Healing the Father Wound: Masculine Templates, Breathwork, and the Legacy of My Stepdad EP 56

This episode is a love letter, and a reckoning, with the man who meant the world to me.As the six-year anniversary of my stepdad’s passing approaches, I find myself reflecting on who he knew me as (a stressed, drinking woman working in construction) versus who I’ve become today, sober, grounded, breath-led, and doing work I never could’ve imagined back then.In this episode, I share:What I wonder he’d think of my sobriety and the life I’ve builtHow grief resurfaces in unexpected ways, especially when you think, “He’d be perfect for this… oh right, he’s gone”The complicated family dynamics that kept me from calling him “Dad,” even though he earned it in every senseThe masculine templates he gave me, and how I’ve repaired and expanded them through somatic and energetic workThe regret I still hold about how I treated him when I was youngHow I still feel him in my breathwork journeys, in reiki sessions, and even physically, in the literal concrete of the home we builtHow watching him die cracked me open, softened me, and ultimately became part of the catalyst for leaving alcohol behind (listen to the episode here)What grief taught me about emotional capacity and why feeling it is the only way throughThis episode is for anyone navigating grief, father wounds, sobriety, identity shifts, or the messy realities of blended families.It's for anyone who’s ever lost someone who shaped them and had to learn how to carry the relationship forward in new ways.And it’s for Tom, a quiet king among men, whose legacy lives in my character, in my choices, and in the woman I am today.Looking for somewhere to have conversations like this?Every Wednesday at 8 PM EST, I host a free community call for women who are sober, alcohol-free, or questioning their relationship with alcohol. We talk about the stuff that comes with choosing to live differently... the rebuilding, the relationships, the identity shifts, the hard days, and figuring out what you actually want your life to look like now.You don't need to have it all figured out, and you don't need to be a certain number of days, months or years alcohol-free. Come listen, share, connect, and be around other women who get it.Join us for free → https://thedeliberateone.com/the-deliberate-community🔁 Ongoing support: The Deliberate Practice — a steady rhythm of nervous system regulation, breathwork, and integration.Explore everything at thedeliberateone.com Connect on Instagram @thedeliberateoneIf this episode supported you, you can buy me a coffee here