Read Reflect Rise With Wils Struthers-Cooper S1E4 Glennon Doyle Untamed

Generated: 2025-07-04

Full Transcript

[00:06] Welcome to Read, Reflect, Rise, where we explore words of wisdom from brilliant authors, invest [00:11] in our personal growth and find ways to centre ourselves in this beautiful, messy, magical [00:17] life. I’m your host, Will Struthers-Cooper, a teacher, wellbeing coach and one of your [00:23] biggest fans on this journey of self-discovery and self-nourishment. Each week we take a [00:29] moment to breathe and be as we reflect on the words of someone who helps us live more [00:33] intentionally, whether they’re a spiritual teacher, a compassion researcher or a poet [00:38] of the human experience. We’ll read a powerful excerpt, explore its meaning together, take [00:44] a few moments to drop into stillness and I’ll offer you an affirmation to hold in your heart [00:48] for the days to come. Today we’re diving into Untamed by Glennon Doyle, a book that [00:54] speaks to the fire in our bellies, the ache in our chests and the longing we may carry [00:59] to live a life that is wildly and unapologetically true. If you’ve ever found yourself second [01:05] guessing, people pleasing, shrinking to fit or exhausted from trying to be what the world [01:10] wants you to be, this episode is for you. Untamed is not a gentle nudge, it’s a wake [01:16] up call, a reclamation and a reminder that we can do hard things. [01:26] You might already know Glennon Doyle from her earlier memoirs, Love Warrior or Carry [01:31] On Warrior. She’s a bestselling author, truth teller, activist and host of the wildly [01:36] popular podcast We Can Do Hard Things. It’s a powerful podcast show full of learnings [01:42] and insight that feels like an intimate coffee in a dear friend’s kitchen with a therapist [01:47] in attendance who occasionally kicks you in the pants. In Untamed, the book, Glennon [01:53] shares the story of her own untaming, walking away from a life that looked picture perfect [01:57] from the outside and choosing instead to trust the small, still voice within. It’s part [02:03] story, part manifesto and completely stirs up the soul. She writes with fierce honesty [02:12] and learning to trust herself. But more than anything, I’d say she writes about liberation, [02:19] the kind of liberation that comes when we stop abandoning ourselves and start listening [02:23] to our bodies, our inner knowing, our kenning and our truth. This book is a roar, a whisper [02:29] and a warm hand holding yours as you step forward all at once. [02:37] And onto an extract. This is the prologue, the very start of the book. [02:44] Two summers ago, my wife and I took our daughters to the zoo. As we walked the grounds, we saw [02:50] a sign advertising the park’s big event, the Cheetah Run. We headed towards the families [02:55] scouting out their viewing spots and found an empty stretch along the route. Our youngest, [03:00] Emma, hopped up onto my wife’s shoulders for a better view. A peppy blonde zookeeper [03:06] in a khaki vest appeared. She held a megaphone and the leash of a yellow Labrador retriever. [03:12] I was confused. I don’t know much about animals, but if she tried to convince my kids that [03:17] this dog was a cheetah, I was getting a Cheetah Run refund. She began, [03:45] The zookeeper motioned toward a part jeep behind her. A pink stuffed bunny was tied [03:51] to the tailgate with a fraying rope. She asked, who has a Labrador at home? Little hands shot [03:57] into the air. Whose lab loves to play chase? Mine! The kids shouted. Well, Minnie loves [04:03] to chase this bunny. So first, Minnie will do the Cheetah Run while Tabitha watches to [04:08] remember how it’s done. Then we’ll count down. I’ll open Tabitha’s cage and she’ll [04:13] take off. At the end of the route, just a hundred metres that way, there will be a delicious [04:18] steak waiting for Tabitha. The zookeeper uncovered Tabitha’s cage and walked Minnie, eager and [04:24] starting line. She signalled the jeep and it took off. She released Minnie’s leash and [04:29] we all watched a yellow Lab joyfully chase a dirty pink bunny. The kids applauded earnestly. [04:36] The adults wiped sweat from their foreheads. Finally, it was time for Tabitha’s big moment. [04:42] We counted down in unison. Five, four, three, two, one. The zookeeper slid open the cage [04:49] door and the bunny took off once again. Tabitha bolted out, laser focused on the bunny, a spotted [04:55] blur. She crossed the finish line within seconds. The zookeeper whistled and threw her a steak. [05:01] Tabitha pinned it to the ground with her oven mitt paws, hunkered down in the dirt and chewed [05:06] while the crowd clapped. I didn’t clap. I felt queasy. The taming of Tabitha felt familiar. [05:17] I watched Tabitha gnawing that steak in the zoo dirt and thought, day after day this wild animal [05:23] chases dirty pink bunnies down the well-worn narrow path they cleared for her. Never looking left or [05:29] right. Never catching that damn bunny. Settling instead for a store-bought steak and the distracted [05:35] approval of sweaty strangers. Obeying the zookeeper’s every command, just like Minnie, [05:41] the lab she’s been trained to believe she is. Unaware that if she remembered her wildness [05:47] just for a moment, she could tear these zookeepers to shreds. When Tabitha finished her steak, [05:55] the zookeeper opened a gate that led to a small fenced field. Tabitha walked through and the gate [06:00] closed behind her. The zookeeper picked up her megaphone again and asked for questions. [06:05] A young girl, maybe nine years old, raised her hand and asked, isn’t Tabitha sad? Doesn’t she [06:11] miss the wild? I’m sorry, I can’t hear you, the zookeeper said. Can you ask that again? [06:17] The child’s mother said louder, she wants to know if Tabitha misses the wild. The zookeeper smiled [06:25] and said, no, Tabitha was born here. She doesn’t know any different. She’s never even seen the [06:30] wild. This is a good life for Tabitha. She’s much safer here than she would be out in the wild. [06:36] While the zookeeper began sharing facts about cheetahs born into captivity, my older daughter, [06:42] Tish, nudged me and pointed to Tabitha. There, in that field away from Minnie and the zookeepers, [06:50] Tabitha’s posture had changed. Her head was high and she was stocking the periphery, tracing the [06:56] boundaries the fence created back and forth, back and forth, stopping only to stare somewhere [07:02] on the fence. It was like she was remembering something. She looked regal and a little scary. [07:10] Tish whispered to me, Mummy, she turned wild again. I nodded at Tish and kept my eyes on Tabitha as [07:18] she stalked. I wished I could ask her, what’s happening inside you right now? I knew what she’d [07:24] tell me. She’d say, something’s off about my life. I feel restless and frustrated. I have this hunch [07:31] that everything was supposed to be more beautiful than this. I imagine fenceless, wide open savannas. [07:37] I want to run and hunt and kill. I want to sleep under an ink black silent sky filled with stars. [07:44] It’s all so real. I can taste it. Then she looked back at the cage, the only home she’s ever known. [07:53] She’d look at the smiling zookeepers, the bored spectators and her panting, bouncing, begging best [07:59] friend, the lab. She’d sigh and say, I should be grateful. I have a good enough life here. [08:07] It’s crazy to long for what doesn’t even exist. I’d say, Tabitha, you are not crazy. You are a [08:29] moment to be with these words, to listen inward to ourselves and to reconnect that [08:35] fierce and tender part of us that already knows more than we realize. [08:46] Allow your body to rest. If you’re holding any tension anywhere, [08:53] send some soothing thoughts, send some breath, allow your rib cage to expand fully. [09:02] Breathing in and releasing your breath. Breathing in again [09:11] and allowing your breath to travel to your fingers, to your toes, to the top of your head [09:17] as you rest and relax in the body that you inhabit. [09:22] You could be moving, you could be resting, you could be sitting, you could be doing. Your body’s [09:29] there, your breath is there. Allow them to exist together in harmony. As you oxygenate your body, [09:40] you might wish to close your eyes or keep them open. It’s up to you. A soft gaze, if you’re able [09:46] to, on a non-moving object, could be wonderful. Rested eyes can be wonderful too, or looking up [09:55] at the ceiling, out the window. Wherever you are, choose your focal point. [10:04] Eyes open, eyes closed, it’s up to you. [10:09] And as you rest in your body, as your eyes rest, allow your mind to open. [10:20] I want you to think of a time that you felt expansive, free, uncaged. [10:30] A time when there were no restrictions on your body, on your time, on your joy. [10:43] And if you can call one to mind, let yourself explore that memory. And if you don’t have one, [10:51] make one up. What would make you feel free, unfettered, expansive? [11:06] Breathe in that energy, that open, big, spacious feeling. [11:17] Bring your attention from your body to just outside of your body, just beyond your skin. [11:24] Allow your breath and your energy to take up that space as well. [11:31] Then bring your awareness slightly further, maybe two, three centimeters beyond your body. [11:38] You might notice textures or air movement, temperatures. You’re now taking up [11:47] even more space and can breathe even more deeply. Give yourself permission to do that. [12:00] You are here. You exist and you’re allowed to take up your space. You’re allowed to take up more space. [12:16] Now picture yourself in a situation when you felt smaller than you’d like to be. [12:24] It could be something at work, at home, in the street. It could be doing a task, it could be in [12:31] conversation. It could be as a younger person who was physically smaller, or it could be as a [12:40] person who was physically smaller. You’re now taking a situation where you felt like you wanted to shrink and take up less space. [12:47] Picture yourself in that moment if it feels safe to do so. [12:52] I want you to bring your focus to your feet and firmly plant them on the ground. [13:00] Then take a breath and allow your body in that moment to grow bigger, to take up more space, [13:07] to belong there. [13:12] Take another breath. Allow yourself to grow in stature and size and vibrancy. [13:21] You don’t need to know details. You just need to know that you have permission to change and grow. [13:31] Allowing your breath in and out to flow freely and expansively. [13:44] And I want you to imagine your shoulders widening, [13:50] your height growing, the reach from fingertip to fingertip being greater. [14:02] The firmness beneath your feet is growing because you are standing more solidly. [14:12] Your impact on this planet is what it’s always been. You’re just owning your space. [14:27] You are allowed to take up space. You matter and your dreams matter and you do not need to stay small. [14:45] I’d like you to stretch your arms out if you can. Expand your fingers, widen the space between your toes. [14:53] Take up space and stretch into it and outwards. [15:07] Live. Live in this space. Own this space. Grow beyond this space. [15:18] And when it feels like a fit, put your hands on your heart. [15:24] Breathing into that space, safe in the knowledge that you have everything you need inside yourself [15:33] to grow and change and take up space. [15:40] And you can travel in any direction you wish. [15:49] If there’s any tensions or doubts, allow them to release out in a sigh. [16:00] And again, another breath in and another breath out. [16:07] Allow yourself a slight smile. [16:13] Bring some movement into your fingertips, into your toes. [16:22] If you have held your eyes still or closed them, you may now open them and look around. [16:30] Look around the world that you live in that’s blessed and lucky to have you take up space. [16:54] What untamed by Glennon Doyle reminds us is that the struggle isn’t a sign that we’re off track, [17:00] staring over the fence and dreaming isn’t a bad thing. It’s often a signal that we’re nearing [17:06] something, something true and something whole, something very real. There can also be a real [17:14] letting go when you’re growing and it can involve tangy things like pain and fear and grief. [17:21] There’s absolutely nothing wrong with finding change hard. Life can be hard. It’s not a failure [17:28] to feel like life is tricky. It’s just a feature of being awake and alive and noticing. [17:36] Numbing out can be a really easy but well-trod path but when we choose to meet that hardness [17:44] in community with softness, with breath, with courage, that’s when we rise and it’s beautiful. [17:54] Glennon’s words are absolutely beautiful and evocative. So as you’re moving through this week, [18:04] here’s some affirmations that you can hold close. [18:09] Absolutely use Glennon’s power words. We can do hard things. I can do hard things. [18:16] We can do hard things. I can do hard things. And from me I gift you. I trust myself. I am allowed [18:29] to change. I am creating change. I trust myself. I am allowed to change. I am creating change. [18:45] Again. I trust myself. I am allowed to change. I am creating change. [18:55] Write them down. Repeat them. Sing them. Chant [18:58] them. Let them be a steadied beat in the background of your day. And I invite you [19:04] to list what you’ve done that’s hard. Be your own herald, be your own champion, [19:09] your own cheerleader. I’d love to hear some of the things that you’ve done that [19:13] are hard. [19:21] Thank you so much for spending this time with me on Read, Reflect, Rise. I hope [19:28] you found this episode even a little untaming of your own. If this episode landed in your heart, then pass it along to someone else who might need to hear that you’re not too much, you are a goddamn cheetah. [19:40] And if you haven’t already, subscribe to the show so you never miss a moment to pause and reconnect. [19:46] You can find links to Glennon’s book and more inspiration at Read, Reflect, Rise.com. [19:50] That’s Read, Reflect, Rise.com. And while you’re there, join the mailing list for some exclusive things between episodes. [19:57] And if this podcast brings you value, then a quick review on Apple or Spotify helps spread the word and bring this medicine to more ears and hearts. [20:07] As you go about your week, remember, everybody struggles. You’re not lost if you’re moving and learning. [20:16] And you already are worthy of taking up space. [20:21] And as always, remember there is magic, medicine and power in the words that we weave and wield. Choose wisely. [20:32] Until next time, I’m Will Struthers-Cooper, reminding you to take a moment to be so you can reflect and rise. [20:40] Go well, take great care of each other. And always remember, we can do hard things. [20:53] In a situation where you’ve smelt, felt, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.