Podcasts
Episode 120
What if healing requires going deeper than conscious thought alone?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, Tara sits down with Sarah Thiessen—licensed therapist, founder of the Splankna Training Institute, and author of Splankna: The Redemption of Energy Healing for the Kingdom of God.
Sarah shares her journey from skepticism to developing a Christian mind-body healing protocol designed to help address trauma, emotional wounds, and subconscious patterns that traditional talk therapy may not fully resolve.
Together, they explore faith, trauma healing, spiritual discernment, and the deeper roots of emotional pain through the lens of Sarah’s personal and professional experience.
Episode 119
What if the habit of putting others first has slowly led you to abandon yourself?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, Tara explores the signs of self-abandonment and how it affects our well-being and sense of self. She shares how patterns like people-pleasing and self-sacrifice disconnect us from our own needs—and how rebuilding self-trust is key to lasting change.
✨ An invitation to choose yourself, honor your voice, and live brighter through self-trust and authentic self-love.
Episode 118
What if the pressure to “stay positive” is actually disconnecting you from yourself?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, Tara explores the hidden impact of toxic positivity and why denying difficult emotions can lead to emotional avoidance, stress, and disconnection. She shares why acknowledging and feeling the full range of emotions is essential for self-awareness, mental health, and authentic living.
✨ An invitation to release the pressure to always be positive, reconnect with your emotional truth, and live brighter with honesty and self-compassion.
Episode 117
What if perfectionism and being “the good one” are quietly disconnecting you from yourself—and others?
In this two-part episode of Live Brighter with Tara, we explore the essence of fierce conversations, the power of authentic connection, and why conversations shape the health of every relationship. Tara shares how to build courage through honest dialogue and offers a simple structure for having conversations that create clarity instead of conflict.
✨ An invitation to speak truth with compassion, strengthen your relationships, and live brighter through authentic connection.
Episode 116
What if sensuality is less about performance and more about presence?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, I’m joined by Susan Beth Breuner for a meaningful conversation about sensuality as self-expression, confidence, and embodied awareness. We explore the feminine gaze, the empowering nature of intimate photography, and how embracing individuality can support personal growth and joy. ✨ A thoughtful invitation to reconnect with your worth, creativity, and authentic self—one intentional moment at a time.
Episode 115
Have you been feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or disconnected—and can’t quite pinpoint why?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, I explore burnout through an emotional, spiritual, and physical lens. Drawing from personal experience, I share how cumulative stress, unprocessed emotions, and prolonged high capacity can lead to deep depletion—and why burnout is often a signal, not a failure.
We talk about how to recognize burnout early, why emotional processing and rest are essential, and how healing happens when we listen to the body with patience, compassion, and care. This conversation offers a grounded, holistic perspective on recovery—one gentle step at a time.
✨ A thoughtful invitation to slow down, reconnect, and support yourself back to wholeness.
Episode 114
What happens when success keeps going—but your capacity doesn’t?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, I sit down with Alisha Fickert, top-producing Realtor who openly shares her journey through burnout following the devastation of the Camp Fire in 2018 and the prolonged strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. What looked like resilience on the outside slowly turned into exhaustion, overwhelm, and disconnection on the inside.
Alicia reflects on how burnout shows up, why so many high-achievers miss the early warning signs, and what it truly takes to recover—not by doing more, but by honoring limits. We talk about the power of boundaries, the necessity of self-care, and why scheduling time for joy isn’t indulgent—it’s essential.
✨ This conversation is for anyone who loves their work but feels stretched thin, reminding us that sustainable success is rooted in well-being, balance, and permission to rest.
New Year Special 2026
What if 2026 isn’t about pushing harder—but about becoming more aligned with who you truly are?
In this New Year replay of Live Brighter with Tara, we revisit a powerful conversation about shifting from goal-chasing to identity-based growth. This episode explores how healing past experiences, practicing self-love, and clarifying your future self can lead to meaningful, lasting change.
If you’re ready to begin the year with intention instead of pressure, this episode offers a grounded, compassionate path forward.
✨ Tune in and start 2026 aligned, clear, and living brighter.
Best of Live Brighter: Hope & Renewal for the New Year
In this Season Rewind episode of Live Brighter with Tara, we revisit powerful conversations about hope, faith, and joy in the midst of life’s hardest seasons. From navigating the dark night of the soul to questioning God’s plan and intentionally creating joy, this episode offers reflection, honesty, and renewal as we step into a new year. A gentle reminder that even after pain, growth is still possible—and hope can be rebuilt.
Live Brighter Holiday Special Replay Part 2
The holidays aren’t always easy. Family dynamics, emotional triggers, and stress can rise quickly this time of year. In this replay episode of Live Brighter with Tara, we explore how to protect your peace, set healthy boundaries, and navigate holiday gatherings without losing yourself.
You’ll learn simple strategies to stay grounded, make requests with clarity, and care for your emotional and mental well-being—even in the middle of family tension.
🎄 Tune in for a gentle, practical guide to handling holiday stress and making the season feel brighter, calmer, and more supportive for you.
Best of Live Brighter: Empowered Kindness Starts Within
What if the way you show up in your relationships is being shaped more by guilt, fear, and old patterns than by true choice?
In this Live Brighter Season Rewind episode, Tara revisits powerful conversations around people-pleasing, guilt, toxic environments, and the cost of chronic overgiving. Together, these episodes explore how our inner world influences our boundaries, our self-worth, and the relationships we stay in—even when they drain us.
This episode invites you to notice what you tolerate, question why saying no feels so hard, and begin rebuilding relationships from a place of clarity, self-trust, and emotional safety.
✨ If you’ve ever felt stuck between being kind and being honest with yourself, this conversation is for you.
Tune in and live brighter.
Live Brighter Holiday Special Replay Pt. 1
How do we navigate the painful realities of domestic abuse—especially during the holidays, when everything is supposed to feel joyful?
In this replay episode of Live Brighter with Tara, I revisit one of our most meaningful conversations about recognizing the signs of domestic abuse, understanding the emotional toll it takes, and finding the courage to choose healing and self-love.
Drawing from my own journey of leaving an abusive relationship, I share how clarity and self-awareness become the first steps toward freedom. We’ll talk about breaking cycles of abuse, rebuilding self-worth, and creating a safe space for emotional and spiritual recovery.
✨ Whether you or someone you love is struggling, this conversation offers awareness, compassion, and hope—reminding you that healing is possible and you are never alone.
The Golden Light Meditation
In this guided meditation, you’re invited into a moment of stillness where the warm, shimmering golden light of God gently surrounds you.
Together, we walk through a powerful visualization that helps you release what’s been weighing on you, soften your body, and return to a place of unconditional love and self-acceptance.
As the light moves from your head to your heart and down through your entire body, you’ll be reminded that you are supported, seen, and deeply loved. This meditation is here to help you let go, reconnect with your breath, and rest in a peace that has been reaching toward you all along.
Take a deep breath, settle in, and allow this golden light to hold you.
Best of Live Brighter: Emotional Wellness
In this Season Rewind mash-up, we explore why we react the way we do and how to move toward emotional steadiness and nervous system peace. These four episodes dive into the cost of suppressing emotions, the roots of mental and emotional challenges, and how trauma and overwhelm show up in our bodies.
Through practical tools like journaling, somatic awareness, and nervous system regulation, you’ll learn how to shift from survival mode into clarity, calm, and resilience. If you’ve struggled with anxiety, emotional flooding, or feeling disconnected from yourself, this episode offers insight, hope, and simple steps toward healing.
✨ Grow 1% at a time—toward a calmer, clearer you.
Best of Live Brighter: Season Rewind
In this week’s Season Rewind, we’re revisiting three of the most impactful conversations of the year—episodes listeners returned to again and again. In this compilation, I explore the life-changing choices that shape our future, how to de-weaponize the pain of our past, and why embracing the season we’re in can bring unexpected clarity and peace.
Through personal stories and practical insight, we’ll uncover how our decisions, healing work, and emotional rhythms influence who we are becoming. This rewind brings together powerful reminders about resilience, self-awareness, and choosing growth—even when life feels messy or uncertain.
✨ Ready to reflect, reset, and reconnect with what truly transforms us? Tune in and Live Brighter.
Episode 113
What if your friendships reflected your own emotional and spiritual growth?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, I unpack the “flip slide” of friendship—the subtle ways connection can drift from healthy to unhealthy. Through real stories and gentle reflection, we’ll explore how to recognize red flags, take responsibility for our circles, and choose relationships that nurture mutual respect, honesty, and peace.
✨ This conversation will help you trust your intuition, set healthy boundaries, and create friendships that help you live and love from a place of wholeness.
Episode 112
What if the secret to stronger, more meaningful friendships starts with how you love yourself?
In this week’s Live Brighter with Tara, we focus on the most important relationship you’ll ever have—the one with yourself. Because self-love isn’t selfish—it’s the foundation of every healthy friendship, partnership, and purpose-filled life.
Through this special mash-up episode, Tara shares timeless lessons on self-love, balance, and emotional wholeness—exploring how compassion, faith, and inner kindness transform how we connect with others.
✨ Discover why self-love is not arrogance but alignment with who God created you to be—and how loving yourself fully allows you to live, give, and connect from overflow.
Episode 111
What if friendship wasn’t just a part of life—but one of the most powerful reflections of our emotional and spiritual health?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, I share how authentic connection is built—through intention, vulnerability, and time. We’ll explore what it takes to create friendships that are grounded in honesty, equality, and love, and why being at peace with ourselves is the foundation of every meaningful relationship.
✨ If you’re ready to deepen your friendships and build the kind of connections that inspire growth and joy, this conversation will remind you that friendship isn’t found—it’s cultivated.
Episode 110
What if finding balance in life and love began with understanding your masculine and feminine energy?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, we explore how both men and women carry healthy and wounded expressions of these energies—and how fear, trauma, and control can pull us out of alignment.
Through self-awareness, compassion, and faith, we can learn to create safety, shift from reaction to response, and bring both strength and softness back into balance.
✨ Tune in to discover how embracing both energies can lead to emotional healing, deeper connection, and a life lived more fully from the heart.
Episode 109
What if the very system that promised men strength and control was the same one keeping them silent, isolated, and hurting?
In this episode of Live Brighter with Tara, Mike and I dive into the hidden costs of the patriarchal system—how it teaches boys to suppress emotions, shapes relationships into transactions, and leaves many men struggling with shame, guilt, and disconnection.
Together, we share our own experiences of raising sons with emotional intelligence and the lessons we’ve learned about healthy masculinity, vulnerability, and true intimacy. We also explore what it takes to create safe spaces where men and women alike can show up authentically and build relationships rooted in trust, openness, and compassion.
✨ This is a conversation about breaking cycles, healing together, and reimagining what it really means to live and love with freedom.