How to Connect with Your Children: The Surprising Science of “Good Enough” Parenting

47. Bridge Souls: One Woman's Miraculous Adoption Journey (Pt. 2 of 2)

What does it look like when divine timing meets radical courage? In Part 2, holistic coach Cherie Burton shares the miraculous stories behind adopting her two youngest children — a son she saw in a spiritual vision years before he arrived, and a daughter who came through six court hearings, a California foster system, and a stranger's recurring dream. Plus rapid fire questions! Meet Cherie Burton: Mother of six and female empowerment coach with 20+ years of experience. Certified holistic practitioner and emotional breakthrough trainer, specializing in Aroma Alchemy. Leads retreats worldwide and runs an international wellness business. (Missed Part 1? Start there [https://sendymom.com/2026/05/30/the-art-of-emotional-alchemy-4-courageous-lessons-from-cherie-burton-on-healing-your-shadows-your-lineage-and-your-life/] for shadow work, alchemy & the dark night of the soul.) Takeaways • Adoptees are "bridge souls" who choose their families to heal lineage wounds • Divine timing rarely looks like what we expect — trust the process • Birth mothers carry deep shame that needs compassion, not judgment • The primal wound in adoptees is real and worth understanding • We are never fully healed — just learning to love exactly where we are • The most courageous thing is sometimes to wait, stay open, and trust • Connection is the foundation of all healing work Chapters 00:00 Cherie's Adoption Journey 00:15:00 The Importance of Connection 00:17:04 Rapid Fire Questions Resources found here: The Art of Emotional Alchemy: 4 Courageous Lessons from Cherie Burton on Healing Your Shadows, Your Lineage, and Your Life [https://sendymom.com/2026/05/30/the-art-of-emotional-alchemy-4-courageous-lessons-from-cherie-burton-on-healing-your-shadows-your-lineage-and-your-life/] If you loved this episode, try: 33. The Recipe for Resilience: Illness, Influence, and Inspiration [https://sendymom.com/2025/11/10/the-recipe-for-resilience-illness-influence-and-inspiration/] 38. Digital Detox and Upload Humanity with Amy Antonelli of HXP [https://sendymom.com/2026/02/02/digital-detox-and-upload-humanity-with-amy-antonelli-of-hxp/] 1. Radical Acceptance with Miriam Wood [https://sendymom.com/2024/09/08/radical-acceptance-with-miriam/] Coaching & Subscribe: 👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com [http://sendymom.com] 👉 Email Becky: becky@sendymom.com [becky@sendymom.com] If you want help to be more sendy, click here [https://beckybcoaching.com/] If you're feeling Sendy and would like to be a guest on the show, please fill out this form [https://forms.gle/BSyr8JJZM828vzqH7]

46. The Dark Night of the Soul: A Guide to Spiritual Awakening and Transformation (Pt. 1 of 2)

What if your darkest shadows held your greatest wisdom? Holistic coach Cherie Burton joins Becky to explore shadow work, emotional alchemy, and breaking generational trauma cycles—sharing her profound journey through loss, a seven-year dark night of the soul, and two miraculous adoptions. Meet Cherie Burton Mother of six and female empowerment coach with 20+ years of experience in mind-body science, holistic emotional healing, philosophy, and depth psychology. Certified holistic practitioner and emotional breakthrough trainer. Since 2008, specializing in Aroma Alchemy—mind/heart/soul coherence through breathwork, anointing, and essential oils. Leads retreats worldwide. Takeaways * Shadow work means embracing your darkness, not eliminating it * Alchemy transmutes emotional pain into wisdom—not suppression * Feel emotions fully (even 90 seconds) to prevent physical illness * A dark night of the soul is a spiritual initiation, not a breakdown * Surrender is letting go of what you know so your body can teach you * Adoptees are "bridge souls" healing family lineage wounds * Inner authority activates when you admit "I don't know" * Healing yourself heals your entire lineage—past and future Chapters 00:00 Introducing Cherie Burton: Female Empowerment Coach 05:45 When You Can Change The Family Dynamic 12:32 Pivoting from Traditional Methods for Mental Health Help 15:11 Epigenetics and Alchemy Explained 21:06 Shadow Work Through Alchemy 29:33 Real Experience with Ayahuasca 35:09 The Journey of Self-Discovery 40:33 Practical Ways to Process Emotion 42:03 The Dark Night Of The Soul Resources found here: The Art of Emotional Alchemy: 4 Courageous Lessons from Cherie Burton on Healing Your Shadows, Your Lineage, and Your Life [https://sendymom.com/2026/05/30/the-art-of-emotional-alchemy-4-courageous-lessons-from-cherie-burton-on-healing-your-shadows-your-lineage-and-your-life/] If you loved this episode, try: 33. The Recipe for Resilience: Illness, Influence, and Inspiration [https://sendymom.com/2025/11/10/the-recipe-for-resilience-illness-influence-and-inspiration/] 38. Digital Detox and Upload Humanity with Amy Antonelli of HXP [https://sendymom.com/2026/02/02/digital-detox-and-upload-humanity-with-amy-antonelli-of-hxp/] 1. Radical Acceptance with Miriam Wood [https://sendymom.com/] Coaching & Subscribe: 👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com [http://sendymom.com] 👉 Email Becky: becky@sendymom.com [becky@sendymom.com] If you want help to be more sendy, click here [https://beckybcoaching.com/] If you're feeling Sendy and would like to be a guest on the show, please fill out this form [https://forms.gle/BSyr8JJZM828vzqH7]

45. Tension, Release, and the Beautiful Mess of a Courageous Life — Christie Skousen Part 2

What happens when a woman built for intensity has no outlet for it? For Christie Skousen, the answer was redirecting all of it toward her five-month-old — and quickly realizing that wasn't going to work. Part 2 picks up with Christie rebuilding: starting the Peery Piano Academy from scratch, writing a curriculum for the San Francisco Conservatory prep program, and slowly figuring out who she was beyond the piano. But this half of the conversation goes somewhere deeper. Christie talks about the cycles she's noticed throughout her life — expansion and contraction, like musical phrasing — and how the blow-ups she never would have chosen (her parents' divorce at 23, losing her older brother to colon cancer at 48, her own 26-year marriage ending) have each broken her open into something bigger. She shares what she's learned about separating her identity from her children's outcomes, why living abroad changed everything about how she parents, and where she's headed next now that her youngest is off to Sydney for a year abroad. Rapid fire answers, a beautiful musical analogy for life that will stay with you, and Christie's honest, grounded take on doing divorce well — Part 2 is the kind of conversation you want to go on forever. Meet Christie Skousen, Founder of the Peery Piano Academy and author of the Peery Method. Trained under Dr. Irene Peery-Fox, Dmitri Boshkirov, and Leon Fleisher at Peabody. An international competition winner and soloist, her students have gone on to Harvard, Yale, Juilliard, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and more. Takeaways: * Know where your intensity is going. * Life has phrasing, just like music. * Big blow-ups break you open. * Separate your identity from your kids' outcomes. * Travel expands your world — and your parenting. Chapters: 00:00 Teaching as a Path to Independence 03:43 Parenting with Intensity and Balance 05:07 Make Your Money Work For You 07:06 The Peery Method is Born 09:26 Writing New Chapters in Motherhood 11:07 Navigating Life's Expansions and Contractions 13:44 The Impact of Divorce on Personal Growth 18:06 Embracing Change and New Beginnings 19:02 Parenting Young Adults 25:48 How Living Abroad Broadens Your Horizon 27:57 Rapid Fire Questions Resources: How to Survive Life's Blow-Ups: Lessons from a World-Class Pianist and Mom [https://sendymom.com/2026/05/16/how-to-survive-lifes-blow-ups-lessons-from-a-world-class-pianist-and-mom/] If You Loved This Episode, Try: * 12. Music, Disability Parenting, and Playing for the Love of It [https://sendymom.com/2025/01/03/the-performance-technique-that-will-change-your-life-with-christie-sowby/] * 29. How to Push Past Limits and Find Your "Current Perfect" [https://sendymom.com/2025/09/15/how-to-push-past-limits-and-find-your-current-perfect/] * 37. Resilient Parenting, Risk-Taking, and Medical Aesthetics Done Right [https://sendymom.com/2026/01/19/resilient-parenting-risk-taking-and-medical-aesthetics-done-right/] Subscribe & Connect: 👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com [http://sendymom.com] 👉 Email Becky: becky@sendymom.com [becky@sendymom.com]  Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar [https://calendly.com/becky-sendymom/30min]

45. Tension, Release, and the Beautiful Mess of a Courageous Life — Christie Skousen Part 1

Christie Skousen grew up in a household where practicing piano two hours a day was as non-negotiable as brushing your teeth — the daughter of the legendary Irene Peery Fox, who was performing at Carnegie Hall while pregnant with Christie. By age nine, Christie was teaching piano to pay her own way. By eighteen, she was on her own. And by the time she walked into Leon Fleischer's studio at Peabody as the only freshman he admitted that year, she had already learned the lesson that would define her life: if you do the work, you can do whatever. In Part 1, Becky and Christie dig into what it was really like to grow up inside competitive classical piano — the strategy, the brutality, the subjective judging, and the complicated relationship between talent, hard work, and identity. Christie gets refreshingly honest about how she survived competitions not by leading with her love of music, but by leading with her competitive fire. She shares what she'd tell any kid whose heart is in music but who keeps walking away from competitions empty-handed. And she lays out the philosophy behind the Peery Method — the step-by-step system that has since taken her students to Juilliard, Eastman, and conservatories around the world. Also: she bought a cockatoo in junior high with her own money. Meet Christie Skousen, Founder of the Peery Piano Academy and author of the Peery Method. Trained under Dr. Irene Peery-Fox, Dmitri Boshkirov, and Leon Fleisher at Peabody. An international competition winner and soloist, her students have gone on to Harvard, Yale, Juilliard, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and more. Key Takeaways: * Process beats destination — always * Competitiveness is a tool, not a character flaw * Let your kids own their stuff * The journey IS the reward * Don't quit Chapters: 00:00 Meet Christie 01:13 The Peery Music Academy 03:04 What? Kids Can Pay For School? 05:19 How Many Kids Buy a Cockatoo for a Pet? 08:10 High-Capacity Parenting with Irene Peery Fox 11:55 Navigating Competitive Classical Piano  19:03 Performance Anxiety and Personal Growth 25:40 The Toll of Exactness 34:43 The Long Game of Music Education Resources: Peery Piano Academy [https://peerypiano.academy/] How to Survive Life's Blow-Ups: Lessons from a World-Class Pianist and Mom [https://sendymom.com/2026/05/16/how-to-survive-lifes-blow-ups-lessons-from-a-world-class-pianist-and-mom/] If You Loved This Episode, Try: * 12. Music, Disability Parenting, and Playing for the Love of It [https://sendymom.com/2025/01/03/the-performance-technique-that-will-change-your-life-with-christie-sowby/] * 29. How to Push Past Limits and Find Your "Current Perfect" [https://sendymom.com/2025/09/15/how-to-push-past-limits-and-find-your-current-perfect/] * 37. Resilient Parenting, Risk-Taking, and Medical Aesthetics Done Right [https://sendymom.com/2026/01/19/resilient-parenting-risk-taking-and-medical-aesthetics-done-right/] Subscribe & Connect: 👉 Subscribe: sendymom.com [http://sendymom.com] 👉 Email Becky: becky@sendymom.com [becky@sendymom.com]  Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar [https://calendly.com/becky-sendymom/30min]

From Nepal at 15 to Launching An Art Business: Leslie Morley on Faith, Fear, and Creative Calling

At fifteen, Leslie Morley boarded a plane to Nepal alone. She lived in a rural village, served in an orphanage, and came home with a worldview she’s still unpacking. But the bravest thing she’s ever done wasn’t Nepal—or starting her art business painting Heavenly Mother. The bravest thing is staying: showing up for her kids, her faith, her creativity, and the work of being known. In this episode, artist Leslie Morley joins Becky to talk about faith and courage, creative motherhood, and how to raise brave kids without losing connection. They explore imposter syndrome, gratitude vs. guilt, and what it means to live “alive and awake in Christ.” This conversation weaves together Latter-day Saint faith, sacred art, and the daily courage it takes to stay connected to God, your family, your community, and yourself. If you’ve ever felt afraid to share your gifts, unsure in motherhood, or disconnected from your faith, this episode will ground and encourage you. Meet My Guest: Leslie Morley is a Christian artist known for paintings of the Divine Family—Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother, and Jesus Christ. She studied art at Southern Utah University and art history in Italy. Her work invites a deeper relationship with God through sacred art. A mother of two, Leslie believes creativity is a form of testimony: you are known, you are held, and heaven is closer than you think. Find her at LeslieMorley.com [http://LeslieMorley.com] and @lesliemorleyarts. Key Takeaways: • How to raise brave, resilient kids through daily connection • Faith over fear: turning belief into action • Creativity as grounding for overwhelmed moms • Gratitude vs. guilt and overcoming comparison • Imposter syndrome in motherhood and creative work • Emotional vulnerability as real courage • Connecting with God, family, self, and community • Using your gifts without fear Chapters: 00:00 Who is Leslie Morley? 04:40 On Being an Imposter 09:06 Lessons from India: Gratitude and Humility 15:28 Oregon Nomads: A Year of Free Range Learning 16:57 Connecting with Nature as a Grounding Force 23:06 Building Love in Your Family 25:11 Connecting with Children 29:12 Midway 30:39 Connecting with Yourself through Creating 34:14 Out From the Bushel Blog 36:22 Family Mottos 38:23 Leslie Morley Art 45:42 Mosaic of Christ 47:08 Savoring Moments of Motherhood 49:38 Rapid Fire Questions Resources: The Four Connections That Make a Life Feel Whole [https://sendymom.com/2026/04/25/the-four-connections-that-make-a-life-feel-whole/] Subscribe & Connect: 👉 sendymom.com [http://sendymom.com] 👉 becky@sendymom.com [becky@sendymom.com] Becky’s Free Coaching Calendar [https://calendly.com/becky-sendymom/30min] If you loved this episode, try: How To Not Die in the Wilderness and Learning to Smell the Daisies [https://sendymom.com/2025/03/03/how-to-not-die-in-the-wilderness/] How to Connect with Your Children: The Science of “Good Enough” Parenting [https://sendymom.com/2026/03/28/how-to-connect-with-your-children-the-surprising-science-of-good-enough-parenting/] Art After Motherhood: Creating Without Guilt [https://sendymom.com/2025/04/28/balancing-your-creative-genius-with-motherhood-without-the-guilt-art-after-motherhood/]