Our guest on the podcast today is Lani Gonzales. She is a clinical hypnotherapist, author, and keynote speaker . Lani shared many defining moments , some that include childhood trauma, rape, sexual abuse and story of family member who committed suicide. This episode is heavy and enlightened all at the same time. Lani spoke very openly and beautifully about her life story, being an immigrant , experiencing trauma, achieving more but feeling more empty and unfulfilled the higher she climbed and what led her to changing her life and creating from a space of love. She had a lifechanging experience with ayahuasca and hypnotherapy and now she is helping others. Lani wrote two incredible books, "Rebirth of a Sage"- and "METANOIA" that you can purchase by going on Lani's website at https://lanigonzales.com/. There are quite a few free resources to you to check out, learn more about Lani's story and her work. #whatsyourdefiningmoment #sharingourstorieshasapowertoheal #momentsthatdefineusodcast #thebeststorytellingpodcast

Welcome to season 6!!! Our first guest is a novelist, Leigh Shalloway. She wrote an incredible book called "Journey back to you". In today's episode Leigh shared her experience with mental health, being diagnosed with clinical depression at 30 , and how that deepen he writing. She opened up about experiencing emotional extremes and how it allowed her to write characters who feel real and complex. Leigh took us into her writing process, research that went into this book, personal stories, past relationships that helped her built Kathleen, Jase and Richard. Journey back to you is the first novel in the Hilltown Trilogy for the author. Its a romantic novel, with complex interpersonal relationships, heartbreak, once thriving small town , turned to addiction and drugs because of greed but there is hope, there is love and there is survival.

To learn more about Leigh Shalloway and to order your copy of the book, visit https://www.hilltownseries.com/ #whatsyourdefiningmoment #sharingourstorieshasapowertoheal #thebeststorytellingpodcast #mentalhealthmatters

In this final episode our host Iryna is doing a recap of season 5 (the season of women) and of 2025 all together. She is talking about lessons she's learned from her guests in season 5, lessons she learned so far by doing her podcast , why it is important to stay consistent and what is is proud of. This episode is short but its full of gratitude! #whatsyourdefiningmoment #sharingourstorieshasthepowertoheal #momentsthatdfineuspodcast #finalepisodeofseason5