Hard Beautiful Journey | Finding Joy Again Through Life's Hardest Lessons

Grief can shatter the world as we know it - but it can also become a doorway to love, connection, and transformation. In this powerful conversation, grief specialist, thanatologist, and author Ligia M. Houben shares how losing her father at 12 years old shaped her life’s mission and led to her remarkable framework, The 11 Principles of Transformation®. Ligia opens up about losing her beloved mother at almost 101 years old, the healing power of rituals, the overlooked grief of losing “the person you used to be,” and why understanding your thoughts, presence, and emotional expression is essential on the grief journey. If you’re moving through loss - whether death, divorce, identity changes, transitions, or the loss of who you used to be - this conversation will wrap around your heart. Connect with Ligia: Website: https://ligiahouben.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ligiamhouben Connect with Tiff: Instagram: @iamtiffcarson Website: ⁠www.tiffcarson.com⁠

Mother-daughter relationships are beautiful, complicated, and sometimes…dramatic (trust me, I once called the cops on my mom in high school). In this episode, I sit down with Tes and Holly, the inspiring mother-daughter duo behind Heart to Heart Gatherings, to talk about boundaries, speaking up with love, and how even the hardest moments can lead to deeper connection. We explore finding your voice, setting loving boundaries, and growing through change - no matter what season of life you’re in. Connect with Tes & Holly here:Heart-to-Heart Website and waitlist sign-up for adult daughters and their mothers who might like to join an upcoming circle. [email protected] / gatherbetter.co [email protected] / http://we-hearyou.com (documentary Holly produced!) ✨ Connect with Tiff: Website: www.tiffcarson.com Instagram: @iamtiffcarson

Are you showing up in your life…or just getting through the day? In this powerful episode, bestselling author and TEDx speaker Marcy Axelrod joins me to explore how we’re designed to thrive - and why most of us are just barely there. Based on neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology, her model of Showing Up is transforming how people live, lead, parent, and heal. We talk about how to recognize when you’re off path, the simple shifts that change everything, and how to come back to yourself - even 1% at a time. 🔗 Learn more about Marcy: https://choosetoshowup.com 📲 Connect with Tiff: https://tiffcarson.com + @iamtiffcarson

What if your world started to disappear - literally? At nine years old, Laura Bratton was told she would go blind. But instead of letting that diagnosis define her, she chose to build a life of purpose, grit, and gratitude. In this heartfelt episode of Hard Beautiful Journey, Laura shares how she turned a life-altering challenge into a calling to help others. We talk about what it means to truly choose courage, how to move forward in the unknown, and why gratitude might just be the game-changer you didn’t know you needed. 💛 Connect with Laura: Website: https://laurabratton.com Ubi Global: https://ubiglobal.org Book: Harnessing Courage ✨ Connect with Tiff Carson: Guided Meditation & Weekly Newsletter: https://tiffcarson.com Instagram: @iamtiffcarson

What if your body was speaking to you—and you just didn’t know how to listen? In this episode of Hard Beautiful Journey, I sit down with Inna Segal, bestselling author of The Secret Language of Your Body, to explore how physical pain is often rooted in emotional trauma, suppressed energy, and ancestral patterns. Inna shares how healing begins when we reconnect with the body's innate wisdom and tune in to its messages. If you're carrying chronic pain, burnout, anxiety, or inherited grief, this episode will show you a powerful new way forward. 🎧 Tune in for a conversation that blends intuition, somatic healing, and radical honesty. Connect with Inna: 🌐 www.innasegal.com 📘 @innasegal on Instagram 📖 Book: The Secret Language of Your Body (available wherever books are sold) Connect with Me (Tiff): 🌐 www.tiffcarson.com 📸 @iamtiffcarson Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro: Can your body speak? 2:11 – Inna’s healing journey and the origin of her book 6:34 – Pain as the body’s language 10:50 – Emotional energy + physical symptoms 15:05 – Why the mind often lies 21:30 – Generational trauma and the body 30:18 – Healing from chronic pain 37:20 – Tools for reconnecting with your body 44:15 – Inna’s message for anyone struggling 48:00 – Closing reflections with Tiff