'Never Look Back' is BS and Here's Why
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
The Mirror of Our Experiences and The Meaning We Give Them A key theme in the episode is using painful experiences as a mirror for self-reflection. Michelle describes a recent encounter with a new friend that triggered memories of being objectified in her youth. This moment served as a catalyst for her to revisit and process those past feelings. Instead of avoiding the discomfort or avoidant behavior in general, she chose to sit with it, leading to a deeper understanding of herself. This process of reflection is vital for personal growth, as it encourages individuals to confront their past...
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Revoking All Access: Setting Boundaries for Your Emotional Well-Being
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
In the journey of healing and personal growth, one of the most crucial steps is recognizing who has access to your life and evaluating whether they truly deserve that access. The concept of an "all-access pass" serves as a powerful metaphor for understanding the dynamics of our relationships and the boundaries we set. Do you feel drained after being around this person? Do you find yourself tiptoeing around them or over-explaining your feelings? Do you feel guilty when you say no to them? Do they manipulate you into changing your mind when you set boundaries? Do they take more from...
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Understanding and Overcoming Self-Doubt
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
In this episode of Soul Wide Open, I delve into a topic that has been a significant part of my life: self-doubt. This is especially relevant now as I am about to make a major life change by relocating from California to central Texas for a 3-4 month trial run and a self-imposed creative retreat. Self-doubt is something we've all faced, and it can be deeply rooted in our childhood experiences, past failures, traumas, and societal pressures. I discuss how self-doubt manifests in various ways, such as procrastination and imposter syndrome, and how it can make us question our capabilities and...
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My Top Mental Detox Strategies for The New Year
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
Mentally Detox for a New Year: A Path to Healing and Renewal Decluttering your mental space is essential for a successful mental detox, as it helps reduce distractions and promotes clarity. In this eepisod eof Soul Wide Open with host Michelle Renne, she welcomes the new year with a focus on mental detoxification and emotional regulation. As 2025 approaches, she emphasizes the importance of starting the year with a quieter mind and spirit, laying the groundwork for healing and protecting one's nervous system. Michelle shares practical tools, tactics, and steps that listeners can...
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How I Turned a Kidnapping into a New Beginning
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
Healing Through Celebration: How I Turned a Kidnapping into a New Beginning In this episode of the Soul Wide Open podcast, host Michelle Renee discusses the transformative power of turning traumatic experiences into moments of celebration and rebirth. Sharing her personal journey of overcoming a kidnapping and home invasion, Michelle emphasizes the importance of modeling resilience for her daughter to ensure she does not carry forward the weight of negative experiences. With what she refers to as her 'second birthday' as a focal point, Michelle reflects on how the anniversary date of...
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What is Your Well-Being Dial Tuned Into?
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
From Static to Clarity: Protecting Your Energy in a Content-Heavy Society What Are You Feeding Your Soul? In today's fast-paced world, the content we consume—whether through media, music, or conversations—plays a crucial role in shaping our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. As discussed in the podcast episode, it is essential to be mindful of what we engage with, as it can profoundly affect our overall health. The episode emphasizes that, much like tuning an old radio to find a clear signal, we must consciously choose the frequencies we tune into in our daily lives. This...
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Navigating Conversations: 10 Boundary Statements to Protect Your Peace
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
Boundary statements play a crucial role in protecting one's emotional and mental well-being, particularly for individuals who have struggled with boundaries in the past. In this episode of the Soul Wide Open podcast, host Michelle Renee dives into the crucial topic of boundary statements. Drawing from her personal experiences, including a home invasion that shattereed boundaries in her personal and professional life, Michelle discusses the challenges of learning to identify and verbalize healthy boundaries. She emphasizes the significance of setting new boundaries as a vital part of...
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Unlearning Toxic Patterns: How I Overcame My Top 3
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
In this episode of the Soul Wide Open podcast, host Michelle Renee reflects on her upbringing and the programming that influences our behaviors and coping mechanisms. Broadcasting from her brother's house near Lake Tahoe, she discusses the importance of unlearning unhealthy patterns that were necessary for survival in a challenging environment. Michelle emphasizes the process of unraveling unhealthy coping mechanisms, comparing it to untangling a ball of yarn. She explores how many of us operate from outdated beliefs that no longer serve us and can even be harmful. To make the topic...
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The Art of Mindful Preparation: Soulful Lessons from a Blind Man
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
In this Soul Wide Open podcast episode, Michelle Renee shares a heartwarming story about her experience caring for an 80-something-year-old blind man named Jack. Despite his blindness, Jack taught Michelle a valuable lesson about serving others with joy and intention. Michelle's act of preparing visually appealing meals for Jack, even though he couldn't see them, brought immense joy to both of them. Michelle reflects on how her caregiving journey, prompted by her daughter's health issues, led her to meet Jack and learn important life lessons from him. This story highlights the profound...
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Am I Just In the Way?: Overcoming Feelings of Displacement and Overwhelm
Soul Wide Open with Michelle Renee
"Am I just in the way?" This question plagued host Michelle Renee for years. It wasn't until she wrote tthese words as a response tto a text tto heer brother thatt sparked her to llook deeply into the root of this response. Seeking self-understanding and unraveling past coping mechanisms are crucial steps in personal growth and healing, as discussed in the podcast episode. Michelle Renee shared her personal experience of realizing how her childhood experiences had shaped her responses to overwhelming situations. By acknowledging the root cause of her reactions, she was able...
info_outlineWe become the thing we tell ourselves we are over and over again.
Sould Wide Open host Michelle Renee discusses the significance of being aware of our negative self-talk and its impact on our behavior and self-perception. She emphasizes how we often internalize negative beliefs and perceptions about ourselves, influenced by past experiences and the opinions of others.
Michelle encourages listeners to reflect on their negative self-talk and identify its origins. She highlights the importance of practicing positive self-talk and being kinder to ourselves, especially during moments of frustration or self-doubt. To shift our self-sabotaging language, we must consciously choose to talk to ourselves in a compassionate and supportive way, rather than engaging in self-criticism and negative reinforcement.
The episode also addresses the common themes of feeling "not enough" or "too much" and how these beliefs shape our self-perception and decisions that shaped our self-identity that were influenced by unique life challenges and traumas. By identifying and challenging these beliefs, practicing self-compassion, and embracing our individuality, we can cultivate a more positive self-perception and behavior.
Episode talking points:
[00:00:59] What we tell ourselves.
[00:07:17] Body shaming and self-acceptance.
[00:12:09] Changing negative self-talk.
Quotes:
"When we tell ourselves the same thing over and over and over, guess what we become? Guess what behavior we end up adopting? We end up adopting those behaviors."
"That's a bunch of crap. That's not true. Someone is going to be so proud of me. This is how I flip the script."
"I am larger than life. I am whole and I am light and I am love and I am divine and I am going to be an amazing blessing to somebody."
Stay Connected:
Visit my website: https://www.Michelle-Renee.com
Say hello on Instagram: @_michellerenee_
Buy Nine Days: https://www.amazon.com/NINE-DAYS-Living-Violent-Trauma/dp/B0C7FRDHXY
Join the healing community: www.facebook.com/groups/soulwideopen/