What would it mean to become a safe place for yourself in the midst of grief, overwhelm, and uncertainty?

This week, we explore how often safety is sought outside of ourselves and what begins to change when internal steadiness is cultivated instead. It reflects on limits, rest, and the quiet wisdom of noticing when too much is being carried. Setting something down is framed as an act of strength, care, and deep self-respect.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Francis Weller’s book
• Become a Patron
• Connect with Mandy

Have you ever found yourself in a season that feels like “the low” — where everything familiar slips away, and you’re unsure whether to climb out or simply sit still for a while?

This month, we're exploring that tender space with authors Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson, co-creators of In the Low: Honest Prayers for Dark Seasons. Together, we talk about how prayer, art, and intention can bring us back to a sense of safety even when we’re still surrounded by darkness.

Justin (an author, coach, speaker, songwriter, and host of The At Sea Podcast) and Scott (an artist, author, and performance speaker) have spent years collaborating on projects that stir up hope and creative connection. In the Low invites us to slow down, sit with our grief, and rediscover laughter, beauty, and presence in the midst of pain.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Order In The Low: Honest Prayers for Dark Seasons
• Learn more about Justin's work
• Learn more about Scott's work
• Connect with Mandy
• Become a Patron!

This work is not about resignation. It is about presence.

Deconstructing faith brings losses that go far beyond belief changes. In this episode, we explore the grief of losing certainty, community, roles, and a sense of belonging, and how these losses live not just in our thoughts, but in our bodies.

This conversation names faith deconstruction as embodied and identity grief, and invites listeners to move beyond intellectualizing toward restoring trust in their bodies, values, and authentic voice.

Faith may change, expand, or rest. This is not failure. It is a refusal to live on illusion, and an invitation to rebuild from what is real.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Read the first chapter of Restorative Grief on Amazon
• Learn more about coaching
• Become a Patron!

"In silence, I can unmatch from all of the noise that isn't mine."

After starting a dream career as a touring musician in her teens, Greta Morgan faced a threat she never saw coming - the loss of her voice.

In 2020, Greta's high fever from Covid caused a diagnosis of spasmodic dysphonia - limiting her ability to use her voice at all. Over the last five years, she has learned how to strengthen her vocal chords, but there is no cure. So instead of song lyrics, now she's telling her story in a new way through her memoir on loss and rediscovery.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Buy a copy of The Lost Voice by Greta Morgan
• Join Greta's mailing list
• Follow Greta or Mandy on Instagram
• Become a Patron of the show!

We become more ourselves by allowing who we are becoming to arrive—and trusting that the parts we let go were never wasted.

In this episode, we explore defensiveness not as a flaw, but as a grief-informed response designed to protect former versions of ourselves who carried us through pain.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Become a Patron
• Connect with Mandy
• Learn more about Restorative Grief

What if personal growth doesn’t mean becoming someone new, but learning to stay steady in who you already are?

This week, Mandy sits down with Jackie Contessa, certified Enneagram coach and founder of Table for 9 Coaching, to talk about how the Enneagram offers stability through the ever-changing landscape of life and relationships.

Jackie shares her story of discovering the Enneagram after years of loss and transformation, and how it’s helped her make sense of the patterns that surface in seasons of estrangement — where connection and distance coexist. Together, they explore what it means to change and stay the same, how self-awareness supports healing when relationships shift, and how compassion becomes the anchor when understanding feels out of reach.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Connect with Jackie!
• Connect with Mandy!
• Become a Patron!
• Learn more about Restorative Grief Coaching

Crossing into the new year isn’t about escape. It’s about emergence.

When everyone else wants you to add new hobbies or build new dreams because it's the rolling over of the calendar year, I just want to see you feel whole again. This week, we're talking about how to make space for our whole selves to settle down this season instead of ramping up toward all the new things. It's winter, after all. Time to soften.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Become a Patron & get the workbook
• Connect with Mandy
• Learn more about Restorative Grief

Where do you begin to recover when your whole world crumbles and takes your sense of self with it?

Jennifer Otsuki knows that before you can begin, you must slow down and be nourished. After losing her restaurant in 2020 and shortly after, her partner and sous-chef Andrew, Chef Jennifer recognized her body's deep need for nourishment.

Her new cookbook, Soul Nourished, is a testament to the recipes and the stories of all the people along the way who taught her to become mindful in the kitchen and in turn, through all the tensions and losses in life.

Links + Resources from this episode:

• Pre-order your copy of Soul Nourished
• Learn more about Jennifer's retreats
• Connect with Mandy
• Become a Patron!