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Sarah goes on to explain the difference between being a narcissist and having an avoidant attachment. While they can sometimes appear similar from the outside, avoidant partners have a deep desire for connection but often push it away out of self-protection. Listen in for a nuanced understanding of attachment wounding and how to find clarity on your own relational dynamics. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction• [00:51] Difficult behaviors don’t always indicate narcissism• [03:15] Understanding the origins of narcissism• [07:54] Why narcissists often seek out codependent partners• [11:50] Repair, ownership, and empathy• [17:39] Common traits associated with narcissism• [19:41] Why you can’t heal someone else’s narcissistic part• [22:08] Healing changes your baseline for love• [25:30] The difference between avoidant attachment and narcissism• [28:20] Why avoidantly attached people want connection and push it away• [31:08] Building capacity for closeness, connection, and intimacy• [34:14] Using your adult self to distinguish narcissism from avoidant attachment• [35:28] Question 1 - How do I heal when family dynamics pull me back into old roles?• [50:24] Question 2 - Is my partner wrong for me if they remind me of a narcissistic parent?• [01:02:43] Question 3 - Is my nervous system reacting to old trauma or something truly unsafe? Get on the Waitlist for Sarah’s 16-Week Program:Ready for tools to heal every area of your life? You Make Sense is a 16-week live program that goes far beyond these weekly podcast episodes to give you powerful somatic exercises and resources to address your nervous system, relationships, younger parts, purpose, boundaries, grief, and more! Click below to get on the waitlist for limited-time reduced pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-yms-waitlist Take Sarah’s FREE Quiz:Feeling stuck in your life? Not sure where to start with somatic healing? Sarah’s free quiz, “What’s Keeping You Stuck,” will equip you with free tools and a personalized guide to better understand your nervous system specific to you. Click below to get started:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quiz Connect with Sarah on:Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoachingWebsite — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes:“When we are in dynamics with a narcissist, we'll notice that there really is no capacity to properly repair.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:11:52] “[Narcissists] are unwilling to see reality in any other way than they see reality.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:12:14] “The more that we heal, here's the beautiful thing that happens: I change my baseline for what love is.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:24:19] “An avoidant attachment is absolutely and completely something that can be healed. Full stop.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:31:07] “What we have to do, if we have an avoidant attachment, is build our capacity for connection, co-regulation, closeness, attunement, intimacy, being exposed, being seen, and being known.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:31:51]

You’ll also learn why protective parts may block you from pursuing what you want, and how healing unfolds through cycles of expansion and contraction as the nervous system gathers evidence that the present is safe. By taking tolerable steps and bringing this work into everyday life, you can build your capacity to navigate triggers and experience more of who you are. Find out why healing can feel so elusive and how to recognize progress even when it doesn’t feel like it. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction• [00:49] The counterintuitive nature of healing• [03:24] The nervous system as the foundation for healing• [10:01] Building your capacity to receive the good• [12:49] How becoming more embodied changes what you tolerate• [14:20] Processing deeper layers of trauma as your capacity grows• [16:05] Resolving coupling dynamics• [20:43] Reconnecting with your needs and deepest desires• [22:20] How healing can change your perception of reality• [23:39] Renegotiating relationships as your needs change• [24:23] Why regulation doesn’t mean never getting triggered• [24:59] The expand/contract experience of healing• [27:12] Taking tolerable steps toward the life you want• [29:10] Healing happens through living, not just therapy• [30:43] Grieving what you lose as you heal• [33:29] Question 1 - What is the connection between physical and mental health?• [37:51] Question 2 - Can healing result in physical symptoms or weight gain?• [43:23] Question 3 - How do I navigate family members who refuse to heal? Get on the Waitlist for Sarah’s 16-Week Program:Ready for tools to heal every area of your life? You Make Sense is a 16-week live program that goes far beyond these weekly podcast episodes to give you powerful somatic exercises and resources to address your nervous system, relationships, younger parts, purpose, boundaries, grief, and more! Click below to get on the waitlist for limited-time reduced pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-yms-waitlist Take the FREE Quiz:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quiz  Last 20%: Workbook Connect with Sarah on:Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoachingWebsite — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes:“It can be really confusing when we hit certain points of the healing process, and what is forward might feel like backward to us.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:01:10] “We have to show, not tell, our nervous systems that we are actually safe.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:10:28] “The good things don't always feel good at first.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:10:39] “The only way to live a fully embodied life is [by having] access to all of the human experience, to all of our feelings, and [by] living in our bodies today. We are not living in the body of a traumatized part of us from the past.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:20:24] “[The goal is] not to orchestrate a life where you never get triggered; it's to know the route out of being triggered.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:24:53] “We heal through our living, not just through being in therapeutic containers.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:29:17]

Much of the catastrophizing we experience is actually a result of protective parts that formed in our early childhood to keep us safe. You’ll learn how to come to the aid of these parts by first accessing your most capable, able adult self. Listen in for a compassionate guide on how to find lasting relief and step toward the thinking patterns you truly desire. Episode Highlights:  • [00:00] Introduction • [01:47] Focusing only on positive or negative• [07:22] Why you may always assume the worst• [15:46] Giving the vulnerable part safety from your adult self• [21:28] Why traditional talk therapy isn’t enough• [28:48] Accessing your adult self• [33:38] The power of internal co-regulation • [40:32] Question 1 – How do I stop sabotaging my healthy relationship?• [51:08] Question 2 – How do I manage fear and anxiety about my health?• [57:51] Question 3 – How do I eradicate the shame I feel about my parts? Get on the Waitlist for Sarah’s 16-Week Program:Ready for tools to heal every area of your life? You Make Sense is a 16-week live program that goes far beyond these weekly podcast episodes to give you powerful somatic exercises and resources to address your nervous system, relationships, younger parts, purpose, boundaries, grief, and more! Click below to get on the waitlist for limited-time reduced pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-yms-waitlist Download the FREE Workbook:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-workbook Connect with Sarah on:Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoachingWebsite — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes:“I can be with what is not okay, and I can still be okay. This can only happen when we are anchored in safety.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:06:56] “When we have a protective part that is anticipating a dangerous future or catastrophizing about how things will go wrong, it is going to put us in a state of dysregulation.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:11:50] “Your protective parts will do anything to ensure the dangers of the past don’t happen again.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:13:55] “We believe thoughts when there is an affect attached to it.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:24:53] “When I experience hard things as adult me, it will never, ever, ever be like the hard traumatic things I experienced as a child because there’s an adult here now. And that’s me. And that is the work that sets us free.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:37:39]

Healing requires more than understanding where our wounds came from. Sarah explores how somatic healing and parts work are necessary components to bringing resolution to painful childhood experiences. By learning to become a steady, regulated presence for yourself, you can begin to release and shift old survival responses. Discover how healing developmental trauma can help you build greater safety within yourself and with the people you love. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction• [00:56] Healing developmental trauma requires a somatic approach • [08:16] Implicit memory and how trauma lives in the body• [10:15] How attachment trauma shapes adult relationships• [15:25] Using somatic parts work to heal attachment wounds• [19:23] Why intimate relationships can activate developmental trauma• [20:57] Becoming the safe, regulated presence your younger parts need• [22:32] Why healing developmental trauma requires consistency and support• [25:13] Relearning connection through nonverbal experiences• [28:37] Question 1 - How do I rebuild my sense of self after parentification?• [35:44] Question 2 - How do I heal abandonment that affected multiple developmental stages?• [44:24] Question 3 - How do I set boundaries as my role within my family changes? Get on the Waitlist for Sarah’s 16-Week Program:Ready for tools to heal every area of your life? You Make Sense is a 16-week live program that goes far beyond these weekly podcast episodes to give you powerful somatic exercises and resources to address your nervous system, relationships, younger parts, purpose, boundaries, grief, and more! Join the waitlist for limited-time reduced pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-yms-waitlist Connect with Sarah on:Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletterInstagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoachingWebsite — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Download the FREE Workbook:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-workbook Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes:“The number one most important thing that a baby or a child needs is a safe adult's regulated nervous system.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:02:05] “Implicit memory is the type of memory that we have when it comes to trauma. It is not orderly, and it lives and is experienced in our bodies and our nervous system.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:08:59] “The reason you struggle in relationships, if you do, is because your system had to adapt to a caregiver who could not successfully securely attach to you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:11:23] “A secure attachment means that you had a caregiver who was predominantly anchored in regulation in their nervous system.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:11:37] “We have to also become the person that our parts feel safe with.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:16:10] “When it comes to healing developmental trauma, our young parts aren't supposed to have to actually do anything, except be picked up and held by us, and for us to say, ‘Let me take what is too much for you.’” — Sarah Baldwin [0:21:59] “You can't piecemeal your healing journey. You have to have support.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:23:40]

We explore the connection between our spiritual nature and the healing process, along with the spiritual and scientific foundations of parts work. Sarah explains how to begin working with your parts and what integration actually means. You’ll be invited to examine your self-protective behaviors with curiosity, compassion, and awareness, which is a powerful step toward deeper healing and a fuller experience of being alive. Your system already knows how to heal; it just needs to be shown the way. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [01:33] Another way to think of spirituality  • [07:28] How the nervous system protects us  • [13:36] Regulating your nervous system  • [16:39] Our spiritual nature • [21:33] The spiritual quality of parts work  • [24:22] The science of parts work • [32:31] Tools to begin working with your parts  • [38:00] What integration truly means  • [43:44] Question 1 - Why does nothing ever seem to pan out in my purpose? • [49:05] Question 2 - How do I take steps forward to actually help my parts? • [53:55] Question 3 - Is parts work beneficial for everyone, including those with personality disorders?  Navigating Your Nervous System is NOW ENROLLING: Want to work with Sarah in a live capacity? The doors are now open to her 6-week live program, Navigating Your Nervous System, designed to help you get into the driver’s seat of your experience and start feeling better on a daily basis. Click below to learn more:https://bit.ly/sp-nyns Download Sarah’s FREE Workbook: Not sure where to get started with somatic healing? Sarah created a FREE trauma-informed workbook called "How To Gain Control Over How You Feel" to help you step toward a life filled with more freedom, ease, and empowerment. Click the link below to download:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-workbook Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “Healing is embodied.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:02:36] “The truth of the matter is when we over-pathologize, we inhibit our healing.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:03:12] “So much of the challenges and suffering we are experiencing is rooted in our nervous system not knowing that the past is over and not knowing that we are safe.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:07:28] “Your system knows how to heal, it just needs to be shown the way.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:40:17] “Healing truly is the most beautiful love story.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:42:34]

You’ll learn about the four primary states of your autonomic nervous system and how each one directly impacts your lived experience. Then, Sarah will guide you through gentle steps to begin accessing your ventral vagal complex, which is the key to living a more free, empowered life. This conversation is a starting point to finding tools and support that lead to lasting change. If there’s an episode not to skip, it might be this one.  Episode Highlights:  • [00:00] Introduction  • [02:50] Understanding your autonomic nervous system • [06:52] Ventral - your state of regulation • [10:57] Sympathetic - your state of mobilization • [15:59] Dorsal - your state of shut down • [17:21] The love story of your nervous system • [23:26] Freeze - your state of tonic immobility • [26:02] Why am I dysregulated when I’m actually safe? • [31:32] The importance of consistent neural exercises • [36:58] Question 1 - Can everyone benefit from a somatic approach?  • [52:13] Question 2 - How can we help our younger parts if we are not regulated?  • [59:06] Question 3 - Where is the best place to start in Sarah’s programs?  RSVP to Sarah’s FREE Live Training + Q&A Series: Ready to take the next step with nervous system healing? Join Sarah for “Unlock the Life You Desire,” a 2-part somatic healing series to help you experience more joy and aliveness, and step toward the purpose that’s calling you. Click below to save your spot (limited time replays available!):http://bit.ly/sp-live-training Navigating Your Nervous System is NOW ENROLLING: Want to work with Sarah in a live capacity? The doors are now open to her 6-week live program, Navigating Your Nervous System, designed to help you get into the driver’s seat of your experience and start feeling better on a daily basis. Click below to learn more:https://bit.ly/sp-nyns Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “Your entire lived experience is rooted in what is happening in your nervous system.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:06:15] “The foundation, not just of all healing, but of a happy life, is that we are primarily anchored in our ventral vagal complex.” —  Sarah Baldwin [0:10:05] “Your nervous system is your most loyal companion. It has never left your side. It is a true and utter love story.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:17:22] “If you’re finding yourself primarily rooted in dysregulation, it is not unsolvable. It is not happening because something is wrong with you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:29:52] “There is no one size fits all for the healing journey.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:37:48]

Instead of seeing these behaviors as flaws, Sarah invites you to view them through a more compassionate lens. You’ll also get tools to regulate your nervous system and reparent your younger parts, so that you can move beyond survival and break free from self-sabotaging cycles. Join Sarah for a powerful episode that will help you see yourself with greater understanding and move toward the life you truly want. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [00:44] Celebrating 100 episodes • [06:46] The purpose of coping strategies and self-sabotage • [08:58] Common coping and numbing strategies • [16:29] Why you shouldn’t instantly remove coping strategies • [18:41] How self-sabotage protects us from what feels unsafe • [20:23] Understanding how the nervous system and parts work together • [22:57] How protective parts keep us from the life we want • [29:00] Reparenting younger parts to create lasting change • [34:00] Question 1 - Why do I pull back after putting myself out into the world? • [39:55] Question 2 - How can I help my teenager develop healthier technology habits? • [48:42] Question 3 - Why do I still self-sabotage when life is going well? RSVP to the FREE Live Training + Q&A Series: Ready to take the next step with nervous system healing? Join Sarah for “Unlock the Life You Desire,” a 2-part somatic healing series to help you experience more joy and aliveness, and step toward the purpose that’s calling you. Click below to save your spot (limited time replays available!):http://bit.ly/sp-live-training Navigating Your Nervous System is Now Enrolling:  Want to work with Sarah in a live capacity? The doors open August 20th for Navigating Your Nervous System — a 6-week, live program designed to help you get into the driver’s seat of your experience and start feeling better on a daily basis. Click below to learn more:https://bit.ly/sp-nyns Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Take the FREE Quiz:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quiz Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “Here's what's important to understand: self-sabotage and coping strategies are not sabotage; they are our nervous system and our protective parts trying to keep us safe.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:07:15] “The purpose of a coping strategy is to numb us or disconnect us from whatever it is that we are experiencing in our body that does not feel good.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:07:28] “Self-sabotage is not meant to destroy your life. Self-sabotage is actually self-protection.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:18:45] “We have to actually build a relationship with these parts of us. Instead of just trying to get out of that prison that we're in and step towards the life we want, we have to turn towards the young people who are inside of that prison with us. Those are your younger parts.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:29:08] “When it comes to coping strategies or self-sabotage, I want you to remember every person on the planet is using these to some degree. You're not alone.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:31:26]

Through personal stories and practical examples, Sarah offers a compassionate framework for recognizing when the past is shaping your perception. She explains the importance of nervous system regulation in accessing your truth and why it is essential to also reparent your younger parts. Listen in to better understand your inner signals and strengthen your ability to recognize and trust yourself. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [00:49] The difference between intuition and a trauma response • [01:33] Why every part holds its own truth • [03:48] How the nervous system determines what is safe • [11:06] Recognizing the markers of a trauma response • [16:04] What intuition actually feels like • [22:28] Learning to access your intuition • [25:19] Question 1 - How can I stop the same thoughts and feelings from returning when I'm dysregulated? • [43:58] Question 2 - How do I know if I'm trusting my intuition or protecting myself in dating? • [51:51] Question 3 - Does healing require feeling every painful emotion from my past? RSVP to Sarah’s FREE Live Training + Q&A Series: Ready to take the next step with nervous system healing? Join Sarah for “Unlock the Life You Desire,” a 2-part somatic healing series to help you experience more joy and aliveness, and step toward the purpose that’s calling you. Click below to save your spot (limited time replays available!):http://bit.ly/sp-live-training Join the Waitlist for Navigating Your Nervous System: Living a full, expansive life starts with nervous system regulation. If you’re looking for practical tools and support on your healing journey, you can now get on the waitlist for Sarah’s upcoming 6-week LIVE program. Everyone on the waitlist receives access to limited-time pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-nyns-waitlist Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “Everything you experience is a truth to a part of you. It just might not be the truth of adult you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:01:38] “When you're in adult you, the you that's anchored in this present moment, that is when you make contact with your truth and your intuition.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:01:48] “If you are not anchored in this present moment, that means that a part of you, a younger part of you, is present in your body. That occurs when we become activated or triggered in our lives.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:02:01] “Too many of us are not following our right life. We are instead going down roads to keep us safe from a past that our nervous system doesn't think is over yet.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:10:31] “When I'm dysregulated, I am not going to inquire about what my truth is in this moment, because I am not actually in this present moment.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:12:36] “The most important thing to understand is that your intuition primarily lives in regulation.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:16:11] “Only when you are anchored in adult you do you know what your truth and intuition is.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:42:50]

Rather than trying to rationalize your way through difficult emotions, Sarah explores the science of why healing begins in the body. She unpacks how the nervous system learns to disconnect from emotions that once felt unsafe, why this protective response made sense in the past, and how gently reconnecting with sensation is an important step in resolving trauma. Through practical examples and compassionate guidance, Sarah shows it is possible to move beyond survival and return to a more fully expressed way of living. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [00:47] Signs you may be suppressing your emotions • [03:39] Why we disconnect from our experience • [07:38] The repercussions of suppressing your emotions • [15:38] Why healing begins by reconnecting with the body • [17:13] Learning to safely move emotions through the body • [23:25] How parts work supports emotional healing • [26:42] Question 1 - How can I safely feel emotions that I'm afraid of? • [30:43] Question 2 - Why does so much anger come out in my relationship? • [35:35] Question 3 - Is it possible to heal from dissociation? Navigating Your Nervous System Opens Soon: Want to work with Sarah in a live capacity? Navigating Your Nervous System is a 6-week live online program designed to help you get into the driver’s seat of your experience and start feeling better on a daily basis. Doors open on August 20th for a limited time:https://bit.ly/sp-nyns RSVP to Sarah’s FREE Live Training + Q&A Series: Ready to take the next step with nervous system healing? Join Sarah for “Unlock the Life You Desire,” a 2-part somatic healing series to help you experience more joy and aliveness, and step toward the purpose that’s calling you. Click below to save your spot:http://bit.ly/sp-live-training Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Take the FREE Quiz:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quiz Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “In order to live a fully expressed life, we need to have access to our ability to not only feel each emotion, but to be present to it and to allow it to pass through us.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:04:36] “For many of us, we are going about our lives having experiences that evoke an emotion, and instead of allowing the emotion to be present, we reflexively push it away. Pushing it away, my friends, doesn't mean pushing it out of us. Pushing it away means stuffing it inside of us.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:07:40] “We can only feel fully seen and known when our internal world is made expressed in our external world.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:15:02] “It is not possible to talk your way into your feelings or talk your way out of what you're feeling.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:15:38]

In this episode, Sarah explores how our nervous system works in tandem with our younger parts to protect us. We must first learn how to recognize who is in our experience at any given moment before we can begin changing unhealthy patterns and breaking free from old survival responses. Listen in to explore how understanding the nervous system can profoundly change the way we experience ourselves and respond to the world around us. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [01:32] How your nervous system shapes your reality • [03:33] How past experiences can distort present-day perception • [07:47] Understanding why your nervous system “time travels” • [13:54] Recognizing when your reaction does not match the circumstance • [16:58] Learning to distinguish your adult self from younger parts • [19:04] Anchoring into adult self to understand your present truth • [23:16] Recognizing when relationship conflict is triggered by past experiences • [33:02] Question 1 - Can fantasizing be regulating for my nervous system? • [45:24] Question 2 - Why do I struggle so much with my husband’s moods? • [54:42] Question 3 - How do I stop comparing myself to other people? RSVP to Sarah’s FREE Live Training + Q&A Series: Ready to take the next step with nervous system healing? Join Sarah for “Unlock the Life You Desire,” a 2-part somatic healing series to help you shift unwanted patterns, find more ease, and step toward the life that’s calling you. Click below to save your spot (limited time replays available!):http://bit.ly/sp-live-training Take Sarah’s FREE Quiz: Feeling stuck in your life? Not sure where to start with somatic healing? Sarah’s free quiz, “What’s Keeping You Stuck,” will equip you with free tools and a personalized guide to better understand your nervous system specific to you. Click below to get started:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quiz Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “Your autonomic nervous system is creating your perception of yourself, others, and the world around you. Essentially, it's creating your reality for you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:01:34] “Everything that you feel is a truth to a part of you; it just might not be the truth of your adult self today.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:07:38] “Why do we want to have a real understanding of whose perception we're experiencing at any given moment? Because if you don't understand this, then you are not going to be driving yourself down the roads that are actually right for you in your life.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:18:03] “Nobody knows what your truth and perception of reality is based in today, except for you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:18:57] “Here's how you know you're in your adult self when it comes to your truth: it will never be black and white; it is nuanced.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:20:40]

In this episode, Sarah explores what it means to anchor into the truth of your adult self and explains why protective parts can make it difficult to see your relationship clearly. You’ll learn why romantic relationships naturally activate unresolved childhood wounds, how partners can reveal the parts of you that still need healing, and how conflict can become an opportunity for repair rather than a sign that a relationship is failing. This episode offers a compassionate perspective on finding clarity and making decisions from your truest self. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [01:19] Why only your adult self knows whether you should stay or leave • [03:29] Recognizing when younger parts are driving your decisions • [07:40] Showing up as your adult self in relationships • [10:25] How romantic partnerships activate unresolved childhood wounds • [15:51] Recognizing relationship triggers as invitations to heal • [20:34] Turning relationship conflict from a battlefield into a garden • [22:31] Why healing requires partners who are safe and willing • [24:39] Anchoring into your adult self in relationships • [28:52] Building the capacity to receive love • [29:56] Knowing when it may be time to leave a relationship • [39:11] Question 1: Should you leave a relationship that began from survival? • [46:33] Question 2: Can you fully heal if your partner isn't doing the work? • [52:53] Question 3: Why do some people sabotage relationships they deeply value? Join the Waitlist for Navigating Your Nervous System: Living a full, expansive life starts with nervous system regulation. If you’re looking for practical tools and support on your healing journey, you can now get on the waitlist for my upcoming 6-week LIVE program. Everyone on the waitlist receives access to limited-time pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-nyns-waitlist Get on the Waitlist for Sarah’s 10-Week Program: Ready for tools to heal every area of your life? You Make Sense is a 10-week live program that goes far beyond these weekly podcast episodes to give you powerful somatic exercises and resources to address your nervous system, relationships, younger parts, purpose, boundaries, grief, and more! Click below to get on the waitlist for limited-time reduced pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-yms-waitlist Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “We have to begin anchoring in our adult self, that is the arbiter of truth, that is your place of knowing.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:06:57] “One of the primary reasons we come together with another person is that we, by design, pick folks who perfectly poke at our unresolved wounding, that is by design, and that is a gift to us.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:10:40] “Your partner poking at those old wounds is not them creating the old wounds.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:17:09] “Your job, not [your partner’s], is to begin rescuing that part of you and reparenting that part of you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:27:03] “What you feel isn't always the truth to adult you; it is a truth to a part of you. Our job is to decipher the difference.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:55:57]

Sarah unpacks how the autonomic nervous system drives repetitive cycles in the way we think, behave, and relate to others, and why simply trying harder is not enough to create lasting change. She explains how early experiences can shape the patterns we unconsciously repeat throughout life and how identifying and reparenting our younger parts can help us shift those responses. By learning to understand and work with these deeper survival responses, it becomes possible to break old cycles and begin creating lasting change from the inside out. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [01:03] Understanding the trauma feedback loop • [03:12] Why we keep repeating the same painful patterns • [08:35] How the autonomic nervous system drives our lived experience • [09:12] The roads of refuge and familiarity that keep us stuck in old patterns • [12:53] Reasons our nervous system resists our deepest desires • [14:55] Why we consistently choose what feels familiar and safe • [17:22] How unresolved childhood experiences shape adult relationships • [19:16] Why awareness alone is not enough to create lasting change • [20:49] How to interrupt the trauma feedback loop and reparent younger parts • [24:57] How to separate present relationships from past experiences • [28:09] Question 1 - Can healing happen when the origin of trauma is unknown? • [31:40] Question 2 - How do we begin healing intergenerational trauma? • [35:03] Question 3 - How does childhood emotional neglect shape the nervous system? Join the Waitlist for Navigating Your Nervous System: Living a full, expansive life starts with nervous system regulation. If you’re looking for practical tools and support on your healing journey, you can now get on the waitlist for my upcoming 6-week LIVE program. Everyone on the waitlist receives access to limited-time pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-nyns-waitlist Download Sarah’s FREE Workbook: Not sure where to get started with somatic healing? Sarah created a FREE trauma-informed workbook called "How To Gain Control Over How You Feel" to help you step toward a life filled with more freedom, ease, and empowerment. Click the link below to download:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-workbook Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “If you aren't in the driver's seat of your nervous system, this vehicle, then it takes over on cruise control, and it begins to guide your life, not you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:11:54] “More often than not, the road of our deepest desires is going to mimic or remind our system of things that were once dangerous in the past, or inhibited for us.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:13:23] “To change the patterns in our lives—it’s not something that you can force yourself into. You can't just say ‘I'm not going to get triggered by that thing anymore’, because being triggered is a subconscious process.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:26:50] “We have to understand what parts are present when [our] patterns get triggered, and we have to reparent those parts. And when we do that, the patterns in our lives change in the most beautiful ways.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:27:04]

For many of us, navigating friendship in adulthood can feel surprisingly complicated, especially when healing starts to change how we connect with people. Sarah unpacks how our nervous system shapes the way we relate to others, why we might experience loneliness during periods of growth, and what it takes to build the kind of community that helps us feel supported and deeply connected. This episode is a timely reminder that finding your people and building meaningful relationships are essential to our sense of connection and belonging. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [01:42] Why no one person can meet all our emotional needs • [04:23] Your relationships as a reflection of where you are in your healing journey • [08:08] How healing and growth change your relational dynamics • [12:51] Why personal growth can create grief and loneliness in friendships • [14:54] The need for flexibility as relationships evolve • [17:35] Why deep connection can feel difficult when the nervous system feels unsafe • [19:13] Building community as an adult and learning to seek connection intentionally • [33:29] Question 1 - Why do I struggle to maintain close friendships? • [37:27] Question 2 - Why do I overshare and feel ashamed afterward? • [46:41] Question 3 - How does nervous system regulation affect the relationships around us? Get on the Waitlist for Sarah’s 10-Week Program: Ready for tools to heal every area of your life? You Make Sense is a 10-week live program that goes far beyond these weekly podcast episodes to give you powerful somatic exercises and resources to address your nervous system, relationships, younger parts, purpose, boundaries, grief, and more! Click below to get on the waitlist for limited-time reduced pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-yms-waitlist Take Sarah’s FREE Quiz: Feeling stuck in your life? Not sure where to start with somatic healing? Sarah’s free quiz, “What’s Keeping You Stuck,” will equip you with free tools and a personalized guide to better understand your nervous system specific to you. Click below to get started:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-quiz Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “We're at a time in our world where I think one of the most undervalued things that we all need is intimacy in platonic relationships.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:00:38] “If we are deficient in having community and having close, intimate, platonic relationships, we are going to feel a sense of loneliness, even if you have an amazing partner, because no one person can be everything to you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:04:08] “Finding friends as an adult is like dating, it really is.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:20:57] “We're supposed to function in a way where we are in community, we are in connection, where you experience intimacy not just with your romantic partner, but you experience deep intimacy with your friends.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:29:28] “The more that you can show up authentically as you—imperfectly perfect—the more it allows people to see you. So, when people see you, and you see them, you experience intimacy; being seen and being known.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:52:06]

So many of us get trapped in these unhealthy cycles because we learned at a young age that achieving was how we earned and received love.  But it’s absolutely possible to shift this. By falling in love with all parts of you, especially those that only feel significant when striving, you will be able to find fulfillment and heal your attachment to ambition. Sarah offers a compassionate guide to letting go of the external quest for ‘enoughness’ and reconnecting to your inherent worthiness. Episode Highlights:  • [00:00] Introduction • [02:00] Ambition as a positive thing vs. ambition as a prison • [05:57] The ramifications of letting ambition take over your life • [11:32] What you actually need to lead a full life • [18:42] What happens when our needs are imbalanced • [24:07] Why you may find your life lacking in fullness • [32:37] Reparenting protective parts around striving and ambition • [39:34] The two things you need to do to start healing • [48:16] Question 1 – How do I make the dating process enjoyable? • [56:47] Question 2 – Can I heal and find my purpose while in a romantic relationship? • [01:06:21] Question 3 – How do I know when it’s time to leave my job? Join the Waitlist for Navigating Your Nervous System: Living a full, expansive life starts with nervous system regulation. If you’re looking for practical tools and support on your healing journey, you can now get on the waitlist for my upcoming 6-week LIVE program. Everyone on the waitlist receives access to limited-time pricing:https://bit.ly/sp-nyns-waitlist Download Sarah’s FREE Workbook: Not sure where to get started with somatic healing? Sarah created a FREE trauma-informed workbook called "How To Gain Control Over How You Feel" to help you step toward a life filled with more freedom, ease, and empowerment. Click the link below to download:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-workbook Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “Purposeful means: ‘I am able to use the skills that I have to provide service for the world, and when I do that, I feel a sense of fulfillment.’” — Sarah Baldwin [0:14:12] “[If] we don’t do this work, it leads to a life that is perpetually lived in a way that lacks the balance that we need to have fullness.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:34:35] “No one can rescue us from our [lives] except for us.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:37:01]

Drawing on somatic healing and parts work, Sarah shares how early experiences and family dynamics become our blueprint for connection and why lasting change requires more than simply trying to choose differently. She explains how reparenting younger parts can shift our baseline for love, helping us build healthier relationships from the inside out, and why healthy partnership is not about being rescued, but about learning to meet yourself first with the love and care you’ve always deserved. Episode Highlights: • [00:00] Introduction • [01:42] Why finding the right partner is not a matter of luck • [06:30] The nervous system as the hidden matchmaker • [09:24] Family roles and the relationship patterns we carry into adulthood • [13:41] Why trying to choose different partners isn’t enough • [14:52] Reparenting younger parts to change your baseline for love • [23:51] Building the capacity to receive healthy love • [26:15] How healing continues after finding the right partner • [29:42] Question 1 - How do I know if I’m co-regulating or just seeking reassurance? • [36:40] Question 2 - Why do healthy relationships feel threatening? • [41:39] Question 3 - How does healing happen within an existing relationship? Get Started with Nervous System Regulation: Ready to make tangible shifts in your life? Sarah’s brand new introductory course, Nervous System Essentials, will equip you with science-backed tools to regulate your nervous system, so that you can experience more freedom and ease in your daily life. Join the course for only $67:http://bit.ly/sp-nse Download Sarah’s FREE Workbook: Not sure where to get started with somatic healing? Sarah created a FREE trauma-informed workbook called "How To Gain Control Over How You Feel" to help you step toward a life filled with more freedom, ease, and empowerment. Click the link below to download:https://bit.ly/yms-sp-workbook Connect with Sarah on: Email Community — bit.ly/yms-sp-newsletter Instagram — instagram.com/sarahbcoaching Website — sarahbaldwincoaching.com Submit a Question:sarahbaldwin1.typeform.com/podcast Quotes: “You think that you are your own matchmaker, but do you know who actually is making the match for you? It is your threat detector.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:08:58] “Whatever our baseline for love was as a child is going to be our baseline for love today.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:13:41] “When you actually fall in love with your parts, what happens is you change your baseline for what love is.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:19:28] “When you draw in that right partner for you, what's going to happen is the last bits of our healing will come to the surface.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:26:17] “When you fall madly in love with the parts of you that are inside of you that are waiting to be loved by you, you will fall madly in love with the person who arrives that reflects that same love back to you.” — Sarah Baldwin [0:48:01]