Waking Up With Ryan

Inspired by a scene from The Madison, Ryan explores why the best thing you can offer someone you love isn't advice — it's your presence. Real support means trading "here's what you should do" for genuine curiosity and the question "what's true for you?" A practice follows, guiding you to hold the people in your life — and eventually the whole world — in that same spacious, non-judging support. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While filming in the Himalayas with a living saint, Ryan's heart began pounding uncontrollably at the sight of an unfamiliar village — moments before being told, "You lived here." Ryan shares this personal past-life experience not to convince anyone of past lives, but as a reminder of how easily we forget the divine amid life's practicalities. Includes a guided practice for welcoming in the universe's miracles and reconnecting with the moments that once shook you awake. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Underneath every fear — money, relationships, health, purpose — is one root fear: the fear of death, born from believing you are your body. Ryan unpacks the idea that you're the energy driving the vehicle, not the vehicle itself, and shares the teaching "die before you die" — letting the belief in a separate, limited self fall away now, rather than waiting for your final moment. Closes with a practice built around the mantra "I am loving awareness." Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every part of your life — your work, your relationships, your body, even your pain — is an invitation to wake up. In this episode, we explore why awakening isn't about finding a "better" version of yourself, but about peeling back the layers of identity, ego, and fear that cover who you've always been. Includes a short guided practice to help you drop back into presence and remember who you truly are. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feeling stuck waiting on something you can't control? On this Ask Ryan episode, we hear from a listener who’s struggling to find patience with things outside their control. In this episode, Ryan unpacks what impatience is really covering up — fear, loneliness, disappointment — and offers a powerful metaphor for why you have to contract before you can expand again. Plus: how to become the person who can hold what you're asking the universe for. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever rush to cheer someone up just to make your own discomfort go away? In this episode, Ryan unpacks the difference between real support and codependency — showing why trying to "fix" someone else's pain often has more to do with our own inability to sit with discomfort. Through a story about a father and daughter, Ryan reveals what people actually need when they're struggling: a safe space and validation, not advice. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Ryan explores the difference between truly experiencing life and getting lost in our mental interpretation of it. Inspired by Ellen DeGeneres' bit about the friend in the movie theater who won't stop asking "what's happening," he unpacks how our minds constantly predict, judge, and narrate rather than simply witnessing what's in front of us. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan, Ryan reframes the search for purpose as a prayer rather than a plan. Drawing on A Course in Miracles and his own journey from dance and music into coaching, he shares why chasing a "purpose" often backfires—and offers a simple practice instead: notice what you love, ask to be used, and trust the process. The episode closes with a guided meditation to help you connect with what's already an answer to prayer in your life. Whether you're feeling stuck in your career or just craving more clarity, this episode offers a gentle, faith-rooted way to reconnect with what truly moves you. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the High Holidays approach, Ryan reflects on why the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur can feel unexpectedly heavy — and reframes that discomfort as an invitation. This episode explores the healing potential of the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, what it means to "bring your broken pieces to the altar," and includes a guided meditation to help you sit with what you're ready to release and transform. Whether or not you observe the holidays, this episode offers a grounded practice for honest reflection, forgiveness, and renewal as you step into the new year. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Ask Ryan episode, Ryan responds to a listener who feels stuck, exhausted, and disconnected — waiting for a break that never comes. Ryan reframes this painful "in-between" chapter through the metaphor of a caterpillar dissolving into imaginal soup before becoming a butterfly, showing how embracing uncertainty (rather than fighting it) aligns you with the universe's timing. The episode closes with a guided practice to release resistance and invite the universe's guidance into your day. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if everything you're searching for — peace, clarity, purpose — is already here, and the mind is just the thing standing in the way of seeing it? In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan , we explore why the relentless drive to "better yourself" can quietly become the ego's cleverest trick for keeping you from the truth of who you already are. Through a simple story about a father searching frantically for the glasses perched on his own forehead, we unpack how seeking can blind us to what's already present. Then, settle into a short guided breathing practice designed to draw your attention out of the noise of the mind and back into stillness — where the peace and joy you've been chasing have been waiting all along. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if everything you thought about the "honeymoon phase" is backwards? In this episode, Ryan unpacks a conversation with a friend that reframed his entire understanding of early relationships — arguing that real intimacy isn't found in the giddy first weeks of attraction, but on the other side of conflict, trust, and repair. Ryan breaks down the difference between attraction and attachment, why actions (not words) reveal who someone really is, and how staying in the room during hard moments is what actually builds lasting connection. The episode closes with a short guided practice to help you turn conflict into connection in your own relationships. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Being human means living with fear — but a miracle isn't a distant, biblical event. It's a shift in your thinking, a move from fear to love, and it's available to you right now. In this episode of Waking Up With Ryan, we explore what it really means to invite a miracle into your life, then move into a guided meditation to help you release what feels too heavy to carry alone and open yourself to receiving help from something bigger than you. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Judgment against yourself isn't truth — it's an old wound asking for love. In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan , we explore how the ego's earliest beliefs about our worth get replayed as self-criticism, and why compassion — not correction — is the way through. Learn to meet your inner judgments the way you'd comfort a hurting child: with presence, love, and total acceptance. Join Ryan LIVE on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dolly Parton passed away this week at 80 years old, and this episode is a tribute to the magnificent, purposeful life she lived. We dive into the story behind her song "Coat of Many Colors" — the childhood memory of a rag coat sewn with love — and the powerful lesson it holds: real worth doesn't come from what the world can see, it comes from love. Join Ryan for a reflection on Dolly's life and a guided meditation to help you infuse today with that same love, on purpose. Join Ryan LIVE on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if the life you're forcing to happen is smaller than the one trying to unfold through you? In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan, we explore the shift from asking "What do I want?" to asking "What wants to happen through me?" — moving from the small, fearful mind to the vast truth of who you really are. We close with a guided meditation to help you surrender your agenda and open to life's greater will. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just because something is "normal" doesn't make it healthy. In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan , we explore the difference between what's normal — stress, rushing, reactivity — and what's actually optimal: presence, slowness, honesty, and self-care. Ryan walks through why choosing your own path can feel lonely, how to pause instead of reacting from old patterns, and closes with a guided breathing meditation to help you reconnect with who you really are. If you've ever felt out of step with the world around you, this episode is your reminder: you're not broken, you're just awake. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your mind is constantly vacillating — between past and future, good and bad, success and failure — and most of us are addicted to following it wherever it goes. In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan , we explore the difference between the mind that never stops moving and the awareness underneath it that never moves at all. Drawing on a line from A Course in Miracles , Ryan guides you through a simple but powerful shift: resting back into the presence that's always here, beneath every thought. Includes a guided meditation to help you practice coming home to yourself. Perfect for your morning routine — a few minutes to wake up, breathe, and remember who you really are. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Healing isn't something you force — it's something you allow. In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan , we explore why the mind's constant analyzing, replaying, and strategizing can actually get in the way of the emotional healing your body already knows how to do. Just like a physical wound heals on its own if you stop picking at it, your emotional pain has its own natural intelligence — if you let it be. Ryan guides you through a short practice to quiet the mind, turn toward what you're feeling, and give yourself permission to heal. Good morning, love — let's begin. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ryan sits down with actress and advocate Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos, Entourage) for an unfiltered conversation about awakening through adversity. Jamie opens up about living with multiple sclerosis for 25 years, the belief that she was "a problem" that shaped her early life, and how vulnerability finally set her free. They explore codependency and letting parents own their own healing, the terrifying near-death experience of her son Beau and what he brought back from it, and the on-set moments with James Gandolfini and Aida Turturro that pushed her toward authenticity. This episode begins with a short guided morning meditation before diving into a conversation about self-advocacy, generational trauma, and learning to ask for help. Follow Jamie-Lynn Sigler ( @JamieLynnSigler) Jamie-Lynn's memoir, And So It Is... https://www.book-ends.org/product/jamie-lynn-sigler-signed-copy-of-and-so-it-is-/DPKMOZRHFMBHNS3DAEAUFFFB Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack ( @WakingUpWithRyan ) You can follow Ryan on Instagram ( @wakingupwithryan ), YouTube ( @wakingupwithryanpod ), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.