Stephanie Cyr has started an Empowerment Self Defense Program at SFSU that is rolling out in the Fall of 2024! In this episode, she’ll tell us all about it, share a wonderful self-defense success story and so much more. Our wide-ranging convers

Success Story – Complying & Playing Along

Feb 15th, 2024 20m 41s

Did you know that complying and playing along are essential tools you already have in your toolkit? It can help us buy time to get help or get to safety. Join host Silvia Smart as she shares how one person “played along” to stop an attempted ra

GET EMPOWERED – An interview with Lauren Taylor

Jan 15th, 2024 51m 26s

Host Silvia Smart and author Lauren Taylor discuss this newly released book which is an excellent resource for everyone – those interested in empowerment, in self-defense and instructors of ESD as well. Join Silvia and Lauren as they do some of

Success Story! What to Do: Attack from Behind

Dec 15th, 2023 18m 51s

Smart shares one of her favorite success stories in which a person running solo through the woods gets free after an attack from behind.Connect with SilviaSpecial thanks to my editor, Collin Taber (@that2ndtaberkid)Resources:National Sexual

Traveling Self Defense Stories

Oct 4th, 2023 22m 7s

Join host Silvia Smart on the Camino de Santiago. Thank you, listeners, for 10,000 downloads! 😘

Finding Empowerment within the Upsetting Context of Mass Shootings – an Interview with SAC Kieran Ramsey, FBI Portland

Sep 4th, 2023 59m 19s

There’s a clear uptick in mass shootings across the country leading to lots of fear, confusion, and anguish. Who better to talk to than the FBI? Join me and my guest, Special Agent in Charge of the Portland FBI, Kieran Ramsey.We discuss how re

Florida is on the Frontlines – An Interview with Brandon Wolf the Press Secretary of Equality Florida

Jul 25th, 2023 41m 34s

Folks, Florida is on the front lines right now. There are huge safety concerns brought on by the cruel laws, restrictions, rhetoric, and policies of Ron DeSantis and his friends that are affecting many people. Because of this, Equality Florida,

Denial, Safety and Empowerment

Jun 1st, 2023 33m 18s

If we’re gonna talk about Empowerment Self Defense, we have to talk about denial. When talking with survivors of sexual assault and survivors of other types of relational violence it is common to hear that the survivor had a funny feeling somet

Silvia’s Upcoming Zoom Classes

May 26th, 2023 2m 33s

Hey listeners! If you haven’t had a chance to take an empowerment self-defense class and you want to, or if you know someone who’d like to, I’m teaching a beginning class in June on Zoom! I'd love to see you there!Also, if you’re at all intere

Self Defense Success Stories - Meet Jill Shames

May 4th, 2023 33m 47s

Meet Jill Shames, Empowerment Self Defense Instructor. Listen in as she and host, Silvia Smart, share a few self-defense success stories and talk about all the things the survivors did RIGHT! Find out why they recommend a perspective shift as y

Meet Lauren Taylor!

Apr 29th, 2023 41m 38s

Meet Lauren Taylor who has been working to end gender-based violence since 1978, when she co-founded Washington, D.C.’s first shelter for abused women. As an empowerment self-defense teacher and founder-director of Defend Yourself, she’s traine

I Survived a Cult

Apr 20th, 2023 34m

Join host Silvia Smart as she shares pieces of her journey to empowerment and survival from a cult-like martial arts system. Listen to the red flags that crop up around these dysfunctional and sometimes dangerous systems and people.Cults and c

What to Do: Choke From Behind

Apr 8th, 2023 13m 19s

Smart shares a surprising self-defense success story that is near and dear to her heart. Find out how her 90-year-old dad responded when he was choked from behind while walking down the street!Connect with SilviaZoom Self Defense Classes with

You are Worth Fighting For! An Interview with Tasha Ina Church

Jan 26th, 2023 33m 39s

Join host, Silvia Smart and her guest, Tasha Ina Church, an empowerment self-defense teacher with a life story you want to hear about! On her website, she writes: “Empowerment goes beyond physical safety. It is understanding that YOU have a VOI

Welcome New Listeners! Start Here!

Jan 1st, 2023 7m 40s

Happy New Year! It’s 2023 and I’m glad you are here!Welcome to my new listeners. I hope you find something here that helps you out or inspires you to become your most empowered self. Listen to this quick recording to get your sea legs and hear

Empowerment and Dragons!

Dec 29th, 2022 25m 51s

Empowerment is a lifelong journey. Celebrate your wins and contemplate your next steps. Join host, Silvia Smart, as she shares a piece of her journey into and beyond a lifelong challenge that impacted every area of her life. Find out how she va

Self Defense and Martial Arts - An Interview with Jim Wetzel

Dec 21st, 2022 58m 18s

Join host, Silvia Smart, and her guest, Jim Wetzel as they discuss the martial art they train and so much more. Poekoelan Tjimindie was brought to the US from Indonesia in 1956 by Willy Wetzel. Jim is his youngest son, has been training in this

Zero Tolerance

Nov 17th, 2022 34m 18s

Are you ready to set a Zero Tolerance Policy? Is another person’s behavior toward you hurtful, demeaning, disrespectful, or downright threatening? In this episode, we contemplate our tolerance levels for others’ behaviors. We think through beco

Blowback: What it is and How to Handle it

Nov 10th, 2022 21m 18s

Blowback is another person’s reaction when you reclaim your power, take up your space, set boundaries and make changes in your life. Blowback comes in a large variety of sizes and shapes and can look and feel many different ways. Ultimately, it

Listener Questions: What Should I Do if I See Someone Being Followed?

Nov 4th, 2022 21m 38s

Listeners ask questions. Let’s discuss: What should I do if I see someone being followed or pursued? Do I help? If so, HOW do I help? Here’s a quick episode to talk you through some options.Support this important work:Buy Me a CoffeeDonate

Boys and Young Men are Assaulted Too – Interview with a Survivor

Oct 6th, 2022 52m 23s

Meet survivor, Jake Sinclair as he and host Silvia Smart, discuss what happened, what it was like, how he has dealt with it, how he’s found healing, and what his life is like today. According to RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)

Decolonization and Empowerment Self Defense. An Interview with Magdalena Dircio Diaz

Sep 29th, 2022 53m

Colonization is all around us and even lives inside of us. We can find it right now as we look at our politics, power, spirituality, daily life, families, and relationships— it’s literally everywhere. How do we become aware of it? And once we s

Coercion Part 2: Build Your Resiliency to Sexual Coercion with Justine Halliwill

Aug 6th, 2022 48m 19s

What does coercion look, feel and sound like when it’s used in intimate settings - when we are often at our most vulnerable? How do you build your awareness of and resilience to it? What self-defense tools will you want to have stashed in your

Coercion’s Many Faces - An Interview with Justine Halliwill from the University of Oregon!

Jun 14th, 2022 1h 4m

What is coercion as it relates to sexual assault? What does it look like, sound like, feel like? How do we build resilience to it? What are tools we can add to our toolkit to deal with coercion when we feel it is happening to us? Luckily for us

Quick Update for my Listeners

May 10th, 2022 4m 9s

Here's a quick update to let you know what's going on. I've missed you!Also...Join “The Empowerment Project” Group on Facebook. For everyone’s safety, please know that if you don’t answer the questions, we will not accept you into the group