Rocio & Angel Pt 2: Choose Joy, Reclaim Your Power, and Live Intentionally

What changes when you stop looking outside yourself for permission to feel whole? In Part 2, Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo return with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles for a powerful conversation about breaking generational patterns, choosing yourself, letting go of emotional weight, healing old wounds, and building a life around joy instead of someone else’s definition of success.
Awards & Downloads
Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries.
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Mental Health Quote
“Choose yourself. When you stop giving away your power, you finally have something real to give back to the people you love.” — Inspired by Rocio Aquino & Angel Orengo
Trigger Notice + 988 Crisis Reminder
This episode includes conversations about childhood abuse, abandonment, suicide attempts, trauma, and emotional pain. Please listen with care.
If you or someone you love is experiencing a mental health crisis in the United States, call or text 988 to connect with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You do not have to be suicidal to reach out for support.
https://988lifeline.org/
Episode Description
What happens after you recognize your wounds? How do you make sure you aren’t unknowingly handing them to the next generation?
In Part 2, Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo join G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to continue their conversation about healing, self-awareness, and the lessons behind The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.
Rocio and Angel explore the stories society teaches women and men, why empathy and compassion matter, and how the media and stories we consume can shape how we understand ourselves and the world.
Rocio reveals that the five women at the center of The Orchid carry pieces of her own experiences, trauma, and transformation. Angel shares one of the biggest lessons of his healing journey: we have more control over where our emotional energy goes than we realize.
The conversation becomes deeply personal as Angel discusses childhood abuse and Rocio shares losing her mother, attempting suicide at 20, and what she would tell that younger version of herself today: go play the game, because you are going to be okay.
They also talk about generational trauma, parenting, letting go, intuition, self-love, nature, emotional energy, and why taking care of yourself first is not selfish. G-Rex brings it home with one hell of a reminder: stop chasing somebody else’s definition of happiness and start chasing your joy.
Healing yourself can change more than your own life. It can change what the people who come after you have to carry.
Keywords: generational trauma, choosing joy, self-love, emotional healing, breaking generational cycles, intentional living, childhood trauma, personal empowerment, mental health recovery, letting go, self-worth, emotional wellness, healing family patterns, self-compassion, finding purpose
Meet Our Guests — Rocio Aquino & Angel Orengo
Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo are the storytellers and creators behind The Orchid, a book and growing community dedicated to healing, self-discovery, purpose, and intentional living. Their work blends personal experience, honest reflection, storytelling, and meaningful conversation to encourage people to look inward, challenge inherited beliefs, and create healthier emotional patterns for themselves and future generations.
Website: https://www.theorchidbook.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocioangel__/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rocioangel.social
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rocioangel.theorchid
Key Takeaways
Healing your own wounds can change what gets pa...