The Marcella Principle Podcast

Marcella Friel
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Alternative Health

Hosted by transformational mentor Marcella Friel, The Marcella Principle podcast offers soulful conversations and honest reflections on choosing inner wisdom over outer conformity and finding spiritual clarity in the creative chaos of worldly transformation. Topics include menopause and midlife awakening, addiction recovery, feminine spirituality, body love, and self-forgiveness. Expect interviews with embodied healers as well as intimate solo episodes drawn from Marcella’s live talks and teachings. themarcellaprinciple.substack.com

  1. May 6

    🎙️For mothers whose babies never took a breath

    While Mother’s Day is conventionally wrapped in flowers and brunches, there are many women who spend this high holy day of motherhood in the shadows of a story that’s seldom brought into the open. That is the story of the mothers whose babies never took a breath or opened their eyes to the light of day. Today’s guest is Katy Cook, an alumna of my Women, Food & Forgiveness Academy who suffered a series of miscarriages that tragically culminated in the loss of her daughter Harper at 24 weeks—and propelled her into a dark night of the soul that forced her to confront her deepest grief and unresolved rage. Today, Katy is the proud mama of three living children and a passionate advocate of children everywhere blossoming into the full expression of their natural gifts and talents. This fall, Katy will open the doors to Acton Academy Davidson—a model of education rooted in self-direction, responsibility, and the belief that every child has a unique purpose. Acton Academy Davidson is opening its doors in the Charlotte, North Carolina area to children ages 5 to 7 this fall. To learn more and apply, visit actonacademydavidson.com. Are you ready to release decades of body shame, reconcile with your past, and reclaim the dignity that will allow you to live peacefully in your body? If so, I invite you to explore if my Women, Food & Forgiveness Academy is a fit for you. This 12-month online program draws on spiritual practices from contemplative traditions, along with embodiment practices such as EFT Tapping, to help guide your soul back home to your body, so that you can stop eating your emotions and start setting them free. Let’s just say … this is not your mother’s weight-loss group or typical diet program. Doors are open now, and we welcome you with open arms. Get full access to The Marcella Principle at themarcellaprinciple.substack.com/subscribe

    51 min
  2. 🎙️ When you know better but still eat it anyway

    Apr 25

    🎙️ When you know better but still eat it anyway

    You know what you want to eat… and yet in the moments that matter, you reach for something else. If you’ve ever felt stuck in that gap between knowing and doing, this episode is for you. This is a live EFT tapping session from the 7th anniversary of Tap, Taste, Heal, where I guide you through a simple process to uncover—and begin shifting—the deeper beliefs driving food struggles. ✨ In this episode: Why willpower isn’t the problem What’s really behind self-sabotage A guided tapping session (starts ~20 min) Free Resource:If this resonates, I’ve created a free Tap, Taste, Heal audio library with 26 guided tapping sessions to support you in real-life moments—cravings, shame spirals, and everything in between. 👉 Get access here: marcellafriel.com/taptasteheal Get full access to The Marcella Principle at themarcellaprinciple.substack.com/subscribe

    42 min
  3. 🎙️Aging is not a personal failure

    Mar 18

    🎙️Aging is not a personal failure

    Next week I turn 64. Which means, like all of us, I’m the oldest I’ve ever been. When I recorded the masterclass you’re about to hear, at the spritely age of 62, I thought I had a handle on the terrain of “aging gracefully”: Stay fit. Eat well. Tend to your spiritual life. Nurture your close relationships. And indeed I do feel I’m fulfilling those directives. Even so, something undeniably shifts as the years pass. Death gets closer. The body, however strong, feels a little more gossamer each day. There’s much more past and much less future—much less matter and much more spirit. Part of me digs it—part of me is terrified by it—and part of me remains fascinated by the passage of time as it manifests in our bodies and our souls. If you, dear lady, find yourself recoiling from the woman you see in the mirror, even as you long to make friends with her, this episode will guide you through contemplative journaling and EFT Tapping so that you can face the reality of aging with the dignity and tenderness it deserves. Give yourself a half-hour or so in Marcella’s classroom and walk away feeling rejuvenated by the unique gifts that only Father Time can give: Would you like to learn more about how EFT Tapping can help you forgive yourself as you age? Claim your copy of my free PDF download, “Tapping for Self-Forgiveness.” You’ll find this especially helpful if you turn to sweets and treats to avoid feeling the difficult feels—but the basic technique you’ll find in these pages universally applies to just about anything you’re struggling with. I use it all the time whenever an issue feels tough to resolve, and I always feel better after I’m done. Get full access to The Marcella Principle at themarcellaprinciple.substack.com/subscribe

    30 min
  4. 🎙️Love the you who forgets what she's saying

    Feb 11

    🎙️Love the you who forgets what she's saying

    When perimenopause dawns for women over 40, it can bring a baffling cognitive haze for which most doctors have only one answer: “This is just how it is now.” But is that true? Functional nutritionist Sarah Wayne refused to accept that verdict. Sidelined by severe brain fog in her early forties, she chose to listen more closely to her body rather than resign herself to decline. In today’s episode, you’ll hear what Sarah discovered through both her own inner listening and her work with hundreds of women. Contrary to conventional medical beliefs, brain fog is not a life sentence. It’s your body’s way of communicating its genuine needs. If you’re ready to love the you who forgets what she’s saying, this conversation is a solid first step on your path forward. Ready to bring your foggy brain back to clarity? Join Sarah at her live three-day experience, Bye-Bye Brain Fog, taking place February 24–26. It’s designed for women like you who are ready to emerge from the fog with clarity and grace, without spending a fortune on supplements that maybe work, maybe don’t. Sarah will help you create a customized plan of simple self-caring actions you can take right away to begin lifting the fog, often within days. Get full access to The Marcella Principle at themarcellaprinciple.substack.com/subscribe

    46 min
  5. 🎙️Create the life you want in the first hour of your day

    Jan 7

    🎙️Create the life you want in the first hour of your day

    Now that the wave of New Year’s resolutions is on the wane, let’s talk about what really creates sustainable positive change, one day at a time. According to one of his devotees, the late sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi reportedly said, “Well begun is half-done.” In today’s Marcella Principle podcast I break down for you why the first hour of your day determines the direction of your entire life and why, when it comes to new habits, well begun really is half-done. Beyond white-knuckling it with will power, this masterclass from my archives explores the tension between your sincere desire to create a meaningful morning routine and your habitual resistance that pulls you into distraction. About halfway through we jump into some guided EFT Tapping practice to help you relax that resistance and kindle your desire to start your day on terms that nourish you. Here’s to beginning your day in a way that feeds the life you want to live. Are you seeking to eat joyfully and love your body in 2026? Consider joining my Women, Food & Forgiveness Academy, a 12-month spiritual odyssey that will help you lose emotional and physical weight, transform breakdown into breakthrough, and become the Heroine you are meant to be. You can learn more at my website, womenfoodandforgiveness.com. Get full access to The Marcella Principle at themarcellaprinciple.substack.com/subscribe

    35 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    🎙️Let there be light

    Today I share with you the opening meditation and teaching from my Winter Virtual Retreat, which took place this past Saturday, December 6. The theme of the retreat was “Let There Be Light,” and in the talk I invite you to slow down and unpack that statement as perhaps the most powerful intention of healing that you can invoke for yourself. Because just as light can’t exist without darkness, so it is that a Heroine like you, who is seeking to heal her relationship with her food and her body, can’t find that light of unconditional love within without first going through the darkness of the ordeal. I invite you, for at least the first few minutes of this episode, to settle yourself into a space of quiet to do this meditation, and then listen along as I guide you through an overview of the Heroine’s Journey into the light, as we practice it in my Women, Food & Forgiveness Academy. If you’re seeking a spiritual path to help you heal your relationship with your body so that you can love the woman you see in the mirror without having to go on yet another diet, come join me when the 2026 Academy resumes the week of January 12. You can learn more at my website, womenfoodandforgiveness.com. Get full access to The Marcella Principle at themarcellaprinciple.substack.com/subscribe

    31 min
  7. 🎙️Finding peace within the grief

    10/29/2025

    🎙️Finding peace within the grief

    If you are a human walking on this Earth, you have known grief. Maybe grief arrived unbidden after your beloved disappeared … your dream shattered … your body changed … or some part of your identity just … slipped away. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the dry, descending energy of autumn mirrors the falling leaves and correlates to the lungs, where grief and sorrow often hide as breathlessness, fatigue, or lingering colds. This month’s episode of The Marcella Principle Podcast offers you a warm space to hold your grief with lovingkindness. Grab a journal, make yourself a comforting cuppa, and let me guide you through a Two-Way Prayer meditation followed by some EFT Tapping. You might feel more lifted and more grounded by the end of our time together. If you’d like to deepen the conversation, here’s my personal reflections on grief along with a talk I gave to my Women, Food & Forgiveness Academy about how to harness the archetype of the Queen—she who transmutes her sorrow into leadership—to harvest the secret medicine of compassion that lies within the grief. Want to join me for more live masterclasses like this one? You can find me live most Saturdays at 8 a.m. U.S. mountain time on Insight Timer. Get full access to The Marcella Principle at themarcellaprinciple.substack.com/subscribe

    36 min
  8. 🎙️ From medical doctor to nettle witch

    10/01/2025

    🎙️ From medical doctor to nettle witch

    What happens when an ER doc realizes—as many now do—that the system meant to heal us is profoundly broken? In this episode of The Marcella Principle Podcast, I talk with Amy Walsh—an MD turned wild woman and self-proclaimed nettle witch—as she chronicles her heroine’s exodus from the Western medical paradigm to the deeper forests of holistic healing and plant spirit medicine. Amy shares how her COVID burnout broke her down, then cracked her open to explore the witchy side of her own healing wisdom. Together we meander through her fourfold framework for authentic healing, laud the hardy spirits of lamb’s quarters, dandelion, and St. John’s wort, and explore the gut microbiome as our collective ancestral inheritance. If you’re longing for a rewilded medical model that’s more backyard garden than pharma factory, this is a talk you want to hear. Want more wisdom from Amy? Subscribe to The Nettle Witch here on Substack: Get full access to The Marcella Principle at themarcellaprinciple.substack.com/subscribe

    54 min
See All (21)

About

Hosted by transformational mentor Marcella Friel, The Marcella Principle podcast offers soulful conversations and honest reflections on choosing inner wisdom over outer conformity and finding spiritual clarity in the creative chaos of worldly transformation. Topics include menopause and midlife awakening, addiction recovery, feminine spirituality, body love, and self-forgiveness. Expect interviews with embodied healers as well as intimate solo episodes drawn from Marcella’s live talks and teachings. themarcellaprinciple.substack.com

Information