Advertise on podcast: Hard Beautiful Journey - A Podcast For Healing, Personal Growth and Emotional Resilience

A gentle note: This conversation includes discussions of depression, addiction, substance use, and suicide loss. Please take care while listening. In Canada, call or text 988 for suicide crisis support, available 24/7. Have you ever looked at someone and thought they had it all together, without knowing what they were going through behind closed doors? Maybe you’ve been that person. Smiling, showing up, and telling everyone you’re fine when, inside, you’re doing everything you can just to make it through another day. In this deeply personal episode of Hard Beautiful Journey, I sit down with my cousin, Brendan Futrell, for an honest conversation about men’s mental health, addiction, vulnerability, and the courage it takes to speak up. What makes Brendan’s story especially meaningful is that he isn’t sharing it from the other side of his struggles. He’s still in the messy middle. We talk about the pressure men feel to be strong, the shame that can come with setbacks, and the importance of creating space for honest conversations about mental health. Brendan also shares how fitness and healthier daily habits helped him rebuild his confidence, what fatherhood has taught him about emotional openness, and why compassion matters when we don’t know someone else’s story. And through two unexpected stories of kindness, we’re reminded that sometimes the smallest gesture can help another person feel seen. In this conversation, we explore: * Why men often struggle to talk openly about mental health * Addiction, sobriety, and navigating setbacks * How physical fitness and daily routines can support emotional well-being * Fatherhood and teaching children that emotions are okay * The importance of asking for help and supporting one another * Gratitude, compassion, and recognizing the humanity in everyone Brendan reminds us that being strong doesn’t mean keeping everything inside. Sometimes the strongest thing we can do is admit we’re struggling. And maybe, just maybe, hearing his story will give someone else the courage to speak up. Connect with us Tiffany Carson — Tiffany Carson Website Brendan Futrell: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brendan.futrell.3 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brendanfutrell/ I’d love to hear from you. ❤️ Have you ever struggled to tell someone you weren’t okay, or wished you knew how to better support someone you love? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Your words might be exactly what someone else needs to hear today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

My guest today is Taras Machula — hypnotherapist, spiritual regression practitioner, teacher and founder of Healing with Love. At the heart of Taras’s work are two ideas that I absolutely love: Healing Forward and building a Living Legacy. We talk so much about what gets passed down through generations — trauma, fear, shame and patterns we didn’t choose. But what if healing gets passed down too? What if the healing, compassion, wisdom and love we receive changes how we show up for our children, our relationships and our communities? And what if those ripples continue into lives we may never even see? That’s Healing Forward. And then Taras takes it one step further by asking: What can exist because I was here? That’s Living Legacy. And friends...this conversation gets personal too. Taras guides me through an energetic compassion experience that brings up something about my voice that connects directly to my own spiritual awakening nearly seven years ago. In this conversation, we explore: * How losing his father changed Taras’s spiritual path * Why compassion may be where healing begins * What happened during my energetic compassion experience * Learning to trust your intuition — and yourself * Why vulnerability can be a superpower * Healing Forward: how our healing can ripple into other lives * Living Legacy: creating something meaningful because you were here * And one beautiful question: What are you going to do with the healing you’ve received? Maybe healing isn’t only about what we’ve survived. Maybe it’s also about what we choose to do with everything we’ve learned along the way. Heal your heart. Heal It Forward. Build a Living Legacy. Find Taras:Healing with Love + Taras’s work → https://tmachula.com/ And when you’re done listening, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this question: What is something you’ve received — healing, love, compassion, wisdom or forgiveness — that you want to Heal Forward? Can’t wait to hear! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

Have you ever known something deep down — really known it — and then talked yourself right out of it? Friend, this episode is for you. This week I’m sitting down with one of my favorite humans on the whole planet (and my actual bestie), Bonnie Koenig. Bonnie is a tarot mentor, meditation teacher, and somatic breathwork facilitator — and she teaches tarot in a way I’d never heard before. Not as fortune-telling, nothing spooky — but as a mirror. A tool that hands you gently back to yourself and helps you hear the quiet knowing that’s been there all along. We go everywhere in this one. What tarot actually is (and why it gets such a bad rap), the years Bonnie spent genuinely afraid of the cards, and the self-doubt so many of us carry — “I can’t trust this because it came from me.” She shares her cottage story and she lovingly demystifies the cards everyone’s scared of — Death, the Devil, the Tower — which turn out to be some of the most hopeful ones in the whole deck. And then? She reads my three-card pull live on the show. I asked the cards how I can grow this podcast and reach more of you. This is Earth School at its finest: the very thing that was hardest for Bonnie to believe about herself became the exact gift she now gives everyone else. In this episode: * What tarot really is — and the myth that keeps people away from it * Why Bonnie feared the cards for years, and what finally changed * Her very first reading ever — and the 40-year tarot reader who became her friend * The self-doubt thread: “I can’t trust this because it came from me” * The cottage story: how the cards helped her stop spinning * The “scary” cards, demystified with so much love — Death, the Devil, the Tower * Reading with your intuition first (guidebook last!) * A live three-card reading, right here on the show Where to find Bonnie: * BonnieKoenig.com — hop on her email list for a free guide to start reading tarot with just one card * Her six-week private tarot mentorship — learn the cards and your own language with them * Her podcast, Tarot with Bonnie and Peter (with Tarot with Bonnie coming soon!) Come keep this going with us in The Living Room — my community over on Substack. There’s only one door in, and it’s at tiffanycarson.ca. This week’s question — I’ll answer first, then I want to hear yours: What’s something your intuition keeps nudging you about, that you keep talking yourself out of? Take a deep breath with me, let the hard stuff blow away, and go find something today that makes you laugh. Until next time, friends. 💛 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

I signed up for a retreat in Costa Rica to learn how to use my voice. What I didn’t know was that my body had a completely different curriculum in mind! Back in February, I flew into the middle of the Costa Rican jungle for a week-long retreat called Expressions — no spa, no vacay, not even close. And almost the second we drove deeper into those trees, my body went into full revolt. Panic. A migraine that put me in the fetal position. A bone-deep certainty that I was NOT supposed to be there. I had a travel agent lined up. I had my exit planned. I was ready to go. And then Maryn asked me one question…and everything I’d been holding onto came pouring out. In this solo episode, I’m taking you all the way there with me — the panic in paradise, the moment it all cracked open, an eagle I will never forget, and a song I was absolutely terrified to sing out loud. It’s one of the most vulnerable stories I’ve shared on the show, and it taught me that using your voice isn’t always about words. Sometimes it’s about finally exhaling something you’ve been carrying for decades. So here’s the question I want to leave you with: Is there something you thought you’d made peace with long ago that your body still seems to be holding onto? What might it feel like to finally set it down? You don’t have to fly to a jungle to find it. You just have to be willing to go there. Let’s keep going together! The Living Room is our community over on Substack — it’s where we keep these conversations going long after the episode ends. I’ve already shared my answer in there, and I’d love to hear yours. Head to the “Chat” area in Substack. You can sign up easily at https://tiffanycarson.ca/ And before you go, take one more deep breath with me. Let the hard stuff blow away, and go find something today that brings you joy or makes you laugh. Until next time, friends. 💛 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

What if you died...and came back with instructions? My guest today, Dr. Holly Porter, spent 70 days in the hospital after COVID took her to the very edge — respiratory failure, two intubations, sepsis. And somewhere in the middle of it all, she crossed over. She had a life review. And she came back carrying a message that has honestly not left me since we talked: “Love ‘em where they’re at.” Not fix them. Not judge them. Not drag them to where you think they should be. Just love them, exactly where they are. This one hit close to home for me. Because years ago, standing on a beach in the hardest season of my own life, and thinking about my brother in the height of his addiction, I was given almost the exact same words: "Love him through it." And that shift changed everything between us before he passed. So when Holly shared the message she was given on the other side...it made the one I heard feel even more real, even more important. Like it was being validated right there in front of me. Two different women, two different hard seasons, the same instruction: just love them. In this episode, Holly opens up about her near-death experience and what her life review showed her about love and purpose. She shares the assignments she was given on the other side — the nonprofit she was told to start (and got running in 25 days!), the business deal she was told to walk away from, and the book she was nudged to finish, Near Death SHIFT: What Dying Taught Me About Life, Business, and Purpose, released on 11.11 — the very date she walked out of the hospital. But we don’t stop at the miracle. We go into the hard beautiful middle of it: her “two years of hell” after surviving, the grief of losing her singing voice, learning that surrender is the hardest part of her own SHIFT framework (Surrender, Hope, Intuition, Faith, Transformation), and the heartbreak of loving her daughter through addiction — including the truth so many families carry quietly: sometimes grieving someone who is still living is harder than grieving someone who has died. We talk about intuition and trusting your “knowings,” how to stop living in victim mode, why her hardest lessons taught her she can do hard things, and the one thing she’d say to anyone lying in their own version of a hospital bed right now: pray — because on the other side, she saw the thousands of people who were praying for her. This is a conversation about resilience, healing, grief, faith, hope, and the lessons our hardest seasons come to teach us. It’s about spiritual awakening, personal growth, and finding purpose after everything changes. 💛 Your Living Room question this week, inspired by Holly’s life review: If your life flashed before your eyes today, what’s one small, ordinary moment of love that you’d want to see again? Share yours below on this episode. I’ll post mine first! Find Holly: * Everything in one place: linktr.ee/hollyporter * Website: hollyporter.com * Book: NearDeathSHIFT.com * Nonprofit — Adventure Bucket Wish Foundation: AdventureBucketWish.org * Instagram: @hollyporterinternational * Her near-death story in full: search “Holly Porter near-death” on YouTube This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

Have you ever had something happen you just couldn’t explain away? You called it a coincidence, a fluke, your imagination...but some little part of you knew better. My guest today — my very first guest of this new season — is Isabeau “Beau” Maxwell: internationally recognized medium, spiritual teacher of eighteen years, author of Cracking Open: Adventures of a Reluctant Medium, and founder of The SAGE Method and The SAGE Circle. She’s also — plot twist — one of my very first teachers. And when her name showed up in my email asking to be on MY podcast? I’m not gonna lie, friends...I squealed like a little schoolgirl. And the story of how she ended up here? I’m not spoiling it. Beau tells it right off the top, and all I’ll say is: you cannot make this stuff up. In this conversation, Beau shares her hard beautiful journey — from math-and-science skeptic to medium to teacher — and the lessons she’s gathered along the way: * The moment at thirty-two that cracked her world open * How to tell if that nudge is real — and why intuition gets louder when you finally listen * Ground, Clear, Protect: her free, three-step daily practice you can start today * Your life’s blueprint: what’s already written, what’s yours to create, and why your hardest seasons might be part of the curriculum * Why manifesting is something you are, not something you do — the teaching that gives this episode its name — plus the two words to say when a little magic shows up * The wave of conscious-creator energy Beau says is arriving this August, and how to ride it Find Beau:🔮 The SAGE Method + The SAGE Circle → thesagemethod.com📖 Cracking Open: Adventures of a Reluctant Medium✨ Create Your Destiny — her 3-part live workshop series, Saturdays August 8, 15 & 22 → https://www.thesagecommunity.com/cyd-workshops🎥 Medium on the Move — her new series, check it out on YouTube And when you’re done listening: I have a question waiting for you in The Living Room — What nudge have you been given, and keep ignoring, thinking it’s not real? I’ll post my answer first. Can’t wait to hear what yours is! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

Well, hello there, friends — yes, it’s really me. Mic on, headphones on, coffee in hand. After months away, Hard Beautiful Journey is officially back. In this short and sweet comeback episode, I’m catching you up on where I’ve been (spoiler: life got very lifey — a graduation, a season of softball head coaching, and a whole lot of cocooning after finishing my breathwork and somatic coaching training) and why I waited until I could show up for this podcast with my whole heart. I’m also sharing the question that’s been living in me all these quiet months — the one this whole show is built around now: What if life’s hardest seasons weren’t only something to survive...but something to learn from? I’m introducing you to Earth School — my belief that before we ever landed in these bodies, our souls signed up for the lessons and experiences of this lifetime. That the hard things aren’t random. That they’re curriculum. And that we’re not meant to keep them to ourselves — because the hard parts of our stories are exactly what someone else needs to hear to feel less alone. In this episode: * Where I’ve been, and why I didn’t come back until I was truly ready * The nudges from my peeps (my guides and angels) that kept getting louder...and the one two weeks ago I could NOT ignore * What Earth School is, and why I believe our souls signed up for these lessons * Why we share the beautiful parts of life so easily — and tuck the hard parts away * The new layer coming to every conversation on this show: what did it teach you? * Where everything lives now: the podcast, the weekly newsletter, and a new space called The Living Room Next week: the story of the nudge I couldn’t ignore. Trust me — it’s worth the wait. Come find me: 🏠 Home base: tiffanycarson.ca 💌 Substack (podcast, newsletter + The Living Room): iamtiffanycarson Hard Beautiful Journey is a podcast about finding joy again after grief, heartbreak, loss, and life’s biggest transitions — through honest conversations, spiritual insights, breathwork, and healing practices. A space for understanding your soul’s lessons and creating a life filled with hope, meaning, and joy. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

Grief can shatter the world as we know it - but it can also become a doorway to love, connection, and transformation. In this powerful conversation, grief specialist, thanatologist, and author Ligia M. Houben shares how losing her father at 12 years old shaped her life’s mission and led to her remarkable framework, The 11 Principles of Transformation®. Ligia opens up about losing her beloved mother at almost 101 years old, the healing power of rituals, the overlooked grief of losing “the person you used to be,” and why understanding your thoughts, presence, and emotional expression is essential on the grief journey. If you’re moving through loss - whether death, divorce, identity changes, transitions, or the loss of who you used to be - this conversation will wrap around your heart. Connect with Tiff: Instagram: @iamtiffanycarson Website: ⁠www.tiffanycarson.ca⁠ Connect with Ligia:Website: https://ligiahouben.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ligiamhouben This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

Mother-daughter relationships are beautiful, complicated, and sometimes…dramatic (trust me, I once called the cops on my mom in high school). In this episode, I sit down with Tes and Holly, the inspiring mother-daughter duo behind Heart to Heart Gatherings, to talk about boundaries, speaking up with love, and how even the hardest moments can lead to deeper connection. We explore finding your voice, setting loving boundaries, and growing through change - no matter what season of life you’re in. Connect with Tes & Holly here:Heart-to-Heart Website and waitlist sign-up for adult daughters and their mothers who might like to join an upcoming circle. [email protected] / gatherbetter.co [email protected] / http://we-hearyou.com (documentary Holly produced!) ✨ Connect with Tiff: Website: www.tiffanycarson.ca Instagram: @iamtiffanycarson This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

Are you showing up in your life…or just getting through the day? In this powerful episode, bestselling author and TEDx speaker Marcy Axelrod joins me to explore how we’re designed to thrive - and why most of us are just barely there. Based on neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology, her model of Showing Up is transforming how people live, lead, parent, and heal. We talk about how to recognize when you’re off path, the simple shifts that change everything, and how to come back to yourself - even 1% at a time. 🔗 Learn more about Marcy: https://choosetoshowup.com 📲 Connect with Tiff: https://tiffcarson.com + @iamtiffcarson This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

What if your world started to disappear - literally? At nine years old, Laura Bratton was told she would go blind. But instead of letting that diagnosis define her, she chose to build a life of purpose, grit, and gratitude. In this heartfelt episode of Hard Beautiful Journey, Laura shares how she turned a life-altering challenge into a calling to help others. We talk about what it means to truly choose courage, how to move forward in the unknown, and why gratitude might just be the game-changer you didn’t know you needed. 💛 Connect with Laura: Website: https://laurabratton.com Ubi Global: https://ubiglobal.org Book: Harnessing Courage ✨ Connect with Tiff Carson: Guided Meditation & Weekly Newsletter: https://tiffcarson.com Instagram: @iamtiffcarson This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

What if your body was speaking to you—and you just didn’t know how to listen? In this episode of Hard Beautiful Journey, I sit down with Inna Segal, bestselling author of The Secret Language of Your Body, to explore how physical pain is often rooted in emotional trauma, suppressed energy, and ancestral patterns. Inna shares how healing begins when we reconnect with the body's innate wisdom and tune in to its messages. If you're carrying chronic pain, burnout, anxiety, or inherited grief, this episode will show you a powerful new way forward. 🎧 Tune in for a conversation that blends intuition, somatic healing, and radical honesty. Connect with Inna: 🌐 www.innasegal.com 📘 @innasegal on Instagram 📖 Book: The Secret Language of Your Body (available wherever books are sold) Connect with Me (Tiff): 🌐 www.tiffcarson.com 📸 @iamtiffcarson Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro: Can your body speak? 2:11 – Inna’s healing journey and the origin of her book 6:34 – Pain as the body’s language 10:50 – Emotional energy + physical symptoms 15:05 – Why the mind often lies 21:30 – Generational trauma and the body 30:18 – Healing from chronic pain 37:20 – Tools for reconnecting with your body 44:15 – Inna’s message for anyone struggling 48:00 – Closing reflections with Tiff This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

Have you ever wondered why overgiving feels like love, but leaves you burned out and resentful? In this powerful episode, psychotherapist and author Dr. Zoe Shaw joins me to explore the roots of complex shame, the hidden cost of people-pleasing, and how to create emotional safety in your relationships and within yourself. We break down the real meaning of codependency, how to set boundaries without guilt, and why your deepest strength is often found in your most painful places. Dr. Zoe’s new book, Stronger in the Difficult Places, is a must-read for anyone ready to stop abandoning themselves in the name of connection. 💥 Key Topics: Complex shame vs. simple shame Emotional safety in relationships Overgiving as a form of control Boundaries, resentment & self-worth Healing through vulnerability and community ✨ Let's ask the real question: Are you showing up from love, or fear of disconnection? Chapters & Timestamps: 00:00 – Welcome + Meet Dr. Zoe Shaw 02:00 – Why Dr. Zoe left traditional therapy for bigger impact 04:40 – How fear nearly stopped her from speaking 07:10 – Why the relationship with yourself is the hardest 09:15 – Cracked cups & complex shame 14:00 – How shame shows up in your daily life 17:30 – Why external compassion doesn’t always work 19:30 – The process of untangling shame 24:00 – Overgiving = control? Let’s talk about it 26:00 – The hidden cost of people-pleasing 28:00 – If they’re not okay, are you still okay? 30:00 – What emotional safety really means 33:00 – Boundaries, rejection & freedom 36:00 – Sisterhood and the healing power of community 37:30 – How to spot where your shame lives 39:00 – What Dr. Zoe is grateful for today 40:30 – Final reflection + free meditation + newsletter invite 🌐 Connect with Dr. Zoe Shaw: Website: drzoeshaw.com Instagram: @DrZoeShaw Book: Stronger in the Difficult Places (available for pre-order now) 💛 Connect with Tiff Carson: Website: tiffcarson.com Instagram: @iamtiffcarson This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

This episode gave me a whole new perspective on the ego - and how it shapes everything from our healing to our relationships. I sat down with bestselling author and ultra-consciousness guide Daphne Michaels, and we dove into quantum awareness, energy healing, and how to live from the part of ourselves that’s already whole. We talked about ego collapse, how to raise your vibration, and why healing is really just your heart surviving your life. Whether you're brand new to these ideas or already deep in your healing journey, I promise - this one will meet you where you're at. Timestamps: 0:00 – Welcome & Reflection 2:10 – Daphne’s Spiritual Awakening at 19 5:30 – What an Ego Collapse Really Feels Like 10:00 – How the Ego Keeps You Emotionally 7 Years Old 13:45 – Healing Begins with Feeling Safe 18:00 – Quantum Awareness Explained Simply 22:00 – Real Stories of Energy Healing That Work 28:00 – Healing the Heart: Emotion, Trauma & Energy 34:00 – The Power of Micro-Acts of Healing 38:00 – Releasing Ego in a Noisy, Competitive World 44:00 – The SHB Movement: Living with Higher Consciousness 50:00 – Final Reflections & Takeaways CONNECT WITH DAPHNE: Website: daphnemichaels.com Instagram: @theshbmovement YouTube: @DaphneMichaels CONNECT WITH TIFF: Free Guided Meditation: tiffcarson.com The Weekly Exhale NewsletterInstagram: @iamtiffcarson This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com

What if the very thing you've been holding back - your voice - is actually the key to your healing? This week on the podcast, I sit down with vocal alchemist and teacher Maryn Azoff to explore the incredible healing power of sound, chanting, and expression. Maryn’s Vocal Transformation Method helps people reclaim their voice - not just to speak, but to feel, heal, and connect. We talk about voice blocks, body memory, and even the parts of sound that make us squirm (hello sensual sound 👀). And yep…I was left speechless multiple times. On a podcast. About voice. 😂 This episode made me wish I’d started this work years ago - and now I’m inviting you into it too. Chapters & Timestamps: 00:00 – Episode Intro 02:00 – Maryn’s take on what the voice really is 06:00 – The accident that changed everything 12:30 – The healing power of humming 15:45 – Tiff’s own voice blocks 20:00 – Sound, sensuality & shame 28:00 – Chanting & chakra reprogramming 36:00 – Healing generational trauma through sound 44:00 – Reclaiming our range and resonance 53:00 – Final sound practice + I AM ritual 1:05:00 – Gratitude & closing Maryn’s Info: Website: https://vocaltransformation.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vocal_transformation Connect with Tiff: Free Guided Meditation: https://tiffcarson.com Weekly Exhale Newsletter: https://iamtiffcarson.myflodesk.com/qkccrin7qz This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamtiffanycarson.substack.com