From Interruption to Inner Flow: How to Use Play As a Path to Wholeness w/ Alana Shaw
Release Date: 06/10/2025
Your Creativity Isn't Dead...Here's How to Revive It w/ Laurie Shiers
Be. Play. Love.
In a world that worships productivity, we’ve traded our inner spark for efficiency and completely lost the creativity that’s vital to flow. For many of us, this disconnection with our creativity goes back to childhood. This is where we were taught not to be weird. Where we were trained to do things in one specific way, and forced to correct ourselves when we didn’t. For years, we’ve heard negative things that have shaped how we feel about our creativity, so no wonder we’ve suppressed it. But without play, coloring outside the lines, and trusting the parts of ourselves that don’t...
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How to Release the Old to Make Room for What’s Next
Be. Play. Love.
You’re standing in front of a mess…clothes, memories, identities…scattered on the floor. A rod gives out, a shelf falls, or maybe your inner structure does. It looks like chaos, but it might just be intuition telling you: it’s time to release the weight, it’s time to let go. Whether it’s a closet full of old identities, a childhood belief you’ve outgrown, or a lingering fear that you’re still “too much,” life finds ways to show us what no longer fits. But what if that collapse isn’t a failure but an invitation to release, integrate, and reclaim ourselves? It’s a shift...
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From Interruption to Inner Flow: How to Use Play As a Path to Wholeness w/ Alana Shaw
Be. Play. Love.
Creativity isn’t just a skill, it’s a lifeline in a play-deprived society. When young people feel unseen, unheard, and unwelcome, they shut down. Their development gets interrupted. Their story gets cut short. But give them the joy of movement, and a place to express their creativity, and something transformational happens. They come alive. Not because someone told them what to say or how to be, but because someone finally asked: Who are you? And what’s inside you, waiting to be expressed? In this episode, we explore what happens when we stop trying to “fix” kids and instead create...
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Embodied Power: How to Stop Running From Your Emotions w/ Julie Colwell
Be. Play. Love.
The power-over / power-under / power-with dynamic isn’t just something we have with other people, it often resides inside us. When we override our emotions, suppress our sensations, and try to outmaneuver our discomfort, we manifest that dynamic. We see it when we push past our sadness, armor over vulnerability, or try to exert power in ways that are loud and forceful instead of connected and quiet. Maybe it’s thinking we need to toughen up and act like a badass in reaction to our sadness. That’s what we think being powerful looks like. But what if the...
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When Love & Beliefs Collide: Repairing or Releasing a Friendship
Be. Play. Love.
Here’s an uncomfortable or even painful experience many people are having right now. Losing a friendship over differing political views or fundamental values. It hurts…but what if it’s also a window into something deeper? In today’s cultural climate, the divide between people often goes far beyond a simple disagreement or differing opinions. It can reveal a far deeper truth: when values clash, friendships can break. But what does that rupture reveal about how we relate, how we build trust, and how we stay open in moments that hurt? Most of us are taught to manage difficult emotions by...
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The Fear-Driven Urge to Fix and How to Get Past It
Be. Play. Love.
Sometimes, the danger isn’t real, but our bodies still act like it is. You’re stuck in traffic, someone you love is upset, or a friend doesn’t text back, and suddenly, you’re spiraling. Your heart races, your thoughts scramble, and before you know it, you’re either fixing, fleeing, or shutting down. What’s happening? In a world that constantly pushes us to stay in control, we forget how to stay connected, to ourselves, to others, and to the moment. But our bodies remember. They hold wisdom, intuition, and the capacity to guide us, if we’re willing to...
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Psychedelic Presence: How to Heal the Places Words Can’t Reach
Be. Play. Love.
There are many ways we try to heal. Therapy, meditation, breathwork, movement, and mindset work - just to name a few. These paths are powerful, transformative, and often life-changing. But sometimes, despite all the tools and effort, there are places within us that remain untouched, places our intellect can’t quite reach. We’re exploring one such threshold, where healing stops being something we do and becomes something that happens to us at a cellular level. Where transformation drops from the head into the body through the quiet, mystical intelligence of mushrooms. Journeying...
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From Defensiveness to Discovery: How to Stop Assuming the Worst
Be. Play. Love.
We all do it. When there’s silence, ambiguity, or the absence of clear feedback, we fill in the blanks with stories. But here’s the problem: our minds don’t reach for generous interpretations. They default to criticism, fear, and doubt. Whether it’s giving a talk, navigating a friendship, or reflecting on ourselves, we often assume the worst, even when reality is far more kind. Evolutionary survival instincts, societal conditioning, and inner critics keep us stuck in fear-based thinking. What if there was a powerful alternative (spoiler alert, there is!) - reconnecting to the...
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How to Reclaim Creativity in a World Obsessed with Productivity
Be. Play. Love.
In our world, productivity and creativity occupy two different buckets. The former is functional, necessary, and purposeful. The latter is frivolous, chaotic, and irresponsible. It should be put on the back burner so that we can focus on “more important things.” As a result, creative expression ends up as an afterthought, something we can only do after the real work is done. The problem is: so many of us end up feeling disconnected from our creativity, cut off from a vital resource for resonance. What if instead of putting off creativity for later, we could integrate it into...
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Working on Something New? Don’t Bottle Fear In, Blurt It Out w/ Naz Perez
Be. Play. Love.
Something most people underestimate about having a big vision is the process of bringing other people on board. Whether it’s an investment partner or a strategic collaborator, we’re required to communicate what we see, open ourselves up to their opinions, and invite them to join us on a journey to an uncharted territory. It’s a vulnerable place, so of course, old fears, old stories, and upper limits will come up. How do we get them to trust us and see what we see? How do we silence those old stories from past experiences? For most change-makers dealing with the...
info_outlineCreativity isn’t just a skill, it’s a lifeline in a play-deprived society.
When young people feel unseen, unheard, and unwelcome, they shut down. Their development gets interrupted. Their story gets cut short.
But give them the joy of movement, and a place to express their creativity, and something transformational happens. They come alive.
Not because someone told them what to say or how to be, but because someone finally asked: Who are you? And what’s inside you, waiting to be expressed?
In this episode, we explore what happens when we stop trying to “fix” kids and instead create the conditions for them to be fully seen, felt, and valued. We look at how creativity, play, and radical presence can disrupt cycles of invisibility and disconnection, not just for youth, but for adults too.
We’re joined by Alana Shaw, founder of Turning the Wheel, a national nonprofit that brings creative expression to underserved youth across the country. Her work restores flow, it’s not just about performance, but a return to inner wholeness. How does the power of play translate into healing? How do we reclaim our value and heal our inner child?
In this conversation, Alana shares what happens when we invite kids to lead with their play and creativity, and how adults can grow self-love, regulate emotion, and begin reweaving the threads of their own stories.
Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
Creativity as medicine
What if expression, not explanation, is what really heals us? How can movement and play reach the parts of us that words can’t?
The power of being seen
So many of us carry the wound of invisibility. What shifts when someone meets you with full-bodied presence and says, “You matter. I see you.”?
How to love yourself for real
Self-love isn’t just a concept. It can be a practice we return to daily. How do we do this with more ease and joy?
Growing wholeness in others (and ourselves)
Healing isn’t about fixing what’s broken, but about restoring the flow from within. How do we cultivate environments where people feel free to unfold?
Guest Bio
Alana Shaw is the founder and executive director of Turning the Wheel. She is an inspiring and empowering speaker, teacher, and guide. Alana has facilitated joyful and healing movement events in cities in the US and Canada for over 30 years. Her dynamic and energetic presentation style is both humorous and transforming, and consistently positive and uplifting for her audiences. She holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Colorado with a thesis on healing and reintegration through creative expression. Alana's books, "Dancing Our Way Home" and "The Body Now" catalyze her mission to inspire a new paradigm for inclusiveness, collaboration, and community engagement. Both books are available on Amazon. She is also a certified Hendricks Body/Mind Vibrance Coach. https://www.turningthewheel.org/.
About Your Hosts
Katie Hendricks, Ph.D., BC-DMT, is a pioneer in body intelligence and conscious loving with over 40 years of experience. Known internationally as a presenter and seminar leader, she focuses on authenticity, responsibility, and appreciation in conscious living. She co-authored 12 books, including best-sellers Conscious Loving and Conscious Loving Ever After and she has appeared on over 500 radio and TV programs.
Sophie Chiche is a seasoned coach and consultant who has worked with thousands of individuals and teams globally. With a focus on helping people live fully expressed lives, she guides clients and facilitates group sessions to remove obstacles and design meaningful lives. Sophie has developed unique methods, mindset shifts, and healing modalities to create lasting change.
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