You’re reading Towards Embodied Living — a Substack exploring what becomes possible when we stop abandoning ourselves in order to live, lead and create.

What happens when the things you’ve spent years nurturing no longer need you in the same way?

In this episode, I speak with Ana Flores, founder, writer, community builder, and Substack host of Done With the Hustle and Her Wisdom Era.

Ana shares her journey from building one of the largest communities for Latina women in the United States to making the difficult decision to let go of the company she spent fourteen years creating.

Together, we explore identity, belonging, entrepreneurship, motherhood, and the hidden cost of building a life around being needed. We talk about cultural identity and assimilation, the reality behind the girlboss narrative, learning to trust life when everything feels uncertain, and the freedom that can emerge when we release what once defined us.

This is a conversation about grief, reinvention, inner guidance, and returning to yourself.

We hope you enjoy it.

Florence U. x

Reflection Questions

* What in your life are you currently holding onto because it needs you, rather than because it is still true for you?

* Is there a role, responsibility, identity, or expectation that once fit but no longer reflects who you are becoming?

* Who are you when you stop living for what needs you?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

You’re reading Towards Embodied Living — a Substack exploring what becomes possible when we stop abandoning ourselves in order to live, lead and create.

What does spirituality look like when your life is actually happening — when there are children, noise, cities, and real stakes?

In this episode, I speak with Jennifer Cerero, creator of The Spiritual Lounge, about practical, embodied spirituality for women who refuse to choose between depth and full aliveness.

Jen has lived across nine countries, practised Buddhism for over a decade, and spent years in the manifestation world before finding her way back to something more honest.

Together, we explore the aesthetics of subversion, the God Jen actually believes in, why New Age spirituality can become another way of outsourcing responsibility, and what silence makes possible that nothing else can.

A conversation about inner authority, self-contact, surrender, and what it means to be both spiritual and fully, unapologetically human.

We hope you enjoy it.

Florence U. x

Reflection Questions

* What does your spirituality look like when your real life is happening?

* Where in your life are you currently looking outside yourself for permission, direction or validation — and what might change if you trusted your own knowing instead?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

About Jennifer Cerero

Jennifer Cerero is an actress, writer, filmmaker and creator of The Spiritual Lounge — a Substack publication and community for people who are serious about their spiritual path and equally serious about their real, full, complicated lives. Born in Colombia and shaped by nearly a decade of living across nine countries, Jen writes and creates from her own journey: peeling back layers, questioning inherited beliefs, and finding what it actually means to trust yourself. She is working on her first book.

Hi, I’m Florence — mother, writer and creatrix exploring what it means to live, create and lead from increasing coherence rather than self-abandonment.

Through my writing, podcast, 1:1 threshold work, Human-Centred Experience Design and the Embodied Living Circle, I create spaces that invite honesty, embodiment and deeper self-trust.

My work supports women returning to themselves through lived experience — learning to trust what they notice, remain in relationship with themselves while becoming, and create from a place that feels inhabitable from the inside.

Alongside threshold support for women navigating visibility, transition and identity shifts, I also support women in creating containers, learning spaces and experiences that feel like an extension of who they actually are.

If something in this work resonates deeply, you’re welcome to explore my Work With Me page or reach out directly.

What comes through when the mind finds nothing to do but notice?

A poem noticing connectivity with voice-over.

For the original post, visit:

https://florenceukpabiokwusogu.substack.com/p/and-you-poem-noticing-connectivity

A bit about me...

Hi, I’m Florence. Mother, writer, voice and visibility midwife, and Embodied Experience Designer for women returning to themselves and their creative expression. I work with women—particularly mothers—who sense there is more truth, more life, and more of their voice waiting to be lived and expressed.

Through my writing, podcast, 1:1 Threshold support, and the Embodied Living Circle, I hold spaces that invite honesty, embodiment, and self-trust—so women can move at the speed of their own truth and create from a place that feels more deeply aligned.

You can visit my Work With Me page or message me directly to explore alignment.

The Rising of the Creatrix — the final episode of The Awakening Woman: Ready to Thrive.

After seven episodes of truth-telling and system-calling, we arrive here: the moment of rising. This isn’t about self-care tweaks or better boundaries for the same broken arena. It’s about walking out of the arena altogether and birthing something new — success on your terms, rooted in truth, frequency, and soul.

We talk about voice, resonance, AI as an accomplice, and why waiting is over. The time to rise is now.

🎧 Listen in + enter the giveaway to win a spot in one of my sacred containers: The Awakening Path or Creatrix Rising. Visit my Substack, Towards Embodied Living, for more details.

What if success wasn’t something to chase — something you were never meant to inherit?

In this raw, revelatory episode, I share the truth behind what it really means to awaken and succeed as a Black woman in systems never built for us. This is my most personal transmission yet — a reflection shaped by my recent fall, my daughter’s terrified eyes, and the deeper fire that has been rising in me ever since.

We talk about:

🔥 The pain, grief and bloodiness of real transformation (not just the buzzword kind)🪨 Why success is not neutral — and what we must leave behind to redefine it🧬 How religious colonisation shapes generational trauma and keeps Black women stuck🌀 Moving mountains as a lived daily reality — not a metaphor🌸 What it really means to mother a liberated lineage⚡ Reclaiming power as a post-Christian woman who is done waiting for salvation

This episode is a sacred call — to anyone holding the vision for a life beyond silence, obedience, and survival. If you’ve been feeling the stirrings of your own awakening and you’re ready to move your own mountains… this one is for you.

🎧 Listen in + enter the giveaway to win a spot in one of my sacred containers: The Awakening Path or Creatrix Rising. Visit my Substack, Towards Embodied Living, for more details.

What if joy wasn’t a luxury — but a lifeline?

In this soul-nourishing episode, I’m joined by intuitive coach, speaker, and joy weaver AJ Smit, whose vibrant presence and lived wisdom light up every corner of this conversation. Together, we explore what it really means to awaken — not just spiritually, but viscerally, relationally, and creatively.

We talk about:

✨ How joy becomes a sacred signal on the awakening path🌊 What it means to deconstruct your faith and still stay spiritually rooted🌿 The quiet “hum” that calls you toward more — even when life looks good on the outside🔥 Reclaiming beauty, visibility, and self-expression as a form of liberation🌀 Why awakening can feel lonely — and how to find women walking the same path🌈 The nervous system realities of expansion, embodiment, and soul-level permission

AJ brings honesty, laughter, and depth to this conversation — and reminds us that awakening isn’t always clean, but it is always sacred.

🎧 Listen in + enter the giveaway to win a spot in one of my sacred containers: The Awakening Path or Creatrix Rising.

Aj Smit is an intuitive energy worker, speaker, henna artist, and the author of the book Red Thread: Weaving an Embodied Life of Joy. She is a hot chocolate connoisseur, a glitter enthusiast, and a military spouse in Mississippi, with two pups and a plethora of houseplants. Aj has led various Red Tents, retreats, and workshops internationally over the last 15 years to help others discover how to weave creativity, joy, and wonder into their lives. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram at @TheJoyWeaver and on her website, The Joy Weaver.

Visit my Substack, Towards Embodied Living for more details

What if midlife wasn’t a crisis — but a calling?

In this heart-opening episode, I’m joined by educator, speaker, and midlife mentor Denise Drinkwalter, who brings over 30 years of lived and professional wisdom to the conversation. Together, we explore what it means to stop waiting for permission and finally choose yourself — not just in theory, but in practice.

We talk about:

Why women feel rage in midlife (and how to honour it)

The invisible labour of motherhood and caregiving

The power of embodied decisions: “for you, by you, because of you”

Redefining happiness beyond external approval

How to model joy and sovereignty for the next generation

Denise’s energy is warm, wise, and radically empowering — and this episode is an invitation to re-meet yourself with grace, softness, and truth.

🎧 Listen in + enter the giveaway to win a spot in one of my sacred containers: The Awakening Path or Creatrix Rising.Visit my Substack, Towards Embodied Living for more details