What if you loved yourself with the same intention, discipline, and preparation you give to a romantic relationship?

This is the challenge Amber gives in this powerful episode of Human(ing) Well, closing out the February love and intimacy series.

Amber unpacks how many of us have been conditioned to center love as something external — something we audition for, rehearse for, and reorganize our lives around. We improve our bodies, upgrade our homes, soften our edges, expand our endurance, and emotionally prepare for someone we don’t even know. Meanwhile, we stall when it comes to facing our own insecurities, discomfort, and unmet needs.

Drawing from her own experiences after heartbreak, Amber shares how she realized she was asking someone else to love her through parts of herself she wasn’t willing to examine. She breaks down the difference between casually “practicing” self-care and intentionally rehearsing self-love, with clear objectives, discipline, and emotional accountability.

Amber challenges listeners to reflect:

• What insecurities am I avoiding instead of working through?
• Where have I expected someone else to love me through something I won’t face myself?
• What would it look like to rehearse loving myself with intention?
• How much energy do I give to the possibility of love compared to the reality of me?
• If love arrived tomorrow, would it be additive… or rescuing?

🛍️ Shop Amber’s Be A Good Human merch:
https://www.ambercabral.com/merch

Amber’s substack | https://humaningwell.substack.com/

www.humaningwellpodcast.com/

Amber Cabral

IG | @bamcabral

LinkedIn | @ambercabral

Facebook | @amber.cabral

X | @BamCabral

Bluesky | @bamcabral.bsky.social

Watch Amber’s TED TALK here.

You can purchase Amber's books from the retailer of your choice here: https://www.ambercabral.com/books/

Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture

Say More About That: ...And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others

Human(ing) Well is produced by

EPYC Media Network

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why does heartbreak feel like you lost something essential inside yourself?

In this episode of Human(ing) Well, Amber Cabral reframes one of the most painful experiences in relationships: when love does not turn into forever. Instead of treating love as something fragile, conditional, or dependent on possession, Amber introduces a powerful truth: your love belongs to you.

We often confuse loving someone with needing to keep them. We assume that if a relationship ends, the love disappears. We fear that if we let someone go, we lose access to the feeling entirely. But Amber explains why love is not a contract, not ownership, and not proof of permanence. Love is something you generate, something you participate in, and something that still exists within you even when proximity ends.

Amber offers reflection questions to help you navigate complicated love with clarity:

• Where have I confused loving someone with needing to keep them?
• Have I ever stayed longer because I believed love would disappear if I left?
• What would I change if I trusted that love is something I generate, not something I’m granted?
• How might my relationships shift if I stopped outsourcing ownership of my feelings?

If you’ve ever said, “I’ll never feel that way again,” this episode gently challenges that belief.

🛍️ Shop Amber’s Be A Good Human merch:
https://www.ambercabral.com/merch

Amber’s substack | https://humaningwell.substack.com/

www.humaningwellpodcast.com/

Amber Cabral

IG | @bamcabral

LinkedIn | @ambercabral

Facebook | @amber.cabral

X | @BamCabral

Bluesky | @bamcabral.bsky.social

Watch Amber’s TED TALK here.

You can purchase Amber's books from the retailer of your choice here: https://www.ambercabral.com/books/

Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture

Say More About That: ...And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others

Human(ing) Well is produced by

EPYC Media Network

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“Love month doesn’t have to be about pressure or performance.”

In this episode of Humaning Well, Amber Cabral redefines love and intimacy beyond performative Valentine’s Day rituals. Instead of overpriced dinners and transactional gestures, Amber invites listeners to slow down, get intentional, and reconnect with what actually builds intimacy. Whether you are partnered, dating, or single, this episode offers practical, thoughtful, and sometimes spicy ways to deepen connection without pressure, perfection, or performance.

Amber shares five intentional questions to reflect on or use while dating to better understand purpose, values, and emotional readiness:

• “Are you in your purpose?”
• “Do you like your job?”
• “How did you grow up?”
• “What does a relationship look like to you?”
• “What’s your relationship like with money?”

She also explores why spicy conversations are not just about sex, but about honesty, safety, and embodied connection. As part of the February Love and Intimacy series, this episode is designed to give you tools you can use long after Valentine's Day.

🛍️ Shop Amber’s Be A Good Human merch:
https://www.ambercabral.com/merch

Amber’s substack | https://humaningwell.substack.com/

www.humaningwellpodcast.com/

Amber Cabral

IG | @bamcabral

LinkedIn | @ambercabral

Facebook | @amber.cabral

X | @BamCabral

Bluesky | @bamcabral.bsky.social

Watch Amber’s TED TALK here.

You can purchase Amber's books from the retailer of your choice here: https://www.ambercabral.com/books/

Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture

Say More About That: ...And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others

Human(ing) Well is produced by

EPYC Media Network

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, Amber Cabral kicks off a month-long series on love and intimacy by breaking down a powerful truth: intimacy doesn’t disappear because it stops mattering; it disappears because life gets full. Work, stress, responsibility, and productivity slowly crowd out the very thing that keeps us emotionally regulated, grounded, and well.

Amber reframes intimacy beyond sex and romance, explaining that intimacy is a combination of presence, vulnerability, and close connection, and that it is essential whether you’re partnered, dating, single, or intentionally alone. She shares personal experiences with disconnected relationships, guarded partnerships, and surface-level friendships, as well as the transformative power of rebuilding intimacy with herself.

"Intimacy is not a luxury. It's a fundamental part of your well-being." – Amber Cabral

This episode explores why many people deprioritize intimacy when they feel overwhelmed, how fear, insecurity, and self-protection hinder emotional availability, and why staying busy often becomes a means of avoiding vulnerability. Amber also explains why loneliness isn’t always about being alone — it’s often about not feeling seen, including by yourself.

Moreover, Amber offers intimacy reflection questions you can sit with:

• What limits have I placed on how I define intimacy?
• Where do I experience real intimacy in my life right now, if anywhere?
• Am I avoiding intimacy, or avoiding the ache of it not being there?
• What relationship (with myself, friends, or family) could hold more intimacy if I allowed it?
• How much of what I’m craving is actually me craving deeper connection with myself?

Amber closes with a powerful reminder: intimacy is not a bonus, a luxury, or a reward for having your life together. It is a fundamental part of human well-being, and when we abandon it, we widen the loneliness gap in our lives.

🛍️ Shop Amber’s Be A Good Human merch:
https://www.ambercabral.com/merch

Amber’s substack | https://humaningwell.substack.com/

www.humaningwellpodcast.com/

Amber Cabral

IG | @bamcabral

LinkedIn | @ambercabral

Facebook | @amber.cabral

X | @BamCabral

Bluesky | @bamcabral.bsky.social

Watch Amber’s TED TALK here.

You can purchase Amber's books from the retailer of your choice here: https://www.ambercabral.com/books/

Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture

Say More About That: ...And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others

Human(ing) Well is produced by

EPYC Media Network

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, Amber Cabral shares one of her most foundational insights yet: “Your biggest and most important job is you.” Drawing from a deeply personal season of change: closing a company, starting over, ending a relationship, and radically reconnecting with herself, Amber explains why real clarity, intuition, and alignment only become available when you stop outsourcing your decisions and start listening to your body.

Amber introduces the concept of embodiment as the missing layer beneath the Human(ing) Well framework. She breaks down why checking boxes, following formulas, and consuming endless self-help content doesn’t lead to real change if you’re disconnected from your physical signals, instincts, and inner knowing. From neuroscience concepts like interoception to real-life examples of how disconnection manifests in work, relationships, desire, and burnout, this episode explains why understanding something intellectually is not the same as integrating it into your life. Wellness can be performative without embodiment.

With this, Amber offers reflection questions to sit with:

• What does my body consistently react to that I keep explaining away?
• Where am I following a version of my life that looks good, but doesn’t feel true?
• Where am I settling for something that feels close to what I want, but still isn’t right?
• What do I understand intellectually that I haven’t allowed to change how I live?

This episode is an invitation to stop living from your head alone and start building a life your body, values, and nervous system can actually sustain. Because knowing yourself isn’t selfish, it’s the foundation everything else rests on.

🛍️ Shop Amber’s Be A Good Human merch:
https://www.ambercabral.com/merch

Amber’s substack | https://humaningwell.substack.com/

www.humaningwellpodcast.com/

Amber Cabral

IG | @bamcabral

LinkedIn | @ambercabral

Facebook | @amber.cabral

X | @BamCabral

Bluesky | @bamcabral.bsky.social

Watch Amber’s TED TALK here.

You can purchase Amber's books from the retailer of your choice here: https://www.ambercabral.com/books/

Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture

Say More About That: ...And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others

Human(ing) Well is produced by

EPYC Media Network

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There is a version of “getting your life together” that looks impressive on the outside… But inside, you’re still disconnected, overwhelmed, and avoiding what actually needs attention.

In this episode, Amber breaks down the critical difference between numbing and healing. From overworking and over-socializing to wellness routines that look healthy but function as a distraction. Amber explains how many of us are performing healing instead of actually doing it.

She shares candid personal examples and client patterns that reveal a hard truth: staying busy, productive, spiritual, or disciplined can still be a way of running from grief, anger, fear, or unmet needs. She reminds us: “Relief is not the same as repair. Numbing postpones. Healing asks you to stay…”

Amber unpacks how social media wellness culture and therapy speak can reinforce avoidance, why coping tools are often mistaken for healing, and how unchecked numbing quietly postpones the breakthroughs we’re longing for.

Reflection questions:

• What am I feeling that I’m trying to avoid?
• Am I running toward something, or running away from something?
• How do I feel after I do the thing, relieved but anxious, or tired but more whole?
• What would happen if I sat with this feeling instead of escaping it?
• What am I afraid might surface if I slowed down?

Tune in as this episode is an invitation to stop checking boxes and start staying present.

🛍️ Shop Amber’s Be A Good Human merch:
https://www.ambercabral.com/merch

Amber’s substack | https://humaningwell.substack.com/

www.humaningwellpodcast.com/

Amber Cabral

IG | @bamcabral

LinkedIn | @ambercabral

Facebook | @amber.cabral

X | @BamCabral

Bluesky | @bamcabral.bsky.social

Watch Amber’s TED TALK here.

You can purchase Amber's books from the retailer of your choice here: https://www.ambercabral.com/books/

Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture

Say More About That: ...And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others

Human(ing) Well is produced by

EPYC Media Network

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode marks the official beginning of a deeper season of Human(ing) Well.

In this first episode of 2026, Amber Cabral names something she has not said out loud enough before: humaning well was never meant to be clean, sterile, or palatable. While the four pillars of the Human(ing) Well framework: health, wealth, relationships, and growth remain the same, the way Amber is willing to talk about what lives inside those pillars is evolving.

Today, Amber reflects on why earlier conversations stayed closer to what felt professionally acceptable and politically correct, and why that approach, while not wrong, was incomplete. She explains how avoiding topics like desire, intimacy, shame, the body, attachment, fear, power, and unspoken needs keep people fragmented and stuck, even when they are doing everything “right” on the surface. People struggle because of what is happening inside them - the parts of themselves they have been taught not to name.

This episode sets the tone for the season ahead. You will hear why being mindful and respectful with language still matters deeply, and why avoiding the full range of human experience in the name of safety or professionalism actually limits healing.

Reflection Questions:

• Where have I been honest, but not whole?
• What parts of my experience feel off-limits, even to myself?
• What am I avoiding because it feels messy, exposing, or uncomfortable?
• What might become possible if I allowed myself to examine all of me, not just the respectable parts?

If you are willing to stay with the discomfort of deeper honesty, Amber believes this season will be profoundly liberating.

🛍️ Shop Amber’s Be A Good Human merch:
https://www.ambercabral.com/merch

Amber’s substack | https://humaningwell.substack.com/

www.humaningwellpodcast.com/

Amber Cabral

IG | @bamcabral

LinkedIn | @ambercabral

Facebook | @amber.cabral

X | @BamCabral

Bluesky | @bamcabral.bsky.social

Watch Amber’s TED TALK here.

You can purchase Amber's books from the retailer of your choice here: https://www.ambercabral.com/books/

Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture

Say More About That: ...And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others

Human(ing) Well is produced by

EPYC Media Network

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this final episode of Human(ing) Well this year, Amber focuses on the Growth Pillar and explains why real growth is not about achievement, perfection, or checking boxes… it is about identity, alignment, and who you are becoming. She reflects on her own growth season, the discomfort that comes with evolving, and why trying to change outcomes without changing your self-concept never lasts.

Amber breaks down why most people enter a new year chasing habits, routines, and results, while ignoring the deeper work of identity. She then explains how behavior follows belief, why growth requires honesty and repetition, and how choosing yourself on purpose is often the hardest and most necessary step.

It’s time to stop striving for perfection and start building a life that feels good from the inside out. Tune in and enter the year 2026 with clarity, intention, and a grounded sense of self.

📝 Reflection Questions:

• Who am I becoming, and how does that version of me move, speak, choose, and care for themselves?
• What patterns or habits from this year cannot come with me if I want to evolve?
• What am I willing to practice consistently to support my growth next year?
• What environments, routines, or relationships support who I’m becoming - and which ones don’t?

🎧 Episodes to Revisit:

• Episode 5: You Won’t Always Be Right
• Episode 24: You Can Have Whatever You Want
• Episode 33: Elevating Your Baseline

🛍️ Shop Amber’s Be A Good Human merch:
https://www.ambercabral.com/merch

Amber’s substack | https://humaningwell.substack.com/

www.humaningwellpodcast.com/

Amber Cabral

IG | @bamcabral

LinkedIn | @ambercabral

Facebook | @amber.cabral

X | @BamCabral

Bluesky | @bamcabral.bsky.social

Watch Amber’s TED TALK here.

You can purchase Amber's books from the retailer of your choice here: https://www.ambercabral.com/books/

Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture

Say More About That: ...And Other Ways to Speak Up, Push Back, and Advocate for Yourself and Others

Human(ing) Well is produced by

EPYC Media Network

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.