Awakening Truths w/ Makeupyourpower

About Awakening Truths w/ Makeupyourpower

Awakening Truths | Makeupyourpower Podcast What happens when the life you once knew no longer fits the person you're becoming? Join Nichole Lynn Haywood, founder of Makeupyourpower and creator of Awakening Truths, alongside co-host Tina Akowitz, empowerment coach and founder of Purposeful Transitions. Through honest conversations, powerful personal stories, and our Spotlight Guest Series, we explore the experiences that challenge us, awaken us, and ultimately transform us. Together, we bridge spirituality, psychology, self-awareness, and everyday life—exploring healing, resilience, identity, relationships, astrology, and the journey of reclaiming your authentic self. Because your story doesn't end with what happened to you. Sometimes, that's where your awakening begins. New conversations and inspiring guest stories to help you reflect, reconnect, and reclaim your power. Your story matters. Your truth matters. Your awakening matters.

Publisher

Nichole L Haywood

Category

health & fitness · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

2 Feb 2024

Latest episode

30 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

85 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Oct 2026

   The Battle Within: Brandon Boucher on PTSD, Identity & Reclaiming His Life

   What happens when the battle doesn't end when you come home? For some, the hardest battles aren't the ones fought overseas. They're the ones that follow us home, quietly shaping how we see ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us. This week on Awakening Truths | MakeupyourPower Podcast, Nichole and Tina welcome Spotlight Guest Brandon Boucher—U.S. Navy veteran, engineer, entrepreneur, husband, father, healer practitioner, and co-founder of Unity Healing Institute. But before Brandon became any of those things, he was a young man who believed deeply in service. Inspired by his grandfather, Brandon's path began as a junior firefighter and paramedic before leading him into the U.S. Navy. He had a vision for his future, including becoming a Navy SEAL, until an injury during training changed everything. It was the first of many times life would challenge the identity he had built. Following September 11, Brandon was unexpectedly recalled to active duty and deployed in support of Joint Special Operations Command. And while his military service eventually ended, the battle within him continued. Brandon opens up about the realities of returning home: nightmares, anger, alcohol use as a way of coping, losing fellow service members after deployment, and eventually receiving a diagnosis of moderate-to-severe PTSD. For years, anger had become so familiar that he almost didn't recognize what it felt like to live without it. After exploring different approaches to healing, Brandon began questioning whether managing his symptoms was the only possibility for his future. That question eventually led this analytical, engineering-minded man somewhere he never expected. Into meditation. Into energy work. Into spirituality. And into a different relationship with himself. Through his experiences with the Modern Mystery School, Life Activation, and other spiritual practices, Brandon describes moments that changed how he understood his trauma, his identity, and his personal responsibility. But this isn't a story about pretending the past didn't happen. It's about what happens when someone begins asking a different question: "What do I choose to do with my life now?" Throughout this conversation, Brandon challenges us to explore the difference between what happens to us and how we choose to move forward. He speaks about military brotherhood, grief, personal accountability, conscious living, spiritual awakening, and the importance of becoming an active participant in our own lives. And perhaps one of the most powerful parts of his story is the realization that we can accept support from others while still recognizing our own role in the choices we make. Find What Resonates At Awakening Truths, we believe every story carries something different for the person listening. You don't have to share every belief, understand every experience, or follow the same path as our guests to find something meaningful in their journey. As you listen to Brandon's story, we invite you to reflect: Have you ever felt like a part of your identity disappeared when life took an unexpected turn? Are there experiences from your past that continue to influence how you see yourself today? What might become possible if you began defining yourself by who you're becoming rather than only by what you've survived? Take what speaks to you. Reflect on what challenges you. Leave what doesn't align. Because healing, growth, and personal transformation don't look the same for everyone. And sometimes hearing someone else's story helps us recognize something within our own. Your past may explain how you got here. But it doesn't have to write the rest of your story. 🎙️ Awakening Truths | Makeupyourpower Podcast Hosted by Nichole & Tina Real stories. Honest conversations. Space to reflect, grow, and discover what resonates with you. 🎧 Listen, follow, and share:https://makeupyourpower.podbean.com Connect With Brandon Boucher Co-Founder | Unity Healing Instit

2. 

   23 Oct 2026

   The Healer Behind the Healing: Choosing Life Through the Darkness | Erica M Zernzach

   What happens when the person who has spent decades helping others heal must first find her own way through the darkness? And what if the very experiences you once begged to escape eventually became part of the wisdom you could offer someone else? In this deeply personal Spotlight Guest episode of Awakening Truths | MakeupyourPower Podcast, hosts Nichole Lynn Haywood and Tina Akowitz welcome Erica M Zernzach, founder of A Right Path Wellness, for an honest conversation about chronic illness, trauma, spiritual awakening, shadow work, and the journey from survival toward purpose. For more than 30 years, Erica has worked within holistic health and wellness. But her understanding of healing wasn't shaped by education and professional experience alone. It was lived. Through chronic Lyme disease, mold toxicity, trauma, and profound periods of emotional and physical suffering, Erica found herself navigating experiences that challenged her understanding of life, faith, and her own strength. There were moments when the darkness felt overwhelming. And there were moments when she came face-to-face with her own mortality. Three Words That Changed Everything After being struck by a truck and severely injured, Erica remembers seeing headlights, struggling to breathe, and recognizing the fragility of the moment. And within that experience came a decision: "I choose to live." Those words became more than a response to one frightening experience. They became part of a much larger journey of learning to choose herself, reconnect with her inner strength, and reconsider what healing truly means. Erica takes us beyond the image of the healer who always has the answers and into the reality of being human. The pain. The fear. The uncertainty. The shadow. And the realization that healing doesn't always mean eliminating our struggles. Sometimes it means changing how we relate to ourselves as we move through them. In This Conversation, We Explore: Chronic Lyme disease, mold toxicity, and navigating long-term health challenges Trauma, survival, and rebuilding a relationship with yourself Spiritual awakening through difficult life experiences Shadow work and embracing the parts of ourselves we may have learned to hide Faith versus fear and learning to trust ourselves through uncertainty Near-death experiences and finding renewed meaning in life The emotional weight of feeling responsible for healing others Personal responsibility without shame or self-blame The relationship between spirituality, self-awareness, and emotional healing Releasing the pressure to have everything figured out Transforming lived experience into compassion and service Taking small, meaningful steps toward personal growth The Shadow Behind the Healer One of the most meaningful parts of Erica's story is her willingness to speak about the experiences that aren't always visible behind a healer's work. The seasons when life wasn't simply "love and light." The times when she struggled to find hope. And the realization that she couldn't do someone else's healing for them, just as no one could completely do hers for her. Through her experiences, Erica began approaching her work from a different perspective. Her role isn't to give people their power. It's to help them recognize the power they already carry. It's a message that beautifully reflects the heart of Awakening Truths. We can offer support, compassion, and guidance to one another without taking away another person's agency. You Don't Have to Change Everything Today During our conversation, Erica guides us through a reflective reset, inviting us to reconsider the weight of our worries and the pressure we place on ourselves. Her message is simple: You don't need to change 100% of your life today. Find the next 10%. Take the next step. Sometimes growth doesn't arrive through one extraordinary breakthrough. Sometimes it begins with one choice, one shift in perspective, or one small act of self-com

3. 

   16 Oct 2026

   From Measuring Ingredients to Decoding Destiny | Tanuuj K Grover

   What if the numbers you've been working with your entire life were preparing you for a purpose you never saw coming? For more than 23 years, Tanuuj K Grover lived in a world of numbers. Measurements. Proportions. Temperatures. Timing. The precise balance of ingredients that could transform something ordinary into an extraordinary creation. As a chef, numbers were part of his everyday life. But what happens when the recipe you've followed for decades no longer produces the life you thought you were creating? When career uncertainty, financial pressure, and closed doors began challenging everything Tanuuj knew, he found himself confronting a question so many of us face during life's unexpected transitions: Who am I when the identity I've spent years building no longer fits? Then, shortly after Christmas, something unexpected happened. Tanuuj woke one morning with a quiet but unmistakable inner message: "It's a new beginning." He didn't know exactly what that meant. But something within him knew it was time to listen. And what followed wasn't simply a career change. It was an awakening. From the Kitchen to the Cosmos In this Spotlight Guest episode of Awakening Truths | Makeupyourpower Podcast, hosts Nichole Lynn Haywood and Tina Akowitz welcome Tanuuj K Grover, founder of REVUM, for a conversation about spiritual awakening, numerology, identity, intuition, and finding purpose when life takes an unexpected turn. What began as a search for answers led Tanuuj into the study of astrology, tarot, numerology, Vastu, and Feng Shui. The deeper he explored, the more he began recognizing patterns within his own life, including intuitive experiences he remembered from his teenage years. And suddenly, the numbers he had worked with for decades began taking on an entirely different meaning. Where he once measured ingredients, he now explores birth numbers, destiny numbers, and energetic patterns. Where he once created recipes to nourish the body, he now works with what he calls a "cosmic recipe." Perhaps the most fascinating part of his story isn't that he became someone new. It's that the skills, experiences, and awareness he carried all along began finding a new expression. In This Conversation, We Explore: Career transitions and rebuilding your identity after 23 years in one profession Spiritual awakening and learning to recognize an inner calling Numerology and the symbolic meaning of numbers Birth numbers, destiny numbers, and master numbers The Lo Shu Grid and how Tanuuj interprets its patterns Name numerology and personal energetic alignment Vastu and Feng Shui Synchronicities, repeating numbers, and intuitive awareness The influence of negative self-talk during difficult seasons Finding purpose after setbacks and unexpected endings Trusting the process when life's direction no longer makes sense When Numbers Become Personal Tanuuj doesn't simply explain numerology. He demonstrates it. During our conversation, he walks Tina through her personal numbers in real time, using her date of birth to explain how he interprets birth numbers, destiny numbers, and the Lo Shu Grid. What unfolds is an opportunity to explore how numerology practitioners use numbers as symbolic tools for reflection, self-awareness, and understanding patterns. Whether you're familiar with numerology or hearing about it for the first time, this conversation invites curiosity about the relationship between the patterns we notice and the meaning we give them. The Most Important Ingredient Was Within Him One of the most meaningful parts of Tanuuj's journey wasn't discovering a new spiritual practice. It was recognizing the way he had been speaking to himself. During his most challenging season, he realized how often his internal dialogue had become critical, discouraging, and focused on everything that wasn't working. He began questioning whether the story he was telling himself was helping him move forward or keeping him connected to

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