The ModernZen Collective Podcast

A weekly schedule can be a comfort blanket, but what happens when your soul asks for something different? Nikki shares why we’re taking a summer break until after Labor Day and how that choice is rooted in the same holistic living, spiritual alignment, and personal growth we talk about all year. We’ve both got beautiful, full lives unfolding, and we don’t want to “power through” and put out episod...

Your body has been keeping score and your breath is one of the fastest ways to change the signal. Lizzy sits down with Tabetha DeBruyn , a transformational breathmaster and one of the few certified 9D somatic breathwork practitioners in the world, to unpack why “just take a deep breath” is not fluff when you know how to do it with intention and timing. If you’ve been living in stress mode, cycling...

Clarity can feel like safety, but what if the constant demand for answers is the very thing keeping you stuck? Lizzy sits down with writer Prashanthi Amarnath, author of Embracing Paradox , to talk about Taoism, uncertainty, and the lived reality of becoming someone new while you are still carrying pieces of who you used to be. If you have been moving through change, stress, or a season that feels...

Ever had a season where everything looks fine on paper, but inside you feel stretched, wobbly, and weirdly disconnected from your own life? We’ve been there, and we wanted to share a simple practice we actually use when we need to slow down, reset, and feel steady again. Lizzy guides you through a calming grounding meditation built around breathwork, body awareness, and gentle nervous system suppo...

Time has been feeling warped for a lot of us, like the day disappears before we even get our footing. Nikki sits with that shared sensation and then follow a surprising real-life clue: a 45-minute yoga class that suddenly feels spacious, slow, and complete, with enough room for longer holds and the kind of shavasana we usually have to rush. That moment kicks off an intuitive exploration of what “t...

Fertility can feel like a never ending math problem you did not sign up for, and the loudest advice usually comes with a monthly subscription. We wanted something calmer and more useful, so we brought on Kirsten Karchmer, founder of Conceivable and one of North America’s leading fertility experts, to talk about what actually moves the needle when you’re trying to get pregnant and stay pregnant. We...

Spring shows up on the calendar, but the air still bites and your energy still feels like winter. Instead of treating that as a problem to push through, we slow down and ask a different question: what if the “delay” is support and what if nature is modeling exactly what our bodies and minds need right now? Nikki shares a channeled Arcturian message that frames Mother Gaia as moving through an inte...

The scariest part of burnout is how “normal” it can start to feel, until one day it doesn’t. Morgan Smith, CEO of Kalm with Kava , shares the moment he took a prescribed benzodiazepine for anxiety and lost the rest of the day, a wake-up call that sent him searching for calmer, safer ways to regulate his nervous system. We go deep on kava, a 3,000-year South Pacific plant tradition that most people...

Balance can feel like a myth when you’re tired, stretched thin, or quietly grieving an old version of yourself. We slow everything down with an equinox meditation practice designed to help you release what you’ve outgrown, receive what you’re ready for, and reconnect with the divinity within and all around you. We start with a gentle settling: relaxing the face, shoulders, belly, hands, legs, and...

Spring can feel like a starting gun, but my body often tells a different story. March sits in that strange middle space where winter has not fully released and spring has not fully arrived, and that “almost” feeling can bring restlessness, doubt, and pressure to figure everything out fast. So we slow down and use the spring equinox as our guide: equal light and equal dark, balance before bloom, an...

Chaos is loud right now, and we’re not going to sugarcoat it. Nikki shares a channeled March message that reframes what you’re seeing in the world: as more people wake up and question the “normal” they were handed, more light comes online, and what’s been hidden can’t stay hidden. If that feels unsettling, you’re not alone and it may also be a sign you’re becoming more aware, more sensitive, and m...

Standing at the hinge of winter and spring, we explore what it really takes to evolve when there’s no clear roadmap. Lizzy welcomes Laura Trejo, the heart behind @evolvingandresilient , for an unfiltered conversation about identity shifts, postpartum depression, and the brave decision to leave patterns that no longer fit. Laura opens up about grieving the family she imagined, redefining loyalty, a...

The space between who you were and who you’re becoming can feel loud with questions and quiet on answers. We lean into that threshold with a guided practice designed to regulate your nervous system, ease restlessness, and let clarity emerge without force. March sits between winter’s hold and spring’s promise, and we use that seasonal mirror to normalize the “messy middle” of transformation while o...

Caught between winter’s hush and spring’s first breath, we step into a month that asks for courage without hurry. Nikki opens up about feeling restless in a season that keeps whispering “slow,” then channels a clear, compassionate read on why the Year of the Fire Horse can feel both electric and uncomfortable. Think of it as cosmic tough love: momentum that exposes the job, habit, or story you’ve...

Welcome to this *special preview* of ModernZen Co+, our deeper subscription space for those who want to go beyond the weekly podcast and truly integrate the work.   This bonus episode is from Motherhood, Unfiltered, which is a fly-on-the-wall bonus series featuring honest, no-BS conversations about the real, lived experience of motherhood — exactly as it’s unfolding. Enjoy this MZC+ preview! A sin...

Anxiety doesn’t have to be the enemy. In this grounded, practical conversation, we shift from shame and all-or-nothing thinking into skills that transform stress into clarity, confidence, and momentum.  Nikki sits down with Licensed Professional Counselor Caitlin Kohls. We explore the difference between useful nervousness and anxiety that disrupts your life. We unpack radical acceptance and Wise M...

What if clarity arrived when you stopped trying to force it? We share a calm, guided practice designed to replace urgency with honest momentum and help you hear what your body already knows. This is a short, spacious session that invites you to breathe deeply, check in without judgment, and imagine one small step that feels true right now. You’ll leave with a clear, repeatable ritual for days when...

The snake helped us shed. Now the Fire Horse asks us to run. This conversation dives into a year defined by natural propulsion, honest choices, and forward motion that doesn’t require hustle. We explore why courage isn’t loud bravado but quiet alignment, how truth beats comfort when you’re ready to stop shrinking, and why creating space outperforms chasing speed. If you’ve felt pulled in five dire...

Let February be the month you finally let your body catch up to your growth. We open the door to integration and embodiment—moving from fresh awareness to steady action—while releasing the pressure to sprint toward clarity. Along the way,  Nikki shares an Arcturian transmission that centers pure love as the month’s natural frequency: love for self, love for others, and a renewed tenderness for the...

Some moments arrive without a headline and still rearrange everything that follows. We open our February theme of integration with a story from Lizzy's first summer after freshman year, working at a camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where service, nature, and a simple morning ritual cracked open years of anger and made space for trust. What began as survival mode, born from divorce and parent...

What if the next step didn’t require more effort, just more space? We open the door to a different kind of momentum—one that grows quietly, honors your timing, and lets February be the month where January’s insights finally land. If you’ve been pushing for clarity or afraid to lose progress by slowing down, this guided practice helps your nervous system exhale so your body can catch up to your gro...

The calendar says go, but your body whispers wait—and that quiet nudge might be the smartest move you make all year. We open February as a bridge season where integration replaces urgency, clarity arrives through sensation, and progress looks like small decisions that feel honest rather than performative. Together, we unpack what “gentle momentum” really means: less pressure, more presence; fewer...

What if the life that looks perfect from the outside quietly drains you from the inside? Nikki sits down with mindfulness teacher and feminine embodiment guide Gabrielle Mostronardo to unpack how she left a dream fashion job, rebuilt self-trust, and followed a trail of intuition from Europe to Mexico to Bali. Along the way, she reveals how to tell intuition from fear, what happens in a temazcal re...

What if the best way to begin the year is by not forcing a beginning at all? We open the door to a different January—one that honors the threshold between what was and what’s still becoming. Instead of chasing clarity, we invite presence, deep rest, and the kind of listening that reveals what’s quietly unfolding beneath the surface. With warmth and steadiness, Lizzy guides you into a 30‑minute Yog...

What if January isn’t the time to sprint, but the time to listen? We step into winter as a threshold, an intentional pause where rest becomes action and receiving becomes strategy. Instead of forcing resolutions against bare trees and short days, we explore how aligning with the season strengthens intuition, steadies the nervous system, and lays the groundwork for a more authentic year. Nikki unpa...