The ego… your shadow… is a POWER PORTAL.

For years, I thought I had to punish all my ego-centric’isms—manipulating to get my needs met, constant striving to burn my karma, pretending to behave. But actually? I’ve needed to assimilate… embrace… and talk sweetly to my shadows.

The ego is the unhealed part of us. More precisely, “it’s the way our unhealed self acts.” It’s not a villain—it’s a pattern. And that “pattern” is always trying to protect you from heartbreak or rejection.

What if, instead of saying That’s my ego I need to get in check… we just said:

“Whoops, I was ego-ing. I can get back to Loving.”

Because ultimately: Light, shadow, light.

In this episode:

• A liberating definition of the ego (that’s not outdated personal growth dogma)
• Why bravado and deep insecurity are both ego disguises
• “Ego’ing” vs. Loving—how to tell the difference
• Why ego is not your enemy—and what it’s really asking for

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• What in the Woo? 3-part podcast series → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.
• What The Sphinx Told Me: LISTEN | READ
• The Archives: Read on Substack
• Join The Heart Centered Collective for just $7/month
• Take the free Stressed to Blessed Quiz

There’s curiosity. There’s concern. There’s some serious side-eye.

Danielle’s essay, “AI IS NOT YOUR BEST LIFE COACH,” stirred up a flood of responses—some celebratory, some cautionary. In this episode, she goes deeper into our growing relationship with AI—from life coaching to spiritual support—and asks: What happens when we start outsourcing our inner wisdom to technology?

There’s more than one side to this conversation.

Danielle shares community responses—insightful, and deeply felt—and reflects on why spiritual maturity requires discernment, and why human-to-human healing will always remain irreplaceable.

In this episode:

• Why dependency on AI for spiritual direction is dangerous
• How AI can fawn instead of truly support—and why that matters
• Community perspectives: cautious, hopeful, clear-eyed
• The real cost of convenience when it comes to creativity + soul
• Why authentic connection still matters more than ever
• And Danielle’s off-the-cuff response to the baiter debaters

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• AI Is Not Your Best Life Coach: LISTEN | READ
• The (Significant) Downside to Fawning: LISTEN | READ
• Eoin Finn’s YOGA OPTIMIZED—look into it here.
• Join The Heart Centered Collective for just $7/month
• Nourish System—reduce stress and restore your nervous system.
• The Archives: Read on Substack
• Never miss an episode → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.
• Take the free Stressed to Blessed Quiz

Fawning is a trauma response. And it’s one we don’t talk about enough.

In this episode, Danielle is digging into fawning as a default stress response. Most people misunderstand it. Fawning isn’t just being nice or deferential—it’s a survival mechanism that many of us picked up in childhood, and now it’s messing with our relationships, our confidence, and even our nervous system.

She unpacks how fawning isn’t as physiological as fight, flight, or freeze—it’s more of a personality gimmick. We think it’s safer to please other people than to be our authentic selves. And that… erodes trust in every direction.

In this episode:

• The difference between fawning and other stress responses
• How childhood (and chronic stress) trains us to fawn
• A real story of working with someone who fawned—and how it impacted trust
• The connection between fawning and chronic pain or illness
• Why spiritual practice is the antidote
• Healing practices to transmute the fawn response with love

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Take the free Stressed to Blessed Quiz
• AI Is Not Your Best Life Coach: LISTEN | READ
• Get the full class: 6 Ways To Cleanse Your Energy Field inside The Heart Centered Collective
• Nourish System—reduce stress and restore your nervous system.
• The Archives: Read on Substack
• Never miss an episode → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.