Aliveness: Technology, love, money, sex, soul, governance

PODCAST · society

Aliveness: Technology, love, money, sex, soul, governance

The Aliveness Podcast explores how we live, love, and think in a changing world. Every weekday brings Session Notes from The World’s Therapist - a fictional series about the inner life of our time. Each week I share an essay and a conversation with someone else who is thoughtfully exploring how we live. Dry humour lives here. Marion Woodman coded.The problems of our time are complex. Developing the inner capacity to withstand confusion and conflict in service of connection and growth is central to our collective thriving.More than one thing can be true at once.www.alisoncrosthwait.com

  1. 36

    The Mythology Being Used Against Us with Susan Kacvinsky

    "Understanding is the booby prize!" - Susan Kacvinsky, Mythologist & WriterSusan and I explore how ancient stories about death, rebirth, and the suppression of women's power illuminate today's political chaos. Susan argues that mythology is actively being used to control people through fear and shame, and has been for centuries. At its heart, this is a conversation about finding solid ground when the world feels like it's falling apart.Highlights include:Understanding the patriarchy: The conversation weaves together mythology, history, psychology, and politics in a way that reframes familiar things (Christianity, patriarchy, American politics) through a rarely discussed lens. Listen to understand the development and persistence of the patriarchy.Naming what it's like to live now: the exhaustion of living under fear-based control, the loneliness of carrying emotions in a culture that punishes vulnerability, the frustration of a world that seems rigged.Grounded hope: Rather than despair or toxic positivity, the conversation offers a mythological perspective on cultural collapse and renewal. The Inanna descent, the three days of death before resurrection, makes difficult times feel meaningful and survivable.Warmth and aliveness: Susan and I delight in each other, and we hope that energy is contagious. We hope you feel like you are having tea with us, loosening a feel something loosening in you the permission to be curious, passionate, and undefended.A quiet challenge: We follow a thread about willingness, feeling feelings, and presence as a gentle but persistent invitation to stop managing life from the outside and start meeting it from within.Follow Susan at her Substack, Modern Mythology: https://modernmythology.substack.com/Join Alison's newsletter, Remembering Soul at http://www.alisoncrosthwait.com/remembering

  2. 35

    Kelly Stonelake on Power, Child Safety, and Telling the Truth at Meta

    I am so excited to share my conversation with Kelly Stonelake!Kelly Stonelake is a business operator and technologist with nearly 15 years of experience at Meta, where she held senior roles in product marketing and organizational leadership. During her tenure, she raised concerns about child safety and internal misconduct and faced retaliation after senior leadership chose to conceal risks rather than address them. The gap between Meta’s stated values and her lived experience led to a severe loss of functioning and a fight for her life.Following her departure, Kelly became a whistleblower and advocate for stronger protections for children online, greater tech accountability, awareness of autistic burnout and suicide risk, and safer workplaces for marginalized people. Her work focuses on challenging the concentration of power in technology and advancing equity, accountability, and systemic reform.Kelly recently testified before the Washington State Senate in support of SB 5708 on addictive feeds and SB 5784 on AI companions, sharing first-hand accounts of child exposure, data collection without parental consent, and corporate retaliation against those who spoke up.Please visit Kelly Stonelake on Substack at Overturned by Kelly Stonelake .02:16 – 10:40 | From early idealism to the inside of FacebookKelly traces her early interests in journalism, constitutional debate, and technology, leading to nearly 15 years at Facebook. She describes the early years before the algorithmic feed, when the mission felt real and principled. She reflects on Cambridge Analytica, internal decision-making, and how loyalty, good faith, and “doing the right thing” slowly became tools for accumulating power.10:41 – 29:24 | Horizon Worlds, retaliation, and the open secret about kidsKelly recounts her time as the only woman on the senior leadership team for Horizon Worlds. She describes discovering that children were already using the product through adult accounts, being exposed to adults without parental consent, while Meta collected vast amounts of data in violation of federal law. She speaks plainly about misogyny, silencing women, attorney-client privilege used to avoid accountability, and the moment the rollout was paused for “quality” reasons while the truth stayed buried.29:25 – 1:02:00 | The harms parents, therapists, and social workers need to understandKelly lays out, in clear and specific terms, the dangers children face across social platforms:• Sextortion pipelines that move from shame to suicide in hours or days• Relentless bullying amplified by anonymity and disappearing messages• Algorithmic feeds that escalate vulnerability into self-harm content• Drug acquisition through social apps leading to fentanyl deaths• Viral challenges that kill curious kidsShe explains how “teen accounts” and parental controls function as sugar pills. They reassure parents without protecting children.1:02:01 – 1:11:30 | A chapter for parentsKelly speaks directly to parents. Delay smartphones as long as possible. She recommends no social media. Give yourself permission to reevaluate decisions with new information and self-compassion. She shares how technology can exist in a home without extractive platforms, from family computers to creative and educational tools. She names the economic manipulation at play and explains why neurodivergent children face disproportionate risk. This is not a parenting failure. It is a systemic one.1:11:31 – 1:21:53 | Moral injury, refusing blood money, and choosing truthKelly shares her mental health collapse, autistic burnout, and the moment she refused severance rather than sign an agreement holding Meta harmless. She speaks about privilege, principle, and filing a lawsuit for sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation. The conversation closes with the power of parent survivors, the force of love over extraction, and the belief that even against Big Tech, truth endures.Resources and LinksKelly Stonelake’s Substack: Overturned by Kelly StonelakeAlison Crosthwait’s newsletterA reminder to all of us in these challenging times: Take care of yourself. Find fresh air. Feel the ground. Remember that we are not alone.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

  3. 34

    Navigating Purpose, Stability, and the Call for Soul - A personal update and schedule change

    I share a schedule change to balance creative purpose with financial stability, driven by new job opportunities. My voice is evolving to equip listeners for the future by addressing governance, economy, and technology through the lens of soul and aliveness.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

  4. 33

    Meta’s Ethically Dead. Substack’s Fading. A detailed solution for how to stay connected as the platforms fail.

    Alison shares a practical proposal for how readers and creators can stay connected, share meaningful work, and protect their mental health in the age of broken platforms. From dopamine detox to building intentional “email feeds,” this episode lays out a collective blueprint for a more ethical, human, and abundant internet.Timestamp to Jump to the Solution:9:45 – How to build an intentional “email feed”Links Mentioned"No Kings, No Caesars, and the Photos I Didn't Put on Instagram". Kelly Stonelake (she actually left Meta - she worked there).Kit email platform (free up to 10K subs)Alison’s websiteFollow me on BlueskyFollow me on Base: erosforlife.base.ethReceive the Untamed Book List a dangerous, hyper-curated list of my favourite outside-the-system reads. Subscribe to my Substack and you will receive an email with the link to the list. To receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

  5. 32

    Does ChatGPT Have An Unconscious? + A Personal Update

    What it's been like to publish on Substack + podcast every day for 17 days. (With an appearance from Rose). And then (at 9:00) an essay on the serious dangers of ChatGPT for therapeutic/intimate use. Links:Last week, Altman said he was surprised at the reaction to his announcement that ChatGPT would now have erotic conversations with adults. A widely quoted MIT report reveals that 95% of AI pilots fail to produce ROI.The climate cost of AI is significant and growing.Luiza Jarovsky, PhD writes an excellent AI safety newsletter.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.Want to be a guest? Let me know here.

  6. 31

    Sex While Rome Falls: A Case For Yes! Yes! Yes!

    Desire can feel dangerous. In this short episode, I speak about the sacredness of sex as one of the strongest forces that can call us into aliveness and connection. I reflect on longing, dignity, and the importance of staying open when the world is burning.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.Got an idea for the podcast? Submit it here.

  7. 30

    Rocks-for-computing Valley

    Looking beneath the screens and circuits to the element that holds them all: silicon. I trace the history of our relationship to it and connect its ubiquitous power - both geological and technological - to the potential for hope. We are being held and each of us has a deeply intimate relationship with silicon.I hope this episode makes you smile and also inspires you.Links:Captured: The Secrets Behind AI's Silicon Valley TakeoverIf Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against SuperIntelligent AI (Yudowsky & Soares)SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.

  8. 29

    As Within, So Without: The Politics of Projection and a Prayer

    We project our anger onto those in power as if they were our parents constraining our freedom and failing us at every turn. In this short episode, I explore the emotional work of democracy: learning to see our leaders as human, to move from complaint to contribution, from projection to participation.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.

  9. 28

    Platform by Platform: A soul-based tech audit. How I decided where to speak and what to leave behind

    This episode asks: how do we stay human inside each of the social media platforms?I trace the ways some of the platforms undermine my values: from Meta and its documented harms, to TikTok’s dopamine machine, to Substack’s conflicted role in the attention economy. I bring in Shoshana Zuboff’s theory of surveillance capitalism, the story of Cambridge Analytica, teen suicides linked to Instagram, and a chilling case of a man’s fatal entanglement with a Meta AI.This is an episode about radical ethics. It’s about what we consent to, what we refuse, and how we choose to connect in ways that don’t hollow us out. Mostly it's about responsibility. I walk through my decisions platform by platform, and why podcasting has become my chosen container.What you will hearWhat “surveillance capitalism” means, and why it threatens democracyThe blurred line between influence, manipulation, and consent onlineMeta’s record: Cambridge Analytica, teen mental health, and AI experiments gone wrongWhy TikTok and reels destroy our dopamine balanceWhy Substack works for me—and where it fails on anti-censorshipThe lure and limits of LinkedIn, BlueSky, and YouTubeWhy podcasting is my chosen space: no ads, no algo, no intrusionWeb3: I forgot to mention this in the podcast! Web3 social is an area of active research for me and while I’m not sharing my work on Forecaster or Base it’s in the works. This is where we own our work.Timestamps02:00 Why the container matters as much as the content04:30 Surveillance capitalism (Shoshana Zuboff)06:00 Not all data use is surveillance, but the line blurs09:20 The escalation: clicks → biometrics → behaviour shaping11:00 Substack as a model, but also its flaws13:40 Meta’s record: misinformation, Cambridge Analytica, teen suicides15:17 Meta AI harms: the New Jersey stroke patient case19:00 X as cesspool, TikTok as dopamine hijack25:00 Why feeds are different from algorithms28:00 LinkedIn, Blue Sky, YouTube—different shadows35:00 Substack’s anti-censorship stance and my conflict42:00 Why podcasting: intimacy without intrusion46:00 Closing: real life is localLinks mentionedShoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: Book linkCambridge Analytica scandal (Facebook fined $5B, 2019): WikipediaResearch on Instagram and teen mental health / suicide risk: Wall Street Journal coverageMeta AI and the New Jersey man’s death (stroke patient case): ReutersGenAI Content Risk Standards leak (Meta, 2025): ReutersOn TikTok’s dopamine effects and algorithm design: Brown UniversityRobert Reich’s Substack (“Coffee Klatch”): Robert Reich SubstackResearch on YouTube radicalization: Data & Society reportSUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.

  10. 27

    Beauty in a Burning World: Taylor Swift and What the Showgirl Can’t Escape

    Beauty in a Burning World: Taylor Swift and What the Showgirl Can’t EscapeA close look at Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl through the lens of archetype, fame, and feminine power. I explore why this album lands as both dissonant and revealing in a world on fire, and what it reveals about how women carry collective desire and projection.I unpack the Ophelia archetype and how Taylor’s “saved by love” narrative mirrors an ancient pattern that still shapes women’s lives. I speak about compassion and concern, not judgment, and the artist’s responsibility in a time when visibility and influence reach billions.This episode holds both love and critique. I look at how art meets history, how power is embodied, and how we can honour beauty without losing sight of reality.What you will hearThe Fate of Ophelia and the shadow of the fragile feminineFame as both mirror and cageThe emotional tone of Showgirl in a violent global momentElizabeth Taylor and the courage of reinventionWhy female rivalry wounds us allThe artist’s moral dilemma: beauty or relevanceThe call for women to stand together in strength and sanityTimestamps06:43 Reading of Article: Who can save us from the fate of Ophelia?SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.Email: [email protected]

  11. 26

    Ketamine, Milf, Love, and Enough For All: A Personal Update and Podcast Revival

    A candid return at fifty, where I share addiction recovery, the cost of visibility, and a fresh public voice that braids soul, money, tech, and civic life.I came back to the mic after two years, newly fifty and fiercely alive. This episode opens with a simple claim: love can be rational, love can lead, love can think clearly without letting the mind run the show.I walk you through the realities of ketamine recovery, the stigma that trails addiction, and the relief of real healing. I name the risks of the personal growth industry, why regulated care matters, and how offline time, books, and steady presence rebuild a nervous system.I share the moment the parts of my life clicked together, and how a cross-discipline voice emerged. Finance, psychotherapy, politics, tech, and the daily work of being human, held in one body. I speak about work, dignity, and the power structures that shape our days. I open a door to blockchain as a tool for more participation and less capture, distinct from the hype.We finish with a call to daily practice. Slow thought, local life, better questions, and a commitment to speak with soul.What you will hearKetamine recovery, shame culture, and what healing took in real timeWhy I stepped away from selling transformation, and what integrity looks like for me nowThe campaign trail, respectability pressure, and the appetite for powerful feminine presenceMoney, corporations, government, and the costs we carryBlockchain, beyond hype, as a possible path to more participatory governanceBooks over feeds, offline over trance, local over spectacleA closing reading from Terence McKenna on courage and the feather bedTimestamps00:18 Coming back at fifty05:20 Addiction, stigma, and recovery09:30 Sex-positive work and public life13:40 Holding all the parts, one voice17:30 Politics, action, and living with paradox21:28 Cross-discipline lens, money and meaning26:10 Blockchain, participation, and hope31:00 Daily publishing, books, and presence34:10 McKenna reading and closing prayerLinksHow I went from psychedelic facilitator to ketamine addiction in 2 months, Part 2Subscribe to Eros for Life on SubstackTo receive daily emails, open the publication settings and subscribe to “Eros for Life — Daily”

  12. 25

    The Alchemy Of Inner Work with Lorie Dechar

    Lorie Dechar is an Acupuncturist, Author, Alchemical Healer, Mentor and Artisan of Transformation. Lorie and I talk about "the myth, the math and... something else...." - it's one of the best descriptions of inner work I've heard and Lorie drops it in the first few minutes.Join her Inner Sensing Intensive September 30/October 1 Read her book with Benjamin Fox, The Alchemy of Inner Work Join her community - A New Possibility - and learn more about her work on her website: Follow her on Instagram Listen to Integral Chinese Medicine Conversations —JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE —APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  13. 24

    "We are all problematic." Talking about Barbie with Lisa Brannan

    Lisa and I talk about collective change and what the release of Barbie may or may not represent. It's a fun and fiery conversation!!Follow Lisa on Instagram at @brnnlisaListen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  14. 23

    Connecting with Your Dharma and Opening Your Heart in Difficult Times with Stephen Cope

    True freedom comes from letting go of grasping and opening our hearts. But those two things can be so challenging for us to embody in our modern world. Alison and guest, Stephen Cope, best-selling author and scholar, delve into the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology and how connecting the two can support you in navigating the modern world.Stephen shares the experiences and insights that he’s gained studying these ideas that have shaped his books, including his most recent, “The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt,” and offers a guide for how to connect with your own wisdom, cultivate compassion and open-heartedness, and connect with your inner gifts to contribute to positive change in the world. “There are two forms of grasping in the Buddhist tradition. There's reaching, “oh, I want that. I've got to get that goal. I've got to get over there on the other side of the river.” And then protecting what you have. The real freedom comes in letting go of that grasping, clinging, craving, holding on, and protecting and opening our hearts instead.” CONNECT WITH STEPHEN ​​Stephen Cope is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, and The Great Work of Your Life. His most recent work, The Dharma In Difficult Times, the sequel to The Great Work of Your Life shows us the way through our darkest times to our truest calling. Cope helps give readers a roadmap for the journey to their true calling.For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs. It is located on a sprawling 200 acre estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  15. 22

    How to Build Capacity to Surrender

    Surrender is a daily devotion.It unlocks our energy and creates a ripple effect of a positive change in ourselves.But surrender can be one of the most challenging things we can do because it requires that we face our pain. In this episode, Alison shares her recent work with a local medicine man in a ceremony to show how we have to build our capacity to surrender, and how often times, it’s by looking directly at our pain that we’re able to transform. “We need to feel what we could not feel at the time. That is why we're in the situation we're in‌ — we're not connected to our life force energy. It’s because of our situations and our experiences that our life force gets stuck and we're not able to flow.”—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  16. 21

    Moving Our Minds and Bodies into an Unraveled State of Being

    Society ravels us all so tightly.We’re raveled in the “shoulds” and what’s “right.” We are raveled in the judgments of others, the definition of success, and the expectations others put on us. This raveling puts us into patterns that keep us stuck — out of alignment with our life force energy. To allow life to flow, we must unravel. “Often our intentions are about business, money, health, life, love. They're raveled intentions, but the answer and satisfaction are in the unraveling.”—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  17. 20

    Practicing Surrender Empowers Others to Heal in Their Own Timing

    We live in such a “fix me” culture, often looking outside ourselves for the answers — or offering our answers to our friends and family members when they’re experiencing pain. But to truly support our own healing and the healing of others, we have to surrender to these painful moments and move through the process in our own time in our own way. Here, Alison shares the complexities of practicing surrender as a way to empower others and yourself and the importance of having support and healing containers that allow you to look inward and move through your own process.“Surrender empowers other people. It's a way of loving people…It's an inner sense that it’s okay for other people to experience pain in their own timing and that my only job is to be present, whether they're a friend or a client, to what they are experiencing.” —Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  18. 19

    Submission vs. Surrender

    What's the difference between submission and surrender?Both of these terms hold the essence of letting go, but there’s a fine line between the two of them.Surrender can be an embodied state that supports our ability to create our desires and experience life as it is, while submission can be where we fall into the false idea that “it is what it is.” In this episode, Alison shares the nuances between these two energies to support you in spotting where you might be surrendering versus where you might be submitting so you can realign toward surrender.“This is a very natural human longing to surrender to life — to stop trying to take care of what clearly cannot be taken care of. And then there's submission — the following of the rules, the doing what we feel we should do, the “I don't see any other alternatives, so I'll just do this,” and it's a very, very, very fine line.”MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEPaper by Emmanuel Ghent, "Masochism, Submission, Surrender: Masochism As a Perversion of Surrender"—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  19. 18

    Trusting Yourself and Unearthing Your Wildness as a Service with Julie McIntyre

    Julie McIntyre, author and Earth Ceremonialist, shares how by developing a personal relationship with our bodies and trusting their wisdom, we can navigate life with more authenticity — which she describes as a wildness that embraces the sacredness of all life forms. Julie takes us on a personal journey, at the age of 10 when she discovered a magical place in a corner of her family’s farm where a massive old cottonwood tree stood. This became her refuge, a space to escape the chaos and connect with something beyond herself. She experienced an energy exchange with the tree, a profound connection that has stayed with her throughout her life.This pivotal moment set her on a path of following something non-human, something from the natural world, to nurture the health of her soul.Join us as Julie shares her wisdom on the power of heart-centered living, intimate self-connection, and the interconnectedness of humans, soul, and plants. “You start by feeling. It's not a mental thing. It's really a feeling thing. Trusting your senses, trusting your body, trusting the feelings that are coming. Our bodies don't lie. They're very sophisticated sensory GPS systems. Life is less lonely when you have this relationship of trust with yourself, trust with your body, and trust in the earth.”—Julie McIntyre is a writer, international lecturer, and workshop leaderhaving taught throughout North America, Ireland, and the UK. Julie is an Earth ceremonialist and practitioner of Deep Gaia focusing on the sacredness and relationship between Earth and human beings and plants and the circle of all life. She offers workshops focused on ceremonies and practices that facilitate closer human bonding with the Earth.An ordained practitioner of the Church of Gaia, Julie has directed a state ceremonial program for Native men in prison. She worked as a clinical herbalist for twenty years working with people in 20 countries around the globe with chronic illness, especially Lyme disease and co-infections. She is the author of “Sex and the Intelligence of the Heart; Nature, Intimacy and Sexual Energy” and the forthcoming, “The Confluence of Gaia, Plant Medicine, and the Human.”  Website: https://juliemcintyre.net/ Sex and the Intelligence of the Heart: Nature, Intimacy, and Sexual EnergyThe Confluence of Gaia, Plant Medicines and the Human Soul —Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  20. 17

    How Self-Expression Can Unlock the Energy Needed to Create Our Big and Small Desires

    When our sexual energy is blocked, it can be challenging to create what we want in the world — whether that’s to create a thriving business or simply how we want to engage with our family in a healthy way. Freedom of expression is a practice that can unlock this energy that’s needed to create the life you desire in all aspects of your life. Here Alison shares how she needed to reclaim her self-expression and how you can find ways to express your own as a way of connecting with your sexual energy. “It’s really fun to explore these things in other ways with other people and just see who you really are, to dream about what you want to create in the world, to actually create it with no purpose whatsoever, but that you enjoyed it and to see what happens.”MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: • Freeing my Expression – Chrysalis• Musical collaboration — Snake + Carla Tour the Multiverse—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:JOIN PLEASURE AS MEDICINE, A FREE, 5-DAY EXPERIENCEFrom Monday, June 5 - Saturday, June 10, I'll share practices and teachings to increase your life force energy, reconnect to your aliveness, and hear what your heart and soul are speaking through your experience of your sexual energy. WIN A 1-1 SESSION WITH ALISON — ENTER BY MAY 31! Win a 1-1 session with Alison during the Pleasure as Medicine experience June 5 through June 10 to process and listen to what your body, heart, and soul are saying. To enter, simply leave a rating and review on Apple Podcast and take a screenshot of the review before submitting it. Share your review on your Instagram Stories and tag her, @AlisonCrosthwait You have until Wednesday, May 31 to enter and we’ll select 2 winners who we’ll notify through a direct message on Instagram! Explore November Classes

  21. 16

    Why You Have a Lack of Desire in Your Relationship

    Challenges in the area of desire tend to call us towards interpersonal dynamics.  We think it is a relationship problem.  I believe this is a misdirection of attention.  Experiencing a lack of desire in your relationship isn’t necessarily a sign that there’s something “wrong” with your relationship. All sexual desire starts with you, even when you’re in a partnership. Feeling a lack of desire towards your partner is a sign that your own sexual energy needs tending to, and in this episode, Alison shares the very first step to take to do just that. “What I see is a need for self intimacy first, that from a place of knowing one's self, knowing one is safe, knowing one is loved, which means loving oneself, almost anything is possible.”—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:JOIN PLEASURE AS MEDICINE, A FREE, 5-DAY EXPERIENCEFrom Monday, June 5 - Saturday, June 10, I'll share practices and teachings to increase your life force energy, reconnect to your aliveness, and hear what your heart and soul are speaking through your experience of your sexual energy. WIN A 1-1 SESSION WITH ALISON — ENTER BY MAY 31! Win a 1-1 session with Alison during the Pleasure as Medicine experience June 5 through June 10 to process and listen to what your body, heart, and soul are saying. To enter, simply leave a rating and review on Apple Podcast and take a screenshot of the review before submitting it. Share your review on your Instagram Stories and tag her, @AlisonCrosthwait You have until Wednesday, May 31 to enter and we’ll select 2 winners who we’ll notify through a direct message on Instagram! Explore November Classes

  22. 15

    Connecting to the Love that Creates Inner Richness with Heather Vesey

    How can we not only become okay with suffering but welcome it, love it, and appreciate it? That’s the question that unfolds in this episode with Heather Vesey, a Wisdom Mentor. Through this emotional and profound conversation, you’ll receive a beautiful call to cultivate your relationship with the Divine and with love itself.  Alison has been supported through Heather’s Wisdom Mentorship since the summer of 2022 and invited Heather to share this wisdom with you in this episode. “What is your way of relating to the divine inside you? It's a relationship. It's a companion. It's an intimacy. It's knowing that presence, that love that we can just not put words to is there and is yours. It’s with you and for you and in you and ahead of you and behind you and around you. Express your love to that divineness and receive it back.”CONNECT WITH HEATHER Heather has always had an interest and a sense of home within the Christian Wisdom tradition. She grew up in the Indian Himalayas, where her father was a doctor, specializing in community health care.  These were profoundly formative years for Heather, where her Christian faith was nurtured and where she also developed and absorbed a deep appreciation of other religious traditions and cultures.After completing her secondary education in the UK, she worked with street kids in Bolivia and Peru, and then in Nursing and Social Work. She soon realized, however, that her deeper heart was in more directly accompanying others in their spiritual Unfolding.In 2014 she moved to Colorado with her husband Nicholas, and their kids Sam and Jessica (now 19 and 17), to work at the Aspen Chapel, where she is “Director of Contemplative Work.” She divides her time between leading services and small groups there, and doing her own one-on-one “Wisdom mentoring,” a form of spiritual direction and accompaniment. This is her main focus and joy – deeply listening and accompanying people who want to live more fully into their own authenticity and relationship with the Divine.Join Heather for meditation and contemplative services.You can contact Heather directly at [email protected] RESOURCES MENTIONED• An Interrupted Life by Etty Hillesum• Christian Meditation by James Finley• Bill RedfieldJOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025

  23. 14

    What Type of Healing or Therapy is Right for You?

    There are so many healing practices and therapy modalities that can support you with on your healing journey, so how do you choose what type of healing and therapy is right for you? In this episode, Alison shares both her perspective from her personal experience as well as research that highlights the most important consideration when choosing who to work with and why it matters so much on your healing journey.This insight will help you tune into your own intuition to guide you toward who and what will be most supportive for you right now.  “All of us have a place at which we can't hold what's happening anymore. We may not show it, but you can feel it. What you're looking for in somebody that you work with is a feeling that you can open all the way, as far as you want to open.”JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:Sign Up for Alison's Email List

  24. 13

    The Third Stage of Healing

    This is a follow-up to episode 16, “The Two Stages of Healing.” If you haven’t already tuned into that episode, start there and then come back to this episode.This episode is filled with insight that will shape your understanding and open your mind on the deep work that needs to happen to change our state of being in the world. Here, Alison explores what the third stage of healing is, how you can identify where you’re at in different areas of your life as a way to expand your awareness of what’s possible, and a few ways you can support yourself with moving through to the third stage. She also offers two refinements to what she’s shared thus far on the stages of healing that provide a layer of nuance to support you with how you think about these stages in your own life and healing work. “In stage three, we definitely have desires for the future and at the same time we know that our faithfulness to the present moment is the only thing that's relevant. We know in our bones that the outcomes are not up to us, and the only thing that's up to us is the moment-by-moment choosing to be present to elevate our being by inhabiting our body and our hearts.”JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:Sign Up for Alison's Email List

  25. 12

    What Does It Look Like to Thrive in all 5 Aspects of Your Health?

    What does it look like to thrive in all five aspects of your health — physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and sexual? This episode is intended to serve as a North Star on your healing journey. Alison shares a few of the most important qualities we’re working toward embodying in order to thrive in each of these aspects. Sharing what a healthy state of each of these five aspects might look and feel like gives you an understanding of where you are currently with each and where you may desire to focus in your healing and growth.And a reminder —  it’s important not to judge or criticize yourself for wherever you may currently be, but rather use this as understanding and inspiration for where you’re able to go. “On a cultural level, on a societal level, moment by moment, am I able to be true to myself?How often am I pushed out of myself into a more traumatized state where I'm not acting from presence? The more of this work we do and the more connection we have to our physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and sexual selves, the less we're knocked around by life.”JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:Sign Up for Alison's Email List

  26. 11

    Anxiety is the Tension Between Our True and False Self

    Anxiety is a multi-layered phenomenon.  It’s also overdetermined — many different experiences and combinations of experiences can be labeled anxiety.One aspect of anxiety is the relationship between how we are living our life and our true feelings.  This could look like trying to keep a parent or employer happy or being in a relationship that isn't working for you.Living in this state of nonalignment in one or more areas of your life can provoke anxiety.  The anxiety sits on top of the true feelings which, if felt fully, would demand massive action on our own behalf.In this episode, I dig deeper into this aspect of anxiety and I share how you can begin to work with experiences of anxiety to heal your trauma and come back to your true self. “We have our natural sufficient life force energy — our true self — and through different traumatic experiences, whether it's messages such as  “settle down and be good” or big traumas that happen in our lives, we come to not be present with ourselves. We tamp down our energy, we dissociate, we numb out, and we do whatever we need to do to not be present, which means we're not being true to ourselves.”SIGN UP FOR THE GROWING THROUGH ANXIETY AUDIO COURSEGrowing Through Anxiety is a 28-day audio program offering structured support so you can connect to yourself — what you think, what you feel, who you are. Sign Up for the Growing Through Anxiety Audio Course JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:Sign Up for the Growing Through Anxiety Audio Course

  27. 10

    Working with Triggers to Heal Trauma and Shift into Presence

    Last year, I flew to Hawaii to attend a retreat with Eckhart Tolle.The entire time, I kept getting these signs that I was out of the zone of tolerance. I was triggered again and again in major ways that I hadn’t experienced in years, despite turning to my tools and practices to bring myself back to presence.I’m sharing my experience with you here so you can witness the value of recognizing your triggers and facing them head-on, even when it can be incredibly uncomfortable.I share how my practices gave me the self-awareness and compassion I needed to notice when I was out of my zone of tolerance, how I created an intense release of emotion to release the trigger, and the effect this work had on my ability to remain present in my life.My wish for sharing this experience is that you can see there’s always a juicer, stronger layer for you to step into if you continuously practice the work.“When we get triggered by things that happen, it's a gift because we have the chance to let those emotions out all the way through… that energy that was stored that was keeping me from being present is released and I'm connected to who I really am.”SIGN UP FOR THE GROWING THROUGH ANXIETY AUDIO COURSEGrowing Through Anxiety is a 28-day audio program offering structured support so you can connect to yourself — what you think, what you feel, who you are. Sign Up for the Growing Through Anxiety Audio Course JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:Sign Up for the Growing Through Anxiety Audio Course

  28. 9

    Leaning Into What’s “Juicy” to Make Life Easier

    Building our capacity for juice and pleasure is a central part of healing.It breaks apart the conditioning that life is hard, that we have to push, and that we have to obey.None of those things are juicy.When we’re leaning into what’s juicy, we’re ultimately moving towards a life of overflow that comes from touching the heart of love and life force energy.In this episode, I’m sharing what juicy is, why it’s such a prominent aspect of my work and how we change, and how you can find the juice in your life today.“Juicy is continually unlocking energy that's been tamped down by closed thinking and conditioning. It can have fear and discomfort, but it's sparky.”JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:Sign Up for Alison's Email List

  29. 8

    17: Working with Psychedelics to Heal Your Trauma

    What keeps us from being present is the inability to experience the present fully.  We experience the present when we feel emotions, experience physical sensations and are aware of what is happening.When we are unable to be present we are in a traumatic reaction — a separation from our life force energy.When we’re holding trauma, we can’t see that within ourselves.Sacred medicine, along with other healing practices, supports us to see, feel, and embody what we weren’t able to before and thus to heal the traumatic reaction and come into presence.In this episode, we’re exploring the ways medicine can support you in healing trauma, including trauma you may not be aware of that is holding you back from embodying your intention.“Everything that's keeping you from the connection with yourself is being pulled away, layer by layer.”JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeMentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025

  30. 7

    16: 2 Stages of Healing Trauma

    There are two different stages we go through when we are healing trauma.If you’ve done a lot of inner work — therapy, meditation, journaling, etc. — but feel as if you’ve hit a healing plateau where you have awareness of your patterns, but can’t quite step into the power of who you are by doing the things you know you have to do to get there, you’re likely coming to the end of the first stage of healing.Understanding stage one and stage two will support you in seeing what’s possible and what more there may be for you.I share what each stage looks like, the type of work that happens in each, and how you can shift from stage one to stage two.“In this stage (stage 2), you're nourished from the inside because you're connected to the life, to the divinity that's within you. When life is challenging, you can withstand it. It's a very juicy place to be.”JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  31. 6

    15: Trauma Blocks Everything You Desire

    Trauma is the only thing that separates us from everything we desire.Trauma is separation from our life force energy. It’s what happens when we have experiences that we don’t have the capacity to be present for.There are obvious traumas — the things we all know are difficult.And then there is the moment-by-moment way that life nudges us out of our own power, our own authenticity.Ultimately, we are all traumatized to greater and lesser extents through fear and insecurity into living lives that are not our own."It's our aliveness, which is what creates in the world, which is what attracts to us the people and the things that give our lives so much meaning, and when we have a lot of trauma, we don't have as much aliveness.”RESOURCES MENTIONEDDan SiegelJames FinleyJOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  32. 5

    14: Riding the Waves to Create Flow

    When you're doing deep transformational healing work, big emotions can come up like sadness and anger, and our first instinct is to want to feel better.Riding the waves refers to a relationship to our emotions where we accept and even welcome our feelings as they come and go.Alison sees riding the waves as offering an opportunity to open and to hold more.Riding the waves allows us to flow through life without fighting, which frees up energy to respond to life as it actually is.In this episode, Alison shares how you can ride the waves of your emotions to free up your mental, emotional, and physical energy, allowing you to move through challenges with clarity and presence.“When you allow yourself to move through emotions rather than fighting them, you can relax and be supported in huge releases that come up, which results in massive energy gain because those feelings are there, and when we allow them to flow, we're no longer carrying them.”JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  33. 4

    Connecting With Your Sexual Energy Fuels Your Creation in The World

    We tend to compartmentalize our sexual energy.Some of us see it as strictly physical.Some of us see it as dirty or bad.Some of us see it as mostly emotional.Many of us don't think about it at all.In this episode, Alison is going to show how connecting with your sexual energy can support you in creating the life you desire.You’ll discover:How sexual energy goes beyond the physical act of sex and why this expanded definition is key to healing the sexual aspect of yourselfWhy working with your sexual energy isn’t just about your relationshipsHow sexual healing can support you in creating more ease and flow in the direction of the life you desireJOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  34. 3

    Fostering Spirituality Changes How You Relate to Yourself, Others, and All of Life

    Fostering spirituality in our life fosters our connection to life, aliveness, and all that we desire.As we develop and nurture this connection, we have the passion to move forward, to take deeper and broader steps into the fullness of the life that we want to create.In this episode, you’ll discover:Why a lack of spirituality can hinder your ability to create the life you wantHow fostering spirituality can support you in relating to yourself, others, and all of life in a new way that creates more peace in your lifeHow psychedelics can support you in expanding your awareness and cultivating a deeper sense of spiritualityJOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  35. 2

    9: Emotional Healing Allows You to Step Into the Fullness of Who You Are

    We often think of certain emotions as negative, and thus we're taught early to repress them.Usually, it's sadness, rage, and jealousy.It's exactly this imbalance that makes it challenging for us to change our behavior.When we have traumatic experiences— experiences that are too much for us to emotionally withstand at the moment— because we can't feel our emotions because they get locked away.This disturbs our flow and our ability to be present, which makes it difficult for us to create the lives we want to create in all areas of our lives.Discover: Why we hold back our emotions and the impact that has on us3 pieces of emotional work that allow us to have a healthy relationship with a full range of emotionsHow plant medicine can help you access your emotions so you can develop that healthy relationship quickerJOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

  36. 1

    7: What’s Blocking You Is in Your Body, Not Your Head

    We tend to think that our blocks are in our heads, but often they're actually in our bodies.As we start to do personal work, we can see this because we know that logically we shouldn't be scared of this, there's nothing to worry about, we want to be a certain way, or we want to speak up for ourselves, because we know that's how we're going to step into the next level, and yet we can't do it because we’re are afraid.That fear lives in our bodies, so what's in our bodies has an impact on what we’re able to create in the world.Tune in to hear: Why the body is a key part of realizing our intentionHow unhealed trauma in the body can prevent you from making lasting changeHow physical symptoms can illuminate psychological, emotional, and mental aspects that need to be healedHow to work with the body while microdosing to experience the most powerful transformationsJOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREIf you are ready to step fully into what you are here to do and live every day with the kind of magic you know is possible, apply for Expand. Expand is an intimate three-month online community experience that supports you through one full microdosing cycle combined with deep mental, emotional and somatic work so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire.Learn more and apply at Learn More and Apply for Expand CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

The Aliveness Podcast explores how we live, love, and think in a changing world. Every weekday brings Session Notes from The World’s Therapist - a fictional series about the inner life of our time. Each week I share an essay and a conversation with someone else who is thoughtfully exploring how we live. Dry humour lives here. Marion Woodman coded.The problems of our time are complex. Developing the inner capacity to withstand confusion and conflict in service of connection and growth is central to our collective thriving.More than one thing can be true at once.www.alisoncrosthwait.com

HOSTED BY

Alison Crosthwait

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