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I had the easiest, fastest, most magnetic launch of my life, and less than 48 hours later, I was flat on my back with mastitis, unable to lift my head off the pillow. Obviously, I had questions. In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m taking you inside one of the most bonkers weeks I’ve had in a long time. I decided to relaunch The Coven, abandoned the sales page format that made my insides scream, created the whole thing in a PDF instead, and watched the first group fill almost immediately. Everything felt easy, aligned, and so freaking fun. Then, just as I was ready to ride that momentum into the rest of my work, my body abruptly took me out. What began with me Googling the spiritual meaning of a clogged milk duct turned into a much bigger conversation about upper limits, physical recalibration, and what can happen when your life begins expanding faster than your body can integrate it. Was this overgiving and burnout, or was I experiencing the physical aftermath of stepping into a much bigger version of my life and work? And what if getting knocked on your ass doesn’t always mean you’re moving in the wrong direction? This episode is part chaotic voice memo, part business celebration, and part spiritual investigation into the moments when everything is blooming and falling apart at the exact same time. We’re talking about honoring the pause without turning it into a failure story, holding joy and frustration together, and getting curious about whether the disruption in front of you might actually be part of the initiation. In this episode, I explore: What made The Coven launch feel so easy, magnetic, and alignedFollowing your energy instead of forcing a business strategy that creates resistanceThe upper limit problem and why expansion can trigger physical or emotional disruptionThe spiritual meaning of mastitis, clogged ducts, and blocked nurturing energyHow the body responds during identity evolution and major life transitionsSpiritual initiation, energetic recalibration, and the “sacred reset”Why getting knocked down doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on the wrong pathHonoring your body’s need for rest without turning the pause into a failure storyHolding success, joy, illness, frustration, and uncertainty at the same timeRecognizing the seasons of planting, blooming, expansion, and integrationTrusting yourself when outside explanations don’t fully resonateGetting curious about disruption instead of immediately retreating into old patterns Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Join the Coven: Learn more and claim your place here.Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by entrepreneur, author, and personal branding expert Colleen Nichols for a candid conversation about mixing business and politics, finding and using your voice online, and why choosing to remain “neutral” is anything but. Colleen has spent years helping entrepreneurs become more human on the internet, but as the political landscape has grown increasingly impossible to ignore, her work has expanded to include what happens when being authentic also means being willing to say what you believe. We talk about the very real fear that comes with speaking out: losing followers, upsetting customers, disappointing family, being misunderstood, or discovering that people you care about fundamentally disagree with you. Colleen doesn’t pretend those consequences aren’t possible. Instead, we explore what can exist on the other side: deeper trust, stronger alignment, a more connected community, and the relief of no longer performing a watered-down version of yourself to keep everyone comfortable. In this episode, we explore: Why staying neutral in business, politics, and social justice is never truly neutralHow to speak about politics online without turning your entire platform into a political accountFinding your voice as an entrepreneur, business owner, leader, and human who cares about the worldThe fear of losing followers, customers, friends, or family when you share your beliefsWhy values-led marketing can create greater trust, connection, and alignment with your audienceHow changing your mind publicly is a sign of growth—not hypocrisy or failureNavigating criticism, online backlash, vulnerability hangovers, and the discomfort of being misunderstoodSmall, practical ways to speak up online, in your business, and during everyday conversationsWhy what you are doing right now reflects what you would have done during other defining moments in history Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Colleen: Visit Colleen’s websiteFollow Colleen on InstagramFollow Colleen on ThreadsFollow No Shame Sales Game on InstagramRead Don’t Make It Weird: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Being Human on the Internet Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

We are living through a time of profound unraveling. The pace and weight of what is happening around us can leave our attention scattered, our nervous systems overwhelmed, and our energy stretched across far more places than we ever consciously chose. We want to remain awake to the wounds of the world and contribute to meaningful change, but we cannot continue showing up if we are constantly depleted, dysregulated, and disconnected from ourselves. In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial-equity educator, intuitive healer, and clinical social worker Michelle Cassandra Johnson to discuss her newest (and, as she calls it, witchiest) book, You Are Protected: Invoking Spiritual Support to Sustain Your Energy. Michelle shares how spiritual protection can help us draw our energy back, return to our center, and discern what is ours to carry in a moment when everything feels urgent. This is not protection rooted in fear, defensiveness, or disconnection. It is about strengthening our spiritual resources so we can remain openhearted, fully alive, and engaged for the long haul. Together, we explore ancestral healing and how to call upon healthy, well, and benevolent ancestors, especially when our blood lineages feel complicated or painful. Michelle offers that the more-than-human world as another place to begin, reminding us that the elements, ancient trees, bodies of water, and the earth itself are living ancestors available for relationship and support. We also talk about spiritual hygiene, energetic boundaries, micro-adjustments that interrupt our habitual overgiving, and the deceptively simple question that can return us to our power: What is mine right now, and what is not? In this episode, we explore: Spiritual protection and daily energetic hygieneHow to recognize energy leaks and prevent burnoutCreating boundaries while navigating caregiving and unavoidable responsibilitiesAncestral healing and connecting with benevolent ancestorsWorking with nature and elemental energies as spiritual supportStaying engaged in activism without becoming depleted or dysregulatedDiscerning “what is mine right now—and what is not”Reclaiming witchcraft, magic, ritual, and spellwork as healing practicesCalling on archetypes, animal allies, deities, herbs, crystals, and other protective resourcesRemaining grounded as you outgrow old identities and encounter other people’s projectionsProtecting your energy so you can remain fully alive and continue showing up for collective change Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Michelle Cassandra Johnson Visit Michelle’s websiteFollow Michelle on InstagramListen to the Finding Refuge podcastExplore Michelle’s books Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

Many of us learned that goodness was attached to obedience, obedience to approval, approval to belonging, and belonging to safety. Before long, we became experts at reading the room without ever learning how to read ourselves. Even as grown women, we can find ourselves self-censoring, overexplaining, and organizing our lives around what our parents, friends, communities, or people on the internet might think. This isn’t a simplified “f**k what they think and do whatever you want” conversation. It is an invitation to notice who is sitting on the imaginary board of directors for your life. Whose approval are you seeking? Whose needs are you prioritizing over your own? And why are you giving your power to people—or systems—that may not even know how to wield their own? You can remain in relationship, consider other perspectives, and take in all the information in the world without surrendering your authority. The deeper work is learning to filter those voices through your own lived experience and intuitive knowing, so you can build a firmer foundation within yourself, reconnect with what you know, and bring your power and magic home. In this episode, I explore: How purity culture shapes women even outside organized religionThe connection between obedience, approval, belonging, and emotional safetyWhy women learn to read the room before learning to read themselvesHow fear of judgment leads to self-censorship and overexplainingThe parents, friends, communities, and systems holding an imaginary vote in our livesThe difference between considering other perspectives and surrendering your authorityQuestions to help you identify where you are outsourcing your powerRebuilding self-trust and reconnecting with your inner knowing Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

What if your spiritual practice didn’t require another elaborate ritual, expensive collection of crystals, or unchecked box on your already-overwhelming to-do list? In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Molly Donlan—author of Mundane Magic: A Lazy Witch’s Guide to Hacking Your Brain, Building a Daily Practice, and Getting Stuff Done and co-host of the Demystify Magic and Science of Reiki podcasts—to explore how we can weave magic into the ordinary tasks we’re already doing every day. At the heart of Molly’s work is a beautifully simple idea: your spiritual practice does not need to become one more thing you feel guilty about neglecting. Mundane magic invites us to transform washing dishes, folding laundry, mopping floors, clearing clutter, and tending our homes into accessible rituals for mindfulness, intention, nervous-system regulation, and connection. These practices are designed for real people, real schedules, and even the squiggliest ADHD brain days—when your energy is low, life is chaotic, and the bar needs to be low enough to trip over. Together, we unpack why discipline and self-criticism rarely create sustainable change, how perfectionism and purity culture can sneak into spiritual spaces, and why making something simpler does not make it less meaningful or magical. This conversation is an invitation to stop performing your spiritual practice, release the pressure to do it all, and begin noticing the sacredness already woven through your everyday life… because when you learn to find a nugget of magic in the mundane, your entire life can become a ritual. In this episode, we explore: How Molly evolved from a skeptic of all things “woo” into a Reiki practitioner, witch, spiritual teacher, and bestselling authorThe science behind Reiki, energy healing, mindfulness, and other magical practicesWhy understanding the nervous system can make spiritual practices feel more accessible and effectiveWhat “mundane magic” means and how to find magic in everyday life and how to turn washing dishes, folding laundry, cleaning, decluttering, and other household chores into spiritual ritualsADHD-friendly spiritual practices designed for low-energy days and “squiggly brains”Why discipline, shame, and self-criticism rarely create sustainable habits or meaningful changeHow novelty, intention, and dopamine can make dreaded chores easier and more enjoyableThe ways perfectionism, capitalism, patriarchy, and purity culture can infiltrate spiritualityWhy your spiritual practice should support your life instead of becoming another place to performDeconstructing cultural beliefs about witchcraft, magic, darkness, and what it means to call yourself a witch and how choosing your own labels can become an act of authenticity, identity reclamation, and personal powerHow retraining your brain to notice moments of magic can change the way you experience your home, relationships, work, and everyday lifeGiving yourself permission to grow publicly without needing to appear fully healed, certain, or “finished”How finding supportive spiritual community can become a catalyst for self-discovery and personal growth Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Molly: Download Molly’s free Mundane Magic meditationsExplore Molly’s websiteLearn more about Mundane MagicFollow Molly on InstagramFollow Molly on TikTokWatch Molly on YouTube Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m reflecting on what it means to finally arrive in a version of yourself you are no longer afraid to let other people see. After years of deconstructing inherited beliefs, questioning old identities, moving through grief, and learning to sit with both my light and my darkness, I’m entering a season that feels different: rooted, integrated, and ready to hold the fullness of my voice, my power, my magic, and the mission I know I’m here to carry. After spending a weekend surrounded by women in agriculture, entrepreneurs, former clients, and fellow rural women, I was reminded that there is no single right way to be a farm wife, a mother, a business owner, a leader, or a human being. Radical authenticity asks us to step outside the roles, rules, and expectations we inherited, and to stop allowing the fear of rejection, judgment, or not belonging to keep us from becoming who we truly are. But choosing yourself never affects only you. One woman’s decision to say yes to an opportunity, follow an unconventional path, start a business, change the way she parents, question an inherited belief, or live more honestly can create a ripple effect through families, friendships, businesses, and entire communities. We may never see where that ripple ends, but our courage to go first becomes a permission slip for someone else to begin. This episode is an invitation to trust your becoming, let yourself be fully seen, and remember that your radical authenticity carries power far beyond your own life. You are allowed to take everything apart, rebuild it differently, and create a life that feels true to you… even when the path hasn’t been paved and not everyone understands where you’re going. In this episode, I explore: What it means to become fully integrated and allow yourself to be truly seenRadical authenticity as a pathway to self-trust, freedom, and personal growthMoving beyond the fear of judgment, rejection, and no longer belongingDeconstructing inherited beliefs, social conditioning, and limiting expectationsWhy there is no single right way to be a woman, mother, farm wife, entrepreneur, or leaderLearning to embrace both your light and your shadowThe difference between intellectually knowing who you are and being ready to embody itFinding the courage to follow an unconventional or unpaved pathHow saying yes to yourself gives other women permission to do the sameThe ripple effect our choices create within families, friendships, businesses, and rural communitiesWhy living authentically can become an act of leadership and generational changeTrusting your identity evolution—even when other people don’t understand itCreating a life rooted in your truth rather than society’s rules Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Episode 160 | When the Breakdown Becomes the Breakthrough: What My Body Taught Me About Grief, Energy & TrustSign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by New York Times bestselling author and historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez to discuss her new book, Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made. Kristin reveals how the seemingly harmless products, stories, aesthetics, and slogans consumed by generations of women carried deeply embedded ideas about femininity, domesticity, capitalism, race, religion, and political power—and how white Christian women were not merely shaped by this culture, but helped create and sustain it. Together, we trace the surprising connections between positive thinking, prosperity theology, multilevel marketing companies, Christian consumer culture, and the expectation that a “good” woman should remain beautiful, grateful, submissive, and endlessly optimistic. We explore how these systems offered women belonging, identity, influence, and community while also making that belonging conditional—and why doubt, anger, grief, questions, and conversations about systemic injustice were so often dismissed as personal failures or dangerous negativity. Kristin’s work invites us to see more clearly what shaped us, reckon honestly with what we helped create, and begin asking: Is this who we want to be… and what do we want to build instead? In this episode, we explore: How white Christian women shaped American religion, culture, consumerism, and politicsThe hidden history behind the “Live Laugh Love” version of white Christian femininityHow New Thought, positive thinking, evangelical Christianity, and prosperity theology became intertwinedThe “good Christian woman” ideal of beauty, submission, domesticity, gratitude, and self-sacrificeWhy MLM culture became especially influential among white Christian women seeking income, identity, purpose, and communityHow belonging within evangelical communities can feel deeply loving while remaining conditional upon loyalty and conformityThe difference between the realities of rural life and the performative tradwife aesthetic sold onlineHow nostalgia for an imagined, morally pure past can fuel authoritarianism and Christian nationalismThe symbolic role of white womanhood within patriarchal visions of the Christian family and Christian AmericaHow the gospel of positivity discourages conversations about systemic racism, structural inequality, and racial justiceWhy religious deconstruction often involves grief, isolation, identity loss, and the rebuilding of an entire worldviewHow women can reckon with their complicity in harmful systems without losing compassion for themselves or others Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Kristin: Learn more about Kristin and her work at kristindumez.comExplore and preorder Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They MadeSubscribe to Kristin’s newsletter, Du Mez ConnectionsFollow Kristin on Instagram and Threads Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

There comes a point in a woman’s becoming when the identities that once helped her survive begin to limit how fully she can live. Being the good girl, the responsible one, the peacekeeper, or the high achiever may have earned you safety, belonging, and approval, but eventually, those same identities can become the ceilings of your expansion. You may have built a beautiful life filled with people and work you genuinely love, yet still feel an inexplicable ache beneath it all: a restlessness, a tightness, a sense that the woman you have been can no longer carry you where you are going. In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m exploring the descent that begins when good-girl conditioning and lifelong performance stop working. Drawing from my own experience with postpartum depression, identity loss, religious and political deconstruction, spiritual awakening, and the long process of becoming someone new, I share why personal growth rarely feels like the shiny, upward evolution we’ve been promised. Sometimes becoming yourself feels more like dying. It asks you to grieve old identities, walk through uncertainty, meet the parts of yourself you were taught to fear, and remain in the darkness long enough for something more honest to emerge. We’ve been conditioned to treat difficult seasons as problems to solve quickly, but not every season is meant to be rushed, optimized, or transformed into an inspiring lesson. Sometimes the darkness is the initiation. It strips away the need to be good, palatable, productive, and universally understood, revealing the self-trust and sovereign power that performance could never give you. This episode is for the woman standing between who she was trained to be and who she knows she is becoming; the woman learning that she is not falling apart, but being initiated into a deeper, freer, more fully embodied version of herself. In this episode, I explore: How good-girl conditioning teaches women to seek safety, belonging, and approval through performanceWhy the identities that helped you survive can eventually become the ceilings of your personal growth and expansionThe hidden ache of outgrowing a beautiful life that still looks good from the outsideWhy becoming your authentic self can feel like falling apart, losing yourself, or experiencing an identity deathThe descent between good-girl performance and feminine sovereigntyMy experience with postpartum depression, identity loss, grief, and emerging from a prolonged season of darknessHow religious deconstruction, political awakening, and spiritual evolution can unravel the person you were taught to beWhy healing and personal transformation are not always linear, positive, or meant to be rushedThe difference between self-improvement rooted in performance and growth rooted in freedom, self-trust, and authenticityHow difficult seasons can become initiations into deeper self-awareness, embodied power, and sovereign leadershipReleasing the need to be palatable, universally understood, or responsible for everyone else’s experience of youLearning to trust the messy, uncertain space between who you were and who you are becomingWhy meeting your darkness, emotional depth, intuition, and power is essential to reclaiming your whole selfWhat it means to emerge from the unraveling as a freer, more sovereign, fully initiated woman Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Learn more and sign up for VeilFallEpisode 189 | The Wild & Waking Journey: RiseSign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by bestselling author and spiritual teacher Tracee Stanley for a conversation about living ritual, presence, purpose, and what it means to recognize the sacredness already woven into our everyday lives. Tracee’s newest book, Living Ritual: Infuse Each Day with Purpose and Spirit, offers an invitation to move beyond the idea that spiritual practice has to be elaborate, time-consuming, or separate from the rest of our lives, and instead discover the small, meaningful ways we can bring intention and devotion into the moments we’re already living. We talk about ritual as an antidote to so much of what defines modern life: distraction, disconnection, isolation, and the feeling that we’re constantly moving without necessarily knowing what we’re moving toward. Tracee shares how even the smallest rituals can help us slow down enough to notice what is here, reconnect with ourselves, and remember our relationship to something larger than ourselves. This isn’t about adding another practice to the never-ending list of things we “should” be doing, it’s about shifting the way we inhabit the life that is already unfolding around us. Ultimately, this conversation is an invitation to remember that the Divine isn’t waiting for us somewhere outside of our ordinary lives. It is already here - in our relationships, our homes, our bodies, our connection with nature, and the tiny moments we so easily overlook. You don’t need hours of uninterrupted time or a perfectly curated spiritual practice to live with greater purpose and spirit. Sometimes, you simply need to slow down long enough to notice the sacred that has been dancing alongside you all along. In this episode, we explore: What ritual really means and how it differs from habits, routines, and performative spiritual practicesHow to create simple daily rituals and micro-rituals that bring more meaning, presence, and intention into everyday lifeCreating accessible spiritual practices for householders, mothers, caregivers, and people living full, busy livesHow ritual can become an antidote to distraction, disconnection, isolation, and lack of purposeThe relationship between ritual, mindfulness, presence, and nervous system regulationHow everyday moments can become opportunities to connect with the sacred and the DivineThe power of nature connection and seasonal living as pathways back to ourselves and our interconnectednessHonoring the cycles of birth, death, rebirth, transition, and change rather than resisting the seasons that feel uncomfortableHow ritual can help us reconnect with purpose, meaning, belonging, and our relationship to something greater than ourselvesThe importance of honoring ourselves in every season of life, rather than waiting until life feels peaceful or perfect to practice presence Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Tracee: Visit Tracee Stanley’s WebsiteFollow Tracee on InstagramFollow Tracee on ThreadsExplore Living Ritual + Get the Free Ritual Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In Episode 213 of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by manifestation coach, former public policy researcher, and speaker Sridaya Srivatsan for a fascinating conversation about identity, influence, and the stories shaping the way we understand ourselves and the world around us. Together, we explore a question most of us rarely stop to ask: Are your beliefs actually yours—or are they inherited ideas you’ve repeated so many times they now feel like truth? We explore identity repatterning, manifestation, and the disorienting space between who you have been and who you are becoming. Sridaya shares how the identities we inhabit shape what we believe is available to us and why changing our thoughts intellectually isn’t always enough when our bodies are still holding old survival patterns. This is where spirituality, psychology, somatic healing, and science begin to meet. This conversation is an invitation to examine the stories beneath your beliefs without shame, release identities that no longer fit, and consciously choose what you want to carry forward. Because you are not required to remain loyal to a version of yourself built from inherited expectations, outdated information, or the need to belong. You are allowed to change your mind, rewrite the story, and become someone new. In this episode, we explore: How family, culture, religion, social media, and societal conditioning shape our identity, worldview, and subconscious beliefsWhy facts alone rarely change minds, and how belonging, emotional safety, morality, and confirmation bias influence what we believeThe psychology of disinformation, political polarization, online influence, echo chambers, and social media algorithmsHow inherited beliefs, childhood conditioning, and survival patterns silently shape our relationships, careers, choices, and sense of selfHow to recognize when an identity, belief system, or personal narrative no longer aligns with who you are becomingWhy changing your mind or questioning long-held beliefs can feel like grief, identity loss, or a spiritual ego deathIdentity repatterning and how to rewrite limiting beliefs without rejecting the version of you who developed themA more grounded approach to manifestation beyond positive thinking, vision boards, toxic positivity, and “high-vibe” spiritualityHow to question your beliefs without shame, reclaim your personal agency, and consciously choose the stories shaping your realityWhat it means to develop generational emotional intelligence and create meaningful change within yourself, your family, and your community Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Sridaya: Join the Manifestation ClinicFollow Sridaya on InstagramConnect with Sridaya on Threads Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m sharing a beginner-friendly introduction to the Wheel of the Year - a seasonal calendar shaped by the solstices, equinoxes, ancient traditions, and natural rhythms of the Earth. After spending the past year learning about and experiencing each seasonal celebration for myself, I’m walking you through all eight sabbats: Mabon, Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, and Lughnasadh. As a farm wife living in rural Illinois, so much of the Wheel feels deeply familiar: planting, growth, harvest, release, dormancy, and beginning again. It offers a framework for noticing what is happening in nature and considering how those same cycles are unfolding within our motherhood, work, creativity, relationships, identities, and personal evolution. This episode is an invitation into seasonal living, nature-based spirituality, and a more intentional relationship with time without requiring elaborate rituals or any particular spiritual identity. The Wheel of the Year reminds us that nature doesn’t bloom all year, and neither do we. There are seasons for beginning, growing, gathering, releasing, grieving, resting, and waiting for the first spark to return. In this episode, I explore: What the Wheel of the Year is and how its eight seasonal sabbats connect us with the natural rhythms of the EarthThe solstices, equinoxes, and ancient Gaelic festivals that form the modern Pagan calendarA beginner-friendly overview of Mabon, Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, and LughnasadhThe history, folklore, themes, symbols, colors, foods, rituals, and seasonal intentions associated with each sabbatHow modern traditions overlap with ancient seasonal customsWhich familiar Wheel of the Year names, stories, and traditions are ancient, modern, or a blend of bothSimple ways to honor each seasonal threshold without elaborate rituals, expensive supplies, or claiming a particular spiritual identityHow seasonal living and nature-based spirituality can deepen our relationship with the Earth, our intuition, and the passage of timeWhat the cycles of planting, growth, harvest, release, dormancy, and rebirth can teach us about motherhood, creativity, identity, and personal evolutionWhy we were never meant to bloom, produce, expand, or feel the same in every season Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Learn more and sign up for VeilFallThe Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Rhythms by Fiona Cook and Jessica Roux — A beautifully illustrated, family-friendly introduction to the eight seasonal celebrations, with stories, meditations, scavenger hunts, crafts, recipes, rituals, and simple ways to connect with nature throughout the year.Llewellyn’s Sabbat Essentials Box Set — A collection of eight books—one for each sabbat—offering a deeper look at the history, lore, rituals, recipes, crafts, correspondences, prayers, and traditions associated with Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Samhain, Yule, and Imbolc.Your Spacious & Seasonal Year by Ashley Burnett, with contributions from Lela Shields — A beautiful guide and workbook for living more intentionally alongside nature’s rhythms, featuring seasonal rituals, reflections, recipes, and practices designed to bring greater connection, meaning, spaciousness, and joy to everyday life.Demystify Magic Podcast — A grounded, approachable podcast exploring magic and spirituality in ways that feel practical and accessible. Their Wheel of the Year holiday deep dives are especially helpful if you want to learn about each sabbat individually as it arrives.Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined once again by author, energy intuitive, soul guide, and dear friend Kelsey Anderson for a conversation about intuition, self-trust, creative surrender, feminine power, and what it means to let the veil fall between who you have been conditioned to be and who you have always known yourself to be underneath it all. Kelsey joins me on the heels of releasing her new book, The Signal: Listen to Your Intuition Through the Noise of Modern Life, a grounded and deeply reflective guide for learning how to discern intuition from fear, conditioned beliefs, overthinking, and the constant noise of modern life. Together, we explore intuition not as something mystical that exists outside of us, but as an inherent language of the soul that has been with us all along. We also talk about spiritual perfectionism, the pressure to make every intuitive practice elaborate or sacred, and the small everyday moments that can become portals back to ourselves. This conversation also opens into the deeper reclamation at the heart of VEILFALL, the immersive Samhain retreat Kelsey and I are co-creating in the mountains of Montana. We talk about darkness and light, ancestral healing, feminine magic, wild rebellion, and the power of being held in community while the old identities, expectations, and beliefs begin to fall away. This is an episode for the woman who is ready to stop searching outside of herself, trust the voice beneath the noise, and remember that her magic was never missing. It was simply waiting for her to listen. In this episode, we explore: How to tell the difference between intuition, fear, overthinking, and conditioned beliefsRebuilding self-trust after years of looking outside yourself for certainty, validation, and answersWhat it means to listen to your inner knowing through the noise of modern lifeKelsey’s intuitive and creative process behind writing The SignalReleasing perfectionism and trusting divine timing when bringing creative work into the worldThe difference between primal fear and expansion fear—and how fear can become a guide toward growthWhy intuition is not something outside of you, but an inherent language of your soulHow to recognize intuitive nudges, spiritual downloads, clear senses, and psychic informationPractical ways to strengthen intuition and self-trust in the middle of motherhood, work, relationships, and everyday lifeMoving beyond spiritual perfectionism, rigid rituals, and the pressure to “do healing right”Creating small, sustainable spiritual practices that fit into real lifeWhy your purpose is not one fixed destination, but something expressed through the way you live each dayReclaiming feminine power, sovereignty, self-expression, and the parts of yourself you were taught to hideThe connection between intuition, ancestral healing, feminine magic, and collective awakeningLearning to hold both light and darkness without abandoning either part of yourselfThe deeper meaning behind VEILFALL, our immersive Samhain retreat in the mountains of MontanaThe transformational power of women gathering in intentional communityLetting old identities, expectations, and limiting beliefs fall away so you can return to who you have always been Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Kelsey: Visit Kelsey’s websiteExplore her offerings and resourcesOrder The Signal on AmazonDownload her free Intuition Foundations GuideFollow Kelsey on InstagramRead her SubstackWatch her on YouTube Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Episode 159 | Soul-Led Living: Intuition, Embodiment & Your Call to Rise in the Collective Awakening with Kelsey AndersonSign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

Four years, 210 episodes, two more babies, one podcast rebrand, and countless conversations that have changed the way I understand myself, my work, and the world around me. In this four-year anniversary episode of Wild & Waking, I’m looking back at the podcast journey that began with Gather in Growth (back when recording my first episodes felt like standing naked on a street corner) and reflecting on what became possible because I was willing to do it scared. As I scroll through four years of episodes, I can see my personal growth and identity evolution unfolding in real time: confronting my addiction to achievement and approval, returning to therapy, navigating entrepreneurship and motherhood, moving through two unexpected pregnancies, deconstructing inherited beliefs, reclaiming my spirituality, rebuilding self-trust, and becoming increasingly willing to ask bigger, braver questions. Some things have changed completely. Yet, the desire to gather women around honest conversations about growth, identity, purpose, and possibility has remained at the heart of this work from the very beginning. I also reflect on the power of curiosity, consistency, community, and shared women’s wisdom. This podcast has never been about pretending I have everything figured out; it has been a place for us to explore personal development, healing, spirituality, social conditioning, and what it means to create an authentic life together. Through conversations with women around the world, we’ve found language for experiences we thought we were alone in, encountered ideas our families and communities may never have introduced us to, and given ourselves permission to decide what resonates, what doesn’t, and what we want to explore next. More than anything, this episode is an invitation to measure backward and recognize just how much can change in four years. Whatever is calling you… a creative dream, a business, healing, motherhood, deeper relationships, or an entirely new way of seeing yourself… let this be evidence of what can grow when you start before you feel ready, show up imperfectly, and give yourself permission to evolve along the way. In this episode, I explore: Four years, 210 episodes, two more babies, and the evolution from Gather in Growth to Wild & WakingWhat becomes possible when you start before you feel ready, do it scared, and continue showing up imperfectlyLooking back at personal growth, identity evolution, motherhood, entrepreneurship, therapy, spiritual deconstruction, and rebuilding self-trustThe surprising difference between what has completely transformed and what has remained true from the very beginningWhy curiosity has been one of the most powerful catalysts for healing, awakening, and changeCreating a podcast rooted in exploration and honest conversation rather than pretending to have all the answersThe transformative power of women sharing lived wisdom, language, ideas, and experiences with one anotherHow community and meaningful conversations remind us that we aren’t as alone as we believeConsistency, courage, and the willingness to let your message evolve alongside youMeasuring backward, recognizing how far you’ve come, and remembering just how much can change in four yearsGiving yourself permission to begin, build slowly, and become someone you cannot yet fully imagine Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Episode 001│Do It ScaredSign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In Episode 209 of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Jack Thomas, a self-taught regenerative farmsteader, food and homesteading educator, printmaker, writer, and founder of ACRE, the Agrarian Co-Learning & Resiliency Exchange. Together, we explore what it means to build a resilient, politically conscious agrarian life beyond the tradwife fantasy - and why growing food, raising animals, baking bread, caring for the land, and creating a softer life do not have to come packaged with right-wing politics, patriarchy, or religious fundamentalism. Our conversation digs into the tradwife pipeline, political identity in rural America, class consciousness, white privilege, vibes-based voting, and the contradictions between the policies many rural voters support and the values they practice in their own communities. Jack offers a compelling leftist alternative to tradwife culture: a life rooted in food resiliency, domestic meaning, agrarian skills, mutual aid, political freedom, and interdependence. We also talk about why farmers need healthcare and economic security, how political messaging shapes rural identity, and what it really takes to change hearts and minds without abandoning nuance, safety, or personal boundaries. We also explore the loneliness of being queer, progressive, liberal, or leftist in agricultural and rural spaces and the importance of creating politically aligned communities both online and in real life. Jack shares the vision behind ACRE (Agrarian Co-Learning & Resiliency Exchange), their upcoming UnTrad podcast, and the possibility of building rural communities centered on co-learning, preparedness, food sovereignty, creativity, and collective resilience. This episode is an invitation to stay open, resist becoming calcified in our beliefs, hold both sacred rage and whimsy, and keep building the world we actually want to live in - one garden, conversation, community, and tiny tomato at a time. In this episode, we explore: Jack’s evolution from a conservative upbringing in rural Georgia to life as a queer, AuDHD leftist farmsteader in VermontCareer reinvention, identity evolution, and the “career ego deaths” that helped Jack connect art, education, regenerative agriculture, and community buildingHow COVID disrupted the cultural checklist and sparked personal, political, and professional awakeningThe rise of the tradwife movement and why its promise of softness, certainty, domesticity, and belonging can feel so seductiveReclaiming homemaking, food production, homesteading, and slower living without embracing patriarchy or right-wing politicsThe anti-tradwife alternative: food sovereignty, mutual aid, political agency, interdependence, and agrarian resilienceHow class identity, poverty, grit, white privilege, and rural culture shape political beliefsThe disconnect between rural values, voting patterns, and policies affecting farmers, healthcare, labor, and economic securityThe loneliness of being queer, progressive, liberal, or leftist in rural and agricultural spacesWhy politically aligned community can create safety, belonging, and more honest connectionThe vision behind ACRE, the Agrarian Co-Learning & Resiliency ExchangeBuilding online communities that lead to real-life relationships, regional gatherings, and mutual supportJack’s experience with political de-radicalization and helping people question inherited belief systemsJack’s upcoming UnTrad podcast and its vision for a more inclusive, resilient agrarian futureResisting ideological calcification and staying open to growth, change, and small ego deathsHolding sacred rage and whimsy at the same time Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Jack: Learn more about Jack’s work, writing, and agrarian community: Join ACRE, the Agrarian Co-Learning & Resiliency ExchangeUse code WILDANDWAKING20 to receive 20% off an annual ACRE membershipRead Jack’s writing on SubstackFollow Jack on InstagramConnect with Jack on Threads Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m sharing honestly about a season of postpartum depression, anxiety, identity loss, and the strange loneliness of feeling like the woman you used to be is suddenly very far away. This is not a story about being unable to function. It is a story about smiling, making memories, singing in the car with your kids, and still feeling crushed beneath the weight of thoughts that no longer feel like your own. I talk about what it has been like to return to therapy, to recognize high-functioning postpartum depression, and to grieve the version of myself who once felt so clear, energized, healthy, and connected to her work. After two unexpected pregnancies, years of unraveling and deconstruction, and another season of two under two, I am facing the truth that there is no going back to who I was before. There is only the work of becoming someone new. This episode is for anyone navigating postpartum mental health, identity shifts, deconstruction, loneliness, motherhood, or a season where the person you used to be feels almost unrecognizable. We talk about asking for help, finding meaningful community, holding hope for the version of life that is still ahead, and continuing to commit to the woman you are becoming, even when you cannot fully see her yet. In this episode, I explore: The buildup of postpartum anxiety, intrusive thoughts, hopelessness, and the moment you realize you need supportReturning to therapy after years away and the vulnerability of asking for help when you already feel overwhelmedWhy gratitude does not cancel out grief, and how a beautiful life can still feel unbearably heavyThe identity loss that can come with motherhood, postpartum, and being needed so completelyGrieving the version of yourself who once felt energized, clear, healthy, ambitious, and deeply connected to her workLoving your children wholeheartedly while still struggling with the reality of your current seasonThe tension between motherhood and meaningful work, especially when your work is a source of life force and purposeWhy being financially supported, deeply loved, or well resourced does not make your pain less validThe loneliness of deconstruction, changing beliefs, and outgrowing relationships or communities that once felt like homeHolding the grief of what is happening in your personal life alongside the weight of what is happening in the worldLearning to hold joy and despair, beauty and heartbreak, gratitude and resentment, without forcing one to erase the otherThe small, brave actions that can move you toward the next version of your lifeContinuing to commit to the woman you are becoming, even when she still feels far away Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Episode 205 | A Listener-Inspired Q&A on Wanting More, the In-Between, Being Witnessed, and the Avalanche of AwakeningSign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to [email protected] or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More