Send Rachel a text message.

Feeling exhausted, but not from what you actually did? You might be leaking energy.

In this episode, we explore:

• how we unconsciously give our energy away
• why it leaves us anxious, foggy, and burned out
• how to gently call it back
• and how to avoid leaking energy in the first place

This is where awareness becomes power. Your energy doesn’t need to be chased, controlled, or protected. It just needs to be brought home.

🌿 Bonus guided meditation for paid Substack subscribers

EPISODE TIMELINE

0:00 – What Is “Leaking Energy”?
A psychic/emotional drain caused by pouring attention into things you can’t control, often without noticing.

0:45 – Signs Your Energy Is Leaking
Hyper-focusing on others, overextending yourself, seeking validation, anxiety, irritation, and feeling scattered.

2:00 – Body Signals + Interoception
How tightness, shallow breathing, restlessness, and feeling “pulled outward” show that your energy isn’t centered in you.

3:30 – Step 1: Awareness
Noticing “Oh, my energy is leaking” is already the beginning of reclaiming it—no force, just seeing clearly.

4:30 – Step 2: Non-Judgment
Reframing leaks as learned safety patterns, not failures; dropping self-blame so shame doesn’t deepen the pattern.

6:00 – Step 3: Calling Your Energy Back
A gentle inner practice of visualizing your energy—threads or light—coming back from people, stories, or future scenarios.

7:30 – Example: Storm Anxiety + The News
How consuming fear-based news about a snowstorm led to unconscious anxiety and an energy drain, and how Rachel reclaimed it.

9:00 – Step 4: External Alignment + Boundaries
Making outer changes—like turning off the news, reprioritizing, or setting boundaries—to support your reclaimed energy.

10:30 – Projection, Relationships + Energy Leaks
How obsessing over a partner’s behavior can reveal unmet needs within yourself for listening, love, and support.

12:30 – The Three Pillars in Action + Invitation
Using non-judgment, awareness, and gentleness to stabilize your energy—and an invitation to notice leaks and welcome your energy home.

16:56 – Write Your Self Open Program Invitation
Information about the ongoing community, the new Monday cohort (April 13, 2026), and how to join for a deeper foundation of self-work.

Write Your Self Open is a revolution in self-development that blends guided meditation, journaling, and supportive group discussion led by holistic psychotherapist Rachel Astarte.

It's all the benefits of personal transformation + community-building without the constraints of talk therapy.
Join anytime. No previous meditation or writing experience necessary.

http://writeyourselfopen.com

Got a question about your self?
Send it to me at rachel@selftalkpodcast.com and it may be featured on a future episode.

Support the show

Continue working with Rachel at foundationofself.com

• Subscribe here, at youtube.com/@selftalkpodcast, or wherever you get podcasts. •

Music:
"Ave Marimba"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Send Rachel a text message.

Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already.
— Pema Chödrön

In this episode of Self Talk, we redefine what meditation can be—beyond rules, shame, and “shoulds.” We'll explore why so many of us resist meditating, debunk the myth that meditation is about “reaching enlightenment,” and reframe practice as a personal check‑in with Source.

You’ll learn simple, accessible ways to make meditation your own, including a 60‑second drop‑in, a daily self‑alignment practice, and turning everyday activities into a mindfulness practice.

You're also invited to join Write Your Self Open, a guided meditation and reflective writing course that supports your ongoing inner work—and invites you to be lovingly, radically gentle with yourself.

EPISODE TIMELINE

1. 00:00 – What Meditation Really Is
   Pema Chödrön quote, intro to the episode, and why so many of us resist meditation or feel guilty about not doing it.
2. 01:08 – Rachel’s First Meditation Attempt as a Child
   Story of Rachel’s early experience with meditation, boredom, shame, and how that shaped her later practice.
3. 03:18 – Common Blocks: Shame, “Shoulds,” and Comparison
   How meditation becomes another item on the to‑do list, the comparison trap, and the fear of “doing it wrong.”
4. 05:23 – Fear of Thoughts and the Quiet Mind
   A client’s fear of being alone with his thoughts, why quieting the mind can feel scary, and how self‑work helps.
5. 06:21 – Why We Don’t Meditate: Enlightenment Myths
   Why chasing enlightenment through meditation is problematic, non‑duality, and the limits of the ego in this pursuit.
6. 08:00 – Real Benefits of Meditation (Mind, Body, Spirit)
   Nervous system regulation, stress reduction, better sleep, improved focus, and meditation as a “phone call home” to Source.
7. 10:45 – No Rules: Making Meditation Your Own
   Letting go of shame and rigid rules; reframing meditation as a personal check‑in rather than a performance.
8. 11:19 – Simple Practices You Can Start Today
   The 60‑second drop‑in body scan, daily self‑alignment meditation, and “whatever you’re doing, do it” mindfulness in everyday life.
9. 15:51 – Guided Meditation & ‘Write Your Self Open’
   How guided meditation and reflective writing work in Rachel’s “Write Your Self Open” course, plus details about the new Monday cohort beginning April 13.

Write Your Self Open is a revolution in self-development that blends guided meditation, journaling, and supportive group discussion led by holistic psychotherapist Rachel Astarte.

It's all the benefits of personal transformation + community-building without the constraints of talk therapy.
Join anytime. No previous meditation or writing experience necessary.

http://writeyourselfopen.com

Got a question about your self?
Send it to me at rachel@selftalkpodcast.com and it may be featured on a future episode.

Support the show

Continue working with Rachel at foundationofself.com

• Subscribe here, at youtube.com/@selftalkpodcast, or wherever you get podcasts. •

Music:
"Ave Marimba"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Send Rachel a text message.

It’s not that you must be free from fear… What is needed rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance is understanding fear; that means watch it; learn about it; come directly into contact with it.

—J. Krishnamurti

What if fear isn’t something to eliminate—but something asking to be seen?

In this episode of Self Talk, we explore the transformative practice of bringing our fears closer rather than avoiding them. When fear is met with presence and curiosity, it loses its power to hijack our inner world and instead becomes a source of insight, integration, and self-trust.

Together, we’ll look at why we avoid fear, how avoidance quietly shapes our behavior, and how welcoming even the most uncomfortable parts of ourselves creates inner transparency and resilience.

At the heart of it all is the Foundation of Self: the understanding that each of us is a unique expression of Pure Consciousness—and nothing within us is separate or unworthy of belonging.

EPISODE TIMELINE

[0:00:00 – 0:00:38] Opening & Theme
Krishnamurti quote on understanding fear and brief introduction to the season’s focus on practicing the foundation of self. The core theme of “bringing fear closer” is introduced.

[0:00:38 – 0:03:10] Fear as Protection
Fear is framed as an evolutionary protection mechanism. Its role in the nervous system and its destabilizing psychological impact are outlined.

[0:03:10 – 0:05:40] Underdeveloped Ego & Avoidance
The underdeveloped ego is described as equating fear with danger and annihilation. Common avoidance patterns—distraction, overworking, numbing, and spiritual bypassing—are named.

[0:05:40 – 0:07:50] Unnamed Fear & Anxiety
Unacknowledged fear is shown to become anxiety and other symptoms like irritability and self-sabotage. A client story illustrates how vague fear can be clarified into a specific, workable concern.

[0:07:50 – 0:09:40] Fear as a Frightened Child
Fear is reimagined as a frightened child seeking reassurance. “Bringing it closer” is presented as turning toward fear with steadiness and curiosity, held by the larger Self.

[0:09:40 – 0:12:20] Naming & Integrating Fear
The importance of naming and feeling fear without judgment is highlighted. Fear is shown to carry old stories that can be updated when brought into conscious awareness.

[0:12:20 – 0:15:00] Wholeness & Congruency
Healing is framed as integrating, not eliminating, inner parts. The “cottage of the self” metaphor illustrates welcoming all parts to create congruency between inner and outer life.

[0:15:00 – 0:18:00] Consciousness & Belonging
Each person is described as a unique expression of pure consciousness. From this view, nothing within is foreign, and fear loses power to enforce a sense of isolation.

[0:18:00 – 0:20:00] Daily Practice Invitation
Listeners are invited to notice one moment of fear and gently bring it closer. Simple witnessing with non-judgment is offered as a daily integrative practice.

Got a question about your self?
Send it to me at rachel@selftalkpodcast.com and it may be featured on a future episode.

Support the show

Continue working with Rachel at foundationofself.com

• Subscribe here, at youtube.com/@selftalkpodcast, or wherever you get podcasts. •

Music:
"Ave Marimba"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0