The ReProgram

Big week y'all! I get to share with you another woman who helped the shiitake out of me when I needed it most: comedian, mother and consciousness commentator Jessa Reed. I can't believe she said yes to recording with me, but she did, and here we are. Jessa shares the wild story of her near-death/death experience in January 2000 and the blue light that told her All about life, and that she could return to help people. We explore her lens on Human Design’s global cycles (from the Cross of Planning to the Cross of the Sleeping Phoenix),centering on the shift from an era built on sacrifice and shared infrastructure to one that favors individual energy, autonomy, and invention. We dive deep into what it means to move from codependent, consensus-driven relationships toward autonomy and interdependence.Jessa describes (in a way I have never heard before) what interdependence looks like at home: feelings belong to each person, requests for support are made directly, and chores flex around different sensory needs. We also discuss her father’s sudden death, how her husband gave her room to grieve, and why giving can be a pleasure instead of a debt to be repaid, and this as the new frequency humans are going to be living in to. This convo is long, but it is deep! I hope you take what you need, and leave the rest, and feel expanded and hopeful about where humanity is going after this convo. I certainly did. You can connect with Jessa and her new offering "Consciousness Kindergarden" on her website here: https://www.jessareed.com/

This week I’m joined by Kelly McDaniel, clinician and author of Mother Hunger, now in a revised edition with new chapters for men, firstborn and eldest daughters, and parents.Kelly names the ache so many of us carry without knowing what to call it. Mother hunger is the longing that can follow missing one or more of three things we need from mothering: nurturance, protection, and guidance. We talk about what nurturance looks like in infancy, through feeding, touch, holding, and proximity, and why consistent care matters so much while the brain is developing.We also explore why our culture’s ideal of independence and the isolated nuclear family can hide what humans are built for, which is connection. Kelly shares how unmet attachment needs can show up in adulthood as anxiety, depression, relationship distress, and disordered eating. Reading her book years ago completely changed the way I look at my relationship with food, as she illuminates how our relationship with food, is essentially our relationship with our mother, and food is our first way to regulate ourselves and manage our nervous system states. I share my own story, growing up with a warm mother and an intimidating father, and what it was like to have love without protection or guidance, a common dynamic in this patriarchal culture. And Kelly continues to warmly gently teach us the ultimate highest power of attachment in our bodies, and a trauma body is formed in a child, and how it is mitigated. Kelly is one of my clinical heroes, and her work has impacted my experience of myself and my mothering deeply. If you’ve ever felt a hunger, an emptiness, chronic unsettledness you couldn’t explain, this conversation is for you.And as I shared in the introduction, my friends as HapBe Valley Farm, are hosting two Mother Hunger retreats in 2027 here in Western North Carolina, you can find more information here: https://hapbevalley.com/mother-hunger-healing-with-horses-retreat/And you can connect with Kelly and her work and resources here: https://kellymcdanieltherapy.com/

Get ready, friends, because this conversation is pure magic! ✨ I sat down with Camille Barton, author of Tending Grief, DJ, movement artist and embodiment social designer, for a joyful deep dive into somatics, grief, and social change.We explore why somatics is so much more than a trauma tool, how grief can soften us and open the door to joy, why rest feels so hard (and why it matters so much), and how caring for our bodies ripples out into a kinder world. I also share a car line story that proves making a silly face can be revolutionary! 😄Hit play, take a deep breath, and come back home to your body with me! 💛And if you want to connect more with Camille's work, you can do so here! https://camillesaparabarton.com/

Why did the early church work so hard to bury the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and what does her message about the divine within have to do with healing today? Okay y’all, grab your tea, because we are diving all the way into Christian mysticism, ego death, and The-Mary-Magdalene-Of-It-All!We are joined today by Chad Smith, a pastor investigated for heresy who was pushed out of his pulpit for being progressive, who then created a church "born in the ashes of evangelicalism" in his backyard during lockdown that grew through Sunday visits to a women’s prison. Chad grew up in evangelicalism and found his way to the mystical roots of Christianity, including the story of Mary Magdalene, whose gospel was suppressed for centuries. We talk about why marginalized communities so often lead spiritual awakening, what religious trauma does to our trust in anything sacred, and why the divine within (not an authority outside of us) may be the key to healing. We get into ego death, non-dual consciousness, shadow work, spiritual poverty in the middle of the American dream, and the places where mysticism and Western science are starting to meet.Plus goosebumps as your consciousness updating what’s possible, why healing without spirituality is like working out without water, and a few divine winks from Dolly Parton herself!You were never meant to heal alone, sweet friend. Your knowing, your authority, and your divine spark already live inside you, and the songs on the radio, the friends who show up right on time, and every butterfly at the window are reaching for you too. Come on in, because the magic is real and it is so ready for you!You can connect with Chad's Church, House of Mercy and the wonderful work they are doing here: https://houseofmercyavl.com/

Happy Spooky Season Everyone! I am kicking off October with the first of several episodes this month themed on the Unseen, what we can experience that we were told wasn't real, and expanding our concept of what is actually around us, available for us, and wanting to connect with us. We are starting the series with local Asheville artist, "Ghost Girls" Podcast host, and wise brave sweetie pie Nicole Marie Leth. I met Nicole last December because she made the jumpsuit of my dreams, I have looked at a couple of postcards she made every single day for all of 2026, and I could just tell she was a wildly interesting deep playful person I wanted to get closer to, but hearing her story absolutely blew me away, grew my Grinchy heart just a little bit bigger, and I know it will for you too. In this conversation, Nicole tells of her journey from childhood trauma to a life of public art and spirituality, and how the unseen support she's felt along the way became part of her healing. We talk about her public art projects, including affirmation quilts and billboards, and what it means to put kindness out into the world where strangers can stumble onto it. We also get into her work with ghosts, which she understands as confused or lost energies, and how that connects to the broader idea of spiritual support that is available to all of us if we're willing to open up to it.Nicole shares what it looks like to trust your emotions and cultivate softness as a source of resilience rather than a liability. We explore how to connect with ancestors and the divine through co-regulation and co-creation, and she offers practical tips for asking questions and following the intuitive nudges that show up in creative projects. We also talk about boundaries and trust in spiritual and emotional relationships, because being open to the unseen doesn't mean being open to everything.And we land on one of my favorite parts of the whole conversation: the power of small acts of kindness and anonymous service to transform lives, including the person doing the giving. At the heart of it, this episode is about the intersection of creativity, healing, and community, and how personal growth and collective growth are tangled up together in the best possible way.If you've ever felt a nudge you couldn't explain, or wondered whether something more is out there rooting for you, this one is for you. Settle in, and happy spooky season!Check out her website for all kinds of creative happies! I will def be shopping from her this Christmas season! https://www.nicolemarieleth.com/