Jackie Faber: Inside My Journey

We’re told that empathy means meeting people where they are.Validating. Understanding. Holding space.And I actually agree with that… but lately I’ve been running into something that doesn’t quite add up.Because what happens when “where someone is” is inside a pattern that’s keeping them stuck?In this episode, I’m breaking down a real moment where the only honest thing I could say was “I understand”… and why that was perceived as cold.We get into:✓ Why most people confuse empathy with agreement✓ How validating the story can reinforce the pattern✓ The difference between understanding someone vs joining them✓ Why “I understand” doesn’t always feel supportive✓ How to tell if someone is actually ready to shift (hint: they ask questions)✓ What it really means to meet someone where they are without abandoning yourselfThis isn’t about withholding empathy.It’s about redefining it.Because real support doesn’t follow someone out of themselves…it holds position while they’re trying to leave.If you’ve ever felt like you’re either enabling someone or invalidating them — this episode will change how you see that dynamic entirely.—Subscribe for more conversations on relationships, nervous system patterns, and why awareness alone doesn’t always create change.Visit my websiteempathy vs enabling, what is real empathy, emotional validation vs reinforcement, why empathy feels cold, relationship patterns psychology, nervous system and relationships, how to hold space without enabling, external orientation relationships, emotional patterns and loops, healthy communication vs validation

I wasn’t planning on recording this episode.But something came up in my own relationship this week that I couldn’t ignore.I found myself in a dynamic with zero pressure — no expectations, no timeline, no need for sex to go anywhere… and yet my body was still tracking everything.Am I taking too long?Am I doing this right?Are they enjoying this?And in that moment, I realized something:This isn’t about who you’re with.It’s about what your body learned sex was.In this episode, I’m talking about how sex can quietly become performance — not because something is wrong with you, but because of subtle patterns, expectations, and dynamics that teach your system to prioritize outcome over experience.We get into:✓ Why you can’t feel pleasure when you’re trying to “get it right”✓ How overthinking during sex disconnects you from your body✓ The difference between feeling vs tracking your experience✓ How performance-based sex develops (especially in heteronormative dynamics)✓ Why changing partners or environments doesn’t automatically change the pattern✓ What it actually means to come back into your body in real timeThis isn’t about fixing yourself.It’s about recognizing what your system is organizing around — and what happens when you start to see it while it’s happening.If you’ve ever felt like sex is something you’re managing instead of experiencing, this episode will hit.—Subscribe for more conversations on nervous system awareness, relationships, and shifting out of patterns that keep repeating — even when you’ve “done the work.”Website: www.findingauthenticity.caperformance anxiety sex, overthinking during sex, why can’t I stay present during sex, women’s pleasure psychology, nervous system and intimacy, sex feels like performance, intimacy anxiety, embodiment and relationships, healing sexual patterns, presence vs performance

Relationships aren’t actually hard.What’s hard is staying with yourself when something gets activated inside of them.In this episode, I break down the real reason relationships feel like work—and why all the communication tools, love languages, and “healthy relationship advice” don’t actually change the experience.Because the problem isn’t the relationship.It’s what happens inside of you while you’re in it.I share real examples from my current relationship—what gets activated, how my nervous system interprets things, and how I used to turn connection into something I had to manage.This episode will help you see:✔ Why “relationships are hard work” is a belief that shapes your experience✔ The difference between being in a relationship vs organizing yourself around it✔ How external orientation keeps you stuck in effort, overthinking, and emotional management✔ What it actually means to stay with yourself when you’re activated✔ Why capacity—not communication—is what changes everythingIf you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything “right” but relationships still feel heavy…this will show you why.—If this resonates, this is exactly what I teach inside the Self Safety Lab—where you build the capacity to stay with yourself instead of outsourcing your stability to relationships.www.findingauthenticity.carelationships, relationship advice, emotional regulation, nervous system, attachment, self awareness, healing, relationship anxiety, personal development, self safety, trauma patterns, emotional triggers, dating, conscious relationships, mindset

Sometimes the thing we’re searching for isn’t something we need to create — it’s something we need to recognize.In this episode, I share the story of how a relationship in my life didn’t suddenly appear… it slowly revealed itself.For years I had been talking about conscious relationships — what they feel like, how they work, and what it takes to build them — even though I hadn’t personally experienced one yet. Then, through two friendships that developed through my platform, I began to notice something deeper about how we relate to others and how life unfolds.What I eventually realized is that the kind of relationship I had been describing for years was already present in my life. I simply hadn’t recognized it because I was attached to what I thought it was supposed to look like.In this episode we explore:• Why traditional relationship frameworks can sometimes feel transactional• The difference between experiential connection and relational connection• How contrast experiences reveal what we’re truly oriented toward• Why attachment to a specific outcome can blind us to what already exists• How embodiment helps us recognize aligned relationships• The deeper idea that life often unfolds through interconnected experiencesThis isn’t an episode about manifesting love.It’s about awareness, recognition, and learning to see what may already be unfolding in your life.Sometimes the next chapter of your life doesn’t arrive as something new.Sometimes it’s something that has been quietly growing beside you the entire time.Explore my work: www.findingauthenticity.caconscious relationships, relationship awareness, personal growth, spiritual growth, recognition and awareness, embodiment, self awareness, relationship alignment, relational connection, experiential connection, spiritual awakening, conscious dating, manifestation vs recognition, personal transformation, life unfolding, quantum possibility, mindset and relationships, human connection, emotional intelligence

There’s a stage of awakening no one really prepares you for.It’s not bliss.It’s not clarity.It’s not “I found myself.”It’s the moment your consciousness expands so quickly that your logical mind can’t keep up.Language lags behind awareness.Identity structures start dissolving.Your brain scrambles to make meaning.And if you don’t understand what’s happening, it can feel destabilizing.In this episode, I talk about the liminal stage of consciousness expansion — the space where you can’t go back to who you were, but you can’t yet articulate who you’re becoming.We explore:Why rapid spiritual growth can feel disorientingThe difference between dysregulation and embodied expansionWhy your brain searches for meaning during identity shiftsHow to anchor into your body when logic stops workingWhat it really means to trust your intuitionIf you’re in a stage where you’re sensing and knowing things you can’t explain… this episode is for you.You’re not losing your mind.You’re reorganizing your perception.And the only true anchor is your body.www.findingauthenticity.caConsciousness expansion, spiritual awakening, identity shift, embodiment, nervous system regulation, intuition, self trust, ego, liminal space, personal transformation.

There are certain concepts in healing that used to infuriate me.“You have to love yourself first.”“Stop outsourcing your safety.”“Let them show you who they are.”At one point in my life, those ideas felt dismissive and invalidating. Not because they were wrong — but because I hadn’t experienced them yet.In this episode, I break down the difference between cognitive understanding and somatic experience — and why so much healing advice creates pushback when your nervous system is still oriented toward survival.We explore:Why intellectualizing healing can only take you so farThe shift from outward orientation (securing safety through others) to inward orientation (self-holding)Why “self-love” means something completely different depending on your nervous system stateHow the same advice can feel threatening in one stage — and peaceful in anotherYou cannot think your way into inward orientation.You regulate your way into it.And once it lands in your body, the same concepts that once felt invalidating finally make sense.www.findingauthenticity.ca/welcomeself love, nervous system regulation, trauma healing, somatic healing, emotional healing, healing journey, self healing, nervous system healing, emotional regulation, trauma recovery, self worth, personal growth, attachment healing, somatic therapy, mental health podcast, self trust, inner healing, embodiment, codependency healing, relationship healing

Love is one of the most talked about — and most misunderstood — concepts in spirituality.Many of us were raised believing love is something we earn, perform for, or receive from other people. Then, if we begin a healing or spiritual journey, we often swing to the opposite extreme and learn that love is something we source from within.But what if both perspectives are incomplete?In this episode, I explore the evolution of love through three stages:• Love as something we seek from others• Love as an internal state• Love as something that moves between peopleI share a personal relational experience that revealed how the concept of unconditional love can sometimes become abstract — and why spirituality often misses the lived, human experience of love inside relationships.We explore the idea of embodied love — where love is not just a state you hold internally, but something that becomes alive through mutuality, participation, responsibility, and shared relational presence.This conversation challenges the idea that love only exists as acceptance or detachment and invites a deeper understanding of how love actually lives, moves, and evolves between two people.If you've ever struggled to reconcile spiritual concepts of love with real human relationships, this episode is for you.Visit my work: www.findingauthenticity.caunconditional love, embodied love, conscious relationships, trauma and relationships, nervous system and relationships, spiritual bypassing in relationships, self sourced love, emotional healing, relationship patterns, mutuality in relationships, embodiment in relationships, love as participation

Loneliness isn’t always a sign that something is wrong.In this episode, I share a personal experience of moving through loneliness that wasn’t rooted in insecurity, dysregulation, or fear — but in embodiment.After a year of deep spiritual exploration, nervous system work, and identity shifts, I began to notice something unexpected: my human had been quietly overlooked. This episode explores how many spiritual and healing frameworks unintentionally bypass human emotion, reframing feelings like loneliness as ego, attachment, or something to transcend.I talk about the early stages of healing, when heightened awareness can feel isolating, the difference between protection and embodiment, and how loneliness can be information pointing toward a life that no longer matches your inner truth.If you’ve ever felt disconnected while doing “everything right” in your healing journey, this conversation offers a grounded reframe.Healing isn’t just about awakening the soul — it’s also about staying in relationship with the human.Explore my work: www.findingauthenticity.caembodiment, loneliness, healing journey, spiritual bypassing, nervous system regulation, authenticity, emotional healing, trauma healing, spiritual awakening, human and soul integration, self awareness, personal growth

Listener note: This episode discusses abuse, trauma identity, and victim consciousness. Please listen at your own pace.This episode explores a difficult and nuanced insight: how victim consciousness can quietly turn into self-righteous narcissism — even within healing spaces.Before diving in, I want to be clear: this conversation is not about denying abuse, minimizing harm, or blaming victims. Abuse is real. Harm is real. And every stage of healing is valid.In this episode, I share a lived experience that revealed how trauma identity, threat detection, and black-and-white thinking can subtly shape perception — and how moral superiority can emerge as a survival strategy when safety is still outsourced.We explore themes such as impact versus intent, projection, self-validation, narcissism as a survival state, and the challenge of holding duality without collapsing into judgment.This is not an easy episode — and it isn’t meant to be. It’s an invitation to reflect on where identity may still be organized around victimhood, and what becomes possible when self-authorship and inner validation begin to take root.If this episode feels activating, you’re not wrong and you’re not behind. Triggers often point to edges that are ready to be explored — when and if you choose.Thanks for listening.Explore my work: www.findingauthenticity.ca

I almost didn’t record this.Not because I didn’t have the outline or the plan — but because starting felt vulnerable in a way I couldn’t logic my way out of.In this first episode, I share why beginning this podcast was difficult, what finally moved me to press record, and the deeper purpose behind this series.This podcast explores healing, trauma, nervous system regulation, personal sovereignty, and spiritual alignment — not as concepts, but as lived experience.Season 1 follows my journey of moving beyond trauma identity, reclaiming self-authorship, understanding energy and perception, and learning how to stop performing healing in order to start living in alignment.This isn’t a polished teaching or a promise of answers.It’s the beginning of a walk — grounded in presence, honesty, and embodiment.Thanks for being here at the beginning.Learn more about my work at: www.findingauthenticity.ca