDS household where church was a requirement, not an option. He served a mission in Taiwan without a testimony, hoping he'd get one in the field. He never felt that still small voice but told himself "you know it's true, just go work." His shift started in hi...

This week, I share something I taught my seven-year-old son tonight during his taekwondo test prep. He was overwhelmed and frustrated because something hard was new to him. I taught him to talk directly to his brain and say: I know you're scared, but we've never done this before and that's okay. We're going to figure this out anyway. This same practice stops my own spiraling and helps me think cle...

In this episode, I sit down with clinical psychologist Dr. Cameron Staley to talk about something rarely discussed openly: pornography, compulsive eating, gaming, and the behaviors we use to escape uncomfortable emotions. Dr. Staley shares his groundbreaking research showing pornography viewing does not activate the brain like substance addiction. The term addiction itself is not even a scientific...

In this solo episode recorded in my garage during summer vacation, I share a lesson I'm really excited about: the difference between beliefs and biases. A belief is a conclusion you drew over time that feels like fact, held up like a table by legs of evidence. The good news is beliefs can be changed by knocking out those legs. Biases are different. They're filters installed before you even had lan...

In this episode the tables turn and my guest Jennifer Roskelly interviews me about my own faith journey and the heart behind Middle Ground. I share how the name came from being in the messy middle of my early thirties, navigating new beliefs while still wanting to stay connected to my church community and culture. The pivotal moment came when my brother came out as gay and my other brother stepped...

In this episode, I sit down with Heather Campbell to talk about her faith expansion journey. Heather shares struggling with the LDS church since primary age, feeling the lack of love in certain teachings and not feeling safe to ask questions as a child. She faked it through her teenage years and into marriage, terrified her husband wouldn't marry her after his mission if she didn't attend. Her tip...

In this Pep Talk, I pulled over in my car to tell you something important. I've started a new health and wellness phase again, and that's the whole point. You don't quit. You start over and over and over again. Life gets hard, complicated, busy, messy. There will be seasons when you pause. But you keep trying again and again. Find people who support you through it all, and when someone says "you'v...

In this episode, I sit down with Jackie and Jeff from the Other Side Academy and Village, a nonprofit helping people coming out of incarceration, homelessness, or addiction through a two and a half year program focused on whole person behavioral change. Jackie shares 25 years of on and off homelessness, introduced to drugs young, losing her daughter, and finding relief when arrested because she'd...

In this mini episode, I talk about how feelings are just information. Having a hard day doesn't mean you're failing. Crying in your car doesn't mean you're falling apart. Feeling angry, sad, or overwhelmed does not mean something has gone wrong. It means you're alive and paying attention. I share a story from my guest Mindy Cope who got a spider bite that made her foot swell up purple and black. I...

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Jennifer Roskelly for a deep conversation about faith, scripture, and the spark of Christ within each of us. Jennifer shares her journey from age 15 asking "If Joseph Smith can see God face to face, why can't I?" to discovering profound truths in literal scripture interpretation. She explains how perfection actually means complete or whole, not flawless,...

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Kristi Garcia to talk about her poetry book Women Who Knew, which gives voices to biblical women telling their own stories. Kristi shares how the book poured out of her in three months lying in bed next to her toddler, starting with a poem called "Mary's Response" to the song "Mary Did You Know?" She reads Sarah's Heartache about infertility and waiting....

In this episode recorded on Easter Sunday during general conference, I share why I didn't actively watch. I didn't want to do mental gymnastics sifting through what resonated versus what didn't. I talk about my aunt's advice to focus on who she wants to be rather than combating others' beliefs. I share how I get most frustrated when I disagree with something but haven't formulated what I do believ...

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Heather Campbell to talk about her journey with health and fitness. Heather shares how she shifted from punishing herself to approaching fitness through self-love instead. We discuss how motivation comes and goes but discipline is what builds consistency, why sustainable weight loss is slow (despite what the fitness industry wants you to believe), and how...

In this episode, I share how I intentionally stopped folding my kids' laundry and it's been liberating. I was tired of folding everything perfectly only to have them pull out multiple shirts, leave them on the floor, and create piles I couldn't tell were clean or dirty. So I stopped. Now I taught my boys to sort their own clothes and shove them in drawers. Yes, there are wrinkles. No, I don't care...

In this episode, I have a deep conversation with Cami Sanders about our faith journeys, truth, and navigating doubt. Cami shares how she's never felt like she was in a "faith crisis" but rather a "faith expansion," constantly seeking truth from multiple sources while keeping her roots in Mormonism. She introduces the fixed foot and searching foot metaphor, where you plant your foot in the doctrine...

In this episode, I'm celebrating one year of the Middle Ground podcast and sharing why I started it. I talk about how this came together—from taking a life coaching course that required launching a podcast to that spiritual prompting that ended my Inklings group and led me to start my own community for friends with big questions about faith. What started as a space for questioning Latter-day Saint...

In this episode, I talk with Ryan and Stevie Peterson about their experiences with pre-marriage counseling and therapy. We discuss why understanding attachment styles matters, how to navigate relationship challenges, and the role emotions play in relationships. Ryan and Stevie share their own journey of personal growth and how therapy has positively impacted their marriage. We really dig into the...

In this episode, I’m sharing about my experience serving as a Young Women's President in my church while navigating motherhood and my own personal growth.  I talk honestly about the tension of wanting to serve well while also honoring my real-life capacity. Stepping back from my calling wasn’t about quitting, it was about recognizing my limits, creating space for self-care, and leaning into my nex...

In this episode, Kathy Sherwood and I explore the connection between spirituality, personal growth, and coaching. Kathy shares about her unique upbringing and the diverse spiritual influences that shaped her path to becoming a spiritual coach. We talk about intuition, unconditional love, and the journey of self-discovery, and we really dig into this idea that everyone is worthy of a beautiful life...

In this episode, I talk about how our finances, health, and time are all connected, and why it's so important to take real ownership in each of these areas. I share my own journey with budgeting and manifesting my dreams, and I get into why delaying instant gratification has been such a game-changer for reaching my financial goals. I also dive into how powerful it is when you get really clear on w...

In this episode, Brynne Erickson interviews Evan Fitzgerald, who shares his profound journey through chronic pain and the transformative power of meditation. Evan reflects on his childhood experiences, including the loss of his father. He discusses how this experience shaped his desire to become a firefighter and the emotional toll that his profession took on him. After a life-altering injury whil...

In this episode I share my journey of personal growth and self-improvement over the past eight months, focusing on my approach to movement and fitness. Rather than sticking to traditional New Year's resolutions, I emphasize the importance of setting achievable goals that align with my lifestyle. I also discuss my commitment to reaching 10,000 steps a day and how I've learned to listen to my body,...

In this episode I talk with my dear friend and intuitive guide Sheree Carlisle about her remarkable journey from active Latter-day Saint to someone who now moves fluidly through energy healing, sound baths, human design, astrology, Reiki, and so much more. Sheree shares what it was like when her husband stepped away from the church and how she found her way through it with love rather than ultimat...

In this solo episode I give you full permission to let go of any pressure you are feeling to have it all figured out by January 1st. I share why I personally prefer to flow with the seasons rather than the calendar, why I do my real goal setting in the spring, and what I have learned about honoring my energy rather than pushing through it. I also talk about how I have attempted the same workout pr...

In this solo episode I share some thoughts two days before Christmas on how to actually enjoy the holiday season when you cannot control what anyone else does, says, thinks, or feels. I talk about buying my own presents and why I think that is genuinely the most empowering move, how my family is evolving our traditions as everyone gets married and grows up, and why holding our traditions too tight...