In this personal and expansive conversation, Adina chats with Monica LeBlanc about transition, trust, and spiritual awakening. Monica—a licensed therapist, coach, and writer based in Asheville—opens up about stepping away from traditional models of work and embracing a more intuitive, unconventional path.

They explore Monica’s personal and professional path, including awakening to her spiritual and extra-sensory gifts. With warmth and vulnerability, Monica shares moments from her childhood, powerful therapeutic encounters, and her ongoing process of embracing her psychic abilities.

This episode is a rich exploration of how we heal ourselves, trust the unknown, and make space for new dimensions of identity to emerge.

Topics Covered:

• Letting go of "masculine energy" in career transitions
• The intersection of therapy and spirituality
• Discovering mediumship and psychic gifts
• Differentiating intuition, empathy, and spiritual messages
• Honoring consent in spiritual work
• Family healing through spirit communication
• Learning to trust your experiences without external validation

Monica Leblanc is a therapist, coach, freelance writer and enneagram teacher. Based out of Asheville, NC, she sees clients who are navigating boundaries and limits with their family of origin. She uses a combination of IFS, the enneagram, experiential modalities and DARE to help recovering people pleasers alchemize their pain into purpose and meaning and create alignment in their choices. Monica spends time with her clients in sessions or intensives to help generate shifts where they feel stuck.

Monica teaches the enneagram in the embodiment tradition which is a lineage based in body energetics and utilizing awareness of our enneagram pattern for personal growth and alignment. She teaches public workshops, offers corporate retreats, and has online courses.

Monica was also the premier therapeutic writing contributor to Deepak Chopra’s online magazine, Chopa Global. She contributed topics including but not limited to boundaries, grief, and working with ancestral trauma. She is currently blogging and working on various writing projects.

Monica's website: monica-leblanc.com

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If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe.

Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
Follow Fire Bird Creative on Instagram

Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.

@soulbodywholeness

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In this episode, Joshua and Adina sit down with men’s sexuality coach Rob Kancler. Together, they explore how modern conditioning distorts sexuality—and how slowing down, regulating the nervous system, and returning to integrity can unlock profound intimacy, pleasure, and personal growth. Rob shares insights from 20+ years of research and practice spanning sexology, neuroscience, trauma healing, ancient traditions, and lived experience. The conversation moves from porn-shaped expectations and goal-chasing to embodied presence, attunement, and what Rob calls giving yourself space to have a real experience. You will hear why “climax-or-bust” impacts connection, how authentic sexuality spills over into every area of life, and practical first steps for men who want to lead with responsibility and heart.

• Guest: Rob Kancler, founder of Bedroom Genius and creator of Men of Substance and the Higher Sex Operating System
• Core themes: integrity over performance, intimacy vs. cultural programming, nervous system regulation, slowing down, presence, responsibility, addiction patterns, and life-wide impact
• Practical takeaways:
  • Slow the pace dramatically to meet the moment and your partner’s body
  • Build nervous system awareness and body intelligence before technique
  • Shift from performance to enjoyment and deep listening
  • Explore without pressure toward peak orgasm or ejaculation
  • Take responsibility for your sexual well-being instead of projecting or blaming
• Who it’s for: Especially powerful for men in hetero relationships, and valuable for anyone seeking more authentic connection and fulfillment

Quotes to remember:

• “What many call sexuality is sexual energy moving through a fear-based nervous system toward release.”
• “Integrity is wholeness—being in right relationship with who we really are.”
• “When sex aligns with our nature, benefits cascade into every area of life.”

Rob's website: robkancler.com

Rob's Instagram: @robkancler

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe.

Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
Follow Fire Bird Creative on Instagram

Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.

@soulbodywholeness

...

We hit record in the middle of a real check-in, and what unfolded was an unfiltered, soul-led conversation about shifting from hustle to harmony, and from hyper-productivity to presence.

Joshua shares the breakdown that moved him out of hyper-yang doing and into tea-at-sunrise stillness. Adina reflects on embodiment, sacred service, and why meditation isn’t about “clearing your mind” but about learning to witness with compassion.

Together, we explore what it means to feel without the story, how somatic healing rewires us from the bottom up, and why living a “no regrets” life—rooted in responsibility and intention—is the deepest act of self-love.

This is an episode for entrepreneurs, seekers, and anyone craving a more integrated, soul-led way of being.

• From time-blocking every minute to courting spontaneity, shamanism, and magic
• Morning anchors: tea ceremony, meditation as witnessing, presence before action
• Somatics first: gentle breath + micro-movement to unlock emotion without the mind
• The myth of “I don’t have time” and questioning limiting beliefs with compassion
• Feeling vs. thinking: how our mental stories about our feelings create suffering
• “No regrets” w/ the caveat of responsibility: intention, integrity, and clean accountability
• Relationships, failure, and learning by fire—what balance FEELS like (not looks like)

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe.

Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
Follow Fire Bird Creative on Instagram

Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.

@soulbodywholeness

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Episode Description

In this powerful episode, Joshua and Adina talk with Success Coach Erica Carrico about her transformation from corporate burnout to building a multi-million dollar soul-aligned business. Erica's story demonstrates the life-changing power of remembering your true self.

Despite doing all the "right" things, Erica wasn't fulfilled. Then, at age 36, life delivered a powerful wake-up call: a kidney cancer diagnosis. Through this experience, she received the spiritual download that became her catalyst for transformation—leaving her job, ending her marriage, moving states, and starting her coaching business from a hospital bed.

In this episode, Erica shares her methodology for helping others discover their purpose. Now working with coaches and healers worldwide, Erica emphasizes that successful purpose-driven businesses must come from authentic passion. Key insights:

• Authenticity over templates: Finding your unique approach
• Maintaining focus: Avoiding comparison and staying true to your medicine
• Surrender and trust: Being a vessel rather than forcing outcomes

Key Takeaways

• Your pain can become your purpose through healing work
• Success comes from being more yourself, not copying others
• We all have original medicine that the world needs
• Building a business from the heart is necessary for sustainable success

Whether you're stuck in an unfulfilling career or seeking to live more authentically, Erica shows that with courage and inner trust, transformation is possible.

Connect with Erica at ericacarrico.com or @ericalyncarrico

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe.

Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
Follow Fire Bird Creative on Instagram

Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.

@soulbodywholeness

...

Episode Description:
We didn’t plan it this way—but it was perfect. Season 9 begins with Josh and Adina pressing “record” right in the middle of a personal check-in, and what unfolded was a raw, unfiltered entry into the heart of this season’s theme: the dance of the masculine and feminine.

This spontaneous, alive conversation invites you into the sacred tension between structure and flow, logic and intuition, doing and being.

🌀 In this episode, we explore:

• What it means to let go of rigid strategies and allow the feminine to lead with slowness, receptivity, and intuition
• How to integrate the masculine as structure and protection—without dominance or burnout
• The cultural fears around the feminine: sensitivity, slowness, the unknown
• How relationships, conflict, and sexuality can become portals for healing and wholeness
• Stories, dreams, and archetypes that reveal the beauty of embracing both darkness and light

This was one of our most organic and alive recordings yet—a real-time reflection of the balance we were speaking to. It’s a deep breath, an invitation to slow down, and a call to listen differently.

Let this be your initiation into Season 9—a sacred space where presence, honesty, and integration light the fire we gather around.

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe.

Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
Follow Fire Bird Creative on Instagram

Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.

@soulbodywholeness

...

Episode Summary:

In this candid and illuminating conversation, Joshua and Adina sit down with Ann Russo, psychotherapist, educator, and founder of AMR Therapy, to explore the deep intersections of sexuality, spirituality, mental health, and social justice. Drawing from her own non-traditional upbringing and an MA in theology, Ann shares her pioneering work in religious trauma treatment and her passion for creating inclusive spaces for healing. Together, they unpack themes of liberation from spiritual abuse, embracing authentic identity, and navigating the complexities of intimacy and self-expression.

Topics Covered:

• Healing from religious trauma and spiritual abuse
• Queer identity, non-monogamy, and sexual empowerment
• Dismantling stigma at the intersection of sexuality and spirituality
• The importance of inclusive mental health care
• Creating space for authenticity and self-liberation
• How personal healing ripples into cultural transformation
• Building compassionate frameworks for clinicians and clients
• Reclaiming wholeness through education, advocacy, and community

Guest:

Ann Russo
Psychotherapist • Educator • Founder of AMR Therapy • Creator of the Religious Trauma Treatment Model

Ann Russo is a psychotherapist, educator, and founder of AMR Therapy. Raised in a diverse, non-traditional household, she brings lived expertise, radical compassion, and unapologetic education into every space she enters. With an MA in theology and deep roots in social justice, Ann specializes in religious trauma, queer identity, non-monogamy, sexual empowerment, and inclusive mental health. She developed the Religious Trauma Treatment Model to empower both clients and clinicians in the healing process.

Website: amrtherapy.com; annrusso.org

Resource Mentioned:

Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe.

Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
Follow Fire Bird Creative on Instagram

Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.

@soulbodywholeness

...

Episode Summary:

In this brave and expansive conversation, Adina sits down with Rev. DiAnna Ritola to explore her powerful journey from a life defined by external expectations to one rooted in intuition, embodiment, and spiritual authenticity. Together, they unpack themes of womanhood, self-care, spirituality, aging, and feminine empowerment through all life stages, including menstruation, motherhood, and menopause.

Topics Covered:

• Breaking free from prescribed roles and expectations
• Listening to the body’s signals and reclaiming joy
• Living in integrity with personal truth
• Religious imprints and the path to authentic spirituality
• The value of ritual and ceremony for honoring and celebrating life transitions
• Embracing menopausal wisdom, rage, and transformation
• Reimagining beauty, aging, and feminine identity
• Tapping into ancestral, communal, and natural wisdom

Guest:

DiAnna Ritola
Interfaith Minister • Dianic Wiccan Priestess • Somatic Healer • Spiritual Counselor• Author

Rev. DiAnna Ritola is an Interfaith Minister and a Dianic Wiccan priestess. She is the owner of True North Healing Sanctuary in Worthington, MA. There she hosts retreats and workshops, offers energy and somatic healing practices, virtual and in-person spiritual counseling for trauma, intimate relationships, and sexuality, and rituals to honor life events and passages. She is the author of the book, Mismatched Luggage: Unpacking Your Sexual Baggage for Your Spiritual Journey. DiAnna and her wife, Michele Fitzsimmons, split their time between Worthington and Flushing, Queens, NYC.

True North Healing Sanctuary is a place to find rest, rejuvenation, and spiritual counseling. Offering EMDR, plant medicine journeys, transpersonal counseling, Reiki and Jin Shin Jyutsu energy healing. Focusing on women's full-spectrum health and well-being with an emphasis on sexuality, relationships, and the way all our lives are impacted and informed by our hormonal cycles.

Website: DiAnnaRitola.com

Facebook: Rev. DiAnna Ritola

Instagram: @rev_di

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe.

Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
Follow Fire Bird Creative on Instagram

Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.

@soulbodywholeness

...

Episode Summary:
In this episode, Joshua sits down with intimacy and relationship coach Rachael Lioness for a deep conversation on embodied intimacy, conscious relationship, and erotic truth. Rachael shares her path and practice of helping individuals and couples break free from shame and societal conditioning around sexuality. She invites us to return to a grounded, sacred connection with our bodies, desires, and truth.

Together, they explore

• The true essence of tantra as a spiritual path
• How trauma and conditioning impact intimacy
• The role of embodiment and presence in cultivating sacred connection
• How to reclaim your erotic intelligence and deepen relational authenticity
• Tools for healing through love, shadow work, and somatic awareness.

Whether you're navigating relationship challenges, awakening your sensuality, or curious about the deeper dimensions of intimacy, this episode offers powerful insights and practical wisdom.

Guest Info:
Rachel Lioness
Intimacy, Conscious Relating, Sacred Sexuality, Erotic Liberation

Rachael is a Certified VITA Intimacy and Relationship Coach, trauma-informed Tantric Facilitator and Somatic Practitioner. She supports individuals and couples to build healthy, conscious partnerships through releasing shame and conditioning around intimacy and sexuality. She facilitates grounded, integrated awakening and transformation of mind, body, spirit, heart and sexuality to find your deepest truth and highest alignment. Rachael bridges science and spirituality/mysticism and professionalism/esoteric and earthly wisdom. She shares the medicine of Love, Truth and Erotic Liberation through online coaching and at international workshops, festivals and retreats.

Website: www.rachaellioness.com

Instagram: @rachael_lioness

Facebook: Rachael Lioness

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe.

Adina Arden Cooper is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who prefers to refer to herself as a Shadow Guide and Soul Healing Specialist. She helps highly sensitive creative visionaries heal trauma so they can not only survive this human experience but thrive in the expression of their greatest gifts. Adina has over 20 years of experience in education and mental health. She's also an artist, a seeker, a mother, and very curious person.

Visit Adina's website to find out more about her work
Follow Fire Bird Creative on Instagram

Joshua Zamrin is a nomadic soul guide, somatic life coach, and sacred purpose mentor, deeply immersed in the realms of embodiment, shamanic wisdom, and mythopoetic exploration. With a background in nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and compassionate communication, he weaves together ancient and modern practices to help others reconnect with their deepest truth. His work is rooted in rites of passage, initiation, and the sacred journey of becoming, drawing inspiration from indigenous traditions, soul-centered psychology, and the raw wisdom of nature.

@soulbodywholeness

...