Awaken & Empower

Do you ever find yourself falling into thoughts based in scarcity and “not enough”? Would you like to invite more abundance into the world within and around you? If your answer is yes, I hope this episode serves as an empowering source of inspiration for you. Listen in to explore the ins and outs of a scarcity mindset and an abundance heartspace, and how to shift from “not enough” to “more than enough”. I talk about how most of us are conditioned to adopt a scarcity mindset, and how dropping into an abundance heartspace can drastically change the way we view ourselves and our lives. I also share about a recent experience that got me to expand my understanding of abundance and look at this concept in an even more empowering way. There is abundance all around you; you just have to choose to notice it. I hope this episode helps you do that! As always, to connect with me you can email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca and find me on Instagram @living.embrace. You can also visit my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you for listening!

This conversation episode is an honest sharing on grief, surrender, and embodiment from a woman I cherish dearly, Melina Charis! Melina is a writer, creatrix, and coach. She is a channel-opener, tea ceremonialist, breathwork alchemist, and sacred space holder. Her greatest joy is helping others remember that embodied expression, sacred creation, and divine trust are their birthright. She guides others to the depths of their souls, to connect with the fullness of their Selves, and to share and express their truth from a safe, grounded place within. She has 10+ years experience with transformative healing practices and is honored to walk alongside those she serves on their healing journeys. Listen in to hear us chat about things like: How Melina helps people become more grounded in who they truly areWhat Melina has gone through since she was last on the show in 2021 that has led to a more embodied version of her business and her lifeTrusting and surrendering to the non-linear path of creative and business pursuits, and allowing it to be a vehicle of transformationExpanding our capacity to be with pain and how that contributes to rebuilding the foundation of groundedness and truth within yourselfAccepting and trusting the void space to allow yourself to surrender to the transformation happening beneath the surfaceThe multilayered concept of grief and waking up to the different expressions of itWhat embodiment means and how to connect with your sense of embodied self-care and self-expressionMelina’s words of wisdom for anyone who is struggling to understand and embody their authentic self To connect with Melina, visit her website www.melinacharis.com and follow her on Instagram @melinacharis Thank you for listening!

In this episode, we’re exploring the empowering practice of igniting and nourishing your inner fire. Get ready to feel passionate, excited, and fully alive! I talk about what the inner fire is and why it’s important to pay attention to. And we explore the role that self-awareness plays in the process of bringing this fire to full flame. Then I walk you through some things to keep in mind as you ignite and nourish your inner fire, including self-reflection prompts and my own experiences. Your inner fire is such a vital part of your self-empowerment. I hope this episode inspires you to ignite and nourish it as much and as often as you can! To connect with me, you can always email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca and find me on Instagram @living.embrace. You can also visit my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you for listening!

Balance may feel hard to achieve sometimes, but no matter what is going on in our daily lives, we can all strive to create an empowered balance for ourselves. In this episode, we’re exploring how to define, create, and maintain a sense of empowered balance in your day to day life. I share my thoughts on the concept of balance, and the recent shifts in my life that have made me become more aware of the importance of balance to me. And I talk about what it means to have an empowered sense of balance. Then we dive into how to define what balance means to you, create a path forward to bring this balance to life, and maintain your balance using empowering practices and mindsets. Whatever your thoughts on balance are, I hope this episode helps you see how possible it is to approach the concept of balance in an empowered way. I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, find me on Instagram @living.embrace, and visit my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you for being here!

Every transition into a new month is an opportunity to check in with ourselves and set the tone for the days to come in whatever ways feel most empowering to you. One of my favourite practices in my monthly ritual is reading oracle card spreads. So in this episode, we’re turning to the cards for some powerful messages to carry with us into the new month! I pulled one card from each of these oracle decks: The Rose Oracle by Rebecca Campbell > https://rebeccacampbell.me/the-rose-oracle/The Divine Feminine Oracle by Meggan Watterson > https://www.megganwatterson.com/the-divine-feminine-oracleThe Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck by Kim Krans > https://www.kimkrans.com/books-and-decks To hear each reading and listen in on the card you picked as your own, head to these times in the show: Rose Oracle – 6:15Divine Feminine – 11:53Animal Spirit – 19:17 Each reading was full of so much meaning, and I hope that whichever card you chose gave you some empowering messages to help you set the tone for the new month. If you’d like to share what you got out of your reading, you can always email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, follow me on Instagram @living.embrace, and visit my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you for listening!

In this very special conversation episode, I had a chat about all things intuition with our first repeat guest and one of my dearest soul sisters, Alexandra Dimitrovici! Alex is a Certified Intuitive Life Coach, Psychic and lover of all things unseen. She helps her clients reconnect with themselves on a soul level so they can live a life that excites them, one that is filled with joy, purpose, magic, and intuition. After practicing law for over eight years and becoming a mother of two, she decided that the time had come to listen to her own intuition and dive deeper into spirituality and helping others. In 2021, she began her coaching studies, more particularly studying intuitive life coaching, where she gained the skills and confidence necessary to take her intuitive and psychic abilities to the next level, for herself and her clients.  Alex offers insightful intuitive readings, as well as oracle and tarot readings. She also empowers her clients to listen to their inner wisdom and connect with their divine nature by mentoring and offering intuitive life coaching sessions. We talked about so many powerful topics, including: The personal and professional shifts Alex’s life has taken since she was last on the show in February 2022, and how she knew it was time to make those shiftsThe pain of feeling dismissed and the importance of finding spaces to feel validated in your passions and purposeWhat intuition means and how it relates to imaginationThe fun, exhilaration, and liberation that comes with unlocking your intuitive powersThe daily impact of loosening the grip of the ego to soften into your intuitionAlex’s powerful words of advice for anyone who wants to live a more intuitive lifeHow to recognize when you’re receiving intuitive hitsWhat happens for Alex’s clients during and after receiving an intuitive reading from her At the end of the episode, Alex also generously did a live intuitive reading for me! This reading was so empowering and unlocked a part of me that I didn’t even realize needed to be open. Alex is incredibly gifted and I’m so grateful she shared her intuitive powers with me in this way. You can find out more about Alex and her offerings on her website www.alexdcoach.com and on her Instagram @bridging_consciousness And as always, you can connect with me at my email shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, on Instagram @living.embrace, and on my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you to Alex for coming on the show, and much thanks to everyone who chooses to listen to our chat!

People pleasing is an incredibly common behaviour that prevents us from living an empowered life. If you struggle with people pleasing and want some inspiration to help liberate yourself, this is the episode for you! Listen in for an exploration of what it means to have a people pleasing personality. I talk about my own experiences of struggling through the impacts of this behaviour, what led me to become more aware of it and wake up to the hold it had over me, and how I followed through with the choice to break free from this way of being. I also provide you with some practices you can implement into your own life to lessen the power your people pleasing habit may have over you. I hope this episode helps you see that no matter how ingrained this pattern is for you, you can always choose to break free from people pleasing tendencies. This is not who you are, it’s a learned and conditioned behaviour, and you have the power to release it from your identity so you can be your most empowered self. To get in touch with me, email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, follow me on Instagram @living.embrace, and visit my website www.livingembrace.ca. I’d love to connect with you! Thank you for being here!

In this episode, we’re taking a deep dive into an aspect of our sense of self and quality of life that is so important to our self-empowerment: boundaries! Listen in for an exploration of how to set, respect, and connect with your boundaries in a way that’ll strengthen your sense of empowerment. You’ll learn the basics of boundaries, including several definitions, the differences between rigid, porous, and healthy boundaries, and nine different types of boundaries to pay attention to in your daily life. I also talk about how to build your self-awareness so you can set boundaries that align with your truest self. Then I share six powerful ways to respect and honour your boundaries. And I offer some self-reflection prompts to help you maintain a strong connection with your boundaries. To finish things off, I share my personal experience with boundaries and talk about why boundaries are so important to living an authentic and empowered life. I hope this episode helps you get clear on what you can do to set, respect, and connect with your boundaries in ways that feel meaningful to you! To get in touch with me you can always email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca and find me on Instagram @living.embrace For more on what I do and how I can support you, visit my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you so much for listening!

Tuning into your self-empowerment is an incredible thing, but there may be some preconceived notions about it that are holding you back from accessing its full power. On this podcast, and in all of the work I do, I’m all about helping people gain clarity on what self-empowerment really is and how it can truly change your life. So in this episode, we’re exploring some powerful truths and possible misperceptions about self-empowerment. Listen in to dispel five unfortunate myths and unveil five meaningful effects of self-empowerment. I also talk about the importance of questioning our beliefs to make sure they’re really our own, and going through the process of unlearning the beliefs that no longer serve us. I hope this episode serves as a reminder of how important your self-empowerment really is. No matter what preconceived notions or misperceptions you hold about it, self-empowerment is always available to you, waiting to transform everything about your inner and outer world so you can awaken your authentic self and live an empowered life. For more information on the Self-Empowerment Coaching I offer, check out my Coaching Services at https://livingembrace.ca/coaching-services/  Subscribe to receive the Living Embrace Letters at https://living-embrace.ck.page/734d7d230b. All of the lovely souls on my email list have access to an exclusive offer on my coaching services until April 30, so get yourself on that list if you’re ready to move forward on your self-empowerment journey! You can find all of the Free Resources I offer at https://livingembrace.ca/free-resources/  I’d love to connect with you! Follow me on Instagram @living.embrace and contact me at my email shealynivany@livingembrace.ca  Thank you for listening!

Welcome back to Awaken & Empower! After three months away from the podcast, I’m so happy to be returning to creating and connecting in this way. In this episode, I talk about the hurting that led me to take a step back from everything, the healing I learned to welcome into myself and my life, and how I’m finding my sense of hope again as I continue on this beautifully messy journey. Listen in for an honest reflection on dealing with mental health struggles and finding the courage to receive support in order to truly care for your mental and emotional well-being. I also share my experience of welcoming a new method of healing into my life, my thoughts on the possible stigma and misconceptions surrounding it, and how I navigated my own preconceived notions so I could fully receive the benefits of this resource. In the episode I also talk about the concept of healing, what it can look and feel like, and what healing really means to me. I share a poem I came across that made me feel so seen during my darkest days, and a profound moment I experienced recently that opened my eyes and my heart in a divine way. As always, I hope hearing my truth brings you closer to understanding and embracing yours. Thank you for giving me this space to share my heart and my story. If anything in this episode sparked something for you, I’d love to hear from you! Visit my website www.livingembrace.ca to learn more about my work as a Self-Empowerment Coach and how I can support you in deepening your connection with yourself so you can live a more authentic and meaningful life. All of the info about my Coaching Services can be found at https://livingembrace.ca/coaching-services/  Head to https://living-embrace.ck.page/6df320b952 to sign up for the Living Embrace Letters, and sign up for any of the free resources I offer on my website at https://livingembrace.ca/free-resources/  Follow me on Instagram @living.embrace And you can always contact me at my email shealynivany@livingembrace.ca Thank you so much for being here and sharing in this space with me. Your presence is greatly appreciated!

The transition into the new year is a powerful time for self-reflection. It’s an empowering opportunity to create space to honour the year that has passed so you can fully welcome the one that lies ahead. In this episode, I’m guiding you through a self-reflection practice that’ll support you in your honouring of 2022 and welcoming of 2023! Listen in for lots of journaling prompts, reflection questions, and opportunities for self-inquiry. The first part of this self-reflection practice will help you look back on 2022 and get clear on how it impacted you and your life. And the second part of the practice will give you a chance to look ahead to 2023 and envision your intentions, desires, and goals for the new year.   The questions and prompts included in this episode are designed to spark your intuition and give you the space to hear your inner wisdom. I encourage you to approach this practice with ample time and space, an open heart, and a willingness to be with yourself fully. I hope this practice leaves you feeling empowered and ready to move into the new year in ways that feel authentic and true to you! The podcast will be back sometime in the new year, but until then you can always reach out to me by emailing shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, following me on Instagram @living.embrace, and visiting my website www.livingembrace.ca For more information on the Self-Empowerment Coaching I offer, check out my Coaching Services at https://livingembrace.ca/coaching-services/  Wishing you happy holidays and a fulfilling new year!

Sometimes we can get stuck in a way of thinking, feeling, and seeing things within ourselves and in our lives that doesn’t serve us. When this happens, one of the most empowering things we can do is find a way to shift our perspective and dare to think, feel, and look at things in a new way. I’ve found that one of the most powerful ways to shift perspectives is reading oracle cards, so in this episode, we’re consulting the cards to help us gain new insights and shift our perspective. I used these three oracle card decks for the readings: Moonology Oracle by Yasmin Boland > https://www.yasminboland.com/moonology-oracle-cards/The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck by Kim Krans > https://www.kimkrans.com/books-and-decksThe Rose Oracle by Rebecca Campbell > https://rebeccacampbell.me/the-rose-oracle/ To hear each reading and receive guidance from the one you picked as your own, head to these times in the show: Moonology – 6:40Animal Spirit – 12:42Rose Oracle – 17:20 I hope these readings provide you with clarity, a possible path forward, and intuitive insight that will help you shift your perspective to a place that really serves you! I’d love to hear what you received from your reading. If you’d like to connect, you can always email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, find me on Instagram @living.embrace and visit my website www.livingembrace.ca If you’re interested in booking a Messages from Within oracle card reading and self-empowerment coaching session with me, head to https://livingembrace.ca/coaching-services/ for more information and reach out to me if you have any questions. Thank you so much for sharing in this space with me!

It’s natural to go through times in our lives when our sense of self-empowerment is a little weak, or completely non-existent. I know what that’s like, and I also know what it’s like to not even have the energy to figure out how to feel empowered again. If you’re going through this kind of phase, this episode is the one for you. This episode is all about 10 small things you can do to revitalize your self-empowerment. These 10 practices may be simple, but they are also effective and can leave a lasting and powerful impact on the world within and around you.   Listen in to learn how to implement these 10 practices into your life. I also share how each of them has helped me move through times of low self-empowerment, and I provide guidance and examples to spark your inspiration and motivation. I hope this episode helps you start to visualize your path back to your self-empowerment. It is always within you, and sometimes all it takes is baby step after baby step to reconnect with it. Often the simplest things make the biggest difference.    I’d love to connect with you! You can always email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca and find me on Instagram @living.embrace. To learn more about how I can support you on your self-empowerment journey, visit my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you for being here!

After taking a bit of a break from the podcast, I’m so happy and excited to be back! In this episode, I share what life has looked like for me over the past few months. It’s been a time of life-changing experiences, complex inner struggles, and creating the space to reconnect, remember, and return home to myself. I talk about what’s been coming up for me and how I’ve been navigating and taking care of myself during this time. I also share a powerful realization I had that helped me accept what I was going through and move forward with more understanding and self-love.  We’re all in this continuous process of healing, evolving, and rising into more of who we are. I’ve definitely been feeling the impacts of this lately, and in this episode I open my heart to you and share as authentically about it all as I can. As always, I hope me sharing my truth brings you even just a little bit closer to yours, and if you’re also going through a difficult phase, I hope this episode helps you feel less alone.   If you’d like to connect with me, you can email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, find me on Instagram @living.embrace, and visit my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you so much for being here, I appreciate you endlessly!

Welcome to the 50th episode of Awaken & Empower! In this special milestone episode, we’re honouring the past, embracing the present, and trusting what lies ahead in the future. Listen in to hear me share my thoughts on what this podcasting journey has meant to me, the ways it has challenged me and helped me heal, and how it has contributed to my creative and personal growth. I also reflect on the summer conversation series, share an honest and vulnerable life update, and talk about what’s coming next for me and my work. If you’d like to receive the Living Embrace Letters, sign up at https://living-embrace.ck.page/734d7d230b. And as always, you can contact me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, connect with me on Instagram @living.embrace, and visit my website www.livingembrace.ca  Thank you so much for being part of this journey with me. Your presence means a whole lot to me and I’m so grateful that I get to play even a small part in your journey of awakening your authentic self and living an empowered life!

We’re wrapping up the summer conversation series with a discussion about divine connections and living a spiritual life between me and a woman I consider to be my soul sister, Wairimu Njoroge. Wairimu is a Healing Conversationalist, Strategist, and Therapist whose specialty is in supporting individuals, families and communities in identifying and closing gaps in their mental health, to facilitate restoration, healing, and recreation of sustainable meaningful living.  We talked about so many soul-centred topics, including… What sparked our divine connection a few months ago and how our friendship has evolved in intentionality since thenOccupying the space of “becoming” and embracing the uncertainty of lifeHow Wairimu serves others as a therapist and a healing conversationalistWairimu’s journey with spirituality and how it has supported her and impacted her approach to life in empowering waysOur experiences of leaning into our spirituality to understand, navigate, and heal anxietyWhat it feels like to make a divine connection, how to recognize that you’ve experienced one, and what these connections can bring to your lifeHow to attract, welcome, and nurture divine connections in your lifeWairimu’s words of advice for anyone who wants to live in deeper connection with their spirituality Wairimu has so much wisdom and light to share. I hope our conversation helps you find solace, connection, and a pathway towards the most peaceful part of your soul. Check out Wairimu and all her amazing work on Psychology Today at https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/therapists/wairimu-njoroge-toronto-on/838359 and on Black Therapist List at https://www.blacktherapistlist.com/find-a-therapist/gid/100770/wairimu-njoroge. You can also connect with her on Instagram @wairimunjoroge49 and LinkedIn As always you can reach me at my email shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, on my website www.livingembrace.ca, and on Instagram @living.embrace Thank you so much for listening!

Teaching and learning are two integral parts of any human’s lifetime. I believe teachers are such an important part of our society, and in this episode of the summer conversation series, I sat down with one of my favourite people, who also happens to be a teacher, my friend Kendall Smilde. Kendall received her Bachelor of Education from Brock University in 2020, and she is now an elementary school teacher. She has a passion for working with youth and a strong desire to inspire change in the younger generations. She also enjoys living an active lifestyle through things like sports, hiking, and volunteering in the community. In her free time, she enjoys reading, being with family and friends, and spending time with her beloved French bulldog Fred. In our conversation, we talked about things like… How our friendship has evolved since we met in high school and what we love most about our relationshipWhat (and who) inspired Kendall to become a teacher, and how she knew this career was always meant for herKendall’s experience of completing teacher’s college and starting her teaching career during the height of the pandemicNavigating the unknown in life and choosing to sink deeper into trustThe challenges Kendall has faced in her journey so far, and how she has overcome them and learned more about herself because of themHaving faith and believing in yourself as you work towards living your dreamThe immense privilege and responsibility that comes with this career, and Kendall’s thoughts on how we can all better support teachersThe power of choosing to trust each step in your journey and believe that things will happen the way they’re meant to happen We’ve all been impacted by teachers in some way, and I hope what we talked about in this episode expanded your understanding of what it’s really like to be a teacher. Much thanks to Kendall (or as she’s known to her students, Miss Smilde!) for sharing so openly and for all the work she does to teach and inspire children! As always, to get in touch with me you can email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, follow me on Instagram @living.embrace, and visit my website www.livingembrace.ca Thank you so much for listening!

No matter what you’re going through in life, you can benefit from trusting your intuition, believing that what is meant for you will find you, and having faith in your Higher self. All of these concepts are touched upon in this episode of the summer conversation series, which is a chat between me and one of my oldest and dearest friends, Emily Peart. Emily currently lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia as a community support coordinator, which is an occupation that focuses on health and wellness and individual empowerment. She has an educational background in psychology and business, however she found her passion in healthcare working with elderly individuals and helping them thrive within the community. From this experience she has gained a lot of insight on the multidimensional aspects of health and wellness. She has also learned life lessons on the importance of spirituality and its relevance on the mental and physical realms. Listen in to hear us talk about things like… Our favourite memories from growing up together since we were six years old, and how we used certain challenges to our advantage to keep our friendship strongHow the pandemic caused Emily to pivot in her personal life and careerHaving trust and faith in a higher power when taking risks and making a big changeChoosing courage over fear and intuition over logic to welcome in your soul purposeThe series of unexpected events that led Emily to her dream job, and stories about her experiences of contributing to her community as a support workerProtecting and nurturing your energy as a helping professional and a deeply-feeling humanHow Emily has tapped into her spiritual gifts at her job and embraced her spirituality in her everyday lifeEmily’s powerful words of advice for anyone who is wanting to make a big shift in their life and live in alignment with their Higher self I loved having this fun and deep life chat with Emily. I hope her insights have just as profound of an impact on you as they did on me! As always, if you’d like to get in touch with me, you can email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca and by using my Contact Me page at https://livingembrace.ca/contact-me/. You can also find me on Instagram @living.embrace Thank you so much for listening!

If you’re currently in your 20s and navigating all the ups and downs of young adulthood, I hope this episode brings you comfort and helps you feel a little less alone. In this episode of the summer conversation series, I’m sharing a chat I had with one of my best friends, Rebekah Gonzales. Rebekah loves film, photography, and art. She’s also very passionate about human rights, diversity, and inclusion. Hiking and spending time outdoors is her favourite way to decompress. A little over a year ago, she created a blog called Space In Between. The name came from that transitional period of time in young adulthood where you know what you want and where you want to be but are still in the process of getting there. Her blog serves as a creative outlet where she can share her photography and also the stories of her friends and their struggles navigating adulthood. We had an honest and candid conversation about topics like… How we met in high school and the ways our friendship has evolved over timeDealing with and overcoming insecurity, body image issues, and unrealistic beauty standards as a teen to gain confidence and self-acceptance as a young adultHow our college/university experiences impacted our personal growth and helped us live more authenticallyLiberating yourself from the pressures of fitting in, people pleasing, and the overachiever mentality so you can become your true selfChoosing to release the expectations of others and stop comparing yourself to other peopleWhat we know now that we wish we could tell our younger selvesHow to cope with not having everything figured out and make peace with your current phase of lifeOur best words of advice for anyone else navigating the messy “space in between” of young adulthood Having this conversation made me remember that wherever you’re at on your life’s journey, and no matter how much of a mess you may feel like, there are always opportunities for acceptance, gratitude, and moments to look back and appreciate how far you’ve come. You can visit Rebekah’s website at www.spaceinbetween.ca and check her out on Instagram @spaceinbetween_ And as always, to get in touch with me you can email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca or use my Contact Me page at https://livingembrace.ca/contact-me/. You can also follow me on Instagram @living.embrace Thank you so much for being here!

Welcome to the first episode of the summer conversation series! I’m so excited to be kicking off this series with a conversation about reflexology, healing, and self-connection between me and a woman who I’m so honoured to know, Anna Kwiatkowski. Anna is an empathetic, curious soul that loves deep and dreams big. She graduated from the graphic design program at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and her current role is a design and marketing specialist for Anna's Garden, Home & Wellness. She dabbles in illustration, photography, and candle making. Her current passion project is becoming a certified reflexologist which will help cultivate her ideal work-life balance of owning a space that serves and provides relaxation and renewal for women. We got into so many empowering topics, including… A reflection on how our coaching relationship impacted both of usWhat led Anna to follow the path of pursuing a certification in reflexologyWhat reflexology is and how receiving it can benefit your healing journey and lead to physical, mental, and emotional transformationsHow being a recipient of reflexology has supported Anna in her healing journey and fuelled her passion for facilitating this experience for othersThe grounding benefits and uplifting empowerment of creating space for self-connectionHow receiving untraditional and spiritual methods of healing can help you tend to yourself in a more holistic wayWhat has helped Anna the most in her healing and self-development journeyAnna’s words of advice for anyone who wants to try healing modalities like reflexology for the first time Anna is such a beautiful soul and I’m so grateful that she took the time to come on the podcast so I could give her the space to share her light and wisdom. To connect with Anna, you can follow her personal Instagram account @scooski and her reflexology account @blackmoonhaus And as always, to connect with me you can email me at shealynivany@livingembrace.ca, or by using my Contact Me page at https://livingembrace.ca/contact-me/, and be sure to follow me on Instagram @living.embrace Thank you so much for being here!