Circle This

Good Mess Media

CIRCLE THIS, The Anti-Small Talk Podcast.

Deep, playful, and intimate conversations shedding light on how to create magic and meaning in our everyday lives. Andrea Bendewald invites her circle of friends which include innovators, authors, entrepreneurs, healers, and artists, to share their stories and practices for building and nurturing authentic relationships. These discussions, like circles, are an antidote to the loneliness epidemic, providing tangible evidence of our shared humanity, and guidance for cultivating deeper connections.

Thank you for listening, sharing, and being a part of our expanding circle.

Circle This is executive produced by Andrea Bendewald, and Emily Kratter. Edited, produced and distributed by Tracey Thomas and Good Mess media
Photography by Cathrine White

Stay connected with our Circle This Team:

@andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace

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#74
Tuesday · 51 min
Remembering The Future with Dre & Em
After taking August off, Dre and Em are back and ready for the newness of a new cycle of the school year to begin. In this welcome-back episode, they catch up on wedding-planning chaos, experiments in intentional living, and the practices that helped them get out of autopilot and come back to connection. They share about a 30-day meditation challenge, unexpected lessons in accountability, community, and the power of deciding how you want to feel before the day even begins. Em shares the Rockefeller Center moment that changed her relationship with her phone—and made her realize just how much of the actual world she was missing while looking at a screen. Dre introduces a meditation she's been exploring in circles, "remembering the future" and considers what if we could look at a future vision the same way choose to look back on a memory, and use the feeling of that future self to guide the choices we're making right now? Dre leads Em (and all of us!) through a meditation traveling between past, present, and future to uncover the through-line of our own stories—and perhaps find a little more peace in the present moment. Welcome back to Circle This. -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia For sponsorship inquiries circlethispod@gmail.com If you loved this conversation, listen next to our episode with Tal Rabinowitz, "Trust the Signs: Transition Your Career and Powerfully Manifest." It is beautifully aligned with everything explored here.
#73
July 28 · 1 hr 52 min
The Life You Were Built For with Julia Gabor
What if the experiences that shaped you—even the painful ones—weren't detours at all, but preparation for the life you're here to live? This episode will leave you thinking differently about your past, your purpose, and the healing power of genuine human connection. In this episode, Dre sits down with educator, speaker, and Kid Grit co-founder Julia Gabor for a deeply honest conversation about childhood loneliness, resilience, emotional intelligence, and the surprising ways our greatest struggles can become our greatest contribution. Dre and Julia grew up in New York City, and their circles have remained connected through the years, bringing a love, history, and genuine chemistry to this conversation. Julia shares the remarkable story of growing up far too fast, raising herself through family dysfunction, addiction, and instability before dedicating her life to helping children, teachers, and communities build emotional resilience through authentic human connection. Together, she and Dre explore why loneliness has become one of our greatest modern epidemics, why emotional intelligence may be the most important skill we'll ever teach, and how storytelling can transform shame into purpose. This conversation is about much more than education. It's about learning to stop asking, "Why did this happen to me?" and beginning to ask, "How did this prepare me for the life I'm here to live?" If you've ever wondered whether your past still defines you—or whether it might actually be pointing you toward your purpose—this episode is for you. Follow: @julesfrmnyc Learn More At: https://kid-grit.com/ -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#70
July 14 · 1 hr 15 min
The Courage to Trust Yourself with Rosa Blasi
In this episode, actress, author, therapist, and addiction specialist Rosa Blasi joins Dre for an honest conversation about intuition, reinvention, accountability, grief, and the courage to trust yourself. Together they explore why so many of us ignore our instincts, how feelings of "not enough" quietly shape our lives, and what it actually takes to break old patterns instead of simply understanding them. They dive into the connection between the healing arts and the creative arts, the courage to tell the truth about your life, and why building self-trust often begins with keeping the smallest promises to yourself. This is a conversation about owning your voice, following your inner knowing, and remembering that your next chapter doesn't begin when life changes, it begins the moment you decide to trust yourself. Follow: @therosablasi Learn More At: www.rosablasitherapy.com -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#71
June 30 · 1 hr 55 min
Demystifying Modern Men with Davide De Pierro
Davide De Pierro has become one of the internet's most thoughtful voices on love, heartbreak, and modern relationships as he willing asks questions many of us quietly carry. In this conversation, we circle around modern masculinity, loneliness, dating, and the stories we tell ourselves about love. Along the way, an even bigger question emerges: What are we really searching for? Is it permanence...or presence? Together we explore why chemistry isn't the same as emotional capacity, why endings aren't always failures, and how our desire to matter shapes the way we love, choose partners, and imagine our future. Thoughtful, funny, and unexpectedly moving, this conversation reminds us that perhaps a life well lived isn't measured by how long something lasts, but by how fully we show up while it's here. Follow: @davi87dp on IG, and see bio to purchase audio book and tickets for his tour! -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia For sponsorship inquiries circlethispod@gmail.com
#70
June 16 · 1 hr 30 min
The Power of Possibility: Healing the Stories That Shape Us with Jim Curtis
In this episode, Dre sits down with transformational coach, hypnotist, and author Jim Curtis to explore how our subconscious stories shape the lives we create. Jim shares his own journey through chronic illness, heartbreak, isolation, and reinvention, revealing how some of life's most difficult moments became catalysts for profound transformation. Together, they explore how childhood experiences, inherited patterns, and unconscious beliefs influence everything from relationships and self-worth to connection, purpose, and possibility. They dive into the difference between meditation and hypnosis, the power of identity language, and why lasting change begins beneath the surface. The conversation touches on modern loneliness, particularly among men, the courage required to create community, and the role vulnerability plays in building meaningful connection. One theme keeps emerging: possibility. Not as wishful thinking, but as a practice. A willingness to loosen our grip on old identities, expand what we believe is available to us, and step into a new relationship with ourselves and our lives. Jim closes the episode with a BONUS guided hypnotic meditation designed to help listeners reconnect with calm, clarity, alignment, and the deeper truth beneath fear and conditioning. Jim's upcoming book, The Book of Possibility, arrives in September 2026 and offers readers an immersive journey into subconscious transformation, combining practical exercises, guided hypnosis, and the tools Jim uses in his one-on-one coaching work. Follow: @jimcurtis1 PreOrder The Book Of Possibility: https://www.bookofpossibility.com/ Learn More At: https://www.jimcurtiscoaching.com/ -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia For sponsorship inquiries circlethispod@gmail.com
#69
June 2 · 1 hr 34 min
What Happens When Cops Sit In A Circle? With LAPD Officer Lyndon Barber
In this episode, Dre sits down with former LAPD officer Lyndon Barber for a conversation about policing, loneliness, vulnerability, nervous systems, and what happens when people trained to suppress emotion are finally given permission to speak honestly. They explore how council-based practices (think circle) are transforming law enforcement from the inside out. A 16-year veteran of the LAPD, including years in gang enforcement, Lyndon opens up about the hidden emotional toll of law enforcement, the "hero complex" inside police culture, surviving thyroid cancer in isolation, and the moment a council circle cracked something open in him. Lyndon now helps lead the POWER Program through Beyond Us & Them, bringing emotional regulation, mindfulness, and human connection into police units, prisons, and communities across the country. What started as a training he thought looked "cultish" became a practice that transformed the way he leads, listens, regulates stress, and relates to both his fellow officers and the communities he serves. Together, Dre and Lyndon explore: how circles dissolve labels and uniforms… why so many officers are silently struggling… how mindfulness can de-escalate violence in real time… and what becomes possible when people stop talking at each other and start listening human to human. Join Dre and Lyndon for an in person / CoEd Community Connection Circle at the Den Meditation Center in Los Angeles. Sunday June 14th, 9:45am. Sign up via link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soulful-sundays-the-london-weho-los-angeles-community-connection-circle-tickets-1987745089070 Follow: @beyondusandthem Learn more: Beyond Us & Them -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#68
May 19 · 1 hr 20 min
What the Dying Teach Us About Living with Olivia Bareham
In this episode, Dre sits down with death midwife, interfaith minister, mystic, and founder of Sacred Crossings, Olivia Bareham, for a conversation about death, grief, presence, and what it truly means to care for one another. What began for Olivia during the AIDS crisis eventually became a lifelong devotion to helping people move through death with honesty, tenderness, dignity, and love. Together, they explore what our death-phobic culture avoids and what becomes possible when we stop looking away and remember we know how to be with death. They talk about being present at the bedside of the dying, home funerals, conscious grieving, staying connected to loved ones who have passed, and why death may be one of our greatest teachers. This conversation is open, grounding, unexpectedly life-affirming, and filled with wisdom about how to live with more presence now rather than with regrets at the end. Dre also shares her own experience currently training with Olivia in death doula work — and how this path is changing the way she understands grief, community, and the sacredness of being human. If you've ever lost someone, feared loss, avoided grief, or wondered how to better show up for the people you love… this episode will offer you much to contemplate. Follow: @sacred_crossings Learn More At: https://sacredcrossings.com/ -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#67
May 5 · 1 hr 19 min
The Midlife Portal: Grief, Truth, and the Second Act with Constance Zimmer & Abby Epstein
In this episode, Dre sits down with powerhouse actress/producer Constance Zimmer and filmmaker Abby Epstein, the collaborators behind The Midlife Monologues, for a conversation that goes straight to what's rarely said out loud and what needs to be heard. They talk about the reality of midlife as it actually lands: identity shifts, grief, hormonal changes, loneliness, and the disorientation of becoming someone new without a roadmap. And then, the flip side, how powerful women in midlife actually are and are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to representation. What began as one shared truth has grown into a body of work that invites women to speak without performance or pretense. From Dressing Room Confessions to their expanding projects, they're creating spaces where honesty breaks the silence—and real information is shared. This conversation moves through what happens when we stop editing ourselves… how shame dissolves when it's spoken… and why even one person saying "I see you" can change everything. It's not just about midlife. It's about owning your voice, sharing your truth and what opens when we do it together. Follow: @constancezimmer, @abbyepsteinxoxo, @midlifemonologues, @mlifecollective, @talkfiftytome Learn More: https://themidlifecollective.co/ -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#66
April 21 · 1 hr 23 min
How To Stay Informed Without Spiraling with Jessica Yellin
In this episode, Dre sits down with journalist and News Not Noise founder Jessica Yellin for a conversation about how to stay informed without losing yourself in the process. From her time as Chief White House Correspondent at CNN to now speaking directly to millions from her living room, Jessica shares the real story behind her evolution and the isolation, pressure, and purpose that came with it. They get into the real impact of the 24/7 news cycle on the body, the mind, and the nervous system and why so many of us feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure what's even true anymore. Jessica shares her concept of a "news diet," how algorithms are shaping our reality, and why uncertainty isn't failure, it's part of being awake in a complex world. Together, they unpack: -why "heart-centered news" is a radical shift -how to build a news diet that supports your nervous system -why local connection—not more information—may be the real antidote to the loneliness epidemic Jessica offers a powerful reminder: you don't need to know everything in real time—but you do get to choose how you engage. Follow: @JessicaYellin Substack: https://newsnotnoisejessicayellin.substack.com/ Learn More At: https://newsnotnoise.com/ -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @talkwithtrace @goodmessmedia For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#65
April 7 · 31 min
Proof of Miracles: Signs, Synchronicity & Everyday Magic with Dre & Em
In this episode, Dre and Em follow the thread of signs, synchronicities, and the moments that feel too precise to be random. From a spontaneous "Sing with Emily" exchange echoed by a billboard, to ladybugs showing up at pivotal life and creative moments, to standing on the exact New York corner described in a voice note as it plays—they track the patterns that blur the line between coincidence and connection. They break down the difference between signs and synchronicity (a term coined by Carl Jung), and explore insights from Laura Lynne Jackson on where these messages may come from—whether universal energy, spirit guides, or loved ones who have crossed. Regardless of where the signs originate, they have a playful conversation about the meaning and the magic of it all. -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries: circlethispod@gmail.com
#64
March 31 · 1 hr 29 min
Quietly Quitting A Life That Doesn't Fit: Reclaiming Self with Monica Corcoran Harel
In this episode Monica Corcoran Harel, screenwriter, bestselling author and founder of PRETTY RIPE and author of the viral essay "The Women Quietly Quitting Their Husbands" joins for a conversation that goes straight to the truth many women have been living but not naming. What happens when the life you've built no longer fits? Monica shares how her popular essays tap into a larger cultural shift—where women are questioning endurance, redefining marriage, and choosing agency over performance. The conversation moves into parenting and the practice of letting go, the pull between external transformation and internal acceptance, and the desire to feel fully alive in your own life. Together they circle around noticing where you've gone quiet… and what it might take to come back to your partnership and ultimately yourself. Follow Monica: @prettyripe Learn More At: www.prettyripe.com -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#63
March 24 · 1 hr 33 min
Beyond Us & Them: Circle Practices Transforming Prisons, Police & People with Jared Seide
In this episode of Circle This, Dre sits down with Jared Seide, Executive Director of Beyond Us & Them, a groundbreaking nonprofit bringing compassion, connection, and real tools for transformation into some of the most unlikely places—prisons, law enforcement agencies, healthcare systems, and policy spaces. Through circle and council practices, along with mindfulness-based techniques, Jared and his team train individuals within these systems to develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, and authentic connection. These programs go beyond "let's all get along" energy, this is deep, embodied work that is actively shifting how humans relate to themselves and each other inside systems that are rooted in separation and "othering." Together, they explore what happens when we interrupt the "us versus them" narrative and create spaces where people are truly seen, heard, and humanized. From incarcerated individuals experiencing profound connection to themselves and one another, to police officers learning resilience and relational intelligence, to communities finding their way back to belonging—this conversation reveals what becomes possible when there is an invitation to see beyond the mask and connect on the soul level. Jared shares the science behind circling and council, including measurable physiological changes that occur when we practice real listening and authentic expression. They unpack why social connection is as vital as food and water, and what it takes to bring this work into environments built on survival, hierarchy, and division. This is a conversation about re-humanization, choosing connection over contraction and remembering that we were never meant to do this alone. This conversation is filled with evidence of hope, that real change is possible through practical tools of connection and it all starts with sitting in a circle. Learn more and support the work at beyondusandthem.org Use code CIRCLE20 for 20% off their merchandise and help spread the message. Explore Jared's book Where Compassion Begins for deeper practice. Sign up for the Beyond Us & Them newsletter and follow them on social media @beyondusandthem -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#62
March 17 · 1 hr 29 min
Representation Is the Remedy: Being Truly Seen with Jenna Laurenzo
Award-winning filmmaker, writer, actor, and creative force Jenna Laurenzo joins Dre and Emily for a conversation about storytelling, representation, and the courage to create the stories we long to see. When Jenna entered the film industry, she quickly realized that the stories reflecting her own experience as a queer woman were largely missing. Instead of waiting for them to appear, she began creating them herself. Her award-winning film Lez Bomb and the viral Girl Night Stand series opened doors for representation, humor, and deeply human storytelling to take center stage. In this episode, they circle the idea that representation itself can be a remedy, when we see ourselves reflected in story, something inside connects and we realize we are not alone. Together they explore how writing can help us metabolize emotion, why humor often lives alongside grief, and how shared experiences of art, laughing, crying, and witnessing stories can reconnect us to our own humanity. Jenna also shares her reflections on creative resistance, building safe and collaborative spaces on set, the loneliness that can exist even within community, and the deeper pursuit of our soul's expression. To follow Jenna or find out more about her work: @jennalaurenzo www.jennalaurenzo.com -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#61
March 10 · 50 min
We're Doing Death Wrong: What Facing Death Taught Me About Living with Dre & Em
In this episode Dre shares the ongoing integration of her recent death doula training — an experience that began with a surprising invitation: before learning how to support others at the end of life, she first had to face her own mortality. What started as curiosity quickly opened into something deeper. Dre and Em circle around grief, awe, ritual, and the ways our culture avoids talking about death — often making loss even harder when it inevitably arrives. Dre reflects on her father's passing, the unexpected healing that can happen in the dying process, and the truth she discovered through the training: the body knows how to die, just as it knows how to be born. They explore why we are such a death-phobic culture, what it means to "die well," and how learning to witness — rather than fix or control — may be one of the most sacred roles we can play for one another. This conversation moves through grief, laughter, fear, love, and even Dre's imagined memorial service. Because for Dre, death is not simply an ending — it's part of the same mystery that makes life so precious. If facing death can bring us more fully into the present moment, maybe learning how to die is actually one of the greatest invitations to live. -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#60
March 3 · 1 hr 49 min
Inner Fire: Menopause, Micro-dosing & Midlife Sovereignty with Ashley Turner
In this episode, Dre sits down with Ashley Turner—licensed depth psychotherapist, yoga and meditation teacher, psychedelic therapist, and menopause advocate—to explore what's rising at the intersection of midlife transformation, mental health, sovereignty, and the psychedelic renaissance. Together, they unpack perimenopause vs. menopause, myth-bust the most common symptoms, and explore the link between libido, creativity, and inner fire. They dive into trauma resurfacing during midlife, hormone therapy, medical bias, and the staggering truth that women's bodies weren't required to be included in medical studies until 1993. The conversation also explores psychedelics and integration—how the default mode network quiets, how new neural pathways can form, and why connection—not isolation—is the medicine. At one point, Ashley drops an iconic truth straight from the heart: "There's nothing scarier than someone who doesn't need you." Now we see menopause as more than a health conversation— but possibly a cultural revolution. FOLLOW: @ashleyturner1, @haven_membership LEARN MORE AT: https://yoga-psychology.co/ -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#59
February 24 · 1 hr 27 min
Second Marriage, Same Person: Love After The Earthquake with Odette & Dave Annable (Part 2)
Odette and Dave Annable return for Part 2 to take us deeper into the rupture, the repair of their partnership and their choice to begin again. They were on the brink of divorce, separate homes, papers nearly signed, when COVID forced them back under one roof with nowhere to escape. What followed became what they now call "our second marriage… it just happens to be with each other." But reconciliation didn't begin together. It began alone, through therapy, retreats, journaling, and the courageous work of facing their own patterns. As one therapist asked them, Are you both done hurting one another? Their answer changed everything. We talk about what brought them back into the same room and how understanding each other's brains softened blame and defensiveness. We explore why healing is a group sport, what happens when you give six months of your best with zero expectations, and how conflict can become a doorway to deeper intimacy instead of a reason to leave. FOLLOW: @OdetteAnnable & @dave_annable -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: circlethispod@gmail.com
#58
February 17 · 1 hr 41 min
Unlocking the Truth About Love: Healing the Wound Beneath Conflict with Odette & Dave Annable (Part 1)
Actors and real-life married couple Odette Annable and Dave Annable join Dre for a candid conversation about what it actually takes to stay connected in modern marriage—through the peaks, the valleys, and the chapters you don't post. Odette and Dave share their near-miss origin story, the season when "this shouldn't be this hard" almost became the end, and how therapy helped them reframe conflict into something wildly more honest: Dave's core question is "Am I safe?" and Odette's is "Am I worthy?" Once you can name that, you can stop fighting the surface and start tending to the root. They open up about separation and recommitment, the loneliness that can exist even inside love, Odette's infertility journey, and Dave's experience of grief—plus a powerful reminder: your partner can't be your everything, and that's not a failure, it's a design feature. Community matters. Self-reflection matters. And love isn't "happily ever after"… it's choosing each other again and again, with eyes open. Follow: @odetteannable @dave_annable -- Stay connected: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace Sponsorship: circlethispod@gmail.com
S2 · E57
February 10 · 41 min
The Village Is a State of Mind: Welcome Back with Dre & Em
We're back. And instead of rushing into "new year, new you" energy, Dre and Em open the season by honoring winter, integration, and the deep exhale that comes after a big creative year. With 55 episodes behind them (and a podcast ranked in the top 2% globally), they circle around what's sustaining them now: chosen family, learning to receive support, and expanding the places love is allowed to live. This episode is a love letter to the village—real village energy, not fantasy commune aesthetics. Dre and Em reflect on a recent desert celebration for their beloved mentor and friend Leigh Kilton Smith—a living example of community in action. Flash mobs, art-making, campfire circles, and collective participation become a case study in what happens when everyone gets to belong, be witnessed, and be held. They also dive into what love looks like in everyday life: the "small acts" that make someone feel deeply loved, the subtle ways people block care and celebration, and why letting others love you can be one of the most radical forms of self-love. Chosen family isn't built through networking. It's built through orientation. A state of mind. A way of being. And a choice. Wand Drops: "If you are willing to love yourself through your friends, it can heal the world." "Think like a circle: every part matters and we take care of the whole." -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries: circlethispod@gmail.com
#56
Dec 16, 2025 · 23 min
Thorns, Roses, and The Courage To Receive with Dre & Em
In this year-end episode, Dre and Em record under the final full moon in Gemini and reflect on the year through their own version of the rose, thorn, and bud. Emily shares the joy of getting engaged and fully moving in with her fiancé, alongside the challenge of caretaking after a sudden injury. Dre reflects on the podcast as both her greatest joy and greatest stretch, a year shaped by learning, connection, and creative devotion. Together, they talk about love without fixing, receiving without minimizing, entering the holidays aligned instead of depleted, and honoring community as the foundation of every ritual and celebration. Merry everything. Thank you for being part of the circle. Let's keep rippling in 2026. -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries: circlethispod@gmail.com
#55
Dec 9, 2025 · 1 hr 28 min
Integrative Tools for Overwhelm: Breathwork, Embodiment, and the End of Spiritual Burnout with Natalie Kuhn
Dre sits down with writer, teacher, and embodiment leader Natalie Kuhn, founder of Make the Sun and former Co-CEO of The Class. Natalie shares how her early experiences with conditional love shaped her sense of self, and how her current work in seminary and Al-Anon is revealing a different understanding of belonging and internal safety. They explore the pressures of spiritual overload, the tendency to turn healing into constant self-improvement, and the impact this has on the nervous system. Natalie breaks down how breath and sound support emotional release, why the body often holds the breath under stress, and what happens physiologically and energetically during breath work ceremonies. The conversation moves into the difference between loneliness and aloneness, the role of sound and voice for women who have been conditioned to stay quiet, and the relationship between energy, attention, and presence. Natalie also discusses the practice of listening beyond language and the effects of mirroring in group spaces, classrooms, and circles. Dre reflects on her own experience in one of Natalie's ceremonies and the lasting shifts it created, as well as the parallels she has found between Al-Anon, circling, and her own facilitation work. Follow: @thisisnatalie Learn more: https://youmakethesun.com/ Substack: https://youmakethesun.substack.com/ -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries: circlethispod@gmail.com

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