In this episode, Rho is joined by Susan Kacvinsky and Devon Cunningham, her partners in The Awakening: Return to Self Retreat, for a powerful conversation about healing, truth, and reconnecting with yourself in a world full of noise. Together, they explore silence, sound healing, self-inquiry, grief, and the deeper work of returning to who you really are.

Together, they explore how stress, grief, trauma, overgiving, and constant noise can leave us disconnected from who we really are. This conversation is an invitation to pause, listen inward, and begin the work of coming back to yourself with honesty, compassion, and intention.

Susan shares how silence, self-inquiry, and truth-telling can help unravel the stories and conditioning that shape the way we move through life. Devon opens up about her journey through sobriety, awakening, grief, and sound healing, and how reconnecting with the body can create space for peace, clarity, and release.

As collaborators behind The Awakening: Return to Self Retreat, Rhonda, Susan, and Devon also share the heart behind this one-day experience and why creating intentional spaces for people to slow down, breathe, and reconnect feels especially important right now.

At its core, this episode is a reminder that healing is not about becoming someone new. It is about remembering who you were before the noise told you otherwise.

Key Takeaways

  • Returning to yourself is an act of remembrance

    • Healing is not about creating a new version of yourself. It is about peeling back the layers of conditioning, fear, and survival so you can reconnect with what has always been true.

  • Healing happens in both the mind and the body

    • This conversation reminds us that healing is not only emotional or mental. It also happens through breath, stillness, sound, reflection, and giving yourself permission to feel what has been buried.

  • Silence and sound can both be pathways back to self

    • Susan speaks to the power of silence and self-inquiry, while Devon shares how sound healing can support regulation, release, and deeper presence. Together, they offer two powerful paths back to inner truth.

  • Community matters

    • Healing may be deeply personal, but it is often strengthened in safe, intentional spaces where people can be supported, seen, and reminded they are not alone.

  • Joy is part of the work

    • This episode reframes joy as something deeper than fleeting happiness. Joy becomes a grounding force, a truth to return to, and a radical choice in difficult times.

Meet the Guests

Susan Kacvinsky

Susan Kacvinsky is a spiritual teacher, writer, and guide whose work centers on awakening, truth, self-inquiry, and living from the heart. She is also a partner and facilitator in The Awakening: Return to Self Retreat.

Connect with Susan:
SusanKacvinsky.com

Devon Cunningham

Devon Cunningham, also known as Sacred Sounds by Devon, is a sound healing practitioner whose work helps people reconnect with themselves through meditation, vibration, stillness, and intentional healing experiences. She is also a partner and facilitator in The Awakening: Return to Self Retreat.

Connect with Devon:
SacredSoundsbyDevon
Devonโ€™s Instagram

Join Us for The Awakening: Return to Self Retreat

If this episode resonated with you, The Awakening: Return to Self Retreat was created with you in mind.

Facilitated by Rhonda Nelson, Susan Kacvinsky, and Devon Cunningham, this one-day retreat on April 25 in Sherman Oaks is designed to help you step away from the noise, calm your nervous system, reconnect with your truth, and return to yourself in a deeper way.

Created with care and intention, this experience offers space to pause, reflect, heal, and reconnect through guided practices, movement, stillness, and community.

Register here

๐ŸŒฟ Want to go deeper in your self-care journey?

๐ŸŽ™ Hold My Purse is a bi-weekly podcast that centers healing, wholeness, and the sacred act of putting yourself first. Donโ€™t forget to follow, share, and leave a review if this episode made you feel a little more seen today.

โœจ Sponsor Shout-out:
This episode is brought to you by Self Care Shawty ๐ŸŒฟ, your go-to for homemade skin products that keep you moisturized, healed, and at ease. Explore their amazing offerings at selfcareshawty.etsy.com.

๐Ÿ’ผ Remember:  Until next time, my fabulous friends and self-care warriorsโ€ฆ keep loving you, protect your peace, and hold your own damn purse.

And Iโ€™ll meet you right back here in two weeks โ€” same space, same heart, new ways to choose you. ๐Ÿ’–

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I Donโ€™t Abandon Me: New Decade Standards for Love, Work, Purpose & Peace