What if the real block isn’t leaving your comfort zone, but believing you have one in the first place? We explore a gentler, more powerful approach to growth: living as expansion. Instead of muscling through fear, we look at how language, identity, and energy can shift the way you move through your day so progress feels safer, more aligned, and actually sustainable.

I share how a single phrase - “stepping outside my comfort zone” - felt small and constricting, and how replacing it with “I’m expanding into this” changed my choices and calmed my nervous system. We unpack the psychology behind comfort zones, where it helps and where it hardens into a limiting identity. You’ll hear a simple metaphor for dissolving edges without burnout, and why the body responds differently when you frame growth as expansion rather than threat.

We also dig into practical tools you can use right away: micro expansions that compound into big shifts, a body check to discern danger vs. expansion, and a morning question that anchors you in your highest self. I walk through my “alter ego” practice and how living in her for one decision can change your frequency, your tone, and your outcomes. The aim is less forcing, more allowing; less proving, more becoming.

If this conversation lands for you, share it with someone who’s ready to stop shrinking and start widening the perimeter of who they already are. Subscribe, leave a review to help others find the show, and tell me: what imagined boundary will you dissolve today?

🦋 Would you like help walking through these steps, or with accountability, or deeper dives into these topics? Interested in learning more about working 1:1 with me to transform your life in your rediscovery? Schedule a free Discovery call with me here: https://stan.store/edgeofreal

🎧 Follow Edge of Real on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. And share this episode with a friend who you would like to help.

✨ Find me on Instagram @edgeofrealpodcast

📌 Leave a review, then email us a screenshot at edgeofrealpodcast@gmail.com and we will send you a beautiful free digital journal to help you work through some of your thoughts and get some clarity about what you truly want out of your life.

📹 Photo by Rob Merritt – used with permission.

🎵 Theme Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko @vladest_art — Home

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: ...

We explore how self-trust erodes through small betrayals, then rebuild it through nervous system regulation, compassionate reframes, and seven practical steps that create proof you can rely on yourself.

• how self-trust erodes through people-pleasing and overthinking
• signals of lost self-trust such as overexplaining and decision paralysis
• energy, alignment, and why doubt repels what you want
• fear as self-protection and walking with it anyway
• regulating the nervous system to access intuition
• seven steps to rebuild self-trust with micropromises and action
• journal prompts to anchor insight into daily life

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend. Also, feel free to leave me a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help me reach more women who could use this kind of message and support.

If you’ve been listening and thinking, yes, that is what I need, I’d love to invite you to book a free discovery call with me through the link below.

🦋 Would you like help walking through these steps, or with accountability, or deeper dives into these topics? Interested in learning more about working 1:1 with me to transform your life in your rediscovery? Schedule a free Discovery call with me here: https://stan.store/edgeofreal

🎧 Follow Edge of Real on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. And share this episode with a friend who you would like to help.

✨ Find me on Instagram @edgeofrealpodcast

📌 Leave a review, then email us a screenshot at edgeofrealpodcast@gmail.com and we will send you a beautiful free digital journal to help you work through some of your thoughts and get some clarity about what you truly want out of your life.

📹 Photo by Rob Merritt – used with permission.

🎵 Theme Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko @vladest_art — Home

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: ...

We take a hard, honest look at shame - the kind that tells you you’re the problem - and trade the old scripts for a new practice of self-return. Along the way, we unpack how culture taught many midlife women to internalize blame, explore why younger stories are reframing shame as something external, and draw strength from surprising places: the action-packed K‑pop Demon Hunters with a deeper message and Keely Jones’s refusal to carry someone else’s violation in Ted Lasso.

I share the language that helped me separate identity from behavior, and a personal moment of catching myself mid‑edit—tempted to polish away my pauses—then choosing to leave them in as an act of unshaming. From there, we get practical with four simple tools you can use today: name the shame and bring it into the light, regulate your nervous system with 4‑7‑8 breathing, reframe with compassion by asking what you needed back then, and take one inspired action that tells your brain it’s safe to be seen. We close with a journal prompt to help you hand back what never belonged to you and a reminder that freedom isn’t earned; it’s remembered.

If you’ve been shrinking, apologizing, or second‑guessing your voice, this conversation is a gentle push toward clarity, confidence, and self-acceptance. Listen for relatable stories, actionable steps, and a steady invitation to live unashamed—without waiting for permission. If this resonates, share it with a friend who’s ready to set down her shame, subscribe for future episodes, and leave a review to help more women find their way back to themselves.

🦋 Would you like help walking through these steps, or with accountability, or deeper dives into these topics? Interested in learning more about working 1:1 with me to transform your life in your rediscovery? Schedule a free Discovery call with me here: https://stan.store/edgeofreal

🎧 Follow Edge of Real on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. And share this episode with a friend who you would like to help.

✨ Find me on Instagram @edgeofrealpodcast

📌 Leave a review, then email us a screenshot at edgeofrealpodcast@gmail.com and we will send you a beautiful free digital journal to help you work through some of your thoughts and get some clarity about what you truly want out of your life.

📹 Photo by Rob Merritt – used with permission.

🎵 Theme Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko @vladest_art — Home

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: ...