Coming to you from Wyoming and the Grand Tetons, Episode 22 of the Sacred Souljourners Podcast continues our Season 2 exploration of one powerful word: TRUST.

After months on the road—two humans, three dogs and a travel trailer—we're discovering that trust isn't something you simply decide to have.

It's something you practice.

In this episode, we share a recent hike where the trail became increasingly unclear until eventually…the path disappeared. What began as an adventure in nature became a real-life lesson in intuition.

When do you keep pushing forward?
When do you stop?
How do you distinguish fear from the inner voice telling you it's time to turn around?

We're learning that intuition isn't always a booming voice.

Sometimes it's a nudge.
A feeling.
A moment of resistance.
A hawk circling overhead.
A stranger who appears at exactly the right time.
Or a quiet knowing that says, “Not this way.”

We also talk about boondocking in Wyoming, navigating challenges in our relationship, preparing for colder weather, unexpected “divine appointments,” and learning to surrender our need to know exactly how everything is going to work out.

At the center of this conversation is a question we're both learning to live:

Can you trust when you don't have confirmation that everything is going to be okay?

Troy shares how his relationship with trust is changing—from needing proof and certainty to recognizing that he may not know how something will work out and still trust that somehow, it will.

Maybe that's part of learning to hear our intuition.

When we stop trying to control every outcome, we create enough stillness to hear the part of ourselves that already knows.

This isn't about blindly following every feeling. It's about becoming curious enough to ask:

What is fear saying?
What is my intuition saying?
Am I forcing something because I'm afraid to turn around?
What might happen if I trusted myself enough to listen?

🔥 Pull up a seat around the fire.

If you've ever reached a place in life where the map no longer makes sense, this conversation is for you.

Sometimes losing the path doesn't mean you're lost. Sometimes it's the moment you finally learn to listen.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to the Teton Mountains
01:30 Campfire Conversations & Healing
02:25 The Journey of Trust
04:17 Challenges of Trust & Intuition
06:12 Trusting Intuition in Nature
10:06 Intuition & Stillness
11:27 Following Guidance
15:17 Nature, Intuition & Clarity
21:28 Boondocking in Wyoming
23:46 Divine Appointments & Trust
26:11 Challenges in the Relationship
27:10 Trusting the Universe
37:18 Acceptance & Non-Resistance
41:31 Trust Without Confirmation
42:52 Preparing for Winter
44:31 Trusting Yourself
46:31 Surrender & Curiosity

🎧 LISTEN & WATCH
Spotify • Apple Podcasts • YouTube • Amazon Music

🔥 FOLLOW THE JOURNEY
TikTok • Instagram • Facebook: @sacredsouljourners
sacredsouljourners.life

❤️ HELP US KEEP THE FIRE BURNING

Sacred Souljourners is a self-funded journey. If something we've shared has brought meaning to your path and you'd like to help us continue traveling, recording and sharing these conversations:

Venmo: @sacredsouljourners
$11, $22—or whatever number feels meaningful to you.

Two Humans. Three Dogs. One Journey.
Campfire conversations for the spiritually curious.

Explore • Question • Heal • Connect • Belong

What if the thing standing between you and the life you desire is not a lack of faith, but a younger part of you that does not feel safe enough to receive it?

Recorded from Grand Lake, Colorado, Zan and Troy welcome Ning Li, creator of Inner Child Alchemy.

Ning shares how achievement, financial success and relationships failed to heal what was hurting beneath the surface. Reading The Truth by Neil Strauss led him to a therapy conference and an inner-child letter-writing practice that changed his life.

Ning explains how present-day conflict, rejection, money, visibility and love can awaken fear, shame or scarcity rooted in childhood. Our triggers may not prove we are failing. They may reveal the subconscious blocks standing between us and what we want to create.

We explore reparenting the younger self, healing through conscious relationships and why manifestation may be less about forcing a "high vibration" and more about listening to the parts of us that are afraid to receive.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Childhood triggers
• Inner-child letters
• Reparenting
• Shame and scarcity

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Triggers can reveal where healing is needed.
• Shame is learned; it is not who you are.
• Fear may reveal what feels unsafe to receive.
• New responses create new possibilities.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships - Neil Strauss
https://www.neilstrauss.com/the-truth/

Inner Child Alchemy: A Beginner's Guide to Manifestation Through Healing Your Inner Child - Ning Li

Ning's free book, community and resources:
https://www.instant-alchemy.com/

Ning on TikTok: @innerchild
https://www.tiktok.com/@innerchild

SACRED SOULJOURNERS

Explore our ministry, community, events and offerings, including Campfire Witness Conversations, Sacred Roadie and Sit With the Fire:
https://sacredsouljourners.life

All listening platforms:
https://beacons.ai/sacredsouljourners

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sacredsouljourners
Troy: https://www.tiktok.com/@souljournertroy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacredsouljourners/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562942400439

SUPPORT THE JOURNEY

Your contribution helps us create free episodes and gather people around the fire.

Venmo: @sacredsouljourners
https://venmo.com/u/sacredsouljourners

Contribute $11, $22 or any magical number that feels aligned.

What does the younger part of me need to feel safe enough to receive the life I am ready to create?

Walk the path. Live the journey.

With love,
Zan and Troy
Sacred Souljourners

Finding the Sacred Through Experience

What if spirituality isn’t something we’re meant to simply believe, understand or practice—but something we’re meant to experience?

In episode 20 this week, we’re recording lakeside from beautiful Grand Lake, Colorado, after a week that became an unexpected immersion into the sacred.

For Troy, it was a week of firsts.

A sweat lodge. Sacred Sanskrit chanting and kirtan. A tea ceremony. Soaking in mountain water. Walking a labyrinth. Picking up an old telephone in the forest and speaking from the heart to someone who had passed. Seeing his first moose and an entire herd of elk. And finally, standing high in the Rocky Mountains realizing just how much of life he had missed while he was busy working through it.

But underneath all of those experiences, something much bigger was happening.

As a former Baptist pastor, Troy spent years believing there was a particular way spirituality was supposed to look. This journey is teaching him something different: the sacred can meet us in places we never expected—if we're willing to experience something before judging or defining it.

He shares a powerful realization:

For years, he knew how to go through the motions.

Church. Prayer. Tradition. Doing the “right” things.

But going through the motions isn't necessarily the same as feeling connected.

Meanwhile, returning to Colorado brought Zan face-to-face with her own transformation. Coming back to old friends and familiar places as a different version of herself raised another question:

What if changing doesn't mean we've lost ourselves? What if we're actually coming closer to who we really are?

In this episode we explore ceremony, worship, nature, balance, intuition, synchronicity, inner healing, conscious relationships, spiritual curiosity—and what happens when we become willing to encounter God, Source and the sacred outside the boxes we've created for them.

Maybe the invitation isn't to find another belief system.

Maybe it's simply to become curious enough to live the experience.

So this week we're leaving you with a question:

Where in your life is the sacred inviting you into an experience you've been trying to understand from the outside?

Maybe it's time to get curious.

🔥 SACRED SOULJOURNERS

Campfire conversations for the spiritually curious.

🌎 sacredsouljourners.life
TikTok • Instagram • Facebook: @sacredsouljourners

🎙️ Listen & follow on:
Spotify • Apple Podcasts • YouTube

❤️ HELP KEEP THE JOURNEY MOVING

Sacred Souljourners is a nonprofit journey taking us—and our three dogs, Gypsy Jane, Junior & Kipper—across the United States to experience sacred places, meet extraordinary people and gather the conversations we find along the way.

If our journey has touched your heart, made you curious, or helped you see your own path differently, you're invited to throw a little love into our traveling campfire.

🔥 Venmo: @sacredsouljourners

$11 • $22 • or any magical number that speaks to you.

Every contribution helps keep the wheels turning, the Soul Pack exploring and these conversations flowing.

Campfire, not cathedral.
Grace, not grind.
Journey, not doctrine.

Come sit by the fire. 🔥❤️

#SacredSouljourners #SpiritualJourney #SpiritualAwakening #FindingTheSacred #ConsciousLiving

Sacred Ceremony, Shadow Work & Choosing What Matters

What do you hold sacred—and what are you willing to release in order to protect it?

This week in Episode 19, Sacred Souljourners comes to you from Broomfield, Colorado, where we sit down with our dear friends Jen and Brian before Troy experiences his very first sweat lodge.

Jen and Brian Berryhill share how their journey into Sundance, sweat lodge ceremony and Indigenous teachings passed to them through Chief Golden Light Eagle transformed not only their spiritual lives, but their 25-year marriage. We explore ceremony, shadow work, conscious relationships, discernment, forgiveness and what it means to recognize something as sacred enough to tend, protect and choose again and again.

Jen shares how becoming a mother cracked open her spiritual journey, how shadow work changed her life and marriage, and how she now bridges two seemingly different worlds—supporting people through divorce and family transitions while bringing compassion, emotional awareness and spiritual understanding into some of life's hardest moments.

And then we each answer the question we ask every guest:

What are you willing to put in the fire? 🔥

Grief.
The story that says I'm not good enough.
Rage.
Reaction.
The energies and old wounds that keep us from living from our highest selves.

Maybe transformation isn't about becoming someone new.

Maybe it's about finally releasing what keeps us from coming home to who we already are.

🔥 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Jennifer Berryhill — Berryhill Family Law
Colorado Licensed Legal Paraprofessional & Certified Divorce Coach
Berryhill Family Law

The Dark Side of the Light Chasers — Debbie Ford
The book Jen credits as profoundly influencing her journey into shadow work, self-forgiveness and integration.
Learn more about The Dark Side of the Light Chasers

🔥 COME SIT BY THE FIRE

Sacred Souljourners
Campfire conversations for the spiritually curious.

🌎 SacredSouljourners.life
TikTok • Instagram • Facebook: @sacredsouljourners

🎙️ Listen & follow us on:
Spotify • Apple Podcasts • YouTube

❤️ HELP KEEP THE JOURNEY MOVING

Sacred Souljourners is a nonprofit journey built around conversation, connection, spiritual curiosity and the stories we gather as we travel across the United States—with our Soul Pack right beside us.

If something we've shared around the fire has touched your heart, helped you see something differently, or simply made you feel a little less alone on your own journey, you're invited to help keep our wheels turning and the campfire burning.

🔥 Venmo: @sacredsouljourners

$11 • $22 • or any magical number that speaks to you.

Your contribution helps support our journey across the country with Kipper, Junior & Gypsy Jane as we continue meeting people, gathering stories and creating conversations that remind us:

Campfire, not cathedral.
Grace, not grind.
Journey, not doctrine.

Come sit by the fire. 🔥❤️

We recorded Episode 18 from our campsite in the Ozarks, this week’s campfire conversation welcomes Chad Shober, founder of The Pneuma Experience, for a powerful exploration of breath, presence and spiritual remembering.

The word “pneuma” means breath, air or spirit—the Divine breath that gives us life. But this conversation isn’t about mastering another breathing technique. Chad invites us into something much simpler and deeper: pausing long enough to breathe with what is already here.

What happens when life doesn’t meet our expectations? When our nervous system becomes overwhelmed, our thoughts create painful stories or we react from fear instead of responding from love?

Can we stop fighting the moment and breathe through it?

During this episode, Chad guides Troy through a deeply personal experience. Troy has often described his mind as a battlefield—a place where fear and stories take over. But rather than trying to silence, conquer or fix his mind, Chad invites him to create a new relationship with it:

“I love my mind. I breathe with my mind.”

In that moment, the conversation moves beyond information and becomes a living experience of coming home—from the noise of the mind to the wisdom of the heart.

Together, we explore:

• Why the breath is more than a physical function
• How pausing helps us move from reaction to response
• Breathing through difficult emotions instead of around them
• The connection between breath and nervous-system regulation
• How our language reinforces the stories we believe
• Releasing the need to judge, fix or control ourselves and others
• Coming home to the heart through presence
• Spiritual awakening as spiritual remembering
• Why every part of our experience belongs
• How coherence creates space for love without requiring agreement

At the heart of this episode is a profound reminder: we are all seeking to know that we are loved, that we matter, that we haven’t been forgotten and that we belong.

Perhaps we were never truly lost.

Perhaps we only forgot.

This episode is an invitation to stop trying to breathe around the parts of life that feel uncomfortable. Bring them closer. Sit with them. Breathe through them. Allow the breath to carry you beneath the stories and back to the presence that has always been waiting within you.

If you are seeking greater peace in your life, don’t miss this episode.

Take a pause. Take a breath. Come sit with us around the fire.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Chad Schober is the founder of The Pneuma Experience, a space rooted in presence, breath and spiritual remembering. Rather than offering another rigid teaching or program, Chad invites people to experience what becomes possible when they slow down, breathe and listen to the wisdom already living within them.

Connect with Chad and explore The Pneuma Experience on YouTube and TikTok at @ThePneumaExperience.

CONNECT WITH SACRED SOULJOURNERS

Website: sacredsouljourners.life
TikTok: @sacredsouljourners
Troy's Dispatch Messages: TikTok: @souljournerTroy
Instagram: @sacredsouljourners
Facebook: Sacred Souljourners
YouTube: Sacred Souljourners

Listen and watch on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Amazon Music.

Real people. Real conversations. Sacred journeys.

Come sit by the fire.

This week in Episode 17:

What happens when your faith is challenged... and healing shows up in the place you least expect?

This week our journey takes us from a painful confrontation between Troy and his son over faith, identity, and leaving the church... to an unexpected prayer during a windshield repair... to a Bible study in Cleveland, Tennessee that completely changed our perspective.

Along the way, we explore what happens when Christianity, consciousness, nervous system healing, and personal transformation stop competing and begin speaking the same language.

We also share Troy's battle through nicotine withdrawal, the illusion of control, surrender, abandonment wounds, and what personal power really looks like when life doesn't go according to plan.

This conversation isn't about choosing religion or spirituality. It's about discovering that truth can arrive through many doorways when love is at the center.

Around this week's campfire:

🔥 Can faith and consciousness coexist?

🔥 What happens when old wounds shape our beliefs?

🔥 Why is surrender so difficult?

🔥 What if healing is less about being right... and more about becoming free?

If you've ever questioned your beliefs, wrestled with your faith, or wondered if there is a bridge between spirituality and Christianity, this conversation is for you.

Welcome to the campfire.

Resources Mentioned

🌿 Haven Earth Village
https://havenvillage.net/

🙏 Transformation Prayer Ministry
https://www.transformationprayer.org/

⛪ Peerless Church – Cleveland, TN
https://peerlesschurch.org/

Connect with Sacred Souljourners

🌐 Website
https://sacredsouljourners.life

🎙️ Listen Everywhere
Spotify • Apple Podcasts • YouTube

📱 Follow our journey

TikTok: @SacredSouljourners

Instagram: @SacredSouljourners

Facebook: Sacred Souljourners

🔥 Weekly Campfire Conversations for the Spiritually Curious

#SacredSouljourners #FaithAndConsciousness #SpiritualAwakening #InnerHealing #Christianity #ConsciousLiving #NervousSystemHealing #PersonalGrowth #Transformation #Podcast

Day one of our journey begins with a conversation that reaches straight into the heart of why we react, what we carry, and how we begin to heal.

In Episode 16, we sit around the fire with Nancy Gnecco—psychotherapist, energy-psychology consultant, and one of only 29 EFT Founding Masters—to explore Emotional Freedom Techniques, commonly known as tapping.

Nancy helps us understand how childhood experiences can become beliefs, patterns, and emotional reactions that follow us into our adult relationships. Together, we talk honestly about anger, abandonment, fear, the inner child, and what happens when two wounded nervous systems meet in the middle of a conflict.

Troy shares how fear once became anger—and how returning to the wounded parts of his childhood has helped him respond from the man he is today instead of the frightened little boy he once was. Zan shares what she is learning about witnessing emotional reactions without immediately becoming part of them.

As Nancy reminds us, healing is not about never being triggered or never encountering another storm. It is about learning how to return to ourselves more quickly when the storm arrives.

In this episode, we explore:

• What EFT tapping is and how it may support emotional regulation
• How childhood experiences shape adult beliefs and reactions
• Why couples often become two wounded children fighting to be heard
• Moving from fear and anger toward awareness and love
• Why healing our past does not weaken us—it helps us become whole
• Gratitudes, acknowledgments, and affirmations
• A guided tapping exercise you can experience with us

Nancy also shares an exclusive Souljourner offer: four private sessions, including the initial intake, for $500. To request the offer, mention that you are a Souljourner when contacting her.

Learn more about Nancy at nancygnecco.com.

Come sit by the fire with us. You don’t have to have everything figured out. You only have to remain curious—and keep finding your way home.

Two people. One fire. No script.

Visit us at sacredsouljourners.life

#SacredSouljourners #CampfireConversations #EFTTapping #InnerChildHealing #NervousSystemHealing #EmotionalRegulation #TraumaHealing #ConsciousRelationships #SpiritualAwakening #HealingJourney #FromFearToLove #StayCurious

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer
• Emotional Freedom Techniques—EFT for Christians: Tapping Into God’s Peace and Joy by Charity Virkler Kayembe and Sherrie Rice Smith
• Learn more about Nancy Gnecco and her EFT services at nancygnecco.com

Amazon links are provided for convenience. Sacred Souljourners does not receive compensation from these purchases unless otherwise stated.

What if the thing you're trying hardest to control... is the very thing keeping you from experiencing peace?

In Episode 15 this week around the campfire, Zan and Troy are joined by special guest Penny Cook of Cook Family Moringa Farm for one of their most honest conversations yet.

What began as a search for a replacement truck became something much deeper.

A blown motor.
A dealership that didn't work out.
A nervous system pushed to its limits.
A relationship learning to choose curiosity over certainty.

Together, they explore what happens when life doesn't follow the plan—and how surrender often opens doors that force never could.

In this episode you'll hear:

✨ Why "control" often disguises itself as safety
✨ The truck that wasn't... and the unexpected detour that followed
✨ How nervous system reactions can hijack our relationships
✨ Why curiosity creates connection while certainty creates conflict
✨ Penny's story of expectations, perfectionism, and learning to trust life on the farm
✨ The healing power of allowing space in relationships without making it mean separation
✨ How asking better questions changes everything

This isn't a conversation about having all the answers.

It's about becoming aware enough to ask better questions.

Because sometimes...

Control becomes the cage.

And curiosity becomes the key.

🔥 Introducing Campfire Witness Conversations with Zan & Troy

During this episode, Penny and her husband Matt experienced one of our first Campfire Witness Conversations, and we share what they discovered through simply being seen, heard, and witnessed.

We currently have 2 FREE Beta Sessions available (a $222 value) for couples who would like to experience this offering.

What is a Campfire Witness Conversation?

This is not therapy.
This is not counseling.
This is not mediation.

It is a sacred, guided conversation where two conscious couples gather in a safe container.

Together we create space to:

🔥 Be seen without judgment
🔥 Speak honestly and listen deeply
🔥 Recognize relationship patterns with compassion
🔥 Gain clarity through reflection rather than advice
🔥 Practice curiosity over certainty
🔥 Leave feeling more connected—to yourself and to each other

Each session is approximately 60 minutes and is held privately over Zoom with Zan and Troy.

The first two couples to reach out will receive this experience completely free as part of our beta launch.

📞 844-JOY-3227 (844-569-3227)

or send us a message on:

📱 TikTok: @sacredsouljourners
📷 Instagram: @sacredsouljourners
📘 Facebook: Sacred Souljourners

🌐 www.sacredsouljourners.com

In Episode 14 we ask... "What if the quality of your life isn't determined by the answers you have... but by the questions you're willing to ask?"

This week, Zan and Troy share one of the biggest breakthroughs they've experienced since beginning the Sacred Souljourners journey. They thought they were learning better communication. Instead, they discovered something much deeper:

Better questions create better relationships.

For years, they listened through fear, old wounds, abandonment, shame, and the stories their nervous systems created long before they met each other. What changed everything wasn't another communication technique—it was learning to pause, become curious, and ask better questions.

In this deeply personal campfire conversation, they explore:

🔥 Why asking better questions creates deeper connection.

🔥 How curiosity is replacing certainty in their relationship.

🔥 The power of creating each day with intention through meditation and affirmations.

🔥 A peaceful paddle on the river, an alligator encounter, and a white feather that became unexpected reminders that life is always speaking.

🔥 Why Jesus asked questions far more often than He gave answers—and what that teaches us about awakening and transformation.

🔥 The launch of their first Campfire Witness Conversation, and why witnessing someone may be more powerful than trying to fix them.

Throughout the episode, one question keeps returning:

Where am I listening from?

Am I listening from...

• Curiosity?

• Love?

• Fear?

• Protection?

• My past?

• Or the present moment?

Often the greatest discovery isn't what another person says...

It's realizing where we've been listening from all along.

If you've ever felt misunderstood, caught in the same arguments, or wondered why relationships can feel so difficult, this conversation is for you.

🔥 Campfire Questions

Take these with you this week:

• Where am I listening from?

• What story am I making this mean?

• What is my nervous system trying to protect?

• What belongs to today...and what belongs to my past?

• Where is life inviting me to expand today?

• Where is love asking me to respond differently?

Sometimes the quality of our lives changes simply because we begin asking better questions.

Resources Mentioned

🧘 Morning Meditation – Co-Create Your Day
https://youtu.be/ih-7OrlBgY8?is=u2itDuDMI70Yzubw

✨ Spirit Guides Inspiration
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DXTZoKFsrbs/

🎙️ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music & YouTube

🔥 Follow us on TikTok:
@SacredSouljourners
@SouljournerTroy

We're not gurus—we're fellow travelers, walking through the fire together, asking better questions, and inviting you to pull up a chair around the campfire.

Listening changes everything.

Walk the path. Live the journey. 🔥❤️

#SacredSouljourners #SpiritualPodcast #ConsciousRelationships #Awakening #HealingJourney #Mindfulness #SpiritualGrowth #SelfAwareness #CampfireConversations #ListeningMatters #DeepListening #CuriosityOverCertainty #BetterQuestions #RelationshipHealing #NervousSystemHealing #EmotionalIntelligence #PersonalGrowth #ChooseCuriosity #CommunicationSkills

A truck sale fell through. A motor blew. The Semi broke down. Old fears resurfaced. Childhood wounds came back to the surface. We almost found ourselves repeating the same patterns that have shaped our lives for decades.

But something was different.

Instead of asking "Why is this happening?" we began asking:

"How do we move through this with grace, ease and harmony?, let’s do it differently.”

In this deeply personal campfire conversation, Zan and Troy explore certainty, nervous system healing, generational patterns, abandonment wounds, trust, manifestation, and the powerful invitation of the Strawberry Full Moon in Capricorn.

Together we unpack:

• Why certainty has nothing to do with circumstances.
• How childhood conditioning quietly shapes adult relationships.
• The hidden stories we inherit from our parents and ancestors.
• Why healing begins when we stop identifying with our past.
• How Troy's truck sale became a living lesson in surrender, trust, and letting go of control.
• Practical ways to recognize when you're living from inherited programming instead of your own truth.

If you've ever wondered why you keep repeating the same emotional patterns, this conversation may help you see yourself in an entirely new way.

✨ Put a hand on your heart.
Come sit by the fire.

🔥 If this conversation resonates with you, we'd love to have you journey with us beyond the podcast.

Follow us on TikTok for daily reflections, behind-the-scenes moments from the road, and bite-sized spiritual insights:

📱 @SacredSouljourners (Zan & Troy)
📱 @SouljournerTroy

Visit us at www.sacredsouljourners.life to learn more, explore our offerings, and become part of our growing community.

With gratitude to Kai Nicola Werner for her thoughtful insights on the Strawberry Full Moon and ancestral healing that helped inspire part of this week's conversation.

🌙 Learn more at https://kainicolawerner.com

What began as a painful relationship rupture nearly pulled us apart. Old wounds surfaced, fears were activated, and we found ourselves standing at a crossroads: continue repeating familiar patterns or choose a new way forward.

Through a powerful coaching session, a heartfelt campfire ceremony, and a series of unexpected real-world tests, we discovered that the greatest lessons often arrive disguised as everyday challenges.

As we reflect on the symbolism of a Venus-Neptune heart opening, the Pluto test that followed, the Knight of Wands oracle card, the sale of Troy's truck, and even getting locked out of our own travel trailer, a deeper truth emerged:

The question wasn't whether we could feel connected.

The question was whether we could stay connected when things went wrong.

This conversation explores what happens when we stop fighting reality, release the stories that no longer serve us, and learn to trust the path unfolding before us—even when we can't yet see where it's leading.

Join us for an honest campfire conversation about love, trust, nervous system regulation, letting go of expectations, embracing uncertainty, and discovering that ease and grace aren't found in a life without challenges—they're found in how we move through them.

Because sometimes the lock isn't the problem.

Sometimes the lock is the lesson.

And sometimes the key has been in our hands all along.

Takeaways

🔥 The greatest breakthroughs are often followed by real-life tests.

🔥 Love deepens when we learn to stay connected during difficult moments.

🔥 Nervous system regulation creates space for conscious choice instead of automatic reaction.

🔥 Letting go of expectations can open the door to unexpected opportunities.

🔥 Ease and grace aren't the absence of challenges—they're how we meet them.

🔥 Spiritual growth becomes real when it shows up in everyday life.

🔥 The answers we're searching for are often closer than we think.

🔥 Sometimes life isn't testing our love—it's testing our willingness to trust it.

Chapters

00:00 – Love, Lessons & Locked Doors
06:15 – The Fight That Brought Everything to the Surface
18:40 – Learning Regulation & Creating Space
29:10 – The Campfire Ceremony: Burning Old Stories
37:30 – The Truck Sale & Letting Go of Expectations
46:15 – The Knight of Wands: Choosing Spirit Over Fear
53:20 – Locked Out of the Trailer
1:01:10 – The Key Was Inside All Along
1:07:30 – When We Stopped Fighting Reality

🌲 Website: sacredsouljourners.life

🎙️ Sacred Souljourners Podcast

📱 Follow our journey on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for behind-the-scenes moments, campfire conversations, life on the road, and the real-time adventures of two Souljourners learning to trust the path. @sacredsouljourners & @souljournerTroy (TikTok)

If this episode resonates with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may need this conversation today.

🔥 Awaken • Trust • Align 🔥

What happens when you finally realize that love isn't the problem—trust is?

In this deeply personal campfire conversation, Zan and Troy share how a powerful breathwork session and 3D–5D consciousness masterclass created three unexpected days of peace, presence, and flow. But just when it seemed like everything was shifting, a deeper layer emerged: the hidden fears, nervous system reactions, and old survival patterns standing between them and true commitment.

Together they explore the "trust gap"—the space between wanting to trust and actually feeling safe enough to do it. Through stories of breathwork, nervous system regulation, relationship triggers, childhood wounds, and the challenge of surrendering control, they reveal how fear often disguises itself as protection.

This episode is for anyone who has ever struggled with commitment, battled anxious thoughts, felt trapped by old patterns, or wondered why the same relationship challenges keep repeating.

Around the fire, Zan and Troy ask a powerful question:

What if trust isn't about learning something new—but about putting down something old?

Join us for an honest conversation about healing, vulnerability, faith, nervous system awareness, and what it means to truly commit when every part of you wants to stay protected.

🔥 Topics Include:
• Breathwork and emotional release
• 3D, 4D, and 5D consciousness
• The nervous system and relationship triggers
• Trust versus self-protection
• Fear, commitment, and vulnerability
• Learning to walk by faith instead of fear
• What we're putting into the fire this New Moon

📚 Resources Mentioned:

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
The Celestine Prophecy on Amazon

🔥 Follow Our Journey:

TikTok: @SacredSouljourners

Join Zan, Troy, and the Souljourner Pack as they share life on the road, behind-the-scenes moments from the podcast, campground adventures, spiritual insights, and the real-life journey of learning to trust the path as it unfolds.

TikTok: @SouljournerTroy

From Pulpit to Presence: Troy's Daily Dispatches

After spending years as a Baptist pastor and evangelist, Troy now shares short daily reflections on consciousness, faith, personal growth, relationships, and what it means to awaken beyond doctrine and into direct experience. Honest, unfiltered, and straight from the campfire.

🌲 Website:
sacredsouljourners.life

Come sit by the fire.

In this deeply personal episode of Sacred Souljourners, Zan and Troy share what happened when life in a travel trailer became an unexpected spiritual retreat.

What begins with a calm hawk perched on a playground and a water moccasin appearing at dawn unfolds into a powerful exploration of trust, abandonment wounds, anger, control, and the patterns that quietly shape our lives.

Following a transformative coaching session with their spiritual mentor, Troy begins uncovering the roots of lifelong mistrust and abandonment. Meanwhile, Zan comes face-to-face with a deeper question:

What has anger been protecting all these years?

Together they explore how nature mirrors our healing journey, why awareness can feel more uncomfortable than staying asleep, and what it means to witness our patterns rather than be controlled by them.

This episode is part of our Month Two theme:

Purification by Fire — Burning Relationships, Roles, and Reactions.

If you've ever struggled with trust, fear, emotional triggers, control, or the feeling that life keeps repeating the same lessons, this conversation may resonate deeply.

Because perhaps we are not broken.

Perhaps we are patterned.

And perhaps healing begins when we finally learn to see.

🔥 Welcome to the fire.

Love,
Zan & Troy

Resources Mentioned

🎧 FREE! The Channel Activation Private Podcast (Listen before June 23rd)
https://offers.therawandwildhearts.com/af/253839408/1191512

✨ Channel: A 9-Week Immersive Online Experience with Lori Reising
https://offers.therawandwildhearts.com/af/253839408/1192490

💫 Tapping Into Abundance with Lori Reising
https://offers.therawandwildhearts.com/af/253839408/1192484

🙏 Our Spiritual Coach: Lori Reising

Many of the breakthroughs discussed in this episode were inspired by our work with Lori. Her guidance around awareness, root wounds, identity deconstruction, nervous system healing, and spiritual embodiment has been instrumental in our journey.

*We don't recommend anything we haven't personally experienced ourselves.

Some links above are affiliate links. If you choose to enroll through them, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Your support helps us continue sharing our Sacred Souljourners journey.

Souljourner Library

📖 Medicine Heart Oracle: Shamanic Wisdom of the Divine Feminine
https://a.co/d/07dgW4jQ

📖 Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires
https://a.co/d/08vVOkur

📖 The Untethered Soul — Michael Singer

📖 Becoming Supernatural — Joe Dispenza

🌎 Follow the Journey
https://sacredsouljourners.life

Socials:
https://beacons.ai/sacredsouljourners

🔥 WE FINALLY LEFT: A Story of Faith, Fire & Becoming 🔥

After months of dreaming, planning, downsizing, packing, and navigating one of life's most stressful transitions, we finally did it — we left.

In this deeply personal episode, we share the real story behind moving from a four-bedroom house into a travel trailer, the challenges we faced as a couple, and the tools that helped us move through stress, uncertainty, and emotional overwhelm without losing ourselves in the process.

We also talk about beginning work with our new spiritual coach, Lori Reising, and how the timing of that work unexpectedly brought hidden patterns and deeper healing to the surface right in the middle of the move. Ouch!

And then nature showed up.

On our first night at Ocean Pond, a hawk appeared beside our campsite, followed later by a pair of alligators. We share how these messengers reminded us to trust the bigger vision, stay grounded in the present moment, and have faith in the journey unfolding before us.

If you're navigating a major life transition, standing in the unknown, or learning who you're becoming, this conversation is for you.

🔥 Resources Mentioned

We are currently working with Lori Reising and are grateful for the impact her work is having on our journey. The links below are affiliate links, which means Sacred Souljourners may receive a commission if you choose to participate. These partnerships help support our travels and allow us to continue creating free content and campfire conversations along the road. Thank you for your contribution for us, but more importantly for yourselves. As we all do our “work” the elevation of the frequency rises for all.

✨ The Channel Activation Private Podcast
https://offers.therawandwildhearts.com/af/253839408/1191512

✨ Channel: A 9-Week Immersive Online Experience
https://offers.therawandwildhearts.com/af/253839408/1192490

✨ Tapping Into Abundance with Lori Reising
https://offers.therawandwildhearts.com/af/253839408/1168567

✨ The Path Masterclass
https://offers.therawandwildhearts.com/af/253839408/1160185

Come sit by the fire. 🔥

In this heartfelt episode of Sacred Souljourners, Zan Kavanah and Troy Hawkner sit down with astrologer Carolina Velis of Quest Mystic for an open and grounded conversation about astrology, self-awareness, personal growth, and the deeper patterns that shape our lives.

Together, they explore astrology not as something to fear, but as a tool for reflection — one that can help us better understand ourselves, our relationships, our emotions, and the seasons of transformation we move through as human beings.

Carolina shares insights on current planetary energy, the connection between the mind, heart, and nervous system, and how moments of challenge can become opportunities for healing, alignment, and growth. The conversation becomes deeply personal as Zan and Troy reflect on relationship patterns, emotional triggers, surrender, and the ongoing journey of becoming more conscious, compassionate, and authentic versions of themselves.

Whether you’re deeply familiar with astrology or simply curious about why so many people are exploring these ancient systems today, this episode is an invitation to listen with an open mind and discover how self-awareness, reflection, and intentional living can help guide us toward greater peace, purpose, and connection.

🔥 Topics include:
• Astrology as a tool for self-discovery
• Emotional healing & personal growth
• Relationship patterns & deeper awareness
• Fear vs intuition
• Nervous system healing & alignment
• Manifestation, abundance & timing
• Letting go of control
• Following the call of awakening

Come sit by the fire. 🔥

✨ Connect with Carolina Velis & Quest Mystic:

Cosmic Wealth Collective Waitlist
Cosmic Wealth Collective Waitlist

Money Magnet Mentor GPT (Freebie)
Money Magnet Mentor GPT

Book a Reading with Carolina
Book a Reading with Carolina

In this deeply personal campfire conversation, Zan Kavanah and Troy Hawkner explore the ego, perception, emotional triggers, and the painful realization that many of our reactions are rooted in old survival patterns—not present moment truth.

Through raw stories from their own relationship, they unpack how childhood conditioning, trauma, the “pain body,” and inherited emotional programming shape the way we react, defend, control, and protect ourselves. Together, they explore what it really means to become aware of the ego while it’s happening—and how presence becomes the doorway to freedom.

This episode dives into:
• Why perception is not always truth
• How the ego defends identity and emotional pain
• The difference between reacting and responding
• The “pain body” and emotional looping
• Nervous system overwhelm and relationship triggers
• Why awareness weakens the ego
• The power of pause, presence, and conscious choice
• What it means to stop “dumpster diving” through old wounds

Recorded during the powerful Taurus New Moon and Fire Horse energies, this conversation is an invitation to burn away illusion, loosen the grip of the past, and remember who you are beneath the story.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

📘 Eckhart Tolle – A New Earth
https://www.eckharttolle.com/a-new-earth/

🌍 Access Consciousness
https://www.accessconsciousness.com/

✨ The Clearing Statement
http://www.theclearingstatement.com/

If you’ve ever found yourself reacting in ways you later regret… if you’ve felt exhausted by old emotional patterns… or if you’re learning how to stay present while everything inside you wants to defend itself—this episode is for you.

Come sit by the fire. 🔥

Not surface-level healing. Not spiritual theory.
This is what it looks like when your patterns, triggers, and emotional reactions are no longer easy to ignore.

In this Month Two conversation—Purification by Fire: The Inner Child Revealed—we break open the truth behind the reactions that keep showing up in your life and your relationships.

Because what you’re reacting to…
is rarely what’s actually happening.

It’s the inner child.
The unmet need.

The old story still running underneath your present moment.

We talk about what happens when those patterns rise to the surface—how love becomes the mirror, how triggers expose what’s unresolved, and why emotional safety is often a hidden contract we don’t even realize we’re making.

This is about deconstructing the programming.

Naming what’s really there.
And learning how to sit in the fire… without abandoning yourself or projecting onto the person in front of you.

We also explore the deeper energetic layer of what’s happening right now—how current astrological shifts are amplifying emotional exposure and forcing a real audit of what’s sustainable moving forward.

This episode is raw.
It’s emotional.
And it’s honest about what it actually takes to move through trauma, reconnect to yourself, and stop letting the past run your present.

If you’ve been feeling triggered, disconnected, or unsure why things feel heavier than usual…

This is the work.

🔥 TAKEAWAYS

• Your triggers are rooted in the past, not the present
• The inner child drives more of your behavior than you think
• Emotional safety is often an unspoken contract in relationships
• Avoiding your patterns keeps them running
• Naming your feelings is the beginning of healing
• You don’t lose love—you lose capacity when you over-carry

🔥 CHAPTERS

00:00 — Walking Into the Fire: Awakening & Deconstruction
06:01 — The Inner Child & Where the Wound Begins
11:52 — Why Everything Feels Intensified Right Now
20:34 — What Inner Child Work Actually Means
31:19 — Triggers Are Time Machines
37:11 — The Hidden Contract of Love
46:15 — When the Light Exposes the Shadow
53:26 — Meeting the Inner Child in Real Time
01:00:32 — Naming the Feeling, Changing the Pattern
01:06:32 — You Don’t Complete Each Other—You Reveal Each Other

Love isn’t always soft—and this conversation doesn’t pretend it is. Around the fire on Sacred Souljourners, Zan and Troy sit with Heather Grace and Jason Michael of The Powers of Love to explore what it really means to be in an evolutionary relationship. This is where psychology meets lived experience—drawing from We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love and Evolutionary Love Relationships: Passion, Authenticity, and Activism—and bringing it into the raw, unfiltered reality of love that challenges you to grow.

This isn’t theory—it’s happening in real time. As the conversation unfolds, Zan and Troy are actively processing their own patterns, triggers, and breakthroughs, revealing deeper truths as they move through them. You’ll hear what it sounds like when love becomes the mirror… when intimacy exposes what’s unresolved… and when two people choose to stay present instead of run. This is the work—messy, honest, and transformative.

If you’ve ever felt triggered in love, caught in patterns you don’t fully understand, or called into something deeper than surface-level connection…
come sit with us at the fire.

Takeaways :

• Evolutionary love challenges you to grow—not just feel good
• Triggers are doorways into deeper awareness
• Projection and unconscious patterns shape relationships
• Intimacy reveals what still needs healing
• Repair and presence are essential to conscious love
• Real transformation happens through lived experience

Chapters :

00:00 Entering the Fire: Love, Triggers & Awakening
07:00 Intimacy as the Mirror
12:30 Projection, Patterns & Deeper Truths
28:45 Real-Time Processing in Relationship
44:10 Repair, Compassion & Choosing Growth
58:00 Integration & Moving Forward

References & Resources

• Learn more about Heather & Jason: The Powers of Love
https://www.thepowersoflove.com/

• We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love
https://a.co/d/0ihvbhTc

• Evolutionary Love Relationships: Passion, Authenticity, and Activism
https://a.co/d/0gaGP7sR

Not theory. Not spiritual fluff.
This is what it looks like to live as a firekeeper of your own heart in real time.

And here’s the truth… when you’re in flow—when you’re fully present and not trying to control every outcome—that’s when the magic actually happens.

Recorded after a powerful weekend in Sedona, this campfire conversation is different. It’s lighter, it’s real, and it’s full of stories—moments where Zan and Troy chose flow instead of control… and watched life meet them in ways they couldn’t have planned.

They share the shift from tension and emotional overwhelm into trust, alignment, and inner authority—not by getting it right, but by staying present when everything in you wants to react.

This is about letting old identities burn, stepping into sacred union without earning love, and learning to move with life instead of against it.

And in that space… something unexpected happens.
Alignment. Synchronicity. A proposal that didn’t come from pressure—but from truth.

If you’re in the in-between… if things are breaking down and you don’t fully understand why…
this is the work.

And flow? That’s the reward.

This is the fire. 🔥

Welcome to Sacred Souljourners — campfire conversations for the spiritually curious.

We're Troy Hawkner, a former Baptist evangelical preacher who walked away from the pulpit to rediscover the sacred on his own terms, and Zan Kavanah — transmission artist, wisdom keeper, founder of AQUAMANTRA Water, and Sacred Paint & Play facilitator who has spent over two decades teaching consciousness, manifestation, and heart-mind coherence through lived experience.

Together we explore spiritual awakening, shadow work, inner child healing, sacred relationship, vibration, and frequency — no dogma, no gurus, just two people walking the path openly and inviting you to pull up a chair.

In June 2026 we're hitting the road in a trailer with three dogs — hosting open fire circles wherever the sacred calls us.

If you found this — something in you is already ready.

Awaken. Trust. Align.

✨ JOIN THE SACRED SOULJOURNERS COMMUNITY: 🔥 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacredsouljourners

📩 Weekly campfire conversations: https://sacredsouljourners.life

💛 SUPPORT THE MOVEMENT: Become a Souljourner — $11/month contribution: https://sacredsouljourners.life

🎨 CONNECT WITH ZAN: 🌐 Art + Transmission work: https://www.zankavanahart.com 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zankavanahart 🎨 Sacred Paint & Play retreats: https://www.zankavanahart.com/booking-calendar

Sacred Souljourners is an independent podcast created with devotion to walking through the global fire together.

Awakening isn’t peaceful—it’s raw, emotional, and at times… confronting. In this conversation, we open up about what happens when old patterns rise to the surface and can no longer be ignored.

We explore samskaras—the emotional imprints that quietly run our reactions, our relationships, and our triggers—and what it looks like to finally see them in real time.

Through our own experiences, we talk about the intensity that comes with intimacy, how love becomes the mirror for what’s unresolved, and why awakening often feels like everything is falling apart before it comes back together.

This episode is about recognizing the patterns, sitting in the discomfort, and choosing to move through it instead of running from it.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your emotions, triggered in love, or confused by your own reactions…
this is the work.

Come sit with us at the fire.

Takeaways :

• Awakening brings emotional intensity—not just clarity
• Samskaras are the hidden drivers behind our reactions
• Intimacy reveals what still needs to be healed
• Childhood wounds show up in adult relationships
• Awareness is the first step—but integration is the work
• Gratitude and acceptance shift the healing process

Chapters :
00:00 Entering the Fire: Awakening & Emotional Intensity
07:00 Intimacy as the Mirror
11:54 Childhood Wounds & Repeating Patterns
35:13 Facing Aggression & Shadow in Real Time
49:00 Gratitude, Acceptance & Moving Forward

From there, Zan and Troy dive into one of the most subtle—but destructive—patterns we all carry: the stories we create in our minds.

Inspired by The Four Agreements, they unpack how assumptions and taking things personally quietly fuel conflict, disconnection, and emotional pain—especially in relationships.

Through real, vulnerable moments from their own week, they reveal how quickly the mind turns uncertainty into “truth”… and how often that truth isn’t real at all.

But the deeper work isn’t just awareness—it’s choice.

This conversation explores:

• The difference between reacting from old wounds vs. responding from your higher self
• How triggers reveal unhealed parts of you, not flaws in others
• Why most conflict is rooted in miscommunication, not intention
• And how simple tools—like pausing, asking clarifying questions, and breathing—can completely shift an outcome

Troy shares a powerful breakthrough in choosing presence over reaction in a heated moment, while Zan reflects on releasing control, victim patterns, and the habit of taking things personally.

They also introduce a practical next step: creating conscious relationship agreements—a framework that replaces assumption with clarity and alignment.

This episode is ultimately about reclaiming your energy.

Because when you stop believing every story your mind creates…
you stop giving your power away.

🔥 Refined Takeaways (Make These Hit Harder):

• Most suffering comes from stories—not reality
• Assumptions are guesses your mind turns into facts
• Taking things personally is often a reflection of old wounds
• Pause > React is a life-changing practice
• Clarity comes through breath, presence, and awareness
• Healthy relationships require clear agreements, not mind-reading
• Your power is in how you respond—not what happens to you

⏱️ Chapters (Cleaned + Stronger Language):

00:00 – Opening Prayer & Setting the Frequency
05:10 – How Assumptions Create False Reality
21:19 – Why We Take Things Personally (And How It Hurts Us)
27:05 – Breaking the Pattern: Reacting vs. Conscious Response
47:50 – Creating Relationship Agreements That Actually Work

We’re Zan and Troy—two people who didn’t just meet… we recognized each other in the fire. Through breakdowns, breakthroughs, and everything in between, we’re learning what it actually means to trust yourself, follow divine guidance, and choose love over fear.

This is for the spiritually curious—the ones who’ve outgrown dogma but still crave something real.

Around this fire, we talk about spiritual sovereignty, shadow work, inner child healing, and manifestation through living altars—but not as concepts… as lived experience. Nature is our teacher. The fire is our mirror. And every conversation is an invitation back to your own inner authority.

If you’ve ever felt like there’s more… but no clear map—
pull up a seat.

Takeaways

• Spiritual Sovereignty
• Curiosity over Dogma Manifestation through altars
• Spiritual guidance and intuition
• Inner child healing and shadow work
• Nature as a spiritual guide
• Journey of self-discovery and transformation

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Sacred SoulJourners Podcast
• 06:24 Core Themes of the Podcast
• 12:01 Troy's Journey and Background
• 23:05 Divine Guidance and Spiritual Exploration
• 50:28 The Sacred Souljourner Journey