New podcast for removing blockers

Wow!it's been a year since my last blog. Well, here's to overcoming those blocks and having a thrivig 2025. I put out a new podcast on Spotify, but below is the transcript you can read.

Episode 27 - Blockers

First off, I have to apologize for the lack of shows in 2024. I've spent a lot of time just going through life and experiencing its challenges.

I needed some time to figure out what I wanted this podcast to be. I've been podcasting since the early 2000s and have had several shows. But for this one, I wanted to use the podcast as another way to record my spiritual journey.

But this past year I ran into some blockers. I was getting daunted by the pressures of doing video and I just simply didn't want to be a content creator. I didn't want to just put out basic drivel to keep the engagement, shares, and likes going. 

I don't want to be a social media content creator. But I do realize that consistency is the key to any audience engagement. So I am making a determination to keep the show going this year more consistently.

I've always wanted the show to be entertaining and educational. My first podcast, worlds of wayne was a variety show. I was interviewing celebrities, rock stars, local bands, and other interesting people. I was writing articles for a local magazine so I got all the interviews and made a podcast around it, back in the day when no one really knew what a podcast was. 

This is sort of how this podcast is coming about and I intend on leaning on the skills I've learned over the years and be ok that I am more comfortable with audio than i am producing video. I love to be a video talent, I'm just not confident in my editing skills.

But I will start up more videos this year as well focusing on reviewing books, rune sets, divination tools, and showing correlations between rocks and runes.  

So for 2025, I will be planning many more shows and focusing on not only rune work, but rune weaving, adding in runes to whatever daily practice you do. Also I’ll have a bigger focus on interviews. I meet a lot of interesting people and I want to share that with others as I love the conversations and I love interviewing people who are into interesting things.

I also want to bring my book, the complete guide to runes into an audio format. I will be making episodes where I read my book chapter by chapter and go over the content, making updates with things I've learned since I wrote the book.

So that brings me to the topic of this episode - blockers.

Many people are going through blockers and the end of the year is a perfect time to address them. But what are blockers?

Blockers are things that keep us from doing what we want to do. Some blockers are simply circumstances out of our control that prevent us from achieving goals. But the hardest blockers are the ones we put on ourselves. The emotional blockers. The fear blockers. The self worth blockers.

We may look at our lives and wonder why we haven't done something or followed up on something we know is important. And we just can't bring ourselves to do it.

Our emotions surrounding the circumstances keep us from doing anything about them. Which leads into a cycle of self defeating emotions and negative self talk.

Blockers challenge us to move forward even when it’s uncomfortable. They question our motivations but at the same time, offer opportunities for self exploration.

Blockers can also be elusive. They make us question ourselves whether we are using our intuition or simply afraid of the unknown. We sometimes don’t know why we are blocked at something as all the parts can be in place, but we feel like there is simply no gas in the tank to get it started.

Blockers encourage us to make up stories and excuses in our minds to reinforce inactivity and indecision.

Blockers are fear based. Even when we feel like there is just no point or motivation to do something, it can all be tracked back to some element of fear halting progress.

So how do we get over blockers? Here are my nine steps for starting down the road to unlocking the blocks:

Step 1. Realize you have blockers. (Ansuz)

Sometimes we get depressed and when in that dark hole we don't recognize blockers. We feel like the universe is punishing us and sapping us of all inspiration and motivation. When we are here, we only see the troubling things on the outside and unchangeable things from our past. If you can get to a point where you are tired of this, you will start to explore why you are blocked in life. And you will realize that there are certain things that are identifiable as blockers keeping you where you are.

Step 2. Identify the blockers. (Ansuz)

And this is the most important as it takes some serious self exploration and honesty.

Most blockers are fear based, and admitting this to yourself can be hard. We got these fears from past experiences. But when we filter out the fear, we can see the goal. 

When we identify the fear, we can target it. When we can embrace fear, we can defeat it. Write down all the things you want to do or wish you were doing and then add all the reasons why you are not doing them. Distill the list down to the basic fears and target them. Not the end goal.

Step 3. Make the determination to overcome those blockers. (Sowilo / Thurisaz)

For me personally, I have to get to the point where I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. It’s important to make a personal conviction to personal growth. 

But also to give yourself the grace to do it in a way that works for you. Make the determination to overcome the blockers. Ask out loud for help and guidance from your spirit guides. And allow yourself to make mistakes and progress always in a forward motion. All you have to do is want to want to. You don't have to know the how.

Step 4. Realize that you have always held the keys to unlocking those blockers. (Sowilo / Thurisaz)

I had a dear friend that worked for me once who listened to me talk for years about how I felt like the donkey cart and the carrot. Where the driver would entice the donkey to move forward by dangling a carrot in front of it. The donkey would constantly walk toward the carrot with it always being just out of reach. I felt like I was always just out of reach of the carrot in my life. That is until she made me a small felt carrot as a present with a note that said, “this is to remind you that you’ve had the carrot the whole time.”

It reminded me that I was considering myself the donkey in the situation. When in reality i was the donkey, the cart, and the driver. All going to the same place. I had control of the carrot, the direction, and the destination. It got pretty deep for me and I won't go into my whole journey of self discovery here, but suffice it to say, it was impactful and I remember it often.

We always have the carrot. We just sometimes allow emotions to prevent us from getting it. Your higher self knows this. If we could turn off our negative emotions to handle situations with positive attitudes no matter what, it would be what Buddhists call enlightenment. But the truth is, we have the keys to unlocking the blockers, the hard part is using them.

Step 5. Focus on your end feeling. (Wunjo)

Focus on how you want to feel when you unlock the blockers. Not the end goal, but how you personally want to feel at the end of every day. Because that is the most important. Not the plan, not the timeline, not the how, but what do you want to feel like when your blockers are released? 

Focus on that specific feeling. Embrace it as the truth. That becomes your end goal no matter how you get there.

Step 6. Come into the present. (Wunjo)

Forgive yourself for any past inactivity. Release the guilt and negative self talk. Release the fear daily by grounding and regulating emotional reactions. Change up routines and make new ones. Check your daily reactions against past fears. Give yourself permission to be in the now.

Step 7. Release the fears (Tiwaz)

Take a look at your blockers unemotionally. As if you were giving advice to a friend. However best you feel to do this, release those fears surrounding the blockers. Make it a practice and physically brush them down into the earth. Tell yourself you are no longer afraid. Do this as many times as you need, using your intuition to guide you to your inspirations. Focus on what inspires you and move forward one step at a time with confidence and purpose.

Step 8. Be consistent in your efforts. (Dagaz)

The sun rises and sets every day. It gives us the opportunity to try again. To refocus. To be reborn. Even if consistency means trying various things to overcome obstacles. We will always have challenges. The point of being alive is to overcome each of them. Even if you shake things up seasonally, weekly, or daily, be consistent in your doings.

When it gets challenging and/or boring, you can find ways to make it inspirational. Life is a roller coaster, but that coaster consistently provides forward movement. Consistency can simply be to keep trying daily. To keep looking for help. Or to keep searching for sustainability. You can consistently give yourself a break. You can consistently reevaluate your plan or goals. And you can consistently forgive yourself.

Step 9. Give yourself permission to heal. (Uruz)

The only way I've found that any of this works, is if you actually give yourself permission to do it. It sounds odd, but saying it out loud helps.

Give yourself permission to face your fears.

Give yourself permission to have confidence without self judgement.

Give yourself permission to work on something without a purpose attached to it.

Give yourself permission to be happy, even if not all things in your life are pleasant.

Give yourself permission not to think of things at times you can't do anything about them.

Give yourself permission to be happy and abundant.

Say these things out loud and often. Make it a routine to allow yourself to grow with confidence rather than self judgement.

These are all just tips that I've found helpful when going through my own journey of unlocking blockers in my life. And there are several runes you can use to focus on when going through this yourself.

For steps 1 and 2, realizing you have blockers and for identifying them, Ansuz is ideal. This rune is all about knowledge and wisdom. It is about accepting where you are in life and discovering all aspects of your situation from all angles.

For steps 3 and 4, making the determination and realizing you have the keys - Sowilo is great for this. It’s the “ah ha” moment and lightning strike that sets a fire of inspiration. Thurisaz can also be used to offer strength, courage, and power.

For steps 5 and 6, focusing on the end feeling and living in the present: Wunjo works great as it offers energies of satisfaction and joy. 

Step 7 is all about releasing fears, so one could use Tiwaz to help keep emotion from clouding judgement. For the self sacrifice it will take to face our fears and release them. To be able to look at all sides of a situation and use tactics and strategy to help win the battle.

For the consistency in step 8, I thought of Dagaz. The daily routine, the daily opportunity to start again. Always moving forward. New beginnings.

And for step 9 I thought of Uruz for its energies of healing and vitality. 

So that’s about it for this episode. I hope you found it interesting and that some of what I said helps you on your journey. I know there is no sure fire way to overcome blocks and that everyone does this in their own way, but i think it might help get you started.

I am looking forward to 2025 and to making more podcast episodes for you. Thanks for every listen and for all the other support I've gotten from my readings, events, book, and otherwise.

So take care of yourselves and we will meet again, on the Rune Ways podcast.