Partners in Sublime: Elevating personal growth through psychospiritual wisdom

Shagun Chopra
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Self-Improvement

Welcome to Partners in Sublime, where we explore personal growth and self-actualization through a psychospiritual lens. Join your host, Shagun Chopra, on her quest to answer life's many questions, big and small, by tapping into the teachings of Depth psychology and Vedic philosophy. Each episode will feature illustrations of Chopra’s real-world experience coaching clients through their personal journeys. Listen weekly as Chopra skillfully blends her clinical psychology training and experience with wisdom traditions to share life-changing insights, authentic stories, and practical ways to experience the sublime.

  1. 2d ago

    Who is holding you back: Ajay's self-doubt peaks on his entrepreneurial journey

    Many of us measure our worth by the status of the path we are on, and when we choose a road that looks different from our peers’, the doubt can settle in as a quiet belief that nothing we are doing counts until it starts paying. In this episode of Partners in Sublime, we listen to a coaching session with Ajay, a founder building an AI startup who is sitting with investor rejections, a mortgage bill, and the pull of comparing himself to friends who have raised millions or made partner, all while carrying an upbringing that taught him to prize safety and stability. He has done years of therapy and knows the distortion for what it is, and still the feeling of being stuck in limbo keeps returning. Together we follow an image that surfaces when he imagines taking the first step on his own path, to see what his psyche might be asking for beneath the striving. Afterward, I’m joined by my friend and fellow coach Chuck, who spent twenty-two years in corporate America as a technology manager before a midlife awakening changed his course, and we reflect on what we noticed, from Jung’s four functions and the gut-level fear of scarcity to the hustle culture that treats one state of mind as the only acceptable one, and why steering skillfully through a storm so rarely calms the ocean. If you have ever suspected that the biggest obstacle on your path looks a lot like you, you may recognize a piece of yourself in Ajay. 00:00 Introduction01:48 Chuck's journey: Long technology career, self-reliance addiction, and coming to Jungian coaching13:19 Coaching session with Ajay: High variance startup path, comparison with peers, holding oneself back30:44 Coaching session breakdown: Head-heart-gut orientation, fear of homelessness, finding your purposeABOUT THE HOST: ' Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com ABOUT THE GUEST: After 22 years in corporate America managing large technology development teams, Chuck found a calling as a Certified Jungian Coach. He works with ambitious people, builders, founders, managers, who are hyper-independent and tired of being the only adult in the room. He can be found at chuckgafvert.com JOIN THE SHOW: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video DISCLAIMER:   Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

    Who is holding you back: Ajay's self-doubt peaks on his entrepreneurial journey

  2. Oct 20

    When fear steals joy: Polly tries to control everything when faced with death anxiety

    Many of us reach for control when life feels uncertain, and the harder the fear pushes, the more tightly we tend to hold on, sometimes at the cost of the very joy we were trying to protect. In this episode of Partners in Sublime, we listen to a coaching session with Polly, a mother of a young child who has lived with chronic illness for years and who, since becoming a parent, finds her mind returning again and again to all the ways she or the people she loves could be lost. She has filtered the water, swapped out the kitchen supplies, and become something of an expert in health, and still the worry follows her into the moments she wanted most, like simply showing up at her kid’s soccer games. Together we follow a few images that surface along the way to see what her psyche might be asking for beneath the vigilance. Afterward, I’m joined by Charles Penot, a Jungian life coach who spent forty-three years as a trial lawyer before midlife changed his course, and we reflect on what we noticed, from the Jungian idea of the complex to what the Vedic tradition offers around death, and why insight alone so rarely shifts a pattern we already understand. If you have ever caught yourself bracing for loss in the middle of something good, you may recognize a piece of yourself in Polly. 00:00 Introduction01:47 Charles's journey: Legal career and withdrawal of soul's consent, mythopoetic men's work, Jungian coaching10:54 Coaching session with Polly: Chronic health issues and death anxiety as a new mom30:44 Coaching session breakdown: Vedic perspectives on death, control as shadow and complex, using art for integrationABOUT THE HOST: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com ABOUT THE GUEST: Charles is a former trial lawyer turned Jungian Life Coach. He describes this shift not as a second career but as coming home to a calling. His path to Jungian psychology was woven through mythopoetic inner work and he focused on deep refleciton, community, and inner transformation. He can be found at charlespenotcoaching.com JOIN THE SHOW: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video DISCLAIMER:  Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

    When fear steals joy: Polly tries to control everything when faced with death anxiety

  3. Oct 6

    How to feel good enough: Miranda struggles with feelings of inadequacy as a stay-at-home mom

    Feeling good enough is rarely a matter of doing more, and yet most of us keep answering the question that way, by adding another accomplishment, another role, another proof that we have earned our place. In this week's coaching session, "Miranda" brings that question into the room with a baby wrapped against her chest. She is a stay-at-home mom of three with an MBA, who opens LinkedIn and watches her classmates rise into the C suite, who catches herself thinking things about her children that she is ashamed to admit, and who wonders quietly how much of her own mother she is turning into, all while the feeling of not being enough follows her into her marriage, her body, and her sense of purpose. Joining me afterward to unpack what came up is Shefali Khokhar, a coach, my friend, and a former college classmate I had not seen in some twenty years, who traces her own path from an MBA and a decade in corporate HR into intuitive, image-based coaching and brings that lens to a conversation about anger, guilt, and what we pass down to our children. 00:00 Introduction01:49 Shefali's journey: Conventional MBA corporate life to becoming a coach10:22 Coaching session with Miranda: An unutilized MBA, unmetabolized anger, and feelings of inadequacy that crossover into her marriage as well30:45 Coaching session breakdown: Contact with Self, parenting when angry, self-authorshipABOUT THE HOST: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com ABOUT THE GUEST: Shefali is a Life, Leadership and Mental Well-Being Coach accredited at the PCC (Professional Certified Coach) level by the International Coaching Federation. Through modalities ranging from scientific evidence-based practices to more mystical and intuitive ones, she supports people in connecting to the part of themselves that “knows”, thus empowering them to live from alignment, and staying self-led in a world that can get noisy internally and externally. Her toolset includes mind, body, play, imagination, intuition, attention, and also Tarot for the curious. She can be found at shefalikhokhar.com JOIN THE SHOW: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video DISCLAIMER:   Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

    How to feel good enough: Miranda struggles with feelings of inadequacy as a stay-at-home mom

  4. Sep 22

    What does staying comfortable really cost you? Neil's anxious to leave the one job that has been his whole career

    There is an ache that comes from staying somewhere long after it has stopped fitting, not because we lack ambition but because the familiar has its own gravity and leaving it means meeting a version of ourselves we have never had to know. In this week's coaching session, 'Neil' brings exactly that ache into the room. He has spent sixteen years at the same global consulting firm, has colleagues who feel more like family than coworkers, and is weighing a move into industry that is complicated further by the realities of visa sponsorship as an immigrant in the US. all while an anxiety he cannot quite name has quietly taken over decisions that used to feel simple. Joining me afterward to unpack what came up is Adam, a Jungian depth coach, yoga teacher, and founder of Inner Alchemy Collective, who brings his own experience straddling two cultures into a conversation about what happens when the thinking mind runs the whole show and the feeling function gets left behind. 00:00 Introduction01:37 Adam's journey: Outer success, inner work, going beyond the uni-mind09:42 Coaching session with Neil: Anxiety of leaving a familiar career and potentially getting it wrong29:17 Coaching session breakdown: Overdeveloped thinking function, hero's journey, anxiety complexABOUT THE HOST: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com ABOUT THE GUEST: Adam Shehata is a Jungian depth coach, yoga teacher, and founder of Inner Alchemy Collective, a practice devoted to integrating psyche, body, and energy. Drawing from Jungian psychology, dreamwork, Active and Embodied Imagination, breathwork, yoga, and contemplative traditions, Adam helps people explore the unconscious patterns shaping how they lead, relate, create, and move through the world. He can be found at www.inneralchemycollective.co JOIN THE SHOW: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video DISCLAIMER:   Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

    What does staying comfortable really cost you? Neil's anxious to leave the one job that has been his whole career

  5. Sep 8

    What makes addiction so hard to outrun? Sunshine self-medicates to deal with buried grief

    Addiction rarely looks the way we expect it to, and it is almost never really about the substance itself. It is what we reach for when we have not yet learned how to sit with pain that feels too big to hold alone, and it can show up as a drink, a drug, overworking, a relationship, or any behavior we cannot seem to stop even when we know it is hurting us. This week's session is with 'Sunshine,' a woman with years of recovery behind her and a real spiritual practice, who found herself reaching for something to self medicate after a miscarriage she had never allowed herself to fully grieve, and who moved through a disorienting few days afterward that she now describes with striking honesty and clarity. What emerges in the conversation is a split many people carry without naming it along with a part of her she calls her inner rebel that resists doing the very things she knows would help. Joining me for the debrief is Darren Lyons, a Jungian life coach and certified peer recovery supporter who has spent over three years in recovery from alcoholism after two decades of struggle, and who brings both his clinical training and his own dark night of the soul into a conversation about identity, conditioning, and what it actually takes to transcend addiction. 00:00 Introduction01:39 Darren's journey: Two decades of alcohol addiction, sobriety, peer counseling09:30 Coaching session with Sunshine: Self-medication after a deep loss and confronting the inner rebel38:39 Coaching session breakdown: Addiction despite awareness, the role of identity, transcending the human v divine conflictABOUT THE HOST: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com ABOUT THE GUEST: Darren Lyons is a Certified Jungian Life Coach, an Addiction/Mental Health Recovery Supporter, and a Chemical Dependency Counselor Assistant (CDCA). He has an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in International Affairs. He's held positions in behavioral health, academia, private industry, defense contracting, and government service. He can be found at lyonslifecoaching.com JOIN THE SHOW: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video DISCLAIMER:   Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

    What makes addiction so hard to outrun? Sunshine self-medicates to deal with buried grief

  6. Aug 25

    How to deal with anxiety: Kat saw her anxiety as ambition until she became a mother

    Anxiety has a strange relationship with productivity. So many of us learn early on to read our racing minds and tight chests as evidence that we are driven, disciplined, on top of things, rather than as a sign that something in us is asking for attention. We call it being type A. We call it ambition. And because our culture tends to reward that kind of anxious output, it can take years, sometimes decades, before we're able to name what is actually happening in our bodies. That is where Kat finds herself in this week's session. For most of her adult life she understood her anxiety as the engine behind her success, the thing that kept her moving forward while she was single and building her career. It wasn't until she became a mother in 2021 that the symptoms started to feel less like drive and more like something she couldn't shake, a weight on her chest most mornings, a sense of dread with no clear trigger, a feeling that the day is already lost before it has even begun. In our session together, we slow down enough to actually look at where that anxiety lives, and an active imagination exercise takes Kat somewhere she didn't see coming. In this episode, I'm joined by my friend and fellow coach Jenn, who has her own long history with anxiety and panic attacks, to talk through what came up in the session. We get into why our culture is so quick to reward anxious productivity, what it actually looks like to sit with anxiety instead of managing it away, and the practices, from breathwork to active imagination, that Jenn has found genuinely change the nervous system rather than just distracting it. 00:00 Introduction02:05 Jenn's journey: Motherhood as a gateway into confronting anxiety and panic attacks09:34 Coaching session with Kat: Embracing anxiety as drive until motherhood revealed its true nature25:47 Coaching session breakdown: Breathwork, meditation, active imagination as ways to calm the self and decode anxietyABOUT THE HOST: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com ABOUT THE GUEST: Jennifer Schaefer is the founder of Reveal Your Inner Hero™ and Your Emotional Fitness Coach, where she helps women who have done a lot of inner work and still find themselves overthinking, second-guessing, people-pleasing, or talking themselves out of what they know. A Master Jungian Life Coach, Archetypal Family Field Systems Practitioner, yoga teacher, Jennifer is fascinated by the space between knowing yourself and actually trusting yourself. She helps people listen beneath old patterns and conditioned roles to the deeper intelligence within. She can be found at www.revealyourinnerhero.com JOIN THE SHOW: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video DISCLAIMER:   Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

    How to deal with anxiety: Kat saw her anxiety as ambition until she became a mother

  7. Aug 11

    How to live after almost dying: Stina embarks on a journey to know herself after a near fatal illness

    We might think that surviving a near-fatal illness is what finally makes us brave, that facing death head-on will hand us the courage to be exactly who we are. But courage does not arrive all at once just because we have earned it the hard way, it settles in slowly, and it runs straight into every old habit we built long before the diagnosis, in the identities we split off and kept separate just to feel acceptable, and in the parts of ourselves we still hesitate to show. In this episode, we sit with 'Stina', a woman who survived sepsis and a surgery she was not sure she would wake up from, and who came out the other side certain she wanted to live more authentically, only to find that the harder work was still figuring out what authenticity actually asked of her. Shagun is joined by fellow coach Helen Rigby, who has her own story of surviving a life-threatening diagnosis, to explore the persona we build to get by in the world, the parts of ourselves we quietly abandon in order to belong, and the difference between the wishes we cling to and the hope that remains even after we let them go. 00:00 Introduction01:50 Helen's journey: Surviving stage 4 cancer and finding herself in the aftermath12:34 Coaching session with Stina: Near fatal illness and the decision to live authentically31:30 Coaching session breakdown: Embracing a new vision, accepting human-ness, and staying clear of Ego's trapsABOUT THE HOST: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com ABOUT THE GUEST: Helen Rigby is a Master Jungian Life Coach, writer and speaker. Inspired by her own journey through life’s unexpected plot twists, she helps women rewrite their stories, unlock their potential, and create a meaningful next chapter. She can be found at www.helensrigby.com JOIN THE SHOW: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video DISCLAIMER:   Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

    How to live after almost dying: Stina embarks on a journey to know herself after a near fatal illness

  8. Jul 28

    How to handle a difficult family: Jason cuts contact with parents after years of trying to please them (ft. Debra Maldonado)

    We often think the hardest part of a difficult family relationship is the other person, their control, their criticism, their refusal to see us as who we have become. So we set a boundary, or in the more painful cases, we go no contact, and we tell ourselves that once the contact stops, the pain will stop too. But the relationship rarely ends where we think it ends. It continues quietly inside us, in the patterns we picked up as children just to stay safe and loved, and in the parts of ourselves we still cannot see even after the phone calls have stopped. In this episode, we sit with 'Jason', a man who cut off his parents after years of trying to please them, only to find that the deeper work was still ahead of him. Shagun is joined by veteran coach Debra Maldonado, co-founder of Creative Mind, to explore Jung's concept of the mother complex, the imago we build of the people who raised us, and the uncomfortable shadow work of realizing that the control we resent in someone else might be a pattern we are carrying too. 00:00 Introduction01:49 Debra's journey: Quitting the corporate world, practicing hypnotherapy, and finding a home in coaching11:19 Coaching session with Jason: Controlling parents, sibling dynamics, disrespecting boundaries42:08 Coaching session breakdown: Mother complex, shadow work, and the desire for controlABOUT THE HOST: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com ABOUT THE GUEST: Debra Berndt Maldonado left the corporate world in 2003 to pursue her passion to empower others to live their dreams. She is a Certified Master Jungian Life Coach Instructor, TEDx Speaker and author of LIKE A SPARK FROM FIRE (CreativeMind Media 2022) and the bestselling book, LET LOVE IN (Wiley 2010). Debra has been featured by ABC News, ABC Radio Network, FOX News, NBC News, WB2, Cosmopolitan, Natural Health, Huffington Post, YourTango, Publisher’s Weekly, Complete Woman, and more. She can be found at https://creativemindlife.com JOIN THE SHOW: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video DISCLAIMER:  Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

    How to handle a difficult family: Jason cuts contact with parents after years of trying to please them (ft. Debra Maldonado)
See All (29)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Welcome to Partners in Sublime, where we explore personal growth and self-actualization through a psychospiritual lens. Join your host, Shagun Chopra, on her quest to answer life's many questions, big and small, by tapping into the teachings of Depth psychology and Vedic philosophy. Each episode will feature illustrations of Chopra’s real-world experience coaching clients through their personal journeys. Listen weekly as Chopra skillfully blends her clinical psychology training and experience with wisdom traditions to share life-changing insights, authentic stories, and practical ways to experience the sublime.

Information