VIA: Love & Evolution Podcast

Episode 67 of Via Love and Evolution picks up where we left off.
After Katrina’s very real, triggered rant in Episode 66, she comes back to the conversation with something important to say.... remember that ranting, triggered part? That's only ONE part of her. Because we are all more than our worst moments.
In this episode, Katrina reflects on what it looks like to meet the parts of ourselves that aren't always pretty, polished, or particularly pleasant with curiosity and compassion. The angry parts. The defensive parts. The judgmental parts. The parts that get loud when something hits a nerve.
Rather than shame those parts into silence, what happens when we get curious about them?
Sarah brings her signature deep-dive questions to the conversation, coaching much like she does her own clients creating space to slow down, look underneath the reaction, and discover what might actually be asking for attention.
Katrina shares her recipe for reflection, a surprisingly simple and genuinely powerful practice for moving from reaction toward awareness, understanding, and choice.
Together, they explore what becomes possible when we stop making certain parts of ourselves the enemy. When we can acknowledge the unsavory parts without allowing them to define the whole story. When self-awareness becomes less about fixing ourselves and more about getting to know ourselves.
This is the practice of having our own backs. Not by pretending we're always evolved, but by learning how to lovingly meet ourselves when we're not.

Episode 66 of Via Love and Evolution is triggering. Turns out Sarah and Katrina have at least one thing they fundamentally disagree about: the joy of running.
It starts innocently enough. Sarah shares the dopamine rush of completing Day One of a new running streak and talks about motivation, inspiration, and the satisfaction that can come from simply showing up for yourself.
And then Katrina gets triggered.
What follows is a very real conversation about the complicated cultural messages wrapped up in motivation, movement, body size, and the relentless pressure placed on people especially people in larger bodies to become thinner, healthier, more disciplined, more motivated, more acceptable.
Katrina gets honest about the anger that comes with recognizing how powerless those narratives can make us feel. About wanting more acceptance and genuine community while simultaneously confronting the less comfortable parts of herself that emerge along the way.
Because what do we do when we're angry about a system we didn't create? What happens when our idealism collides with reality? How do we advocate for acceptance while also practicing acceptance within ourselves?
Together, Sarah and Katrina explore the difference between motivation and pressure, inspiration and shame, self-improvement and self-rejection. They wrestle with the stories we've inherited about worthiness and what it means to pursue change without making our bodies the problem that needs fixing.
Katrina ultimately turns toward gratitude not as a way to bypass the anger, but as another way through it. Toward self-acceptance. Toward unconditional love. Toward the ongoing, imperfect practice of becoming more at home in ourselves. Onward! 

In episode 65 of Via Love and Evolution, Sarah and Katrina reflect on the sense that the change is in the air. And it's not just the chill of Autumn we wish would last later than 8:00am. Sarah shares and reflects on her current personal transition. Together we exploring triggers around gratitude, disrespect, and passive-aggressive behavior. Guilty of that behavior ourselves, admitting where we've been too passive leads to a real time revelation and an even BIGGER proclamation. 
We speak our boundaries out loud to get that energy into the world. We're letting go of resentment. We discuss the hard but liberating process of transformation.
The episode closes with a powerful poem, by Katrina titled The First Phoenix, as a metaphor for what the burning of personal alchemy feels like. 

Episode 64 of Via Love and Evolution is all about the naked truth.
Life isn't always easy. As the August temperatures rise, so can our emotions. Everything can feel bigger, heavier, and somehow... more. And if we're being honest? We're a little cranky about it.
This week, Sarah shares vulnerably about navigating a major transition into the next chapter of her life. Along the way, an old, familiar feeling resurfaces that haunting sense of being trapped. Or, as Sarah puts it, feeling tethered by your own karma. Together, we unpack how these moments often reveal the deeper stories we've carried about our own worthiness and the identities we've unknowingly inherited.
What if the hardest parts of our lives aren't here to punish us, but to teach us?
Together, we explore what it means to swim through the currents of old conditioning until we finally reach shore, only to discover we're learning to walk again as entirely new versions of ourselves. We reflect on the importance of discernment, recognizing the signs life places in our path, and allowing ourselves to be supported by the loving mirrors of community along the way.
This conversation is an invitation to trust the mystery. To trust when life asks you to zoom out and see the bigger picture and equally, when it asks you to zoom in and pay attention to the smallest details. Because sometimes all it takes is a different perspective to completely change the story we've been telling ourselves.
And perhaps the most liberating realization of all: not every story you've been carrying actually belongs to you.
Inspired by the teachings of Dolores Cannon, we reflect on the idea that we're here on Earth to learn. That we arrive forgetting who we are, only to spend a lifetime remembering, awakening. Blossoming.
We close the episode by sharing the ways we've learned to create safety for ourselves while navigating fear, uncertainty, and life's inevitable challenges. Because courage isn't the absence of fear; it's the willingness to keep showing up anyway.
As Dolores Cannon asks, and as Sarah leaves us contemplating: "What are you going to emerge from this with?"

Episode 63 is a little more expletive-heavy than usual, kids... and a hell of a good time. Think '90s backyard BBQ energy where you actually had to leave the house, make the phone call, or show up to connect with people.
After taking a few weeks off, Sarah and Katrina begin by expressing heartfelt gratitude to everyone who stuck around, caught up on past episodes, and continues to join us on this journey. We also marvel at how quickly life seems to be moving these days—and how finding genuine time for connection has somehow become one of the greatest challenges of modern life.
From there, the conversation takes an unexpectedly reflective turn. Together, we wonder about the ways we've shown up in relationships over the years. Have there been moments when our intentions were misunderstood? Times when we knew the vibe was off but couldn't quite name why? What happens when we look back with enough compassion to see ourselves and each other a little more clearly?
Sarah shares openly about a season of mounting stress that ultimately led to a much-needed emotional unraveling, reminding us that even those committed to growth don't always show up as their best selves.
Katrina offers a beautiful analogy for connection: two people passing a weaving shuttle back and forth, thread by thread, creating a tapestry over time. Every interaction strengthens the fabric of trust. When those threads are neglected or left unrepaired, the weave weakens, making closeness feel harder to reach. The good news? Like any tapestry, connection can be tended to with intention.
Together, we explore discernment in love, the phrase "if they wanted to, they would," and the honest question many of us eventually face: When connection feels difficult, are we protecting our peace or hiding in our comfort zone?
This episode is equal parts laughter, vulnerability, nostalgia, and truth-telling. A reminder that meaningful relationships aren't built in a day they're woven over time, one conversation, one repair, and one courageous act of showing up at a time.

In Episode 62 of Via Love and Evolution, Sarah and Katrina reflect on two very different journeys that ultimately arrive at the same destination: a deeper trust in themselves.
Katrina shares a transformative experience of revisiting her life through photographs spanning her entire parenting journey. What began as a walk down memory lane became something far more healing a chance to witness herself with compassion instead of criticism. Through those moments, she recognizes how far she's come, finally allowing herself to feel good enough, capable, and deeply appreciative of the mother she's become. Joy and bliss, once buried beneath self-doubt, have found their way home again in the heart.
Sarah courageously opens up about navigating a season of significant change and a deeply vulnerable moment when an old, familiar fear emerged from the shadows. She shares how a difficult emotional experience reminded her that healing isn't about never struggling again it's about knowing who's got your back when those moments return. Through the support of her Internal Family Systems (IFS) practice and the courage to reach out to safe people, Sarah was able to stand on her own firm foundation and trust herself as her own guide.
Together, they reflect on one of the greatest gifts of personal growth: the quiet confidence that comes from knowing you have your own back. Not because life stops being hard, but because you've built the capacity to meet yourself with compassion, curiosity, and care.
This episode is a reminder that healing doesn't erase the storms it changes the way we move through them.
As we learn to trust ourselves, ask for support, and embrace every part of who we are and embrace the freedom to create the dance of our own lives. 
Speaking of dancing.... We're off - dancing our way through summer vacay. We'll be back in two weeks! 

We are delighted to welcome back our dear friend, sexologist, educator, and wellness facilitator Rebecca James Alsum for her third appearance on Via Love and Evolution.
As always, Rebecca brings her warmth, wisdom, and passion for helping people awaken the sensual and creative life force that exists within each of us. Her work invites us to reconnect with ourselves not through performance or expectation, but through curiosity, presence, and self-trust.
In this conversation, Sarah, Katrina, and Rebecca explore the intersections of sexuality, spirituality, identity, and life's inevitable transitions. Together, they ask curious questions about what happens to our relationship with intimacy when we experience major shifts in our partnerships, our bodies, our beliefs, and our sense of self.
Rebecca offers powerful insight into identity transitions and how grief can quietly enter the picture, changing the landscape of our sexuality in ways we may not expect. Whether we're navigating loss, aging, parenthood, relationship changes, or personal transformation, these experiences can reshape how we relate to ourselves and others.
Throughout the episode, Rebecca gently reminds us that reclaiming our bodies is possible—whether through a relationship with ourselves or within the presence of a safe and trusted other. Together, we discuss the foundational roles of consent, discernment, access, and agency, and how these principles create the conditions for authentic connection and embodied healing.
One of the most beautiful reminders from this conversation is Rebecca's reflection that our hands are connected to our hearts, and our hearts are connected to our brains. The nourishment, comfort, and connection we seek are often more accessible than we realize. The capacity for healing, pleasure, and self-connection already exists within us.
This episode is a compassionate exploration of sexuality as a living, evolving part of the human experience. A conversation about grief and desire, safety and self-trust, and the ways we can continue returning home to ourselves through every season of change.
Because our life force doesn't disappear when life changes it simply asks to be met with curiosity, care, and compassion.

In Episode 60 of Via Love and Evolution, Sarah and Katrina dive into one of humanity's most enduring traditions: the graduation party.
What begins as a lighthearted discussion about the logistical aspects of celebrating milestones—the parts we love and the parts we'd happily outsource quickly evolves into a deeper exploration of why these gatherings matter so much in the first place.
Katrina introduces the four essential elements of any meaningful transition: transition, commencement, ritual, and fellowship. Using graduation season as a backdrop, Sarah and Katrina explore the powerful role fellowship plays in helping us mark life's major passages.
Together, they discuss the catharsis of celebrating in community or what sociologists call "collective effervescence: the experience of feeling the same emotion at the same time alongside others". Think graduation parties, weddings, concerts, spiritual gatherings or, if you're a sports fan - GO KNICKS! - the emotional rollercoaster shared by devoted fans cheering on their team. There is something profoundly human about gathering together to witness, celebrate, and belong.
The conversation expands into the importance of managing energy and expectations around life's milestones. Sarah and Katrina reflect on their own experiences navigating transitions, considering how alignment—or misalignment—during pivotal moments can create ripple effects that shape our future paths.
This leads to a vulnerable and heartfelt share from Katrina around what truly being celebrated would have meant for them. Recognizing the amount of safety it can require to process what makes you feel shame and vulnerability. 
As always, the conversation circles back to self-awareness, reflection, and personal growth. We even dip a toe into the topic of accountability before deciding it deserves its own dedicated conversation down the road. Which, in a way, might be accountability in action.
This episode is a reflection on celebration, belonging, vulnerability, and the transformative power of gathering together to honor who we've been, who we're becoming, and the people who walk alongside us on the journey.

In Episode 59 of Via Love and Evolution, Sarah and Katrina reflect on the season of graduations, transitions, and new beginnings. As their children reach important milestones, they find themselves contemplating not only the futures unfolding before them, but also the paths they've traveled themselves.
This conversation takes an unexpected and meaningful turn into the topic of regret. A universal human experience that often carries more wisdom than we give it credit for. Inspired by researcher and author Daniel Pink's work on the four types of regret: foundation regrets, boldness regrets, moral regrets, and connection regrets. Sarah shares her personal experience with boldness regret and the lessons she's learned about confidence, risk-taking, and trusting herself.
Together, Sarah and Katrina explore what it means to cultivate confidence in our children while continuing to develop it within ourselves. They reflect on graduation as a metaphor for life itself: being handed a blank canvas and asked to create something meaningful. Looking back, they consider the blank canvases they've been given throughout their own lives and how their relationship to that pressure has evolved over time.
The conversation also examines the invisible cages we sometimes build around ourselves. The limiting beliefs, fears, and stories that keep us from expressing who we truly are. What if the bars are made of thoughts? What if freedom begins by recognizing our ability to choose a different perspective?
This episode is an invitation to get curious about the gift in regret and out ability to try and to learn. Because sometimes the life we're longing for is waiting on the other side of a bold desire we've been afraid to claim.

In Episode 58 of Via Love and Evolution, Sarah and Katrina explore the delicate balance between connection, expectations, and personal responsibility.
What does it mean to truly connect with others while also honoring your own capacity? How do we navigate the expectations we place on relationships and the expectations we place on ourselves? Together, we unpack the reality that belonging begins within, and that meeting our own needs is ultimately our responsibility first.
This conversation is an invitation to step forward, take a risk, and advocate for what you need. To practice asking for support instead of assuming others know what you're carrying. To recognize that connection is a two-way street requiring both courage and clarity.
As always, Sarah and Katrina bring relatable stories, honest reflections, and compassionate insight into the very human desire to feel seen, understood, and connected. Along the way, they explore the importance of recognizing our limits, honoring our capacity, and finding empowerment in owning both.
And because life doesn't stop when the microphones turn on, enjoy a little background ambiance courtesy of Katrina's imaginative and spirited 8-year-old, reminding us that connection, growth, and belonging rarely happen in perfect silence.
A conversation about needs, relationships, courage, and the ongoing practice of showing up for yourself and for each other.