Rachel Astarte Releases Guided Meditation on Living the Foundation of Self

Rachel Astarte, LMFT, posted Season 3 Episode 3 of Self Talk, titled "Living the Foundation of Self—Meditate on This," on March 3, 2026. The episode pairs conversational reflection with a guided meditation and opens under the epigraph, “Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already.— Pema Chödrön.” Buzzsprout lists the episode as Season 3 • Episode 3 • 19:03, while Apple Podcasts provides a segment timeline that ends at 0:12:30, a discrepancy noted in both platform listings.

The episode frames Genuine Curiosity as “the foundational tool at the heart of the Foundation of Self framework,” and revisits the work’s three pillars: non-judgment, awareness, and gentleness. Apple’s episode text lays out the programmatic aim: “Shift from self-judgment to self-understanding, using curiosity to explore thoughts, emotions, patterns, and relationships with compassion and clarity,” and situates that aim alongside discussion of the ego and the “small s self.”

Apple’s timestamped timeline maps the episode’s practical steps and segments. It marks “negative self-talk is learned” at 0:02:34, then lists “Step one: Awareness without judgment” at 0:03:31, a transition at 0:03:37, “Step two: Identify the source of negative self-talk” at 0:04:51, “Step three: Calling in the foundation of self” at 0:05:16, “Detailed explanation of the highest self” at 0:05:16, and “Step four: Rewriting the script” at 0:07:09. The episode uses narrative material to illustrate those steps, including a Cherokee tale of two wolves that begins at 0:08:38 and concludes at 0:10:29.

Discussion of the ego includes a reference to Carol S. Pearson and introduces the “small s self” or primitive ego, with specific behaviors named as signs of an underdeveloped ego: negative self-talk, imposter syndrome, anxiety, and depression. Apple’s listing also includes a producer-style prompt, “Send Rachel a text message,” and the header phrase, “You have built your Foundation of Self; now it's time to start living it.”

Self Talk’s catalog context connects the episode to a short mini-series. Buzzsprout shows the “Living the Foundation of Self” sequence with Episode 1 “Be Genuinely Curious” at 19:49 and Episode 2 “Bring Fear Closer” at 13:55, and documents the podcast as “Podcasting since 2019 • 144 episodes.” The episode is listed across platforms including Apple Podcasts, Buzzsprout, Castro FM, Podchaser, and a short YouTube clip that credits music “Ave Marimba” by Kevin MacLeod and showed 22 views in the clip capture.

Astarte promotes a related program, Write Your Self Open, described in Apple text as “a revolution in self-development that blends guided meditation, journaling, and supportive group discussion led by holistic psychotherapist Rachel Astarte,” scheduled for the second and fourth Tuesday at 1pm Eastern and listed for registration on the host’s Foundation of Self pages. Site testimonials on rachelastartetherapy praise the show, including Leslie Lindsey Davis: “Real talk about the most important conversations we have. Rachel does an amazing job of calling us out to change the conversation from unhealthy to healthy. My favorite episode is the one on negative self talk.” Amber Campion’s site testimonial notes, “I especially love her earlier episodes that are 10-20 minutes long.”

The runtime discrepancy between Buzzsprout’s 19:03 and Apple’s timeline ending at 0:12:30 appears in the available listings; platform metadata or the episode audio file should be checked for a definitive duration. The episode remains available via the listed platforms for listeners seeking the guided practice and the four-step process for addressing negative self-talk.