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Ep 104: The Shadow Side of Your Human Design: Part 3 in the Inner Infrastructure for Founders Series

To listen to the full episode, become a Return+ subscriber & get the full episode here.

In this Return+ exclusive episode, Caitlan continues the Inner Infrastructure Series for Founders with a deep dive into the shadow side of Human Design—and why your energy type is the most powerful place to begin inner work.

Human Design is often taught as a permission slip. And while permission matters, this episode goes further. Here, Human Design is explored as a practice, not a personality. This episode reveals where your gifts have become protection, where conditioning lives, and where growth is quietly asking for your attention.

This conversation looks at shadow not as something “bad” or broken, but as an unintegrated expression of a gift, often formed under pressure or in the name of safety. Caitlan walks through the shadow expressions of each energy type and how they commonly show up in business, leadership, and decision-making, then offers a grounded framework for integration that doesn’t rely on bypassing, optimizing, or performing your design.

This is a dense, reflective episode & you may want to listen to in parts, with a notebook nearby.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why self-knowledge is the foundation your business actually runs on
• What “shadow” means in Human Design and inner work
• Why energy type reveals survival patterns more clearly than strategy
• Shadow expressions of each Human Design energy type
• How shadow shows up specifically in business and leadership
• When Human Design becomes a form of spiritual bypass

Chapters:

• 02:00 – Inner Infrastructure: why self-knowledge is business infrastructure
• 04:30 – Shadow vs. burden: reframing “what needs work”
• 07:05 – Why energy type is the right place to start inner work
• 08:45 – Projector shadow expressions
• 13:45 – Generator & Manifesting Generator shadows
• 18:45 – Manifestor shadow expressions
• 23:45 – Reflector shadow expressions
• 27:30 – How shadow shows up in business + leadership
• 30:40 – Integration: presence over protection
• 31:55 – Reflection questions for embodiment

Links & Resources:

• Episodes 1 & 2 in the Inner Infrastructure for Founders Series
• Join Return+ for private podcast episodes, essays, prompts & member events
• Return+ Intention Setting Event – February 17
• Human Design Integration Intensives (limited monthly availability – DM or email to inquire)
• Book mentioned:

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

Send us a text

Part 2 in the Series of Inner Infrastructure for Founders

Is it a strategy problem or a mindset problem? This is the episode to help you find out...

In this episode, Caitlan explores how our parts (fear parts, belonging parts, worth parts, inner critics, hustlers, avoiders) can unknowingly take the CEO seat and start making decisions on our behalf. Not because you’re broken. Not because you’re “self-sabotaging.” But because unmet needs don’t disappear in adulthood… they just get more strategic.

You’ll learn how to tell when a part is running the show, how unmet needs shape business behaviors (like over-posting, undercharging, freezing, over-planning), and you’ll be guided through Caitlan’s signature exercise: Business Parts Mapping which is a practical, embodied way to untangle inner conflict and come back to Self-led leadership.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The clearest signs a part (not Self) is running your business decisions
• The difference between a true business problem (skills/strategy) vs a nervous system/parts problem (you “know” what to do but can’t do it)
• Common “flavors” of business parts: fear parts, validation parts, visibility parts, inner critics, hustlers, procrastinators, caretakers, and more
• How unmet needs show up as business behaviors (and why it makes total sense)
• Why “heal this part and money will flow” is not only unhelpful, but can collapse trust
• A step-by-step Business Parts Mapping process you can do today
• How to reassign parts into healthier roles (inner critic → discernment editor, hustler → short-burst activator, avoider → misalignment signal)

Chapters:

• 00:00 Who’s really running your business? Introducing business parts & unmet needs
• 01:10 Naming the heaviness of the moment + grounding into humanity
• 04:53 How to tell when a part (not Self) is making business decisions
• 10:52 Unmet needs and how they show up as overworking, freezing, people-pleasing, or avoiding
• 18:15 Business Parts Mapping: a step-by-step embodiment exercise
• 29:14 How to move forward Self-led + invitations to go deeper

Links & Resources:

• Join Return+ (For community, extra podcast episodes, teachings & much more)
• Next Level Decisions (free private podcast/ audio course)
• Book your Human Design sessions + integration support with Caitlan
• Money Parts episode with Rick Kahler
• Part 1 of Being Seen Series

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

Send us a text

Knowledge vs. Embodiment: Why Knowing Yourself Is Your Greatest Business Asset in the Inner Infrastructure for Founders — Part 1

If you’ve consumed a lot of personal development, strategy, or self-awareness content — and still find yourself stuck, spiraling, or unable to follow through — this episode is for you.

This is the first episode in a four-part series on Inner Infrastructure for Founders, where we explore why knowing yourself isn’t just nice — it’s foundational to sustainable growth.

In this episode, Caitlan breaks down the difference between knowledge and embodiment, why insight alone isn’t enough, and how founders get stuck over-intellectualizing instead of integrating. We explore Human Design, parts work, nervous system capacity, and why most people opt out right when the work actually starts.

This episode lays the groundwork for the entire series.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The real difference between knowledge and embodiment
• Why self-awareness without integration becomes “empty calories”
• How founders use strategy to override discomfort
• Why you can’t scale faster than your nervous system can hold
• How embodiment shows up in real life (decision-making, boundaries, visibility)
• Why acceptance > optimization in this season of business
• The questions that reveal where your system is actually asking for support

Chapters

• 00:01 – Knowledge vs. embodiment & the Inner Infrastructure series
• 02:20 – Why self-awareness is uncomfortable (and avoided)
• 05:30 – Patterns, courage, and slowing down enough to notice
• 08:20 – Knowledge vs. internet noise
• 11:00 – Acceptance > optimization
• 14:00 – Why most people opt out of deep self-knowledge
• 15:10 – Human Design as information vs lived integration
• 17:00 – What embodiment actually looks like in business
• 19:00 – Strategy, parts, and nervous system capacity
• 23:00 – Selling, parts work, and the Girl Scout cookie story
• 27:00 – Reflection + self-assessment
• 30:40 – What’s coming next in the series

Links & Resources Mentioned:

• Next Level Decisions (Free Training):
  A Human Design + Parts-informed decision-making tool: https://www.caitlansiegenthaler.com/next-level-decisions
  
  
• Return+ (Paid Subscription):
  Behind-the-scenes episodes, integration content, and live calls. Join here
  
  
  
• Human Design Integration Intensives:
  1:1 support to move from knowing → operating: Book here
• Episode: Reading Dr. Richard Schwartz (Founder of IFS): Listen here
  
  
• Recent Episode with Rick Kahler: Listen here
  
  

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

Send us a text

What happens when a financial guy meets Internal Family Systems… and ends up sobbing in an IFS demo at Esalen? 😅
In this episode, I’m joined by Rick Kahler—financial planner + financial therapist who helped me (yes, as his willing guinea pig) meet my money parts, stop letting panic run the spreadsheet, and make more Self-led financial decisions.

We also talk about how entrepreneurs can stop letting the visionary run the company alone while the “controller” is duct-taped in the basement.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How Rick stumbled into IFS (and immediately got humbled by the Ace of Spades demo)
• Why financial decisions are emotional decisions—and how IFS helps
• What “Self-led finances” actually feels like (with the eight C’s)
• How to work with money scripts without shaming yourself
• The entrepreneur trap: visionary on top, controller exiled
• Why resilience matters more than perfection (and why “fatal mistakes” aren’t always fatal)
• How Rick navigated selling a controlling interest in his company—and the grief of letting go
• Where to start if you want to meet your money parts (without spiraling)

Chapters

• 02:00 Rick’s IFS origin story (Esalen, “Schwartz guy,” and the demo that changed everything)
• 06:50 Why Rick didn’t initially see himself as a financial therapist
• 11:00 “Fraud” parts—yes, even for successful people
• 17:00 The lightbulb: IFS + financial therapy (and the guinea pig era)
• 20:40 What financial transformation can look like (spreadsheets, giving parts, saving parts)
• 25:45 Financial uncertainty in the collective + working with fear from the outside-in
• 36:00 Entrepreneurs: visionaries, controllers, and the E-Myth reality check
• 41:15 Resilience, mistakes, and staring bankruptcy in the face
• 44:35 Selling the business + getting unstuck at the “next level”
• 57:45 Where to start with money parts
• 01:03:00 Lightning round: Rick’s Self-energy song
• 01:07:00 How to work with Rick + resources

Links & Resources

• Rick’s financial therapy practice: Advanced Wellbeing
  Advanced Wellbeing Financial Therapy
• Rick’s blog / “Financial Awakenings”
  Kahler Financial
• Rick’s podcast: The Financial Therapy Podcast: It’s Not Just About the Money
  Financial Therapy Podcast
• Caitlan's website

Join Undefined, we start January 21st: https://www.caitlansiegenthaler.com/undefined

If this episode made you feel 1% more seen (or 1% more willing to open the spreadsheet without sweating), please follow/subscribe, and leave a review—it helps more Returners find the show.
And if you send this to a friend, I won’t stop you. 😉

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

Send us a text

EPISODE 100: "This was the year of realizing that being seen isn’t about doing more—it’s about feeling safe enough to stop abandoning yourself." -Caitlan

✨ JOIN UNDEFINED: Undefined is where Projectors, Manifestors & Reflectors finally build a business around their energy – and succeed because of it.
$200 OFF Expires 12/21---->>sign up here to get the code

In this milestone episode, Caitlan Siegenthaler reflects on what the last 100 conversations have actually been about: self-permission over self-improvement, nervous-system-led visibility, and the quiet work of becoming yourself without self-abandonment.

If you’ve been trying to fix yourself to be seen, this episode is your invitation to stop.

What You'll Learn:

• Why IFS and Human Design aren’t self-improvement tools
• What visibility looks like when your nervous system feels safe
• Why beginnings are about becoming, not doing
• How intuitive leadership actually forms
• What legacy really is (and what it isn’t)

10 Lessons from This Year’s Top 10 Episodes:

1. Reiki & IFS with Elizabeth Scott
2. Nodes & Past Lives with Sarah Temel
3. Return+: The Human Design of Being Seen
4. Return+: BTS of the Reading with Dr. Richard Schwartz
5. Return+: Evolving Beyond the Therapist Identity
6. The Legacy of Being Seen with Mao Beckett
7. Notes on Being Seen: What Visibility Really Means
8. Ditch SMART Goals: The Intuitive Way to Reach Your Goals
9. I Had to Be Quiet to Stay Safe with Jalon Johnson
10. Internal Family Systems & Human Design: The Ultimate Power Duo
    
    
11. Listen to Episode 99 of Return here
    
    

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

Send us a text

Episode 99: Reflection, Reclamation & The Threshold of the Year of the Snake

It’s the 99th episode of Return (!!!) and in perfect alignment, we’re closing out our nine year cycle just as we step into a new one. In this reflective, ritual-like conversation, Caitlan unpacks the numerology of a nine year — the year of completion, shedding, composting, and clearing — and reflects on what she’s learned, who she became, and what she’s consciously leaving behind.

Inside, she shares her own roses + thorns in business and motherhood, how IFS + Human Design supported her through a year of deep transition, and invitations for you to reflect on your own nine-year cycle with journal prompts, parts work, and Human Design exploration.

If you’re craving closure, clarity, or a gentle remembrance of who you became this year, let this episode guide you back to yourself.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• What a 9 year means in numerology + why 2025 felt so intense
• Reflection prompts to meet the version of you this year shaped
• How Caitlan used Human Design (4/6 profile) to build authentic connection
• The part she reclaimed through IFS — anger
• What she’s leaving behind, what she’s taking into the 1 year
• Roses + thorns from both business + motherhood
• Why Episode 99 marks a threshold into visibility, magnetism, and creative fire 🔥

Timestamps:

02:00 — 05:30 | What a nine year is & why 2025 carried shedding energy
06:00 — 09:45 | Reflection + journaling prompts for the nine year
10:00 — 13:00 | Caitlan’s IFS revelation — working with anger & unburdening
13:10 — 15:00 | Human Design experiments + being a 4/6 connector
15:10 — 17:40 | What she’s leaving behind + tarot messages
17:45 — 19:45 | What she’s bringing into 2026 — Queen of Wands energy
19:50 — 25:30 | Roses + thorns: business, motherhood, expansion
25:30 — 28:00 | Gratitude, becoming, completion + Episode 100 preview

Links & Resources:

• Try Return+ free for 7 days to access the full Return to Self Syllabus
• Join Undefined (starts January 20, 2026) — Projectors, Manifestors & Reflectors
• Book a Shifted Session (HD Reading + Integration)
• Last Year's Year in Review Podcast Episode

Thank you for 99 weeks of returning together — for listening, sharing, and witnessing this work as part of your own self-expression. Next week’s episode marks 100, the final of the year, a moment of pause, and a doorway into what comes next.

Come reflect, release, and rise with me.
See you there. ✨

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

Send us a text

Episode 98: Elemental Design, Mental Inflammation & Returning to Your Rhythm – with Dr. Shivani Gupta

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Shivani Gupta—Ayurvedic practitioner, turmeric researcher, founder of Fusionary Formulas, and host of Fusionary Health. We talk about her early health wake-up call, how she discovered Ayurveda, and why understanding your elemental design (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) can change everything about how you approach your body and energy.

We also dive into her concept of mental inflammation—how modern stress quietly inflames the body—and simple, accessible daily rituals that help you reset, cool inflammation, and return to yourself.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What Ayurveda is and how elemental design (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) shapes your body and energy.
• How mental inflammation from stress becomes physical symptoms.
• Why the 10pm–2am sleep window is crucial for detox, hormones, and inflammation.
• Simple Ayurvedic practices you can start today (tea rituals, circadian walks, grounding foods).
• How turmeric and other super spices support gut health and chronic inflammation.

Key Takeaways:

• Inflammation is inevitable, not a personal flaw—modern life is inherently inflammatory.
• Stress hygiene matters; mental inflammation often drives physical symptoms.
• Knowing your elemental design helps you choose routines that align with your natural rhythm.
• Sleep is foundational—that 10pm–2am window is your body’s prime detox time.
• Tiny rituals—like “tea time is me time”—create space for intuition and regulation.

Chapters:

• 00:01 – Welcome & setting the stage
• 01:09 – Shivani’s wake-up call & shifting to Ayurveda
• 04:01 – Discovering elemental design
• 07:25 – What Ayurveda actually is
• 09:52 – Mental inflammation explained
• 15:00 – Nervous system anchors: tea time & micro-pauses
• 19:34 – The inflammation forest fire
• 24:47 – Vata, Pitta, Kapha: a deep, accessible breakdown
• 32:00 – How to find your constitution
• 36:09 – A Pitta’s daily rhythm: sleep, food, and movement
• 41:51 – Nature’s medicine > gadgets
• 44:55 – What she’d tell her younger self about healing
• 46:46 – Her returning ritual: tea time is me time
• 48:25 – Super spices, turmeric, and her research
• 52:34 – Where to find Shivani & her upcoming Hay House book

Links & Resources:

Connect with Dr. Shivani Gupta:

• Supplements: Fusionary Formulas — Use code RETURN for 15% off
• Instagram: @doctor.shivanigupta
• Book: : www.theinflammationcode.com
  
  

Explore More from Caitlan:

• Website: caitlansiegenthaler.com
• Work with me through Human Design, IFS & Return offerings

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

Send us a text

Return+ Evolving Beyond the Therapist Identity

Episode 97: The Journey of Transformation and Growth

In this Return+ episode, Caitlan Siegenthaler takes you inside the quiet, sacred, and often uncomfortable process of identity evolution. She shares how becoming a mother cracked open her sense of self, how the traditional therapist role began to feel too small, and how Human Design and Internal Family Systems became her compass for integrating truth, intuition, and authenticity.

Through personal stories and energetic insights, Caitlan explores the tension between who we were trained to be and who we are becoming, the whispers that guide us, and the deep desire to return to the most honest version of ourselves. This conversation is an invitation to step out of the boxes that no longer fit and trust the transformation that’s already unfolding within you.

TO LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE, SIGN UP FOR RETURN+ HERE

Projectors/ Reflectors/ Manifestors: Sign up for the Undefined Waitlist Here.

Doors Open January 13th, We Start January 20th!

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why evolving beyond your professional identity is both common and courageous
• How authenticity often clashes with expectations placed on therapists and helpers
• What postpartum intuition can reveal about purpose and direction
• How Human Design and IFS together support identity integration
• Why listening to your inner whispers matters more than external validation
• How to navigate fear of judgment during big transitions
• Why creativity and intuition are essential parts of the therapeutic process
• How community makes identity transformation less isolating

Links & Resources

• Learn more about Caitlan’s offerings: www.caitlansiegenthaler.com
• Join Return+: deeper personal reflections, energetic tools & community

If you loved this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to Return+, leave a review, and share this conversation with someone on their own path of becoming

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.