Naturally Empowered Living

18/02/2026

This committee has been held very close to my heart having kids as well as being a part of a small community. As a collective, your voice matters.

The next meeting of the Anti-Bullying Ad Hoc Committee will take place on Monday, February 23rd at 6:00 PM in the Elementary Library.

We welcome families, staff, and community members to attend as we continue our work to support a safe and respectful school environment for all students.

All are welcome. 💚

16/02/2026

Some conversations simply matter more than words can capture. This is one of them. In this week’s episode on the pod, we’re talking about healing through vulnerability.. what it actually looks like to own your story while building something meaningful in the world.

Brooke Paulson, co-founder of Rooted Collective 201 LLC, joins me for a conversation that feels like one of the many deep talks we have on the weekly.. just recorded.

Rooted Collective 201 is a farm-to-table and maker’s market home to more than 60 collective members. Maker-made goods. Homegrown products. Local artisans. It’s a true collective built on intention, collaboration, and community.

But this conversation goes beyond business.

We talk about what it takes to speak openly about su***de, alcoholism, and eating disorders.. not from a present moment of collapse, but from embodied truth. What it means to lead publicly while doing private, intimate, inner work. And how healing through vulnerability shapes the way we show up in our relationships, our leadership, and our communities.

Inside this episode:
▪️What healing through vulnerability looks like in real life, not theory
▪️The intersection of leadership and emotional work
▪️How Root-Cause Therapy is supporting deeper healing
▪️The heart behind Rooted Collective 201
▪️The February fundraiser supporting eating disorder awareness and community healing

This episode isn’t polished. It isn’t perfect. [ you can get that sense with me trying a new mic combo and the audio is sub par, my apologies. ] But, it’s real.

If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to build something outwardly powerful while healing inwardly, let’s dive in.

🎧Search Naturally Empowered Living on your podcast app or get the link in my bio or stories

🖤Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of su***de, alcoholism, and eating disorders. If this conversation brings up anything difficult for you, support is available. Message me. Or if you are in immediate danger, please call your local emergency number right away.

♾️February Fundraiser supporting Eating Disorder Awareness: Donate $1 and receive two paper hearts. One heart goes in our storefront window with your Valentine’s name, and one heart you give to someone you love [ including yourself! ] February is National Eating Disorder Awareness Month, and 100% of proceeds support eating-disorder awareness, education, and healing resources. Stop into Rooted Collective 201 and be a part of the support.
More information can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18JYUhCuuF/

14/02/2026

New 2026 Partners for Lafayette County Wisconsin

Take a look at the businesses what what they offer.
▪ Blanchardville: Blanchardville Community Pride
Friends of McKellar Park Inc, Blanchardville, WI
~ community organization aimed at park improvements
Rooted Collective 201 LLC
~ space where local creatives & makers show off their talents for purchase
Paulson Grass Fed Beef
~ family beef farm with cuts of meat available at Rooted Collective 201
Naturally Empowered Living
~ alternative & holistic health services
Angie Rae Wellness
~ massage - available to book online
River Bend Cafe
~ fantastic sit down restaurant with breakfast, lunch and Friday fish fry

▪ Darlington - Darlington Chamber Main Street
Creative Destination
~ vendor shop available on Friday & Saturday
Driver Opera House
~ community organization bringing live entertainment and free community events
The Driver Hotel
~ 5 upstairs rooms available in historic downtown Darlington
Glennie's
~ Bar/restaurant that offers breakfast, lunch and dinner
Lafayette County Historical and Genealogy Society
~ Museum and Caboose showings

▪ Other
Bella Blue Bottoms - Benton
~ event venue space (gorgeous) and lodging available
Perfecht Gift Co - Shullsburg
~ retail space with handmade goods available
Pec Valley Atv/Utv Club - Hollandale, Blanchardville & Argyle

Give these businesses or organizations a like/follow and stay up to date on everything they offer.

11/02/2026

I’ve been breadcrumbing pieces of this story for a couple weeks now. And then I released the most vulnerable episode I’ve ever recorded... But this conversation is ‘bigger’ than alcohol. It’s ‘bigger’ than food.

Because ED recovery is not solely about the food.
And sobriety is never just about the alcohol.
[ Or whatever coping mechanism you’ve leaned on. ]

For me, they served different roles in different seasons of my life… but came from the same root. They were ways my nervous system learned to survive.
To numb.
To control.
To avoid the ache of not feeling like enough.
Buuuut, they were also pulling me further away from myself.

Fight.
Flight.
Freeze.
Fawn.
These responses are adaptations when we begin to live in these states long term.

In Eating Disorder Awareness Month, I want to name something:
Food.
Alcohol.
Control.
Perfectionism.
Avoidance.

They’re often the nervous system trying to protect you.. or create a sense of stability when something inside feels unsafe. For so long, I tried outrunning the shame. Managing it. Silencing it. Overpowering it. But shame doesn’t dissolve through force. It deepens in secrecy.

I didn’t heal the alcohol.
I didn’t heal the eating disorder.
I healed the layers beneath them.

And many coping behaviors we label as “addictions” are regulation strategies the body learned when it didn’t feel safe.

Healing isn’t a willpower decision. It’s a byproduct of the other stuff. Of sitting with yourself. Listening to yourself. Learning to trust yourself and accept yourself for all of who you are…

And this month, alongside the podcast and the work I do with my clients, I’m supporting Eating Disorder Awareness through a local fundraiser..because this conversation matters.

It’s never just about the behavior. Rather what that behavior has been carrying. And allowing safety and compassion back to your body so you can actually feel.

If this resonates and you feel called, you can head to Rooted Collective 201 LLC and purchase a heart. This initiative is about starting conversations and making sure support meets real community needs. There is nothing weak about needing support. And you don’t have to do it alone.

10/02/2026

🎨 Friendly reminder about a special community event celebrating our youngest artists!

Pecatonica Elementary students currently have 35 pieces of artwork on display throughout Blanchardville and Hollandale as part of our new Rotating Community Art Program.
• 29 pieces are featured at the Blanchardville Public Library and will remain on display through early May
• Additional rotating art frames are located at Hollandale Grocery, Farmers Savings Bank, the Hollandale Village Hall, and the River Bend Cafe in Blanchardville

To celebrate this exciting collaboration, we invite you to join us for an Art Gallery Opening:

📍 Blanchardville Public Library
📅 Thursday, February 12
⏰ 4:00–6:00 pm

This event is open to all and is a wonderful opportunity to support our students and see their creativity on display throughout our community. A huge thank you to our local partners for helping make this possible.

We hope to see you there! 💚💛

09/02/2026

This is by far the most vulnerable episode I have ever shared..

For a long time, alcohol showed up as a protector in my life. There were years where I didn’t know how to sit with my emotions. Alcohol helped me soften the edges, quiet the noise, and disconnect when everything felt like too much. It helped me cope with pain I didn’t yet know how to hold. It offered relief, acute calm, and a sense of confidence when my system felt overwhelmed. And for that, it served a purpose. And let me tell you, it took almost two decades to come to that realization.

And this episode is sharing the guilt, the anxiety, the relapses, and the emotional work that finally allowed me to stay present instead of escaping time and time again… I share the moments that felt like there was no light, the awareness that changed everything, and how Root Cause Therapy helped me release what was actually driving the pattern beneath the behavior.

Know this episode isn’t solely about sobriety. The sobriety became a natural byproduct of the deeper work shared here. So maybe alcohol never had a grip over you. Maybe it’s another substance, a habit, or a pattern you lean on to avoid or distract. At its core, this episode is about learning how to stay present with discomfort, how to protect yourself from the inside out, and how Root Cause Therapy supported me in feeling, releasing, and integrating emotion.. rather than managing or suppressing it.

If you’ve ever relied on something to help you get through.. and felt a deeper pull toward wholeness.. I recorded this with you in mind. This episode was recorded with so much care. I hope it meets you exactly where you are.

🎧Search Naturally Empowered Living on your podcast app or get the link in my bio or stories💫

05/02/2026

This trend is eery because my first thought was, great, let me give AI access to my full camera roll even though I didn’t send it a photo including my children😑curiosity got me though and it’s pretty dreamily accurate.

But now that I have your attention🤪

Let’s talk about emotional safety.

A lot of people think it’s a mindset.
Or positive thinking.
Or convincing yourself, “I’m fine.”

But emotional safety isn’t a thought.
It’s a felt sense in the body.
It’s the difference between being present… and bracing.
Between true rest… and collapsing after pushing too hard.
Between clarity… and forcing answers that aren’t ready yet.

And before growth.
Before change.
Before healing.
The body needs safety first.

That’s why the first podcast I recorded after our break is about forgiveness. Because forgiveness doesn’t come through forcing or pressure. It comes when the body feels safe enough to soften and let go.

And it’s also why Rooted Collective 201 LLC and I are coming together this February to support Eating Disorder Awareness.

In her post a couple days ago, she shared a line I’ll be expanding on all month:

“It’s never just about the food.”

Sometimes our patterns look like control, numbing, or restriction because through that is how the body learned how to survive. In my early twenties, I lived with a quiet black hole of not being enough..struggling with an eating disorder, I felt stuck in a quiet, heavy loop I didn’t know how to climb out of, while looking like I was doing just fine on the outside. Change felt hard because safety was missing.

Now I understand that healing is a natural byproduct when the body feels safe enough to let go of the coping mechanisms, habitual patterns, and stuck emotional imprints thatve protected us for so long.

If this resonates, let it be gentle.
An awareness, not a diagnosis.
Self love and self acceptance changes more than effort ever could. 🖤

04/02/2026

Support can change everything.🖤👇🏼

It started with a $1 construction-paper heart at an Argyle High fundraiser in 1999.

Plot twist: I married the boy who gave it to me 🖤
Yes… really.

Reconnected in 2012, married in 2015, somehow celebrated 10 years in 2025.

For the full “wait… WHAT?” story, check out our pinned post — it’s worth the scroll.

This February, we unearthed the original heart and decided to bring it back.

🖤💕$1 Heart Club Fundraiser💕🖤

For $1 (same price as ’99, because nostalgia):
• One heart goes in our storefront window with your Valentine’s name
• One heart you give to someone you love

February is National Eating Disorder Awareness Month, and 100% of proceeds support eating-disorder awareness, education, and healing resources.

Buy a heart 🖤
Spread the LOVE🖤
Spread Awareness on an important topic 🖤

02/02/2026

Read the slides. Buy a heart. Share the love. Support awareness.🖤 February Fundraiser 👇🏼