The emPOWERed Half Hour

The Power of Self-Belief: Overcoming Adversity and Transforming Through Challenge with Author, Speaker, and Founder, Caren Paskel

• Becca Powers • Season 1 • Episode 82

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What if your greatest loss could unlock your deepest power?

This week on The EmPOWERed Half Hour, Becca sits down with author, speaker, and founder Caren Paskel to explore how self-belief transforms our lives—even through unimaginable grief. Caren’s story begins with love and loss but unfolds into a message of radiance, strength, and the kind of resilience that can only come from within.

Through the heartbreak of losing her husband, Caren awakened her inner power, redefined her purpose, and began inspiring others to believe in themselves. This conversation is a soul-deep reminder that healing, joy, and personal transformation are not only possible—they’re our birthright.


Key Moments You Won't Want to Miss:

  • Caren opens up about the love story with her husband, David, whose unwavering self-belief inspired her to step into her own. After his passing, she turned deep sorrow into soul-fueled transformation.
  • Becca relates to Caren’s story through the loss of her own brother and how that grief shaped her book Return to Radiance. The two explore the power of saying “yes” to growth even when it feels impossible.
  • They discuss how choosing higher vibration thoughts—like gratitude—can reconnect you with joy, purpose, and even loved ones who’ve passed. Caren breaks down how she turned her pain into a book, a movement, and a message for millions.


About Caren

Caren Paskel is a best-selling author, speaker, and the founder of the Self-Evolution Education (S.E.E.) Foundation. With decades of experience in spiritual education and yoga principles, Caren guides individuals on a journey of transformation, helping them reach their fullest potential. 


Connect with Caren Paskel


Check out Caren Paskel’s book: "The Power of Self-Belief" on Amazon

Follow Becca Powers:


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Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Becca Powers: Welcome to another episode of The Empowered Half Hour, and I am so thrilled to bring you today's guest because I just have a feeling we're going to have a wonderful conversation Today. I bring you speaker, founder, and bestselling author of The Power of Self-Belief, Caren Paskel, welcome to the show.

Caren. 

Caren Paskel: Thank you so much, Becca. I'm just so grateful and happy to be here. 

Becca Powers: I'm so feeling the same. I'm like, I'm already smiling big and I haven't even asked my first question yet. And we had a great, pre-recording conversation, so, all right, let's start with. Why you wrote this book, the Power of Self-Belief.

I mean, big advocate in just the title because I know so much of what goes on behind it. But there's a reason you wrote this book, and I would love to start me and the audience there. Why did you write this book and why do you feel it's important? 

Uh, this book is my baby and. It really feels like not only my legacy, but my way of keeping and carrying my husband's legacy.

And that is so important for me because he wanted to change the world. My husband, my soulmate, David Prentice, and I feel that he was an earth angel. think that change my life for the better. I know this to be true. We had six years together and some people say, oh, you didn't have enough time.

And I always say. I'm so grateful for the time I had. I mean, I'm blessed and the gift of him in my life is how I came to believe in myself. I really played small for my whole life. I was very introverted. And I hid in a bubble and didn't really wanna go outside of that and expand myself, although I was very hungry to always grow and reach my greatest potential.

So I knew that was a conflict. Yeah. And when I met him, he was 12 years younger and he was the epitome of the power of self-belief, determination, and perseverance. And. Motivation and inspiration. And I just knew that I had to be around him and that energy he was drawn to me for other reasons and energy and things that, you know, he was lacking.

And so it really worked right from the start. It was love at first sight. I had never experienced that before. 'cause I had been married, not so healthy relationship and it had been a while that I had ever really felt a spark like that. And immediately, I don't even think I ever did in that way. And so that's what drew me to him and he was ready to change the world and start his own business.

He inspired me to start my own business and open my yoga studios, and we were doing this all at the same time. And we got married. It was really a fairytale. Things were happening fast that power couple, and we were just blooming and blossoming and growing. And then bam. At 28 years old, he had a seizure right in front of me.

No signs and symptoms before this passed out. Unconscious. I thought he was dying. Come to find out it was a brain tumor. I. Brain tumor number one, had a surgery and it wasn't benign, but he didn't need treatment. And for a year he did get better. And then things went south again. But during this year, we reevaluated ourselves, our life, our relationship, because everything had to change.

And that was like the beginning that year of me waking up to a more empowered human being. I chose to become a caregiver toward him at this time. I had to change things up in our relationship and we really had to work together in a very different way For his health. For my health, yes.

Understood. And we were together all the time, which was very new because we were very independent. And so, I became stronger from that challenge and I had to believe in myself more to get through it. Toward the end of the year, we took this big trip overseas and he was having seizure symptoms.

He wasn't feeling well, and we put his MRI on hold because he knew that if there was something wrong, we wouldn't go on this trip. So he was gonna wait till after. So trip was kind of disastrous in terms of his health. But again, I had to step up, like it was an opportunity for Caren to get out of this sort of bubble.

This shell of everyone takes care of me. 

Caren Paskel: Yes. And 

now I have to take care of someone else and myself and the surroundings, and I have to navigate. And again, became stronger from that experience. But it was very stressful. So when we came home. Not such great circumstances. We had moved into a new house, basically unlivable situation.

Dogs were a mess. House was a mess. He was a mess. He got another MRI showed another brain tumor. So this is brain tumor number two. And at this time when he got the surgery, we got the worst results because it was a glioblastoma grade four. And that is terminal diagnosis. Yeah. So at that point that was a shift in me when I heard that news.

It was like the reality now I really had to think about of my life without him. And as before, it just seemed like this is getting better and we're gonna be okay. 

Becca Powers: Right. 

So that's when. I chose to, 'cause I really didn't have to. It was a choice. What does David, my husband need most? And that was my, resilience, my strength, my fortitude.

And he needed to see that reflection for him to live his quality life. So I really tapped in to my power inside of me, which is that belief in. Not these outer layers, but the strength of that conscious energy within that divine energy that is your soul. That's like the strength, right, of everything. And I had to go deep in there and dig out all the other worries, the fears they had to go away for me to be in that power for him.

And so it was pretty, amazing to. Feel that I had become what he was for me for the first four years. Wow. And then I became that person for him saying, you still have so much to live for. It doesn't matter that the right side of the body isn't moving. It doesn't matter that you've lost your photographic memory or that you can hardly speak anymore or walk.

All of these things that he was great at were taken away. I inspired him to write a book himself. And he was able to write Camp doesn't exist before he died. And so the book came from a series of two years of him having brain cancer and me caregiving and then him passing and that, 

Yes, I lost the love of my life, but I gained the power of self-belief, so I don't really look at it as a loss because of the blessings. And I know he wanted to change the world, and he was happy to know that he changed me. And he told me that before he died with tears in his eyes. So he said, I'm okay now to die because You're a badass. You're doing it. You, because he watched me transform my whole business online. I closed my yoga studios, all these things. He watched me do it and he said, I never thought I'd change you. I never thought you would be the one. I thought it was gonna be the world or, but you are the one who I change and I know you're gonna be okay.

So I'm okay to die. Wow, that's beautiful. And he's like, you don't need me. So that's where this book came from because I realized, wow, this is a really powerful story of someone inspiring the self-belief in someone else, And then I realized why all my clients were prospering, because I believed in myself.

So it was this baton that I was handing down and. When you believe in yourself, you don't really have to do anything. It's who you are. It's, how you're being, 

Becca Powers: right? You're preaching to the, choir like There's so many things that I wanna say, and first I wanna share with you because I think that one, that's such a powerful story of what I would call the and, like of grieving and achieving, right?

 Going through adversity and still growing. I'm a big advocate of the, and, the universe I think brings people together when they're supposed to be together. And very oddly, I mentioned to you in the prerecording, but my brother passed away a year ago. was 43 and he had a seizure in the pool and drowned.

 it's been very painful. His one year anniversary is coming up in just a couple days. but I say that to say I. That I relate to so much of what you're saying because you can take these things and turn them into a, real positive. So I wrote a book called A Return to Radiance, where I was doing what you're saying, like basically we are our radiance, we are our soul, and we haveto just return to it because.

We get disconnected and we need to make this return. So I'll keep my story short, but what I find so fascinating about what you're saying, and it's gonna lead into a couple more questions that I have for you, is that I was in the second rewrite, so I was doing the last round of major developmental editing with my editor before it went into grammar to copy edit.

And my brother passed away in chapter 22, which was radical commitment and it's like radical commitment to yourself and to your future, and to your potential. And my brother too sounds similar to your late husband in the sense that his character was something that really mattered to him making a difference.

 and so like here I am faced with losing my brother, who I was very, very close with and I had a choice, like you said, I had a choice. I could either crumble. Had a book that was due, something I was very passionate about, but I could reach out to my editor and say, listen, I'm gonna need a couple months to process what just happened.

Or I had the choice to embrace the qualities of my brother within myself, which was that perseverance, that resilience, that determination, the drive to make the world a better place and to impact humanity on some level, whatever that may be. And. I felt his presence. So I don't know if you felt your husband's presence when you wrote your book, but I felt my brother's presence with me while I finished chapter 22, 23, 24, and 25.

And so much of those final chapters are talking about the legacy. And I just relating back to you, like I know that I carry on his legacy by continuing to work on mine. 

Absolutely. 

Becca Powers: Yeah. And so like I'd just love for you, maybe there's someone listening to this that needed to hear your story, that needed me to reinforce it.

Say, I hear you and I've taken a similar approach. But the first question that I would like to ask you, or just maybe a comment is If someone's gone through an extreme loss and they're listening to this, how can being the best version of themselves and believing in themselves actually carry on the legacy of their loved one?

 I, I'd love for, for you to talk to me about that a little bit. 

Caren Paskel: Well, it's like an imprint, If they've made a positive imprint in your life, then you're gonna continue to live positively. I. And share that. And I can't imagine if I was, in this negativity or in this deep sorrow still, or holding onto that loss, the vibration goes down, right?

Yes. And then how am I able to give and share in that spirit? It's almost impossible. So you have to ask yourself. what would this person want you to do and how would they want you to live? And if I am living harmoniously and my life has actually gotten so much better, then that's a testament to that person.

And I really believe that we are meant to be happy and joyful human beings. That is our birthright. So it really is not about who comes and goes in our life because life is eternal. There's no death. It, it's impossible. Maybe there's death of a body or a personality. Right. I love hearing you say all this.

Yes. so I believe if life is eternal, we know that energy is cannot be created or destroyed, so our soul remains, so does spirit. So I stay open for that. So if I am in deep, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with grief, but when you hold onto that and you are not allowing yourself to emerge and reemerge and return to your soul, like you said, and your spirit, and come back to that.

Joy. Then what happens is you, suppress your gifts and talents. Yes. Right? you cannot contribute to the world, which is what we're all here for. That's why we're all different. 'cause in our differences, that's what we give and that's what makes the world so beautiful is all these different rays, 

 of the soul or the sun, let's say. So we wanna let that come through. And our journey, we don't know who's going to be here and for how long. With us, all we know is that we're here, We remain with ourselves from the time we come into the life. Until the time we go out, and then there's people, places and things that come and go.

What happens is we clinging on, we attach, and no one ever explains this to us, right? No, I learned this through my spiritual studies way longer, But I had these teachings before I met David, so I was more prepared for that, even though it felt so shocking when it happened. And so, because I know that his soul is still alive and well, and I feel open to that connection ' cause I don't shut myself down.

Right? I understand. I stay open and you can only stay open in your joy. I miss him all the time. I even cry, but I cry tears of joy and happiness and gratitude that keeps me open. When I remain open. I have signs from him. Numbers. In fact, 22 is one of the number signs. You've already said it a couple times.

Your chapter 22. I was like, of course, my 

Becca Powers: brother's number was 22 also, so 

Caren Paskel: I, that's funny. You know, I know David's here right now, so that's why I say anyone Who has experienced a loss. If you're in the suffering, it's gonna be really hard to be connected to that person. And there are signs, you're gonna close the door.

But when you stay open and you have gratitude for the time you had and for all that you've gained with that person, you start to focus on, oh my God, I've gained so much, I'm so blessed, versus I'm lost 

Becca Powers: and I'm a victim. And why did this happen? Yes. And that shift in perspective is so powerful. So we can even 

 talk about that a little bit more, from the angle of self-belief, likesometimes feels like we don't have a choice when we get hit with big life things like loss or disease like you're talking about. I can feel your joy and your resilience and your strength just from this conversation, but when you start choosing those in those choice and micro moments, it almost starts stacking.

 let's talk about that technique a little bit of how somebody can start making more empowered choices in the result that that has. So I'll turn it over to you. 

Caren Paskel: It really is what you're saying. It's a compound effect. And it can work either way, You can, you can go up or you can go down fast as well.

That spiral the rabbit hole, we all know what that is. But the bliss, when you start to rise up. And it really, starts from a place simply of gratitude. Really have to tap into that. And when you start to realize that in every moment there are blessings, that's your focus. And you start to feel blessed.

And when you feel blessed, you start to feel so abundant. You don't feel like there's lack or loss. You feel worthy, right? Yes. And that self-worth and that value. It begins to glow through you. You have that glow, you get more energy when you have energy. Life is so much more fun and enjoyable.

So then from that place, opportunities come to you. It's amazing what happens. You're like, this is magical. This just happened. That just happened because you've changed your vibration. Yes. And so you're attracting now opportunities and more blessings. So the more blessed you are, the more grateful, the more joyful, the more accepting, the more loving all of these higher divine qualities open you up for more of that coming to you, falling right into your lap.

 then from there, you're just so inspired, You don't even have to force anything. It's just inspired action. And this is how I'm living my life, I'm moving to Colorado. People ask me, well, what are you gonna do? Do you have a job there? And I always say, I'm just going to be myself. don't, I don't have a really, a plan.

 I live my life completely in uncertainty, unpredictability in the unknown, unplanned every day, it's the most exhilarating kind of life. I learned that from my husband. it's this process of returning, you said, I love the re words, reprogramming yourself to believe in something that's different than your past programming that hasn't maybe helped you or that you learned from elsewhere.

And even about grieving, we've learned you have to go through all of these stages. we normalize the heaviness. Instead of, what if we flipped it around and we took all the blessings and we started to carry the legacy of our lost ones and fell in love with the gratitude in their spirit?

What if we started communicating with them in different ways that we never even knew was possible? 

Becca Powers: I mean, see you're saying all the things like, I could come out of my chair right now because I'm like, yes, Caren. We're vibing. 

Caren Paskel: We're vibing. So I will tell somebody that one important, important thing is that you see the energy of, Becca and I right now, it's we're compounding this energy just from this call when you're around high vibrational human beings.

And that's one of the very verse things I did when David died. I invested my money, time, and energy. Into mentors and community that was high vibrational, and that was so important because I had all these other energies. I had people reaching out to me, writing letters, saying. I'm so sorry for this horrible tragedy.

This is the worst thing that has ever happened. Life is so unfair, and it was like they were victimizing me and I didn't wanna feel that way. So I found a spiritual community for myself that was vital for me to keep believing in myself. To keep that energy really, really high. And then I started to see the compound effect because of the people that I was choosing to be around the most.

Becca Powers: I love that. there's so much I wanna say. And I'm like, we have 10 minutes. Oh my God. No. Like I'm feeling the pressure, I'm feeling the pressure. so when I'm in a high vibrational state, I can talk to my brother, from a telepathy or whatever, right?

 some people are like, you're a medium. I'm like, I don't know about that. 'cause I can't, sit here and say like, Hey, let me call in David and I can speak for, him but I think that, like you said, we're energy. When we're vibrating higher, it's easier for them to communicate with us through signs through this.

 I can hear my brother's voice in my head, and he actually one time said to me, I can't meet you in your sorrow. Mm. I can't meet you in your sorrow. And he was like a VP of sales and stuff like that. So he is like. the little phrase I'll hear, it's just like a little thought that goes by, but I know it's not mine.

I know it's his, he's like, get on the phone. let's go. Like, sounds like 

my David and the fact that they're both David's. That's amazing. But he was like that too. He would just, 

Becca Powers: well, my brother, his, my brother's name is Patrick, but same, same. 

I thought he was with David. I was like, oh my God.

Becca Powers: Yeah. Like, that's so weird. But he's a 22 also. My brother was born September 22nd. 

Is David September 22nd. No, no, 

no, no. I think he is the 24th. Yeah. Like I mix him up 'cause my brother's the 22nd. 

Becca Powers: but it's just so funny that all the dates, but this is like, go back to what you're saying.

This is how it all starts happening, though. The web of 

it is everything's interconnected. 

Caren Paskel: so this is really the whole thing, right? The whole thing is about union. It's about understanding how everything is united. There is no separation except in our own mind and our limiting beliefs.

And the minute you think you're separated from anything and anyone that is the moment you feel this void, something's missing, you're without. Then we start looking for it everywhere, and we start filling up and feeding with all these things just to feel better for a minute or two. And then when those things come and go, then we freak out.

Mm-hmm. Because we were using them. It's like any addiction, right? So when we become unified, we don't feel a void. So that's why I was able to move so beautifully through my husband's passing because I knew who I was. I was unified with my soul. And so even though he was a soulmate, I knew that wasn't gonna go anywhere.

My soulmate doesn't change just because his physical body isn't here anymore and I'm unified. I wasn't depending on him to make me happy. Yes. He made me even happier. He was icing on the cake. I will say, but that's anything also in life, people all the time, every day I meet, you're icing on my cake today.

So I was already feeling the cake and then meeting you. It's more, and you can have your cake and eat it too. That's what I say, 

Becca Powers: Caren. Oh my God. I clap my producers are probably gonna be like, stop clapping. It's so loud. 

That is such belief. You can't have your, oh my God, I, 

Becca Powers: I say that all the time.

can have your cake and eat it too. Actually, so funny that you perspective, 

Caren Paskel: right? It's just that perception. Just a flip. Of a perspective. And so I'm always reframing everything to be in a positive light. Because, because I can, I literally can. That's why. 

Becca Powers: Yeah, no, that it's so powerful because, oh my gosh.

There's so many things that I wanna say, but that is like. We have the choice to reframe over and over and over again. And it's not woowoo, it's actually science. We can change our neuro-pathways and it's proven that we can. So it's like what I'm trying to say is there's also the analogy like  believe, you can fear.

You can have fear or you can have faith. They're both intangibles. So which one are you gonna have? You can believe that things are gonna go bad, or you can believe that things are gonna go great, and you can rewire your brain to be like, all right, I'm going to meet myself here. maybe I have some work to do to truly own it, every time I catch myself believing that it's not possible, I'm gonna stop myself and say yes it is.

It's only my belief. And then slowly over time your beliefs start growing and then you meet, you become that version of yourself that you're trying to be. you were saying, all the things that I love to talk about and that I believe. we're down to four more minutes, so is there anything else that you wanna share with the audience that you think is super critical for them to know?

Caren Paskel: Well, I believe that. If you choose to believe in yourself, it is going to change your whole life. That is absolutely true because you may not have someone in your life who believes in you. It's true, and I will tell you that I believe in you. I believe in every human. I believe in every being because we all have this power.

we come from source. That means we are source. it's waves in the ocean. You don't look at waves and say, oh, those are not a part of the ocean. Those are not ocean because they're waves. They're coming from the ocean. They emerge from the ocean. they go back and merge into the same one ocean.

So we're all just a bunch of, it's individuations. I think that's Neil Donald Walsh's term for beings is we're all individuations Of divine. Yes. Conscious energy. And so that's really what I would love for people to say, oh, maybe I'm not separate. Maybe they're not separate. Maybe we're all interconnected in this beautiful, harmonious way, and so we open up to the love inside of us that we are.

That's the belief in that you are love. And from there, that's honestly how I stay young. That is what youthful longevity is. I'm launching this mastermind and people always wanna know, well, how do you stay so healthy? It's because number one, I could tell you the skin products and the food, but that doesn't work.

Those are hacks. Those are like, oh yeah, eat this food and do this intermittent fasting, and now you're gonna lose weight. Whatever that is, that's not gonna keep you with your vibration super high. What keeps you super high? And then making the right choices about what you eat and how you move your body and those things, you have to believe in yourself.

That's number one. Any other thing you try, you won't be able to keep it consistent because you really don't believe you're worthy, you don't believe, 

Becca Powers: I believe that too. it's something that shines from the inside out and keeps you very youthful. this is kind of funny, but I had, I. posted a picture of me on LinkedIn and I was about ready to do a keynote or something like that, and one of my former coworkers that I worked with 10 years ago literally said, your soul is shining.

What is your skincare routine? You literally look younger than when I worked with you 10 years ago. You're a vampire. 

Caren Paskel: you're aging backwards, regenerating. but when I'm happy and playful and. I'm sleeping well and I'm not worried and hurried and anxious. That's the Fountain of youth.

 that's it right there. Amen. 

Sister. Boom. 

Becca Powers: Right. 

Caren Paskel: So I just turned 47 yesterday. Hey, happy birthday. Thank you. And I'm just grateful. I love talking about. believe in yourself. I love the idea of growing. I call it growing ageless because if you're growing, you're always open to learning. That's what keeps you fresh.

Your mind stays fresh. It's not clogged with all the BS from the past, that doesn't serve you anymore. So stay open minded everybody to the power that you have within, because you can contact it at any moment. It doesn't matter what you've been through, what you're going through, none of that matters. You have this ability right now.

To tune in to your power of self-belief and you can start living on a whole other dimension. 

Becca Powers: Oh my 

Caren Paskel: gosh, 

Becca Powers: love this interview so much and I wanna keep going, but Caren, share with the audience where they can find your book. 

Caren Paskel: Well, if you Google it, you'll find it in bookstores. You'll find it on Amazon.

So Amazon's probably the easiest one. 'cause there's the audio book and the Kindle and all the versions. Yeah. 

Becca Powers: We'll include the, I was looking beforehand, we have the link.

Caren Paskel: I would love for you to get in touch with me on Instagram. I'm Caren Paskel, and, I have a community for self transformation on Facebook where I just shared 15 days of Ageless Health tips for youthful longevity. So join our community. We'd love to have you. 

Becca Powers: All right, we'll drop all of that in the show notes so you guys can find Caren.

Super easy. And one last thing for you, before we sign off in a statement or something brief. Yeah. What's an empowering message you can leave behind for the audience?

Caren Paskel: Believing in yourself is an ability to inspire others to believe in themselves.

Becca Powers: Caren, thank you for coming on and being a guest. It was a great 30 minutes and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Caren Paskel: Thank you so much. Me too.