Journey To The Soul

What If Surrender Is The Bravest Plan?

Control can feel like safety until life proves you were never really in charge. I’m recording from Dubai after a full, fast season, and I wanted to share the thread I keep seeing in my own life and in so many people around me: we say we trust God, but we still grip the outcome with white knuckles, especially when things start changing. I open up about months of right-leg pain that forced me to slow down, cancel plans, and stop looking outside myself for constant answers. When tests came back “fine,” the deeper work began. That pain turned into a spiritual practice that showed me exactly where fear lives in my body, how my mind builds worst-case stories, and how shifting my focus changes my whole experience. I also share what happened on a trip through India, Singapore, and Bali, when discomfort brought me back to prayer in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time. Then I take you to an Easter conversation with someone living with a rare stage four breast cancer diagnosis. We talk about fear, suffering, bravery, and the choice we still have inside circumstances we cannot control: how we want to experience this moment. If you’re navigating change, chronic stress, illness, or uncertainty, this will meet you where you are. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs this, and leave a review telling me where you’re ready to loosen the reins. Subscribe to my Newsletter HERE [https://rootedandradiant.substack.com/] Follow me on Instagram HERE [https://www.instagram.com/jacendamarie/]

When You Go First, Everything Moves

People are watching us more than we realize and not in a paranoid way, in a human way. The tone we use, the promises we keep, and the kindness we show in small moments quietly teaches others what is safe, what is possible, and what “leadership” looks like. I talk through a simple but challenging idea: we are always leading someone, even if we do not have a title, a platform, or a plan. From there, I dig into the qualities that make leadership feel clean and real: humility instead of ego, compassion instead of control, and integrity that shows up when it would be easier to disappear. I reflect on why people trust actions more than words, and why doing what you say you will do is one of the most underrated forms of authentic leadership and personal growth. I also share a story from my week when my husband and I decided to help a friend, and then watched a wave of unexpected support show up around her. It opened a bigger conversation about the energy of giving, the frequency we create when we serve others, and an abundance mindset that treats money as energy meant to move and circulate rather than stagnate in fear. A big lesson surprised me: receiving matters too. Letting others help can multiply impact and create real community support. If you have been feeling called to go first, to lead with service, or to think more deeply about the legacy you are building, this one will meet you where you are. Subscribe for more, share this with someone who leads quietly, and leave a review if it resonates. What kind of leader do you want to be? Subscribe to my Newsletter HERE [https://rootedandradiant.substack.com/] Follow me on Instagram HERE [https://www.instagram.com/jacendamarie/]

Slowly Awakening to the Year Ahead

Spring doesn’t ask you to hustle. It asks you to wake up. After a few quiet weeks and time spent traveling through Asia, we come home to a different pace and a different question: how do we want to move through 2026? As the cherry blossoms arrive and the spring equinox gets closer, we reflect on seasonal living and the way nature models renewal without forcing it. If you’ve been feeling the collective intensity, the constant stream of world events, or a low hum of unease in your body, this is a gentle place to land. We share four simple practices we’re leaning on to create more ease and softness: nervous system regulation, soft intentions instead of rigid goals, simplifying what no longer fits, and inviting more pleasure into everyday life. We talk about mindfulness in practical terms, like not rushing, taking short pauses between tasks, and using your senses to come back to the present moment. We also touch on Robin Sharma’s “3S focus” from The Wealth Money Can’t Buy: silence, stillness, and solitude and why these daily moments can help you feel safer, calmer, and more connected.  If you’re craving slow living, intentional self care, and a healthier relationship with goal setting and productivity, this conversation offers a clear, realistic reset. Listen, then share it with a friend who needs a softer spring, and don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review so more people can find Journey to the Soul. Book mentioned in this episode: The Wealth Money Can’t Buy by Robin Sharma [https://a.co/d/023rJEIr] Subscribe to my Newsletter HERE [https://rootedandradiant.substack.com/] Follow me on Instagram HERE [https://www.instagram.com/jacendamarie/]

Choosing Ease in a Hustle-Driven World

What if the strongest way to begin the year is the softest? We open with a candid look at why so many of us default to urgency, perfection, and the myth that struggle is proof of worth. Then we pivot toward a calmer blueprint: choosing ease, listening to the body’s cues, and honoring winter as a season for roots rather than blooms. Together we unpack how hustle culture quietly shapes identity, especially for women juggling shifting expectations at home and at work. I share the difference between living mostly in doing mode and leading with being: how masculine energy brings structure and momentum, and how feminine energy restores intuition, receptivity, and magnetism. This isn’t about abandoning goals. It’s about refusing to trade health, relationships, and presence for a finish line that keeps moving. Practical ideas surface throughout: one easeful choice each morning, simpler priorities, generous buffers, movement that nourishes, and white space that protects creativity. As the year begins, we invite a slower start—less proving, more trusting. Nature is sleeping; your plans can, too, without losing power. When energy rises later, you’ll move with clarity because you’re resourced, not running on fumes. If you’ve carried a hard shell to survive criticism or pressure, this is your permission to set it down, layer by layer. Softness is not fragility. Softness is strategy. If that resonates, press play, breathe, and let this be your gentle reset. If the conversation supports you, subscribe, share with a friend who needs permission to slow down, and leave a review to help others find the show. Subscribe to my Newsletter HERE [https://rootedandradiant.substack.com/] Follow me on Instagram HERE [https://www.instagram.com/jacendamarie/]

Psychedelics and the Work of Healing

The conversation starts with a simple truth: psychedelics can open the door, but they don’t walk you through it. We trace these powerful tools from ancient ceremonies to modern clinics, explaining what they are, how they affect the mind, and why they’re gaining traction for depression, PTSD, anxiety, addiction, and eating disorders. Along the way, we ground the promise in nuance—exploring set, setting, and integration—so the story is about real change, not magic fixes. I share candid experiences with DMT, ketamine, and a recent mushroom journey—what each revealed, what they didn’t, and how the lasting growth came from the work that followed. We talk practical benefits like emotional processing, perspective shifts, and profound connection, and we balance them with the risks: intensity, resurfaced trauma, and the danger of outsourcing your power to a single moment. You’ll hear why a solid support team matters—therapists, clinicians, or guides—and how to translate big insights into small daily actions. Most importantly, we honor choice. Some people need a strong catalyst. Others thrive with gentler paths like trauma-informed therapy, somatic practices, mindfulness, and patient habit change. Both routes can be transformative when paired with responsibility and care. If you’re curious about psychedelics or rethinking your healing path, you’ll leave with a clearer map, practical tools, and permission to choose what truly fits your life. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who might need it, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your reflections shape future episodes. Subscribe to my Newsletter HERE [https://rootedandradiant.substack.com/] Follow me on Instagram HERE [https://www.instagram.com/jacendamarie/]