Sacred Conversations - From Survival to Soul in Everyday Life with Suze Maclaine Pont - Real, embodied conversations with Suze & Jaco about trauma, God, grief, and coming home to your soul

Most people talk about growth as if it’s a straight line.As if healing means moving forward with grace, certainty, and a perfectly curated living room.But the truth is far more human — and far more holy. In this week’s episode of Sacred Conversations, Suze speaks from a place few are willing to show publicly:laundry on the staircase, deadlines pressing against her chest, the mind wanting to collapse or run, and the quiet, unwavering presence of God beneath it all. This episode is a doorway into what it really means to be true — not polished, not perfected, not “on top of things,” but true. It’s an exploration of: The surprising freedom of admitting you don’t know how it will all get done The deep surrender that appears when the mind is screaming to escape What it means to “come out” spiritually — even when it’s the most vulnerable part of you Why your unfolding needs witnesses Why pressure, mess, and uncertainty don’t mean you’re off path How the divine thread pulls us forward even when the survival thread panics What it means to walk a path you didn’t choose — but that chooses you every day The quiet power of letting God show you what your life is capable of This is one of Suze’s most intimate episodes — raw, honest, spiritually grounded, and deeply human.It invites you to breathe again. To stop pretending. To let your soul be met exactly where you are. Because maybe the point isn’t to have it all together.Maybe the point is to stay in relationship with the unfolding — even when it looks messy. If this speaks to you, join us at The Sacred Pause.A 5-day silent nature retreat for professionals who need to stop doing, reset their nervous system, and return to the quiet truth inside.

In this episode of The Suze Maclaine Pont Show, Suze and Jakko explore the deeper meaning of responsibility — not as carrying the weight of the world, but as our ability to respond from the soul rather than from survival. They discuss the three layers of responsibility — personal, interpersonal, and collective — and how trauma often keeps us reacting instead of responding. Through stories from Scripture, marriage, and Suze’s own journey, they uncover how true responsibility begins with nervous system regulation, presence, and belonging. This episode is a profound reminder that humility isn’t hiding, and care isn’t control — it’s the courage to speak, act, and love from alignment with your divine calling. Topics covered: The difference between reaction and response How trauma shapes our perception of responsibility Why true humility is not hiding your light The nervous system as the foundation for soulful leadership How belonging changes the way we serve What it means to speak from your divine calling Mentioned in this episode:The Sacred Pause Retreat — a five-day experience at Suze’s farmhouse in nature for professionals ready to return to simplicity, rest, and soul alignment. Listen now and rediscover responsibility as a sacred practice of presence.

“The point of life isn’t to get it right — it’s to be here for it. Even when it’s messy, even when it’s hard, even when you don’t know how.” — Suze Maclaine Pont In this episode of The Suze Maclaine Pont Show, Suze and her husband Jaco explore a pattern most of us know too well — the constant push to get things done so we can finally rest. What if that drive is actually what keeps us from peace? Through the story of Jacob wrestling with God, Suze reveals how easily we miss the point of life when we rush to fix, prove, and perform instead of being present. Together, they dive into what it means to meet life as it is — to stay curious in the face of pressure, to welcome both joy and sorrow, and to rediscover faith as something embodied, not conceptual. This is a conversation about coming home — to your body, to your faith, and to the sacred simplicity of being alive. Listen if you’re feeling caught between doing and being, striving and surrendering. Stay until the end for Suze’s story of how curiosity became her way of bringing God into everyday life. Highlights: The pressure to finish, fix, or get to the end — and why it’s an illusion. What the story of Jacob wrestling with God can teach us about presence. How external “judgment figures” like Sinterklaas shape our relationship to God. Embodiment, curiosity, and allowing both joy and pain as part of the same flow. The difference between faith as a concept and faith as a lived experience. Suze’s “five-minute vacations” — learning to invite God into every moment.

Have you ever found yourself saying things you don’t mean, watching yourself from outside your body, or suddenly realizing you’ve left the moment completely? In this deeply honest conversation, Suze and Jakko explore dissociation — not as a pathology, but as the body’s intelligent attempt to protect us when emotions feel too big to handle. Through real stories from their own lives and from decades of trauma work, they illuminate how dissociation shows up in relationships, why reasoning never works in the moment, and how to rebuild the inner adult that can stay present with life — even when it hurts. This episode is an invitation to compassion: for the younger parts of you that had no choice but to leave, and for the adult within you who is ready to return. Take the Secret Self-Betrayal Quiz to discover your hidden survival pattern: sabotagerelief.com And if your body is asking for stillness and reconnection,Join me for The Sacred Pause —a five-day immersion to reset your nervous system and come home to God, nature, and yourself.

In this Sacred Conversation, Suze and Jakko explore what it means to live in an age where global crises, violence, and endless news cycles constantly bombard our nervous systems. How do we stay awake without burning out? What does “worry” really mean, and can it even hold a hidden hope? Together they reflect on personal patterns, history, faith, and the deeper truth of our Divine thread — the unbreakable path that allows us to respond to life with love rather than collapse in fear. If you’ve ever felt powerless, overwhelmed by the world, or unsure how to carry both your humanity and your divinity, this conversation is for you. Listen now — and if this touches you, consider joining us for The Sacred Pause Retreat (Nov 5–9, 2025), where we step away from the noise and return to our own divine thread in community and nature. (suzemaclainepont.com)

In this episode of Sacred Conversations, Suze and Jakko open up a question that has followed humanity across centuries: What does it really mean to be human? From the survival threads that shape our nervous system to the divine thread that pulls us into creativity, connection, and God’s movement through our lives — this conversation explores the beauty, paradox, and depth of our existence. We reflect on childhood memories, the contrast that reveals life force, the dance between survival and divine creativity, and the courage it takes to stop numbing ourselves with information overload and instead live fully, here and now. If you’ve ever wondered why we’re here, or how to reconnect to the sacred thread beneath your daily survival, this episode offers an embodied and spiritual entry point. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Why contrast is essential for awareness of life itself How our brain builds survival patterns — and how to step beyond them The divine thread that moves us from day one, and how to recognize it Why hardship and restriction are part of birthing our true potential The role of awe, curiosity, and creativity in living fully human How small, ordinary choices — like dancing, texting a friend, or eating a croissant in the sun — reveal the sacred ✨ This conversation is also a doorway into The Sacred Pause Retreat (Nov 5–9, 2025), where we step away from noise, reset the nervous system, and rediscover what it means to be human in God’s presence. Learn more at Sacred Pause

Have you ever stepped into a room and noticed how quickly your mind starts to judge?Why is she wearing that? Why isn’t he more engaged? Most of us begin from judgment — of others, of ourselves. But what does it mean to move from judgment into honor? In this episode of Sacred Conversations, Jaco and I open the door to a deeper exploration of honor: Honoring ourselves, even when self-doubt whispers. Honoring others — not just the people we love, but those who press our buttons. Honoring creation, life, and God, even when storms knock a tree across the driveway. We share personal stories — including the five-year journey with a neighbor who despised our rooster — and how that conflict became a crowbar, cracking open the walls around our hearts. Honor is not approval. It is not easy agreement. It is belonging.It is the reminder that even in conflict, we are still creation, still loved, still connected to the unconditional thread of God. ✨ Resources mentioned in this episode: Take the Self-Betrayal Quiz: sabotagerelief.com Join our upcoming Webinar this Friday on navigating decisionmaking, trauma and belonging. Explore the Sacred Reset for 1:1 support. Or step into The Sacred Pause Retreat (Nov 5–9) — a five-day immersion to reset your nervous system and return to the essence of who you are. Listen in, reflect, and let this conversation be a gentle mirror for your own journey with honor.

We’re taught to decide with facts, plans, and common sense. But if you scan your life honestly, the moments that shaped everything rarely came from logic. They came as you moved—often before you could explain why. When I was eight months pregnant, I wasn’t “looking” for a partner. My mind had closed that door for five years. Then I met Jakko. A week later he moved in. No logic or spreadsheet could have justified it. Yet it became one of the most right things I’ve ever done. This is the paradox of decision-making: the mind demands certainty; life asks for movement. Your mind wants to hold it all together The mind tries to calculate outcomes and prevent regret. It’s a noble job—safety is its brief. But when we let it run the whole show, we get stuck cycling between options, punishing ourselves for past choices, and postponing the next step until “sure” arrives. It never does. A different way: follow the divine thread Call it God, the Universe, intuition, or the deeper current of life. There is a guidance system that doesn’t speak in bulletproof arguments. It speaks through your body—through contraction and opening, freeze and flow, burden and relief. Here’s a practice that makes this tangible. The Floor-Anchors Exercise Create 6–12 anonymous anchors. On separate papers, someone else writes topics/decisions you’re facing (e.g., “scale team,” “speak publicly about X,” “raise fees,” “rest 30 days,” “move,” “say no to project”). Shuffle them so you can’t see what’s what. Spread them on the floor. Give each page space. Don’t peek. Let your feet choose. Stand where your body wants to stand, not where your mind thinks you “should.” Feel, don’t think. On each page, notice: freeze or flow? urge to lie down? breath opening? pull toward or away? Name the body-state, not the story. Only then reveal. After you’ve felt 3–6 anchors, turn them over and journal what surprised you. What happens is wild. When I did this recently, on one sheet, my body froze—numb, mute. On another, I lay down and exhaled as if an invisible weight fell off. Only after feeling did I flip the pages. The deep-exhale page? “Speak about the big topics you avoid (war, femicide, sustainability).” My mind had all the reasons not to. My body knew it would be a relief for my system—and a truer service. The freeze page? “Share how I read the Bible.” Again, my mind wanted to keep it “out of marketing.” My body showed me where safety work is needed so truth can come forward clean. Why this works Your nervous system is the gatekeeper. If your body doesn’t feel safe, your brilliance can’t land. Feeling precedes language. Truth arrives as sensation long before it becomes a sentence. Clarity follows movement. Once you move (even by standing on paper), your next right step becomes obvious enough to take. “But what if I choose wrong?” I have two truths for you: You will never know the alternative timeline. There is no fair comparison. You can build the capacity to meet whatever follows—so choices stop feeling life-or-death. This is the core of my work: reset the nervous system so you can move without the mind’s punishment loop hijacking you back into control. Try this now Run the floor-anchors this week with 1 decision. Circle the page where your body relaxed most. Take one small action that honors that relief. Notice what opens. If you want a held container to rebuild this safety in your system: Sacred Reset (24h or 4h) — a private, nervous-system reset so the divine thread becomes tangible in your body. Free Webinar (Sept 19): Trusting the Divine Thread—How to Decide Without Burning Out. Save your seat. Timestamps:00:00 — Why logic freezes decision-making04:30 — The floor-anchors exercise (how to do it)12:10 — My “deep exhale” page and what it revealed17:40 — The “freeze” page and hidden safety work24:15 — Building capacity to choose (and keep choosing)31:00 — Decisions, regret, and the myth of the alternate timeline36:20 — How Sacred Reset rebuilds safety so movement is possible

Some headlines should never be normal—and yet our feeds keep repeating them. A woman doesn’t make it home. Children don’t return from school. Your mind tries to file it as “the world out there,” but your body knows better. Your chest tightens. Your sleep lightens. You scan rooms, conversations, and even loved ones for safety. This week on Sacred Conversations, we name what most leaders, doctors, and high-functioning professionals carry in silence: the cost of holding it all when your nervous system doesn’t feel safe—anywhere. Listen now (30–45 min): [Episode: When Safety Breaks — The Hidden Cost of Carrying It Alone]Prefer private help? Send an email with “RESET” in the subjectline to support@suzemaclainepont.com or book your Sacred Reset (4 or 24 hours). The Pain Under the Headlines Women’s reality: For many women, unsafety isn’t just “out there.” It’s historic, close-in, and confusing—made worse when the people we should feel safe with don’t know how to read our no. Men’s reality: For many men, it’s different but no less real—years of swallowed fear, learned hesitation, and a culture that rewards emotional distance while shaming need. Everyone’s reality: We’re under-belonged. We’re armored. And our bodies have learned to carry on by overriding the very signals that would keep us human. This is not a “mindset issue.” It’s nervous system math. Why Smart, Caring People Still Feel Unsafe Your brain can argue with the news. Your body cannot.When you’ve had to be the responsible one—at home, in clinic, in the boardroom—your system adapts: Overgiving → connection through usefulness, not belonging. Overriding → “I’ll deal with it later” becomes “I don’t feel at all.” Overcontrol → safety by managing others, instead of being held. It works—until it breaks. Often quietly. Usually alone. Desire, Power & The Missing Education We rarely teach men (or women) the somatic reality of desire, shame, frustration, and rejection. We moralize it. We meme it. But we don’t teach bodies what safety feels like with other bodies. If you want a different world, here’s the unglamorous truth: Men need men who can hold emotion and call each other in, not out. Women need spaces where “no” is sacred and belonging isn’t earned through usefulness. We all need practice regulating with people—not just alone with a list in a prettier location. The Cost of Carrying the Weight Alone You become the leader who can hold crises—but not silence. You grow a business—but lose access to joy. You love your family—but can’t feel them while you’re “keeping it together.” That isn’t failure. It’s a body that never learned safety in company. What Real Reset Requires (It’s Not a To-Do in the Woods) A true reset is not another solo weekend where you bring your laptop and call it “rest.” It’s a contained, relational nervous-system experience where your body: Feels truly safe (deep co-regulation, not performance). Allows what’s been suppressed (grief, anger, panic—without fixing). Learns a new baseline (peace, clarity, presence that survives Monday). This is the heart of Sacred Reset—available as 4 hours (start here) or 24 hours (sleep over, fully exhale). If You Lead, Please Read This Twice Your team, patients, clients, and family don’t need your performance of strength. They need your regulated presence. The most ethical thing you can do is learn safety in your body, so your leadership stops borrowing energy from panic and starts flowing from Soul. Journal Prompt (Share This With a Friend) Where am I asking rules, plans, or other people’s behavior to create my safety—instead of learning to feel safe in myself, with others? Notice what rises. That’s your next step. Two Ways to Start (this week) Sacred Reset (4 hours, online or in-person): Private, discreet, deep. Reply “RESET” for details or book here. Sacred Reset (24 hours, in-person): Arrive, exhale, sleep, integrate. Your system remembers—and you leave different. Share the episode with someone who holds a lot alone. It might be the most loving thing you do today. Show Notes Women’s safety vs. feeling safe with people we know How men’s socialization hides fear, shame, and desire Why loneliness escalates risk and numbs empathy What schools & leaders rarely teach about the body The thin line between coping and collapse—and how to step back Sacred Reset: why relational safety changes everything Timestamps (example):00:00 Opening & grounding breath03:10 Headlines, bodies & the truth beneath12:45 Men’s fear, desire, and missed education24:30 The cost of carrying alone (at work & home)36:05 What real reset requires44:10 Journal prompt + invitation

You think you’re strong because you keep going.But let’s be honest — strength isn’t staying awake at 3AM solving problems no one else dares to touch.Strength isn’t swallowing your loneliness because “that’s what leaders do.”That’s slow suicide. The Captain’s Dilemma Imagine this: you’re a captain about to set sail across the ocean.Your crew is ready. Your ship is ready. You’ve prepared for months. The weather forecast is clear. And yet — outside of hurricane season, a storm has appeared.Your crew urges you forward.“Chances are slim it will happen again. Let’s go.” But ultimately, the decision rests on you. If you say no, you disappoint everyone. You waste months of preparation.If you say yes, you may lead your crew into a storm. There is no right or wrong answer. Only weight.And that weight sits squarely on your shoulders. This is what it feels like to be the one at the end of the line — the entrepreneur, the physician, the leader.The person who cannot quit. The Price of Carrying It All: Why Leaders Break in Silence Everyone thinks they know the cost of leadership.They assume it’s the risk of failure, the fear of making the wrong decision, the pressure of constant performance. But that’s not the real cost. The real cost is loneliness. No one talks about it.You don’t either. Because who would understand what it’s like to carry the weight of a whole business, a whole family, a whole system on your shoulders? Everyone else has the option to quit. You don’t. You smile at your children, but your mind is already solving problems three steps ahead.You cancel your holiday, again, because “they need me.”You make decisions that no one else wants to own — and then, when things fall apart, everyone looks at you. People call you strong.But strength isn’t staying awake at 3AM replaying every “what if.”Strength isn’t saving everyone else while losing your own life in the process. -> That’s not leadership. That’s self-destruction. The invisible cost?* Deep loneliness.* Losing the connection with the very people you’re doing it for.* A nervous system so overloaded that rest feels dangerous. In this week’s Sacred Conversations, we unpack this truth. Not with quick fixes. Not with leadership clichés. But with honesty, presence, and a reset for your nervous system. Because until you face this cost, it will keep eating away at your health, your relationships, your future. You don’t need another strategy. You don’t need another productivity hack.You need a Sacred Reset. Listen to the episode now, the link to play it is right above this blogpost. The Sacred reset If you’ve been carrying the world alone, Sacred Reset may be the doorway you didn’t know you were waiting for. Click here to see the details and book your Sacred Reset.

What no one tells you about the loneliness, anxiety and disconnection that can hide behind achievement – and how to reset from the inside out. You made it.The clients, the revenue, the home, maybe even the partner and family you once dreamed of.And yet… inside, there’s a quiet emptiness.Something is missing – but you almost […]

Who Holds You While You Hold Everyone Else? The quiet heartbreak of strong leaders and the sacred reset your Soul is asking for. Listen to the Podcast by clicking on the player above If this conversation resonates, your Soul might be ready to uncover what’s quietly been running the show. Start with the Sabotage Quiz […]

Simplicity: The Sacred Trait That Brings Us Home What if simplifying your life wasn’t about decluttering—but about coming home to your soul? In this sacred episode of Sacred Conversations with Suze and Jakko, we explore the soul trait of Simplicity: not as a lifestyle trend, but as a quiet spiritual rebellion against performance, pressure, and […]

Join Suze and Jakko in this deeply personal and insightful conversation about gratitude—not as a mere practice or polite obligation, but as a profound soul trait and nervous system alignment. In this episode, you’ll learn why traditional gratitude practices often fail when trauma is present, and how genuine gratitude is about creating deep internal safety. […]

“Walking With God: The True Path of Humility” Podcast Description: In this deeply personal episode, Suze Maclaine Pont and her husband Jakko explore the profound soul trait of humility. What does it truly mean to walk humbly with God, neither hiding nor inflating ourselves? They share candid reflections and touching anecdotes, unraveling how trauma can […]

The Ache Beneath the Success: A Conversation About Shame, Safety, and Soul In this raw and intimate conversation, Suze and Jaco explore what lives underneath our accomplishments — the places of shame, the quiet longing for safety, and the moments where we sense God most deeply. This is not about fixing, but about meeting the […]

Episode Title: Finding God in ChaosPodcast: Sacred Conversations — From Survival to Soul in Everyday LifeHosts: Suze Maclaine Pont & Jakko SmitLength: 40 minutes ✨ Episode Description In this sacred conversation, Suze and Jakko explore what it means to find God not in perfection or stillness — but in chaos. In the mess. In the […]

“The Divine Thread: Why Your Survival Mode Is Not the Enemy” Podcast: Sacred Conversations with Suze and JakkoRelease Date: June 22, 2025Length: ~55 min ✨ Episode Summary: In this first episode under our new name Sacred Conversations, we (Suze and Jakko) explore one of the deepest truths we’ve been living into: that our survival patterns […]

How Toxic Shame Shows Up—and What to Do About It Podcast: The Suze Maclaine Pont ShowHosts: Suze Maclaine Pont & Jakko Smit Episode Summary:In this intimate and soul-baring episode, Suze and Jakko return to the tender terrain of toxic shame—but this time with a practical lens. Suze shares a deeply personal story about breaking her […]

You Are Not the Problem: The Hidden Link Between Toxic Shame and Burnout Shownotes: Episode Summary:In this raw and real conversation, Suze and her husband Jakko unpack the invisible weight many professionals carry—burnout not caused by overwork, but by toxic shame. They explore how childhood survival strategies, unconscious identifications, and deep guilt systems quietly shape […]