Episode:Â 25
Trust, Surrender and the Power of Owning Your Story
With Layne Beachley, Tess Brouwer and Lael Stone
Listen on:
What happens when you stop running from your feelings and start listening to them?
In this powerful episode, Lael Stone joins Layne and Tess to explore what happens when you stop running from your inner world and start owning your story – including the traumatic moments that have shaped you.
Lael opens up about her transformative moment: the traumatic birth of her third child, Tali, when she whispered “I trust you” to her newborn, choosing surrender over fear. This one moment changed her entire trajectory and taught her that surrender isn’t weakness – it’s the portal to becoming truly alive.
Tess and Layne explore the difference between fear and trust in the body. Fear hits in the gut, causes dissociation and sleep. Trust feels like stillness, expansiveness, knowing. They unpack inner child work – that moment when you can ask “How old am I right now?” and realise your triggered nervous system is protecting a younger version of you.
They discuss imprints: the belief systems and stories we take on as children and stay loyal to in order to belong in our families. And then Lael shares the profound truth: if everyone owned their story, we would have less projection, less blame, and infinitely more peace.
Whether you are a parent trying to reach a teen, a partner seeking deeper connection, or someone learning to turn toward your own fear instead of away from it – this conversation will shift how you listen to yourself and others.
What you will learn
- The difference between fear and trust as lived experiences in the body
- How to use inner child work to understand your triggers and what younger version of you needs
- What imprints are and how family loyalty keeps us stuck in unhealthy belief systems
- How listening without judging, fixing, or getting drawn into drama is the foundation of real connection
- Why owning your story instead of running from it is the path to freedom and accountability
- How to build resilience by acknowledging what’s alive in you and coming back to center
- Why parenting teens requires trust, surrender, and showing up no matter what
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5 Key takeaways
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Trust is a Felt Experience, Not a Logical Choice Lael’s whisper to her newborn daughter “I trust you” wasn’t about logic or certainty. It was a shift in her nervous system from fear to surrender. Fear contracts the gut, causes dissociation and exhaustion. Trust opens the body into stillness and expansion. The difference isn’t mental – it’s somatic, lived, embodied.
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Your Inner Child Holds the Key to Your Triggered Nervous System When you feel triggered by your partner or your circumstances, the first question is: “How old am I right now?” Because often, you’re not a grown adult responding – you’re a wounded younger version of yourself protecting against an old fear. Lael taught Tess that by identifying that child, you can hold her, comfort her, and respond differently as an adult.
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Imprints Shape Your Loyalty to the Wrong Stories Imprints are the belief systems and narratives you absorbed as a child to belong in your family. “You’re too emotional.” “You don’t deserve that.” “You’re not enough.” We stay insanely loyal to these imprints even as adults because they feel like love. Lael teaches that recognising your imprints is the first step to changing them. You can unlearn what was modelled.
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If Everyone Owned Their Story, We’d Have Less Blame and More Peace Instead of blaming others for our pain, what if we owned our response to life? What if we named the trauma, acknowledged the imprint, and chose differently? Lael teaches that accountability isn’t about shame – it’s about power. When you stop running from your story and start owning it, you become unstoppable.
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Listen Without Judging, Fixing, or Getting in the Box Lael spent five years teaching sex education to teenagers and asked every single one what they wished their parents knew. 85% said the same thing: “I wish my parents would just listen.” They wanted listening without judgement, without fixing, and without getting drawn into the drama. This applies to every relationship – when we stop trying to rescue and start simply being present, we create the safety others need to open up and heal.
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Disclaimer
The A Wake Up Call podcast is created for general informational, educational, and inspirational purposes only. The stories, tools, and insights shared are designed to support your wellbeing journey - not to replace professional medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice. In fact, we believe therapy is non-negotiable in life.
If you’re experiencing a medical or mental health condition, please seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional. Never ignore or delay seeking professional advice because of something you’ve heard on this podcast.
Your wellbeing matters. Take care of yourself, stay curious, and remember the real wake-up call is listening to what your body and mind are trying to tell you.
