I recorded this looking at huge Pacific waves picking up their power and breaking, while thinking about how much of my own power I’ve spent shrinking myself to fit into the wrong rooms.
This Ocean Note is about what happened when I stopped pouring my energy into fitting in, and started bringing my full self to the right people and places instead.

As the year ends, I realized how often I’ve outsourced my worth to investors, programs, mentors and external praise — and how much of myself I’ve lost in that chase. This note is about what I’m leaving behind, what I’m carrying forward, and entering the new year as a more grounded version of myself.

For behind-the-scenes notes + a journaling prompt with each episode, join me at svetlanakaz.com/oceannotes

This Ocean Note is about the kind of calm that only arrives when we pause long enough to feel our feet on the ground — and how slowing down isn’t a luxury, but essential if we want our choices to line up with our values and inner voice.

When I started working out regularly, I thought I was just building physical strength.
What I didn’t expect was how lacing up my running shoes and lifting heavy things would teach me to stay with uncomfortable emotions instead of running away from them.
This note is about “emotional weightlifting” — the tiny, consistent practices that build inner muscles the same way workouts shape the body.

In this note, I talk about how my inner critic used to be the loudest voice whenever something went wrong – and what shifts when I slow down, ground myself, and start answering from my wiser, regulated self instead of from blame.

A note for the part of me that panics after a vulnerable moment and thinks, “I’ve ruined everything”. I talk about how my inner critic reacts when I feel I’ve hurt someone I deeply care about, and the shift that happens when I remember how much love, trust, and time went into building this connection – and that repair can become another beautiful facet of it.

A note for anyone breaking family patterns. I share the grief of seeing what my parents never had, and the moment I realized my work isn’t to create perfect new patterns for future generations — it’s simply to live as honestly and lovingly as I can.

A voice note recorded while walking by the Pacific Ocean about what happens when external validation disappears – and the moment I realized I could give that validation to myself.