Tea as a Gateway to Meditation with Samantha Jones

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

Related Episodes:

Episode 17 - Listen!  Your Body is Talking
Episode 11 - Why What You Think Matters
Episode 10 - Kapha, the Sweet One
Episode  8  - Oh Pitta, You're Hot!
Episode 3 - What the Vata?!

Resources for you:

Nourished for Resilience Workbook

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

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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. 
• Robin's website: https://www.flowingintowisdom.com
• On Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/flowingintowisdom/
• On Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/robin.shaw.359

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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
• Self care isn't always peaceful
• Presence as a container for self care

Related Episodes:

Episode 17 - Listen!  Your Body is Talking
Episode 5 - Transformative Self Care 
Episode 10 - Kapha, the Sweet One
Episode 8  - Oh Pitta, You're Hot!
Episode 3 - What the Vata?!

Resources for you:

Deep Rest Meditation

Nourished for Resilience Workbook

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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. 


~To explore her work or book a free consultation visit her website:
http://www.soulpowermentoring.com
or book a call directly here:
https://calendly.com/maitreyawolf/soul-power-exploration-call

~To hear some of her music, meditations, and teachings, visit her youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqaltoxtDEBgib6j94dthjg

~To hear her album, Fertile Darkness, visit her bandcamp page:
https://maitreyawolf.bandcamp.com/

~Social media links are here:
https://www.facebook.com/maitreyawolfsacredarts/
@maitreyawolfmentor

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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. 

Related Episodes:

Episode 2 - The Lens of Ayurveda
Episode 3 - What the Vata?!
Episode 10 - Kapha, the Sweet One

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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

Find Heidi at:

Website: www.heidischalk.com

Earn 6 Figures Now Call: https://calendly.com/heidischalkcoaching/earn6figuresnowcall
Cultivate A Millionaire Mindset: www.heidischalkcoaching.com/summitgift

FB profile: https://www.facebook.com/heidi.lupischalk
FB business page: https://www.facebook.com/HeidiSchalkCoaching/
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/femaleentrepreneursandleaders/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/heidischalkcoaching/
IG Threads: https://www.threads.net/@heidischalkcoaching
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heidischalk

Podcast: BeShePodcast.com

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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

Get your Nourished for Resilience Workbook Here:  http://www.nourishednervoussystem.com/resilienceworkbook


Related Episodes:

Episode 11 - Why What You Think Matters
Episode 14 - This is Your Brain on Meditation

References:

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.

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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

Related Episodes:

Episode 2:  The Lens of Ayurveda
Episode 10:   Kapha, the Sweet One


References:

University of Würzburg. (2022, March 22). How sugar promotes inflammation. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 3, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220322122836.htm

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

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

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

Find Barbara at https://www.chandani-ayurveda.com

and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/chandaniayurveda

And check out Barbara's growing collection of recipes here: https://www.chandani-ayurveda.com/recipes

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram