A year ago, a breath work session changed my life. Twenty minutes in, I was sobbing. By the end, the entire framework for this podcast had dropped into my head at once.

This episode is about how that's even possible.

I sit down with breath work facilitator Nicole Rager to unpack what happens in your body when you breathe deeply enough to break through the mental noise — neuropeptides, the vagus nerve, the 90-second rule, and the spiritual traditions that have been pointing at the same mechanism for thousands of years.

If you've ever wondered why the answers you're looking for never come from thinking harder, this one's for you.

Find Nicole at https://nicolerager.com/

If this episode moved you, leave a rating and share it with one person who needs to hear it.

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Music Credits:

"Breathe" by Denys Horokhovsky

"777 Joy" by Nolan Nova

"Passage" by EVOE

"New World" by Ian Post

"Of The Sea" by Okaya

"Whispers" by Okaya

"Contemplative Question" by The Tennessee Pistols

There is at least one moment in every person’s life where they say the right things out loud, but silently believe something completely different. Usually, it’s harmless—like saying you’re "fine" when you’re actually a ball of stress. But sometimes, it’s about the grudges we hold.

We all keep a list of the people who have wronged us, waiting for apologies that may never come. But in this episode of Better Beliefs, we uncover a different, older list—the one with our own name on it. It's the tally sheet of our regrets, our shame, and the times we didn't show up for ourselves.

Joining the show is author, podcast host, and spiritual coach Rachel Harrison. Rachel shares her powerful personal journey through a chaotic family dynamic, codependency, and alcoholism, detailing the exact moment she realized that healing her life didn't start with changing the people around her. It started in the mirror.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Trap of Transactional Forgiveness: Why waiting for an apology keeps your peace of mind hostage.
• The Physical Toll of Resentment: Fascinating data from the Stanford Forgiveness Project on how holding grudges literally makes us sick.
• What Codependency Really Is: Understanding how "control disguised as love" drains our energy.
• Spiritual Forgiveness: How to take the judgment off your past so you can finally step into your present.
• The Power of Self-Compassion: Why beating yourself up at 2:00 AM doesn't protect you—it just keeps you stuck.

The person you are becoming can't meet you halfway until the person you used to be stops blocking the road. It’s time to put down the weight you were never supposed to carry forever.

✨ CONNECT WITH RACHEL:

• Read her book: Grab a copy of Rachel's best-selling book, Recover Your Soul, on her website: https://www.recoveryoursoul.net/
• Listen & Learn: Check out Rachel’s podcast and explore her coaching programs: https://www.recoveryoursoul.net/

🎵 SHOW CREDITS:

• Written, Edited, & Produced by: Brent Kocal
• Show Ownership: Better Beliefs is owned by 6350 Ventures
• Cover Art: Jenny H Designs
• Original Opening Music: Lonely Ramblers
• Additional music credits:
  • "Space Time Thought" by CTRL-S
  • "Lu sciccareddu" by TEO
  • "Orange Lullaby" by Nitzan Rom
  • "Above the Clouds" by Theater of Delays
  • "This Must Be Love" by Rynn
  • "Oh Yeah, Life" by Just for Kicks
  • "Contemplative Question" by The Tennessee Pistols

SUPPORT THE SHOW: If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to practice a little self-forgiveness today.

Watch the Video Version of This Episode: https://youtu.be/T_OOTCt5Bmk

Have you ever fought with everything you had to prevent a disaster, only to watch it fall apart anyway?

We spend our entire lives trying to control our circumstances, engineer perfect safety nets, and avoid "bad" outcomes. But what if the very thing you are running from is the exact catalyst you need to break through to the next level?

In this episode, we unpack a powerful story about the illusion of control and the hidden gift of forced transformation. We explore why our greatest moments of growth, resilience, and clarity rarely come when things go perfectly—they come when life completely wrecks our plans.

If you are currently navigating a setback, a failed project, or an unexpected detour, this episode is a roadmap to shifting your perspective and uncovering the hidden path forward.

Inside this episode, you’ll discover:
• The psychological trap of trying to control the uncontrollable.
• Why hitting rock bottom often provides the solid foundation you were missing.
• A framework for turning unexpected detours into your greatest competitive advantage.

Connect with the Community:
• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode.
• Enjoyed this story? Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it’s the single best way to help us reach more people who need to hear this message.
• Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qkgnd1gAiho

Connect with the guest in this episode, Angela: https://www.healingenergy.world/

What if every "coincidence" you've ever had wasn't actually a coincidence?

What if the chance encounter, the wrong turn that turned out to be the right one, the person you ran into three times in one week — what if all of it was part of something? Something you agreed to before you were even born?

In this episode, Brent sits down with Catherine Crestani — a channeler, intuitive, and former speech pathologist who now helps people read the language of their own lives. Through her stories — including the time she broke the same toe three times in three months before she finally got the message — we explore the possibility that nothing in your life is actually random.

We dig into Carl Jung's idea of synchronicity, the 2,500-year-old wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, and the Buddhist concept of "hidden potential" — the idea that events themselves are neutral, and we're the ones who decide what they mean.

The question we sit with: Can we truly direct our lives in the direction we want them to go? Or are we doing our best to navigate the inevitable flow of life on life's terms?

By the end, you might start paying attention a little differently.

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Music Credits:

"The Tides" by Tom Meria Armony

"Teo" by Lu Sciccareddu

"Parallel Dimension" by Onyx Music

"Above The Clouds" by Theater of Delays

"Writing On The Wall" by Rachel Gonzalez

"Lift" by Starlux

"Contemplative Question" by The Tennessee Pistols

We've all felt it. That nudge. That tightness in the chest before we walk into a room. That feeling that says don't do this — right before we go ahead and do it anyway.

We call it a gut feeling. Then we override it. And weeks later, when the mess shows up, we say the same thing every time: I knew it.

So what is intuition, really? Where does it come from? And why is it so hard to trust?

In this episode, Brent sits down with Peggy Oberthier — a medical intuitive and energy channeler from Australia — who spent five years as a teacher in a juvenile detention center before a prison riot, a dark night of the soul, and a chance session with another intuitive completely changed the direction of her life.

Peggy unpacks the difference between intuition and fear, why most people block their own inner knowing without realizing it, and the one thing she says almost everyone gets wrong about hearing the signal: you can't think your way to it. You have to feel it in your body first.

We get into source energy, superconsciousness, shadow work, spiritual bypass, and what it actually looks like to get out of your own way long enough to hear what's already there.

If you've ever wondered whether that voice in your head is really yours — or whether something bigger is trying to reach you — this one's for you.

Connect with Peggy: https://www.peggyo.com.au/

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Music Credits

"Everlasting Flower" by Dani Ha Dani

"Blackbard" by Vakna Sal

"Untouched Valley" by Inon Zur

"Eternal Recluse" by Kyle Preston

"Budham Sharanam Gaccami" by Yotam Agam

"Burning Silence" by Roie Shipigler

"A Journey's Epilogue" by Yahezkel Raz

What if every person you've ever met has been trying to teach you something — and the only thing standing between you and that lesson is whether you were willing to look? Romona Koehler is a yoga teacher and spiritual seeker who walked out of a strict religious upbringing at sixteen, joined the Marine Corps, and spent the next few decades slowly unlearning everything she'd been told to believe. What she found on the other side was something much simpler — and much harder — than any doctrine: get quiet, strip away the stories, and pay attention to the people in front of you.

In this episode, Romona talks about what it really means to be a teacher, why the best ones never try to teach anything, and what happened when she sat alone with her dying mother and became, in her own words, someone she didn't recognize. If you've ever felt like you're searching for meaning in all the wrong places, this one's for you.

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Music Credits:

Hearts Ease by Roie Shipigler

Sea Level by Buddha Kid

Like a Bird by Letra

Floating by DaniHaDani

Dream Life by DJ Taz Rashid

Venus by Alton Peretz

Eternal Recluse by Kyle Preston

Contemplative Question by Tennessee Pistols

We all say we want to change our lives.

A better career. A stronger relationship. A deeper sense of purpose.

But most people never do.

Not because they don’t want to… but because real change requires something we spend our entire lives trying to avoid.

Letting go of who we’ve been.

In this episode, we explore the hidden relationship between fear, identity, and transformation through the story of Josh Liles—a former high-performing real estate professional who came face to face with death during a craniosacral therapy session.

What followed wasn’t just a shift in perspective.

It was the collapse of everything he thought he was.

Through Josh’s experience, we take a deeper look at:

• Why we avoid the things that could change our lives
• How fear shapes our identity without us realizing it
• What happens when that identity begins to break down
• The psychology behind near-death experiences and transformation
• And the idea of a “quiet voice” that guides us when we stop forcing life

This isn’t about becoming someone new.

It’s about understanding what has to fall away before anything new can begin.

If you’ve ever felt stuck… like you’re capable of more but can’t seem to move forward…

This episode might help you understand why.

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Music Credits:

"Fear Not The Water" by Kyle Preston

"Voices" by Openstate

"Dramatic Motion" by Lars Bork Andersen

"Pluto" by Alon Peretz

"Vacuum" by Buddha Kid

"Contemplative Question" by The Tennessee Pistols

Most of us believe we know how to think.

But what if many of the thoughts shaping your life aren’t actually yours?

From the moment we’re born, we start collecting words from the people around us — parents, teachers, coaches, and friends. Over time, those words become beliefs. And those beliefs quietly shape the way we see ourselves, the risks we take, the opportunities we pursue, and the limits we place on our potential.

In this episode of Better Beliefs, Brent Kocal sits down with mental performance coach Lauren Johnson, former mental performance coach for the New York Yankees, to explore how beliefs are formed, why they can be so difficult to change, and how our brains can trap us in patterns that hold us back.

Lauren explains why the brain is a threat detection machine, how our thoughts influence our emotions and performance, and why many high achievers unknowingly operate from beliefs they formed in childhood.

You’ll also learn Lauren’s practical framework for changing beliefs by shifting identity and behavior — and why the actions you take today can reshape the story your brain tells about who you are.

If you’ve ever felt like your mind is working against you… or wondered why intelligent, capable people still struggle with doubt, fear, and self-limiting beliefs — this episode will change the way you think about thinking.

Because the voice in your head might not be the truth.

It might just be an echo.

Topics covered:

• How beliefs about yourself are formed
• Why your brain defaults to threat instead of growth
• The psychology behind self-doubt and imposter syndrome
• How thoughts influence emotions, physiology, and performance
• The identity + action framework for changing beliefs
• Why high achievers often feel stuck despite success

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Music Credits:

"Pearl" by EVOE

"Fractal_1" by Yotam Agam

"Altitude" by Muted

"No More Suffering" by Dear Gravity

"Hallow" by Stephen Keech

"Morning Light" by DJ Taz Rishid

"Contemplative Question" by The Tennessee Pistols