The Reality Check Podcast

Agency is your belief in your ability to influence your life. Effort + Time = Results. I’ve been reflecting on this a lot lately, as I’m in the midst of some major life changes. I recently received my Graduate Diploma of Counselling and I am updating my website, books, and offerings to reflect this next chapter. I’m also continuing to show up each day, facilitating daily guided meditations on Insi...

This episode begins with a reading of the poem ‘ a broken mirror’s gaze ’. From there we discus how the body keeps the score ; life will cause us to suffer. If we do not process these trauma’s (because we don’t know how or it isn’t possible) we hold onto it. We hold onto it in the form of chronic pain, illness, injury, and distorted thinking patterns. There is a way to release. Writing therapy. In...

In this episode I share the first session of the 30 Day course ‘Cultivate A Daily Meditation Practice’. It introduces the basic practice of mindfulness meditation as well as highlights the importance of continuing your practice ongoing; it is okay to miss a day of practice, provided you get back on board and continue the next day. In this way you will guarantee yourself success. You can access the...

Want to establish a daily meditation practice and learn how to build and maintain a positive habit? Join the 30-day challenge :) Join the free Art Of Self-Connection community and click Cultivate a Daily Meditation Practice . There you’ll find 30 sessions ready to go, one for each day. This course has been taken by 1,000+ students on Insight Timer and is rated 4.88/5. A lot of people credit it as...

This is an informational talk on how to reduce the severity, duration, and impact of panic attacks, triggers, and dysregulation. We start with the core reminder: you are not in danger, this will pass, and you can support your system back toward steadiness. From there, the talk focuses on combining acceptance with action through practical reframes and body-based strategies, including breathwork, pr...

You don’t have to choose between the journey and the destination. Most self-improvement and inner peace approaches lean hard in one direction, acceptance without growth, or growth without self-love. But real, sustainable, purpose-aligned change needs both. Inspired by Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), this short talk offers a simple framework for holding acceptance and improvement at the same ti...

'I closed my eyes to the beauty of the sea, shielding the fragile part of my soul that still believed in an untainted moment. As I walked away I couldn't help but feel...' In this episode share a story of healing and self-acceptance through poetry. Using the symbolism of water, nature, and floating, I’ll guide you inward, into the parts that learned to brace, shut down, and survive. You will leave...

I recently returned from a men’s work retreat through the Island of Men : a transformative program designed to help men connect and heal. I left with two main takeaways. 1: There is a tremendous male loneliness and meaning epidemic. Men feel alone and unsure of what they are doing, why they are doing it, and feel like they have no one to talk it through with. 2: There is vulnerability within posit...

Usually around this time of year I talk about the pain that this time of year can bring: extra commitments, financial burden, overwhelm, and forced socialization. This year I am looking to actually make something positive come from the festive season, so I am inviting you to join in with a self care challenge. For the month of December, pick one small act of self-care you can do every day to stay...

Language is flawed, and it keeps us from touching the divine. Every time we try to communicate, we start with a felt sense (thoughts, emotions, sensations) and we’re forced to translate that into code. Words. Sounds. Symbols. Then we hope the signal survives the noise. That nothing gets lost through misunderstanding, projection, or the limits of whatever medium we’re using. And on the other side,...

There’s a barrier between us. A barrier built from platforms and algorithms, each one acting as a simulacrum that promises connection and depth, but really only offers shallow engagement. Even this podcast is limited. It’s me talking, you listening. One-way, with little space to truly respond or connect. And that’s not enough for me anymore. I want to be able to add more value, more often, and do...

The four principles of how to live in harmony to: move slowly, breathe deeply, and focus broadly, with compassion for all. In this short talk, I introduce these principles as a gentle form of guidance towards inner peace. When combined and embodied we they help us to begin to connect, both to our true self and to the world and all in it. I am using these principles as a kind of internal mantra, so...

When faced with extreme and overwhelming situations we do whatever we can to survive. Typically this involves one of four responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. If this approach to stress works, we survive. Good in the moment, but often that survival comes at a cost. Unless we are able to appropriately process the event, both mentally, spiritually, physically, and socially, we may begin to ge...

It’s all too easy to let fear stop us from acting when it matters most. Not just in the big, cinematic moments of bravery, but in the small, everyday chances for connection and emotional release. There is a saying that goes, ‘fear is temporary, regret is forever,’ and it rings painfully true. In this short talk, I share four moments from my past that I regret, offered in the hope that they inspire...

Truth is beyond words alone. At best, language is a flawed code, an attempt to translate physical sensations, mental states, and spiritual experiences into something shareable. Yet in doing so, it often distorts what it tries to reveal. Whether through science, religion, or spirituality, we keep circling the same human experience, but each system claims its version as the only truth. All that we c...

Intuitive Guidance is the process I am using to help 100’s of people each week to release trauma from the body. It holds to the premise that the body keeps the score. Simply put, what we don't or can't process (trauma) manifests over time as illness, injury, psychological blocks, and stress. The good news is that by turning our attention to the body, connecting to it, and allowing it to express, i...

The art of manifestation gets a bad wrap, tied in the minds of most to questionable woo-woo ideas that seem fanciful at best. But manifestation is real, and the methods it works on are simple and obvious once explained and embraced. Simply put, we manifest what we focus on because we are primed to find and act on them. In this episode I share two tracks, the first is a talk titled ‘ how manifestat...

There comes a time when we know we need to act, but nonetheless find ourselves blocked by fear, or inertia, or confusion, or some other unnamable emotion. It is then when we must take a leap of faith - despite the possibility that we may fail. In this episode I discuss how I have taken a leap of faith and offer guidance on how you can do the same. If you are struggling to do what you know you must...

In today’s session I share with you a guided meditation that weaves together mindfulness, breathwork, healing visualization, and mantra, inviting you to soften, slow down, and reconnect to the self and the moment. You can follow each cue or simply sit and listen. This space is here for you. Let the words, breath, and stillness meet you as you are. *Don’t Play While Driving! This track is taken fro...

Why is it so hard for some people to stand up for themselves? In this episode I discuss three primary reasons why as well as some solutions that you could implement to overcome them. 1: Low self-worth - if you don’t believe you deserve to be treated well/get what you need from life, then you will fail to act. 2: Unclear goal or direction in life - if you don’t know where you are heading/what you v...

Who are you beyond the consequences of your past? Trauma and self identity are inextricably interconnected - you became what you needed to become to survive. These defense mechanisms saved you, but now you are left wondering who you are outside of them. Your interests, beliefs, desires, and goals are shaped by how you managed the past. Thus you may begin to wonder who you are. This lack of knowing...

Here is what to do when someone is being triggered and opening up about their trauma - or at least what works for me: 1: Make Sure They Are Safe - out of danger to and from themself and to and from others/the environment. 2: Make Sure You Are Safe - physically, emotionally and spiritually available, capable and able to helping the person without being overwhelmed or triggered, or at least only to...

It’s time once again for my annual Fuck Christmas podcast. For some, the festive season is the opposite of fun - full of triggers and trauma and overwhelm and the forced obligation to spend time with the people and in places that caused you the most pain. It is a time when substance abuse, self harm and suicide significantly rise. It is a time we’re loneliness amplified and that all two familiar m...

Tendrils of the past manifest in the present and will continue to impact you into the future unless you take action. In this episode I discus the process of to identify and overcoming poverty mindset and other limiting beliefs. Sharing the story of moving out of home at 16, surviving of charity and government handouts, to thriving both personally and financially, whilst being able to ask for and o...

Anger is a useful inner tool to keep us safe and living a life of purpose - only if it is embraced as an ally not a danger. Unfortunately, for some, our childhoods cause us to fear our own anger - rather than using to utilize it appropriately, we instead repress it and turn it inwards, with catastrophic consequences. If this episode has resonated with you, I would love your support . Click here to...