WEST: Woven Experiences Stronger Together: Recent Episodes
Ingrid McIntire
WEST is Woven Experiences Stronger Together, an organization focused on ALL people. Whether you just got out of prison, are a multi-millionaire CEO of a successful company, or anything in between—WEST lets you tell your story. Sometimes as individuals we don’t realize we have a voice until we are given the chance to use it. Please join me on our journey of personal life experiences and lessons learned. As brave and courageous humans we can empower one another and stand stronger together.
TRIGGER WARNING This episode talks of domestic violence and attempted murder. Joanna follows up on her interview here on the show from Summer 2020 (Episode 92: Never Give Up), what she and her children's lives have been like with the pandemic, and how they are coping with PTSD.
All music by Matt Starling: Music For Nina www.mattstarling.com
(also available to download on all major download and streaming platforms)
In this episode, I share from my heart about the ways in which my empathy has expanded in 2020.
In this episode, I share from my heart about my own limiting beliefs I have been able to uncover in 2020.
My interview today with Eric is one of the most inspiring yet! He shares his incredible story of recovery through addiction and his learnings during his time in prison. His positive attitude will leave you feeling uplifted. Thank you thank you thank you for showing us WESTIES what an example of a strong and vulnerable man is. We hold space for and honor your journey.
WESTIES! I have missed you. Today's episode is my own inner guidance I'm feeling called to share with the collective for the month of October. I'll be taking the rest of October off away from the podcast and social media. Talk to you in November, I love you.
My dear friend Emma joins me today to talk about all things Astrology! Emma explains what is going on with the planets, and how to find your own guidance within the sky.
SOUL: Sacred One Uniting Love I have one question. Are you willing to be a Sacred One Uniting Love?
In today's episode, I share the magic I have experienced amongst the old and wise trees in nature.
CONTROL: Chronically Occupied Needing To Run Others Lives
In this episode, I talk about my own issues with control, where they stem from, and our need to feel in control of others' lives when out of balance.
JUDGMENT: Justifying Unkind Damaging Guesses Modeling & Entering Negative Thoughts. In this episode, I break down my own judgments of others and myself.
Welcome to Random Wisdom 2.0! Join me in praying Ho'oponopono, with the assistance of spirit animal Fox & Archangel Raphael's energies guiding us to random messages from the Universe.
LOVE: Learning One's Value Is Endless. This is what love really is. To know your value is endless, allows you to see others value. Seeing this with a new lens gives you the ability to love yourself and others without condition.
SHAME: Silently Hiding Among Many Emotions. In this episode, I talk about what shame has looked like in my own life, and my journal entry asking what shame needed me to know right in that moment.
Today's episode is all about the Divine magical phenomenon of rainbows and the colors of the chakras within the body.
Sujeit was born in Mexico and at 45 days old her parents immigrated to the US. At 12 years old she went with her mother to visit her grandparents in Mexico by plane and had to come back into the US with a coyote because they were undocumented. Along their journey, they were caught. Sujeit shares her incredible story of bravery and pure grit.
In this episode, I speak of the importance of being in the present moment and creating a sacred space for yourself that cultivates presence in your life daily.
Happy Father's Day! In this episode, I share the acronym I came up with for DAD: Doers And Divers.
Kayla is studying to be a sex therapist. In this episode, we discuss the ways in which we have had to unlearn shame and guilt around our sexuality having both been raised in Utah. Kayla always says that 'Repression breeds expression' and not always in good or healthy ways.
Today's episode is about Honoring, Educating, Awakening, and Learning, during this time to support collective HEALing and CHANGE. Black Lives MATTER.
We all project to protect. Period. Whether that is the person we have road rage against while driving, the customer service person on the phone we talk to or our loved ones. We project our own shit onto others to protect the wounds that reside inside all of us. Wounds of not being seen and heard, not being parented or loved in the ways wanted or needed, betrayal, abuse, violence, trauma, tough relationships, mean comments, etc. In this episode, I share the ways in which I have projected onto others in my life in order to protect myself. My challenge to you this week is to think back on the last time you projected onto someone else and to reflect on what would you were protecting in those moments.
Full circle moments whether big or small are all around us if we're only willing to look for them. Sharing today some big and little full circle moments within my life.
MOM = Master Of Masters. In this episode I talk about my own relationship with my mother and how we can navigate our relationship with our mothers in a way that serves us.
Today is all about the little things in life. Since being in quarantine I have noticed I am more observant of my surroundings- and the little things. Now that we’re home- we have the ability to be thankful for our belongings within the walls of our sanctuary. The ability to take a mental inventory of ourselves. Down to the very products we use at home. Why are you using these particular products? Do they actually bring value to your life? Or are you using them to be more ‘beautiful’ or using them because it’s ‘what society tells us we need to use.’
Welcome to the next layer of the heart series: The Heart-Led Couple! Michael and Joe are two men that I believe lead with heart in their relationship. They share their journey of surrogacy and desire to become parents to twins.
If insurance protects us from a possible eventuality, and assurance is confidence in our own abilities- wouldn’t that confirm that we have the ability to ‘insure’ our souls through life’s experiences? The answer is YES!
www.tiffandjack.com
www.joanofsparc.com
www.brenebrown.com
www.amberrae.com
www.yogaworks.com
www.21styoga.com
This episode is about the inner genius that is within all of us. In this uncertainty of the unknown it's time to share your gifts with the world!
In this episode I share the mantra that came to me a few nights ago when I was filled with anxiety and couldn't sleep. This mantra has helped me stay in a high vibrational place to keep myself away from 'what if' statements and buying into panic and fear.
WOMEN: Workers Of Magic Embodying Nobility
Happy International Women’s Day WESTIES! How fitting that I publish on Sundays and this empowering holiday falls today! We as WOMEN, are diverse, adapt well, natural nurturers, compassionate, kind, loving, giving, tough as hell, and pure magic. The acronym I came up with to describe us is:
WOMEN Worker Of Magic Embodying Nobility
To all the women who have loved me, taught me, inspired me, empowered me, and been the greatest of examples- I bow in gratitude. Thank you thank you thank you.
Jen Fairchild is the mastermind behind the ‘Intimate Portrait Project’ that I was HONORED to be a part of. Myself, and 180 other Utah women were photographed nude, in a way in which we were all truly seen and heard. Jen is working to change the narrative about what it means to be a woman and nude, without being sexual. Unedited, these photos portray that our real and true selves can shine through. This is not an episode you will want to skip!
Layers can apply to our healing and emotional lives. We must ‘peel back’ the layers much like that of an onion- of our traumas, emotions, past hurts, ignorance, or naive nature. If there are layers to healing, why can't there be layers to pain?
In this episode I share how i have come to see and acknowledge the layers of my own life. There have been times in my life I thought I had worked through a layer. Wanting to move onto the next one, only to see there was so much more to that layer than I initially imagined.
Banu Sekendur, M.A. is an intuitive coach and an energy healer. She is especially passionate about helping people find purpose and removing what is in the way of living it.
Banu reached out to me through WEST’s email and expressed a desire to share her story. I’m SO glad she did! Divine timing for both of us, and today is also Banu’s birthday! How perfect is that?!
In this episode she shares her journey of healing through finding repeating patterns in her life and throughout the relationships she was cultivating.
Callie is Miss Wyoming USA 2018, a healer, inspiration, and has the most beautiful story to share. Surviving multiple pulmonary embolisms just weeks before competing in the Miss USA pageant helped her to honor her inner guidance. You won't want to miss this episode!
Trigger Warning This episode talks about alcoholism, domestic, and emotional abuse.
In today’s episode I interview my new friend Ali. As you all know i have a unique gift of meeting people in peculiar ways. I met Ali when she bought some furniture I had listed on KSL (which is like Craigslist in Utah). This is the first time she has shared her story and upbringing publicly. To say I’m absolutely honored is an understatement. Ali is an incredibly strong, brave, and resilient woman whom has LITERALLY risen above to thrive in her life.
Ali is a dairy and sheep farmer, makes her own cheese, roasts her own coffee beans, has apple orchards with a cider press, and is also the founder of the ‘Farmer Florist Collective.’
I have missed you so much WESTIES! This episode is to catch you up on my holiday break and the energy that 2020 brings to us.
The most important lesson of them all. Being thankful for it ALL. Each of the twelve lessons gets revisited, as well as coming into gratitude for 2019.
Lesson Eleven may be the biggest and most important realization I have had in 2019. Yesterday in yoga I was in Triangle Pose, which the set-up is actually called ‘warrior 2’ in other styles of yoga. I looked around the room with sweat dripping in my eyes, and hot tears started to roll down my cheeks. The sentence came into my mind ‘You are surrounded by warriors.’ Not only warriors of yoga. Warriors of life. All those I surround myself with, all those I come into contact with. We are ALL warriors.
Acknowledgement can be challenging, especially when it’s honoring and acknowledging ourselves. This creates internal validation, self love, more confidence, and the will to continue on with what The Universe has in store for us. In this lesson- I share my own practices of how I acknowledge me!
Lesson Nine is all about food! As I have gotten into listening to my gut, my own inner knowing, and strengthening my mind/body connection, food has changed for me.
Lesson Eight is about the gift I gave to myself in July of this year, calling it ‘Christmas In July.’ I took 30 full days just for Kiersten. In my 31 years, I have never put myself as the only and most important priority for a full month. A month just dedicated on seeking my own internal validation.
Lesson Seven is all about the language I use. My words are powerful, and have such force and meaning. Over the last few months I have shifted language I use to more positive words and it has also helped me see how much these negative words are used in our everyday lives.
Lesson Six is all about my OG partner for life, my breath! I share the ways in which I have gone back to the simplicity of breath to get through moments of shame, heartache, anger, peace, joy, and becoming still. Your breath is your best friend, your partner in crime, your foxhole buddy, and will be with you until the day you leave this earth. Our breath is EVERYTHING. The very life we live would cease to exist without it.
Lesson five is the way in which I have learned this year to be a suggestive communicator over an absolute communicator. This change has helped me tremendously in the relationships within my life as well as learning to be a suggestive communicator with my own inner dialogue.
Today’s lesson speaks to the ways in which I have learned to love being nostalgic, remembering happy moments of my childhood, and honoring my inner little girl.
Just this year, I have built a blanket fort, eaten Kraft Mac N’ Cheese, PB & J, snuggled my favorite childhood stuffed animal after a crappy day, colored in a coloring book, and bought vintage Disney princess pillowcases for my bedroom. These small moments have made me incredibly happy, at peace, and in the present moment.
In the year 2019 my true love gave to me, lesson three for my journey. This lesson is the ways in which I had to figure out where my lack and deprivation mentality came and stemmed from. 2019 has also taught me how to say no to things that no longer serve me, or aren’t something that will keep my life moving forward in a positive direction.
Lesson Two is about the ways in which I learned (the hard way) this year to listen to my gut.
The ways I have learned to trust this year are many, which makes this the most important lesson of 2019 for me. I also share my acronym for TRUST: Truly Recognizing Unbound Strength Transforms.
Today’s episode is my own little twist on the ‘12 Days Of Christmas.’ When I refer to ‘my true love’ I’m referring to The Universe. Because isn’t that what the Universe truly is and represents? True Love. Real, unconditional, unbound love, if we are only aware enough to see it. Over the next 12 days I will share 12 lessons the Universe presented to me in 2019, to help me along my journey. I hope you will join me! This year has been an epic and beautiful one.
When you’re in the moment you don’t always see the value in things. Often times, it can take years to find the gold and understand the catalyst to our change. Please join me in today’s episode on sharing my gratitude and journey to Work Out. Work In. Work Up.
In this unplanned and spoken from the heart episode, I share how I came into the awareness of my own personal faux confidence. I share the steps I took to have real and true confidence in myself, my intuition, my own inner knowing, and in the choices made within my life.
Expressing my methods for honoring abundance now in my life, and my acronym for THANKFUL.
Today’s episode with Julian is all about the levels of restoration of the mind, body, and soul as we go through the journey of our lives. Julian shares his journey of being a man that is more awake, kind, compassionate, and putting love out into the world. This episode is full of wisdom, and positive energy. Please give it a listen!
In this episode I share the importance of rest and solo time, and the acronym I came up with for REST.
On July 4, 2015, Angelica was beaten almost to death by another woman and left for dead. She shares her story of survival with a TBI (traumatic brain injury), and her positive outlook on life.
Happy Wednesday WESTIES! Today’s episode is all about preparing, and ways to properly prepare to have real PROSPERITY in our lives. Janet Conner puts it so nicely in her book The Lotus And The Lily ‘To have prosperity come home to roost for good.’
Diana Giovinazzo shares her journey of writing her first book 'The Woman In Red' (out August 2020) about the life of Anita Girabaldi. In Diana's own words; 'Anita is a feminist icon that we all need to recognize.'
My review of the new film "Harriet," a little bit about Harriet Tubman's life, and why she is one of the most amazing women to have ever lived.
On the show today I have Corrie Blissit of ‘Bliss Body Program.’ Corrie is a well of knowledge on all things health and wellness, mental health, and learning to listen to your body and own intuition. You’re sure to learn something from her strong and vulnerable share of her journey of getting to where she is today.
https://www.corrieblissit.com/
"My mission is to empower you to create your ideal life."
Today’s episode is light, airy, short and sweet! It’s a reminder to ‘Cheer Yourself Up’ now and again. This can be serenading a song to your favorite chocolate like I did (see photo on @westpodcast Instagram), dancing around your house to your favorite 70’s Rock N’ Roll song playing the air guitar, or telling yourself a joke. My challenge to you this week is to make yourself laugh! We can all honor the inner child within us, on a more regular basis.
Sure love you WESTIES!
Xo, Kiersten
Today’s episode may be one of the most important I have published so far. Part of why I started WEST was to give subjects that I personally believe don’t have enough of a voice, a louder one. Female PLEASURE and ORGASMS are one of these subjects. In our society, female pleasure is a taboo topic of conversation, and most often times, has an underlying tone of shame and guilt. So, naturally I came up with an acronym for ORGASM, to help us all as women, stand up against the societal and patriarchal stigmas for our pleasure!
Since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to do an episode all about breast’s! It was important to me to have this episode centered around gratitude for our breasts. I asked women ages 17-68 to share their ‘why’ on the reasons they’re thankful for their breasts.
Carol is the mother of 11, and shares her story of motherhood, her challenges, successes, the love she has for her children and family, and her decision to ultimately leave the Mormon church. Carol is a beautiful person inside and out, and was a joy to speak to!
In this episode I talk about the importance of embracing the GREY in our lives, instead of living such a rigid black and white life.
Today’s episode is a heavy one, but so important. TRIGGER WARNING: I share in detail how I have learned to rethink, rework. and rewire my brain and state of being despite the sexual abuse I have experienced throughout my life. I also speak to how those experiences repeatedly cemented old thoughts, patterns, and beliefs I had about myself, and how I learned to shift them into more positive beliefs.
GRATITUDE:
General
Recognition
Authentically
Transitioning
Into
Transformative
Understanding Of
Deeper
Everything
I interview psychologist Don St. John on his award winning book 'Healing The Wounds Of Childhood.'