Today is the first installment of a new series, Nourishment Notes, and we're dropping into the power of scent. How we can leverage our sense of smell and its direct link to the limbic system, deep in the brain, to support our moods, energy, etc. and ultimately to repattern our nervous system and brains in ways that support personal development and healing.
I share about some of the ways I utilize aromatherapy on a regular basis and how/why I engage with it to support others.
The series is inspired by my ongoing collaboration with my sister-in-law, Joy Hillriegel, a mental health therapist and the creator of Nourish Cards, a collection of thoughtfully curated prompts for emotional well-being and self-care.
Together, we share details of our first giveaway on the show! Joy and I are offering 12 Nourish gift sets to listeners and followers so tune in to hear how you or a loved one can snag a set.
Additional giveaway details, aromatherapy and other healing resources and musings can be found on our Instagram profiles:
Today, I revisit a social media series I wrote six years ago called Who We Are in Fear, about my coming out process and its aftermath.
That's also about the ways we live in fear, the ways we hide from ourselves and others, and some of what that fear and hiding cost us.
That's also about how sometimes only in the aftermath of choosing courage over fear that we come to understand just how much smaller fear had been making our lives, loves, expressions.
We also explore:
- the many disguises of fear and their impacts
- integrity as a practice, and making space for grace and compassion
- some of the costs of my choice to come out and whether i'd choose to pay them again
- how curiosity and love can support in the face of fear
- how and why we seem to remain stuck in fear cycles
- and more
I also share about Naked Monday, a practice of self-expression and undressing in various aspects of life, that I'll be launching on social media--a co-created experience that you're invited to participate in!
Big love,
g.
Celebrating doesn't just feel good in the now, it supports our future selves--in lots of ways.
I share a big win I recently had, and how I almost didn't (really) celebrate it.
And--for you as much as me, it seems!--I offer a few of the reasons for celebrating what's working.
A few we touch on:
- Consciously leveraging the dopamine system during times of reward and pleasure can support long-term motivation--and increase ease and pleasure along the way
- Allowing ourselves to experience (and amplify) pleasure can support our nervous systems to expand baseline tolerance for pleasure/good things, and sustain the having of what we desire
- Pausing to fully feel and embody the experience of the now, is mindfulness in action
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Today we talk love.
The ways we unconsciously sabotage our efforts to receive and experience love, in its many expressions, and what to do about it.
How and why I spent a lot of life brutalizing myself in the name of love (and how and why you may be doing something similar).
How I finally got the biggest love of my life--the partnership I've had for nearly 8 years--and how I've blocked myself from experiencing its fullness. I share how the relationship has revealed unconscious self-loathing and how an integrative self-love healing approach has helped me find my way home.
We talk about the somatic psychotherapy model Internal Family Systems (IFS), why and how I utilize it personally and professionally, and how to explore self-inquiry and healing work yourself using this framework.
I also share how I turned to interior design to jump-start my self-love and nervous system healing journey, an approach that transformed my life.
Finally, I share about my upcoming (virtual) embodiment playshop series, Finding Love in the Dark, which explores the cultivation of self-love to support expansion and thriving. Details on the what, why, what to expect.
And more...
Thanks for joining me, loves!
CW: discussion of trauma, violence, and eating disorder
I've been snowed in for a few days and have been forced--and invited--to slow, and still. Felt inspired to share a collection of poems and prose, a little weaving of words that felt fitting for the times.
If you'd like to look them up, they are:
"The Blue of Distance" - A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit
"Of Power and Time" - Upstream by Mary Oliver
"The Charting of Stillness" - The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer
Untitled poem (IG post) by John Roedel
"The Future is Ancient" - Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
This is part two of an interdisciplinary journey through love and grief, from the heady realms of science and culture to the dark, emotional underworld of shadow work and trauma healing.
We explore the sciences of emotion, energy, and the nervous system; our concepts of medicine and science; and how these interplay with our ability and willingness to be and work with challenging emotions and feelings.
We focus on grief, pain, and trauma and why working with them somatically is essential to living lives of vitality and thriving. We also explore their relationship to earth's seasons and energy medicine through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
In this part of the episode, I share personal stories of childhood trauma and mental health challenges along with some of the somatic therapeutic practices and frameworks I've used to support healing in these spaces.
This is part one of an interdisciplinary journey through love and grief, from the heady realms of science and culture to the dark, emotional underworld of shadow work and trauma healing.
We explore the sciences of emotion, energy, and the nervous system; our concepts of medicine and science; and how these interplay with our ability and willingness to be and work with challenging emotions and feelings.
We focus on grief, pain, and trauma and why working with them somatically is essential to living lives of vitality and thriving. We also explore their relationship to earth's seasons and energy medicine through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
In part 2, I share personal stories of childhood trauma and mental health challenges along with some of the somatic therapeutic practices and frameworks I've used to support healing in these spaces.
Why do so many of us feel like shit right now (and maybe always)? And what do winter and war and chronic avoidance have to do with it?
Today I share:
- reflections on one of the one important lessons I've learned in my life
- writings on love, grief, and quantum entanglement
- a system-balancing breathing practice
- what may be the most supportive thing you can do now for your 2024 self
- and thoughts on how we're kinda doing this winter New Year thing all wrong
Thank you for joining me at the birth of this baby, friends.
I'm so glad you're here.
This project is a big ol' permission slip, to play and expand and to lean into the things that excite the spirit. For me, certainly, and--I hope!--for you, and us, too.
We're starting things off with an intro and some foundation setting. I share with you some of the intentions and desires for the pod, a bit about the whys and the wheres I'm coming from, and what kinds of format, content, etc. to expect.
LFG!
