EP 391 | Beyond Survival: Redefining Strength and Self-Leadership

WITH ANDREA CRISP

 
 
 

Courage taught me how to survive. Alignment is teaching me how to live.
— Andrea Crisp
 

In this episode, we are continuing the series on moving from courage to alignment by exploring the deeply ingrained “strong woman” identity — and how survival can quietly shape our leadership, nervous system, and relationship with rest.

I share personal reflections on growing up as the emotional rock, living in survival mode, and learning to soften into embodied self-leadership rather than urgency and self-abandonment.

In this episode, we explore:

  • What survival really looks like beneath the surface

  • How survival often disguises itself as strength, competence, and responsibility

  • The nervous system patterns behind being “the strong one”

  • Survival leadership vs. self-leadership

  • Why slowing down can feel unsafe — and how to rebuild safety•

  • What embodied energy looks like in daily life and decision-making

  • How to trust your intuition and inner authority without forcing clarity

This episode is for you if you’re the one everyone leans on. If thinking about rest makes you feel guilty and if slowing down makes your feel uncomfortable.

 How to work withe me:

 Learn more about one-on-one coaching -> Align Coaching

Group mastermind & coaching -> Align & Empower

 Let's Connect:

 Find me on Instagram -> @andreacrispcoach

Find me on Insight Timer -> Free Meditations

Find me on the Web -> andreacrisp.ca

 If this episode resonated, pleases share it with someone who needs the reminder that they don't have to be the strong one.

 Original Music and Production By Stephen Crilly.

 
 
 
 

Listen Here:

 
 
 

If you’re feeling called to be held, supported, and guided as you navigate this season, I’d love to walk alongside you. My work is for intuitive, impact-driven women who don’t need to be fixed—but who desire a grounded, embodied space to reconnect with their purpose, regulate their nervous system, and move forward in alignment when the time is right. If something in this reflection resonated, that’s often the invitation itself.

EP 390 | From Surviving To Living: My Evolution | Andrea Crisp

WITH ANDREA CRISP

 
 
 

Courage taught me how to survive. Alignment is teaching me how to live.
— Andrea Crisp
 

“Courage taught me how to survive. Alignment is teaching me how to live.”

After almost a decade, The Couragecast is entering a sacred transition.

In this episode, I share the heart behind the closing of the courage season—not as a goodbye rooted in loss, but as a completion rooted in truth. Courage carried me through burnout, life transitions, leaving ministry, deconstructing faith, building a business, and learning how to choose myself. But courage, as a way of leading and living, no longer fits who I am becoming.

This conversation is an honest reflection on the evolution from fear-led courage to soul-led alignment. It’s about outgrowing survival mode, releasing identities that once kept us safe, and learning how to live—and lead—from embodiment, intuition, and trust.

In this episode we explore:

  • Why courage was necessary for survival—but not for this next chapter

  • The difference between fear-based bravery and soul-led alignment

  • How survival leadership shows up in the body and nervous system

  • Letting go of hustle, urgency, and proving

  • What it means to move from surviving to truly living

  • A gentle somatic reflection to honor completion and emergence

This episode includes a simple embodied pause to help you reflect on what feels complete in your own life and what is ready to be released so you can soften into what's emerging next.

“Courage built the bridge. Alignment builds the home.”

How to Work With Me:

I work with intuitive, high-capacity women who are transitioning out of survival mode and into embodied, soul-led leadership.

In 1:1 Align Coaching we go beneath the surface together. You’ll release the patterns that keep you overworking, people-pleasing, or looping in self-doubt, while healing blocks to confidence, worthiness, and abundance.

Align & Empower is for heart-centred women ready to grow embodied confidence and self trust—supported, seen, and expanded through conscious community, not burn out. This small-group coaching container designed for women who want to expand their influence while staying fully grounded. Together, we release limiting beliefs, cultivate embodied leadership, and create a safe, supportive space to explore aligned action. You’ll gain clarity, confidence, and presence in your life and work, learning to lead with ease and impact while staying deeply connected to yourself.

Aligned Money is an eight-week coaching container for heart-centred female leaders and entrepreneurs who feel stuck and stressed around money and want grounded safety, trust and the freedom to receive more.

You can find my guided meditations, somatic practices, and nervous system support on Insight Timer. These practices are designed to help you come home to your body, soften out of survival, and reconnect with intuition and trust.

Search my name on Insight Timer and follow along.

If this episode resonates, please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast. Your support helps this work reach the women who are standing at the edge of their own evolution.

Original Music and Production By Stephen Crilly

 
 
 
 

Listen Here:

 
 
 

If you’re feeling called to be held, supported, and guided as you navigate this season, I’d love to walk alongside you. My work is for intuitive, impact-driven women who don’t need to be fixed—but who desire a grounded, embodied space to reconnect with their purpose, regulate their nervous system, and move forward in alignment when the time is right. If something in this reflection resonated, that’s often the invitation itself.

EP 389 | You're Being Called Forward: Not To Do More But To Lead Differently

WITH ANDREA CRISP

 
 
 

If rest hasn’t fixed the burnout, it might not be exhaustion — it may be misalignment.The question is no longer: What’s do I need to be doing”
It’s: What is asking to be expressed through me now?”
— Andrea Crisp
 

You may be in the "messy middle" of your life or business, that space that I call an identity limbo. Maybe you've left and old way of being behind, but haven't fully stepped into what's next — and that uncertainty feels unsettling. 

In this episode, I share what it truly feels like to move beyond hustle, burnout, and trying to follow the prescribed path, and instead step into aligned, embodied leadership. This is about showing up fully as yourself in business, life, and relationships — and trusting your inner guidance along the way. 

In this episode, we explore:

  • Why transitioning from old ways of being often feels uncertain and uncomfortable.

  • Being seen isn't about doing more — it's about trusting yourself more.

  • True leadership begins with being self-directed, aligning with your inner knowing.

  • Success comes when you take intentional steps and trust divine timing.

  • Embodied leadership flourishes in supportive spaces where you feel witnessed.

  • Your choices, voice and alignement have a greater reach than what you see.

"Embodied leaders don't have to perform. They don't have to constantly be on. They simply trust themselves, follow their intuition, and lead with their values."

Connect With Andrea: @andreacrispcoach

Learn more about Align & Empower

Original Music and Production By Stephen Crilly

 
 
 
 

Listen Here:

 
 
 

If you’re feeling called to be held, supported, and guided as you navigate this season, I’d love to walk alongside you. My work is for intuitive, impact-driven women who don’t need to be fixed—but who desire a grounded, embodied space to reconnect with their purpose, regulate their nervous system, and move forward in alignment when the time is right. If something in this reflection resonated, that’s often the invitation itself.

EP 388 | You're Not Broken: You're Outgrowing The Way You've Been Leading

WITH ANDREA CRISP

 
 
 

If rest hasn’t fixed the burnout, it might not be exhaustion — it may be misalignment.
— Andrea Crisp
 

Lately, I’ve been hearing the same thing over and over from women I’m in community with: “I’m unmotivated. I’m exhausted. I’m questioning everything.” And yet, rest doesn’t seem to fix it. The truth is, there’s a kind of burnout that doesn’t come from doing too much or hustling harder — it comes from leading in a way that no longer fits who you are becoming.

In this post, I want to help you understand this deeper, often overlooked burnout and what it really means for your leadership, your identity, and your energy.

Burnout From Misalignment Vs. Overdoing

Burnout from overdoing is familiar: working too hard, carrying too many roles, pushing through exhaustion. Rest and boundaries usually help. But burnout from misalignment is different. It doesn’t come from effort — it comes from being out of sync with your identity, values, and energy.

This type of burnout shows up as:

  • Feeling disoriented rather than tired

  • Losing desire for things that once brought joy

  • Quiet resistance to strategies or routines that used to work

You may still be capable of doing the work, but it no longer feels right. You feel “off” even before you start. This isn’t a problem to fix — it’s a transition to honour. As I often say:

“If rest hasn’t fixed the burnout, it may not be exhaustion — it may be misalignment.”

Why Intuitive Women Are Especially Vulnerable

Highly intuitive, empathic women feel more than most. You pick up collective fear, grief, and exhaustion — sometimes before it’s even visible. And when you’ve been the strong one, the guide, the “therapist friend,” or the emotional stabilizer, your energy is already carrying everyone else’s needs.

This constant holding, regulating, and supporting can leave you feeling depleted, isolated, and unsure where to turn when you need support yourself. It’s not a weakness — it’s the invisible cost of being in service while living in misalignment.

When Healing Becomes Self-Doubt

Healing is sacred work. But when it turns into constant self-monitoring — asking, “Am I projecting? Am I regulated? Do I need to heal more before I act?” — it can delay action, foster hesitation, and create self-doubt.

If you notice yourself stuck in the loop of hyper-awareness and second-guessing, you might be mistaking processing for progress. Real clarity comes from alignment, not perfection.

The Identity Limbo

Many women feel caught in the “messy middle” of their leadership journey. You know you’re here for more, but you cannot do it the old way. Old messaging, old business models, and old hustle patterns no longer resonate. You might feel the pull to hide, pause, or even quit — but what’s actually happening is your nervous system recalibrating.

This limbo is not stagnation; it’s initiation. It’s a moment of recalibration that signals a new identity is forming — one that is truer to you and your calling.

How Community and Co-Regulation Support Transition

You don’t have to go through this alone. Co-regulation and supportive communities help you navigate misalignment burnout without forcing or hustling. Being seen, witnessed, and mirrored by others allows your nervous system to settle, your intuition to return, and your energy to realign with your evolving identity.

This is exactly why I created Align & Empower, my mastermind for intuitive, heart-centered women who are ready to release identities they’ve outgrown, reclaim their energy, and lead from embodied authority — personally and professionally. In this container, women stop pushing, performing, and proving — and start leading from alignment and truth.

 
 
 
 

Listen Here:

 
 
 

If you’re feeling called to be held, supported, and guided as you navigate this season, I’d love to walk alongside you. My work is for intuitive, impact-driven women who don’t need to be fixed—but who desire a grounded, embodied space to reconnect with their purpose, regulate their nervous system, and move forward in alignment when the time is right. If something in this reflection resonated, that’s often the invitation itself.

EP 387 | Purpose, Pauses, And The World We're Living In

WITH ANDREA CRISP

 
 
 

You might feel heavy. Maybe disoriented. Maybe like you’re standing still. And that can feel especially difficult at the start of a new year.
— Andrea Crisp
 

I want to name something that many of us are feeling right now.

Maybe at the beginning of this year, you had hope. You felt like 2026 was going to be your year—full of vision and intention. Maybe you even felt clearer than you have in a very long time and ready to take on whatever came your way in your life, in your business, and with your impact.

And then… life happened.
The world happened.

Collectively, politically, things intensified. And suddenly, the energy that started the year felt harder to access.

This is for anyone who didn’t expect to feel this much weight so early in the year and is wondering: What does this mean for me? What does it mean for my purpose, my work, and my momentum?

A Slower Beginning Than Expected

This is the first reflection I’m sharing in 2026, and honestly, I wasn’t sure when—or how—I was going to begin the year. I wasn’t fully prepared for the heaviness that arrived so early.

As I was journaling and checking in with myself about how I want to show up at the beginning of this year, it became clear that this is the conversation I want to have.

I’m an intuitive empowerment coach based in Ontario, Canada, and I’ve been podcasting for eight years. I’m deeply honored to coach women around the world to step into their purpose through energetic, somatic, and mindset work—supporting them in living brave, aligned lives.

But today isn’t about strategy or vision boards. It’s about what’s happening right now.

You might feel heavy. Maybe disoriented. Maybe like you’re standing still. And that can feel especially difficult at the start of a new year.

Collective Grief Lives In The Body

There’s this idea that January means fresh starts, instant clarity, and full momentum. But the truth is, the year doesn’t energetically begin for many of us until February. January is still a shedding season—a releasing of what was.

Add to that the collective grief, political unrest, and global tension we’re living in, and it makes sense that things feel slow, dense, or overwhelming.

Even if what’s happening isn’t directly impacting your personal life, collective trauma lands in the body.

It’s not just something we think about. We carry it.

If you’re empathic, intuitive, or highly sensitive, you may be feeling this even more deeply. Many women in my community are helpers and leaders, and this weight hits them hard.

When something happens in the world, it can take our breath away. It can pause momentum. It can make all our well-laid plans suddenly feel misaligned.

The Myth of Constant Momentum

There’s a myth in entrepreneurship that success requires constant visibility, output, and forward motion—no matter what’s happening.

That’s not true.

There is a difference between an intentional pause and shutting down. I would always encourage a pause before burnout forces a shutdown.

Momentum doesn’t disappear when you slow down. It changes shape.

Sometimes what’s required isn’t pushing forward, but recalibrating—asking yourself where you need to soften, rest, and realign so future momentum is protected, not forced.

You didn’t plan for collective grief. And yet, you may still feel called to serve, create, and share.

Both can exist.

What Your Nervous System Needs Right Now

Instead of asking, “What should I be doing?”
Try asking, “What does my nervous system need right now?”

What would help you feel safe? Supported? Grounded?

Sometimes that looks like talking with a trusted friend, coach, or therapist. Sometimes it’s movement. Sometimes it’s rest. Sometimes it’s turning off the news and stepping away from social media.

When you feel steady and supported, clarity follows. Impact follows. Momentum follows.

And just because others are moving quickly right now doesn’t mean you’re meant to. There’s no judgment required—only discernment.

This message is for anyone who feels the call to pause, to breathe, to listen.

You don’t have to perform. You don’t have to accelerate. When it’s time to move forward, you will know.

A Gentle Somatic Reset

If you have a moment, I invite you to ground with me.

Place your feet flat on the floor. Sit tall. Notice your breath.

Take a slow inhale through your nose, filling your belly.
Exhale longer than the inhale.

Repeat this two more times.

No fixing.
Just settling.
Being here.

Place a hand on your heart or belly and remind yourself:

I’m safe.
I’m supported.
I don’t need to have it all figured out today.

When it’s time to move forward, you will know.

You’re Not Behind

There’s no rush this year.

The more you follow your intuition, the more aligned and intentional your momentum will be when it returns.

You’re allowed to respond to this moment—whether that means action or rest.

Pausing does not cancel your purpose. It refines it.

Thank you for being here with me. This may not be how the year was supposed to start—but here we are.

And remember: you already have everything you need to live bravely.

 
 
 
 

Listen Here:

 
 
 

If you’re feeling called to be held, supported, and guided as you navigate this season, I’d love to walk alongside you. My work is for intuitive, impact-driven women who don’t need to be fixed—but who desire a grounded, embodied space to reconnect with their purpose, regulate their nervous system, and move forward in alignment when the time is right. If something in this reflection resonated, that’s often the invitation itself.

EP 386 | A Gentle Release: Letting Go of Who You Were To Step Into Who You Are Becoming

WITH ANDREA CRISP

 
 
 

Isolation doesn’t make you stronger — it just makes the path longer. Your next level arrives the moment you let yourself be supported in the way your design has been asking for.
— Andrea Crisp
 

This gentle, soul-led guided meditation is an invitation to pause, soften, and relase the version of you that carried what was never meant to be yours. 

In this episode, you'll be guided through a slow body scan and nervous system practice designed to help you unwind tension, come back into your body, and create space for emotional and energetic release. This is a powerful year-end of seasonal ritual for anyone feeling stretched, over-responsible, or ready to close old chapters with compassion instead of force. 

This meditation supports:

  • Letting go of old identities and patterns that no longer fit

  • Nervous system calming and embodied presence

  • Releasing emotional and energetic weight

  • Reconnecting to intuition, inner safety, and self-trust

  • Opening to alignment, ease, creativity, and abundance

Come back to this meditation whenever you feel the pull to reset, recalibrate, or remember who you are beneath the roles, expectations and noise. 

Connect with me: @andreacrispcoach + andreacrisp.ca

Original music and production by Stephen Crilly. 

 
 
 
 

Listen Here:

 
 
 

Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

EP 385 | The Quantum Power of Community: Using Your Human Design Profile

WITH ANDREA CRISP

 
 
 

Isolation doesn’t make you stronger — it just makes the path longer. Your next level arrives the moment you let yourself be supported in the way your design has been asking for.
— Andrea Crisp
 

What if the breakthrough you've been chasing wasn't hding in another strategy, another round of inner work, or another 'push harder' season ... but in letting yourself be held?

Most women aren't — they’re under-supported. And once you understand how your Human Design profile impacts the way you thrive in community, everything starts to click. 

In this episode of The Couragecast, I share the most unexpected shift that changed my business, my healing, and my entire nervous sytem this year: being part of life giving community. 

We explore how your Human Design profile actually reveals the way you grow, rise, and regulate best — whether you're a 1/3, 2/4, 4/6, or 6/2.

I break down the mistakes so many of make (like confusing independence with isolation), how different profiles are uniquely wired for community, and why your next level isn't meant to be done alone. 

I'm sharing personal stories from my group programs, and the energetic truth behind why transformation accelerates inside the right rooms — especially when collective intention, shared energy, and co-regulation are present. 

This episode is for the heart-led, spiritually minded leader who wants to grow their business, heal their money stories, regulate their nervous system, and lead from deeper level of embodiment in 2026. 

We dive into:

  • Why women feel stuck when really they are under-supported.

  • Human Design profiles to help you grow in community.

  • Why co-regulation accelerates your transformation.

  • How to choose the right community. 

  • Why community becomes a quantum field.

If 2026 is the year you stop doing everything alone and finally step into rooms that match the woman you are becoming, Align & Empower is where that shift happens. 

This 5-month coaching mastermind is designed for spiritually minded women ready to rise with community, regulate with support, and expand through aligned leadership. If you want to be held, seen, supported and challenged this is your room. Spots open in January with early access available now at the 2025 rate. Message me to claim your space.

Let's connect and keep the conversation going.

Instagram: @andreacrispcoach

Website: andreacrisp.ca

Work with me:
If you’re ready to uncover the core pattern beneath your biggest blocks, The Alignment Intensive is a 90-minute deep dive with two weeks of guided integration support. [Book Here]

Courage + Conversations:
Join the free weekly call for spiritually minded women who value authenticity, support, and meaningful connection. [Join Here]

One last thought:
You were never the problem. You were simply surviving — and now you’re ready to lead from a grounded, aligned place.

Original music and production by Stephen Crilly.

 
 
 
 

Listen Here:

 
 
 

Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

EP 384 | The Woman I'm Becoming: My Identity Shift + What I'm Calling In

WITH ANDREA CRISP

 
 
 

Life wasn’t blocking me, I was blocking me.
— Andrea Crisp
 

This year stretched me in ways I did not see coming. And instead of breaking, something finally clicked into place. If 2025 pushed you, pulled you, slowed you down, or sped you up… this might be the story you didn’t realize you needed.

In this episode, I’m sharing the real, unpolished truth of my 2025 identity shift — the setbacks, the unraveling, the nervous system wake-up calls, and the quiet moments that changed everything.

Two falls, chronic pain, burnout patterns resurfacing, old identities gripping tight… and the moment I realized I wasn’t being blocked — I was blocking myself.

I’ll take you through:

  • Why slowing down was the very thing I fought the hardest.

  • The identity I had to let go of to finally create change.

  • The inner work behind paying off over half my debt.

  • How Aligned Money opened a path I didn’t expect.

  • What I’m calling in for 2026 — and who I’m becoming.

If you're standing on the edge of your own shift, this episode will help you see your season differently.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign… this is it. Align + Empower is the mastermind where your inner work meets real transformation.

Message me to explore if it’s your next aligned step — and lock in the current rate before it rises in the new year.

Connect with me:
Instagram: @andreacrispcoach
Website: www.andreacrisp.ca

Work with me:
If you’re ready to uncover the core pattern beneath your biggest blocks, The Alignment Intensive is a 90-minute deep dive with two weeks of guided integration support. [Book Here]

Courage + Conversations:
Join the free weekly call for spiritually minded women who value authenticity, support, and meaningful connection. [Join Here]

One last thought:
You were never the problem. You were simply surviving — and now you’re ready to lead from a grounded, aligned place.

Original music and production by Stephen Crilly.

 
 
 
 

Listen Here:

 
 
 

Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?