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Moving Through the Mud: Yamas & Niyamas as Medicine for Kapha Season
This episode is one I've been sitting with for a while — a synthesis of two things that have shaped my whole path: Ayurveda and yoga philosophy.
In this episode, I bring those two threads together and look at the yamas and niyamas — yoga's ethical and personal observances — through the lens of kapha season.
What we cover:
Kapha dosha is made up of earth and water. It's heavy, slow, stable, cool, and moist — and late winter into spring is kapha season. When kapha goes out of balance, we might notice lethargy, mental fog, resistance to change, a tendency to oversleep or overeat, or that feeling of comfortable-but-stuck stagnation. The medicine for kapha is warmth, stimulation, movement, and letting go — and the yamas and niyamas offer a beautiful map for exactly that.
I give a brief grounding in the eight limbs of yoga and what the yamas and niyamas actually are — not as a rulebook, but as living, breathing invitations to notice and redirect with curiosity rather than criticism.
Then we explore six practices through the lens of kapha season:
The Yamas — how we relate to the world:
Aparigraha (non-grasping) — where are you clinging, and what wants to be released as spring arrives?
Satya (truthfulness) — using honest, clear seeing to notice where we've gotten comfortable in stagnation — without judgment
Brahmacharya (right use of energy) — not about deprivation, but about noticing where energy is leaking and asking: is this giving me life or pulling me deeper into heaviness?
The Niyamas — how we relate to ourselves:
Tapas (inner fire) — the gentle, consistent showing up; kindling the fire rather than forcing it
Saucha (purity/cleanliness) — clearing physical clutter, mental tabs, and anything that's accumulating and pulling on your energy
Svadhyaya (self-study) — observing your own kapha patterns without judgment and seeking what genuinely inspires you
I also talk about my own evolving relationship with tapas — how it looked very different in my pitta-dominant twenties than it does now in midlife, and why the middle path is the one I keep returning to.
My invitation for you this week: pick one of these six practices, sit with the questions it offers, and let it be a gentle lens for seeing your life more clearly — without judgment, without pressure, just with curiosity.
Free download: Grab the one-page guide to all six practices — with reflection questions for each — in the link below. A simple, beautiful reference to keep nearby as you move through the season.
In this episode I'm joined by Hester Brooks, a certified Daring to Rest coach and Yoga Nidra facilitator based in Lincolnville, Maine.
Hester specializes in helping women break the cycle of exhaustion and create a life that truly honors their capacity — and this conversation could not have come at a better time.
We talk about what it really means to rest (hint: it's not the same as sleep), why so many women struggle to give themselves permission to do it, and how our family lineages shape our relationship to both rest and productivity.
Hester shares her own journey of discovering Yoga Nidra during a period of major life changes, and how it transformed her sleep, digestion, anxiety, and overall sense of self.
In this episode we explore:
What it means to be a highly sensitive person and why rest is a nervous system necessity
The difference between rest and sleep — and why both matter
How ancestral patterns and family modeling shape our "rest ethic"
What Yoga Nidra is and what to expect from the practice
The concept of the "rested voice" and how the way we speak about our lives affects our energy
Rested decision-making as a daily practice
The difference between resting and living a rested life
Why this work is especially important during perimenopause and times of transition
In this episode of Nourish Nervous System, I explore the vagus nerve — what it actually is, why it plays such a vital role in healing and resilience, and how Ayurveda has been supporting vagal regulation for thousands of years.
We hear a lot about the vagus nerve in modern wellness spaces, but often without context or clarity.
I share a simple, grounded explanation of the vagus nerve and why gentle, nourishing practices work better than force when it comes to nervous system regulation.
I also connect modern neuroscience with ancient Ayurvedic wisdom, including:
The role of Vata dosha and the nervous system
How marma points relate to parasympathetic regulation
Why oil, touch, breath, and rhythm are so deeply calming
The Ayurvedic concept of Ojas as resilience and vitality
To close, I guide you through a short, accessible ACE marma practice you can do anywhere to help calm the mind, soothe the nervous system, and support vagal tone.
This episode is for anyone feeling overwhelmed, anxious, burnt out, or curious about holistic approaches to nervous system health.
In This Episode, We Explore:
What the vagus nerve is and how it functions
Why the vagus nerve is essential for emotional regulation, digestion, and stress resilience
The connection between Ayurveda and the nervous system
How marma therapy supports parasympathetic balance
Why gentleness is key for healing the nervous system
This conversation is about so much more than just thyroid health, but that is at it's core.
In this episode, Carrie Levine, nurse midwife turned functional medicine practitioner, shares her transformative journey towards founding Whole Woman Health in Midcoast, Maine. Carrie is also the author of whole woman health: a guide to creating wellness for any age and stage.
She opens up about the challenges of motherhood, personal burnout, and the drive that led her to write a book aimed at demystifying functional medicine for the wider public, especially those unable to afford or access this holistic approach.
Carrie shares about the interconnection of the adrenals, ovaries and thyroid and some pearls of wisdom on how to keep these systems in balance.
Offering a glimpse into her personal self-care rituals, from nature walks with her dog to the solace found in yoga and tea, Levine underscores the interconnectedness of our well-being with the world around us.
Her story is a potent reminder of the power of resilience, the importance of listening to our bodies, and the need to foster accessible healthcare pathways that honor our intrinsic link to nature.
In this Episode:
Carrie Levine's Journey to Whole Woman Health
The Birth of a Book: Increasing Access to Functional Medicine
This episode uncovers the transformative power of gratitude far beyond clichés. Diving into personal reflections and scientific research, I reveal how gratitude positively affects mental and physical health, counteracts societal pressures of 'not enoughness,' and serves as an unexpected resistance to consumerism.
I explore practical gratitude practices, from traditional journaling to acknowledging the natural world and creating moments of thankfulness in everyday life. Whether you're looking to improve your wellbeing or find a deeper connection with the world around you, this episode offers insights and inspiration to truly embrace the essence of gratitude.
In this Episode:
Gratitude and Its Importance
Exploring the Power of Gratitude
Personal Journey with Gratitude Practices
Gratitude as a Form of Reciprocity and Connection
Scientific Insights on Gratitude's Impact
Gratitude as an Antidote to Capitalism and Not Enoughness
Tung, L. (n.d.). Your brain on gratitude: How a neuroscientist used his research to heal from grief. WHYY. https://whyy.org/segments/your-brain-on-gratitude-how-a-neuroscientist-used-his-research-to-heal-from-grief/
Fox, G. R., Kaplan, J., Damasio, H., & Damasio, J. (2015). Neural correlates of gratitude. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01491
Wong, Y. J., Owen, J., Gabana, N. T., Brown, J. W., McInnis, S., Toth, P., & Gilman, L. (2018). Does gratitude writing improve the mental health of psychotherapy clients? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy Research, 28(2), 192–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2016.1169332
Kimmerer, R. W. (2015). Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.
If you've been listening for a bit, you will know how much I value connecting with nature as a way to nourish the nervous system.
It's foundational in my own self care practices and today's guest has brought it to the next level. In this episode, Micah Mortali, author of 'Rewilding' and founding director of the Kripalu School of Mindful Outdoor Leadership, discusses his journey towards helping people reconnect with nature and themselves.
Micah shares insights into the philosophy of rewilding, emphasizing the importance of bridging the gap between modern life and our inherent connection to the land, and describes the tangible benefits of nature on the nervous system, substantiated by research on forest bathing.
Through personal anecdotes, Micah illustrates how mindfulness and nature can profoundly impact well-being and advocates for accessible nature connection practices.
In this episode:
The Essence of Self-Care with Micah
Diving Deep into Rewilding: Philosophy and Practice
The Healing Power of Nature on Our Nervous System
A Bear Encounter: Mindfulness in Action
Rewilding in Everyday Life: Accessibility and Impact
Connect with Micah:
Learn more about Micah and his offerings : click here
In this episode, I share my personal experiences and reflections on sobriety, framing it as a form of self-care.
There are multifaceted reasons people choose sobriety, from tackling addictions to spiritual practices or simply feeling better physically and mentally.
In this episode I candidly discusses my journey with substances, from experimentation in youth to periods of sobriety motivated by health and well-being, to specifically managing an autoimmune disease.
I try to highlight the nuanced relationship between body, mind, and substance use. The episode encourages listeners to explore sobriety as an experiment in self-care, whether battling addictions or seeking balance.
It concludes with an invitation to notice how one's body and nervous system respond to substances, advocating for mindfulness and support in navigating one's path to wellness.
The nervous system is connected to everything. So no surprise that if you strength train you can use knowledge of the nervous system to leverage your training.
In this conversation with Kali Perry she talks about this and so much more. Kali is a strength coach specialized in sports performance, injury mitigation and chronic pain reduction. She works with a wide variety of individuals ranging from professional athletes to people who have never been able to work out before due to physical limitations. A big component to her coaching is nervous system education and helping her clients find what homeostasis feels like.
In this episode:
Kali's story of coming to strength coaching through her own journey of injury and chronic pain
Strength coaching as a wholistic practice
How Kali uses nervous system information in training sessions
The importance of recovery
The magic window of super compensation
Strength training as a practice of resilience
How Kali used strength training and nervous system regulation to prepare for surgery- and her amazing results
Did you know that studies show that in the past few decades there has been a 30% increase in people exhibiting perfectionist traits?
I never considered myself a perfectionist but I am starting to see areas of my life where I have a perfectionist mindset and how paralyzing it has been for me.
And I believe that perfectionism is a form of chronic stress that is rooted in a belief of "not enough"
In this episode:
What exactly is perfectionism?
Why "healthy perfectionism" is a myth
Perfectionism as way of thinking of yourself vs. a set of behaviors
How perfectionism has held me back in being seen and heard
Curran T, Hill AP. Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Psychol Bull. 2019 Apr;145(4):410-429. doi: 10.1037/bul0000138. Epub 2017 Dec 28. PMID: 29283599.
Ruggeri, A. (2018, February 20). The Dangerous Downsides of Perfectionism. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180219-toxic-perfectionism-is-on-the-rise
Cherry, K. (2023, March 6). What Is Perfectionism? (Definition and Examples). Explore Psychology. https://www.explorepsychology.com/perfectionism-definition-examples/
Do you ever notice that tension that arises in your body when the outside world is not aligning with your expectations?
What thoughts do you notice when your current reality is not the way you want it?
It's really normal to have these thoughts and feelings, they are a part of our messy human experience, but the practice of "being with what is" can help you navigate these experiences with a bit more grace and ease.
In this week's episode I have a wonderful conversation with Chandra Cantor about all of this. Chandra is a yoga teacher, life coach, dancer and mother of 3 boys. She has devoted her life to embodiment, mindfulness, relationship work and the art of living well. Chandra began dancing as soon as she could walk, meditating as soon as she could sit still and has taught yoga for almost 30 years. Her coaching individuals and couples brings the practice of yoga off the mat and into all areas of life. Chandra lives in Western Massachusetts and enjoys teaching locally, on line and traveling to lead retreats and workshops wherever she can.
In this episode we talk about:
Being with what is as a yoga practice on and off the mat
Separating intentions from results
The radical act of reclaiming the fullness of what it means to be a human
Antidotes for limiting beliefs and stressful thoughts
Tending intimate relationship with the practice of "Date Night"
Does the idea of doing a spring reset sound interesting but maybe a little intimidating? Are you interested in bringing some more energy, simplicity or clarity into your life in this season? Do you have an idea for a spring reset but are having a hard time getting started or following through with it?
This week's episode is a little different, I will be back to my normal episodes next week but I wanted to use this as an opportunity to tell you about a Small Group Coaching Simple Spring Reset that I am offering.
This is somewhat experimental and I feel really excited about the potential of a small group to support each other in creating and following through with a simple spring reset.
This offering may be right for you if:
You are feeling some stuck energy somewhere in your life that you'd like to move
You are wanting to do a spring cleanse that is right for your body, your nervous system and your lifestyle and encompasses more than just diet.
You often feel heavy, dull and lethargic this time of year and you'd like to learn more about Kapha Dosha and how to balance it.
There are areas in your life you'd like to bring more energy to and need some support and accountability
You are excited by the idea of experimentation and improvisation and being a part of a small group to support each other in this process.
There are areas in your life that need simplification and you'd love support and accountability
This offering may NOT be right for you if:
You'd like someone else to tell you what to do, give you meal plans or a specific plan to follow. (I'm happy to share recipes and ideas but ultimately you will create your own plan)
You are working with deep trauma and don't have support of a therapist. (I am a coach and not a therapist, so while there is space for all emotions and vulnerabilities, this will not be a space to process deep trauma)
This group will be starting April 11th or 12th (we will find a day and time that works for everyone in the group) and we will meet on Zoom once a week for 4 weeks.
The investment for all 4 weeks is a sliding scale of $80-$120 total.
If you want to learn more, listen to the episode!! You can reach out to me with questions or to sign up, just email me kristen@nourishednervoussystem.com
You can also schedule a free exploratory call to see if this is right for you: Free Exploratory Call
If you are interested but have no experience with Ayurveda, check out these episodes so that the group has a shared vocabulary:
Spring is a time of fresh starts and new beginnings a time of unfurling and planting seeds. It is also a time for spring cleaning your house and your body.
Cleansing diets have grown in popularity over the past few years and they can be healthy for certain constitutions or to work with certain health conditions.
Spring is Kapha season in Ayurvedic thought. Kapha is made up of earth and water and its qualities are heavy, cold, liquid, oily, static, thick, dull, sticky and gross (the opposite of subtle).
So it's a great time to bring in opposite qualities. To create more energy and lightness, clarity and warmth. This can be done through the diet or through other lifestyle adjustments.
In this episode:
My journey with cleansing: the good, the bad and the hungry
The way my personal journey with cleansing was influenced by orthorexia and body dysmorphia
The beginning path of healing with Ayurvedic cleanses
Why I now do "resets" instead of cleanses
All of the facets that a reset can encompass besides just diet
Have you ever felt really excited about starting a new practice or new habit only to come up against some resistance a day or two in and drop it?
Or maybe it is something that you used to do a lot and are trying to get back into it and it just feels so hard.
Resistance is a normal and healthy part of change and is often a sign that the thing you are trying to do is stretching you out of your comfort zone and creating change.
But it is important to also listen to resistance, to be curious and listen to your body because there are times that resistance is asking for something else.
In this episode:
A few types of resistance I often encounter in myself
Using deep listening, breath and felt sense memories to move through resistance
Why our nervous systems are primed for resistance
How your Ayurvedic constitution can influence your relationship to resistance
Interested in 1:1 work? Let's see if we are a good fit! Use this link to book a free 30 minute exploratory call: Exploratory Call
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Community Questions! If you have a question that you would like to hear answered by the community, or that you would love to answer please write to me kristen@nourishednervoussystem.com
In this episode of Nourish Nervous System, I’m joined by Dr. Karen Parker, founder of Quantum Human Design, for a powerful conversation about the stories we carry—and how they shape our nervous system, health, and sense of purpose, especially during times of burnout and uncertainty.
Dr. Karen shares her unique approach to Human Design, blending science and spirituality, including quantum physics, epigenetics, narrative coaching, and embodied awareness.
Together, we explore how reclaiming your personal story can support emotional resilience, nervous system regulation, and lasting wellness.
In this episode, we explore:
What Human Design is and how it supports embodied, aligned decision-making
How Quantum Human Design expands traditional Human Design into an evolutionary healing system
Why burnout is often rooted in disconnection from the body and personal narrative
How the Hero’s Journey applies to healing, trauma, and nervous system regulation
The connection between storytelling, chronic stress, and physical symptoms
Why reclaiming your story is a radical and empowering act of self-sovereignty
This episode is especially supportive if you’re navigating burnout, chronic stress, overwhelm, or major life transitions, or if you’re seeking a deeper, more holistic understanding of wellness that honors the mind, body, and spirit.
Join us for a rich conversation on rewriting your story, restoring vitality, and reconnecting with your inner compass.
There is this time between the archetype of the mother and the archetype of the crone sometimes referred to the wild woman years. It is also sometimes referred to as the virgin - not an as in uninitiated but more like a virgin forest - whole and unto herself.
Our society teaches us to fear aging and to resist against it, but what if we embrace the power of this time?
In this episode with Robin Shaw we talk about this and so much more. Robin is a bodyworker, yoga teacher and life coach practicing in Massachusetts, as well as online.
She took a deep dive into the realms of the body, mind and spirit back in 1997, and has continued to be passionate about these pursuits ever since.
She is a practitioner, teacher, coach and mentor to many, and finds that her synthesis of hands on work alongside movement, and talking through the questions, challenges, hopes and dreams of her clients has such powerful impact.
Always coming back to the body for inspiration, understanding and wisdom, her work supports folks to find themselves more at ease and at the same time, inspired and motivated to be their full authentic selves.
In this episode:
Robin's journey with a systemic health crisis and how she moved through it
How the role of a "giver" can cumulatively effect health, even for folks with good self care practices
The gifts and challenges of the wild woman years
How embodiment practices help Robin to move more gracefully through this time
Robin's unique synthesis of hands on massage work, somatic work and coaching
Connecting with Robin:
Robin offers twice weekly by donation yoga classes online
Online and in person life coaching, and hands on bodywork (as well as somatic coaching and bodywork sessions) in person.
What is your relationship with resource? How do you know when you are feeling resourced in yourself and how do you recharge when you are not?
Building a net of a resource is the idea that the tiny acts of self care that you do each day create a net that can help to catch you when the inevitable challenges of life arise.
It doesn't mean that you are shielded from life's ups and downs, or that you won't feel pain.
But it can help you to navigate through these times with a little more grace and resilience.
In this episode:
Relating to resource
How to know when you are not resourced (using your Ayurvedic constitution as an indicator)
Weaving a net of resource with self care practices, presence and listening
My story of dealing with a recent health challenge and how my net of resource supported me
In this world that sometimes feels like it is pulling apart at the seams, how do you continue to walk the path of beauty? How do you find resilience and purpose as a gift of the pain of human existence.
This podcast episode with Maitreya Wolf is the story of an underworld journey, of initiatory consciousness and of cultivating beauty and joy as indispensable skills for survival.
Maitreya Wolf is a wise woman, soul mentor, and musician, whose allegiance is to embodying sovereignty with skill, tending the wild earth with honor, living the spiritual power of Beauty, prioritizing the life of Soul as inviolable, and supporting others to do the same with her teaching and art.
Her professional life began with 15 years as a ritual tattoo artist through which she endeavored to reinvigorate the ancient practice of rites of passage in the modern world. She has been creating and performing gorgeous original music in a ritual theater format for almost two decades, and now hosts a year-long, deep-counsel and earth-ritual mystery school called The School of Remembering alongside her evolutionary counseling practice, Soul Power Mentoring.
Throughout the course of her extraordinary life journey Maitreya has cultivated a multi-dimensional skill set related to evolving the soul, as well as potent embodied wisdom, expansive compassion, and a grounded, mytho-poetic insight into the beautiful and harrowing journey of being human in a time of profound crisis and opportunity.
It is through all of this interwoven magic that she now offers wisdom teaching, soul mentoring, public speaking, classes, workshops, ritual concerts, and other events. In everything she is and does she aspires to help people learn how to transform pain into power so that they can live lives of greater presence, purpose, magic, wisdom, and passion in this most extraordinary time of human and planetary transformation.
When you pay attention to the natural world around you, it can help to inform shifts and changes happening inside of you. Tuning into the subtleties of the seasons is one of these practices.
Our society can often feel focused on output, on showing up in the same ways day after day. But when we tune into plants and animals in nature, it is clear that different seasons call for different ways for interacting with the world.
Last week was Imbolc, a Celtic celebration of the the point midway to spring. There is still plenty of winter left, spring is not upon us yet, but when I tune in, I can feel the subtle shift.
It is often called "the quickening". Days are getting longer, the light coming back is a tangible thing. The winter of Solstice time feels really different than the winter of Imbolc time.
In this episode I will get into the shifts that I notice and how I believe that tuning into these seasonal shifts can help to build resilience.
What do parenting and being an entrepreneur have in common? Both can have fuzzy boundaries around when you are truly on and off. Both can be all consuming endeavors that make it difficult to easily take time for yourself.
The thing is, in order to show up fully as a parent or an entrepreneur, self care needs to be a non-negotiable. In order to avoid burn out, you need to find that time for yourself even if it feels like it doesn't exist.
In this week's episode I talk with Heidi Schalk about this. Heidi is a business strategy and leadership coach, author, speaker, and host of the Be S.H.E Podcast (Be Seen. Be Heard. Be Empowered.). She has been featured on FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS and The Daily Herald and has been named One of the Top 30 Inspiring Entrepreneurs to Look Out for in 2024 by The NYC Journal. She has spent the past 5 years helping women achieve their goals and build 6 figure businesses they love through her M.O.N.E.Y Mastery System.
Heidi works with female entrepreneurs and gives them the tools and strategies to confidently build successful, online businesses, on their own terms, so they can create their dream life for themselves and loved ones. She empowers women to be seen and heard so they can make a lasting impact on others in the world with their message and their story.
Heidi has two children ages 14 & 13 who were the reason and catalyst behind starting her entrepreneurial journey.
In this episode:
Heidi's journey from stay at home mom to single mother and entrepreneur
How her experience of burn out impacted her parenting and the way she approached her business
The self care practices that have made the most impact in her life
How she prioritizes self care in business and parenting
Have you ever created a vision board or done a meditation that involved imagery or imaging yourself in a certain situation? If so, then you have used the technique of visualization.
Visualization is touted as a tool of manifestation culture, an almost magical mystical process of visioning what you want to create and drawing that reality closer.
The reality is that visualization is a powerful tool when combined with action in the world. And here at the crossroads of woo and pragmatism, there is also science backing up its effectiveness.
In this episode:
Why visualization works (how it affects the brain)
Studies showing the power of visualization
Different types of visualization practices
How visualization strengthens abstract thinking and the default network of the brain
Visualization to increase creative problem solving and resilience
Slimani M, Tod D, Chaabene H, Miarka B, Chamari K. Effects of Mental Imagery on Muscular Strength in Healthy and Patient Participants: A Systematic Review. J Sports Sci Med. 2016 Aug 5;15(3):434-450. PMID: 27803622; PMCID: PMC4974856.
Carper, S. K. (n.d.). THE NEUROSCIENCE OF VISUALIZATION: HOW IT CAN IMPACT YOUR LIFE. Visiting Sub Conscious. https://visiting-subconscious.com/sci-visualize-brain
Swart, T., MD, PhD (2018). The Source, the secrets of the universe, the science of the brain. HarperOne.
What does self care look like for you? Really, I'd like to know. One of the things I have been loving about hosting a podcast has been connecting with my guests and learning from them.
I love the accessibility of a podcast and how it weaves a web of connection and collaboration.
I love collaborating with my guests, but I'd also like to collaborate with you. I learn so much from hearing people's stories. There is so much collective wisdom that we all share, and so I want to try and incorporate your wisdom into my podcast.
Right now my vision is to have a monthly question that you can email me a response to and then have a portion of the first episode of every month where I read the responses. This is an experiment. We'll see how it goes.
This month's question is : "What does self care currently look like for you?"
If you feel called to answer send me an email (kristen@nourishednervoussystem.com) with the subject line: Monthly Question You can include your name and where you live, but if you would like to remain anonymous, just let me know.
Every year between Halloween and New Years my relationship with sugar gets tested. This relationship has grown and evolved over the years, but I still find this time challenging. Anyone else?
I know I'm not alone because we are literally wired to seek out the sweet taste and industrialization has made it so that we can find it everywhere.
In this episode:
The Ayurvedic perspective of the "sweet taste"
How humans have evolved to seek out the sweet taste
How a high sugar diet rewires the brain to be less able to resist sugar
How sugar affects the brain
The relationship between sugar, the immune system and autoimmune disease
Ways to protect your brain from the effects of sugar and find other sweetness in your life
Ma X, Nan F, Liang H, Shu P, Fan X, Song X, Hou Y, Zhang D. Excessive intake of sugar: An accomplice of inflammation. Front Immunol. 2022 Aug 31;13:988481. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.988481. PMID: 36119103; PMCID: PMC9471313.
Reichelt, A. (n.d.). A Neuroscientist Explains What Sugar Really Does to Our Brains. Science Alert. https://www.sciencealert.com/research-shows-sugar-can-change-your-brain-here-s-how
Fuhrman, J., MD (n.d.). Negative Effects of Sugar on the Brain. VeryWell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/how-sugar-affects-the-brain-4065218
Life in the modern world can often feel complicated. Especially after holidays and all that they entail. But even in the day to day we encounter experiences, periods of time and symptoms in our bodies that can feel more complicated.
What if your New Year's resolution, instead of adding more to your plate of to dos, was actually to simplify. To say "no" more, to incorporate small manageable acts of self care into your day, to begin to weave a net of simplicity that can hold you when life gets complicated.
In this week's episode with Barbara Boyle, we talk about all of this. Barbara is an Ayurvedic Practitioner and Spinal Release Yoga Therapist, practicing through her business, Chandani Ayurveda, where she specialize in women's health. And using the Ayurvedic concept of opposites balance, she dives into how to incorporate treating complicated with simple in your life.
In this week's episode:
Barbara's story of finding Spinal Release Yoga and Ayurveda to help her heal from chronic pain from a car accident.
The importance of letting go and doing less (especially for those pitta folks!)
How to use the concept of treating complicated with simple in your daily life
The impact of daily routine and how to find freedom through boundaries
Why simplifying the diet can be beneficial in times of stress
This episode was supposed to be about sugar, but as I started it, something else emerged. I was thinking about the New Year and about the state of our world and how each new year just seems to be getting a bit weirder these days.
This is the nature of the world and of nature. Nothing is fixed and permanent, everything is always changing around us, but some years those changes are really big while other years they are less noticeable.
It has been a few years of big changes, and it isn't comfortable, and it may be requiring us to rethink what stability looks like.
Instead of trying to control your surroundings to create a sense of stability, what if you became more resilient, more flexible and prepared for life ups and downs so that you can navigate change with the flexibility of a trapeze artist?
In this episode of The Nourish Nervous System, I am joined by Karen Canham, board-certified wellness practitioner and founder of Karen Ann Wellness, for a deep and grounded conversation on nervous system regulation, somatic healing, and what it truly means to heal beyond willpower.
Karen shares her personal journey — from recovering from anorexia, to climbing the corporate ladder, to ultimately finding her way into nervous system work, somatic experiencing, and parts work therapy.
Together, we explore how embodiment can become a powerful doorway into healing, resilience, and authentic leadership.
This conversation weaves together polyvagal theory, somatic parts work, and the lived experience of learning to move from chronic stress and reactivity into regulation, clarity, and connection.
In this episode, we explore:
Karen’s path from eating disorder recovery to nervous system–based healing work
Why the nervous system is the foundation of true resilience (not just stress relief)
The role of the vagus nerve and how regulation supports healing and capacity
Healing through awareness instead of willpower
What somatic parts work is and how it helps integrate emotions with compassion
How to work with emotions rather than control or suppress them
The nervous system “ladder” and understanding states of shutdown, regulation, and activation
How nervous system regulation supports leadership, relationships, and co-regulation
Why resilience isn’t about staying calm all the time — but moving fluidly between states
A simple, accessible embodiment practice you can begin today
Karen also reframes leadership as an essential life skill — one rooted in clarity, compassion, and presence — and shares how nervous system regulation can create powerful ripple effects in families, workplaces, and communities.
Guest Information:
Karen Canham is a board-certified wellness practitioner and founder of Karen Ann Wellness, where she helps individuals and organizations move from stress and reactivity into regulation — clear, confident, and connected.
Tea is such a common part of daily rituals. You may even drink tea every day. But do you ever sit with you tea, find a place of stillness and tune into your senses. Do you ever use your tea as tool for meditation?
In this episode with Samantha Jones, (a trauma-informed yoga & meditation teacher, tea ceremonialist and retreat facilitator based in Cleveland, Ohio) we cover a lot of ground, but this relationship with tea is at the heart of her work and our conversation.
Samantha's multifaceted role as a space holder centers on self-cultivation and community healing, emphasizing the importance of mindfulness and nervous system regulation. Samantha’s work is framed by a deep reverence for the natural world, sharing practices designed to reconnect individuals to their authentic selves and the profound sacredness of existence.
In this episode we talk about:
What it means to be a trauma informed yoga teacher
Samantha's personal journey with yoga and why being trauma informed is important to her
Tea as a medicine and mindfulness practice
What happens in a tea ceremony
Energetics of tea
How all of these practices help Samantha in working with anxiety
Why are you interested in self care and nourishing the nervous system? What is the long game? Is it just to feel good or is there a deeper reason?
These are some of the questions I've been asking myself throughout my self care journey. The answer that I come up with again and again is resilience. To be more resilient in my body, mind and spirit. To be able to show up more fully for my family, community and the larger world.
For me there are three major ways that I nourish my nervous system and cultivate resilience - completing stress responses, increasing neural plasticity, and managing Vata and Ojas. There are many small things I do each day to do this, but these are the roots.
In this episode:
What is the "window of tolerance" and why is it important to cultivating resilience
How the window of tolerance and the zones of hyperarousal and hypoarousal correspond to the gunas of the mind
Why I think completing stress responses, increasing neural plasticity and managing Vata and Ojas are foundational to cultivating resilience
An explanation of the pillars of a nourished nervous system, and ways to begin to integrate them into your life.
The pillars are: Move Your Body, Feed Your Body, Tend Your Mind, Feed your Spirit, Tend Your Spark, Human Connection, Rest, and Sleep
Wright, A., LMFT (n.d.). What Is the Window of Tolerance, and Why Is It So Important? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/making-the-whole-beautiful/202205/what-is-the-window-tolerance-and-why-is-it-so-important
What you eat is a part of your everyday life. And you have probably found that certain foods work better with your body than others. We each have a unique constitution that is partly genetics and partly the imbalances that have accumulated over time.
Ancestral eating recognizes the genetic contribution of our ancestors and how that may affect how we eat today. It is learning about the foods that were eaten by your ancestors and experimenting with those foods to see what works for your body.
In this week's episode, Lisa Mase (pronounced Leeza Mah-zay ) shares about ancestral eating practices and how they connect to intuitive eating, food sovereignty and weaving ritual into daily life.
She also deep dives into how our guts relate to the nervous system via the vagus nerve, and why personalizing nutrition can be beneficial.
Lisa is a board certified nutritionist, herbalist, health coach and author from Italy who now lives on unceded Abenaki land. In their work and teaching, Lisa weaves Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and the Mediterranean Way to provide comprehensive and trauma-informed tools for helping the body heal itself.
Lisa is the author of The Culinary Pharmacy, which explores ancestral healing, intuitive eating, and how to create your personalized nutrition plan. You can find Lisa's book at: https://www.harmonized-living.com/book
Most likely you sleep every night, it is a part of the fabric of your life, but are you getting good quality sleep? Do you wake up feeling rested and energized for your day without caffeine?
Like digestion it is easy to normalize sub quality sleep - to think it is normal to wake up feeling exhausted or to need a cup of coffee to get going. It may have been so long since you've actually gotten a good night's sleep, that you don't even know what that feels like.
I want to acknowledge that every person's need for sleep differs - some folks need more or less than others - but everyone needs good quality sleep.
Both ayurveda and circadian medicine have powerful insights into sleep and how to get the most out of it.
In this episode:
A little bit about the four sleep chronotypes to illustrate that every body is different and there are always outliers
Each dosha's relationship to sleep
Why managing Vata can help improve the quality of sleep
The circadian sleep-wake cycle, what it is and how it impacts sleep
Petrowski K, Buehrer S, Niedling M, Schmalbach B. The effects of light exposure on the cortisol stress response in human males. Stress. 2021 Jan;24(1):29-35. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2020.1741543. Epub 2020 Apr 6. PMID: 32160826.
O'Byrne NA, Yuen F, Butt WZ, Liu PY. Sleep and Circadian Regulation of Cortisol: A Short Review. Curr Opin Endocr Metab Res. 2021 Jun;18:178-186. doi: 10.1016/j.coemr.2021.03.011. Epub 2021 May 5. PMID: 35128146; PMCID: PMC8813037.
Shurkin, J. N. (n.d.). Trouble Sleeping? Go Camping : Artificial light sources can negatively affect circadian rhythms, scientists say. SCIAM. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trouble-sleeping-go-campi/
So many parents that I talk to agree that parenting is hard, but I think that is only part of the story. I think there are so many reasons that parenting is hard. Many of the parents I know are parenting differently than they were parented, healing generational trauma and breaking cycles - this is deep and hard work. Then layer that into a world were so many of us are parenting in isolation with limited support and so much pressure. It's actually quite amazing we are making it through our days.
I honestly don't have the answers to this conundrum but some musings on:
Why "parenting is hard" is an incomplete thought
What we can learn about parenting from hunter gatherer societies
Nervous system regulation as a parenting tool
Interdependence in parenting
Thoughts on my independence being a deep subconscious form of people pleasing
University of Cambridge (n.d.). Hunter-gatherer approach to childcare suggests that the key to mother and child well-being may be many caregivers. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-hunter-gatherer-approach-childcare-key-mother.html
Doucleff, M., PhD (2021). Hunt, Gather, Parent. Simon & Schuster Audio.
One of the reasons for doing self care is to build resilience. When you are more resilient you are able to move through life with more flexibility. We all have traumatic experiences big and small at some point in our lives, but when we cultivate resilience we can find a more graceful process of healing from trauma.
In this week's episode with Efan Hsieh we get into some of the nuances of trauma and post traumatic growth. Efan is a certified functional health coach, Biology of Trauma professional, and nature connection guide who facilitates retreats around the world. She shares tools for adventurous empaths to regulate their nervous system, maintain mindbody coherence, and connect deeply and authentically to nature and their True Self so they can go from burned out to thriving.
In this episode:
What trauma is and isn't
What it means to heal from trauma
The tension between authenticity and attachment
How to trust your intuition
Somatics and nature connection for regulating the nervous system, building resilience and healing trauma
To check out her newsletter, The Thursday Thrivestyle Newsletter - Practices, Tools and Insights to Reconnect with the Wisdom of Nature, Your Body, Mind, Spirit, and Energy. click here : https://mailchi.mp/eebe27e3cf23/thrivestyle
There is a lot of focus in our culture on what we eat. There are so many different types of diets each with claims to support health and vitality in different ways. What you eat is important, but more important is how you digest what you eat. You can eat the healthiest foods but if you aren't digesting them well, then you won't get all of the health benefits from them.
Your digestive system is intricately interwoven with your immune and nervous systems, so tending your digestion can ripple out into the rest of your body.
In this episode:
The connections between the gastrointestinal tract, the immune system and the nervous system.
The importance of digestive health through the Ayurvedic lens.
The concept of agni or digestive fire, and how to tend that fire.
What it looks like when agni is out of balance.
Why listening to your body is more important than following diet trends.
We have access to so much information these days, that there is a lot of inner growth work that can be done alone. But what about those times when you need a helping hand from someone with a particular skill set? Who do you turn to? Or do you just manage for as long as you can, procrastinating the work that can help you thrive?
I admittedly have spent a lot of time in the procrastination boat because I felt too busy to see someone or the costs felt out of reach. But I have also found getting help from trained individuals, (whether it is a natural health practitioner, a therapist, a coach or chiropractor) so incredibly helpful in helping me to truly thrive.
In this episode I talk about coaching. But what exactly is the deal with coaching?? There are so many coaches out there with so many specialties and it can be overwhelming and also a bit confusing.
What exactly is coaching and how is it different from therapy?
What is the scope of practice for a coach?
Who can benefit from coaching? Are there people or situations that aren't appropriate for coaching?
We'll get into these questions and more in this episode. I hope to give a little clarity about what coaching is and isn't and also share a bit of my story.
How many of us are living in an energy deficit, putting out way more energy than we are receiving or generating for ourselves? I think this is especially true for parents. The basic foundation for vibrancy is nourishment but I think the true long game is resilience.
In order to become more resilient you first need to understand the relationship between nourishment and resilience.
In the first episode of Vibrancy is a Long Game, I talk about the Ayurvedic concept of Ojas which is the vital essence of Kapha Dosha and is a part of immunity and true deep nourishment on all levels.
Like many Ayurvedic concepts, Ojas is a part of a trinity. The other two counterparts are Prana (the vital essence of Vata Dosha) and Tejas (the vital essence of Pitta Dosha) and I think for true vibrancy, we need to look at all three of these vital essences.
In this episode:
Why it is important to be resilient
The relationship between nourishment and resiliency, why nourishment needs to come first
What Tejas and Prana are and how they relate with Ojas
Why all three of these are important for long term vibrancy
In Ayurveda, we talk a lot about digestion. And it isn't just the digestion of the food you put in your body, but also of the sensory impressions that you take into your mind. What you take in each day in the form of media, news, and shows needs to be digested and can affect your nervous system.
In this episode with Sarah Nelsen, she talks about how she takes the nervous system into consideration in her yoga teaching and about a nervous system detox she did and the results she found.
Sarah Nelsen is a certified yoga teacher and yoga therapist and a lifelong spiritual seeker. She delights in helping people create connections to their mind, body, and spirit through gentle movement, breathwork, and opportunities for contemplation. Sarah runs an online therapeutic yoga membership and hosts the Homecoming podcast.
In this episode:
What yoga therapy is and the connection between chronic pain and anxiety
Ways that yoga can affect the nervous system
How Sarah uses gentle yoga practices to nourish the nervous system
What her nervous system detox entails
Some of the results from the detox
If you are interested in learning more about Sarah and the work she does you can find her at : https://www.sarahnelsenyoga.com
Special offer: Yoga in Bed 50% off with coupon code: nourished
Coupon good through the end of 2023; Regular price is $35, 50% off price is $17.50. Once you purchase the Yoga in Bed course, you have access to it for the life of my online platform.Yoga in Bed is a one time purchase.
If you'd like to check out Sarah's teaching style, you can take a free online gentle yoga class. It is through a public library, but anyone can join, sign up using this link : Here is the link.
In this New Year episode of Nourish the Nervous System, we explore winter not as a time for pushing forward or reinventing ourselves, but as a season of subtlety, listening, and inward refinement.
Rather than loud resolutions or high-energy goals, winter invites a quieter kind of awareness — one that whispers instead of shouts. Through the Ayurvedic lens of Vata dosha and the Sanskrit quality sukshma (the subtle), we explore how this season affects the nervous system, our emotions, and our inner rhythms.
This episode is an invitation to slow down, tune in, and honor sensitivity as a form of strength — not fragility.
In this episode, we explore:
Why New Year’s energy can feel misaligned in the deep of winter
The contrast between summer’s outward buzz and winter’s inward stillness
Vata dosha in winter, with a focus on sukshma (the subtle quality)
How winter heightens nervous system sensitivity and perception
Subtle signs many people notice this time of year, including:
quiet or lingering fatigue
low-grade anxiety
emotional waves without a clear story
increased sensitivity to sound, light, and conversation
Translating Ayurveda into modern language:
sensory processing
nervous system load
Why “subtle” does not mean weak — it means attuned
How winter can surface emotional material without anything being “wrong”
The cultural pressure to feel “up” and productive — even in winter
Honoring rest without slipping into stagnation or disconnection
Practical ways to support sukshma energy in winter:
Softening the edges of your day and reducing transitions
Creating sensory nourishment with dim lighting, quiet, and warmth
Using warm oil (especially on the feet) to ground the nervous system
Staying connected to intuition through journaling, somatic awareness, or creative expression
Balancing subtlety with sthula (the gross, tangible quality) through grounding movement:
strength-based exercise
walking outdoors
using larger muscle groups
getting fresh air and natural light
Reflection questions for the week:
What feels louder now that life is quieter?
What is asking for attention?
What no longer fits?
You’re invited to sit with these questions gently — through journaling, meditation, or simply noticing what arises.
What does it mean to be a good listener? To be present and listen without an agenda, and I believe to listen not only to the words spoken but also to body language, emotions and other subtle cues.
The same is true when you listen to your body. Your body is constantly talking to you through subtle nerve impulses and sensations and feelings and emotions. Your body is speaking and your mind is interpreting what it is saying, so it is important to have a clear mind so that you don't misinterpret your body's cues.
In this episode:
You may have heard of interoception, but what is it?
How interoception may relate to emotions and the nervous system
Other ways you can listen to your body
The importance of getting quiet to listen, and my personal story of my mind misinterpreting my body's cues
How pushing through can affect your ability to listen
Schulz A, Vögele C. Interoception and stress. Front Psychol. 2015 Jul 20;6:993. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00993. PMID: 26257668; PMCID: PMC4507149.
Holzer, P. (2017). Interoception and gut feelings: Unconscious body signals' impact on brain function, behavior and belief processes. In H.-F. Angel, L. Oviedo, R. F. Paloutzian, A. L. C. Runehov, & R. J. Seitz (Eds.), Processes of believing: The acquisition, maintenance, and change in creditions (pp. 435–442). Springer International Publishing/Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50924-2_31
What the heck is Panchakarma, you may ask? And why do you want to know about it?
Panchakarma is a traditional Ayurvedic cleansing practice that helps to clear the body and mind of toxins and accumulated doshas and then rebuild healthy tissues.
In this episode with Kimberly Larson she will go deep into what panchakarma is and how it benefits the body, mind and nervous system. But more than that, Kimberly gives a beautiful, simple view of how to bring self care into every moment of your life through her experiential Ayurvedic wisdom.
Kimberly is author of The Simple Healing Cleanse. She is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Massage Therapist, Yoga Teacher and owner of Lakshmi's Garden in Western Massachusetts.
Vibrancy is a glow, a sparkle and an aura of excitement. To feel truly vibrant is a robust, grounded and vital feeling. Do you feel vibrant? If not, when was the last time you truly felt vibrant?
In Ayurvedic thought the feeling of vibrancy and vitality is connected to ojas, a biological protoplasmic substance that governs immunity and vitality in the body.
In this episode:
What ojas is and how it is formed
Why what we eat and digest affects our ojas
The relationship of stress and burn out to ojas
How to build and maintain ojas
The importance of practices like abhyangha (oil massage) and meditation to build and maintain ojas
Batdorff, D., AP (n.d.). The 7 Dhatus: An Introduction to Ayurveda’s Tissue Layers. Banyan Botanicals. https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/info/blog-the-banyan-insight/details/dhatus-tissue-layers/
Lad, V., M.A.Sc (1990). Textbook of Ayurveda, Fundamental Principles (Volume 1). The Ayurvedic Press.
Another podcast episode about meditation? Yes! We hear about meditation all the time from so many different sources but we can always use one more because it is just so good for us. If you are looking to make changes in your life, big or small, meditation is a practice that can support those changes. Not only does it help with managing stress, it actually changes the make up of your brain.
In this Episode:
The simplicity and accessibility of meditation
How it changes the brain
A few benefits of meditation
Some thoughts on why people don't meditate
Some preconceived notions about meditation that just aren't true
You don't have to like cats to appreciate the unapologetic way they do life. Some things that cats do really well is play, sleep and do nothing. For us humans, doing nothing is something that is becoming increasingly more difficult as time goes on. It is so incredibly easy to fill our idle moments with social media, shows, or games on our phones and computers.
In this episode:
Where my practice of being a cat came from.
How doing nothing can help us be more creative and productive
Deeper reasons for doing nothing : doing nothing to shift culture
We can tend to think of our bodily systems as separate - nervous system, endocrine system, digestive system, etc. Although each serves a unique function, they all function together as a whole, so when something affects one system it can ripple out into all of them. This is especially true in the relationship between the nervous and endocrine systems.
In this episode I talk with the incredible Kaya'leya, host of The Herbal Womb Wisdom Podcast. Kaya'leya is a clinical herbalist and integrative health educator with a focus on menstrual, sexual and hormonal health. I can't even begin to describe the wealth of knowledge that Kaya'leya shares. You need to listen for yourself.
We talk about:
What hormones are and how stress affects them.
Some conditions that may be present if hormones are being affected by stress.
Adaptogens have become a buzzword, but what exactly are they and when should you use them?
A look at nervine herbs and some of Kaya's favorites.
Nourishing herbs like Nettles to build resilience.
Herbs that support both nervous and endocrine systems.
Have you ever envisioned something in your life and then it comes to pass? Even something small, like the perfect cashmere sweater in a certain color and then you find it at a thrift store? In some circles you may say you manifested it, in others you may think you were just lucky, or you may call it a cashmeracle, but what if it has to do with your brain and how it processes information?
Regardless of what you call it, the way you think matters for achieving certain outcomes in your life.
It was previously thought that our brains became fixed as we entered adulthood, but we now know that they can continue to change which is referred to as neural plasticity.
In this episode I talk about:
Stories from my life of how changing my thoughts changed my outer circumstances.
Why I sometimes feel uncomfortable with manifestation culture.
Some thoughts I have around privilege and manifestation.
Some basic neuroscience concepts that illustrate how changing your thoughts can change your life
How nervous system regulation relates to neural plasticity and making changes.
Anna Lardone, Marianna Liparoti, Pierpaolo Sorrentino, Rosaria Rucco, Francesca Jacini, Arianna Polverino, Roberta Minino, Matteo Pesoli, Fabio Baselice, Antonietta Sorriso, Giampaolo Ferraioli, Giuseppe Sorrentino, Laura Mandolesi, "Mindfulness Meditation Is Related to Long-Lasting Changes in Hippocampal Functional Topology during Resting State: A Magnetoencephalography Study", Neural Plasticity, vol. 2018, Article ID 5340717, 9 pages, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5340717
Institute of Science and Technology Austria. (2016, May 13). Neuroscientists discover new learning rule for pattern completion. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 5, 2023 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160513111839.htm
You know the stereotype, the grounded earth mama (or papa) type of person. Slow, methodical, super big heart. This is our sweet Kapha person. They are steady and strong and give some ground to the wind and fire buzzing around them. In Ayurveda, Kapha is one of the three doshas. It is made up of the elements earth and water. In this episode we will explore:
What Kapha Dosha is and how it expresses in the macrocosm and in our bodies
How the doshas express differently in different climates
The qualities associated with kapha dosha
What Kapha looks like in balance and out of balance
How seeing ourselves through the lens of Ayurveda can help us have a healthier relationship with our body shape and size.
Some thoughts on how the Doshas relate to certain types of stress responses
You've probably heard the saying "you are what you eat", in Ayurvedic thought we are literally what we eat. Tissues are made from the food we eat, which is why there is an emphasis on eating high quality foods. But what if you take it a step farther and incorporate your herbal and mushroom medicines into your diet?
In this week's episode Terrel Broussard, an Ayurvedic practitioner and bodyworker with 25 years experience in the field of Therapeutic Massage, Thai Massage, Yoga and Herbal Medicine talks about his philosophy on incorporating medicinal foods into the diet.
Terrel and his wife, Kimberly, own a small Ayurvedic Retreat Center in the Berkshires called Lakshmi's Garden which focuses on Pancha Karma retreats.
In this week's episode, Terrel talks about:
His personal self care practices
His path to Ayurveda
The Ayurvedic practice of listening for "the burp"
Why he incorporates Milk Thistle and Lion's Mane into his daily routine
The idea of structuring your energetic day in a bell curve
His go to herbs and his favorite formulas
The power of observing yourself and your surroundings to live a more balanced life
You can find Terrel's products and information about his retreat center, Lakshmi's Garden here: www.lakshmisgarden.com
Ever feel hangry? That’s Pitta. Acne and spreading rashes? That’s Pitta. Feel irritable and angry in hot weather? Also Pitta.
Pitta Dosha is a combination of the Fire and Water elements. Fire is transformational, it literally changes things. A tree into ash, water into steam. When we are going through a challenging or life changing experience, we sometimes say we are “stepping into the fire”. Without this fire, things would always stay the same and remain stuck. If we didn’t have Pitta Dosha in our bodies, we wouldn’t be able to transform our food into usable components or transform our sensory impressions into thoughts, emotions or sensations.
In this episode:
What is Pitta Dosha
What does Pitta look like in the macrocosm of the world and the microcosm of our bodies
In this episode of The Nourished Nervous System, I’m joined by Nima Rahmany, chiropractor, educator, and creator of the Becoming Trigger-Proof methodology, for a deep and illuminating conversation about people pleasing, trauma responses, attachment patterns, and how nervous system healing transforms our relationships — with others and with ourselves.
Nima shares his personal journey from chiropractic care into somatic psychology and attachment work, shaped by his own experiences with ruptured relationships, trauma bonding, and nervous system dysregulation.
Together, we explore how stress, chronic illness, burnout, and relational conflict often stem from self-abandonment learned early in life — and how healing begins by turning inward.
This conversation weaves somatic awareness, polyvagal theory, shadow work, and attachment theory into a compassionate framework for understanding why so many of us struggle with boundaries, resentment, and emotional exhaustion.
In this episode, we explore:
The fawn response and how people pleasing develops as a survival strategy
Why self-abandonment often leads to burnout, autoimmunity, and chronic stress
How childhood attachment wounds show up in adult relationships and parenting
The difference between being boundaryless, walled-off, and elegantly boundaried
Why resentment builds when we ignore our body’s “no”
How shadow work helps us reclaim disowned parts of ourselves
A somatic approach to working with triggers in real time
What it actually means to be “regulated” — and why regulation doesn’t mean being calm all the time
How to build resilience by increasing your capacity to feel, rather than suppress, emotion
Nima also walks us through a powerful, embodied example of how triggers with our children or partners can become doorways to healing unmet needs within ourselves — offering a practical, compassionate roadmap for rupture and repair.
This episode is especially supportive if you:
Identify as a people pleaser or “the strong one”
Struggle with guilt around saying no
Feel chronically depleted despite doing “all the right things”
Are navigating parenting, partnership, or work stress
Sense that your nervous system is asking for a different way of relating
Our bodies are reflections of the natural world because we are a part of nature. What happens when we take cues from the natural world in the way we are in relationship with life? What happens when we tune into seasons of activity and rest, build connections and become aware of our interdependency with each other and with all of life?
I love this conversation with Abigail Rose Clarke, founder of The Embodied Life Method, creator of The Somatic Tarot and The Body Oracle decks and author of Reimagining the Relationship Between Our Bodies and the World, which will be released by North Atlantic Books in January, 2024.
In this episode we talk about:
Acts of self care as community care
Breaking up with urgency culture
Cycles within us and around us
How being real with our struggle can build connection
Much of what we do is dictated by our needs and desires and most of it is unconscious. In this episode I will discuss some thoughts I've been having about the difference between needs and desires and what it looks like when they are aligned vs. when our desires become cravings and addiction.
We will also do a deep dive into the habit loop and look at the parts of a habit and how to identify them and begin to shift them.
We see the words "self care" everywhere, it has become a buzz word. But what is self care and how can we begin to create a sustainable self care practice that can transform our lives? We often have a certain image of what self care means but maybe finding meaningful self care practice may be deeper than that, it may require us to listen to ourselves.
In this episode we will explore:
The definition of self care
Different types of self care
What is Transformative Self Care?
The difference between transformative and transformational experiences
The importance of listening to your body to find self care practices that work for you
My story of finding transformative self care practices in times of my life when I have experienced deep grief.