The RISE Experience

Shannon Denniston
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Entrepreneurship

It's not always about becoming someone different. Sometimes it's about realizing you've been disconnected from yourself for longer than you thought. The RISE Experience is a podcast for the woman who can handle a lot. She shows up, gets things done, keeps life moving… and still quietly wonders, Why don't I feel like myself anymore? Shannon Denniston is the founder of RISE, with a deep background in behavior change and the human side of transformation. Here, she explores what real transformation actually looks like — the patterns underneath what we do, the beliefs and roles we've carried, the relationships that shape us, the systems that support us, and the identity shifts that happen when our old ways of functioning stop carrying us. A lot of what gets called "starting over" isn't starting over at all. It's learning to notice what's been running in the background, reconnect with your own voice, and move forward without erasing who you've become. No reinvention. No pretending you need to become a whole new person. Just honest conversations about finding your way back to yourself, with faith as an anchor, and learning how to live from that place.

  1. 6d ago

    Are You Shrinking Yourself to Keep the Peace?

    Send me a text If “I’m good with whatever” flies out of your mouth before you even know what you want, this one’s for you. Let’s talk about the quiet ways you’ve been editing yourself down to keep the peace and what it could look like to bring your whole, honest self back into the room. Episode Summary Hey friend, this is for the woman who’s spent years being easy to be around and is just now realizing it’s cost her herself. You’ve gotten so good at reading the room, softening your edges, and taking the path of least resistance that you can’t always tell what you actually want anymore. You know how to make everyone else comfortable, but you’re quietly exhausted from disappearing in the process. In this episode, we pull that pattern into the light, not to shame you, but to honor why you learned it and to help you loosen your grip on it. From restaurant orders to hard conversations, we walk through the small, ordinary places where you’ve been shrinking, and I invite you to start holding your preferences, opinions, and needs one beat longer. We anchor it all in the kind of rest Jesus talks about in Matthew 11, the kind that doesn’t require you to be less to be loved. You’ll Learn How “I don’t care, whatever’s easiest” became a reflex you built a long time ago.The specific ways you’ve been managing how other people experience you without even noticing.Why softening your opinions so they sound like “just a preference” slowly disconnects you from your own convictions.How chronic accommodating makes it harder and harder to name what you need or ask for anything at all.The deeper belief underneath it all: if you’re difficult to be around, you must be difficult to love.How Matthew 11 is an invitation to stop curating yourself for God and come as the tired, complicated, real you.Everyday examples: ordering food, making plans, resolving conflict that help you spot this pattern in real time.A simple question to ask yourself in any room: “Am I adjusting from care, or shrinking from fear right now?”Why waiting for someone else to finally make room for you will keep you stuck and why permission has to come from you.A way to thank the version of you who survived by staying small, while letting her rest so you can step into your full self. Episode Chapters 00:40 The cost of staying easy to be around 02:20 When being considerate becomes disappearing 04:10 Opinions, needs, and losing your sense of self 06:30 “If I’m difficult, I’m hard to love” 08:50 Matthew 11 and the invitation to real rest 10:30 The everyday moments you edit yourself down 12:40 The “that wasn’t me” feeling 14:20 Adjusting from wholeness vs. shrinking from fear 16:10 Choosing to take up space today 18:10 Gratitude, rest, and prayer for the real you Memorable Quotes “At what point does being considerate turn into you just disappearing?” “When you spend so long curating yourself for everyone in the room, you lose track of which version is actually you.” “If I become difficult to be around, I become difficult to love—that belief is doing an enormous amount of work.” “This isn’t about waiting for permission. You stop asking to be let in and you start walking in as yourself.” “She was never too much. She’s just herself, fully, honestly, without apology.” Resources Mentioned Matthew 11 – “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” About the Podcast Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure. Follow The Rise Experience and share this with one friend who’s been beating herself up for the thing she reaches for when life gets loud. Your next step: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon Read the blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/ Come hang out: FB: Shannon Bell Denniston IG: @risewithshannon SEO Tags; people pleasing, women’s identity, boundaries, self worth, emotional fatigue, over accommodating, people pleaser recovery, finding your voice, taking up space, saying no, women’s confidence, inner critic, approval seeking, perfectionism, self abandonment, identity work, nervous system, relational patterns, marriage communication, motherhood pressure, people pleasing in relationships, faith based, spiritual growth, inner healing, personal growth, mindset shift, authenticity, women’s empowerment, podcast for women, rise experience

  2. Aug 13

    Are You Loved for Who You Are or Just Needed for What You Do?

    Send me a text If you stopped always picking up the phone, always fixing, always holding everything together, would the people in your life still stay close? I want to sit with that question and gently untangle the difference between being needed and being truly known and loved. Episode Summary If you’re the woman who gets the late-night text, who always figures it out, who never drops the ball, this is for you. I’m going one layer deeper into the pattern of building love and belonging on how useful you are, and the quiet fear that if you stop showing up, you might stop mattering. Together we’ll name the ache underneath all the giving, the part of you that longs to be seen and stayed for, even when you’re not doing anything for anyone. We’ll look at what it costs to lead with usefulness, what Scripture (especially Romans 8) has been saying all along about love you don’t have to earn, and how to begin receiving love as who you are, not just what you bring to the table. Key Takeaways How early on you may have learned that being helpful, responsible, or “the strong one” felt like the safest way to be loved.The difference between giving from fullness and giving because you’re afraid of what might happen if you stop.Why always being available and never asking for much keeps you from being truly known.A key question to sit with: Would they still be calling if I didn’t always answer?How confusing being needed with being loved quietly shapes the way you show up in your closest relationships.Why the fear you feel when you imagine saying “I can’t this time” says more about what the relationship was built on than how lovable you are.How Romans 8 invites you into a love that has nothing to do with your performance or usefulness.A simple inner shift: choosing to receive appreciation as being about who you are, not only what you did.How to honor the version of you who learned to lead with usefulness and gently let her rest.A new picture of yourself as a woman who walks into the room already enough, giving from fullness and not fear. Episode Chapters 00:40 When staying small in relationships started for you 02:10 The late-night text and the warmth of being needed 04:00 How usefulness became the safest way to be loved 06:00 “I’m a helper, I’m a giver” – when strategy becomes identity 08:10 Giving from fullness vs. giving from fear 10:00 The longing to be known beyond what you do 11:50 Choosing to stop hiding behind usefulness 13:10 What your fear is really telling you about your relationships 15:20 Receiving appreciation as who you are 17:10 Letting the “always useful” version of you rest 18:50 Romans 8 and a love you don’t have to earn 19:40 Prayer for the woman who’s tired of only being needed Memorable Quotes “Being needed gives you a place in the room, but it was never meant to be the only language you know for feeling loved.” “There’s a real difference between giving from fullness and giving because you don’t yet trust that who you are is enough apart from what you do for everyone else.” “Being known isn’t something someone does to you when they finally pay enough attention; it’s something you do when you stop hiding the real version of you behind everything you provide.” “The fear that if you stop being useful you might stop mattering is not information about how much they love you—it’s information about what you’ve built the relationship on.” “The woman you’re finding your way back to doesn’t have to earn her place in a room. She walks in, and her presence alone is enough. She gives, but from fullness and not fear.” Resources Mentioned Scripture: Romans 8 About the Podcast Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure. Follow The Rise Experience and share this with one friend who’s been beating herself up for the thing she reaches for when life gets loud. Your next step: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon Read the blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/ Come hang out: FB: Shannon Bell Denniston IG: @risewithshannon SEO tags love, identity, belonging, worthiness, people-pleasing, healthy boundaries, burnout, overgiving, expectations, approval, validation, self-worth, close relationships, dependable, helper role, fixer mindset, resentment, exhaustion, authenticity, vulnerability, real connection, emotional intimacy, acceptance, self-compassion, healing, personal growth, inner change, transformation, clarity, presence, feeling enough, self-discovery, self-awareness, behavior patterns, mindset, emotions, trust, giving permission, rest

  3. Aug 6

    When Staying Small to Keep the Peace Starts Costing You.

    Send me a text If staying “easy to be around” has started to feel like disappearing, you’re not imagining it. Let’s name where that smallness started, what it’s been costing you, and what changes when you stop shrinking to keep everyone else comfortable. Episode Summary I’m talking to the woman who can read a room before anyone says a word and instantly adjusts herself to keep the peace. The smile, the soft tone, the quick edit before you speak it all worked once. It kept relationships steady, made home feel a little less volatile, and helped you feel just “easy enough” to love. But now that same pattern is costing you pieces of yourself. In this conversation, I’m naming the quiet ways staying small shows up: the qualifiers, the over-explaining, the way you change your answer the second someone flinches. Together, we trace how that started, why it made sense at the time, and why it’s not the truth of who you are. With Proverbs 31 as a picture of a grounded, steady woman and a simple question to ask in real time, you’ll start practicing what it means to take up the space that was already yours. Key Takeaways How “being easy to be around” can slowly turn into a pattern of shrinking yourself in every room.Why smallness began as a strategy that made sense in a specific moment, not as your true personality.The subtle behaviors that reveal shrinking: room-reading, softening every sentence, and pulling back your real opinion.The internal message smallness sends over time: “My full self is too much; I’m only lovable when I’m easy.”What happens when you confuse being needed with being truly known—and why that feels so lonely.A faith-rooted picture of a woman who is strong, steady, and not afraid of her own voice.A simple question to pause and ask when you feel yourself editing: “Is this coming from love or is this coming from fear?”How to hold compassion for the version of you that stayed small, while still choosing freedom now. Episode Chapters 00:00 – Welcome & Who This Is For 01:35 – The Hidden Cost of Being “Easy to Be Around” 03:25 – Reading the Room & Shrinking on Cue 05:05 – When People-Pleasing Becomes Your Personality 07:25 – Losing Track of What You Want and Need 09:40 – The Internal Message: “My Full Self Is Too Much” 12:30 – Everyday Ways You Stay Small (Without Noticing) 15:20 – The Lonely Ache of Being Needed but Not Known 17:05 – What Becomes Possible When You Stop Shrinking 18:30 – Prayer & Invitation to Take Up Space Memorable Quotes “You didn’t come into this world small. You got small because it was necessary in the moment.” “Staying small isn’t your personality. It’s a strategy that worked once and never got updated.” “Every time you make yourself smaller so someone else can stay comfortable, you tell your own heart, ‘My full self is too much.’” “She knows the difference between adjusting for love and shrinking for survival—and she stopped confusing the two.” “The woman you’re becoming doesn’t have to choose between being loved and being herself. That was never really the choice.” Resources Mentioned Proverbs 31 – a picture of a strong, capable woman whose worth doesn’t come from making herself small. About the Podcast Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure. Listen & Subscribe Follow The Rise Experience and share this with one friend who’s been beating herself up for the thing she reaches for when life gets loud. Your next step: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon Read the blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/ Come hang out: FB: Shannon Bell Denniston IG: @risewithshannon SEO tags identity work, women in transition, people pleasing, burnout recovery, emotional exhaustion, staying small, self abandonment, reclaim identity, women’s boundaries, over explaining, fear of conflict, taking up space, women’s confidence, inner critic, emotional health, relationship patterns, people pleaser, self worth, personal growth, life transition, midlife shift, high achievers, emotional overload, mental load

  4. Jul 30

    Loosening Your Grip and Learning Contentment When Life Feels Out of Control.

    Send me a text What if the most settled version of you isn’t someone you have to become later, but someone you can choose to be today? This is an invitation to loosen your grip, stay present with God in the middle of real life, and find a quieter kind of contentment right where you are. Episode Summary When life feels like too much, control can start to feel like the only safe option. This teaching walks through what it’s like to gently loosen that grip without checking out, and to notice the version of you that shows up when you’re not constantly managing, bracing, and rehearsing every worst-case scenario. Instead of chasing a future “better self,” the focus is on the settled, present you that already exists underneath all the tension. Using Philippians 4 as a grounding point, the message reframes contentment as something learned over time in every “whatsoever” kind of day—the good, the hard, and the uncertain. You’ll be invited into a simple practice: noticing brief moments of ease, letting them last a little longer, and seeing them as proof that a more peaceful way of living with God is actually possible now, not someday. Key Takeaways You’ll learn: Why the “settled” version of you is not a different future person, but who you are when you’re not constantly managing and monitoring everything.How loosening your grip, even a little, makes room for real joy in ordinary, everyday moments.The difference between actually living your life and standing outside it, evaluating and controlling from a distance.How those small “meh, it is what it is” moments can be read as evidence that a more settled life is already possible for you.A faith-rooted view of Philippians 4 and what it means to learn contentment in whatever state you find yourself in.Why contentment isn’t pretending things are fine, but a deeper settledness that holds when circumstances don’t.A simple practice: notice and linger in small pockets of ease instead of rushing past them.How choosing presence over protection, fear, or control—one moment at a time—is how you return to yourself.Why settledness works better as a direction you keep turning toward than as a finish line you’re trying to reach. Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome & July wrap 00:40 Why we reach for control 02:10 Imagining a settled life 04:40 The “settled you” beneath the grip 07:10 Managing life vs actually living it 09:30 Honest confession: still learning this 12:50 Philippians 4 and learned contentment 16:30 Noticing brief moments of settledness 18:50 Letting those moments last longer 20:20 Prayer for contentment and peace 21:44 Share with a friend & what’s next Memorable Quotes “You can’t fully enjoy something while you’re also trying to manage it. The two don’t fit in the same space.” “The settled, present, centered version of you is not a different person. She’s who you are when you’re not spending all your energy managing and bracing for what comes next.” “Those quiet moments where you feel at ease are not a fantasy. They’re evidence—proof—that this is possible for you today.” “Contentment isn’t pretending things are fine when they’re not. It’s a settledness that doesn’t depend on your circumstances lining up perfectly.” “She’s not coming to rescue you. You are the one doing the returning, every time you choose presence over protection, fear, or control.” Resources Mentioned Philippians 4 – “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” About the Podcast Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure. Follow The Rise Experience and share this with one friend who’s been beating herself up for the thing she reaches for when life gets loud. Your next step: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon Read the blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/ Come hang out: FB: Shannon Bell Denniston IG: @risewithshannon

  5. Jul 23

    Letting Go Without Losing Yourself in Control.

    Send me a text If you’re tired of running on high alert, replaying conversations, and trying to manage every possible outcome, this is for you. Walk through what it really looks like to loosen your grip, trust God in the not‑knowing, and finally settle into the life you’re already living. Episode Highlights There’s a moment when control stops working when white-knuckling your way through life costs more than the uncertainty you’re trying to avoid. This week is an invitation to notice that place, set down what was never yours to carry, and gently let your nervous system learn something new. Letting go shows up in the smallest of ways: the unsent text, the extra few minutes you stay with a feeling, the sentence that ends at “I don’t know what’s going to happen” without a backup plan attached. Anchored in “Be still and know that I am God,” you’re reminded that stillness isn’t failure or laziness; it’s where clarity and presence actually meet you. And underneath it all is this truth: the woman on the other side of the grip isn’t a future version you have to earn; she’s who you’re choosing your way back to, one settled breath at a time. Key Takeaways You’ll Learn: Why control can feel safer than stillness, even when it’s draining youHow “letting go” can look like not sending a text written to manage someone’s responseWhat happens in your body when you stop bracing and sit with discomfort a little longerHow to recognize when you’re gripping an outcome that was never yours to holdA simple way to practice setting one thing down for a day and noticing what shiftsWhy “be still and know” invites you into trust, not passivity or checking outHow choosing presence over performance slowly reshapes your identityThe truth that the woman who laughs easier and breathes deeper isn’t far away—she’s already in you when you’re not holding everything together Episode Chapters 00:00 Welcome back & who this space is for 00:45 Recap of the month’s honest talk about control 02:10 The moment a woman stops fighting and starts settling in 04:05 Redefining letting go vs “giving up” and failure 06:10 Tiny choices that loosen the grip in daily life 08:30 How your nervous system reacts to stillness and uncertainty 10:05 Space, presence, and the woman on the other side of the grip 11:40 “Be still and know” as a lived practice with God 13:20 One thing to set down today and what to notice in your body 15:00 Closing prayer and encouragement for women white‑knuckling life Memorable Quotes “Letting go is choosing to stop carrying something that was never yours to carry in the first place.” “Every time you pause instead of immediately reaching, you’re practicing being a woman who trusts herself enough to feel something without running from it.” “Be still and know that I am God. Not be still and figure it out. Not be still and then make your plan. Just be still and know.” “Letting go is not the same thing as giving up; it’s the exhale after holding your breath for too long.” “The woman on the other side of the grip isn’t someone you’re waiting on; she’s someone you’re actively choosing your way back to.” Resources Mentioned Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God.” About the Podcast Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure. Follow The Rise Experience and share this with one friend who’s been beating herself up for the thing she reaches for when life gets loud. Your next step: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon Read the blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/ Come hang out: FB: Shannon Bell Denniston IG: @risewithshannon

  6. Jul 16

    When Control Starts Costing Your Authenticity.

    Send me a text If you’ve been managing every word, every reaction, every part of you just to keep things “okay,” there’s a good chance control is costing you more than you realize. We’re getting honest about what happens when that managing starts to shrink who you are and your authenticity quietly disappears. Episode Summary There comes a point where control stops feeling like something you reach for and starts to feel like the only way you know how to be. In this conversation, I’m talking to the woman whose laugh has gone quiet, who rehearses before she speaks, who can feel the gap between who she really is and the version she keeps performing for everyone else. Together, we name the subtle, exhausting ways control chips away at spontaneity, connection, joy, and, over time, your sense of self. Through the lens of Galatians 5 and the language of nervous system and lived experience, we look at the environments, relationships, and roles that ask you to be smaller than you were created to be. If you’ve been wondering where you’ve made yourself small to fit, and whether it’s actually working for you, this is a gentle but clear invitation to start paying attention to what’s happening to your freedom and your authenticity. Key Takeaways You’ll learn: Control is a coping strategy your nervous system uses to keep you safe, not evidence that something is wrong with you.Staying in control mode for too long turns managing yourself into an identity instead of a tool.Constantly filtering your words, reactions, and feelings slowly erodes spontaneity, connection, and everyday joy.You can be surrounded by people and still feel alone when they only know the managed version of you.Hyper-vigilance and low-level monitoring keep your nervous system running high until it feels “normal.”Those small, clear moments when you felt fully like yourself are proof that the truest version of you is still there.Galatians 5 points to freedom as part of how you were designed to live, not a luxury for when life calms down.Any environment that requires you to shrink who you are is asking for something that is not actually yours to give. Episode Chapters 01:15 When control stops being a strategy and starts feeling like who you are 02:40 The slow shrinking: managing every word, reaction, and feeling 04:59 What control costs: spontaneity, connection, and everyday joy 07:20 The growing distance between your real self and your performed self 09:44 Using moments you felt fully like you as data that she’s still there 11:10 Honest questions about where you’ve been making yourself smaller 13:05 Galatians 5 and what real freedom feels like in your body and life 14:36 Prayer for courage to see clearly and come back to who God created you to be Memorable Quotes “When the coping strategy stops being something you do and starts being who you are, that’s when you start to lose yourself inside of it.” “You can be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone, because they know the managed version of you — not you.” “The drift away from the woman you actually are into a woman the environment is asking you to be is the real cost of control.” “That moment where you felt fully like her is data. It’s proof she still exists. She’s always existed. She’s just been buried under a lot of management.” “No relationship, no job, no environment, no version of keeping peace is worth that. Not one.” Resources Mentioned Galatians 5:1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” About the Podcast Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure. Listen & Subscribe Follow The Rise Experience and share this with one friend who’s been beating herself up for the thing she reaches for when life gets loud. Your next step: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon Read the blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/ Come hang out: FB: Shannon Bell Denniston IG: @risewithshannon

  7. Jul 9

    When Escaping Becomes Control, Not a Discipline Problem.

    Send me a text When life feels like too much, do you find yourself on the couch with Netflix, in the pantry, or lost in the scroll, and then beat yourself up for it? What if those moments aren’t a discipline problem at all, but your nervous system trying to get you out from under a weight you were never meant to carry alone? Episode Summary Sometimes control looks like white‑knuckling your way through a color‑coded day. And sometimes it looks like checking out on the couch with another show, another snack, or another scroll you didn’t really choose. When the kids are loud, the house is chaotic, and everyone else’s needs have been shouting your name all day, it makes sense that you reach for anything that lets you breathe for a second. In this conversation, we name escape for what it really is: a quiet form of control your nervous system has learned to grab when you’re depleted. We talk about how that constant reaching slowly creates distance from the real you, why this is not a “more discipline” problem, and what it costs when escape becomes the only tool you have. With Elijah’s story from 1 Kings and two simple questions you can ask in the middle of the binge, the scroll, or the second trip to the kitchen, you’ll start to see your patterns as a signal worth listening to and let God meet you in the exhaustion, not shame you for it. Key Takeaways You’ll learn: How both white‑knuckling and checking out are doing the exact same job: trying to feel okay when okay feels out of reach.Why Netflix, food, scrolling, cleaning at 11 p.m., or always having noise on can feel like relief when life is too loud.How constant escape slowly creates distance from your own wants, needs, and preferences until you don’t even know what you like anymore.Why what you’re facing is exhaustion and depletion, not laziness and not a character flaw.How your nervous system quietly shifts into survival mode and starts prioritizing “turn the volume down” over everything else.A way to see your go‑to escape as a messenger saying, “This is too much for me to hold alone,” instead of as the enemy.Two questions to ask when you notice yourself halfway through something you didn’t consciously choose: “What am I trying to get away from right now?” and “What do I actually need right now?”How Elijah’s crash in 1 Kings shows God meeting depletion with rest, food, and presence before anything else. Episode Chapters 00:00 When life feels like too much 00:59 Control that looks like checking out 04:59 White‑knuckling vs. escaping 09:51 The quiet distance from your real self 12:30 Exhaustion, survival mode, and “just getting through” 15:06 Two questions for the middle of the binge or scroll 16:30 Elijah under the tree and how God meets depletion 17:31 Prayer and an invitation if you’re exhausted Memorable Quotes “Escaping is a form of control. It just doesn’t feel like control because it shows up as relief.” “The problem isn’t that it works. The problem is that it works just enough to get you through without touching what’s underneath.” “Exhausted women don’t need more discipline. You need help finding yourself again.” “The thing you reach for when life is too much is not evidence something’s wrong with you. It’s evidence that you’re human and you’re carrying something real.” “You deserve more than just relief. You deserve to actually know what you need, and to meet it in ways that don’t leave you emptier than when you started.” Resources Mentioned Bible – 1 Kings (Elijah’s depletion and God’s response) About the Podcast Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure. Listen & Subscribe Follow The Rise Experience and share this with one friend who’s been beating herself up for the thing she reaches for when life gets loud. Your next step: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon Read the blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/ Come hang out: FB: Shannon Bell Denniston IG: @risewithshannon

  8. Jul 2

    Letting Go of Control: Overthinking, Anxiety, and the Myth of the Perfect Day.

    Send me a text If you’ve been waiting for the perfect day, the perfect week, or the perfect version of you before you finally begin, I want you to hear this: that day isn’t coming. Today we’re talking about control, why it feels so safe, and how it might actually be keeping you from the life you’re trying so hard to manage. Episode Summary In this episode of The Rise Experience, we’re starting a new month-long conversation about control. Not just the big, obvious control, but the quiet kind that shows up in your planning, your overthinking, and the way you keep telling yourself, “I’ll do it when things slow down.” I talk about why our nervous systems reach for control when life feels like too much, how that spills into coaching, accountability, and structure, and how it slowly turns into this identity of being “the one who has it together.” We also sit with Matthew 6:34 and talk about what it really means to stop dragging tomorrow into today, without pretending you don’t have real things to take care of. If you’re tired of waiting for the perfect moment and feel like you’re always managing your life instead of living it, this episode will help you notice where control is running the show and give you one simple place to begin shifting that. Key Takeaways What control really is and why your body keeps reaching for itHow control shows up in everyday ways: perfect-day thinking, overplanning, overthinking, all-or-nothingWhy overthinking is often just anxiety trying to keep you safeHow “being the woman who has it together” can quietly become your whole identityHow support and accountability can start to feel like being watched instead of being helpedA steadier way to hear “do not worry about tomorrow” from Matthew 6:34One simple practice for this week: notice where you’re waiting for perfect conditions before you even begin Episode Chapters 00:00 – Why July is all about control 04:39 – When support starts to feel like someone is checking up on you 09:25 – The quiet ways control shows up all day long 14:02 – What constant control is really costing you 16:10 – Matthew 6:34 and a small step for this week Memorable Quotes “You can’t be fully present and fully in control at the same time."“Reaching for control isn’t a character issue. It’s a way you learned to feel safe.”“That perfect day you’re waiting for isn’t coming, and the version of you that’s been on hold for it doesn’t have to stay there."“You don’t have to carry tomorrow today.” Follow The Rise Experience and share this episode with one friend who is exhausted from trying to keep everything perfectly in place. Connect with Shannon: Your next step… https://msha.ke/risewithshannon Read the blog… https://www.risewithshannon.blog/ FB: Shannon Bell Denniston IG: @risewithshannon About the Podcast The Rise Experience is a podcast for women of faith who are done starting over and done pretending everything is fine. Each week, I show up with real talk, scripture, and simple reflection to help you move through transition, shift old patterns, and live with more steadiness, purpose, and presence right where you are. SEO Tags control and anxiety, christian women podcast, faith and mental health, overthinking and perfectionism, letting go of control, anxiety and overplanning, matthew 6:34, christian personal growth, women’s spiritual growth, all or nothing thinking, christian life coaching, transitions and faith, finding steadiness in chaos, rise experience podcast, shannon denniston, christian encouragement for women, emotional health and faith, stop waiting for perfect day, christian mindset work

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4 Ratings

About

It's not always about becoming someone different. Sometimes it's about realizing you've been disconnected from yourself for longer than you thought. The RISE Experience is a podcast for the woman who can handle a lot. She shows up, gets things done, keeps life moving… and still quietly wonders, Why don't I feel like myself anymore? Shannon Denniston is the founder of RISE, with a deep background in behavior change and the human side of transformation. Here, she explores what real transformation actually looks like — the patterns underneath what we do, the beliefs and roles we've carried, the relationships that shape us, the systems that support us, and the identity shifts that happen when our old ways of functioning stop carrying us. A lot of what gets called "starting over" isn't starting over at all. It's learning to notice what's been running in the background, reconnect with your own voice, and move forward without erasing who you've become. No reinvention. No pretending you need to become a whole new person. Just honest conversations about finding your way back to yourself, with faith as an anchor, and learning how to live from that place.

Information

  • Creator
    Shannon Denniston
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    65
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The RISE Experience
  • Show Website
    The RISE Experience