The Real Awakening Process Runs Straight Through the Parts of You That Are Still Becoming (Derek Haswell)

Derek Haswell is the co-founder of the award-winning meditation app, Happier, a consciousness coach, former engineer, and practitioner of Internal Family Systems who spent seven years on the awakening process before realizing something essential was missing. His path cracked open not through more meditation but through a late night conversation with an inner part that had been waiting to be heard. Today he works with founders and leaders who are serious about both waking up and the integration work that makes it real.

In this episode, we explore why the real awakening process runs directly through the parts of us that are still becoming. The unhealed and unintegrated aspects that spiritual practice alone cannot reach. Derek unpacks the difference between waking up and healing, how shadow work and parts work change your inner landscape, and why the pressure builds when you pursue one path while ignoring the other. We also go live with a real parts work demo inside the conversation.

Who This Episode Is For:

• Founders and entrepreneurs doing inner work who still feel something unresolved beneath the surface
• Leaders on a spiritual path who want to understand why awakening and healing must happen together
• Anyone in the awakening process curious about parts work, integration, and what genuine inner transformation looks like

What You'll Learn:

• Why waking up and healing are distinct paths and what happens when you conflate them
• How the X and Y axis model maps the relationship between consciousness expansion and integration
• Why shadow work and parts work open access to intuition and presence
• What a dark night of the soul actually moves through you and why it is not a breakdown
• How following genuine curiosity accelerates inner transformation more than striving ever does

For full show notes: https://podcast.scottbritton.me/p/the-awakening-vs-healing-path-and

Go Deeper:

If this conversation resonated, you can check out:

• Join my email list for ongoing insights on consciousness, spirituality, using business as a spiritual path and human potential.

• My book Conscious Accomplishment: How to Use Personal Achievement for Spiritual Growth

• My company Conscious Talent - where business leaders and companies who value both inner work and professional excellence connect.

Chapters:

(00:00) Derek's Story and Why Meditation Wasn't Working

(06:06) Waking Up vs. Healing Work

(17:03) Following What Lights You Up

(33:11) Dark Night of the Soul and Unworthiness

(38:52) Intuition and Inner Guidance

(46:45) Live Parts Work Demo