You are more than your sun sign.
In this solo episode of Avoiding Average, host and astrologer/transformational coach Susan Gates takes you deep into the real magic of astrology—exploring how your moon sign, rising sign, and planetary placements shape your emotional world, behavior, relationships, and life path.

Susan breaks down how to read your birth chart, why understanding the full picture matters for self-discovery, and how astro-cartography (the astrology of location) can illuminate opportunities for personal growth and alignment. She also shares how shadow work—guided by your chart—can help you heal and become more fully yourself.

Whether you're new to astrology or already obsessed, this episode will expand your understanding of how the stars mirror your soul’s journey.

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• 📌 Keywords: astrology, birth chart, sun sign, moon sign, rising sign, astro-cartography, self-discovery, personal growth, planetary placements, shadow work

  🎙️ Subscribe to Avoiding Average for more episodes on astrology, intuition, transformation, and living a soul-aligned life.

  
  

  🌟 About Susan:
  Susan Gates is a Travel Astrologer and Transformational Coach who blends astrology, subconscious work, inner child healing, tarot, and soul coaching to help high-achievers break through limitations and live extraordinary lives. With a background in engineering and deep intuitive gifts, she helps clients merge structure with spirit for lasting change. She’s also the host of the Avoiding Average podcast and creator of immersive spiritual travel experiences for personal growth and transformation.

  Schedule a live astrocartography reading with Susan HERE

  Recorded Natal Chart Mini Readings can be purchased HERE

  Astro 101 Blog series can be found HERE

  
  

  👇 Let’s Connect
  🔗 Website: https://www.avoiding-average.com
  📸 Instagram:@soulcoachsusan @avoiding.average
  🎙️ More episodes: Avoiding Average Podcast

Episode Summary:

What if your birth chart could tell you where you'd thrive—emotionally, professionally, even spiritually?

In this powerful episode of Avoiding Average, Susan Gates is joined by soulful creative Autumn Martin to explore astrocartography—a transformational branch of astrology that maps the places on Earth where you’re cosmically wired to grow, expand, and feel like your truest self.

From decoding Saturn lines and sun lines to understanding how location influences self-worth, career fulfillment, and creative expression, this conversation is rich with insight for anyone feeling the pull to move, travel, or align more deeply with their soul’s desires.

Susan interprets Autumn’s birth chart and relocation lines to reveal how certain regions hold the key to emotional breakthroughs, spiritual alignment, and untapped potential.

If you've ever asked, “Am I in the right place?”, this episode will help you answer that with clarity and purpose.

Key Takeaways:

• Astrocartography reveals where your soul feels most at home.

• Saturn brings responsibility—and powerful growth—wherever it touches.

• Creative fulfillment and career clarity are often tied to where you live.

• Your birth chart is a roadmap to emotional and energetic alignment.

• Certain locations amplify your unique gifts, desires, and challenges.

• Travel can help you reclaim self-worth, purpose, and joy.

Chapters You’ll Love:

• 00:00 | What is Astrocartography?

• 11:50 | Saturn: The Great Teacher in Relocation

• 22:42 | Career Alignment through Your Chart

• 27:29 | How Location Influences Emotional Growth

• 42:46 | Magnetism, Mystique & Personal Power

• 51:14 | Why Iceland? Following Energy, Not Logic

• 55:24 | Should You Move? Astrology Has Answers

Keywords:astrocartography, birth chart, emotional fulfillment, astrology podcast, saturn return, personal growth, career alignment, spiritual travel, relocation astrology, soul coaching, astrology and travel, self-discovery, astrocartography reading

About Your Host – Susan Gates

Susan Gates is a certified soul coach, astrologer, hypnotherapist, Akashic Records practitioner, breathwork instructor, and travel guide for your inner and outer journey. With a background in engineering and a deep intuitive gift, she blends astrology, subconscious work, and transformational coaching to help clients break through limitations, reconnect with purpose, and find the places on Earth where their soul can thrive.

Through her astrocartography readings and signature Soulo Pilgrimage, Susan empowers seekers to stop settling and start aligning—with clarity, confidence, and cosmic support.

Ready to discover your aligned locations or dive deeper into your birth chart?

📍Book a session with Susan at: ⁠www.avoiding-average.com/travel-astrology⁠📩 Questions? Reach out at: ⁠soulcoachsusan@gmail.com⁠🌍 Follow Susan on Instagram: ⁠@soulcoachsusan⁠ ⁠@avoiding.average⁠

✨ Book Your Astrocartography Reading or Coaching Session

Navigating Parenting: Fear vs. Faith | Astrology, Control, and Conscious Self-Care
🎧 Avoiding Average Podcast with Susan Gates

In this heartfelt solo episode, Susan Gates opens up about the emotional journey of parenting, exploring how fear, control, and deep love shape our experiences as caregivers. Reflecting on moments with her son, Susan shares how operating from fear can lead to control-based parenting—and how shifting toward faith, compassion, and self-awareness can transform the parent-child dynamic.

She discusses how astrology provides a valuable lens for understanding personal triggers, communication patterns, and the emotional undercurrents of family relationships. From the weight of responsibility to the importance of self-care and asking for help, this episode offers a grounded, spiritual approach to modern parenting.

🧠 Key Themes:

• The emotional weight of parenting and fear-based decisions

• Learning to parent from love, not control

• The power of faith and emotional trust in the parenting process

• How astrology reveals inner patterns and parenting challenges

• Why self-care and support systems are non-negotiable

• Personal growth through acknowledging your emotional triggers

• Being kind, patient, and forgiving—especially to yourself

✨ Takeaway: Parenting isn’t about perfection—it’s about presence, patience, and love.

📌 Keywords: parenting, fear, faith, astrology, self-care, love, control, personal growth, mental health, family

🎙️ Tune in to Avoiding Average for soulful insights on parenting, astrology, emotional growth, and conscious living.

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Susan Gates is a Travel Astrologer and Transformational Coach who blends astrology, subconscious work, inner child healing, and soul coaching to help high-achievers break through limitations and live extraordinary lives. With a background in engineering and deep intuitive gifts, she helps clients merge structure with spirit for lasting change. She’s also the host of the Avoiding Average podcast and creator of immersive spiritual experiences for personal growth and transformation.

📌 Keywords: parenting, fear, faith, astrology, self-care, love, control, personal growth, mental health, family

👇 Let’s Connect
🔗 Website: https://www.avoiding-average.com
📸 Instagram: @avoiding.average
🎙️ More episodes: Avoiding Average Podcast

Healing Through Burnout with Audrey Rose | Somatic Healing, Sound Therapy & Self-Care for High Achievers
🎧 Avoiding Average Podcast with Susan Gates

In this powerful episode, holistic life coach and somatic healer Audrey Rose shares her personal story of overcoming burnout, anxiety, and depression after working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Audrey joins host Susan Gates to talk about how she turned to somatic healing, sound therapy, and EFT tapping as tools to regulate her nervous system and reclaim her mental health.

Together, they dive deep into the realities high-achieving women face—including the pressure to perform, the myth of productivity, and the need for accessible wellness practices. Audrey also shares her insights on podcasting, building a heart-centered business, and why self-care is one of the most productive things you can do.

Whether you're navigating burnout, exploring holistic healing, or curious about sound healing and somatic practices, this conversation offers both inspiration and practical tools.

🔑 In This Episode:

• Audrey’s burnout story from frontline nurse to holistic healer

• How to recognize the early signs of burnout

• The role of somatic practices in healing and nervous system regulation

• Benefits of sound healing and EFT tapping

• Why creating inclusive, accessible healing spaces matters

• Tips for balancing business, wellness, and creativity

• Behind the scenes of Audrey’s podcasting journey

✨ Key Takeaway: Self-care isn’t selfish—it’s essential, especially for high achievers.

📌 Keywords: holistic healing, burnout, somatic practices, sound healing, EFT tapping, self-care, high achievers, podcasting, mental health, wellness

🧘‍♀️ If you’ve ever struggled with burnout or felt disconnected from your body, this episode is for you.

🎙️ Subscribe to Avoiding Average for weekly episodes on astrology, transformation, and soul-aligned living.

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Audrey Rose is a Holistic Life Coach, Somatic Healer, and Registered Nurse. She is the founder of the RISE Sisterhood—a healing membership and sacred space where high-achieving women come home to themselves through nervous system regulation, somatic healing, and spiritual wisdom.

Audrey blends her clinical background as a nurse with body-based healing tools like sound medicine, breathwork, and somatic practice. She leads with nervous system education, somatic tools, and sacred rituals—so women can find their true happiness again.

Through immersive retreats, 1:1 coaching, and her top-ranked podcast Ready to Rise, Audrey is emerging as an inspiring voice in the nervous system and healing space.

She’s not here to fix you. She’s here to remind you that you were never broken—and to help you feel truly alive again.

If you'd like to get in touch with Audrey, you can find her here:

• Instagram: @helloaudreyrose
  Follow Audrey for daily inspiration and updates.

• RISE Sisterhood: Learn About Our Community
  Join a supportive community of women dedicated to self-discovery and empowerment.

• • Ready To Rise Podcast (Global Top 1.5%): Listen Now
    Tune in for conversations that inspire and empower you to rise.
  • RISE Happiness Summit: Get your FREE ticket here!

Is your need for control blocking your manifestations?
In this episode of Avoiding Average, host Susan Gates gets raw and real about one of the most overlooked (and uncomfortable) parts of the manifestation journey: letting go.

Through a personal story of unexpected tech failures, Susan unpacks how our urge to control everything—rooted in fear and perfectionism—can quietly sabotage our dreams. She explores how true manifestation isn’t about forcing outcomes, but about relaxation, self-awareness, and allowing life to unfold with trust.

You’ll learn:

• Why fear of failure fuels control

• How emotional health improves when we stop pushing

• Why letting go is a power move, not a weakness

• How to balance self-care with inspired action

• How stress impacts manifestation and personal growth

If you’ve ever felt stuck, stressed, or like you're doing “all the right things” but still not seeing results—this episode will shift your perspective.

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Susan Gates is a Travel Astrologer and Transformation Coach who empowers others to reconnect with their authentic selves through the power of astrocartography and destination-based healing. With certifications in life and soul coaching, breathwork, and hypnotherapy, she merges ancient wisdom and modern tools to facilitate deep transformation.

As the host of the Avoiding Average: Living Life Beyond the Ordinary podcast, she inspires others to rewrite the rules and live from soul, not script. Her signature program, The Soulo Pilgrimage, takes clients on a guided coaching and travel journey to a personally aligned location—chosen through astrological insight—to unlock healing, clarity, and inner wholeness.

Known for her grounded presence, intuitive clarity, and ability to translate complex ideas into simple, powerful guidance, she’s supported clients from around the world. When not coaching or exploring new places, she’s a devoted mom of two, passionate about baking, outdoor adventures, and chasing life’s most meaningful moments.

You can find more at www.avoiding-average.com

Follow Susan on Instagram at www.instagram.com/soulcoachsusan

or follow the show at www.instagram.com/avoiding.averageTo get email updates on new episodes, sign up here

What happens when a nurse practitioner trades prescriptions for plant medicine? In this powerful episode of Avoiding Average, host Susan Gates sits down with her cousin, Nelofer Hussain, to explore her remarkable journey from traditional nursing into the world of holistic healing, ayahuasca, and nervous system regulation.

Together, they dive deep into Nelofer’s experiences with spiritual journeys, plant medicine ceremonies, and healing ancestral trauma in sacred locations like Peru and India—including a profound moment with the Dalai Lama.

Listeners will gain insight into:

• The role of ayahuasca and Kambo in trauma healing

• How nervous system work amplifies spiritual growth

• The power of trusting intuition on the path of self-discovery

• The emotional impact of ancestral patterns and how to release them

• Differences between master plant medicines and their unique purposes

Whether you're exploring meditation, curious about psychedelic healing, or walking your own path of personal growth, this episode offers real, grounded wisdom on the courage it takes to heal—and what it means to truly trust your soul’s evolution.

Nelofer can be reached on Instagram at www.instagram.com/ne11ie.09

If you liked this episode, please rate, share, comment, or follow the podcast!

You weren’t born to play small — and deep down, you know it.
Avoiding Average is your invitation to finally stop ignoring your inner calling and start living the wildly aligned, soul-expanding life you came here for.

Hosted by Susan Gates — soul coach, astrologer, certified breathwork & hypnotherapy guide, and ex-engineer who walked away from the safe path — this podcast is for women who are done shrinking to fit into lives that don’t fit them.

Each episode blends practical transformation tools with spiritual depth — from astrocartography and subconscious healing to intuition-strengthening, energy work, inner child integration, and soul-led travel. We’re not here to chase more, we’re here to feel more alive.

Expect unfiltered conversations, potent solo episodes, and intuitive guidance that will shake your soul awake — and help you take bold, aligned action in your life, career, relationships, and beyond.

If you're craving freedom, depth, and meaning — this is your portal.
No more playing it safe. No more waiting for “someday.”
This is your sign. Press play — and start avoiding average, for good.

Susan Gates can be found at www.avoiding-average.com or on Instagram/Threads at www.instagram.com/soulcoachsusan

Happy Birthday to Me!

In this episode of the Avoiding Average podcast, I reflect on my journey as I turn 36, and share valuable lessons learned over the past year. From embracing change and trusting intuition to navigating emotions and understanding self-worth, I offer insights that resonate with personal growth and self-discovery, plus some interesting ah-ha's and surprises from the experiences in the year. My goal with this episode is to provide a reminder that each year, whether they feel productive or not, holds so many opportunities for growth and gaining valuable wisdom.

Which of these resonate most with you? I'd love for you to share any in the comments!

Susan Gates is a Travel Astrologer and Transformation Coach helping soul-led individuals align with their true selves through astrocartography and guided travel. She’s the host of the Avoiding Average podcast and creator of the Soulo Pilgrimage experience. You can find more information at www.avoiding-average.com