her Self: IFS & Spiritual Entrepreneurship

In honor of tomorrow being the first day of Women's History Month (how did it get to be March already?!), I want to give voice to something that has afflicted nearly every woman I know at some point in her life, in some form. It's something we started grappling with when our bodies started growing from girl to woman. It's something our sisters, mothers, and grandmothers often suffered from. It's something that stays with us in subtle, yet pernicious ways. It's something that we deny, judge, and hate – but also secretly love. Above all, it's something we stay silent about. I want to talk today about our eating disorders. In the opening chapter of my second book, The Book of SHE, I recounted the story of an intense, and startling, bulimia relapse I had eleven years ago when I was overcome with self-doubt and inner criticism while writing my first book. Upon reading my story, many women reached out sharing "I, too, was bulimic in high school and sometimes have relapses as an adult. I've done so much spiritual and psychological work and these episodes seem to come out the blue. How did heal from this?" The road to healing from eating disorders is long and complex, involving deep psychological, biological, and spiritual support. What I've learned on my healing journey is so much more than I can share in a single podcast. In short, the overall attitude I found most transformative was to see my eating disorder as a friend with whom I'm in a lifelong relationship (whether or not it's active). Today on the podcast I'm sharing more about this perspective shift, as well as the therapeutic healing modality I've found most effective for healing not only eating disorders, but also all sorts of other traumas and fragmentations. This modality is called IFS (or Internal Family Systems), and it's something I've been a client of for many years, wrote about in The Book of SHE, and which I also use with my mentoring clients. Rather than demonizing and pathologizing our eating disorders (and addictions- both soft and hard), IFS teaches us how to turn towards them and befriend them. Mary Kruger– a Certified IFS Therapist and Lead Trainer who specializes in addiction, eating disorders, and trauma– is joining us today to speak about this revolutionary way to approach these things. May this conversation be of benefit. Mary's website: www.mpkruger.com IFS website: www.ifs-institute.com Sara's website: www.SaraAvantStover.com The Book of SHE: www.indiebound.org/book/9781608682898 Women's House of Wisdom: www.WomensHouseofWisdom.com Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthor Subscribe to Sara's newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#newsletterMentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

Happy Valentine’s Day, happy Galentine’s Day, for all who are celebrating. And- yay- we’re just over half-way to the equinox now. This is our final stretch in the underworld that is wintertime. Fitting for this season, today I’m sharing an excerpt from a dharma talk I gave during a retreat last month in my online women’s yoga & meditation community, Women’s House of Wisdom. In it, I speak about “The Power of Yin.” In a world that still condemns the feminine, or yin energy-- like softening, resting, being, allowing-- we still have a ways to go before really restoring this fundamental energetic balance, first within ourselves and then on the planet. Women's House of Wisdom: www.WomensHouseofWisdom.com Sara's website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Join the newsletter: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#newsletter Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthorMentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

Today, I’m looking forward to sharing with you our first podcast guest of the season, Ari Honarvar. Ari is full of treasures– a woman I sense you’re going to be seeing a lot more of in the months and years ahead. She’s a wonderful female role model for these times, in so many ways. Ari Honarvar is an award-winning writer, visual artist, activist, and speaker who grew up in war-torn Iran. Today, she’s turned her childhood trauma into ecstatic service by bringing the medicine of Iranian mysticism and poetry to refugees and asylum seekers at the U.S./Mexico border. The Iranian Musical Ambassador of Peace, Ari has spearheaded the Drop Poems Not Bombs project and is also the Vice President of Gente Unida, a human rights border coalition. We speak about what it was like to grow up as a young-girl in an unstable country where women and girls were stripped of their rights, what it was like to move to the United States without her family at the age of fourteen, and all the ways mystical poetry saved her life. We also delve into the daily rituals she’s finding supportive for both herself and her family during the pandemic, as well as a deeper, more accurate understanding of the Narcissus myth, and how this can help us evolve past being such a transactional, individualistic culture. Last, we talk about her process behind writing her first novel, the forthcoming "A Girl Called Rumi." Enjoy! Ari on Instagram: www.Instragram.com/rumiwithaview Ari’s website: www.RumiwithaView.com Ari’s interview on The Shift Network: https://shiftnetwork.infusionsoft.com/go/mys21a22627/a22627 Sara’s website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Sara on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthor Sara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStover The Book of SHE Club: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#bookclubMentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

We women face many challenging transitions on the pilgrimage from girlhood to womanhood: menses, love and heartbreak, motherhood, childlessness (by choice or not), menopause, illness, loss, and financial devastation (to name a few). Devoid of a central narrative, these rites of passage too often happen in shame, isolation, and secrecy, leaving women doubting their personal power, self-worth, and, at times, sanity. Yet these very thresholds– or initiations– are what’s required to expand our personalities and nervous systems to better hold the largeness of our souls. Today, I'm mapping out the three biggest dangers of undergoing a modern-day initiation– or transformational cycle of unbecoming and becoming. I'm also sharing three antidotes to best work with these inopportune societal conditions. May these words provide validation and context-making for wherever you are in your process. And, as always, blessings on your journey! For women who want to go deeper into this with me and with one another, I'm leading "The Book of SHE Club: A 13- Week Community Initiation," from February 3-May 5. Each week, I'll lead a class where I'll flesh out one of the 13 phases of the Heroine's Journey, an archetypal map for feminine initiation, as it's laid out in my second book. You can learn more and join us here: www.SaraAvantStover.com/#bookclub The Book of SHE: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781608682898 Website: www.SaraAvantStover.com Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SaraAvantStoverAuthor Instagram: www.Instagram.com/SaraAvantStoverMentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

As we near the end of 2020, a monumental year for us all, I called on my friend, colleague, and esteemed astrologer and success coach, Jennifer Raccioppi, to shed some light on the cosmic forecast for the month of December, and into 2021. In our conversation, we talk all about Jenn’s new book, Cosmic Health, and why, from an astrological standpoint, 2020 was so intense. She shares some interesting shifts happening in a couple of weeks– most notably the new moon eclipse on December 14, and a rare astrological conjunction on Dec. 21 that will seed a paradigm shift in 2021 and beyond. We touch on practical ways you can align with these changes, why it's imperative that you "ride your erotic edge," what her current spiritual practice consists of, her recent heartbreak and encounters with the Dark Mother, and her current growing edge. Settle in with us, and enjoy. Jennifer Racioppi's website: JenniferRacioppi.com Sara's website: SaraAvantStover.com Cosmic Health book: indiebound.org/book/9780316535298 Women's House of Wisdom: WomensHouseofWisdom.com Audre Lorde on "The Erotic as Power": youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=xFHwg6aNKy0Mentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

Today I have a really wonderful conversation to share with you. Spring Washam is a well-known meditation teacher, author, and visionary leader based in California and Peru. I first came across Spring this past summer, just after George Floyd’s murder when the Black Lives Matter movement really burst into the collective field. At that time I saw an online course she was offering that intrigued me, called The Dharma of Harriet Tubman. Spring and I speak about: - Her personal visitations from Harriet Tubman - How Harriet’s an archetype so needed for these times - Ways that Black women are the backbone of this country (The United States) and why white women need to support them - What it’s like to be a biracial woman on the spiritual path - How she’s created diverse, accessible spiritual communities - What it’s like to lead “the church” of Harriet Tubman - And how plant medicine plays a pivotal role in both of our lives, especially in healing trauma There’s a lot of richness in here. Enjoy! Spring's website: SpringWasham.com Sara's website: SaraAvantStover.comMentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

Today I’m sharing a segment of a dharma talk I gave a couple of weeks ago in my online spiritual practice community, Women’s House of Wisdom. This talk was a lead-in to Part 1 of a two-part virtual retreat series I'm leading this fall, called “Preparing for the Darker Months, and Times.” In this series, I'm sharing six teachings, as points of focus to apply and orient around when things feel more murky and uncomfortable and there’s not as much light illuminating our path to know the next steps forward. While I am speaking directly to the energetics of the fall season here, these teachings also apply to you if you’re in the southern hemisphere. At the macro level, they also hold true anytime in our lives when we’re passing through the points in the creative cycle of dissolution and death. Enjoy! ------------------ Join us live for Part 2 of this series in a virtual retreat on Saturday, November 14. Learn more and register: www.WomensHouseofWisdom.comMentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

Even when there's a lot going on in our lives, it's important to pause and honor important milestones. Today's SHE Talk does just this. It's a deep, honest interview that I recorded in honor of a few big anniversaries. First, the podcast is 5! I started it in 2015 with a special interview series to mark the birth of my second book. And, yes, the second milestone is that five years ago this Tuesday, to be exact, The Book of SHE: Your Heroine's Journey into the Heart of Feminine Power was published. The biggest thing I want to honor today – which is the real focus of today's episode – is that five years ago my own heroine's journey took a...how should I say....unfathomable (!) direction. I've since been warned: "Be careful what you write a book about! You'll need to embody those teachings at the deepest level." I'll leave it at that because today's talk (in which my good friend Emma Teitel turns the tables and interviews me) goes into this in-depth. We cover a whole range of things from: - How we’re structuring our days at this point in the pandemic - Specific things that are inspiring us and helping us through - The nascent steps we’re taking on our anti-racism journeys - My experience working in California prisons last year - The framework of a "Midlife Transition" that I find helpful - And, above all, and key insights from the past 5 years of my heroine’s journey If you've been through a challenging stretch in your life (and who hasn't!), or are going through one now, I know you'll feel some relief in hearing this. Enjoy, go gently, and I'm grateful to be on this journey with you. LINKS: - The Book of SHE: https://www.amazon.com/Book-SHE-Heroines-Journey-Feminine/dp/1608682897/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VM9BSK4C2WCY&dchild=1&keywords=the+book+of+she+sara+avant+stover&qid=1602095664&sprefix=the+book+of+she+%2Caps%2C750&sr=8-1 - Emma Teitel: www.EmmaTeitel.com - Women’s House of Wisdom: www.WomensHouseofWisdom.com - Healing After Abortion (articles): www.HealingAfterAbortion.Substack.com - Interview #1 with Emma, A Candid Q & A About Abortion: https://soundcloud.com/thewayofthehappywoman/54-a-candid-q-a-with-sara - Interview #2 with Emma, My Heroine’s Journey in Business, Life & Love: https://soundcloud.com/thewayofthehappywoman/she-stories-my-heroines-journey-in-business-life-and-loveMentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

Those of you who have been here for a while will remember that just over two years ago, in July 2018, I published a story, both on my website and here about a harrowing abortion experience I underwent in April 2017. In case you’re interested, my story can be found in episode 53 of this podcast. Episodes 54, 55, and 56 also pertain to abortion. At the time of publishing my story, I was also starting up abortion support circles, to help fill the gaping hole I found in women’s health care when it comes to abortion. There is literally very very little to no adequate support for women when it comes to abortion– both in helping women to decide whether or not to have an abortion. And in how to heal after abortion. It’s not always but often is a complicated process, one that can still haunt women decades later. Two years ago I led a pilot online program on this topic, and, since then, also led in-person abortion support circles. Now, I’m feeling called to take this work deeper and to make it even more widely available, as, once again, a woman’s right to abortion is under great question in this country. Listen in as I share more about this, including a new, free resource I created to help women heal after abortion. Enjoy. And please share this with the women who need it. Links: * http://www.healingafterabortion.substack.comMentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular

I’m happy to be here with you, after a long hiatus over the Northern summer here in the United States. Since I last connected with you here, I moved from Santa Barbara, California–where I lived for a couple of years–back to Boulder, CO. I’m settled into my new home here and adjusting to life again at 5000 feet above sea level. It feels good and right to be here. I was packing up and leaving the west coast right as the fires started burning there. I send heartfelt support and care for all who are impacted by the smoke, the fires, the hurricanes, the racial injustice, the pandemic, and the various confluences of all of these factors. To say it’s a lot is an understatement. May today's SHE Talk be a place of refuge for you. This was recorded a couple of weeks ago, on the second day of an online weekend retreat I taught with Shambhala Mountain Center, entitled “Creating a Beautiful Life in Hard Times.” In this particular talk, I address the need to cultivate a particular flavor of wisdom in these times. And to keep looking for ways to create beauty out of limitation. If you’re feeling boxed in or restricted in any way(and who isn’t right now?), I hope this talk gives you at least a glimmer of inspiration. Enjoy.Mentioned in this episode:DYDB 2026 Regular