Childhood Loss, MDMA Therapy & Ayahuasca: A Journey Through Pain to Beauty

Childhood Loss, MDMA Therapy & Ayahuasca: A Journey Through Pain to Beauty

Can pain really become a portal to beauty? What happens when you stop numbing and start feeling everything? In this episode of The Teaching Journeys Podcast, host Dave Roberts sits down with writer and self-healing advocate Alexis Leigh, author of Pain Is a Portal to Beauty — a transformative memoir about grief, authenticity, and the unconventional path to wholeness. Alexis opens up about losing her mother to addiction at age 11, spending decades numbing her pain, and the moment a voice in the woods in 2020 told her, "If you die today, your life will have been a tragedy" — a wake-up call that changed everything. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why conventional wisdom and gratitude practices can actually keep you emotionally stuck • How MDMA therapy and ayahuasca helped Alexis access grief that years of talk therapy couldn't reach • The difference between performative happiness and genuine emotional freedom • How processing childhood trauma reshapes your identity at every life stage • Why codependency may be blocking your ability to love yourself and others fully • What it means to truly surrender — to pain, to healing, and to life itself This is a deeply honest conversation about the courage it takes to feel everything, embrace the shadow side of who we are, and discover the beauty waiting on the other side of pain. Bio and Contact Information Alexis Leigh is a writer and advocate for self-healing through unconventional methods, including psychedelics and deep inner work. With a background in finance and consulting, her personal journey led her away from the corporate world and into a life centered around authenticity and transformation. Pain Is a Portal to Beauty is her first book, a testament to the power of feeling deeply and embracing the unknown." 📖 Pain Is a Portal to Beauty is available everywhere books are sold. 🌐 Connect with Alexis at alexisleigh.com [http://alexisleigh.com] To connect with Dave , go to davidrobertsmsw.com [http://davidrobertsmsw.com]

From Abuse Survivor to Kindness Advocate: Randy McNeely & The Courageous Kindness Shift

What if kindness could literally save a life? In this powerful episode of the Teaching Journeys podcast, host Dave Roberts sits down with Randy McNeely — also known as Captain Kind Man — a survivor of childhood abuse turned passionate advocate for courageous kindness. Randy shares the deeply personal journey that shaped his mission: from surviving multiple forms of abuse and near-suicidal darkness, to becoming a bestselling author, speaker, filmmaker, and founder of the Kindness Giver LLC and The Kindness Factor International. In this episode, you'll discover: • How Randy's traumatic childhood became the foundation for a worldwide kindness movement • The 5-step Kindness Givers Formula you can start using today • The difference between ordinary kindness and courageous kindness — and why it matters • How kindness can bridge divides, heal polarization, and transform organizations • Real stories of how a smile, a hug, or nine simple words saved someone's life • Why love — delivered through kindness — is the keystone of every successful relationship, team, and community Randy's Bio and Contact Information Randy McNeely—Captain Kindman—is a man of faith, husband, father of five, survivor, and passionate advocate for Courageous Kindness. Guided by the belief that we are all children of God, Randy inspires people to live and lead with love in every part of life. Through The Courageous Kindness Shift,™ Randy teaches how to see, think, feel, listen, and respond differently—helping students, educators, and organizations bridge divides, heal polarization, and create cultures of empathy and respect. As founder of The Kindness Giver, LLC, he equips others with the ICA Method™ (Identify, Clarify, Amplify) and The Kindness Giver’s Formula™ to turn kindness into real, sustainable action. Randy is also co-founder of positive film company The Kindness Factor International, producer of For Such a Time as This, co-creator of The Kindness Factor series, and co-host of The Kindness Factor Podcast. Mantra: Love People Motto: You Can’t Fail with Kindness Mission: To inspire and equip others to embrace The Courageous Kindness Shift and transform the world—one act of love-driven kindness at a time. Connect with Randy McNeely: 🌐 captainkindman.com [http://captainkindman.com] 📚 Available on Amazon: The Kindness Givers Formula 2.0 🔗 LinkedIn: Randy McNeely If this episode moved you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it — and leave us a rating or review. Your support makes all the difference. **Teaching Journeys Podcast | Host: Dave Roberts Passing knowledge from one generation to the next — one extraordinary conversation at a time.

Sacred Law vs. Human Law: Understanding Child Loss, Consciousness & Life After Death

What happens when a child's life ends too soon — and what can it teach us about love, consciousness, and what lies beyond death? In this deeply moving episode of the Teaching Journeys Podcast, host Dave Roberts welcomes Katy Gilbertson, founder of Hauora Wellness, for a raw and spiritually rich conversation about child loss, grief, and the survival of consciousness after death. Both Dave and Katy have lived through a parent's worst nightmare — Dave lost his daughter Jeannine to cancer at 18, and Katy lost her son Jaxon to leukemia just before his 10th birthday. Together, they explore the sacred and the human dimensions of these profound losses. In this episode, you'll discover: • The concept of sacred law vs. human law — and why a short life can still be a complete one • How Jaxon and Jeannine demonstrated advanced empathy and spiritual awareness beyond their years • Real accounts of shared-death experiences and signs from the other side • How consciousness survives physical death — and how to stay connected to loved ones who've transitioned • The waves of grief that resurface at unexpected milestones, and how to navigate them • How Katy transformed her experience into Hauora Wellness, guiding high-achieving women beyond burnout into embodied leadership • Why "once you learn how to die, you learn how to live" • This episode is for anyone navigating grief, curious about life after death, or seeking meaning after profound loss. Katy Gilbertson's Bio and Contact Information Katy is the founder of Hauora Wellness, an expert in holistic wellness, embodied leadership, and human potential, guiding high-level women to expand their capacity and step into their next level of life, leadership, and business in a sustainable and deeply aligned way. Her work sits at the intersection of holistic health, nervous system regulation, human potential, identity transformation, energy work, and personal mastery. Blending a holistic and functional medicine lens with embodiment, leadership development, and transformational coaching, Katy guides women to reconnect with the deeper intelligence of their body, energy, and purpose so they can lead from alignment rather than exhaustion. At the heart of her philosophy is Hauora, the interconnected relationship between physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental wellbeing. Her work is deeply shaped by lived experience. After navigating her own health challenges, chronic stress, periods of losing herself, and the profound journey of supporting her son through cancer and loss while continuing to lead in life and business, Katy’s understanding of resilience, regulation, grief, leadership, and human potential transformed entirely. These experiences became the foundation for the work she now shares through transformational immersions, private mentorship, embodied leadership experiences, and teachings devoted to sustainable expansion and self-mastery. Today, Katy supports high-level women, entrepreneurs, and leaders who know they are here for more, helping them move beyond overthinking, dysregulation, and survival-mode patterns so they can access deeper levels of vitality, clarity, creativity, leadership, and fulfillment. Through Hauora Wellness, Katy is building a movement devoted to embodied expansion, sustainable leadership, and helping women fully hold the mission they are here to lead. Connect Instagram: @hauorawellness Facebook: @hauorawellness Website: www.hauorawellness.com [http://www.hauorawellness.com] Email: katy@hauorawellness.com [katy@hauorawellness.com] Subscribe, share, and leave a review — your support makes all the difference.

Can One Partner Save a Marriage? Lee Baucom Says Yes — Here's How

What if you could save your marriage — even if your partner has already given up? In this episode of the Teaching Journeys Podcast, host Dave Roberts sits down with Dr. Lee Baucom, PhD, creator of the globally used Save the Marriage system and host of the Save the Marriage podcast (600+ episodes strong). Lee breaks down why most marriages fail — not from conflict, but from disconnection — and introduces his concept of the "pause button": the moment couples stop investing in their relationship and slowly drift apart. He reveals the three levels of connection (physical, emotional, and spiritual) that every healthy marriage requires, and explains why neglecting even one can quietly erode a relationship over years. You'll also discover: • Why premarital counseling rarely works — and what actually does • How to rebuild intimacy using a team approach, even through trauma, grief, and conflict • Why one motivated partner can shift the entire relationship dynamic (no dragging a reluctant spouse to therapy required) • The chaser-spacer dynamic — and how to invite connection instead of pushing your partner away • How Lee's Unpause app helps couples build new habits of connection daily • Whether your marriage is quietly disconnecting or at a full-blown crisis point, this episode delivers a clear, actionable roadmap for turning things around. Lee’s Bio and Contact Information Lee Baucom, Ph.D., is the creator of the Save The Marriage System, used around the world for over two decades. He is the author of four books on relationship issues and marriage recovery. As a Relationship Coach, Lee works with people around the world to save and restore their intimate relationships, even when a partner has given up. His method proved useful for people, working on their own, to turn their marriages and committed relationships around into loving, thriving, connected relationships. He shares that approach in his System, his writing, and the Save The Marriage Podcast. He has been podcasting since 2013. He is married, with two adult children and two active dogs. Connect with Lee Baucom: 📌 Connect with Lee Baucom: Chronically disconnected → unpauseyourmarriage.com [http://unpauseyourmarriage.com] At a crisis point → savethemarriage.com [http://savethemarriage.com] Save the Marriage Podcast: savethemarriage.com [http://savethemarriage.com] YouTube: Search : Lee Baucom Save the Marriage To connect with Dave, go to davidrobertsmsw.com [http://davidrobertsmsw.com]

Breaking the Cycle: Overcoming Addiction, Abuse & Generational Trauma with Shannan Kym

What does it take to break free from a lifetime of addiction, childhood abuse, and generational trauma? In this powerful episode of the Teaching Journeys podcast, host Dave Roberts sits down with internationally award-winning author, public speaker, and transformational mentor Shannan Kym to share her extraordinary journey from rock bottom to radical freedom. Growing up as the youngest of eight children in a home defined by alcoholism, mental illness, and abuse, Shannan endured unimaginable hardship — only to find herself trapped in a marriage to a narcissist and drinking up to six bottles of wine a day. Her story is raw, honest, and ultimately deeply inspiring. In this episode, you'll discover: •How childhood trauma and generational patterns fuel addiction — and how to break the cycle • What hitting rock bottom really looks like and the moment Shannan finally surrendered • Why traditional therapy and AA didn't work for her — and what did • The awakening that led to nearly 7 years of sobriety •How writing her award-winning book How in the Hell Did I Get Here? changed everything •The 10 Pathways to Self-Discovery . · •How she helps women ages 40–60 reclaim their identity, rebuild their lives, and step into their greatness Shannan's Bio and Contact Information SHANNAN KYM grew up in a family where addiction, violence, and extreme dysfunction were normalized. Robbed of her childhood, she was forced to grow up at a very young age. After dropping out of high school and leaving her family, she was filled with self-loathing and shame. Suppressing her feelings, Shannan became an alcoholic. For years, she abused her body, gained excessive weight, and let herself be taken advantage of by toxic people, including marrying a narcissist. She experienced career highs and lows and suffered the loss of a child. Eventually, Shannan hit rock bottom; but on August 17, 2019, everything changed. That day, Shannan made up her mind to stop letting addiction control her life. She also made a decision to get real, let go of her past hurts, embrace forgiveness, and focus on living each day with gratitude, purpose, light, and love. Connect with Shannan Kym at shannankym.com [http://shannankym.com] or find her on all social platforms @shannankym. To connect with Dave , go to davidrobertsmsw.com [http://davidrobertsmsw.com]