Partners in Sublime: Elevating personal growth through psychospiritual wisdom

by Shagun Chopra

Is spiritual bypass necessary? Ava is unexpectedly calm after a blindsiding breakup

We've all had that friend who just went through something devastating and seems almost too okay, or been that person ourselves, turning to faith or practice or the certainty that everything happens for a reason, and finding, at least for a while, that it actually works. In this episode, Shagun explores spiritual bypass, a term coined by transpersonal psychologist John Welwood for the tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep unresolved emotional pain, and makes the case that it may be less a failure of the spiritual path than a necessary resting point along it. To illustrate what spiritual bypass actually feels like from the inside, she shares a live coaching session with Ava, who arrives less than a week after a blindsiding breakup with parents involved and marriage on the horizon, and is, somehow, calm. The session raises a question that Shagun then takes on directly from her own experience: what is the difference between genuine peace and the kind of peace that comes from not yet having let yourself feel what's actually there, and what happens to everything we leave unfelt? 00:00 Introduction 01:52 What is Spiritual Bypass 06:04 Why spiritual bypass isn't as bad as you think 12:06 Navigating Emotions: The Impact of Breakups 12:25 Coaching session with Ava: Navigating post-breakup grief 29:09 Session debrief: Understanding Ava's grief journey and spiritual bypass potential About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video Disclaimer: Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

E17

Jun 2, 2026

39:09

When niceness becomes a trap: Selena's inability to say no almost ruins a long-awaited dream

We are all taught to be nice. Through years of conditioning, being praised for sharing, being corrected for asking for too much, being rewarded for going along, we learn that niceness is the price of belonging. But what happens when being nice means overriding your own body's signal? What happens when the most spiritually evolved-sounding justification is actually just your ego managing away something it finds threatening? In this episode, I coach 'Selena' through a situation that most of us would brush off as minor - answering a call she didn't want to answer - but underneath that small incident is something worth excavating: a shadow self who already knows exactly what to say and how to say it, and has simply been waiting to be trusted. We move through the Jungian concepts of persona and shadow, explore how rationalization and reaction formation keep us loyal to a pattern even when that pattern is working against us, and use active imagination to help Selena meet the version of herself she has been keeping out of sight. We also touch on the Vedantic concept of the kavach, sacred armor, and raise the fundamental question: if the soul is genuinely indestructible, what exactly are we protecting, and from what? 00:00 Introduction 02:54 How we get conditioned to be nice 04:34 How the ego keeps us stuck in people pleasing mode 06:06 How to stop being compulsively nice with shadow work 07:29 Coaching session with Selena: Being nice and regretting it 28:59 Session breakdown: New age spirituality, ego defenses, alter ego imagination About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video Disclaimer: Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

E16

May 19, 2026

36:40

How to connect with our higher self? Dorothy's job pays the bills but doesn't make her happy

We use the word "self" constantly, in therapy, in spirituality, in everyday conversation, but we rarely stop to ask which self we are actually talking about. In this episode, Shagun breaks down three distinct understandings of the self, from the everyday ego self to the IFS Self to the Jungian Self, and makes the case that it is this third, deeper Self that we most need to learn to connect with. Drawing on Edward Edinger's concept of the ego-Self axis, she walks through how that connection strengthens and breaks across a lifetime, what ego inflation and deflation actually look like in real life, and five concrete ways to stay connected to your higher self, one of which is beautifully illustrated through the coaching session with "Dorothy." Dororthy's situation is familiar to many, she has a job that pays the bills but costs her too: her sleep, her presence, and her sense of purpose. Shagun uses active imagination to offer Dorothy's higher Self the space to speak, and what emerges is not a plan or a prescription but a single unexpected symbol that points her back to something she already knows about herself. 00:00 Introduction 01:25 What is your higher self 04:01 Do we live in a conscious universe 05:13 How the ego-Self axis works 09:02 What is ego inflation and ego deflation 14:19 How to stay connected with our higher self 22:03 What myth teaches us about the higher self 24:07 Coaching session with Dororthy: Work is not aligning with purpose 46:02 Session breakdown: Recognizing ego, higher self, and symbolism About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video Disclaimer: Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

E15

May 5, 2026

51:44

Why we abandon ourselves: Ana's grief and losses unravel the spiritual life she had built

We think self-abandonment is the falling apart: the life that becomes unrecognizable, the person we no longer see in the mirror. But the abandonment begins much earlier, in the quiet moments when we refuse the parts of ourselves that don't fit the life we have constructed. In this episode, we explore why self-abandonment moves in two directions, what Jungian shadow work and Vedantic philosophy reveal about both, and what it takes to find the integrated middle rather than swinging between extremes. The episode features 'Ana' who came to this session after two years of accumulated loss had quietly dismantled the spiritual life she had carefully built. The anger had arrived. The practices had disappeared. And she no longer recognized the person she had become. What emerged in our session together was something more uncomfortable and more liberating than a simple path back: the recognition that the self she is returning to cannot be the one she left behind. 00:00 Navigating Grief and Anger 02:47 The Impact of Spiritual Communities on Emotional Expression 05:06 Decisions and Life Transitions 07:11 Reconnecting with Passions and Career Aspirations 09:22 Finding Balance in Life Choices 11:41 The Journey of Self-Discovery and Acceptance 13:45 Visualizing a New Path Forward 16:36 Coaching Ana: Navigating Emotional Turmoil and Overwhelm 17:41 The Journey of Self-Compassion and Presence 19:22 Confronting Grief and Loss 22:33 Lessons in Vulnerability and Acceptance 25:03 The Role of Family and Legacy 27:10 Embracing the Wounded Self 27:28 Connecting with the Higher Self About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video Disclaimer: Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.

E14

Apr 21, 2026

57:15

Why don't we feel like ourselves? Miley is drowning in the mental load of new motherhood

What does it actually feel like to not feel like yourself? Not the dramatic breakdown version, not the crisis that announces itself clearly, but the quiet, persistent sense that the person you used to be has become strangely inaccessible. In this episode, we sit with that experience without rushing toward resolution. Through a live coaching session with Miley, a new mother navigating the overwhelming mental load of early motherhood, we explore what happens in the messy middle of a major identity transition - when the old self has loosened its grip and the new one hasn't yet arrived. We look at the concept of liminal space, why our culture's favorite tools for managing motherhood stress keep us stuck at the surface of our experience, and what it actually takes to move through a threshold rather than around it. About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show (anonymously or otherwise), visit shagunchopra.com/ask

E13

Apr 7, 2026

59:59

Am I actually good enough? Tony in anxious about making a good impression at his new job

Most of us have asked ourselves some version of this question, whether it shows up as "did I respond fast enough?" or "am I pulling my weight at home?" or just that low hum of not quite measuring up that follows us into even our best moments. In this episode, we sit with that question seriously, tracing it from Alfred Adler's inferiority complex through Brené Brown's hustle for worthiness to the Vedantic teaching that dissolves the question entirely. Then we go into a live coaching session with Tony, a tech professional who is days away from starting his dream job and already consumed by anxiety about whether he can show up fully at work while still being present for his wife and two-year-old at home. What happens in this session is quietly remarkable. Tony doesn't solve his anxiety. He listens to it. And what his inner world offers in response is the last thing anyone, including Tony, expected. About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show (anonymously or otherwise), visit shagunchopra.com/ask

E12

Mar 24, 2026

1:20:25

How to resolve an identity conflict: Retired military vet Max cannot put his old ways aside in a new career

When we transition into a new identity, do we have to leave the old one behind? And what is the difference between our identity and what we present to the world? Max spent twenty years in the military before stepping into the world of mental health care, and four years later, he is still caught between two versions of himself. In this episode, we explore the psychology of identity conflict through the lens of Jungian analytical psychology, looking at how the ego constructs identity, how the persona and shadow work together to create internal splits, and what it actually takes to move toward a more integrated sense of self. Through a live coaching session with Max, we witness what happens when a neglected part of the psyche finally gets to speak, and what it has to say is both surprising and deeply moving. If you have ever felt pulled between who you were and who you are becoming, this episode is for you. About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show (anonymously or otherwise), visit shagunchopra.com/ask

E11

Mar 10, 2026

1:01:22

How toxic positivity traps us: Maya moved abroad for opportunity but finds herself paralyzed by choice

We've been taught that negative emotions are problems to fix: signs that we're not grateful enough, not evolved enough, not thinking positively enough. But what if anger, sadness, envy, and fear aren't obstacles at all? What if they're messengers carrying vital information about what we truly need and want? In this episode, we explore how the positive psychology movement, while revolutionary in many ways, can trap us in a rigid persona that cuts us off from our authentic self. The session features Maya, a new Indian immigrant in the US, who has everything she needs to build the life she wants: resources, opportunities, clear goals. But she can't take action. Through a powerful visualization, she discovers that her unconscious isn't sabotaging her. It's protecting her authentic self from external expectations. We discuss the function of negative emotions, the shadow side of positive psychology, and what it means to choose wholeness over perfection. This episode features insights from Jungian psychology, Vedic philosophy, and the myths of Persephone and Kali. About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show (anonymously or otherwise), visit shagunchopra.com/ask

E10

Feb 24, 2026

53:11

How to serve while struggling: Irina questions her competence as a mental health professional amid personal crises

Can you help others while you're still struggling yourself? This question haunts many of us: parents, therapists, teachers, managers, friends, and so on. In this episode, we explore the wounded healer archetype and discover why your struggles don't disqualify you from serving others. Through a coaching session with Irina, a mental health professional wrestling with her own breakup and friendship loss, we witness the transformation from either/or thinking to both/and consciousness. Learn about holding the tension of opposites, the mandorla as a symbol of integration, and how Arjuna's crisis in the Bhagavad Gita mirrors our own daily contradictions. This conversation offers a pathway from feeling torn apart by opposing forces to discovering wholeness in paradox. About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show (anonymously or otherwise), visit shagunchopra.com/ask

Feb 10, 2026

50:43

How to access our inner resources: Mari returns to her rural hometown with limited pregnancy support

What if the inner resources you're looking for aren't limited to yourself? What if they come from something far older and more powerful than anything in your personal history? Most of us reach for familiar strategies when we need strength: positive thinking, past experiences, coping mechanisms we've developed over the years. But host Shagun Chopra reveals why these personal resources have limits, and introduces a completely different source of wisdom that exists within every human being regardless of their individual story. Shagun coaches Mari who recently returned to her rural hometown and is a few weeks away from giving birth. As Mari grapples with the lack of pregnancy supports in her external environment, Shagun helps her connect to her innate resources. Mari's struggle with feeling like a victim, her grief over losing the structured life she had built, and her fear of the unknown all shift dramatically when she discovers she's been carrying the answer within her all along. This episode will challenge everything you think you know about where your strength comes from. You'll learn about psychological patterns you inherited at birth, why certain emotions seem to "take over" without warning, and how to consciously access a source of guidance that billions of humans have tapped into throughout history. The concepts are deep, potentially life-changing, and worth revisiting multiple times. About the host: Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com Join the show: To ask a question or get coached on the show (anonymously or otherwise), visit shagunchopra.com/ask

Jan 27, 2026

1:11:38

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