Wannabe Balanced | Mormon Enlightenment | Post LDS
Summary: This podcast started out as a self help podcast for moms trying to find balance in motherhood and business but morphed into a documentation of Crystal and Sean Escobar's journey out of the Mormon church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). The Podcast has been therapeutic on so many levels for its hosts. They vulnerably share their pitfalls and triumphs as they work to deconstruct a lifetime of indoctrination from the LDS church which they exited in the Spring of 2018. Sexual shame, marriage, parenting, science, spirituality, personal development, healing, sex abuse, are some of the topics they focus on. Together, the Escobars founded the Mormon Enlightenment community on Facebook which they started in August of 2018. One year later there was 3500 members. Participating in the community has proven to be the silver lining to an otherwise traumatic experience. Mormon Enlightement is also comprised of an Instagram page, and YouTube channel. They feel passionate about doing their part among many amazing pioneers like John Dehlin, who featured them on Mormon Stories Podcast. Their goal around all of this is to normalize leaving the church, and to make it safe and acceptable for their children to be non-Mormon in a predominantly Mormon world. Crystal and Sean Escobar are down to earth people who grew up in the heart of Mormonism in the Salt Lake Valley. They were married in 2004 and have 4 children. In 2007, they became the youngest millionaires in Isagenix, an international health and wellness company. Having achieved unparalleled success in their industry, they were able to retire at the age of 35. Since 2011 they have divided their time between living half the year in Salt Lake and the other half in Saint George. Crystal’s family is pioneer stock. She served a mission to Germany in 2002. What is curious is that as of 2019, the majority of her side of the family, which is quite large, is out of the Church. Crystal is the founder of the Wannabe Balanced brand, which has presence on all social media platforms, as well as an ongoing podcast, a Blog and periodic Live Events. She is also a published author of the book “My Life as a WannaBeBalanced Mom” and has been featured on many local news media stations. Sean’s parents were both first generation converts. Sean’s family, much smaller in comparison, are all still very active and believing. In February of 2018 Sean published a recording between him and the man who had sexually abused him as a child in 1993. That same year the abuse took place, Sean’s perpetrator was offered employment at BYU and stayed on as a Professor of Film for 6 years immediately thereafter. That man enjoyed a prestigious professional career as an LDS Film maker and was also the Director of the most recent Temple Endowment Videos. Those videos were hastily abandoned by the Church one month prior to the story breaking. The 25 year old abuser story went viral and was featured on the cover of the New York Times. Another victim, a child, came forward and the perpetrator was sentenced to 6 years to life in prison in the summer of 2019. Sean has become a powerful advocate for stoping child sexual abuse by giving victims the courage to come forward.
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Fear can actually be an incredible opportunity for growth and self discovery. As we experience it, we begin to learn how to work WITH it rather than against it. Another one of my favorite quotes that I mention often is “Fear is excitement without the breath”. I read that in the book called The Big Leap.
Judging others is a character of the ego. Anytime the ego is in charge, our souls connection becomes clouded, making it difficult to learn something new, have compassion for others, and even have the ability to be creative. The ego sees things as good and bad, the soul just SEES things without any judgement.
This is one of my favorite times of year. A time to reflect and plan for a new year. In this episode I'd like to share some of the things I hope to manifest as well as the process I use when setting goals. This is the final episode of season two, but I will be back within a few weeks to begin season three.
Since leaving organized religion I've found myself questioning the whole foundation of Christianity and what that really means to me. This time of year is causing me to really ponder the life of Christ and my new beliefs surrounding his life and purpose.
Navigating a faith transition can be extremely difficult. We've only begun this process about six months ago but have learned a great deal in the process. Sean and I will share some of the things we've experienced and what has helped us most as we transitioned out of our life long organized religion.
Six months ago I had a breakdown that led to my breakthrough, or in other words an AWAKENING! I didn't realize how closed minded and unwilling I was to learn anything new. I wanted to remain in my ignorance because it felt safe and comfortable. Come to find out, what I thought was "comfort" was actually causing me a great deal of suffering. I knew I wasn't answering the call of my soul, I was asleep, going about my life, suppressing my true mission and purpose.
Sunit Suchdev is a biz and mindset coach whose passion is to inspire moms to live their most high vibe life. She is a certified life coach and meditation teacher and host of “the High Vibe Life” podcast. She believes that women CAN have it all, with the proper mindset shifts, and she inspires moms to live a life where they are talking about all the amazing things they are doing..instead of everything they are not getting done.
It's interesting to know that we can actually worry ourselves sick with the thoughts we choose to focus on. And it's exciting to know that our thoughts can also make us WELL.
I am digging deeper into my soul and trying to follow my intuition. Right now this is what my intuition is telling me to do. This move is just another step on my spiritual journey. Peeling the layers off one at a time. I’ve left organized religion because it felt right for ME! I’m taking a break from posting perfect pictures on my feed because it feels right for ME!
"Belief is ESSENTIAL. Science is EMPOWERING." ~Hibiscus Moon Growing up with strong religious beliefs I always thought science was "of the devil", haha. I thought that it was a prideful way of saying, we know more than God and we don't need him. Understanding the science behind life's mysteries can empower ones soul and ability to conquer the mind in order to carry out our individual purpose.
Sean still hasn't cheated on me, and we haven't been struck by lightning. So far so good, lol. The one thing that has benefited me most from choosing to live without religion, is the freedom to choose. In religion we are taught that we have free agency, but I never felt like I had free agency. Basically the only choice I felt like I had was heaven or hell and of course I would choose heaven.
In this episode I had the opportunity to ask YouTuber and Crystal Expert, Hibiscus Moon, all about the science behind Crystals and how she uses them on a daily basis. Hibiscus Moon is a former science department head turned Crystal Healer and self-proclaimed Geo-Geek Extraordinaire. She's the founder of the Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy and author of the book, Crystal Grids: How and Why They Work. You can download her free Create Sacred Spaces with Crystals eKit over at www.HibiscusMoonGift.com
Sometimes it's hard to find joy in the journey when you feel like you've been consistently putting in the work and seeing little to no results. The key is seeing the beauty in the NOW. The journey is FUN! The process of creation is what gives us the most fulfillment, not just the end result. It's all the little pieces that create the beautiful masterpiece.
About 5 years into our marriage, Sean and I began making some serious money. It was tempting to go crazy buying all the fancy cars and new homes, but we tried to be future focused and think strategically about how we wanted to spend our money. In this episode Sean and I talk about our different upbringings and views around money. It created some problems for us in the beginning of our marriage, but now we are happy to say we've evolved together in our beliefs around financial freedom. Refer to Ep. #8
Christopher Steele shares his story of growing up Mormon and discovering he was gay. How he overcame the trials of being shamed and judged by the ones he loved most, to happily married to the man of his dreams. He was also featured in the documentary called Latter Day Glory. Connect with Christopher on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ridingforu Sign up for FREE Instagram Class: https://www.wannabebalanced.com/free-instagram-class
