Designed To Be Awake

Episode 6: Big Feelings

WelcomeYou are listening to Designed to Be Awake with Mick Kubiak. This episode is called “BIG Feelings” and it’s all about what happens when we (and our kids) experience intense emotions, especially anger and sadness. I’m sharing what I’ve learned from years of working with both parents and adults, and why it’s so important to let feelings move through instead of shutting them down or shaming them.
 
Episode SummaryToday I’m talking about the pressure many of us feel to suppress emotions, our own or our children’s, and why that approach just doesn’t work. I share stories from my own experience as a parent, therapist, and coach, including what it was like working with families, and why “big feelings” are a normal, healthy part of being human. I cover the difference between reacting and actually feeling, how to support kids (and ourselves) through emotional storms, and why it’s okay to let the process unfold. There’s also a bit about anger, the clarity that comes from letting it move through, and yes, the infamous “pear tart incident.”
 
Key Takeaways✨ Emotions are natural and meant to be felt all the way through - without shame or panic✨ Trying to suppress or control feelings only makes things harder, for adults and kids✨ Supporting someone through big feelings is about presence, not fixing✨ Emotional storms always pass - there’s a beginning, middle, and end✨ Anger, sadness, and even joy all have a purpose and a message✨ We can break the cycle of shaming emotions for the next generation
 
Resources & Links
Learning Through the Emotions by Carla McLaren
More episodes and resources at mickkubiak.com
Thank you for listening. This episode and every episode would be impossible without my amazing team: Chase Coughlin, who edits and composed the music, and Maia Young.
 
If you enjoyed this, please leave a review, and if you want more Designed to Be Awake, subscribe at mickkubiak.com. See you next time.

Episode 5: Don't Shoot the Messenger

Welcome
You are listening to Designed to Be Awake with Mick Kubiak. This episode is a vulnerable one, recorded right from the middle of an intense emotional wave, a day when my pain body took over and I found myself unraveling, then slowly coming back to centre.
 
Episode Summary
Don’t shoot the messenger. Our feelings about things that happen are always a message that we ourselves are meant to receive and understand. When the feelings are painful, it’s so tempting to take it out on the messenger! The power of the pause is your best friend at these times.
I share what it’s like to be knocked out of alignment and how easy it is to believe the drama your mind creates. I talk about sadness, regret, and even rage, all triggered by a choice I made and the stories I spun around it. You’ll hear how reaching out to a friend who can hold up the real mirror helps me find reality again, and why the real message is always about what’s happening inside, not what someone else did.
 
Key Takeaways
✨ The pain body can take over even when you know better✨ The messenger isn’t the problem, the message is what’s coming up in you✨ Spaciousness, breathing, and a trusted friend can shift everything✨ Your return to centre is always possible, no matter how intense it feels✨ The power of the pause, give yourself space before reacting✨ Choose carefully who you share your vulnerability with, context matters
 
Resources & Links
Thank you to my team:Chase Coughlin, who edits every episode and composed the musicMaia Young
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and subscribe at mickkubiak.com.

Episode 4: Fully Surrendered to the Situation

What if the peace you’re seeking isn’t on the other side of doing more—but in letting go?
In this episode, I talk about perfectionism, presence, and the radical freedom found in surrendering to life exactly as it is. I explore what it feels like to trust in the underlying intelligence of life, rather than believing that the answer lies in pushing, pulling, controlling, strategizing.
In This Episode:
Why surrender can feel safer and more powerful than control
Sovereignty and internal validation
Letting go of needing to be liked or approved of
Embracing your individuality in a world that prefers conformity
💫 Subscribe & Connect:
If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you. Subscribe and leave a review, or submit a question or reflection for a future episode at https://mickkubiak.com/
🎧 Produced by Chase Coughlin
🎵 Music by Chase Coughlin
🌟 With support from Maia Young
You are not alone. You are not broken. You are designed to be awake.

Episode 3: Kingdom of Heaven

What if the Kingdom of Heaven wasn’t a place you had to earn—but a presence you could return to?
In this episode of Designed to Be Awake, I share what it means to surrender the ego’s need for control and drop into the deeper wisdom of your body and spirit. Inspired by Eckhart Tolle, I explore the difference between planning from fear versus allowing from presence—and how the “right” answers often arise only when we stop trying so hard to find them.
I talk about what it means to feel the body’s “yes,” how the nervous system plays a central role in spiritual clarity, and why discomfort is often a sign of growth. Through personal reflection and client stories, I invite you to consider that what you seek is already here—and the journey is about remembering, not achieving.
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or like you’re still trying to “figure it all out,” this episode offers a simple but radical shift: come back to your body, your breath, your now.
You were never meant to control everything. You were designed to be awake.
In This Episode:
The deeper meaning of “Kingdom of Heaven is within you”
Nervous system regulation as a spiritual practice
Why your body is the best barometer for truth
Letting go of over-efforting and trusting the flow
Healing doesn’t always feel good—but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong
How to build a life that arises from presence, not panic
Resources Mentioned:
Loving What Is by Byron Katie
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
Eckhart Tolle
Michael Brown
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Chögyam Trungpa
💫 Subscribe & Connect:
If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you. Subscribe and leave a review, or submit a question or reflection for a future episode at https://mickkubiak.com/
🎧 Produced by Chase Coughlin
🎵 Music by Chase Coughlin
🌟 With support from Regina Evangelista & Maia Young
 

Episode 2: A Healed Mind

What would your life look like if you stopped trying to control it? In this episode of Designed to Be Awake, I explore the life-changing idea from A Course in Miracles: “A healed mind does not plan.” This doesn’t mean we don’t take action or show up fully—it means we stop trying to control outcomes from a place of fear, and instead live from trust, presence, and inner alignment.
I share a deeply personal story about a moment in my life when I realized my body was screaming “no” to the life I was living—how I left a job that was burning me out, how I navigated financial fear, and how I began rebuilding from a place of truth instead of trauma.
We talk about what it feels like to be guided, how your body can become your spiritual GPS, and how powerful it is to stop overriding your intuition just to meet society’s expectations. I also speak about the I Ching and how it became an unexpected teacher and mirror for my inner world.
If you’ve ever struggled with chronic planning, overthinking, or gripping too tightly to your “shoulds,” this episode offers both a soft landing and a bold invitation: to trust yourself and experiment with a new way of being.
You were never meant to push your way through life. You were designed to be awake.
In This Episode:
What “a healed mind does not plan” really means
Listening to your body when it says “no”
How fear of financial ruin can be a spiritual awakening
The role of intuition, the I Ching, and living moment to moment
Releasing control as a trauma response
Honoring your design and building a life that fits
Resources Mentioned:
A Course in Miracles
The I Ching (Book of Changes)
Richard Wilhelm as the translator/author to the I Ching
A Guide to the I Ching by Carol Anthony
💫 Subscribe & Connect:
If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you. Subscribe and leave a review, or submit a question or reflection for a future episode at https://mickkubiak.com/
 
🎧 Produced by Chase Coughlin
🎵 Music by Chase Coughlin
🌟 With support from Regina Evangelista & Maia Young
 

Pilot: Designed To Be Awake

Welcome to the debut episode of Designed to Be Awake! I’m your host, Mick Kubiak, and in this first solo episode, I share the foundation of what this podcast is all about: the belief that human beings are inherently wired for awakening.
I explore the stories of two of my most influential teachers, Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie, and how their dramatic awakenings offer a powerful reminder that enlightenment is possible in this lifetime. Through their teachings, and my own decades-long path of spiritual practice, therapy, meditation, and personal awakening, I’ve come to see how suffering becomes a catalyst for transformation.
This episode is an invitation to stop seeking outside yourself. You don’t have to join a group, travel to India, or spend years in meditation to wake up, you can begin now, by witnessing your thoughts, softening your reactions, and remembering who you really are beneath the stories.
In This Episode:
Why you are designed to awaken, and what that truly means
The transformational journeys of Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie
What meditation taught me about thoughts, emotions, and identity
The power of self-inquiry and inner observation
Why spiritual awakening is not reserved for the few, but available to all
How love is not an emotion, but a state of consciousness we return to
If you’ve ever longed for freedom from the patterns that keep you stuck — this episode will feel like coming home.
 
Resources Mentioned:
The Work by Byron Katie
Loving What Is by Byron Katie
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Presence Process by Michael Brown
💫 Subscribe & Connect:
If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you. Subscribe and leave a review, or submit a question or reflection for a future episode at https://mickkubiak.com/.
 
🎧 Produced by Chase Coughlin
🎵 Music by Chase Coughlin
🌟 With support from Regina Evangelista & Maia Young
 
You are not alone. You are not broken. You are designed to be awake.

Trailer: Designed To Be Awake