MIDDLE GROUND - Real Conversations on Faith, Identity & Becoming — Through Brynne's LDS Lens of Curiosity, Love and Doubt

In this episode, I sit down with my cousin Krystal McCort, a marriage coach who teaches couples how to design their marriage constitution. Think of it like the actual US Constitution but for your relationship: a living breathing document that outlines the laws and rules that govern how you communicate in every area of marriage. Krystal shares her Kerfuffle Formula, a step-by-step process for how couples bring up disagreements, process them, and reach resolution. We talk about the big three areas she coaches: how to fight, money, and the bedroom. She shares how unwritten expectations are the source of...

In the final episode of the Thought Model series, I bring it all together with actions and results. The results in your life right now are not random. They are the output of a loop that has been running on autopilot. Thoughts generate feelings, feelings drive actions, actions create results, and results become new circumstances that trigger the loop again. Dr. Barbara Fredrickson's research shows positive emotional states broaden our thinking and options while negative states narrow them. The loop becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where we literally create evidence for what we already believe. The most accessible place to...

In part three of the Thought Model series, I get into the actual science of what happens in your body when an emotion fires. An emotion has a 90-second physiological lifespan. After that, the only thing keeping a feeling alive is the thought that keeps retriggering it. Dr. Candace Pert showed that emotions are biochemical events happening throughout your entire body, not just your brain. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk showed the body stores emotional imprints that the thinking mind cannot fix on its own. When a strong emotion fires, your prefrontal cortex goes partially offline, which Dr. Daniel...

In part two of the Thought Model series, I go deep on the difference between circumstances and thoughts. A circumstance is a neutral fact that could be captured on a video camera or stated in a court of law with no interpretation. A thought is the story your brain creates about that fact. My husband didn't take out the trash is a circumstance. My husband never listens and doesn't care is a thought. I share the neuroscience behind why your brain does this, including Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett's theory of the brain as a prediction machine and Dr. Daniel...

In this first episode of a four-part series, I teach the Thought Model developed by Brooke Castillo of the Life Coach School, a tool that has been foundational to my own growth. The model has five components: circumstances lead to thoughts, which lead to feelings, which lead to actions, which create your results. Most of us assume our circumstances cause our feelings, but between every circumstance and feeling there is always a thought. I share how this idea goes back to Stoic philosophers like Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, and how it became the foundation of cognitive behavioral therapy in...

In this episode, I sit down with my church friend Drey Hill.  Drey was born into the LDS church in 1987, and shortly after, his dad came out as gay to his mom. They divorced but remained incredibly close, with his dad attending every birthday, Christmas, and primary program while his boyfriend Brian became a regular part of family life. Growing up Drey kept it a complete secret at church, feeling he couldn't share during testimony meetings or anywhere else. He carried anger into his mission after learning how much his dad had hurt his mom. The turning point came i...

In this solo episode, I teach the actual neuroscience behind affirmations and why most people are doing them wrong. Your brain processes 11 million bits of information every second but your conscious mind only registers about 40. The reticular activating system decides what gets through based on what you tell your brain matters. Affirmations work because they give your RAS new instructions. The most common mistake is writing affirmations so far from your current reality that your brain immediately rejects them. I share my REACH framework: Real, Expanding, Active voice, Claimed, and Heart. I cover bridge statements for when the full...

In this episode, I sit down with my brother Ryan Liston for a conversation about values, specifically honesty, respect, and responsibility. Ryan shares how leaving religion left him without a value-maker and how he stood on the stairs at BYU one day and realized he had no answer for why he should be honest. We talk about how values are nuanced and subjective, how withholding truth can sometimes be loving, and how responsibility shifts depending on your role. Ryan's framework for respect comes down to two things: admiring people just for being people, and doing as little harm as...

In this walk and talk recorded at our annual family reunion at the lake, I share what I'm learning about the power of intentional creation. This year felt completely different from last year at the same event because I got intentional about how I wanted to feel before I arrived. I did my first dedicated breathwork session with a friend who is getting certified, and instead of working on my business I chose to work on my dread about the trip. We acknowledged the dread, gave it space, breathed through it, then visualized excitement and love. I came away...

In this episode, I sit down with relationships coach Sara Payne to talk about what to do when you're not on the same page with your spouse, whether that's religion, parenting, or money. Sara challenges the assumption that not being on the same page is even a problem, sharing the mind-blowing idea from Jennifer Finlayson-Fife that we're all in mixed-faith marriages. We discuss the fear of empty chairs in heaven, and Sara shares how trusting in a God who is always win-win changes everything. I get vulnerable about money dynamics in my own marriage and we dig into why...

This week, I talk about something I've wrestled with a lot as a stay at home mom and naptime entrepreneur: resentment. When I give and give without honoring what I want, I fall into anger and frustration. But when I ALSO tend to my own needs, I actually want to show up for my people. The reframe that changed everything is reminding yourself you don't have to do any of it. You don't have to feed your family. They could figure it out. But you actually want to. That small shift gives your power back and moves you from...

In this episode, I sit down with Angela Nusbaum who helps people heal the connection between their body and spirit so they can empower their soul. Angela shares how she discovered her gifts as an empath as a child, shut them down, and then rediscovered them through massage therapy school where she learned Reiki, crystal healing, tantra, breathwork, and body mapping. She shares a powerful story of a client with debilitating migraines who had seen every specialist and been told nothing was wrong, who healed through emotional release work. We discuss body mapping, a practice where your body's proportions...

In this episode I share the backstory behind Faith in Process, the online community I'm creating for Latter-day Saints navigating faith expansion, deconstruction, or reconstruction. It started in 2019 when I began exploring where LGBTQ+ individuals fit in the LDS church, which led me to resources from Ben Schilaty, Charlie Bird, and others. Then my youngest brother stepped away from the church, my middle brother came out as gay, and my parents were serving as mission leaders in the Philippines. I felt completely alone with no one who understood what I was going through. That loneliness is what inspired this...

In this episode, I sit down with my neighbor Rob Clark who shares his faith journey for the first time ever. Rob grew up in a very religious LDS household where church was a requirement, not an option. He served a mission in Taiwan without a testimony, hoping he'd get one in the field. He never felt that still small voice but told himself "you know it's true, just go work." His shift started in his thirties when the church changed the Pearl of Great Price from translated to inspired work. He realized truth doesn't change. Rob spent many...

This week, I share something I taught my seven-year-old son tonight during his taekwondo test prep. He was overwhelmed and frustrated because something hard was new to him. I taught him to talk directly to his brain and say: I know you're scared, but we've never done this before and that's okay. We're going to figure this out anyway. This same practice stops my own spiraling and helps me think clearly instead of emotionally reacting. Your brain's job is to protect you and it offers thoughts all day long but you don't have to take every single one. I...

In this episode, I sit down with clinical psychologist Dr. Cameron Staley to talk about something rarely discussed openly: pornography, compulsive eating, gaming, and the behaviors we use to escape uncomfortable emotions. Dr. Staley shares his groundbreaking research showing pornography viewing does not activate the brain like substance addiction. The term addiction itself is not even a scientific diagnosis. Calling yourself an addict actually maintains the behavior over time by making it central to your identity. Instead, unwanted pornography viewing is a compulsion driven by shame and emotion avoidance, and the same is true for sugar, food, gaming, and...

In this solo episode recorded in my garage during summer vacation, I share a lesson I'm really excited about: the difference between beliefs and biases. A belief is a conclusion you drew over time that feels like fact, held up like a table by legs of evidence. The good news is beliefs can be changed by knocking out those legs. Biases are different. They're filters installed before you even had language, absorbed from culture, family, and environment operating automatically before conscious thought. I share my personal example of carrying a deep bias that thinness equals being loved and beautiful...

In this episode the tables turn and my guest Jennifer Roskelly interviews me about my own faith journey and the heart behind Middle Ground. I share how the name came from being in the messy middle of my early thirties, navigating new beliefs while still wanting to stay connected to my church community and culture. The pivotal moment came when my brother came out as gay and my other brother stepped away from the church. I took it to God and felt overwhelming peace that my family was loved exactly as they were. I talk about how the atonement...

In this episode, I sit down with Heather Campbell to talk about her faith expansion journey. Heather shares struggling with the LDS church since primary age, feeling the lack of love in certain teachings and not feeling safe to ask questions as a child. She faked it through her teenage years and into marriage, terrified her husband wouldn't marry her after his mission if she didn't attend. Her tipping point came in her thirties when asked to teach Young Women and realizing she was betraying herself every week, choosing the comfort of others over what was best for her...

In this Pep Talk, I pulled over in my car to tell you something important. I've started a new health and wellness phase again, and that's the whole point. You don't quit. You start over and over and over again. Life gets hard, complicated, busy, messy. There will be seasons when you pause. But you keep trying again and again. Find people who support you through it all, and when someone says "you've already tried this," you say "yeah, and I'm going to try it again." You know who can be there for you unconditionally? You. You can be...

In this episode, I sit down with Jackie and Jeff from the Other Side Academy and Village, a nonprofit helping people coming out of incarceration, homelessness, or addiction through a two and a half year program focused on whole person behavioral change. Jackie shares 25 years of on and off homelessness, introduced to drugs young, losing her daughter, and finding relief when arrested because she'd have a bed and meals. Jeff talks about living in canyons for six years after getting stabbed, calling cops on himself to go to jail, and writing a letter to the Academy. They explain real...

In this mini episode, I talk about how feelings are just information. Having a hard day doesn't mean you're failing. Crying in your car doesn't mean you're falling apart. Feeling angry, sad, or overwhelmed does not mean something has gone wrong. It means you're alive and paying attention. I share a story from my guest Mindy Cope who got a spider bite that made her foot swell up purple and black. Instead of spiraling, she wrote a poem about the spider and found gratitude in the colors. Her husband walked in and offered to help beautifully. What she thought...

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Jennifer Roskelly for a deep conversation about faith, scripture, and the spark of Christ within each of us. Jennifer shares her journey from age 15 asking "If Joseph Smith can see God face to face, why can't I?" to discovering profound truths in literal scripture interpretation. She explains how perfection actually means complete or whole, not flawless, referencing how God called Job a perfect servant. We discuss the biological spark of light when sperm meets egg, how the heart is the first organ formed and grows the brain, and Jennifer's belief...

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Kristi Garcia to talk about her poetry book Women Who Knew, which gives voices to biblical women telling their own stories. Kristi shares how the book poured out of her in three months lying in bed next to her toddler, starting with a poem called "Mary's Response" to the song "Mary Did You Know?" She reads Sarah's Heartache about infertility and waiting. We discuss how God meets women where they are (in the kitchen, at the well, rocking babies) versus calling men to mountaintops, and how women's bodies were designed...

In this episode recorded on Easter Sunday during general conference, I share why I didn't actively watch. I didn't want to do mental gymnastics sifting through what resonated versus what didn't. I talk about my aunt's advice to focus on who she wants to be rather than combating others' beliefs. I share how I get most frustrated when I disagree with something but haven't formulated what I do believe yet. I reread the CES letter (anti-Mormon literature) and it didn't ruffle my feathers this time like it did before when doubt felt debilitating. What I thought was Satan was...

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Heather Campbell to talk about her journey with health and fitness. Heather shares how she shifted from punishing herself to approaching fitness through self-love instead. We discuss how motivation comes and goes but discipline is what builds consistency, why sustainable weight loss is slow (despite what the fitness industry wants you to believe), and how 80% of disease comes from unhealthy habits. Heather explains her nutrition guide and her six-week Elevate program with at-home workouts, meal plans, and a supportive community. We talk about giving yourself grace during different life phases...

In this episode, I share how I intentionally stopped folding my kids' laundry and it's been liberating. I was tired of folding everything perfectly only to have them pull out multiple shirts, leave them on the floor, and create piles I couldn't tell were clean or dirty. So I stopped. Now I taught my boys to sort their own clothes and shove them in drawers. Yes, there are wrinkles. No, I don't care. And guess what? The wrinkles disappear throughout the day anyway. For my baby, I literally keep a clean laundry basket and a dirty laundry basket side...

In this episode, I have a deep conversation with Cami Sanders about our faith journeys, truth, and navigating doubt. Cami shares how she's never felt like she was in a "faith crisis" but rather a "faith expansion," constantly seeking truth from multiple sources while keeping her roots in Mormonism. She introduces the fixed foot and searching foot metaphor, where you plant your foot in the doctrine with the deepest roots and then expand to gather truth from everywhere else.

We talk about how God has spoken to all people throughout history, not just a tiny percentage in...

In this episode, I'm celebrating one year of the Middle Ground podcast and sharing why I started it. I talk about how this came together—from taking a life coaching course that required launching a podcast to that spiritual prompting that ended my Inklings group and led me to start my own community for friends with big questions about faith.

What started as a space for questioning Latter-day Saints has evolved into something broader. Middle Ground is the space between who you were and who you're becoming. My job is to help you figure out who you wa...

In this episode, I talk with Ryan and Stevie Peterson about their experiences with pre-marriage counseling and therapy. We discuss why understanding attachment styles matters, how to navigate relationship challenges, and the role emotions play in relationships. Ryan and Stevie share their own journey of personal growth and how therapy has positively impacted their marriage. We really dig into the importance of communication and vulnerability when it comes to building a strong partnership.

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In this episode, I’m sharing about my experience serving as a Young Women's President in my church while navigating motherhood and my own personal growth.  I talk honestly about the tension of wanting to serve well while also honoring my real-life capacity. Stepping back from my calling wasn’t about quitting, it was about recognizing my limits, creating space for self-care, and leaning into my next season, including pursuing life coaching more intentionally.  We can love serving others and still choose what’s sustainable. Taking care of yourself isn’t selfish, it allows you to show up more grounded...

In this episode, Kathy Sherwood and I explore the connection between spirituality, personal growth, and coaching. Kathy shares about her unique upbringing and the diverse spiritual influences that shaped her path to becoming a spiritual coach. We talk about intuition, unconditional love, and the journey of self-discovery, and we really dig into this idea that everyone is worthy of a beautiful life. Kathy also gets into the importance of breaking free from rigid beliefs and encourages us to tap into our own inner guidance to create lives that feel meaningful.

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In this episode, I talk about how our finances, health, and time are all connected, and why it's so important to take real ownership in each of these areas. I share my own journey with budgeting and manifesting my dreams, and I get into why delaying instant gratification has been such a game-changer for reaching my financial goals. I also dive into how powerful it is when you get really clear on what you actually want, and how having the right resources can help you make your dreams happen.

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In this episode, Brynne Erickson interviews Evan Fitzgerald, who shares his profound journey through chronic pain and the transformative power of meditation. Evan reflects on his childhood experiences, including the loss of his father. He discusses how this experience shaped his desire to become a firefighter and the emotional toll that his profession took on him. After a life-altering injury while fighting a fire, Evan faced a long and painful struggle with his health, leading him to explore various avenues for healing, including meditation and psychedelics. Through this journey, he emphasizes the importance of being present with one another...

In this episode I share my journey of personal growth and self-improvement over the past eight months, focusing on my approach to movement and fitness. Rather than sticking to traditional New Year's resolutions, I emphasize the importance of setting achievable goals that align with my lifestyle. I also discuss my commitment to reaching 10,000 steps a day and how I've learned to listen to my body, balancing fun activities with more intense workouts. I reflect on my past experiences with fitness, including running a half marathon, and how those experiences shape my current mindset towards movement and health.

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In this episode I talk with my dear friend and intuitive guide Sheree Carlisle about her remarkable journey from active Latter-day Saint to someone who now moves fluidly through energy healing, sound baths, human design, astrology, Reiki, and so much more. Sheree shares what it was like when her husband stepped away from the church and how she found her way through it with love rather than ultimatums. We talk about the Claire gifts, how to develop your intuition, what human design has meant for Sheree's self understanding, and why she believes God is guiding her every step no...

In this solo episode I give you full permission to let go of any pressure you are feeling to have it all figured out by January 1st. I share why I personally prefer to flow with the seasons rather than the calendar, why I do my real goal setting in the spring, and what I have learned about honoring my energy rather than pushing through it. I also talk about how I have attempted the same workout program five times without finishing it and why I think that is actually kind of perfect. This one is a gentle, grounding...

In this solo episode I share some thoughts two days before Christmas on how to actually enjoy the holiday season when you cannot control what anyone else does, says, thinks, or feels. I talk about buying my own presents and why I think that is genuinely the most empowering move, how my family is evolving our traditions as everyone gets married and grows up, and why holding our traditions too tightly can actually cost us the people we love most. This one is a quick and honest reminder that the holidays are about your people and everything else is...

In this episode I talk with financial psychologist Karina Pribil-Corbett about something most of us were never taught, how our emotions drive almost every financial decision we make. Karina walks us through what money scripts are, how they form by age seven, and how to start uncovering the beliefs about money that might be quietly running your life. We talk about the five tools she uses with clients to shift those beliefs, how to have productive money conversations with your partner, and her genius concept of the money date. We also get into the stay at home spouse question...

In this solo episode I share a lot of thoughts swirling around after seeing Wicked and somehow also watching K-pop Demon Hunters, two very different movies with a surprisingly similar message. I talk about the concept of truth and why I find it so hard to use that word in the context of religion anymore, what it was like when my perspective on the church started shifting and my husband and I found ourselves not on the same page, and why I think being broken and whole at the same time is not a contradiction but actually the whole...