Gathering Gold
Episodes
Living in the Rhythm (Re-Air)
26 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Sheryl and Victoria lean into the rhythm of the holiday season, resting and connecting with family at the end of the year, we invite you to return ...
The Joy of Small Things
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this solo episode, Sheryl explores the potency of the present moment. With personal reflections and poetry, Sheryl illuminates how much depends upo...
How to Slow Down Time
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At this time of year, it can start to feel like time is speeding up. The holidays are here already? It's almost the end of 2025? Didn't the year just ...
The Need to Nag and Control
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, Sheryl and Victoria unpack an idea explored in Sheryl's upcoming course Open Your Heart: A 30-Day Course to Feel More Love and Att...
Rooting into Autumn (Re-Air)
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
**Today, we are practicing what we preach: slowing down and giving ourselves a little break by re-airing this episode from last year. We hope you enjo...
Autumn, Grief, and Beauty
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we are slowing down and opening our hearts to the beauty and loss abundant in autumn, a season that can so poignantly reflect an...
Myths About Relationships
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We pick up where we left off in our last episode to discuss a few myths about relationships, unpacking commonly-held beliefs and prescriptions regardi...
Myths About Life
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever felt like you should be able to figure out and answer all of life's questions--immediately? That if you could just find the one right li...
The Thief of Joy
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We used to try to keep up with the Joneses--the family behind the picket fence on that beautiful street the next town over. Now it's not just the loca...
What Makes a Safe Friendship?
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are many types of friendships, and they're all necessary. We need friends to chat with at work, neighbors to share metaphorical cups of sugar wi...
Reclaiming Joy
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We all want to experience joy, but sometimes it can feel out of reach. Sometimes, the more we chase joy, the faster it slips beyond our reach. And yet...
The Upside of OCD with Michael Alcee
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today's very special guest, Michael Alcée, is author of the book The Upside of OCD: Flight the Script to Reclaim Your Life. In our conversation, Mich...
True Abundance
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is a common refrain these days: we live in a culture of scarcity mindset. We are bombarded with messages of never enough, implicitly and explicitl...
(Gently) Stretching Our Comfort Zones (Patreon Bonus)
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're sharing a Patreon exclusive to our Gathering Gold feed today! In this episode, we're responding to our patron Jenny's question about how to deal...
100 Hours of Gathering Gold
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the 100th episode of Gathering Gold! Today, we take a moment to pause and reflect on what it has meant to commit to this podcast for four y...
Making Decisions
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In contemporary society, we face more choices--and more decisions--than ever before. This can sometimes feel like a curse as much as it is also a bles...
What Could Have Been
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today's follow-up to the Escape Hatch Fantasies episode, Sheryl and Victoria discuss the double-edged allure of ruminating on what could be? and wh...
Escape Hatch Fantasies (Re-Air)
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In preparation for our next episode, we bring to you one of our most popular episodes to date: Escape Hatch Fantasies. Members of our Patreon can subm...
A New Tool for Healing Anxiety
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"You can read and listen and learn for years, but unless you take actions that create more well-being, you will remain stuck. While accurate informati...
Resistance to Growing Up
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some children and adolescents bound toward the future, excitedly proclaiming, "I can't wait to grow up!" Others are a bit more unsure--some of us ma...
What Does It Mean to Grow Up?
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to grow up? Is it about arriving at a destination at a specific time, after following the linear formula of job, marriage, house, ba...
Living in the Rhythm
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in rhythms. A human being is just that, energy, waves, patterns, rhythms. Nothing more...
Dark Night of the Soul
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes, the month of January can start to feel like one long dark night. Many of us step off the carousel of the holiday season feeling a little ...
Winter Solstice (Re-Air)
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the spirit of the season, we bring to you one of our most popular episodes to date: last year's episode about the Winter Solstice. We are also offe...
Resistance to Gratitude
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We all know that practicing gratitude is good for us: we've read news articles about groundbreaking research on the benefits of gratitude, purchased g...
The Gift of Presence
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Leaves are falling from the trees. The world is shifting into hues of gray and brown, into sparseness and clarity. Meanwhile, we are entering into the...
How to Ground During Difficult Times
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"There are times of heightened fear. And there are times when there is a lot of fear in the greater collective, in the culture. And I do think that on...
Connecting with Ancestors
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“I can tell you the names of Taylor Swift’s parents, but not my great-grandparents.” Can you relate to Victoria’s admission in today’s episo...
Managing Overwhelm
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes, it all feels like too much: too much responsibility, too many expectations, too much sensation, too many feelings, too much hyper-vigilance...
Rooting into Autumn
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Meaning making. Connecting to breath. Aligning with nature. So many actions, big and small, can help us dig a little deeper into the soil of time, anc...
Resistance to Inner Work
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We often resist doing things that we know are good for us—including inner work. We attend one therapy session and then stop showing up. We drag our ...
The Fear of Taking Risks
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
By nature or nurture, or some combination of the two, some of us are chronically risk averse–especially if we struggle with anxiety. While some caut...
Living IRL
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our relationship with screens, digital devices, and online media is complicated. We can gain so much valuable information and connection in a more acc...
Adding Good Things
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In our last episode, we talked about why it can be hard to receive good things. Today, we are discussing the importance of actively adding good things...
Why It's Hard to Receive Good Things
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s episode was requested by one of our lovely Patreon members, who asked us to talk about why it can be hard to receive good things, and how to...
THRESHOLDS: Panic Attacks
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We continue our deep dive into themes from Sheryl’s new audio collection Thresholds: Reflections at Midlife, with an exploration of the terrifying u...
Summer Solstice
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sheryl and Victoria take a pause from exploring themes of Thresholds: Reflections at Midlife, in order to honor the Summer Solstice. Sheryl explains...
THRESHOLDS: Parenting
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sheryl has entered a new era in her parenting life: an era of letting go. Today’s episode continues a series exploring themes from Sheryl’s new au...
THRESHOLDS: Midlife Magic
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we're announcing an exciting new offering from Sheryl: a beautiful audiobook entitled Thresholds: Reflections at Midlife, which will be availab...
Rupture and Repair
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rupture and repair. Rupture and repair. Rupture and repair. This is the rhythm of all close relationships—even the relationship between Sheryl and...
True Wild
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The wild has been banished, pushed to the edges of civilization, pushed to the edges of psyche. Wolves and coyotes, bears and bobcats, rage and sexual...
Fertility Anxiety
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we hear a very special guest’s story of managing fertility anxiety while trying to conceive for many months. Sarah shares her ...
The Edge of Spring
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, Sheryl reflects on the liminal time between winter and spring, and the way that this season emphasizes a certain truth about life:...
Spring Equinox
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The spring equinox is a moment of symmetry and balance; the sun sits exactly above the equator, and we experience an equal amount of daylight and dark...
Trauma Collisions in Relationships
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s episode was inspired by a recent post that Sheryl shared on Instagram about trauma collisions in longterm relationships. In this conversatio...
Irritation in Relationships
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You just sat down with a cup of tea and a good book. You’re deeply invested in the plot and sinking into glorious alone time, when suddenly, you hea...
January: The God of the Doorway
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The month of January is named after the Roman god Janus: the god of the doorway. Janus was said to have two faces: one looking ahead, and one looking ...
Sacred Sexuality
05 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we return gently to sacred ground: the ground of our sexuality. Last January, we explored what it means to own our sexual sove...
Fairy Tales by the Fireside with Daev Finn
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode, Sheryl's husband Daev Finn joins the show to continue our seasonal exploration of wintry themes. A psychotherapist who uses t...
Winter Solstice
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are approaching the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern hemisphere. In preparation for the winter solstice, Sheryl invites u...
Social Anxiety
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We all know the feeling: jitters before a birthday party. Melting into the wall during a wedding reception. Obsessing over that awkward hug you gave a...
Work and Career Anxiety
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Highly sensitive people bring many gifts to work, and we also face unique challenges—including a persistent longing to bridge the gap between our id...
The Witching Hour
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The witching hour: a time in the middle of the night when we sometimes wake from a potent dream or nightmare, eyes wide in the darkness, heart and bod...
Sheryl’s Conscious Transition
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s special episode, Sheryl shares her story of navigating a major transition over the past year: ushering her eldest son out of the nest and...
Golden Nugget Minisode - Olivia’s Update
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We hope you enjoy today's "Golden Nugget" mini-episode! We're sharing a voicemail from our lovely listener Olivia, who asked the question that inspire...
Healing Shame
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us feed our shame with the very food that makes it grow: criticism and cruelty that inspires deeper disconnection and despair. We think that w...
The Cloak of Shame
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone feels shame at one time or another. For some of us, shame is an occasional or even rare experience. It’s an awful feeling, but manageable. ...
Expectations, Emotions and Very Big Days (from Patreon)
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode is from the Gathering Gold Patreon Bonus Episode vault! Sheryl and Victoria address a question from Olivia, who is considering marriag...
Effort and Ease
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everything we do requires some effort. We wake up in the morning, and from that point forward, we exert effort, starting with getting out of bed and b...
Growing Up and Knowing Ourselves
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s solo episode, Victoria responds to Patreon Community questions about resistance to growing up and learning to connect to our wants, needs...
The Good Girl and the Inner Teenager
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You may be familiar with the inner child and the inner adult, but when was the last time you thought about your inner teenager? In today’s episode, ...
Breaking the Worry Habit
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Studies suggest that about 85% of what we worry about never happens. And yet, for many of us, worrying is a way of life. It is our go-to response when...
Creativity
09 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There are all sorts of blocks that get in the way of us connecting to our creativity, our life force. There’s the inner critic, and then there are t...
Exploring the Depths of OCD with Stuart Ralph
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are honored to bring you a conversation with Stuart Ralph, host of The OCD Stories podcast. Stuart founded The OCD Stories podcast in 2015 to im...
Aliveness
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can we find a sense of aliveness rooted in our everyday lives? Does the magic of life disappear as we age? How do we take responsibility for our own a...
Stories We Tell Ourselves
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We tell ourselves stories all the time, often stories with roots in fear and protection: "I’m not smart enough." "They’re mad at me." "I’ll n...
Grieving Unlived Lives
07 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There are times in our lives, especially around transitions, when we might wonder: what if? What if I had done things differently back then, or if cir...
Redefining Attraction
17 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We begin this episode about attraction by uncovering some core beliefs that get embedded into us at an early age — as early as childhood, when we wa...
The Myth of Effortless Self-Care
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You know how to take care of yourself, right? It's simple and easy. Just eat healthy, exercise, get the perfect amount and type of sleep every night, ...
Relationship Anxiety: Katie’s Story
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we are finally addressing a topic that has been the pathway to Sheryl’s work for so many of her clients and course members: relationship anxi...
Anticipatory Anxiety
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You probably know the feeling: it’s the pit of dread in your stomach every time you see a particular date on the calendar, and you know exactly what...
Connective Parenting with Michelle Kenney
20 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We were thrilled to speak with Michelle Kenney, a parenting coach who has helped thousands of parents stop using punishments and yelling and learn kin...
Sexual Sovereignty
06 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our bodies know when we want to be touched, and when we don’t want to be touched. Desire and agency simmer in our throats, ready to emerge as “Yes...
Artifacts of the Heart
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a society (and a holiday season) often focused on consumerism, we can sometimes forget to treasure the special objects in our lives—things handma...
Darkness & Light
02 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There are different kinds of darkness. Sometimes we head out into darkness to go on a journey—there might be fear or nervousness, but also excitem...
There Is Another Way
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“We are tired, exhausted. We know that there’s a better way, a more humane way, a more balanced way. We’re not sure what that looks like yet, bu...
Self-Trust, Grief and the Body
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Due to a family emergency, Victoria wasn’t able to record with me this week (I share more about this in the episode), so I had to harness my self-tr...
When We Mess Up
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, we've had episodes about purity, perfectionism, and what it means to be (or not to be!) "good." We've emphasized again and again that no one...
You Do Not Have to Be Good
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we're wrestling and dancing with Mary Oliver’s beloved poem “Wild Geese,” starting with its bold opening line: “You do n...
Purity and Perfectionism
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We start today’s episode with a story from Sheryl about how getting covid brought up the voices of purity and perfectionism in her—cold, scolding,...
The Fear of Death with Chaplain J.S. Park
02 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we welcome a special guest, J.S. Park, to talk with us about that most primal human fear, the fear of death. And, we talk about th...
The Power of the Pause
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we are talking about a simple, yet powerful tool we all can use as we seek to live from more wisdom and less reactivity: the abi...
The Hidden Gifts in Slowing Down
29 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, you’ll hear us speaking more slowly, pausing longer, listening more closely. That’s because we wanted to approach the subjec...
Deep Conversations
15 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wished that you could join the conversations that you hear in podcasts? Do you find yourself longing for deeper conversations with peopl...
Dream Work
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dreams: they comfort us and terrify us, send us into flights of fantasy and doubt, connect us to our aliveness and ancestors. They are potent portals,...
The Father Wound
17 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode features a very special guest: Daev Finn, Sheryl's beloved husband (and Victoria's uncle!) Daev is an artist/psychotherapist and forme...
World Pain
03 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we’re talking about responding to the pain in our hearts and around the world when we turn on the news and see yet another hor...
Separation Anxiety
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Separation anxiety can feel like a scream from the soul, like love choking on its own breath. It springs from a variety of sources, both genetic and e...
The Mother Wound
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Your children are not your children They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself They come through you but not from you And though th...
Ask Us Anything
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We are so happy to celebrate one year of Gathering Gold with a special "Ask Us Anything" episode. Thank you to all of the listeners who sent in so man...
News & Invitations
08 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We begin this episode with a little story about the podcast episode we had planned to share today, and why we just couldn't make it work. And, we shar...
Bittersweet Spring
25 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As we move out of winter and into spring, we are taking time to reflect on this seasonal transition in all of its bittersweetness. Sheryl begins by sh...
Dark Shadow, Bright Shadow
11 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we’re taking a dip into the shadow lands, and exploring what we mean when we talk about “our shadow” in the realm of human...
The Passage of Time
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The passage of time: we all feel it, but highly sensitive people seem to feel it that much more acutely, and often from a very young age. In today's e...
Escape Hatch Fantasies
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We all indulge in fantasizing from time to time. Maybe you find yourself scrolling through Zillow looking at houses for sale, even though most of the ...
Dropping Into Your Body
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You've probably heard the phrase "drop into your body" many times before--even from Sheryl. If this phrase brings up an automatic reaction of fear, fr...
COVID and the Highly Sensitive Person
16 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re sick of hearing about COVID, we understand. This episode is about just a few themes that are being highlighted for many highly sensitive p...
Winter‘s Paradox
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Winter is a season of contrasts. In the long dark nights, candles burn more brightly. Amidst the cold, we find ways to generate heat. And in the spaci...
Spiritual Longing
10 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we’re talking about spiritual longing: longing for connection to God, to mystery, to something greater than our individual sel...
Loneliness
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are entering into what can feel like a particularly lonely season for many people: the leaves have fallen from the...