The Daring Well Podcast - Holistic Health & Wellness, Mindset, and Personal Growth

This week on The Daring Well Podcast, we’re pausing our attachment styles series for something deeply needed — a reminder and permission slip to embrace softness.

This message is not just for women. It’s for men too!

In a world that glorifies hustle culture, grinding, and constant productivity, we often forget that we are human beings — not machines. You do not have to be strong and hardcore all the time. It is not only okay to have ...

In this powerful and eye-opening episode, Rita sits down with Herman Petrick, an internationally renowned energy healer with over 15 years of experience helping individuals and families clear energetic attachments.

Herman shares how his intuitive journey began unexpectedly—and how he now works remotely with clients around the world to address sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, fearful attachments, and relationship-based energe...

In this episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita Mercer welcomes Rachel Korb, a somatic leadership coach specializing in supporting high-achieving women, leaders, and startup professionals. Rachel shares her journey from repeated burnout in high-pressure roles to discovering sustainable ways to regulate the nervous system, reduce stress, and thrive in all areas of life. This conversation dives deep into female physiology, body awar...

In Part 2 of our Healing Attachment Wounds series, we gently explore the dismissive–avoidant attachment style — the pattern of emotional independence that once served as protection but may now be limiting deeper connection.

Have you ever said, “I’m fine” when you really weren’t?
Told yourself, “I don’t need anyone” — even while feeling lonely inside?

This episode is not about labeling you as cold or distant. It’s about understand...

Healing Attachment Wounds – From Survival to Secure Connection (Part 1)

In this episode of The Daring Well Podcast, we begin a powerful four-part series on attachment styles and how early experiences shape the way we connect in relationships, leadership, and life.

Part one focuses on the Fearful–Avoidant (Disorganized) Attachment Style—a pattern marked by a deep desire for intimacy paired with an equally strong fear of closeness. If ...

In this powerful episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita Mercer is joined by Sophia Torrini, certified clinical EFT practitioner and nervous system regulation expert. Together, they explore how chronic stress, trauma, and burnout keep so many people stuck in survival mode—and how Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT tapping) can help restore safety, wholeness, and healing in the body.

Sophia shares her own life-altering healing journe...

In today’s fast-paced, always-connected world, burnout is becoming the norm rather than the exception. In this episode of The Daring Well Podcast, I sat down with Colin Corby, a technologist turned Digital Detox Coach, to explore how our relationship with technology impacts our mental health, stress management, connection in relationships, productivity on our jobs, and overall well-being.

Colin shares his powerful personal journey—f...

What roles are you resigning from?

In this heartfelt continuation of last week’s conversation, Rita invites you to pause, breathe, and reflect on the unassigned roles you may have stepped into—roles that are no longer serving who you are or what you need in this season of life.

Many of us find ourselves exhausted, overwhelmed, and emotionally drained—not because we are doing too much, but because we are doing what was never ours to c...

In this powerful and reflective episode of The Daring Well Podcast, host Rita Mercer invites you into a compassionate conversation about the roles many of us unconsciously take on—and why it may be time to lovingly resign from them.

These roles often begin as survival strategies rooted in love, responsibility, or the desire for connection. But over time, they can lead to burnout, resentment, emotional exhaustion, and disconnection f...

In today’s episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita Mercer invites you to slow down, pause, and reconnect with the healing power of sacred rest. In a world that glorifies hustle, productivity, and constant movement, this conversation is a gentle yet powerful reminder that rest is not a reward—it’s a necessity.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, mentally exhausted, or stuck in a cycle of pushing through fatigue, this episode of...

Sleep is essential to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being—yet for so many people, bedtime is filled with restlessness, anxiety, and frustration. In this episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita Mercer is joined by Dr. Benjamin Long, sleep medicine physician, seminary student, and creator of the Sleep Habits Journal, for a powerful conversation on why insomnia happens and how we can respond with compassion instead of s...

What if peak performance wasn’t about doing more—but about living more intentionally?

In this powerful episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita Mercer sits down with Alan Lazaros to explore peak performance through purpose, and why true success requires alignment across health, wealth, and love. 

Alan shares his deeply personal journey through early loss, relentless achievement, and a near-fatal car accident that forced him to redefi...

In this powerful episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita sits down with AJ Schneider, founder of Beyond the Green Coaching, to explore the emotional roots of our money habits, the shame many people carry around finances, and the healing required to build a healthier relationship with money.

This conversation goes far beyond budgeting and dollars — it’s about emotional wellness, nervous system patterns, self-trust, and rewriting lon...

Guest: Kat Anselmo – Health Coach, Yoga Teacher, Wellness Guide

In this week's episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita Mercer sits down with wellness coach and yoga teacher Kat Anselmo to explore how small daily practices—like movement, mindfulness, intention setting, and self-reflection—can completely transform your mental and emotional wellbeing.

Kat shares her deeply personal healing journey, the moment she realized that lif...

In this powerful episode of The Daring Well Podcast, I had the honor of sitting down with Nikki Allen, award-winning author, filmmaker, R&B artist, and spiritual disruptor.  Nikki is candid and opens up about her healing journey from heartbreak and abuse to radical self-awareness, self love, and personal empowerment. Through storytelling and soul work, Nikki shows us that healing isn’t always about going back to who we were — s...

In this episode of The Daring Well Podcast, I sit down with Jeff Patterson, founder of the Northwest Fighting Arts Academy and creator of The Yielding Warrior Method. With over 36 years in meditative and martial arts, Jeff shares how his journey began in an unexpected place — a boxing gym — and ultimately led to a lifelong mission to help others cultivate clarity, presence, and performance through the meditative arts.

We explore the...

In this soul-nourishing episode of The Daring Well Podcast, host Rita Mercer, licensed counselor and holistic wellness & mindset coach, invites you to embrace the sacred practice of “wintering” — a season of rest, renewal, and deep self-connection.

Through the lens of nature’s wisdom, Rita explores how every season of life — joy, loss, abundance, and stillness — holds purpose and meaning. Just as trees shed their leaves to prepa...

In this week's episode, host Rita Mercer reminds listeners that hope is never lost, even when life feels heavy, uncertain, or overwhelming. Through grounded wisdom and gentle encouragement, she explores how our focus shapes our reality—what we focus on grows—and how to shift from anxiety and worry toward peace and inner strength.

Rita also shares practical tools to reframe hopelessness, regulate your nervous system, and redisco...

In this inspiring episode of The Daring Well Podcast, I sit down with Rob Rene — a faith and health warrior, founder of QE Strong and Exodus Strong, and host of The Biohackingville Podcast. Rob’s story is one of transformation, divine purpose, and rediscovering health through faith.

A former elite athlete whose life changed after a devastating accident, Rob shares how God redirected his path from competitive sports to spiritual heal...