Today on Anchored By the Podcast, I’m joined by Mary Bowden—dance educator, advocate, and the Executive Director and Founder of Dance Awareness: No Child Exploited.

Mary is also the founder of Soul to Sole Choreography and the author of Dance is Prayer in Motion, and this conversation is one every parent, caregiver, aunt, uncle, grandparent, and educator needs to hear.

We talk honestly about the growing trend of hyper sexualized children’s dance—why it’s not just a “dance issue,” but a mental health and public health issue. Mary explains how exposing children to adult sexuality before their brains and psychology are developmentally ready causes real trauma, confusion, and long-term harm.

As someone who danced as a child, I deeply resonated with Mary’s heart for healthy, age-appropriate movement—dance that integrates mind, body, and spirit and allows children to remain children.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The difference between healthy dance vs. harmful dance
• How culture, media, and competition have normalized inappropriate movement for kids
• Why adults must reclaim their role as the protective factor for children
• The connection between hyper sexualization and pornography culture
• Practical steps caregivers can take right now to protect and advocate for children
• Free tools, resources, and action steps available through Dance Awareness

Mary also shares the powerful moment that confirmed why this work matters—hearing from a young woman who didn’t realize the harm she experienced as a child until adulthood, and how it impacted her mental health and sense of self.

This episode is about awareness—but also hope. There are healthy dance studios. There are better options. And there are ways we can speak up respectfully, educate others, and protect the innocence and dignity of children.

Bio:

Dance educator and author Mary Bawden received a BA in modern dance from the University of California Riverside, a MA in worship (emphasis in dance) from Hope International University in Fullerton CA, and a California secondary teaching credential. Mary began choreographing dance within church services in 1994. In 2003, she founded Soul to Sole Choreography and released a book, Dance is Prayer in Motion, in 2016. Several years ago, Mary began to notice the culture around children’s dance moving toward an unhealthy trend: sexualizing children in adult-style costumes, sexually provocative choreography, and music with sexual content and/or themes. Many in the public arena have been slow to recognize this harmful form of child exploitation.

In 2016, she founded DA:NCE (Dance Awareness: No Child Exploited), a non-partisan organization, to create awareness through the collaboration of credible experts with excellent research to provide free evidence-based educational materials for dance educators, parents, and concerned adults, inside and outside the dance studio.

She has spoken at numerous conferences from NDEO (National Dance Educator’s Organization) to CESE(Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation) Summits in Washington DC. Mary has also been interviewed and written for a wide range of TV, podcast, and radio hosts. In 2019 one article she wrote received over 250,000 views (Read Article). Her organization offers many resources that have researched the damaging consequences of hyper-sexualizing children in dance.

Anchor Verses:

Romans 12:21

Ephesians 5:11

Connect with Mary:

Website: https://www.soultosolechoreography.org

DA:NCE Awareness: https://www.danceawareness.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/dance_awareness/

***We love hearing from you! Your reviews help our podcast community and keep these important conversations going. If this episode inspired you, challenged you, or gave you a fresh perspective, we’d be so grateful if you’d take a moment to leave a review. Just head to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen and share your thoughts—it’s a simple way to make a big impact!***

In today’s episode of the Anchored By the Sword podcast, I’m joined by author, content creator, and all-around kind soul Hillary Phillips, to talk about her devotional My Brain While Reading the Bible—and let me tell you, I have never felt more seen.

If you’ve ever opened your Bible with the best intentions… only for your thoughts to immediately go everywhere else, this conversation is for you.

Hillary shares her powerful freedom journey—growing up in a home marked by alcoholism and abuse, navigating trauma, depression, grief, and eventually discovering healing through therapy, faith, and learning how to practically apply Scripture to real life. We talk openly about CPTSD, mental strongholds, and what it really means to “take our thoughts captive” without shame.

This episode is a reminder that two things can be true at once:
👉 You can love God deeply and still struggle
👉 You can be healing and joyful
👉 You can be faithful and human

We also dive into:

• Why comparison (especially on social media) steals our joy and calling

• Learning to stay in your God-given lane

• Walking with God through grief, including the loss of a loved one

• Hillary’s work with young women coming out of human trafficking and how God meets us in the hardest places

• How curiosity, imagination, and humor can help us engage Scripture in a life-giving way

Hillary’s devotional invites readers to see the people of the Bible as real humans—full of doubt, personality, fear, courage, and questions—while pointing us back to a faithful God who meets us right where we are.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• “Am I doing something wrong in my faith?”

• “Why does my brain work like this when I read the Bible?”

• “Is there freedom for someone like me?”

This episode is for you.

Bio:

Hillary Caitlyn Phillips is a social media influencer, content creator, actress, writer, and woman after God’s heart! She loves to uplift and encourage others through entertainment and prays that everything she creates brings joy and healing to others. She has voiced in animated projects, including The Big Blue Book and A Garden Cartoon Movie: The Greatest Thing Ever!

Anchor Verses:

Psalm 25:5

Psalm 33:18

Connect with Hillary:

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/whatsuphill

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Itshillarycaitlyn

IG: https://www.instagram.com/hillsofhope/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itshillarycaitlyn

📖 Get the book: My Brain While Reading the Bible is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble (select locations or online), and ChristianBook.com.

***We love hearing from you! Your reviews help our podcast community and keep these important conversations going. If this episode inspired you, challenged you, or gave you a fresh perspective, we’d be so grateful if you’d take a moment to leave a review. Just head to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen and share your thoughts—it’s a simple way to make a big impact!***

In this episode of Anchored by the Sword, I’m joined by author and pastor’s wife Whitney Lowe to talk about what it means to be pursued by God, even in the wilderness, even in the middle of pain, and even when we feel unworthy of being chosen.

Whitney’s new book, Called Back to Who You Are: Finding Yourself in the Wild Pursuing Love of God, releases next week, and it is deeply rooted in her own story—one that includes growing up in the church, quietly believing lies about her worth, walking through an eating disorder, and being met by God in a powerful way through the book of Hosea while on a mission trip in Turkey.

We talk about:

• What it looks like to be called back instead of cast away
• How God is gentle with us but ruthless with the things that hold us captive
• Why feeling unwanted is often an invitation to encounter God’s pursuit
• How revival begins when we understand we are deeply loved
• What it means to live like people who have been truly found

Whitney reminds us that the wilderness isn’t where God abandons us—it’s where He speaks tenderly and calls us back to Himself.

Bio:

Whitney Lowe is a Christian influencer who wants to see young women excited about God’s work: in the Bible, in history, in the world and in themselves. She writes and creates on Instagram at @whitneypiersonlowe, an account born from the realization that young women simply do not interact with the Bible enough to be changed by its truth. Whitney is passionate about disrupting the toxic scroll of social media with hope, peace, and light straight from Scripture.

She released her first devotional, Set Your Eyes Higher: A 40-Day Reset to Slow Your Anxiety and Fix Your Focus on God, in September 24. Her newest book, Called Back to Who You Are: Finding Yourself in the Wild, Pursuing Love of God, releases from Zondervan in January 2026.

Whitney grew up in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from Westmont College with a degree Religious Studies. She now lives in Colorado with her husband Tanner – who is a pastor and their three young children.

Anchor Verses:

Hosea 2:14

Hosea 5

John 10:10

Connect with Whitney:

Author Website: www.scribbledevos.com

Instagram: @whitneypiersonlowe

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scribbledevos

***We love hearing from you! Your reviews help our podcast community and keep these important conversations going. If this episode inspired you, challenged you, or gave you a fresh perspective, we’d be so grateful if you’d take a moment to leave a review. Just head to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen and share your thoughts—it’s a simple way to make a big impact!***