Your plan can be responsible, well thought out, and still quietly stop fitting. That’s where we start: the uncomfortable moment when I realize I can produce another podcast episode on sheer willpower, but the spark is gone and the pushing feels like a clue, not a virtue. If you’ve been forcing a timeline, a habit, a relationship dynamic, or a version of success that used to make sense, this is your permission slip to call it what it might actually be: recalibration.

I share the practical reason I missed a release (a painfully scratched cornea) and the deeper truth underneath it: a months-long internal shift that’s been asking me to slow down and listen. Along the way, I tell the story of a health journey that led me to try a GLP-1 medication (Zepbound) and the spiritual and emotional resistance that came with it, especially the fear of judgment and the belief that accepting help means I’m “cheating.” This is not medical advice, but it is an honest look at the mind-body connection, postpartum weight struggles, cardiovascular risk factors like lipoprotein(a), and what it can feel like when your favorite healing tools work in many areas but not in the one place you want them to most.

The biggest surprise wasn’t weight loss. It was the quiet. With the mental noise turned down, I could finally see patterns I’d normalized for years: destination addiction, overwork, and the way worthiness chasing can hide inside ambition. That realization leads to a clear choice: I’m taking the summer off from new episodes so I can rest, integrate, and actually live the life I keep saying I’m trying to protect. I’ll re-release some of the most useful conversations, and members will get bonus contemplations and guided practices to go deeper.

If you’re changing your mind this summer, I’d love to hear what you want more of when I’m back in September. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review, then tell me: what are you ready to stop forcing?

Suggested Resources:

Dr. Peter Attia's book Outlive

Dr. Peter Attia speaking with Dr. Benoit Arsenault about Lp(a) and it's impact on heart disease

Dr. Salas-Whalen's book Weightless

Mel Robbins talking with Dr. Salas-Whalen about obesity and Ozempic

Questions or Comments? Message me!

Support the show

Interested in becoming a member and gaining access to notes, prompts, guided meditations and more? Listen to the membership episode to learn more, or Go here to check it out for one week free!

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What if the thing keeping you stuck isn’t reality… but the story you keep telling yourself about it?

In this re-released episode of Roots of the Rise, Sarah Hope explores the “BS” that quietly shapes our lives: belief systems. From confirmation bias and inherited family patterns to unconscious loyalty, identity, and self-sabotage, this episode dives into why we cling to limiting beliefs—even when they hurt us—and how those beliefs shape our relationships, self-worth, healing, and future.

You’ll learn:

• How confirmation bias reinforces limiting beliefs
• Why familiar suffering can feel safer than change
• The difference between illusion and vision
• How inherited relationship and family patterns affect your life
• Why some people stay stuck in painful cycles
• Practical ways to begin questioning the beliefs that no longer serve you

This episode also includes powerful reflection questions to help you uncover the unconscious stories driving your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

Perfect for anyone interested in:

• personal growth
• self-awareness
• nervous system healing
• mindset work
• emotional healing
• spirituality and psychology
• breaking old patterns
• healing limiting beliefs
• shadow work and self-inquiry

Plus: Patreon members can access a companion handout and a guided visualization designed to help you release beliefs that are keeping you from becoming the next version of yourself.

Related Episodes:

Episode 99 - Common Limiting Beliefs That Keep You Out of Alignment

Episode 101 - Limiting Beliefs and Language: How to Recognize and Reframe Thoughts That Hold You Back

Questions or Comments? Message me!

Support the show

Interested in becoming a member and gaining access to notes, prompts, guided meditations and more? Listen to the membership episode to learn more, or Go here to check it out for one week free!

Stay connected by signing up for my newsletter or checking out all my offerings at www.risingwithsarah.com

In this episode of Roots of the Rise, we’re exploring why honest communication can feel so emotionally difficult — both for the person giving feedback and the person receiving it.

If you’ve ever carefully rehearsed a difficult conversation, softened your tone, tried so hard to say something kindly… only to have the other person still hear criticism, rejection, or attack, this episode is for you.

We’ll talk about why feedback so often activates shame, defensiveness, and nervous system dysregulation, and how nonviolent communication can help us express ourselves with greater clarity, honesty, and care. You’ll learn the difference between criticism and constructive feedback, why timing and tone matter so much, how to communicate needs and requests more effectively, and why healthy communication is ultimately about repair — not perfection.

This episode also explores:

• Why people become defensive
• The connection between feedback, shame, and perfectionism
• How to give feedback without emotional dumping
• The difference between requests and demands
• How to stay honest without becoming cruel
• Why you can’t control how someone receives your feedback
• The role of nervous system regulation in communication and conflict

Whether you struggle to speak up, fear conflict, tend to people-please, or simply want healthier and more connected relationships, this episode offers practical tools and compassionate insight to help you communicate more effectively.

Episode 69 - When "Please" Becomes Pressure: Understanding Requests vs. Demands and Why it Matters

Questions or Comments? Message me!

Support the show

Interested in becoming a member and gaining access to notes, prompts, guided meditations and more? Listen to the membership episode to learn more, or Go here to check it out for one week free!

Stay connected by signing up for my newsletter or checking out all my offerings at www.risingwithsarah.com