Sit Around the Fire

About Sit Around the Fire

Welcome to Sit Around the Fire — the space where stories ignite transformation. Hosted by a former first responder turned licensed professional counselor and certified hypnotherapist, this podcast blends real-life experiences, powerful teachings, and practical tools for mental and physical health. Each episode invites you to slow down, reflect, and find your spark again. Together, we explore mindfulness, stress management, trauma recovery, and PTSD healing — all through the lens of someone who’s lived it. You’ll hear raw conversations with first responders, veterans, and mental health experts as well as other incredible human beings with amazing stories and missions who share their wisdom on how to move from burnout to balance, from survival mode to thriving. If you’re ready to break free from old patterns and beliefs, reclaim your peace, and live your most abundant, limitless life, this is your community. ✨ What you’ll learn: How to manage stress and trauma while building emotional resilience. Practical mindfulness and mental well-being techniques that fit your lifestyle. Real stories of healing from first responders and military families. Tools to strengthen both mental and physical health for lasting change. Don’t suffer in silence. Join our community — subscribe, follow, and connect. 👉 Subscribe to Sit Around the Fire wherever you listen to podcasts. 👉 Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for daily inspiration. 👉 Visit our site to join the email list and start doing the inner work today. It’s time to heal. It’s time to rise. It’s time to sit around the fire. 🔥Get Connected with Us! www.sitaroundthefire.org (http://www.sitaroundthefire.org) 👉🏻 Interested in doing one to one work with Ashlea... www.ashleadillard.com (http://www.ashleadillard.com) 🫶🏼 Let's Be Friends Facebook (facebook.com/people/Sit-Around-the-Fire/61578594632344/) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ashleadillardtherapy?igsh=MTN2OTljNTNqYjJwaw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr) Ticktock (https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleadillardtherapy?_r=1&_t=ZP-95VmF4evdR0) YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@ashleadillardtherapy)

Publisher

Ashlea Dillard

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

12 Nov 2024

Latest episode

4 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

63 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   4 Aug 2026

   #061 Rest Is Not A Reward

   Have you ever finally had a chance to rest, only to realize you could not actually relax? Your body may be sitting still, but your mind is making lists, scanning for what needs to be done, and reminding you of all the ways you could be more productive. You are resting, but you are not at rest. In this solo episode, Ashlea explores why slowing down can feel so uncomfortable, especially for those of us who have spent years being the strong one, the dependable one, or the person who keeps everything moving. She talks about the old programming that teaches us to earn our rest, the nervous system patterns that keep us braced for the next problem, and what happens when productivity becomes part of our identity. This conversation is an invitation to look beneath the guilt and become curious about the message underneath it. Rest is not a reward for reaching the end of your list. It is not something you have to prove you deserve. It is part of being human, staying connected to yourself, and remembering that your worth was never dependent on how much you could carry. Friends, take your foot off the gas for a moment. Relax, breathe, and be curious. You are allowed to rest before you collapse.

2. 

   27 Jul 2026

   #060 Resilience Can Be Learned: The 4-Part FUEL Model with Dr. Rose Aghdami

   What if resilience is not about being tougher, pushing harder, or pretending that difficult things do not affect you? What if resilience is actually a collection of skills that can be learned, practiced, and strengthened? In this episode of Sit Around the Fire, Ashlea sits down with Dr. Rose Aghdami, coaching psychologist, resilience specialist, and author of How to FUEL Your Resilience, to explore what it really means to become more resilient. Dr. Rose introduces her practical FUEL Your Resilience framework and explains how flexibility, the use of resources, energy, and an internal locus of control can help us respond more effectively to life’s challenges. Together, Ashlea and Dr. Rose talk about the patterns that often make resilience more difficult, including perfectionism, emotional avoidance, rigid thinking, unrealistic expectations, and the pressure to maintain control. They also discuss why accepting our emotions does not mean allowing those emotions to control us, how vulnerability can become a source of strength, and why “good enough” may be one of the most freeing phrases a high-achieving person can learn. In this episode, you will learn: • Why resilience is a learnable skill rather than a fixed personality trait • The four elements of the FUEL Your Resilience framework • How flexibility helps us navigate uncertainty and change • Why using available resources is a strength, not a weakness • How perfectionism and rigid thinking can undermine resilience • The difference between experiencing a feeling and treating it as a fact • How to develop a stronger internal locus of control • Why self-compassion and consistent practice matter • How resilient people create a fuller, calmer, and more meaningful life • Why strengthening yourself allows you to support others more effectively This conversation is especially valuable for high-functioning adults, leaders, helpers, professionals, and anyone who appears capable on the outside but often feels overwhelmed, anxious, or depleted internally. You do not have to become unaffected by life to become resilient. You can learn how to recognize what you are feeling, respond with greater intention, use the resources available to you, and trust yourself to handle what comes next. ABOUT DR. ROSE AGHDAMI Dr. Rose Aghdami is a coaching psychologist, resilience specialist, supervisor, trainer, international speaker, and the author of How to FUEL Your Resilience: A Practical Guide to Developing Resilience Skills for Professionals. Through her FUEL Your Resilience framework, she helps high-performing professionals develop practical resilience skills so they can respond to pressure, change, and uncertainty with greater confidence, flexibility, and self-awareness. RESOURCES AND GUEST LINKS Learn more about Dr. Rose Aghdami: https://www.drroseaghdami.com (https://www.drroseaghdami.com) Connect with Dr. Rose on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roseaghdami (https://www.linkedin.com/in/roseaghdami) Purchase How to FUEL Your Resilience: https://www.amazon.com/How-FUEL-your-Resilience-Professionals/dp/1041062591 (https://www.amazon.com/How-FUEL-your-Resilience-Professionals/dp/1041062591)

3. 

   7 Jul 2026

   #059 Don’t Wait Until You’re Healed to Be in a Relationship

   So many people believe they need to be fully healed before they can be in a relationship. But what if that belief is actually keeping us isolated? In this episode of Sit Around the Fire, Ashlea Dillard explores why relationships are not just something we enter after healing — they are often one of the places healing actually happens. Drawing from psychodynamic theory, Jungian psychology, attachment theory, object relations theory, and humanistic psychology, Ashlea breaks down how relationships reveal unconscious patterns, activate old wounds, mirror hidden parts of ourselves, and give the nervous system new experiences of safety, repair, and connection. This episode is not about staying in unsafe or harmful relationships. It is about understanding the difference between being activated and being harmed, and recognizing that safe-enough relationships can become powerful spaces for growth, awareness, and healing. You do not have to be perfect to be loved. You are allowed to be loved while you are still learning.

Who has been a guest on Sit Around the Fire

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ashlea Dillard
• Robert Tornabene
• Mr Whiskey
• Monica Tanner
• Travis McGaha

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

463

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 65 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

74

Social presence

91

YouTube

64

Engagement

32

Contact Sit Around the Fire

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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