Stories From the Soul is a podcast that dives into the unspoken truths of life, love, and growth. In each episode, we explore deeply personal stories of triumph over mental and emotional barriers, particularly within traditional families and workplaces where open dialogue is often stifled. Through authentic conversations, reflections, and transformative advice, we shed light on taboo topics like mental health, emotional well-being, and the journey to self-acceptance.
Whether you’re navigating difficult transitions, seeking connection, or looking for inspiration, this podcast offers a safe space to hear yourself in the stories of others—and to know you’re not alone.
Listen to real stories. Find your growth. Heal your soul.
tariromundawarara.substack.com (https://tariromundawarara.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
Publisher
Breaking Barriers, Sharing Raw Emotions, And Celebrating The Journey To Growth.
What if you could care about someone without carrying what belongs to them?
There is a phrase I heard recently that immediately resonated with me:
"Not my circus, not my monkeys."
It sounds humorous, but underneath it is something deeply human.
How often do we climb into other people's chaos before we're even invited?
How often do we feel responsible for fixing someone else's problems, managing their emotions or making sure everything turns out okay?
I've realised that, for many of us, there's a deeper agreement underneath this behaviour.
If I step in, I stay useful.
If I stay useful, I stay needed.
If I stay needed, I stay close.
And somewhere quietly underneath that:
Then I won't get left.
In this episode, I explore that pattern and ask what happens when we stop stepping in automatically. I share a personal story, explore the protective part of us that feels compelled to help, and introduce a simple question that has helped me enormously:
"Is this mine?"
This isn't about becoming cold or uncaring. It's about learning that I can love someone, care about them and remain present for them without taking ownership of their chaos.
🧭 What You'll Discover
✨ Why being useful can become tied to feeling safe and loved.
✨ Why some protective parts see someone else's chaos as a job rather than a choice.
✨ How we can unknowingly carry emotional burdens that don't belong to us.
✨ The difference between caring about someone's experience and taking responsibility for it.
✨ Why stepping back can actually empower someone else to find their own solution.
✨ How asking "What are you afraid would happen if you stopped stepping in?" can reveal what's underneath the pattern.
✨ Why "Is this mine?" is such a powerful question.
🌿 Listener Takeaway
I can care about you without carrying you.
I can love you without fixing everything.
I can be present without taking responsibility for an experience that isn't mine.
Stepping back isn't necessarily abandonment.
Sometimes, it's trust.
Trust in myself.
And trust that the other person is capable of finding their own way.
🧘 Reflection Practice
Bring to mind a situation where you've recently found yourself stepping into someone else's chaos.
Perhaps it's a family member, friend or colleague.
Notice where you feel that weight in your body.
Then ask the part of you that's carrying it:
"What are you afraid would happen if you stopped stepping in?"
And then simply ask:
"Is this mine?"
Don't try to fix the answer.
Just notice.
About Stories from the Soul
Stories from the Soul is my space for exploring the journey back into relationship with Self—learning to become our own best friend, honour our truth, and keep growing and becoming.
You are seen. You are enough. You are home.
Honour your truth. Keep growing. Keep becoming.
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Connect with me:
Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/tariro/guided-meditations (https://insighttimer.com/tariro/guided-meditations)Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamtariromundawarara/ (https://www.instagram.com/iamtariromundawarara/)YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TariroMundawarara-mo7vk (https://www.youtube.com/@TariroMundawarara-mo7vk)
Podcast:
Substack: https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/podcast (https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/podcast) YouTube: https://buff.ly/l6RIeDN (https://buff.ly/l6RIeDN)Spotify: https://buff.ly/Vd5lPUr (https://buff.ly/Vd5lPUr)Apple: https://buff.ly/jPdzdR5 (https://buff.ly/jPdzdR5)
Get full access to Tariro Mundawarara at tariromundawarara.substack.com/subscribe (https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
24 Sept 2026
Episode #23: I’m No Longer Going to Set Myself on Fire to Keep Others Warm
There is a version of generosity that slowly erodes you.
It's the giving that doesn't fill you—it hollows you out.
I've known this pattern personally. The instinct to anticipate what someone needs, to keep the peace, to absorb discomfort, to make things easier for someone else. And because it can look like kindness, it's easy to mistake self-abandonment for generosity.
In this episode, I sit with the phrase, "I will no longer set myself on fire to keep others warm."
What I've come to understand is that the pattern often goes deeper than the person in front of us. Somewhere along the way, we may have learned that giving keeps us needed, being needed keeps us close, and staying close keeps us safe.
But what happens when that old agreement is no longer serving us?
This is a reflection on boundaries, vulnerability, self-awareness and learning to remain in relationship with ourselves whilst still caring deeply for others.
🧭 In This Episode
✨ Why an "empty cup" isn't always about physical tiredness.
✨ How we can become disconnected from ourselves whilst appearing deeply present for others.
✨ Why someone else's disappointment can sometimes feel more uncomfortable than our own discomfort.
✨ How we end up carrying emotions, tension and expectations that don't actually belong to us.
✨ The power of asking: "Is this mine?"
✨ Why boundaries aren't walls—they can be honest expressions of vulnerability.
✨ Why "I am allowed to have a limit" can be such a powerful statement.
✨ What changes when we stop managing other people's experience of us.
🌿 Listener Takeaway
I am allowed to have a limit.
I can care about you and still be running low.
I can love you and still say no.
I can want to show up for you and still acknowledge that I cannot do it like this right now.
That isn't selfishness.
That's honesty.
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Connect with me:
Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/tariro/guided-meditations (https://insighttimer.com/tariro/guided-meditations)Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamtariromundawarara/ (https://www.instagram.com/iamtariromundawarara/)YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TariroMundawarara-mo7vk (https://www.youtube.com/@TariroMundawarara-mo7vk)
Podcast:
Substack: https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/podcast (https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/podcast) YouTube: https://buff.ly/l6RIeDN (https://buff.ly/l6RIeDN)Spotify: https://buff.ly/Vd5lPUr (https://buff.ly/Vd5lPUr)Apple: https://buff.ly/jPdzdR5 (https://buff.ly/jPdzdR5)
Get full access to Tariro Mundawarara at tariromundawarara.substack.com/subscribe (https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
10 Sept 2026
Episode #22: Being OK With Where You Are
For years, I believed that growth meant constantly working on myself.
Meditation. Therapy. Journalling. Reflection.
Each practice brought me closer to myself, but somewhere along the way I realised something unexpected: there wasn't another problem to solve. There wasn't another layer that needed unpacking. There was simply an invitation to stop striving and begin appreciating.
In this episode, I reflect on a recent conversation with my IFS therapist that led me to take a pause from therapy—not because the work is finished, but because I've reached a place where I can simply be. I explore what it means to become your own best friend, to see yourself with kindness instead of judgement, and to recognise that sometimes growth looks like standing still rather than moving forward.
In This Episode
✨ Why personal growth isn't meant to become another performance.
✨ The surprising freedom that comes from not always needing to fix yourself.
✨ How asking "Do I see myself?" transformed my inner world.
✨ The shift from living by "should" to living by "want".
✨ Why every journey needs seasons of reflection as much as seasons of growth.
Listener Takeaway
If you take one thing from this episode, let it be this:
You don't always need another breakthrough.
Sometimes the next step on your journey is to stop, breathe, and appreciate the person you've already become.
Reflection Question
If there was nothing left to improve today, what would you allow yourself to enjoy?
Connect with me:
Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/tariro/guided-meditations (https://insighttimer.com/tariro/guided-meditations)Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamtariromundawarara/ (https://www.instagram.com/iamtariromundawarara/)YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TariroMundawarara-mo7vk (https://www.youtube.com/@TariroMundawarara-mo7vk)
Podcast:
Substack: https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/podcast (https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/podcast) YouTube: https://buff.ly/l6RIeDN (https://buff.ly/l6RIeDN)Spotify: https://buff.ly/Vd5lPUr (https://buff.ly/Vd5lPUr)Apple: https://buff.ly/jPdzdR5 (https://buff.ly/jPdzdR5)
Closing Thought
There comes a moment on every journey when you stop climbing, pitch a tent, and take in the view.
Don't rush past those moments.
They're part of the journey too.
Honour your truth. Keep growing. Keep becoming.
Get full access to Tariro Mundawarara at tariromundawarara.substack.com/subscribe (https://tariromundawarara.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
Who has been a guest on Circling Back - Stories From The Soul
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Adam Gold
TATENDA
Wonder Nyabereka
Ale Garnica
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Tariro Mundawarara host the show. Published by Breaking Barriers, Sharing Raw Emotions, And Celebrating The Journey To Growth..
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