The Daily Ascent

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 134 | Why Diet Culture Stole Your Patience - And How to Get It Back May 07, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm talking about something that came up in my SOS group this week that I think doesn't get named nearly enough - one of the greatest abuses of diet culture is what it has done to our capacity for patience. I lived inside that urgency for years.

Sonya Renee Taylor writes in The Body Is Not an Apology that unlearning is challenging - do not expect neat, tidy resolutions, and we can only get closer if we are willing to be uncomfortable.

Today's episode is about taking your patience back.

Question to carry into your day: Where in your healing have you been demanding fast results from a process that actually needs time - and what would it feel like to give yourself permission to go slowly?

If the impatience shows up most loudly around your body and food, let's talk.

Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to book a free discovery call about the Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 133 | Why We Use External Things to Feel Like Enough (And What to Do About It) May 06, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm sharing something that happened at a car dealership recently that revealed something about myself I genuinely didn't see coming - and that I think a lot of us are doing without realizing it.

Geneen Roth writes in Lost and Found that if you're trying to fill something that can't be filled with what you're using, the emptiness never goes away.

And just because we've been living according to particular beliefs for twenty or fifty years doesn't mean they have one shred of validity.

Today's episode is about external validation, what we need to be represented by, and what it's actually telling us.

Question to carry into your day: Where in your life are you using something external to tell a story about yourself that you wish you already believed on the inside?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 132 | Why Feeling Worse After Deep Work Probably Means It's Working May 05, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm sharing something that happened after a group sound healing I hosted at my house last week. One of the participants called me the next day in tears - and what I told her changed everything for her.

Francis Weller writes in The Wild Edge of Sorrow that healing is a process of hollowing ourselves out so we can open to what is emerging - that our work is to make ourselves receptive.

Today's episode is about why the tenderness after the breakthrough is part of the breakthrough. And why treating yourself like a surgery patient might be the most loving thing you can do.

Question to carry into your day: Where in your life might you be rushing past grief that is actually trying to heal you — and what would it feel like to give it a little more room?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 131 | Why Taking Action Is the Fastest Way to Change How You Feel About Yourself May 04, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm sharing something a friend of mine came up with that I found so spiritually alive I couldn't stop thinking about it — a shame fast.

She was at a church lecture about why spiritual traditions throughout history have honored fasting, and had this lightning bolt moment: I need to do this with my shame thoughts.

Mark Nepo writes in The Book of Awakening that loving yourself is like feeding a clear bird that no one else can see — every time you are cruel to yourself you scare it away, and every time you are patient and kind, it returns.

Today's episode is about what you choose to feed.

Question to carry into your day: What would it feel like to fast from one shame thought today — to notice it, name it, and choose not to follow it?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 130 | How to Do a Shame Fast - And Why Your Thoughts Might Need One May 01, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm sharing something a friend of mine came up with that I found so spiritually alive I couldn't stop thinking about it — a shame fast.

She was at a church lecture about why spiritual traditions throughout history have honored fasting, and had this lightning bolt moment: I need to do this with my shame thoughts.

Today's episode is about what you choose to feed.

Question to carry into your day: What would it feel like to fast from one shame thought today — to notice it, name it, and choose not to follow it?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 129 | How to Stop Worrying About Problems That Haven't Happened Yet Apr 30, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm sharing one of the most useful questions I know that I learned about two weeks into my recovery when I was catastrophizing about going to Italy, which I had absolutely no plans to do.

Eckhart Tolle writes in The Power of Now that all worry and anxiety are caused by too much future and not enough presence.

Today's episode is about coming back to the only moment that is actually yours.

Question to carry into your day: What are you treating as a right now problem that actually isn't — and what would today feel like if you put it down?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 128 | Why Loving Yourself Means Showing Up Even When You Don't Feel Like It Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm talking about something I'm genuinely proud of — and something that took me a very long time to build. Consistency. The small, quiet, unglamorous practice of showing up for yourself every single day.

Taking your meds. Trash on Thursdays. The walk even when you're tired.

Karen Casey writes in Each Day a New Beginning that each action we take clearly indicates the person we are becoming.

Today's episode is about what those small kept promises actually build in you over time — and why I think consistency might be one of the deepest forms of self-love there is.

Question to carry into your day: What is one small practice you could commit to today — not because it's easy, but because you are worth the tending?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 127 | Why Not Asking for What You Need Is Costing You More Than You Think Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm talking about something a client said to me recently that stopped me cold — she wanted to ask her roommate to move food that was making her recovery harder, but she wasn't sure she was allowed to ask.

And it made me think about how often we decide for other people before they've ever had the chance to respond.

Brené Brown writes in Rising Strong that in the absence of data, fear sets in and dictates the story — and asks us to practice the hypothesis of generosity instead.

Today's episode is about what it costs us when we don't ask. And what happens when we do.

Question to carry into your day: What is one thing you've been needing that you haven't asked for — and what's the most generous assumption you could make about what the answer might be?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 126 | How to Stop Self-Sabotage When the Voice Sounds Like You Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

Someone in a spiritual circle I'm part of said something recently I have not been able to stop thinking about — wouldn't it be amazing if our fear voice came in a different accent, so we'd always know it wasn't our truth?

Iyanla Vanzant writes in Acts of Faith that having the thoughts isn't the problem — what sets us back is when we pay homage to them, when we keep entertaining them until they become habitual and pattern forming.

Today's episode is about the voice that sabotages you, and what happens when you stop bowing to it.

Question to carry into your day: What is one thought you've been paying homage to that, if you stopped bowing to it today, might finally start to lose its power?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Ep. 125 | If You Want a Village You Have to Be a Villager Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

In today's episode, I'm sharing something I've learned about community the hard way and the beautiful way — that if you want a village, you have to be a villager.

I talk about the women's recovery meeting that saved me during COVID, the Sunday morning chairperson position I almost said no to, and what happened when I said yes anyway.

Brené Brown writes that true belonging is a daily practice — a personal commitment we carry in our hearts. And I want to make the case today that the culture of protecting our energy and waiting for the convenient moment is costing us something on a soul level.

The villages already exist. They just need villagers.

Question to carry into your day: What village already exists in your life that is waiting for you to show up for it?

Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System.

Let's Stay Connected:

Subscribe on YouTube
Instagram: @mollycarmel
Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront
Questions or want to share your story? Email me at dailyascentpod@gmail.com

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

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