Laura Hernandez vulnerably shares her struggles with her health and weight after years of research and working at perfecting her diet. In a facebook post she recently shared her experience after 11 days on what we're calling the ER Shred. "I wish I could just say I had “let myself go” in that first pic, & that I made a decision to get “healthy” in that 2nd pic, bc that would have been easier. But, NOTHING could be further from the truth, as my close friends & family can attest to how har...
Nov 03, 2020•35 min
100 Episodes!!!! Wow! I'm so dang proud of that. Here's a recap of what those 100 episodes are about; 1-20 was the beginning stages of a LOT of personal development which ultimately led to the choice to leave our life long religion. 21-99 was basically our entire journey and all the different phases we experienced after leaving the church. Now starting season 4 and going a slightly different direction. We will be discussing all different kinds of topics around personal growth and development as ...
Oct 27, 2020•25 min
Use your past to enhance your present. It all comes down to the way we tell our story. Were you the victim? Or were you the hero? Train your brain to notice what was good about the way your life has played out. Ask, how is this happening FOR me and not to me?
Oct 20, 2020•29 min
When we leave Mormonism, we also leave behind our community to some extent. But when we become so focused on what was lost, or our lack of something, our brain stops trying to find solutions. When we begin focusing on what we WANT, believing that it's on it's way, then suddenly we open ourselves up to creativity and BOOM, the answers (or people), arrive.
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr
When I was 10 years old I had a traumatic experience that caused me to feel overwhelming SHAME. A year later I finally gained the courage to "confess" it to my bishop. Growing up in the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) I adapted this belief that my leaders, bishop, priesthood holders, elders, and prophets were the ones with the final say regarding my worthiness. Now I see how this has contributed to my need for validation and approval from others. Instead of being ...
Sep 30, 2020•21 min
A few years ago I was at my wits end with all my bottled up Mormon Mom emotions. So much guilt, jealousy, envy, and pressure to do everything amazing all the time with a perfect smile on my face. I was desperate for help. I prayed, I studied scriptures, and had conference talks playing on repeat all day. I could never find anything that spoke to me, or that offered any kind of relief from my inner suffering. Until one day I found a podcast by an LDS life coach. Ironically she was the one that re...
Sep 22, 2020•24 min
I've been wanting to talk about alcohol consumption for a while now but haven't felt I was in a place to really give any kind of useful advice. I've been battling my own internal struggle ever since we allowed drinking to be part of our lifestyle. Not about the shame and guilt from the church, but mostly just fears around my health and addiction.
Sep 16, 2020•24 min
Here is an interview with Kyla Faye Dickerson. She shares her story growing up in the Mormon church and getting married in the temple. Eventually she gained the courage to live her truth by leaving the church and discovering a whole new way of seeing her life and the world.
Sep 08, 2020•49 min
Recognizing the shift in my mindset and sharing a list of the old verses the new. Here are a few; Old: Worthiness and pleading with God for things is the way to receive blessings. New: I'm ALWAYS worthy of everything my soul desires. Intensions, and actions fueled by love, is the way to attract more good into my life. Old: The Prophet knows whats best for me and my family. New: I know best, what's best for me. For the first time in my life I'm learning to listen to ME. At the same time, remainin...
Aug 18, 2020•19 min
I used to believe I had to be WORTHY of receiving inspiration and guidance in my life. It was a constant questioning of myself, wondering if God would still speak to me even if I wasn't doing A, B, and C. Now unpacking and discovering a whole new meaning of what "feeling the spirit" is to me. Regaining the trust I lost when taking the "wrong" road far too often after following the "spirit". What does feeling the spirit mean to you? Is it a question of worthiness? Is it your gut feeling? Is it wa...
Aug 04, 2020•28 min
I had that opportunity to chat with Wendi Jensen, Author, Speaker, Trainer in the field of human potential and Religious Recovery. We talked all about the beliefs that have been programmed into us as children and ways in which we can work to DEprogram the ones that are no longer serving us. Wendi Jensen has worked as a facilitator in the healing arts for over 16 years. Her specialty is in human development. She is the author of The Healing Questions Guide – A resource guide for healing the body ...
Jul 15, 2020•55 min
It's a team effort. We all can't be activists for every problem in the world, but we can choose one or a few things that we are most passionate about and focus on that. We need more gratitude for the things that each of us decide to spend our time on and less shaming for the things we don't.
Jun 30, 2020•18 min
Terina Maldonado is a survivor in every sense of the word. She has overcome child abuse, sexual assault, and leaving a high demand religion. These experiences have taught her resilience, empathy, determination, and instilled in her a desire to inspire others to join her in a place of thriving. She loves sharing her message of hope and joy through public speaking, and writing. In 2018 she wrote an article calling attention to sexual grooming in a children's movie. The article quickly went viral r...
Jun 15, 2020•56 min
Labels put people in boxes and generates separation, hate, arguments, and destruction. When we truly see ourselves and others void of labels, our ability to relate, create, love, and connect, multiplies beyond what we thought was possible.
Jun 02, 2020•20 min
In an effort to abandon all judgement, we may also unintentionally rule out all reason. There was a time when Sean and I were both trying to allow each other to be FREE, but soon realized this mentality can backfire if we try to suppress our true feelings about certain things. It's okay to speak up. It's okay to set boundaries in your relationship. It's okay to have requests of one another as long as you feel you are both equally compromising. You can protect your marriage without trying to cont...
May 20, 2020•45 min
Margi Dehlin is a co-host on The Gift of the Mormon Faith Crisis podcast and a Certified Life Coach. In her work she explores life transitions (involving religion, death or loss, divorce, illness, or empty nest syndrome) as they impact marriage, parenting, identity, family relationships--and one's ability to find a renewed sense of purpose amidst daily living. In this episode we discuss the emotions that come with a life transition as we are all experiencing one right now with COVID. We are grie...
May 11, 2020•56 min
Sean and I discuss some pitfalls when it comes to our ever changing beliefs and opinions. *Trying to create harmony as we navigate our different interests and understandings around the meaning of life. *How we are growing together EVEN when we disagree on so many things. *Is it okay to ONLY consume information that makes you feel good, and to what extent is that just ignorance?
Apr 23, 2020•34 min
What is TRUTH? "Does it light you up? Or does it put you into fear? It is an impossibility to know THE TRUTH. Meaning there are so many perspectives . This multidimensional universe is far more complex than the human is allowed to experience. There is only so much that you are supposed to, or are designed to access. Yes, you can have cosmic multidimensional experiences. But if you are looking for "the truth" you are going to run yourself into trouble. If you are looking for YOUR TRUTH, your trut...
Apr 15, 2020•21 min
What story do you choose to believe? In this episode I share my persepective on this world wide crisis we are faced with and the story I'm choosing to believe.
Apr 06, 2020•30 min
Leah Young and I discuss some of the ways our parenting has changed since leaving Mormonism. *How to allow our children to make their own choices while still maintaining rules and boundaries. *Ways to have better communication with our teens. *Overcoming the Mormon mentality around comparisons and feeling we're never measuring up as parents.
Mar 31, 2020•1 hr 16 min
C.S. Lewis on pandemics and other horrors: “In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air...
Mar 16, 2020•58 min
Rachel and I discuss some of her thoughts and new beliefs since leaving the church about 4 years ago. "I left the church in November 2015 when "the policy" was announced. At the time I still believed that Joseph Smith was involved in the restoration of truth, but that over 200 years the church had gone into apostasy because the moment I heard the policy, another voice loudly sounding off in my head was "Jesus wouldn't suffer the children for the sins of the parents". It was pretty loud and prett...
Mar 10, 2020•1 hr 4 min
When you feel you have been lied to it can be very difficult to trust again. You start to believe that everyone is using manipulation tactics in order to get what THEY want. In this episode I'm talking about how I'm learning to trust again.
Mar 03, 2020•26 min
My conversation with Andrea Riggs, sharing some teachable moments with her teens since leaving the church 4 years ago.
Feb 25, 2020•52 min
Sometimes I fear I’m missing out on something but I'm realizing that the belief that others are experiencing something more enriching than me is all just an illusion. That's when the focus is on LACK and not abundance. If we choose not to look at the beauty in our own lives, then THAT is what we are really missing out on.
Feb 20, 2020•35 min
My friend Dusty Jacobson and I discuss the topic of the divine feminine, gender equality, and empowering women as we raise our voices together in love and unity. We reflect on our former mentality, some of the things that got us fired up in the past as we began to recognize the ways in which we felt suppressed as women. "You are being presented with a choice or remain. If you choose to remain unchanged, you will be presented with the same challenges, the same routine, the same storms, the same s...
Feb 11, 2020•48 min
"You promised the world and I fell for it I put you first and you adored it You set fires to my forest And you let it burn Sang off key in my chorus Cause it wasn’t yours I saw the signs and I ignored it Rose colored glasses all distorted You set fire to my purpose And I let it burn You got off on the hurtin’ When it wasn’t yours We’d always go into it blindly I needed to lose you to find me This dancing was killing me softly I needed to hate you to love me..." ~ Selena Gomez...
Jan 22, 2020•26 min
Giving you an update on WHY I disappeared from podcast land for a bit, and what my plan is moving forward. Also, celebrating 5,000 members in our Mormon Enlightenment Facebook group by running a contest. Leave us a review or share the podcast on social media to be entered in the drawing. And we are going to take the winner out to dinner or send you $100 cash if you're not in Utah. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to stay up to date on the latest happenings in the post Mormon community. Freedom ...
Dec 10, 2019•35 min
OBEDIENCE... what does that mean? Is it better to choose obedience over knowledge? Doing what you are told regardless of what feels right to your soul? Obedience is a principle I’ve had to really question since stepping away from the Mormon church. What I’ve concluded is that obedience no longer fits into my moral code. Is teaching our children obedience to an authority figure really in their best interest? It would seem that way, yes. To abide by the laws, follow the rules, and be respectful of...
Nov 20, 2019•59 min
What is the purpose of life? To pass the test? To overcome the natural man? To serve others? To multiply and replenish the 🌍? 🤔 To align ourselves with God/the Universe? To strive for perfection? To discover, remember, create...??? I believe the purpose of life is to Experience, Expand, and Express! I no longer believe I’m here to pass a test in order to receive my reward in heaven such as eternal families, salvation, etc. I believe life is meant to be experienced without judgment, expressed i...
Nov 12, 2019•39 min
