Wild & Waking

Emily Reuschel
  • 4.9 (55)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Wild & Waking is more than a podcast—it’s a sacred return to who you’ve always been. This space is for the woman standing at the edge of everything she’s outgrown. The one who’s checked all the boxes, followed all the rules, and still feels the quiet ache for something more honest. More alive. More hers.   She’s begun the unraveling—of roles, expectations, and identities that no longer fit. She’s remembering the voice beneath the noise, the rhythm beneath the hustle, the truth beneath the performance. She’s reclaiming her joy, her intuition, her fire. And she’s rising—not as a version of who she was told to be, but as the truest expression of who she already is.   Hosted by soul expansion coach Emily Reuschel, Wild & Waking is for spiritual entrepreneurs, coaches, rural changemakers, and conscious leaders dismantling old paradigms and creating new ways of living, leading, and becoming. Through raw conversations, deep reflections, and embodied wisdom, we explore what it means to awaken a life of abundance, authenticity, and purpose.   This is for the woman who holds both sacred rage and radical joy. Who moves with reverence for the seasons of her life. Who isn’t afraid to break cycles, speak truth, and dismantle what no longer serves—not to destroy, but to create. To rebuild a world rooted in the celebration of difference, the beauty of nuance, and the power of sovereign, embodied leadership.   If you’re ready to come home to yourself—fully, fiercely, and without apology—welcome. We’ve been waiting for you.

  1. 5d ago

    Beyond the Tradwife Fantasy: Agrarian Resilience, Political Identity, and Rural Belonging with Jack Thomas

    In Episode 209 of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Jack Thomas, a self-taught regenerative farmsteader, food and homesteading educator, printmaker, writer, and founder of ACRE, the Agrarian Co-Learning & Resiliency Exchange. Together, we explore what it means to build a resilient, politically conscious agrarian life beyond the tradwife fantasy - and why growing food, raising animals, baking bread, caring for the land, and creating a softer life do not have to come packaged with right-wing politics, patriarchy, or religious fundamentalism. Our conversation digs into the tradwife pipeline, political identity in rural America, class consciousness, white privilege, vibes-based voting, and the contradictions between the policies many rural voters support and the values they practice in their own communities. Jack offers a compelling leftist alternative to tradwife culture: a life rooted in food resiliency, domestic meaning, agrarian skills, mutual aid, political freedom, and interdependence. We also talk about why farmers need healthcare and economic security, how political messaging shapes rural identity, and what it really takes to change hearts and minds without abandoning nuance, safety, or personal boundaries. We also explore the loneliness of being queer, progressive, liberal, or leftist in agricultural and rural spaces and the importance of creating politically aligned communities both online and in real life. Jack shares the vision behind ACRE (Agrarian Co-Learning & Resiliency Exchange), their upcoming UnTrad podcast, and the possibility of building rural communities centered on co-learning, preparedness, food sovereignty, creativity, and collective resilience. This episode is an invitation to stay open, resist becoming calcified in our beliefs, hold both sacred rage and whimsy, and keep building the world we actually want to live in - one garden, conversation, community, and tiny tomato at a time. In this episode, we explore: Jack’s evolution from a conservative upbringing in rural Georgia to life as a queer, AuDHD leftist farmsteader in VermontCareer reinvention, identity evolution, and the “career ego deaths” that helped Jack connect art, education, regenerative agriculture, and community buildingHow COVID disrupted the cultural checklist and sparked personal, political, and professional awakeningThe rise of the tradwife movement and why its promise of softness, certainty, domesticity, and belonging can feel so seductiveReclaiming homemaking, food production, homesteading, and slower living without embracing patriarchy or right-wing politicsThe anti-tradwife alternative: food sovereignty, mutual aid, political agency, interdependence, and agrarian resilienceHow class identity, poverty, grit, white privilege, and rural culture shape political beliefsThe disconnect between rural values, voting patterns, and policies affecting farmers, healthcare, labor, and economic securityThe loneliness of being queer, progressive, liberal, or leftist in rural and agricultural spacesWhy politically aligned community can create safety, belonging, and more honest connectionThe vision behind ACRE, the Agrarian Co-Learning & Resiliency ExchangeBuilding online communities that lead to real-life relationships, regional gatherings, and mutual supportJack’s experience with political de-radicalization and helping people question inherited belief systemsJack’s upcoming UnTrad podcast and its vision for a more inclusive, resilient agrarian futureResisting ideological calcification and staying open to growth, change, and small ego deathsHolding sacred rage and whimsy at the same time Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Jack: Learn more about Jack’s work, writing, and agrarian community: Join ACRE, the Agrarian Co-Learning & Resiliency ExchangeUse code WILDANDWAKING20 to receive 20% off an annual ACRE membershipRead Jack’s writing on SubstackFollow Jack on InstagramConnect with Jack on Threads Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Beyond the Tradwife Fantasy: Agrarian Resilience, Political Identity, and Rural Belonging with Jack Thomas

  2. Jul 16

    When the Woman You Were Feels Far Away: Postpartum Depression, Grief, Loneliness, and Holding Duality

    In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m sharing honestly about a season of postpartum depression, anxiety, identity loss, and the strange loneliness of feeling like the woman you used to be is suddenly very far away. This is not a story about being unable to function. It is a story about smiling, making memories, singing in the car with your kids, and still feeling crushed beneath the weight of thoughts that no longer feel like your own. I talk about what it has been like to return to therapy, to recognize high-functioning postpartum depression, and to grieve the version of myself who once felt so clear, energized, healthy, and connected to her work. After two unexpected pregnancies, years of unraveling and deconstruction, and another season of two under two, I am facing the truth that there is no going back to who I was before. There is only the work of becoming someone new. This episode is for anyone navigating postpartum mental health, identity shifts, deconstruction, loneliness, motherhood, or a season where the person you used to be feels almost unrecognizable. We talk about asking for help, finding meaningful community, holding hope for the version of life that is still ahead, and continuing to commit to the woman you are becoming, even when you cannot fully see her yet. In this episode, I explore: The buildup of postpartum anxiety, intrusive thoughts, hopelessness, and the moment you realize you need supportReturning to therapy after years away and the vulnerability of asking for help when you already feel overwhelmedWhy gratitude does not cancel out grief, and how a beautiful life can still feel unbearably heavyThe identity loss that can come with motherhood, postpartum, and being needed so completelyGrieving the version of yourself who once felt energized, clear, healthy, ambitious, and deeply connected to her workLoving your children wholeheartedly while still struggling with the reality of your current seasonThe tension between motherhood and meaningful work, especially when your work is a source of life force and purposeWhy being financially supported, deeply loved, or well resourced does not make your pain less validThe loneliness of deconstruction, changing beliefs, and outgrowing relationships or communities that once felt like homeHolding the grief of what is happening in your personal life alongside the weight of what is happening in the worldLearning to hold joy and despair, beauty and heartbreak, gratitude and resentment, without forcing one to erase the otherThe small, brave actions that can move you toward the next version of your lifeContinuing to commit to the woman you are becoming, even when she still feels far away Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Episode 205 | A Listener-Inspired Q&A on Wanting More, the In-Between, Being Witnessed, and the Avalanche of AwakeningSign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    When the Woman You Were Feels Far Away: Postpartum Depression, Grief, Loneliness, and Holding Duality

  3. Jul 9

    Self(ish) Motherhood: Raising Daughters Beyond the Good Girl Script with Paige Christiansen

    In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Paige Christiansen, Co-Founder and CEO of Self(ish), behavioral strategist, entrepreneur, and Human Design expert, for a conversation about raising daughters beyond the good girl script. So many women are actively unraveling people-pleasing, perfectionism, over-functioning, and the belief that being loved requires being agreeable, helpful, easy, or endlessly accommodating. But when we become mothers, an entirely new question emerges: how do we teach our daughters to be kind, thoughtful, and connected without accidentally teaching them to abandon themselves? Paige introduces the “villain edit”, the fear women carry of being perceived as selfish, cold, difficult, dramatic, or too much, and explains how that fear begins shaping our identities from an early age. We explore how women become a threat to themselves when they are constantly editing, suppressing, or overcorrecting who they are in order to remain likable. Paige offers a powerful reframe of selfishness as self-possession: centering yourself in your own life, trusting your internal authority, and allowing other people to have their own reactions without making their comfort your responsibility. Together, we talk about what it means to model self-possession, boundaries, emotional honesty, and personal power for our daughters. Paige shares how she uses Human Design to understand her children as whole individuals rather than extensions of herself, support their unique emotional and energetic needs, and guide them through sibling conflict, communication, decision-making, and self-trust. We also explore how to teach empathy without emotional over-responsibility, why children need space to experience discomfort, and how mothers can stop parenting through the lens of perfection, performance, and fear of being judged. In this episode, we explore: How good girl conditioning begins in childhood and shapes women’s identity, relationships, motherhood, and self-worthThe difference between raising kind, thoughtful daughters and conditioning girls to people-please, over-function, or self-abandonPaige’s concept of the “villain edit” and why women fear being seen as selfish, difficult, cold, dramatic, or too muchReclaiming selfishness as self-possession, self-respect, and the ability to center yourself in your own lifeWhy mothers must model self-trust, emotional honesty, boundaries, and authentic self-expression for their daughtersHow to raise girls who can ask for what they want, hear no, disappoint others, and remain connected to themselvesThe importance of seeing children as whole individuals rather than extensions or reflections of their parentsHow Human Design can support conscious parenting, self-awareness, decision-making, and understanding a child’s unique needsUsing Human Design to navigate emotional sensitivity, sibling conflict, communication patterns, and family dynamicsTeaching children empathy without making them emotionally responsible for everyone around themHelping sensitive children understand which emotions belong to them and which emotions they may be absorbing from othersThe ways perfectionism and good mother conditioning can quietly influence parenting choicesPaige’s vision for Self(ish) Media and the intersection of Human Design, cultural psychology, relationships, self-concept, and modern womanhood Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Paige: Learn more about Paige’s work, Self(ish) Media, Human Design, relationships, self-possession, and modern womanhood: Follow Paige on InstagramFollow Paige on ThreadsFollow the Officially Selfish Show on InstagramVisit Paige’s website Explore Paige’s Human Design reports: Loved by Design Relationship ReportYou + Your Child Parent and Child ReportYou + Your Business Report Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Self(ish) Motherhood: Raising Daughters Beyond the Good Girl Script with Paige Christiansen

  4. Jul 2

    The Astrology of Politics, Power, and Collective Change with Lesley Brock

    In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Lesley Brock, policy analyst, writer, astrologer, and founder of Smartt Takes and Smartt Strategies, for a conversation that brings together astrology, public policy, politics, power, grief, systems change, and collective awakening. With master’s degrees in Public Health from Harvard and Public Policy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Lesley brings a rare interdisciplinary lens to the question so many of us are asking right now: what the hell is happening in the world, and is there a deeper pattern beneath the chaos? Together, we explore astrology not as prediction or escapism, but as a powerful tool for pattern recognition, decision-making, self-awareness, and understanding the collective cycles we are living through. Lesley shares how her background in government affairs, public health, human rights, and policy analysis eventually led her to astrology as a framework for understanding the human psyche, institutional breakdown, political behavior, and the personal stories that shape public decision-making. Her perspective is deeply grounded, intellectually rigorous, and refreshingly expansive. If you have been feeling the intensity of this moment… the crumbling, the awakening, the uncertainty, the anger, the grief, the hope… this episode will give you language, context, and a wider lens for understanding what we may be living through. This is a conversation about astrology, politics, power, collective change, personal agency, and the invitation to become conscious participants in the rebuilding of what comes next. In this episode, we explore: Lesley’s path from public policy, public health, and government affairs into astrologyHow grief, loss, and her mother’s sudden passing reshaped Lesley’s work and worldviewThe connection between public health, politics, and the social determinants of well-beingAstrology as a tool for strategy, decision-making, and self-awarenessWhat astrology can reveal about political leaders, institutions, and collective decision-makingThe impact of COVID as a collective grief experience and societal turning pointPluto in Capricorn and the breakdown of government, financial systems, and old power structuresPluto in Aquarius and the shift toward collective power, people-led movements, and systemic changeThe tension between individual rights, government control, and collective responsibilityThe future of political leadership, personality-driven campaigns, and values-based leadershipWhat it means to become a spiritual warrior in this momentHow to stay awake, engaged, and aware without spiraling into fear or despairThe invitation to participate consciously in the systems, communities, and future we are helping create Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Lesley: Instagram: @lesleysbrockThreads: @lesleysbrockBook a Session: Schedule a reading or strategy session with LesleyWebsite: Smartt StrategiesSubstack: Smartt TakesTED Talk: Watch Lesley’s TED Talk on YouTube Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    The Astrology of Politics, Power, and Collective Change with Lesley Brock

  5. Jun 25

    A Listener-Inspired Q&A on Wanting More, the In-Between, Being Witnessed, and the Avalanche of Awakening

    In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, Emily is coming to you from the very real, very human middle of summer with four kids, four months postpartum, big feelings, low capacity, and a whole lot of “everything is fine, I’m fine… but also what is happening?” This listener-inspired Q&A came from questions and reflections shared by clients and women inside Emily’s group programs around support, community, ritual, purpose, deconstruction, and what it means to keep waking up in the middle of everyday life. Together, we explore the tension of wanting more without losing gratitude for the life you already have. Emily speaks into the ache so many women feel when they know there is more joy, purpose, alignment, creativity, community, and soul-filled living available to them, while also navigating motherhood, work, caregiving, burnout, postpartum, summer chaos, and real-life responsibilities. This episode is an honest look at the messy middle of personal growth, where you can feel deeply grateful and wildly restless, grounded and overwhelmed, alive and completely maxed out. This conversation also moves into the avalanche of awakening: the way questioning one belief, role, relationship dynamic, or inherited expectation can suddenly lead to questioning everything. Marriage, motherhood, work, religion, identity, social structures, spirituality, and the past versions of ourselves who did not know what we know now all come into view. Emily speaks to the grief of waking up, the tenderness of honoring who you used to be, and the truth that you mature into your intuition, your knowing, your spirituality, and your next becoming. This episode is for the woman in the in-between; the one holding the tension, craving more, trying to stay connected to her mission and values while the world feels heavy, and learning how to build sacredness into the ordinary moments of her life. It is a reminder that you do not have to have it all figured out to be on the journey. You deserve to be witnessed, supported, and carried through your becoming. In this episode, I explore: The tension of being in the messy middle of personal growth, motherhood, postpartum, and identity evolutionWhat it means to want more while still feeling deeply grateful for the life you already haveNavigating the in-between season when you are expanding, but do not yet have the capacity, clarity, or energy to move forwardThe reality of postpartum emotions, panic, grief, rage, overwhelm, and learning to trust the season you are inWhy spiritual awakening, personal growth, and deconstruction often feel disorienting instead of clean or linearThe power of being witnessed, supported, and held in your healing journeyThe loneliness of wanting deeper conversations, soul-level friendships, and in-person communityHow to find or create spaces where your truth, growth, and spiritual evolution can safely landHolding the desire for more joy, purpose, alignment, creativity, money, community, and soul-filled living without falling into the trap of constant strivingReclaiming your connection to intuition, purpose, mission, values, and embodied truth when the world feels heavyThe grief of waking up and realizing what past versions of yourself did not know yetHonoring the women you used to be instead of shaming yourself for not knowing soonerWhat it means to mature into your intuition, your spirituality, your knowing, and your becomingMaking peace with being in the middle instead of rushing to fix, solve, perform, or rise immediately Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    A Listener-Inspired Q&A on Wanting More, the In-Between, Being Witnessed, and the Avalanche of Awakening

  6. Jun 18

    Where Healing Meets Human Rights: Consent, Reiki, Privilege, and the Practice of Being Alive with Nadine Donselaar

    In this episode of Wild & Waking, I’m joined by Nadine Donselaar, Human Rights lawyer, Reiki and Kriya Yoga teacher, women’s mentor, and author of Your Journey to Consent: A Practical Guide to Understand, Prevent, and Heal from Sexual Violence. This conversation moves through the tender, layered intersections of consent, sexual violence, gender-based violence, holistic healing, human rights, privilege, and the everyday practice of being fully alive. Nadine brings such a unique lens to this work, blending her background in law and human rights with embodied healing practices like Reiki, womb work, meditation, ritual, and energy healing. Together, we explore what it means to heal without turning healing into another endless self-improvement project. Nadine shares how her own experience with sexual violence, EMDR therapy, energy work, and writing her book shaped the way she supports women in reconnecting with their bodies, desires, boundaries, and inner truth. We talk about the difference between trying to become “better” and learning how to become more fully yourself — not as a new spiritual persona, but as a grounded, living, breathing human being in your real, everyday life. At its heart, this episode is a conversation about choosing life after survival. It’s about laughing louder, dancing more freely, asking harder questions, healing in relationship, and remembering that personal liberation and collective care are deeply connected. If you’ve ever wondered how energy work, embodied healing, human rights, consent, and everyday aliveness all belong in the same conversation, this episode is for you. In this episode, we explore: How Nadine’s personal experience with sexual violence shaped her path into healing, human rights law, Reiki, Kriya Yoga, womb work, and women’s mentorshipThe difference between healing as a path back to yourself and healing as another endless self-improvement projectWhy “becoming more of yourself” is often less about understanding everything and more about feeling, expressing, and livingHow trauma can live in the body, even after the mind has made sense of what happenedThe role of Reiki, energy healing, womb practices, meditation, ritual, and Kriya Yoga in reconnecting with the bodyWhat it means to choose aliveness, joy, desire, and beauty after seasons of survivalThe intersection of personal healing and collective responsibilityThe importance of knowing your values, standards, boundaries, and responsibilities as a practitioner or leaderHow colonialism, exploitation, lineage, and privilege show up in spiritual and wellness spacesHow consent begins with understanding your own yes, no, and maybeThe complexity of accountability, enablement, harm, repair, and community dynamics after sexual violenceThe power of women gathering, sharing stories, dancing, listening, and being witnessedHow to begin again after a hard season with softness, honesty, support, and joy Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Nadine: Learn more about Nadine’s work: nadinedonselaar.comBuy Nadine’s book, Your Journey to Consent: A Practical Guide to Understand, Prevent, and Heal from Sexual Violence: AmazonWork with Nadine: Explore her 1:1 offeringsConnect with Nadine on Instagram: @nadine.donselaarFollow Your Journey to Consent on Instagram: @your.journey.to.consentRead Nadine’s writing on Substack: A Blessing in Disguise Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Where Healing Meets Human Rights: Consent, Reiki, Privilege, and the Practice of Being Alive with Nadine Donselaar

  7. Jun 11

    Stop Choosing Neutral: Identity Integration, Self-Expression, and the Full-Color Life

    In this solo episode of Wild & Waking, I’m sharing what it feels like to finally experience identity integration after a long season of uncertainty, darkness, and personal unraveling. After months of navigating postpartum life, spiritual deconstruction, motherhood, business shifts, and the messy middle of becoming, I’m reflecting on the quiet but powerful “wins” that show us we are no longer just intellectually understanding our growth, but we are actually embodying it. This episode is a call forward for anyone who feels like they’re still in the cave, still questioning everything, or still wondering if the hard season will ever end. We talk about what integration looks like in real life: decorating your home in a way that finally reflects your soul, letting yourself be seen, reclaiming self-expression after years of good girl conditioning, and choosing the full-color life instead of the safe, neutral version that once felt acceptable. From crystals on the dining room shelf to dreams of pink hair, tattoos, and wearing the shirt that feels just a little too bold, this episode explores the everyday ways we begin to stop hiding our truth and start living as the woman we have been becoming. If you are in a season of transition, healing, deconstruction, or identity evolution, let this episode be a gentle but honest reminder: winter does not last forever. There will come a time when your truth no longer feels like something you have to hide. There will come a time when self-expression feels as natural as breathing. And there will come a time when you realize you are no longer choosing neutral; you are living, creating, believing, and becoming in full color. In this episode, I explore: What identity integration actually looks and feels like after a season of uncertainty, unraveling, and darknessWhy integration is not just understanding something intellectually, but embodying it in your daily life, choices, home, voice, and self-expressionReflections from the Bloomfire retreat, including Reiki, Beltane ceremony, release rituals, sisterhood, and the power of being witnessed in your becomingThe moment when a new truth stops feeling like borrowed language and starts feeling like something you can speak, live, and breathe with easeReclaiming color, creativity, magic, and self-expression after years of good girl conditioning and fear of being judgedThe grief, rage, frustration, and healing that can surface when old versions of you would have dismissed your own needsHow belief systems, religion, politics, family roles, and cultural expectations can become cages we no longer have to live insideThe hope that comes from realizing winter does not last forever, and the hard season will not always feel so dark or disorientingThe magic of doing identity evolution, spiritual deconstruction, and personal transformation inside supportive communityA loving invitation to stop hiding your truth, stop choosing neutral, and begin living your own full-color life Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Sign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Stop Choosing Neutral: Identity Integration, Self-Expression, and the Full-Color Life

  8. Jun 4

    Becoming Unbound: Breaking Generational Expectations, Healing Burnout with Ayurveda, and Reclaiming Your Worth with Serena Arora

    In this episode, I’m joined by Serena Arora, international bestselling author of Unbound: An Immigrant Daughter’s Journey of Reckoning, Unraveling Shame, and Reclaiming Her Worth, Ayurvedic health practitioner, yoga therapist of over 25 years, and retreat leader in Costa Rica. Serena’s work bridges ancient Ayurvedic wisdom, therapeutic yoga, nervous system resilience, and her own lived experience as the daughter of an Indian father and Chinese mother navigating cultural conditioning, belonging, shame, and self-worth. Together, we explore what it means to become truly unbound from generational expectations, good daughter conditioning, immigrant guilt, and the deeply internalized belief that we must earn love, safety, or belonging by staying inside the box we were handed. Serena shares the powerful story behind her book, including the bound-footed fate of her maternal Chinese lineage and the ways women can still carry inherited restriction, fear, and self-abandonment long after the visible bindings are gone. We also talk about burnout, chronic dysregulation, and the subtle ways women are taught to push harder instead of listening to the body’s whispers. Through the lens of Ayurveda and therapeutic yoga, Serena offers a grounded, practical, science-meets-soul approach to healing burnout, rebuilding resilience, and returning to the body as a place of wisdom, truth, and repair. This conversation is a beautiful reminder that sustainable transformation does not come through force, perfection, or constant doing, but through alignment, daily rituals, nervous system support, and learning to pause. In this episode, we explore: Serena’s journey as a mixed-race immigrant daughter born to an Indian father and Chinese motherThe inspiration behind Serena’s book, Unbound, and why she felt called to tell the deeper story behind her life and workThe emotional weight of carrying family expectations, cultural conditioning, shame, failure, and obligation like a backpackHow “good daughter” conditioning can keep women trapped in lives that look successful on the outside but feel deeply misaligned on the insideWhat it looks like to honor your ancestors and family while still choosing a life that is honest, aligned, and truly your ownThe irony of using wellness, personal growth, spirituality, or self-improvement as another way to push, perform, and over-functionWhy true healing often begins when we stop trying to escape discomfort and learn how to sit with ourselvesHow Ayurveda and therapeutic yoga can support nervous system regulation, resilience, embodiment, and sustainable transformationThe Ayurvedic idea of asking whether a person, food, habit, relationship, or choice contributes to the fabric of your wellbeing or depletes itThe difference between pushing harder and building resilience through alignment, pause, rhythm, and feminine wisdom Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss the latest episode! Connect with Serena: Learn more about Serena’s work, retreats, offerings, and book at: www.serenaarora.comInstagram: @serena_arora Connect with Emily: Website: www.EmilyReuschel.comInstagram: @emilyreuschelFacebook: Emily ReuschelLinkedIn: Emily ReuschelJoin my Book Insiders List: Sign up here! Resources and Links: Serena's Book: Unbound: An Immigrant Daughter’s Journey of Reckoning, Unraveling Shame, and Reclaiming Her WorthSign up here to get the inside scoop to my book writing journey!Book me as a speaker for your next event - email inquiries to emilyreuschel@gmail.com or schedule a call hereWild & Waking – Produced by Jill Carr Podcasting | Learn More

    Becoming Unbound: Breaking Generational Expectations, Healing Burnout with Ayurveda, and Reclaiming Your Worth with Serena Arora
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About

Wild & Waking is more than a podcast—it’s a sacred return to who you’ve always been. This space is for the woman standing at the edge of everything she’s outgrown. The one who’s checked all the boxes, followed all the rules, and still feels the quiet ache for something more honest. More alive. More hers.   She’s begun the unraveling—of roles, expectations, and identities that no longer fit. She’s remembering the voice beneath the noise, the rhythm beneath the hustle, the truth beneath the performance. She’s reclaiming her joy, her intuition, her fire. And she’s rising—not as a version of who she was told to be, but as the truest expression of who she already is.   Hosted by soul expansion coach Emily Reuschel, Wild & Waking is for spiritual entrepreneurs, coaches, rural changemakers, and conscious leaders dismantling old paradigms and creating new ways of living, leading, and becoming. Through raw conversations, deep reflections, and embodied wisdom, we explore what it means to awaken a life of abundance, authenticity, and purpose.   This is for the woman who holds both sacred rage and radical joy. Who moves with reverence for the seasons of her life. Who isn’t afraid to break cycles, speak truth, and dismantle what no longer serves—not to destroy, but to create. To rebuild a world rooted in the celebration of difference, the beauty of nuance, and the power of sovereign, embodied leadership.   If you’re ready to come home to yourself—fully, fiercely, and without apology—welcome. We’ve been waiting for you.

Information

  • Creator
    Emily Reuschel
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    210
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    Wild & Waking

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