Emerge with Fini Cooper

Fini Cooper
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Emerge is a podcast about the moments that break us open and the practices that help us put ourselves back together. Hosted by Fini Cooper, a breathwork teacher and somatic guide, each episode brings you unfiltered conversations with people who've turned challenge into transformation. Come for the stories, stay for the wisdom, and leave with practices to support your own healing, growth, and emergence.

  1. Sep 14

    EP 33: Stuck in the Life You Thought You Wanted: How to Calm the Urgency, Listen to Your Body, and Let Your Path Find You

    What happens when you’ve done everything you were "supposed" to do, you’ve analysed every childhood wound with different therapists, and you still feel completely joyless, contracted, and terrified to even walk to the tube? In this raw, unfiltered solo episode, I share the messy backstory of reaching an absolute breaking point in my early thirties. From crumbling under the weight of corporate psychology and bailing on a PhD to taking a bare-minimum admin gig just to survive the day, I was completely lost—and carrying the quiet heartbreak of watching my mum slip away into dementia. Then, one weekend, something finally snapped. I booked a one-way ticket to Bali not to "find myself," but because my soul simply couldn't tolerate my old reality for one more day. I also dive into why a decade of traditional talk therapy left me understanding all my patterns without actually changing a thing, the heart-shattering breathwork session that brought me back into my body, and why frantically scribbling your "strengths and weaknesses" on a lunch break will never uncover what your soul actually longs for. I also walk you through how to shift your stuck energy, listen to what's underneath that frantic urgency to have your life figured out right now, and finally stop chasing. Because you don’t need to outsource your answers to another expert or another life template. The answers aren’t coming from your head—they're waiting in your body. DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 16-MINUTE GUIDED BREATHWORK AUDIO HERE Connect with Fini Cooper: Instagram: @thebreathway & @emerge.podcast Website: thebreathway.com In this episode, we explore: Hitting rock bottom in my early 30s, leaving a psychology PhD, and having zero idea what I was put on this earth to do The heartbreak of my mum’s dementia, carrying the guilt of leaving, and the moment I finally gave myself permission to heal Why you can have seven brilliant therapists who help you understand your story, yet still remain completely emotionally stuck The first breathwork session in Bali that cracked open my heart and revealed the massive missing piece: the body Why frantically listing your strengths and weaknesses on a piece of paper won't give you the calling your heart is actually craving Shifting just one single input in your daily routine to shock your nervous system out of autopilot Getting curious about the desperate inner urgency to "know now," and meeting the wounded part underneath that just wants safety and love Dismantling the sneaky stories running your life, like “I’ve left it too late” or “I’m not the kind of person who gets to do what they love” For more somatic practices to help you soften that inner urgency, shift out of autopilot, and reconnect with what your body already knows, join my newsletter and download my free 16-minute guided breathwork practice: https://thebreathway.com/podcast  A gift for podcast listeners: I’m still offering complimentary 75-minute Desire Discovery Sessions exclusively for my listeners—drop me a DM on Instagram (@thebreathway) or shoot me an email at fini@thebreathway.com to claim yours.

  2. Sep 7

    EP 32: What Your Body Knows That Your Mind Doesn’t: Why We Numb, Resist and Struggle to Change with Megan Ashton

    What happens when you’ve tried everything to heal, and you’re starting to wonder if maybe you’re the problem? This week, I’m joined by breathwork facilitator and teacher Megan Ashton, whose own journey with breathwork began after years of searching for something that would finally make a difference. We talk about the experience that completely changed her relationship with healing, why breathwork can reach places that thinking and willpower sometimes can’t, and the importance of knowing when to move through resistance and when to listen to your body. We also get into some of the more nuanced questions around deeper breathwork, nervous system safety, emotional release, and why healing isn’t always about trying harder. Because sometimes the thing you’ve been trying so hard to fix might need something entirely different. In this episode, we explore: Megan’s years-long search for healing and the breathwork session in Bali that finally shifted something Why some calming breath practices can actually feel difficult when your nervous system is highly activated What conscious connected breathwork is and why it can create such a different experience from everyday breathing practices The difference between pushing through ordinary resistance and listening when your body is genuinely saying no Why coping mechanisms and addictive behaviours can be attempts to numb emotions we don’t know how to process Why trying to create change through willpower alone can leave us blaming ourselves when the pattern keeps returning How breathwork can help us reconnect with emotions, memories and parts of ourselves we’ve learned to suppress A simple breath-awareness practice you can bring into everyday moments of stress Megan’s story is a reminder that struggling to change something doesn’t automatically mean you’re lazy, undisciplined or somehow failing at healing. Sometimes the part of you repeating the pattern is trying to cope in the only way it knows how. And sometimes change begins not by fighting that part harder, but by creating enough safety to finally feel what has been underneath it. For more practices to help you reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system and explore breathwork for yourself, download my free guided breathwork audio and join my newsletter: https://thebreathway.com/podcast DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 16-MINUTE GUIDED BREATHWORK AUDIO HERE Where to Find Megan Ashton: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unitybreathwork/  Website: https://unitybreathwork.com/ Free Breathwork: https://unitybreathwork.com/free-breathwork-online/ Connect with Fini Cooper: Instagram: @thebreathway & @emerge.podcast Website: thebreathway.com

  3. Aug 31

    EP 31: Choosing a Life That’s Actually Yours with Charlotte Holmes

    What happens when you stop following the life you were taught to want, and start asking what you actually want instead? In this episode of Emerge, I sit down with Charlotte Holmes, yoga teacher and founder of Insight Out Yoga, for a conversation about questioning the paths we inherit, trusting what feels true for us, and learning to meet life with a little more openness. Charlotte has built a life that doesn't necessarily follow the traditional script. We talk about her decision not to have children and the question that helped her look at that choice differently: rather than simply asking “Do I want children?”, what happens when you ask “How would I live my life if I chose not to?” That question opens up a much bigger conversation about purpose, identity and the assumptions we rarely stop to question. We also explore Charlotte's relationship with India, how her understanding of yoga has evolved far beyond what happens on a mat, and why she believes spirituality isn't necessarily something we need to find. Sometimes it might be more about unlearning everything that took us away from it in the first place. And we talk about what these practices look like when life actually gets difficult. Charlotte shares what heartbreak taught her about staying open, choosing how we respond to pain, and why the practices aren't really for the moments when everything is going well. In this episode, we explore: Questioning the life path you've been taught to follow Charlotte's decision not to have children and the freedom she found in asking a different question Why yoga is much more than something you do on a mat Spirituality, embodiment and coming out of the thinking mind Staying open through heartbreak and difficult seasons The difference between pain and suffering Why the end of something doesn't mean the time was wasted A guided Breath of Light practice to reconnect with yourself There is a lot in this conversation about choice. Choosing what kind of life you want. Choosing how you meet the difficult parts of it. And perhaps most importantly, giving yourself permission to question whether the things you've always assumed you should want are actually yours. For more grounding practices to help you work with your nervous system rather than immediately believing every thought it throws at you, join my newsletter and download my free 16-minute guided breathwork practice: https://thebreathway.com/podcast DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 16-MINUTE GUIDED BREATHWORK AUDIO HERE Where to Find Charlotte Holmes: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misscharholmes/?hl=en  Website: https://www.insightout.yoga/  App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=breakthroughapps.com.insightoutyoga&hl=en  Connect with Fini Cooper: Instagram: @thebreathway & @emerge.podcast Website: thebreathway.com

  4. Aug 24

    EP 30: Maybe You’re Not Too Sensitive. Maybe You’re Wired This Way

    Have you ever had one of those weeks where nothing is actually wrong, but somehow everything feels wrong? Nobody's done anything. Nothing dramatic has happened. And yet you're reading into conversations, questioning your relationship, scrolling more than usual, keeping yourself constantly busy, or lying awake at 2am entertaining yet another variation of the same fear. In this solo episode, I explore what might actually be happening in your nervous system during those periods. I talk about sensory processing sensitivity, heart rate variability (HRV), why some of us naturally have more sensitive systems, and what can happen when things like poor sleep, stress, illness, grief or even being away from someone you usually co-regulate with knock you below your usual baseline. Because when your system has less capacity available, it can start scanning for threats that wouldn't normally register. And, very helpfully, it doesn't tend to invent exciting new fears. It pulls out the ones it already knows. I also explore an important distinction I've learned to make between a genuine quiet knowing and the flood of repetitive, urgent thoughts that can come from a nervous system working very hard to protect you. DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 16-MINUTE GUIDED BREATHWORK AUDIO HERE Connect with Fini Cooper: Instagram: @thebreathway & @emerge.podcast Website: thebreathway.com In this episode, you'll hear me unpack: Why some people naturally have a more sensitive nervous system What sensory processing sensitivity can tell us about the way we experience our environment Why sensitivity itself isn't inherently good or bad, but can amplify what it's given What heart rate variability (HRV) can tell you about your nervous system's capacity and resilience Why sleep changes, stress, illness, grief and changes in co-regulation can affect your baseline Why an overwhelmed system can start scanning for problems and bring old fears into current situations Why relationship fears so often become louder when your nervous system is struggling Why understanding your patterns intellectually doesn't necessarily stop them appearing How to recognise the difference between a quiet knowing and a flood of fearful thoughts Why an anxious day might not be the best day to make a big decision or have that very serious conversation A simple somatic and extended-exhale practice to create more space when your thoughts start looping The next time your mind suddenly presents you with a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation on everything that could possibly be wrong with your life, you don't necessarily have to believe it, fix it or make a decision about it. You can start by asking: Is this a quiet knowing, or is this a flood of fear? And perhaps before deciding that your relationship, career, friendships or entire existence need reconsidering, ask what has happened to your baseline. Have you slept? Have you eaten properly? Have you been working too hard? Has something changed in your environment? Are you missing someone you usually co-regulate with? Sometimes the fear is about what is happening now. But sometimes your system is simply pulling an old alarm because today, it has less available to quiet it. And you don't have to decide anything right now. For more grounding practices to help you work with your nervous system rather than immediately believing every thought it throws at you, join my newsletter and download my free 16-minute guided breathwork practice: https://thebreathway.com/podcast

  5. Aug 10

    EP 29 (Part 2): Your Brain Is Filtering Your Reality. Here’s How to Change It

    You are not experiencing your whole life. You're experiencing an edit. Your brain is constantly filtering an enormous amount of information, deciding what gets through and what gets thrown away before you're even aware it's happening. In Part 2 of this shorter solo series, I get into what is actually setting that filter. I talk about why you suddenly see the same car everywhere once you want one, how you can hear your name across a noisy room, and why your nervous system has far more to do with what you notice than simply telling yourself to “think positively.” Because apparently even your reality has an editor, and it has opinions. DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 16-MINUTE GUIDED BREATHWORK AUDIO HERE Connect with Fini Cooper:Instagram: @thebreathway & @emerge.podcastWebsite: thebreathway.com In this episode, you'll hear me unpack: Why you're experiencing a tiny, compressed edit of reality rather than everything around you The frequency illusion, and why your brain suddenly starts noticing things that were there all along How the reticular activating system decides what information is relevant enough to reach your awareness Why a nervous system that's braced for threat becomes very good at finding more threat Why affirmations alone may not change a filter that's operating underneath conscious thought How breath, posture, and body-based practices can help change the state doing the noticing A short practice for widening your awareness and noticing what was already there Rather than asking, “What's wrong here?” Fini leaves you with a different question to try once a day: What's already good here that I haven't been letting in? Slow down, notice what's already around you, and see what happens when you give something different a chance to make it through the filter. For more grounding practices to help you slow down, shift your state, and notice what your nervous system may have been filtering out, get on Fini's newsletter and download the free breathwork practice: https://thebreathway.com/podcast

  6. Aug 3

    EP 28 (Part 1): Stop Trying to Fix Your Fearful Thoughts. Do This Instead. A New Solo Series on Fear, State, and the Nervous System

    Most of what you think today, you already thought yesterday. The same fear, the same loop, circling back before you've even noticed it's happened again. In this first solo episode of a new shorter series, I sit with something I come back to in my own life too: what if the goal was never to be free from fearful thoughts? I get into why your brain isn't actually built for your happiness (it's built to keep you alive), why you can't reason your way out of a fear, and what to do instead when you don't have an hour to sit with it properly. DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 16-MINUTE GUIDED BREATHWORK AUDIO HERE Connect with Fini Cooper: Instagram: @thebreathway & @emerge.podcast Website: thebreathway.com In this episode, you'll hear me unpack: Why fear isn't a flaw, it's an old survival system still running, unsupervised How childhood shapes how hard your brain scans for danger, even years later, even with a "good enough" upbringing Why reasoning and willpower don't work when your body is in the wrong state The three things that actually build your state, and why your body comes before your thoughts, not after What happens in your nervous system when you simply name what you're feeling Why your heart has its own nervous system, over 40,000 neurons of it, and how it's constantly talking to your brain A short practice you can do in the moment, using breath, gratitude, and awareness, to change your state and loosen a looping thought's grip on you If your mind tends to loop on the same fear over and over, this episode will help you understand why that's happening, and give you something to actually do about it, right there in the moment. For more grounding practices and tools to help you come home to yourself, get on Fini's newsletter and download the free breathwork practice: https://thebreathway.com/podcast

  7. Jul 20

    EP 27: The Fear of Being Truly Seen: Sophie Kish on Feminine Power, Shadow Work & Coming Home to Your Body

    You are not separate from what you're trying to call into your life. That's the truth Sophie Kish sits with in this episode, and it changes everything once you actually let it in. Sophie spent a year and a half on Tony Robbins' team, working directly with surgeons, founders, and Fortune 100 executives, watching the same pattern show up again and again: it's never really about what we do. It's about who we believe we are underneath it. DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 16-MINUTE GUIDED BREATHWORK AUDIO HERE  Connect with Sophie Kish: Website: https://www.sophierosekish.com Instagram: @sophiekish Facebook: @sophierosekish Connect with Fini Cooper: Instagram: @thebreathway & @emerge.podcast Website: thebreathway.com In this conversation, you'll hear Sophie unpack: Why 80% of transformation is identity and only 20% is action, and what that means for the goals you're chasing The difference between fixing yourself and expanding your capacity to hold all of who you are Her practice "Dancing with the Darkness" and how shadow work becomes embodiment, not just insight Why the fear of being fully seen is ancient, and how it quietly runs your relationships and your work The shift from "boss babe" hustle to feminine power that doesn't burn you out How to tell the difference between your comfort zone and your actual safety If you've ever felt like you keep circling the same lesson, this episode will help you understand why, and how to finally let it land in your body instead of just your head. For more grounding practices and tools to help you come home to yourself, get on Fini's newsletter and download the free breathwork practice: https://thebreathway.com/podcast

  8. Jul 13

    EP 26: Learning to Trust What You Can't Explain with Lucy Shelby

    What happens when the moments you can't explain are the ones that shape you the most? In this episode of Emerge, I sit down with Lucy Shelby, a trained spiritual psychosomatic coach, clown, healer, and artist. She holds an MFA in ensemble-based physical theater, has certificates in various healing modalities, and has been teaching hot yoga for over 18 years. Lucy is also a writer, producer, and creator of many shows in New York City and beyond, and one of her proudest achievements was working with Clowns Without Borders, performing for over 10,000 children in Ecuador and Zimbabwe. Lucy's connection to mysticism began not in adulthood, but as a young child. From an early age, she had experiences that had no explanation: a sister who saw what no one else could see, a hand that appeared out of nowhere to save someone from falling. And alongside those experiences, she was also learning, the hard way, what happens when openness isn't paired with boundaries. ⁠⁠DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE 16-MINUTE GUIDED BREATHWORK AUDIO HERE ⁠⁠ Where to Find Lucy Shelby: Instagram: ⁠⁠@the_clownwitch⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠lucyshelby.com⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Miss American Dreams Newsletter⁠⁠ Connect with Fini Cooper: Instagram: ⁠⁠@thebreathway⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠@emerge.podcast⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠thebreathway.com⁠⁠ This conversation is for you if you've ever had an experience you couldn't explain, and didn't know what to do with it. Maybe you've felt something and had no language for it. Maybe you've been the "open" one, the one who says yes too easily, who struggles to set a boundary even when something feels off. Maybe you've confused being spiritual with being endlessly available, to people, to energy, to everything. Lucy shares how her early mystical experiences sat alongside real chaos, including getting sober after years of using alcohol to stay wide open without discernment, and what it took to learn that being spiritual and having boundaries aren't opposites. We talk about the difference between judgment and discernment, why some of the most outwardly "spiritual" people are the least embodied, the archetype of the sacred clown, the fool who turns out to be the wisest one in the room, and a reframe of suicidal ideation that stopped me in my tracks: not a desire to leave, but a soul that hadn't yet felt safe choosing to be here. So if you're someone who feels things deeply, who's had experiences you've never quite known what to do with, this episode is an invitation to hold both: the mystery and the boundary, the openness and the safety. In this episode, we explore: Lucy's mystical childhood experiences, and what it's like to grow up with a real connection to mysticism The difference between judgment and discernment Why openness without boundaries can lead to real danger What getting sober taught Lucy about energetic boundaries Why the most embodied people aren't always the ones who "look" spiritual The archetype of the sacred clown, and what it teaches us about wisdom A new way to understand suicidal ideation, as a soul seeking safety, not an exit How to integrate spiritual practices into everyday life A grounding practice to feel expanded and protected at the same time

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About

Emerge is a podcast about the moments that break us open and the practices that help us put ourselves back together. Hosted by Fini Cooper, a breathwork teacher and somatic guide, each episode brings you unfiltered conversations with people who've turned challenge into transformation. Come for the stories, stay for the wisdom, and leave with practices to support your own healing, growth, and emergence.

Information

  • Creator
    Fini Cooper
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    33
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Fini Cooper
  • Show Website
    Emerge with Fini Cooper

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