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If calm feels foreign, or rest feels wrong, this episode is for you. Wendi Renay unpacks what survival mode really feels like — the hidden ways your mind and body stay stuck in protection, even when the danger’s over.
Through gentle insight and psychology, you’ll learn five signs you’re still surviving instead of living — and how to start teaching your body that peace is allowed.
I'm back with The Still Mind — a podcast for overthinkers, deep feelers, and quiet rebuilders. In this first episode, I reflect on stepping away from social media, rediscovering peace, and what happens when life finally goes quiet.
Through psychology, story, and heart, lets unpack the truth about calm: it’s not found in silence — it’s built there.
After a year-long disappearance from social media and the podcast, I’m back—and not because I’ve figured it all out, but because I finally started living from a place of truth.
In this first episode of Life After Devout, I share where I’ve been, what changed, and how I quietly rebuilt a life I love. From regular therapy to spontaneous walks in borrowed shoes, from falling in love with kickboxing to crossing the finish line of a
Spartan Race—this is the real story of coming home to myself.
This isn’t about who I used to be. It’s about the life I’m creating now—and inviting you into. If you’ve ever needed a soft return, a quiet comeback, or a reminder that joy can be rebuilt, this episode is for you.
If you’re in this with me—let’s talk about and live life after devout.
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Mentioned in this episode:
• How logging off gave me clarity• Why I turned to movement as medicine• Rebuilding identity outside performance• Creating rhythms of strength, rest, and joy• What this show will look like moving forward
If you’re new here, welcome. If you’ve been here since the beginning—thank you. I didn’t walk away from you. I just turned inward for a while. And now, I’m ready to share what I’ve found.
Let’s begin again.
Have thoughts about the episode? I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment or send a message—and if this resonated, share it with someone who’s ready for their own quiet comeback.
In this deeply insightful conversation, licensed clinical social worker Joel Pieper breaks down the different types of trauma—beyond the obvious and into the subtle, often overlooked patterns that shape our lives. We explore:
Whether you’re new to this conversation or have been walking your healing path for a while, Joel offers clarity, language, and actionable tools that help you reconnect to your body, your story, and your power.
Want to share your thoughts or feedback?
We’d love to hear what resonated most with you. Leave a comment, send us a message, or leave a rating. Your voice helps us keep creating meaningful content that meets you where you are.
Connect with Joel Pieper:
Email: counselingjoel@gmail.com
Explore More:
Looking for tools to support your own comeback? Download the Quiet Comeback Kit or check out our self-guided eBooks on resilience, feminine revival, and healing from burnout at Wendi's Library.
Follow, share, and subscribe if this conversation moved you. It helps others find their way back to themselves too.
This year, I want us to explore the stories of those who have faced tough challenges, particularly those who’ve come out of cult environments. I believe these conversations are vital in helping others find hope and connection in their own lives. Each episode will feature guests who’ve navigated their journeys and learned powerful lessons along the way.
I’ll also share my own insights from my time away—what I learned about myself, the importance of stepping back, and how we can all cultivate a sense of peace amid chaos.
This podcast isn’t just about surviving; it’s about thriving and discovering that, ultimately, everything works out in the end. So whether you’ve faced similar challenges or just want to hear some inspiring stories, there’s something here for everyone.
To contact Dr. Ryan: www.drryanlee.com "I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness from birth until the age of 18, when I realized that there was more to the world than I had been taught. The following years, while exciting in some respects, were also challenging as I set out to rebuild my identity, world view and community from the ground up. I found my own time in therapy to be immensely helpful in this endeavor, however therapists I worked with had little familiarity with the depth to which this kind of religious conditioning penetrates the mind and soul. I often wished for someone who not only understood, but was equipped to help rewrite that unique brand of programming. After earning my doctorate in clinical psychology and accumulating over ten years' experience as a therapist, I am so happy to be able to make good use of my religious background in the service of supporting others who have made the courageous decision to listen to their heart and seek independence. I feel so blessed to have found an occupation that I feel so passionately about. My enthusiasm is based both in a love for the work itself and the joy of seeing the positive, life changing results this process has on those who engage with it. I am currently living in/working from Peru with my two whippets (who hold a very special place in my heart), and have an active interest in plant medicine (primarily ayahuasca), meditation, reading and creating stained glass art. #exjwsthink #jehovahswitnesses #psychology #cults #therapy #narcissism #exjw To contact Ryan: www.drryanlee.com
Anthony is a former deacon and a 10.5 year member of the World Mission Society Church of God, a cult group that believes Jesus’ second coming already happened (and this Jesus died in 1985) and worships an elderly lady in Korea as “God the Mother.” Through the pandemic, personal research, and family support, Anthony was able to escape the mind control this group had over him as well as the arranged marriage they coerced him into. MORE INFO ABOUT WORLD MISSION SOCIETY OF GOD: https://open.spotify.com/show/28S9Lh2CvCtRJ8ByAXxUP1?si=DlXRt1r8TEepXdfTfhYCSghttps://youtube.com/@UCfi2w6gJGj1jHdEk-e_b7pA https://youtube.com/@UCQ03ecl0cI962vrOWOuN6dg https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/
Dre is a 35 year young Mexican/Irish fellow from Southern California. His was raised as Jehovah’s Witness his entire life, but consistently struggled with his faith a majority of the time. He left the religion by way of being disfellowshipped at 31. He’s passionate about music, his love for animals and personal growth. He likes to spend his time creating beautiful memories with the ones he loves.
www.instagram.com/wilderhazemusic
One love 💚
About Marti:
"I was born and raised in Sacramento California. I am a certified Life Coach, Reiki Practitioner, Sound Bowl Healer, and I have done many other healing modalities. I was born a Jehovah's Witness in 1973. I was baptized when I was 11 in 1985. During that time I was severely physically abused by both of my parents. My dad is out of the religion.
My mom is in her 90s is still healthy and active Witness. I faded out of being a Witness in Aug. 2004 because I kept seeing the cycle of abuse not getting better but worse in the various congratulations. Shunning real.Your are not alone in your struggle.. There is hope, and life can get better. MyFBb is Marti Ries my IG is @crystalvibration_.
Please message me and tell me you heard my story from Wendi's show.."🙏😊
Wesley David has lived 2 very different lives, and the only thing that’s held them - and himself - together has been an obsession with music.
Growing up in the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Singer-Songwriter has relied on a love of all things Rock ‘n’ Roll since a young age as an escape - one which would eventually lead him to become a touring musician in LA, Arizona and the Southwest.
Influenced at a young age by the alt-rock and pop of the 90s/2000s like Oasis , Nirvana and Radiohead, plus classic and prog rock from the Beatles to Rush, his whimsical, tongue-in-cheek songwriting style was both identity and escape from the often dreary and frightening world of an expectation of the Apocalypse (delayed).
His new EP 'Satori' is a 6-song collection produced by Thom Flowers (Steve Perry, The Ataris, Toad the Wet Sprocket) and features 'Easy for You' 'Seesaw', and 'I'll be damned'.
Website - https://wesleydavidmusic.com
New EP 'Satori' Signed Cassette - https://wesleydavid.bandcamp.com
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/0dOLLFslUryvWSwipjbksB?si=1QXqmrb3SoC62qnxIjJ1iw
Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/wesley-david/1526621390
'Easy for You' Music Video - https://youtu.be/N81koVD1f6E
@wesleydavidmusic
https://instagram.com/wesleydavidmusic
In this episode, we discuss self-worth, salary, lack of education, and the most difficult part of all of it.
Financial Feminists Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/financial-feminist/id1566054936
FB Group: Her First 100k
Website mentioned:
www.thesocialnarrator.com
Former JW turned Mental Health Specialist Tyler Ahrens joins the show to talk with us about finding and navigating your way through the parenting path after waking up. Sadly, despite your best efforts to reverse the cycle, your children may be practicing the JW religion's teaching of shunning, which may be aimed directly at you.
What do you do? Listen to what Tyler would do differently if given the opportunity and how he turned it all around by a big career change. Now he funnels that pain into helping others through their very real, raw, and painful experiences.
From Tyler:
"I always believed that what I was taught as a child had to be true. But it never made sense, and I always thought there was something wrong with me. After I had children of my own, I couldn't teach them something that I couldn't back up myself. So I decided to "make the truth my own," and started doing objective research. And nothing could have prepared me for learning the truth."
TO CONTACT TYLER:
Finding Paradise:
https://linktr.ee/FindingParadise
Twitter - @xjw308
IG - tca1101
FB - Tyler Ahrens
FREE DOWNLOAD: https://wendirenaycoaching.com/gameplan
To be on the DevOUT show: https://calendly.com/wendirenay/sharemystory
#exjw #mentalhealth #jehovahswitnesses #cultsurvivor #narcissism #religion
Book mentioned: The Body Keeps The Score
Therapist suggestion: Dr. Ryan Lee
Visit my library here: https://wendirenaycoaching.com/library
FREE DOWNLOAD: Game Plan: https://wendirenaycoaching.com/gameplan
Vevian is a trauma-informed coach who has been working one-on-one with clients for almost 10 years. She spent 3/4 of her life as a Jehovah’s Witness and now has a group-based program to help ex-JW women find out who they are outside the organization.
Link:
https://www.livehappylivehealthy.com/find-your-truth
Mercedes is a baptized Ex-JW who has been out of the organization for 4 years but has has just recently woken up. Now she is focused on healing her trauma and hoping to get into activism to help others.
It took Joakim a lifetime to understand to what extent growing up in the org controlled parts of his life, how he related to emotions, himself and others, how black and white in his choices, opinions and thinking he was. How it affected his #relationships.
How he for 23 years convinced himself that Addiction is just fun, he couldn't understand why people did not want to take drugs, a bit like a witness might think that people who have access to the truth and don't live by it are stupid. Though he was a little bit smarter a little better than others.
Lived in the periphery of society which leads to always feeling left out, unwelcome, less than, or excluded. Without understanding that he felt flawed and like someone who didn't deserve to belong.
He went from s*icidal into #rehab and discovered Bessel Van Der Kolk and Peter Levine's view on trauma and childhood adaptations and how it manifests in the body and nervous system. And Gabor Mates modality Compassionate Inquiry a somatic-based psychotherapeutic approach. Through this, Joakim began to heal and change the conditioning or actually, the trauma responses that arose and remained from the org and family dynamics to recognize and change the unconscious #beliefs that were residing in the nervous system.
Now Joakim has trained in Compassionate Inquiry and works individually and in groups on zoom with #exjws co-creating a safe, compassionate, and accepting relational space to heal the disconnection that initially occurred in relation to parents, family, #god, and the org. He lives free and happy in Stockholm, Sweden with his 10-year-old twins.
CONTACT Joakim:
Instagram: @joakim_le_bolloch_appell
TikTok
Website: www.co-compassion.com
Jennifer Peavey comes from a varied background of engineering, design, and innovation. She is known for finding common ground and powerful connections in unexplored territory. Amid the pandemic, Jennifer found herself making new connections within herself as she ventured into uninvestigated spaces of her life. Through this period of isolation and reflection, she was inspired to share her discovery of turning her fear and pain into a mindset of intentional reflection and power.