In this heartfelt and deeply honest episode of Spiritual Infinity, Zenzi Sewaah speaks with recovery coach, podcast host, and spiritual advocate Barb Nangle from Connecticut about the transformative journey from childhood trauma and emotional survival to spiritual awakening, healing, and inner freedom.
Barb shares how she grew up in a family marked by emotional dysfunction, silence, and disconnection. Raised in a household that abandoned religion early in her childhood, she describes growing up agnostic, while quietly sensing there had to be something greater than herself beyond the rigid structures of organized religion. Even as a teenager, Barb intuitively distinguished spirituality from religion, describing spirituality as “a connection to the universe” rather than a set of rules imposed by people.
Her spiritual awakening began in adulthood through a series of seemingly serendipitous moments that she now recognizes as divine intervention. A turning point came when she discovered the book Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch, which completely reshaped her understanding of God, spirituality, and her place in the universe. For the first time, Barb felt connected to a loving higher power that existed beyond fear, dogma, and judgment. This awakening led her to begin a gratitude practice that she has maintained daily for over 25 years.
As the conversation deepens, Barb openly discusses her journey through 12-step recovery and trauma healing, particularly through the program Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA). She explains how she spent decades unaware that many of her lifelong struggles — people-pleasing, over-giving, rescuing others, chronic anxiety, catastrophizing, and emotional exhaustion — were rooted in childhood trauma and emotional invalidation.
Barb offers profound insight into the concept of “little t trauma” — the subtle but deeply damaging effects of emotional neglect, secrecy, invalidation, and the absence of emotional safety within families. She reflects on growing up in an environment where difficult truths were hidden, emotions were dismissed, and authenticity was discouraged, leaving lasting wounds that followed her into adulthood.
One of the most powerful themes throughout the interview is Barb’s understanding that trauma lives not only in the mind, but also within the body itself. She discusses how somatic healing practices such as meditation, yoga, breathing techniques, prayer, and nervous system regulation became essential parts of her spiritual path. Inspired by the understanding that “the issues are in our tissues,” Barb emphasizes the importance of reconnecting to the body in order to truly heal emotional pain.
The episode also explores her evolving relationship with spirituality and Christianity. Although she once distanced herself from organized religion, Barb now attends church regularly and speaks passionately about rediscovering the teachings of Christ through compassion, humanity, and service rather than judgment or fear. Together, Zenzi and Barb reflect on Christ as a revolutionary teacher whose message was ultimately rooted in love, truth, healing, and remembering the divine connection within all people.
A particularly moving section of the conversation centers on Barb’s reconciliation with her older brother after years of estrangement, pain, and unresolved family trauma. Through mutual honesty, accountability, forgiveness, and healing work, the siblings were able to rebuild their relationship and begin breaking generational cycles of emotional dysfunction. Barb shares how this healing process revealed the profound truth that when one person heals, that healing reverberates backward and forward through generations.
Today, Barb uses her experiences to help professional women establish healthy boundaries, reconnect with their inner safety, and stop abandoning themselves emotionally in order to please others. Her work focuses not only on external boundaries, but on helping individuals rediscover their own identity, needs, truth, and emotional wellbeing.
This episode is ultimately a powerful reminder that healing begins the moment we stop running from ourselves, tell the truth about our experiences, and learn to reconnect with the deeper spiritual presence that has always existed within us.
Closing Reflection
So many people spend their lives believing they must carry everything alone — the pain, the responsibility, the silence, the fear, the wounds inherited from generations before them.
But healing begins when we finally pause long enough to ask:
“What do I need?”
“What is true for me?”
“Who am I beneath survival?”
Barb Nangle’s journey reminds us that spirituality is not about perfection. It is about reconnection — reconnecting with our body, our truth, our emotions, our boundaries, and the quiet presence of the Creator within us.
Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is stop abandoning ourselves.
And when we begin healing honestly, that healing does not stop with us. It ripples through families, relationships, generations, and every life we touch.
May we all learn to fill our own cup with compassion, truth, and grace — so that what flows into the world comes not from exhaustion, but from genuine love.
Zenzi Sewaah
Founder & Spiritual Visionary
Spiritual Infinity
Guest Contact & Bio
Barb Nangle is a boundaries coach, recovery advocate, podcast host, and speaker based in Connecticut, USA. Drawing from her own journey through trauma recovery, 12-step healing, and spiritual transformation, Barb helps professional women create healthy emotional boundaries, build internal safety, and stop abandoning themselves in relationships and everyday life.
She is the creator of The Internal Safety Restoration Method and the host of the long-running podcast Fragmented to Whole: Life Lessons from 12-Step Recovery, where she shares practical tools and spiritual insights for healing trauma, overcoming people-pleasing, and developing emotional resilience.
Barb’s work combines spirituality, recovery principles, somatic healing, boundary-setting, and nervous system awareness to help individuals reconnect with their authentic selves and live with greater peace, clarity, and self-worth.
Website:
Higher Power Coaching & Consulting
Podcast:
Fragmented to Whole Podcast
Coaching Consultation:
Barb Chat
LinkedIn:
Barb Nangle on LinkedIn
