You’ve Come Further Than You Think: A Recover Your Soul Reflection for 2025

As we close out 2025, I want to invite you to take a gentle moment to recognize how much you’ve grown.

When you’re recovering from codependency, people-pleasing, and the habit of trying to manage everything around you, progress often shows up in quiet ways. A pause before reacting. A boundary you were once afraid to set. A moment of choosing peace over control. These shifts matter. They are the foundation of the Recover Your Soul Process.

In this episode, we look back together at the small but powerful changes that shape an entirely new way of being. Whether you arrived here through Al-Anon, through a painful relationship pattern, or through a longing to feel more connected to yourself, I want you to see just how far you’ve already come.

We talk about awakening, the year’s energetic shifts, and why so many sensitive souls are feeling called to release old stories and step into deeper truth. You are not alone. You are part of something unfolding, and your healing is part of that greater transformation.

Let this episode be a reminder: you are doing the work. You are waking up. And you deserve to feel proud of the courage it takes to reclaim your own life.

Until next time,
 Rev Rachel

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not allied or representative of any organizations or religions, but is based on the opinions and experience of Rev. Rachel Harrison or guests. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein. Take what you need and leave the rest.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Year Wrap-Up
• 2:00 Mission And Spiritual Framework
• 3:03 Community Growth And Gratitude
• 4:34 Ready For Awakening: Step One
• 6:59 From Ego Roles To Soul Identity
• 8:42 The Tower Moment And Choosing Yourself
• 11:39 Service Over Validation
• 13:34 Rapid Change And Collective Awakening
• 16:24 Sensitive Energies And Letting Go
• 19:29 Rest, Flow, And Inner Timelines
• 21:30 Releasing Generational Patterns

Transcript

Rev Rachel Harrison: 0:19

I think sometimes we don't give ourselves credit for the small changes that we make in our life that end up being profound shifts in everything. Through the recovery soul process, we've been learning how to take one small step at a time to begin to see and feel the world around us differently. Today is a wrap-up of 2025 before I go on my vacation for December. And I want to give you an opportunity with me to reflect back on the changes that you've made in your life that have brought you to a whole new way of being. And maybe you still have more walk to do. I know I do, but you should give yourself credit for the work that you're doing and the beauty of who you are. Enjoy the episode. Welcome to the Recover Your Soul Podcasting Community, a spiritual path to a happy and healthy life. My name is Reverend Rachel Harrison. I started Recover Your Soul after having profound changes in my life from my recovery of alcoholism, codependency, people pleasing, and control addiction. I was guided to share the tools and principles of spirituality and the recovery soul process to help others transform their lives as mine was transformed. For us to overcome external circumstances, we need to turn the attention to ourselves, focusing on our interchange and healing. Positive results in our lives will follow. Hello, Recover Your Soul community. Thank you so much for being here. And we're at the end of 2025. I cannot believe that we're in December. And as I record this, I'm just a few days away from going to Costa Rica for three weeks. And I thought I would do a little wrap-up of the year from this standpoint of this journey that we've been on together. And then the rest of the episodes for the year, some replays from previous episodes while I'm on vacation. Because in 2026, I am so excited. There's a lot of amazing, beautiful things happening in the Recover Your Soul community. And we are growing. I just looked at the Spotify wrap-up that they do every year. And to see that, you know, I'm the number one show for over a thousand, 1.3,000 people, I think it was, is amazing because really the top 10 show for like so many thousands of people. I cannot believe it that we are in this together and we're we're on this journey. And it just feels so um, oh, I'm so humbled. And it just really feels like this is the synergy of us coming together and recognizing that we are waking up, we are looking around, we're wanting to do something different with ourselves, we're wanting to let go of our codependent behaviors. And what I really want to talk about in this wrap-up of the year is really do some reflection around giving yourself some space to look at what this year has been for you. And maybe you've been with me on this journey for a while. Maybe you're new to the Recover Your Soul community and you've popped onto the podcast because you were ready for more. You wanted to deepen this experience even more. And I want you to really give yourself some credit that you've been working the recover your soul process because the first step in the process is ready for awakening. It's recognizing that you can do something about you, that we may not be able to control the people around us. Maybe you have addiction in your life, maybe you have people who are hard to be around in your life. Maybe you came from a family of origin that was really complicated and painful. And one moment you wake up and you pull your head out of what's been like a fog and you say, huh, what if, what if it doesn't have to be like this? What if I can do something different? That is a moment that is so pure, so clear, so amazing. And if you've stepped even just that far into the process, you have made a leap into waking up and being able to recognize who you are as a soul and stepping away from and out of the part of us that is completely run by other people and what the situations are and fear and these old rudimentary programs and processing ways that we've been in the world. The first couple steps of the recovery soul process are really where we're we're healing, we're seeing that there's been these systems within us that maybe we weren't even aware of. And then there's this moment where you move into a connection with a higher power, with the higher power of your understanding. You open your eyes. You know, spirituality isn't about putting more information in your head, it's about living from a new perception. And so I want to start doing an awaken your soul podcast as well, which is going to allow you to deepen your spiritual practice, to move into places where maybe you're exploring things that you never thought about or saw before. I know that's been the case for me. When I think about even though I was raised Tibetan Buddhist and I went to a metaphysical spiritual center for over 20 years, every time I just think about where my mind and my heart is at right now compared to where it was even a year ago, two years ago, four years ago, eight years ago is when I got sober. I am a completely different person. So, in this reflection of you taking a look at your journey, I want you to give yourself credit. Because I think we're too often thinking about what we didn't do right or what we should have done better, or all those critical parts of ourself. And right now is what is called the great awakening. And there's all kinds of different levels that you can get into it. There's some pretty far out there woo-woo stuff that I love. But it almost doesn't matter what level of looking into it that you're, that you're having awareness of. But this experience of awakening and recovering our soul is gathering up all these parts of ourselves that we had allowed our energy to disperse and be in other people's lives or in what they perceived of us or our family of origin, which came from pretty locked down, closed, consistent patterning from their upbringing. And we're in this place right now, this great awakening right now, that is different than it's ever, ever, ever been before. And so even if you're not listening to all the wild esoteric stuff that I'm listening to, you feel it in yourself. You feel this part of you that says, I cannot tolerate not being me. I can't tolerate not being awake, I can't tolerate not feeling good. Now, the hard part is that when we begin to really get our head up and look around at what is, looking with neutrality around what is around us, there's a lot of stuff around us that is really complicated, really painful, hard challenges for people in our lives. There's a lot going on in the world with politics, there's a lot going on that you would think that everything's falling apart. And when I did my tarot card reading for myself this morning, the first card that I pulled was the tower. And the tower is around the fact that it has to crumble to be rebuilt. And that the fear that we have of the crumbling can keep us from seeing that there's always a phoenix that can rise from the ashes. When I got sober this time eight years ago, and I realized that it wasn't for Rich, it was for me. I write this in the book. I we just finished the manuscript and now it's off with the publisher to come out next spring. But I wrote in the book, and I really have been feeling this lately because in that time when it was time for me to get well, when I had that moment of grace that just said, I have to save myself. I have to save myself. I had to look around and be willing to leave everything and everyone else behind to save myself. I had to choose my tower. And at that time, I didn't know if it meant that my marriage would stay together or not, what would happen with the kids. And in that particular season in 2018, it was pretty chaotic. There was a lot of really difficult things happening with Alex and his relationship with his dad and his drug use was off the charts at that time when I got sober. And then with Bodhi, who was up in school and just trying to figure out what was going on with him and he was about to graduate. And, you know, Rich and I were still just at odds with each other constantly. It just was chaos. And I just felt like I was in a burning house. And I had to make a decision to save myself. And so when I walked into both the rooms of AA and Al-Anon, and I was able to do this is what step one is. I was ready for awakening. I was ready for awakening. I was willing to do whatever it took to get well. And I continue to feel like this spiritual journey of us allowing our soul to come forward, that we're releasing our identity to the ego part of ourself, that that we've been, we've been validated for generations, for eons, for eons, for eons, that's shifting now this part that was, you know, who are you? Who are you? Are you a mother? Are you a career person? Are you a wife? Are you a husband? Are you the provider? Are you the, you know, who are you? What kind of money do you make? What kind of house do you live in? What kind of car do you drive? All these validations. And now with social media especially, it feels like it's even more so that it's, you know, the number of likes. I mean, I even started out this conversation by saying how grateful I am to be the number one show of X amount of persons. Well, I could take that into a place in myself and feel like that validation gives me an identity of being somebody important. And if I do that, I'm gonna be slipping off the back end of my spiritual journey. Because the reason why I do this is to be of service. I do this because, ooh, it's gonna make me cry. Because I know that my story is our story, and that I am no better than anyone. I'm no better or no more special than anyone. I am you, and you are me. But in it, we each have this opportunity to become the fullness of who we are as our souls in these bodies, and to express ourselves with the greatest compassion, the greatest ability to stand in our skin and to be full, to be whole, and to love deeply and to feel deeply, and to have the experiences that we choose to do in our creation. We are here to create. That's what living in life is. We are the creation of Source itself, of God, of the universe itself. And up until now, we've been kind of asleep. But this has been coming for some time. This awakening of us has been coming for some time, basically since the 40s, it kind of started. And then think about our parents or grandparents that were in the 60s and and all the revolution of thought that came that was a a mark out of the restriction that was in the 50s. You know, the women do this and the men do this, and all the houses need to be perfect. And, you know, if you really look at how society has been going along, which another thing that I think about all the time is we think it was like, oh, a hundred years ago was a long time ago. Not really. There's people who are a hundred years old today, who drove in the first cars, who went to school with a horse and cart. We are expanding so rapidly. Everything is changing so quickly. And we're part of that. And that's the part that's so exciting to think about this opportunity for us to truly awaken, to take the principles that have been taught by the masters that were of the sort of esoteric monks and spiritual leaders, and know that all of that is available to you, that we all have access to the same information. And when we open our eyes and look just a tiny bit, just open a tiny bit and have willingness, it will be presented to us, the step by step by step, which is where I am today versus where I was even a year ago, and where you are today versus where you were even a year ago or a month ago. Right now, in particular, in December of 2025, the astrological planet alignment is something that has never been before. And if you're interested in those kinds of energies, which more and more I'm more curious about, it's profound what is energetically happening around us and with us. And so if you're having feelings, if you're if you are energetically sensitive, which if you're here, you're probably an empath, you're a highly sensitive person, likely, because that's what usually happens when we're codependents and people pleasers, is we already had a sensitive nature. You have been feeling energies your whole life that maybe you haven't known what to do with or how to manage them. And so you've come up with your coping mechanisms and your strategies that you've used to protect yourself and to figure out how to negotiate all of it. Well, here we are now in this new way of understanding ourselves and seeing, using the recovery soul process to understand that we don't have to be in control of everything. As a matter of fact, we're not. And that we have been given these beliefs, patterns, and stories that we've been replicating over and over and over. And now we're ready to see what of those do not work for us, which ones don't fit, which is not the truth of who we are. And that we've been feeling the energies of people for so long. And that now we can recognize that when you feel those energies, it means something. And in December of 2025, what they're saying on that super woo energetic level is some pretty big shifts are happening in the collective consciousness. And I bet you're part of that. And it doesn't mean that there's some huge um, you know, flash or something that happens where all of a sudden you're somebody else. It's different than that. It's you opening up to the awarenesses, to the healing, to the truth of who you are, to the still small voice that whispers within you that is a knowing, that's choosing the eyes of love, that's choosing Christ consciousness, it's choosing to see us as one instead of separate from, that's letting go of the fear, that is letting go of judgment, letting go of resentment, and it's it's it's subtle and yet it's profound. And so if you allow yourself just to be present in your body, so that if you have a day where you just don't have a lot of energy instead of beating yourself up for it, be curious energetically, what are you feeling? I know that there were there were times this summer when the energies were really big, and I literally could hardly move. It was like I did exactly what I was required to do for that day, and then I gave myself permission to just rest, to just meditate, to listen to music, to lay in the sun, to sleep sometimes. I've been pushing myself my whole life to do chores, to be productive, to do, to do, to do, to do. And we're being invited to be. And in being, there is action steps that need to be made. But it's very different when you let go of control and you step into the flow and you listen to your inner, balanced self, your timetable, your timeline, your energy level. And we stop trying to control everybody else. And they're saying that moving into 2026, especially those first few months between December and March of next year, have a lot of big energy shifts that are happening. And they're big energy shifts around us letting go of these limiting beliefs and stories that have been rooted into our systems for generations, some of it's in our DNA that we didn't even know was there. I mean, how crazy is that? I've talked about this before, but I think about it all the time that if we have awareness that some of it is not even ours in the first place. So if stuff is coming up for you, if you're being invited to see some of the gunk that's in there, the sticky gunk that continues to surface, it's coming up so that you can see it and release it and let it go. To use the recovery soul process, to use the tools that we've been sharing, to use the meditations, to allow yourself to center more and more and more into the wholeness of who you are and to watch the world around you through the lens of love and having deep compassion and sadness for stuff that is happening that's hard to watch, but we're not taking it on anymore. It's not ours to carry, it's not ours to fix. If you look back at this past year, I want you to contemplate and give yourself credit for the small shifts that you've been making one step at a time, and give yourself credit about how you're changing your perception and how you're changing how you see it and how that is affecting your life. This is the profound part of our spiritual journey. This is the profound part of our coming together. This is the profound oneness of who we are, and where we can hold light and love for everything and everyone unconditionally, allowing and having space for it all. It means that we begin to truly see from a new lens. And as we walk forward, as we take the next steps, as we move into the next year to embody and be present in our lives. In a way that we haven't given ourselves permission to do before. We haven't given ourselves permission to do before. If you need someone to give you permission, I'm doing it. I give you permission to fully embody the beautiful, unique, amazing soul that you are. And to be able to see and witness those around you through a way that has compassion and grace, acceptance, and allowing for all of it. I'm excited to see what comes with our community and with each of you in the new year. And I know, I know that we're here together on purpose. Together, we can do the work that will recover your soul. Thank you so much for spending this time with me and being part of the Recover Your Soul community. If today's episode spoke to you and you'd like to connect with the community even more, I invite you to join us on the first Monday of every month for the free online support group on Zoom. It's from 6 to 7 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, where I share a little bit more on the Recover Your Soul journey and then we break into small groups. You can register at recoveryoursoul.net, and if you've registered in the past, be on the lookout in your promotions folder for the reminder email and link. I'd also love to invite you to listen to the Recover Your Soul Bonus Podcast every Friday, either as an Apple Podcast subscriber or as a Patreon member. On Patreon, you can become a free member and have access to new episodes for the first week, or you can support this community with the tier that you choose. You can also follow me on social media, Instagram, Facebook, and join the private Facebook group for more connection with this amazing community. I hope you'll visit the website recoveryoul.net and you can sign up for emails so that you can be up to date with everything that's going on and maybe even join me for a retreat someday. Lastly, I thank you for sharing this podcast and community with anyone that you think might enjoy or learn from it. I also thank you for giving me five stars on any platform that you listen to and writing a review so that others can find the Recover Your Soul community too. Until next time, Namaste.