Today is Part 2 of the 3 part What In the Woo? Series—offering a fresh perspective on how to work with the term “Inner Child.”

The Inner Child is not your younger self—it’s the wounded, emotional, shadowy part within, asking for healing.

Your Inner Child isn’t you when you were 8 years old. Inner Child is a really effectual term for the part of us that hasn’t healed yet—the wounded self, the fragmented self. Interchangeable with the ego or shadow self.

The part of you that gets triggered, goes into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn? That’s your Inner Child asking for attention and love.

The gift of the Inner Child is that they’re always pointing to what’s unresolved within us. Anxiety attacks before big events, losing your phone while hustling, getting sick when you’re pushing too hard? Those aren’t accidents—they’re calls for compassion, not "tough love."

True spiritual growth happens when we hold space for our Inner Child reactions—gently, lovingly, without judgment. Reparenting our unmet needs into creative power... and that’s Inner Child work.

In this episode:

• How the Inner Child represents your unconscious self
• Why Inner Child healing transforms emotional triggers
• How self-sabotage moments are really spiritual SOS signals
• The power of gentleness vs. tough love
• How to spiritually grow up through reparenting

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• What in the Woo? 3-part podcast series → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.
• What The Sphinx Told Me: LISTEN | READ
• The Archives: Read on Substack
• Join the Inner Child class inside the Heart Centered Collective
• Catch up on Part 1 of the What In The Woo? Series: Are you ego’ing? What IS the ego? Do you DO it, or does it do you?
• Next week: A look at “following the money” for Mother’s Day. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.
• Take the free Stressed to Blessed Quiz

The ego… your shadow… is a POWER PORTAL.

For years, I thought I had to punish all my ego-centric’isms—manipulating to get my needs met, constant striving to burn my karma, pretending to behave. But actually? I’ve needed to assimilate… embrace… and talk sweetly to my shadows.

The ego is the unhealed part of us. More precisely, “it’s the way our unhealed self acts.” It’s not a villain—it’s a pattern. And that “pattern” is always trying to protect you from heartbreak or rejection.

What if, instead of saying That’s my ego I need to get in check… we just said:

“Whoops, I was ego-ing. I can get back to Loving.”

Because ultimately: Light, shadow, light.

In this episode:

• A liberating definition of the ego (that’s not outdated personal growth dogma)
• Why bravado and deep insecurity are both ego disguises
• “Ego’ing” vs. Loving—how to tell the difference
• Why ego is not your enemy—and what it’s really asking for

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• What in the Woo? 3-part podcast series → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.
• What The Sphinx Told Me: LISTEN | READ
• The Archives: Read on Substack
• Join The Heart Centered Collective for just $7/month
• Take the free Stressed to Blessed Quiz

There’s curiosity. There’s concern. There’s some serious side-eye.

Danielle’s essay, “AI IS NOT YOUR BEST LIFE COACH,” stirred up a flood of responses—some celebratory, some cautionary. In this episode, she goes deeper into our growing relationship with AI—from life coaching to spiritual support—and asks: What happens when we start outsourcing our inner wisdom to technology?

There’s more than one side to this conversation.

Danielle shares community responses—insightful, and deeply felt—and reflects on why spiritual maturity requires discernment, and why human-to-human healing will always remain irreplaceable.

In this episode:

• Why dependency on AI for spiritual direction is dangerous
• How AI can fawn instead of truly support—and why that matters
• Community perspectives: cautious, hopeful, clear-eyed
• The real cost of convenience when it comes to creativity + soul
• Why authentic connection still matters more than ever
• And Danielle’s off-the-cuff response to the baiter debaters

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• AI Is Not Your Best Life Coach: LISTEN | READ
• The (Significant) Downside to Fawning: LISTEN | READ
• Eoin Finn’s YOGA OPTIMIZED—look into it here.
• Join The Heart Centered Collective for just $7/month
• Nourish System—reduce stress and restore your nervous system.
• The Archives: Read on Substack
• Never miss an episode → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.
• Take the free Stressed to Blessed Quiz

Fawning is a trauma response. And it’s one we don’t talk about enough.

In this episode, Danielle is digging into fawning as a default stress response. Most people misunderstand it. Fawning isn’t just being nice or deferential—it’s a survival mechanism that many of us picked up in childhood, and now it’s messing with our relationships, our confidence, and even our nervous system.

She unpacks how fawning isn’t as physiological as fight, flight, or freeze—it’s more of a personality gimmick. We think it’s safer to please other people than to be our authentic selves. And that… erodes trust in every direction.

In this episode:

• The difference between fawning and other stress responses
• How childhood (and chronic stress) trains us to fawn
• A real story of working with someone who fawned—and how it impacted trust
• The connection between fawning and chronic pain or illness
• Why spiritual practice is the antidote
• Healing practices to transmute the fawn response with love

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Take the free Stressed to Blessed Quiz
• AI Is Not Your Best Life Coach: LISTEN | READ
• Get the full class: 6 Ways To Cleanse Your Energy Field inside The Heart Centered Collective
• Nourish System—reduce stress and restore your nervous system.
• The Archives: Read on Substack
• Never miss an episode → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.

I wrote this tagline once for The Sacred: “Girlfriend vibe meets spiritual depth.” I’m going to FULLY deliver on that today.

My sister-friend Joey WhatsApp-called me from Egypt. We were in the philosophical MOOD, jacked on temple light and New Moon-ness. These wisdom nuggets are the highlights.

In this episode:

• Girlfriendship is a spiritual practice
• Energy as currency—and how to build equity
• What activities earn or cost your energy units
• The empath’s guide to protecting joy
• The opportunity cost of overthinking
• Why change doesn’t need to take time—it needs a decision.

Also: Fat-burning and lush hair. Should I start eating meat again? I’m allergic to lash glue. And I just got this Castor Oil with Rosemary from Living Libations that I like for my eyebrows and hair roots.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Heart Centered Collective. Get the new class—6 Ways To Cleanse Your Energy Field, for just $7.
• Castor Oil from Living Libations
• 💌 Get the written version of The Sacred every Friday—a personal letter from Danielle, with exclusive photos you won’t find anywhere else. You can read, listen, feel—you can heal. Subscribe here.
• Never miss an episode → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.

I’ve never used ChatGPT. Couldn’t tell you how to do it. So, not surprisingly…

I’ve never used AI for life guidance. And I never will. Because turning to algorithms for soul advice? That’s not evolution—it’s devolution.

But…asking AI for life advice and personal goal-setting is ACTUALLY TRENDING.

Heavy sigh.

This week, I’m naming what’s happening underneath all the dopamine hits.

We’ve worked too hard to break free from shallow psychotherapists and profit-centric Priestesses to fall for Chat-f*cking-GPT subbing as our next spiritual advisor.

Want real wisdom? Put the phone down. It’s less sexy, and the dopamine is modest. But the results of self-referencing and a loving support system lead to your radiant power.

In this episode:

• Why asking AI for spiritual guidance or life advice is a dangerous dependency
• Fawning as emotional manipulation—human and algorithmic
• How AI reflects your hungry ghost back to you (with charm)
• What true, self-sourced consciousness looks like in a world of synthetic wisdom

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Heart Centered Collective. Get the new class—6 Ways To Cleanse Your Energy Field, for just $7.
• 💌 Get the written version of The Sacred every Friday—a personal letter from Danielle, with exclusive photos you won’t find anywhere else. You can read, listen, feel—you can heal. Subscribe here.
• Never miss an episode → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.

Not all of your feelings are yours. Knowing this will help you navigate your entire life with more ease. Feeling other people’s feelings—momentarily or ongoingly, but in a very intentional way—can be a form of service. The more conscious we become, the more “sensing” we will be. And please, this is not to be mistaken with being overly sensitive and dysregulated, okay?

I talk about shadow eaters. I talk about empathic normies. I talk about the sensitive folks who need to learn how to NOT carry what they’re picking up on. Because there is NO SENSE or SERVICE in letting the suffering of humanity ruin your capacity to function and re-stabilize in joy.

This is the work.

In this episode:

• The day I felt suicidal energy that wasn’t mine
• Where some feelings actually come from (hint: not your brain)
• Who the “shadow eaters” are—and why they’re rare
• Why Love isn’t a feeling (and what it actually is)
• How to stop overidentifying with suffering
• Being empathic doesn’t make you more special—it makes you responsible
• Spiritual support is not optional—it’s essential

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• You’ll need support to stay resilient in these wild times—join The Heart Centered Collective
• I go deeper into chakras + consciousness in my book, How To Be Loving
• Explore spiritual practices and tools at daniellelaporte.com/shop
• 💌 Get the written version of The Sacred every Friday—a personal letter from Danielle, with exclusive photos you won’t find anywhere else. You can read, listen, feel—you can heal. Subscribe here.
• Never miss an episode → Subscribe to WITH LOVE, DANIELLE.

I’ve been in a pendulum swing of suffering and joy lately—and as ever, I hope what I share is a popcorn trail through the dark for you. Because there’s always another side.

This episode is inspired by a poem from D.H. Lawrence that’s become a mantra for me: “Are you willing to be made nothing?” The Phoenix only renews when she’s burnt to flocculent ash. Immortal bird, anyone?

This is my unfiltered download on what it means to truly rise. I’m talking about sacred surrender, resilience as your true nature, why guilt is a pathway to innocence, and how even a day of crying in bed can be an act of devotion.

Plus, I riff on my philosopher boyfriends (Krishnamurti and Leonard Cohen) and my metaphysical bestie, Manly P. Hall.

This one’s personal and poetic—just how I like it.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Rituals Class – A free live class to help you choose—and stick to, better habits. Saturday, March 29 at 9am PT | 12pm ET.
• How To Be Loving – For deeper teachings on Acceptance, Compassion + Soul Qualities
• Gail Larsen’s last speaking Immersion.