The RISE Experience
It's not always about becoming someone different.
Sometimes it's about realizing you've been disconnected from yourself for longer than you thought.
The RISE Experience is a podcast for the woman who can handle a lot. She shows up, gets things done, keeps life moving… and still quietly wonders, Why don't I feel like myself anymore?
Shannon Denniston is the founder of RISE, with a deep background in behavior change and the human side of transformation. Here, she explores what real transformation actually looks like — the patterns underneath what we do, the beliefs and roles we've carried, the relationships that shape us, the systems that support us, and the identity shifts that happen when our old ways of functioning stop carrying us.
A lot of what gets called "starting over" isn't starting over at all. It's learning to notice what's been running in the background, reconnect with your own voice, and move forward without erasing who you've become.
No reinvention. No pretending you need to become a whole new person. Just honest conversations about finding your way back to yourself, with faith as an anchor, and learning how to live from that place.
The RISE Experience
Letting Go Without Losing Yourself in Control.
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
If you’re tired of running on high alert, replaying conversations, and trying to manage every possible outcome, this is for you. Walk through what it really looks like to loosen your grip, trust God in the not‑knowing, and finally settle into the life you’re already living.
Episode Highlights
There’s a moment when control stops working when white-knuckling your way through life costs more than the uncertainty you’re trying to avoid. This week is an invitation to notice that place, set down what was never yours to carry, and gently let your nervous system learn something new.
Letting go shows up in the smallest of ways: the unsent text, the extra few minutes you stay with a feeling, the sentence that ends at “I don’t know what’s going to happen” without a backup plan attached. Anchored in “Be still and know that I am God,” you’re reminded that stillness isn’t failure or laziness; it’s where clarity and presence actually meet you. And underneath it all is this truth: the woman on the other side of the grip isn’t a future version you have to earn; she’s who you’re choosing your way back to, one settled breath at a time.
Key Takeaways
You’ll Learn:
- Why control can feel safer than stillness, even when it’s draining you
- How “letting go” can look like not sending a text written to manage someone’s response
- What happens in your body when you stop bracing and sit with discomfort a little longer
- How to recognize when you’re gripping an outcome that was never yours to hold
- A simple way to practice setting one thing down for a day and noticing what shifts
- Why “be still and know” invites you into trust, not passivity or checking out
- How choosing presence over performance slowly reshapes your identity
- The truth that the woman who laughs easier and breathes deeper isn’t far away—she’s already in you when you’re not holding everything together
Episode Chapters
00:00 Welcome back & who this space is for
00:45 Recap of the month’s honest talk about control
02:10 The moment a woman stops fighting and starts settling in
04:05 Redefining letting go vs “giving up” and failure
06:10 Tiny choices that loosen the grip in daily life
08:30 How your nervous system reacts to stillness and uncertainty
10:05 Space, presence, and the woman on the other side of the grip
11:40 “Be still and know” as a lived practice with God
13:20 One thing to set down today and what to notice in your body
15:00 Closing prayer and encouragement for women white‑knuckling life
Memorable Quotes
“Letting go is choosing to stop carrying something that was never yours to carry in the first place.”
“Every time you pause instead of immediately reaching, you’re practicing being a woman who trusts herself enough to feel something without running from it.”
“Be still and know that I am God. Not be still and figure it out. Not be still and then make your plan. Just be still and know.”
“Letting go is not the same thing as giving up; it’s the exhale after holding your breath for too long.”
“The woman on the other side of the grip isn’t someone you’re waiting on; she’s someone you’re actively choosing your way back to.”
Resources Mentioned
Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God.”
About the Podcast
Welcome to The RISE Experience — a podcast for women who are finding their way back to themselves. This is a space to slow down when everything feels loud, to lead from steadiness instead of urgency, and to finally hear yourself think again. Here we talk about identity, faith, and the quiet inner wisdom that gets buried under all the doing. A place to pause, reflect, and rise from clarity instead of pressure.
Follow The Rise Experience and share this with one friend who’s been beating herself up for the thing she reaches for when life gets loud.
Your next step: https://msha.ke/risewithshannon
Read the blog: https://www.risewithshannon.blog/
Come hang out:
FB: Shannon Bell Denniston
IG: @risewithshannon