S2E13 - Spiritual Discernment, Esoteric Teachings & a Bigger View of Life

This episode is a little different, and in many ways, it's a foundational conversation for where this podcast is evolving.

In this episode of Catching the Octopus, I share a broader overview of the spiritual and esoteric lens that sits behind much of my work, my worldview, and many of the healing conversations I'll likely unpack more deeply in future episodes.

What starts as a conversation about not believing everything you hear evolves into a much wider discussion around:

• discernment and spiritual truth
• why not all teachings, even spiritual ones, should be taken at face value
• chakras and energy centres
• intuition and "knowingness"
• anxiety, expression, authenticity, and energetic imbalance
• emotional triggers and self-inquiry
• soul perspective, life purpose, and human experience
• afterlife, reincarnation, and soul contracts
• collective consciousness and what may be happening in the world right now

This isn't a complete deep dive into each of these topics, it's more of an umbrella episode that introduces the broader framework behind how I think about healing, growth, spirituality, and life.

If this episode resonates, there's a good chance many of these themes will be explored in more detail in future episodes.

You do not need to agree with everything shared here.
In fact, I'd rather you didn't blindly.

Take what resonates.
Question what doesn't.
And allow yourself to explore.

#spirituality #esotericteachings #discernment #chakras #intuition #consciousness #soulcontracts #energyhealing #spiritualawakening #personalgrowth

Hosted by Niomi Hurley, a human behaviour researcher and clinical hypnotherapist who integrates psychology with energy-informed healing approaches. With experience in corporate environments and individual practice, and through her work at Get Up and Grow Consulting, Niomi works with organisations and individuals to build capacity by addressing the behavioural, emotional, and subconscious factors that influence wellbeing and performance.

Niomi Hurley (Host) Contact Details:

Niomi Hurley Email

Niomi Hurley LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Website

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S2E11 – Understanding Anxiety: How Your Brain Creates Fear (And How to Break the Loop)

Anxiety can feel overwhelming, but what if it's actually your brain trying to protect you?

In this episode of the Catching the Octopus Podcast, Niomi Hurley explores how anxiety works from a psychological, physiological, and subconscious perspective. Rather than seeing anxiety as a flaw or weakness, Niomi explains how it originates from the brain's evolutionary safety mechanisms designed to protect us from danger.

The challenge is that the same survival systems that once protected humans in tribal environments can create unnecessary stress and worry in modern life.

Niomi introduces the Looping Thoughts Ladder, a practical framework used in her work with clients to demonstrate how thoughts, emotions, and behaviours reinforce each other in a cycle that can either increase anxiety or create confidence and resilience.

This episode also explores how subconscious beliefs formed in childhood can influence anxiety patterns in adulthood and how Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) and hypnosis can help rewire those patterns.

You'll learn simple tools you can apply immediately to interrupt anxious thinking, shift emotional states, and change behaviours that reinforce stress.

If you've ever struggled with anxiety, self-doubt, or negative thought loops, this episode provides a powerful perspective and practical strategies to help you regain control.

In This Episode, You'll Learn

• Why anxiety is actually a natural survival response

• How the brain's fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses influence behaviour

• The physiology of anxiety and why your body reacts the way it does

• How thoughts, emotions and behaviours form reinforcing loops

• The Looping Thoughts Ladder tool to identify and break anxiety patterns

• Why subconscious beliefs formed in childhood still affect adult behaviour

• How Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) works to shift subconscious beliefs

• Practical tools like mindfulness, music, journaling and behavioural shifts to regulate anxiety

Hosted by Niomi Hurley, a human behaviour researcher and clinical hypnotherapist who integrates psychology with energy-informed healing approaches. With experience in corporate environments and individual practice, and through her work at Get Up and Grow Consulting, Niomi works with organisations and individuals to build capacity by addressing the behavioural, emotional, and subconscious factors that influence wellbeing and performance.

Niomi Hurley (Host) Contact Details:

Niomi Hurley Email

Niomi Hurley LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Website

Get Up and Grow Consulting LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Facebook Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Instagram Profile

S2E10 – The Thousands of Versions of You: Perception, Authenticity & Self-Reflection

In this episode of Catching the Octopus Podcast, Niomi Hurley explores a powerful concept that many of us overlook… there are thousands of versions of you existing in other people's minds.

Every person you meet forms their own perception of you based on their experiences, beliefs, biases, and emotional filters. That means the way someone sees you is often less about who you truly are and more about the lens they are viewing you through.

Niomi shares personal stories from her journey in corporate leadership, psychology, and hypnotherapy, revealing how fear of judgement once shaped how she introduced herself professionally. For years she avoided calling herself a hypnotherapist, leaning instead on more "logical" titles like human behaviour specialist or business psychologist because she worried about how others might perceive her work.

Over time, through personal growth, self-reflection, and healing, she realised something profound:

You cannot control how other people perceive you, but you can control how authentically you show up.

This episode dives into:

• The psychology of perception and identity
• Why self-criticism can distort how we see ourselves
• How childhood conditioning and people-pleasing affect authenticity
• The role of self-reflection in personal growth
• Why some people will see your strengths while others may see your flaws
• How to develop self-love without ego or narcissism
• Why authentic self-expression matters more than external approval

Niomi also discusses how negative self-talk can create real physiological responses in the body, highlighting the deep connection between mind, emotion, and physical wellbeing.

Through honest storytelling and practical insight, this episode encourages listeners to release the pressure of trying to control how others see them and instead focus on one simple question:

Am I proud of how I showed up today?

Hosted by Niomi Hurley, a human behaviour researcher and clinical hypnotherapist who integrates psychology with energy-informed healing approaches. With experience in corporate environments and individual practice, and through her work at Get Up and Grow Consulting, Niomi works with organisations and individuals to build capacity by addressing the behavioural, emotional, and subconscious factors that influence wellbeing and performance.

Niomi Hurley (Host) Contact Details:

Niomi Hurley Email

Niomi Hurley LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Website

Get Up and Grow Consulting LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Facebook Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Instagram Profile

S2E9 - Judgment, Boundaries & Emotional Intelligence: Stop Gossiping, Stop Self-Criticism & Reclaim Your Power

In this powerful episode of Catching the Octopus Podcast, Niomi Hurley explores the hidden cost of judgment within both the judgment we direct at others and the harsh self-judgment we turn inward.

What's the difference between judging someone… and simply recognising they're no longer aligned with you?

How do we hold high standards without becoming self-critical?

And how do we stop gossip, assumptions and emotional reactivity from lowering our vibration and damaging relationships?

Drawing on psychology, emotional intelligence, spiritual growth principles, and the wisdom of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, Niomi unpacks:

• Why understanding human behaviour reduces judgment
• The difference between discernment and superiority
• How gossip energetically damages relationships
• The dangers of assumptions
• Why not everything is personal
• How to hold boundaries without becoming unkind
• The power of self-reflection without self-attack
• How "always doing your best" creates inner peace

If you've ever:

• Judged someone and later regretted it
• Been judged unfairly
• Struggled with harsh self-talk
• Felt misunderstood
• Outgrown friendships or relationships
• Wanted stronger emotional intelligence
• Or felt triggered by others' opinions…

This episode will give you practical tools to elevate your emotional awareness and show up with strength, kindness and boundaries.

Hosted by Niomi Hurley, a human behaviour researcher and clinical hypnotherapist who integrates psychology with energy-informed healing approaches. With experience in corporate environments and individual practice, and through her work at Get Up and Grow Consulting, Niomi works with organisations and individuals to build capacity by addressing the behavioural, emotional, and subconscious factors that influence wellbeing and performance.

Niomi Hurley (Host) Contact Details:

Niomi Hurley Email

Niomi Hurley LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Website

Get Up and Grow Consulting LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Facebook Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Instagram Profile

S2E8 - From Bullying to Awakening: Karma, Accountability & Becoming the Person You're Meant to Be

In this powerful and vulnerable episode of Catching the Octopus Podcast, Niomi Hurley opens up about a side of her past she hasn't fully shared before, the self-serving behaviours, bullying tendencies, and control patterns that shaped her teenage years and early twenties.

Instead of hiding from it, she explores it.

This episode dives into:

· Why we try to control others when we feel powerless

· How childhood instability can manifest as aggression or dominance

· The ego's need to feel "strong" and feared

· The concept of karmic debt and karmic credits

· How negative patterns echo back into our lives

· Taking radical responsibility without shame

· Raising your vibration to attract better relationships

· Breaking cycles in romantic relationships

· Why "they'll get their karma" might be the wrong mindset

· How service, volunteering and generosity create energetic shifts

· Removing yourself from drama instead of escalating it

· Transforming abandonment wounds and rejection triggers

· Becoming the master of your thoughts, emotions and behaviour

Niomi reflects on how she once believed strength meant intimidation and control and how true strength now means emotional regulation, integrity, service, and conscious choice.

If you've ever looked back at your past and felt embarrassed…
If you've ever asked, "Why do I keep attracting the same relationship patterns?"
If you've wondered whether people really can change…

This episode is for you.

Hosted by Niomi Hurley, a human behaviour researcher and clinical hypnotherapist who integrates psychology with energy-informed healing approaches. With experience in corporate environments and individual practice, and through her work at Get Up and Grow Consulting, Niomi works with organisations and individuals to build capacity by addressing the behavioural, emotional, and subconscious factors that influence wellbeing and performance.

Niomi Hurley (Host) Contact Details:

Niomi Hurley Email

Niomi Hurley LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Website

Get Up and Grow Consulting LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Facebook Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Instagram Profile

S2E7 - Epstein Files, Child Sexual Abuse & Systemic Corruption

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse (CSA), sexual assault, domestic violence and systemic abuse. Please prioritise your wellbeing before listening.

In this deeply personal and confronting episode of Catching the Octopus Podcast, host Niomi Hurley speaks openly about the Epstein files, systemic child abuse, institutional complicity, and the psychological desensitisation happening in society.

As a survivor of child sexual abuse, Niomi shares her lived experience navigating the court system, the failures of accountability, and the long-term impact of trauma, including what happens when systems appear to protect abusers instead of victims.

This episode explores:

• What the Epstein files are exposing globally

• How powerful networks protect perpetrators

• Psychological desensitisation and "normalisation" of abuse

• Failures within legal and court systems

• Grooming, welfare systems, and policy vulnerabilities

• Domestic violence and systemic loopholes

• Patriarchy, power, and gendered silence

• The emotional toll on survivors when abusers rise to power

• Why speaking up matters, even when it feels powerless

This is not a conspiracy episode. It is a human behaviour, trauma, and systemic accountability conversation.

If this episode resonates, please share it. Conversations create awareness. Awareness creates pressure. Pressure creates change.

If this episode has brought up difficult emotions or memories, please reach out for support. Here are some helpful contacts within Australia:

1800RESPECT
National sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service (24/7)
📞 1800 737 732
🌐 www.1800respect.org.au
(Online chat available)

Lifeline
24/7 crisis support & suicide prevention
📞 13 11 14
🌐 www.lifeline.org.au
(Text 0477 13 11 14)

Blue Knot Foundation
National Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma
📞 1300 657 380 (9am–5pm AEST)
🌐 www.blueknot.org.au

Bravehearts (Child Sexual Abuse Support & Prevention)
📞 1800 272 831
🌐 www.bravehearts.org.au

Kids Helpline (Ages 5–25)
📞 1800 55 1800 (24/7)
🌐 www.kidshelpline.com.au

Hosted by Niomi Hurley, a human behaviour researcher and clinical hypnotherapist who integrates psychology with energy-informed healing approaches. With experience in corporate environments and individual practice, and through her work at Get Up and Grow Consulting, Niomi works with organisations and individuals to build capacity by addressing the behavioural, emotional, and subconscious factors that influence wellbeing and performance.

Niomi Hurley (Host) Contact Details:

Niomi Hurley Email

Niomi Hurley LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Website

Get Up and Grow Consulting LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Facebook Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Instagram Profile

S2E6 - Boundaries, People Pleasing & the Loneliness of Growth (Why Healing Changes Your Relationships)

In this deeply personal solo episode of Catching the Octopus Podcast, Niomi Hurley shares the raw reality of boundaries, people pleasing, and personal healing — and why growth often feels lonely before it feels peaceful.

If you've ever struggled to say no, felt responsible for other people's emotions, or noticed relationships changing as you heal, this episode will speak straight to your nervous system.

Niomi reflects on her journey as a recovering people pleaser, shaped by childhood conditioning, corporate expectations, family dynamics, and romantic relationships — and how meditation, self-worth, and conscious boundaries completely changed how she shows up in life.

This episode explores:

• Why saying no can feel confronting (for you and others)
• How healing disrupts old relationship dynamics
• The grief and loneliness that can come with growth
• Boundaries vs control — and why intention matters
• Why people may fall away as you raise your standards
• How meditation builds inner authority and self-trust
• Navigating guilt after setting boundaries
• Boundaries in family, work, dating, and friendships
• Perimenopause, hormones, and changing tolerance levels
• Choosing peace without losing compassion

This is an honest conversation about self-respect, emotional responsibility, consent, and reclaiming your inner authority — especially for women who have spent decades putting everyone else first.

If you're on a spiritual or personal growth journey, this episode is both a mirror and a reminder:
✨ You're not broken — you're evolving.

Hosted by Niomi Hurley, a human behaviour researcher and clinical hypnotherapist who integrates psychology with energy-informed healing approaches. With experience in corporate environments and individual practice, and through her work at Get Up and Grow Consulting, Niomi works with organisations and individuals to build capacity by addressing the behavioural, emotional, and subconscious factors that influence wellbeing and performance.

Niomi Hurley (Host) Contact Details:

Niomi Hurley Email

Niomi Hurley LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Website

Get Up and Grow Consulting LinkedIn Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Facebook Profile

Get Up and Grow Consulting Instagram Profile