Episoder
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In this episode, Kimberly and Chris dive deep into the impact of travel on their lives and the consequences of tourism in places they call home. As two world travelers, who have each spent a decade living abroad, Kimberly and Chris consider what they have learned about home, hospitality, and culture from places far from the lands they were raised. They discuss how the pandemic impacted travel to where Chris resides in Mexico, one of two countries that kept its borders open? How Air BnBâs, second homes, and passive income have changed the real estate landscape for future generations? They wonder what it would look like to re-imagine the set of relationships and responsibilities one has if they âbelongâ to their neighborhood? They ask what if we imagined both our âleisureâ and our âworkâ as connected to the place we live? And how does the question of confinement to home, so relevant to new mothers, show up in the âpost-pandemicâ summer of 2024?
Bio
Chris Christou is a writer, educational curator, and activist. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, he moved to Oaxaca, Mexico in 2015 after a decade of delirious wanderlust. In 2016, Chris began concurrently working in and writing about the tourism industry, founding Oaxaca Profundo, a deep learning organization focused on food culture and radical hospitality. In 2021, alongside friends and strangers, he organized and launched the End of Tourism Podcast. He is the author of a book of poetry entitled the Black Braid of Memory, as well as forthcoming books on the psychedelic culture, the unauthorized history of tourism, and radical hospitality. Finally, he is a student of all things chocolate and cacao-related.
What Youâll Here
Being at home in other places Are places âback to normalâ? Are we âpost-pandemicâ? Mexico as an escape route for coping with Covid culture How is a sense of home impacted by tourism? What does it mean to be forced to stay at home and the response is to get as far away as fast as possible? Wanderlust - wanting to be everywhere and by virtue of that not wanting to be anywhere How much of tourism an unwillingness to be where one is? What does it mean to consider what the place you call home needs? And what you can offer that place? I donât think you can be responsible to a place if youâre elsewhere The history of mobility in north American Culture How to re-neighbor Seeing places as temporary makes them disposable How the pandemic led to lots of profit-driven real estate aquisitions The impact of Air Bnbs in tourist destinations Do we make our homes for ourselves or for our parents and others we want to welcome people How do locals become second class servants or mascot for Instagram world views? Dehumanization is a two way street in the tourist industry Leaving one expensive city for a less expensive city you bring the landlords with you. The un-sustainability of second homes Hospitality is complex - learning a culture to invoke hospitality with the stranger How difficult staying at home is for a new mother? Feeling confined when trying to make home with a baby Having family in and of two cultures Travel vegans vs. living it upResources
https://www.chrischristou.net/
chrischristou.substack.com
IG - @zajorino / @theendoftourism / @oaxacaprofundo
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In this episode, Kimberly and Lauren discuss her teaching journey, which led to the restorative exercise techniques Lauren offers in the womenâs health field. As a lifelong mover, Lauren went through several different yoga trainings and anatomical frameworks to arrive at a simple truth: there isnât a right or wrong, good or bad when it comes to understanding your bodyâs needs. They discuss re-writing injury stories, and consider what leads women to medically intervene at different phases of life. In addition, Kimberly and Lauren talk about raising teenage girls. In this open hearted conversation, two somatic experiencing practitioners talk through their way of practicing what they teach.
Bio
Lauren Ohayon isan internationally recognized yoga + Pilates teacher specializing in core and pelvic floor issues. She has been teaching for the past two decades. Lauren creates online exercise programs that are challenging, unique, safe, sustainable and life-changing.
In addition to yoga and Pilates, she is certified as a Restorative Exercise Specialistâą, in Neurokinetic TherapyÂź and in Anatomy in Motion. The web site Holy Shift yoga was her first online baby and has since become this web site under her own name. Nothing has changed but the name. Learn more at www.laurenohayon.com
What Youâll Hear
Supporting women in training their bodies The intersection of Anatomy and the Nervous system The pelvic floor world Movement as soothing Injuries as a yoga teacher Needing to dig less healing wells, instead dig one deep well Set one on a path of a more mindful way of moving Re-writing the stories of our injuries Distinguishing anatomy and biomechanics Somatic nervous system approach to exercise Feldenkrais technique was a big influence Letting your body teach you What leads us to try and intervene in our bodies as women at different life phases Good filters for not entertaining the cult/âyou shouldâ mindset Diet and protein Being sensory following nature and desire for warmth Parenting teens A mother who was a very experimental/exploratory teen Consent communication and safety Restoring your core- a central support system that receives and transmits To be restorative is to not approach the body through good/bad right/wrong anatomical frameworks Accepting the bodyâs changes with agingResources
IG: @thelaurenohayon
Website: www.laurenohayon.com
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Manglende episoder?
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With fellow educator and Orphan Wisdom Scholar Johannah Reimer, Kimberly discusses Johannahâs long cultivated journey with Girl Groups that work on collective rites of passage. They explore the difference between weekend and longer form rites of passage processes for girls crossing the threshold to adolescence and womanhood, as well as ways to de-emphasize soul work that doesn't center "the self." Johannah emphasizes the impact she has seen guiding Girls Groups and their families into relationships that reflect boundaries, values, and connection. Johannah talks through her passionate approach to the Matricarchical archetype, as well as their shared thoughts on being a single parent. Johanna describes her upcoming 9-month Girl Group facilitator training âPathways to Womanhoodâ where she shares her elemental curriculum, which has been honed over 10 years of work with girls of all ages. Links to a free workshop and the facilitator training below.
Bio
Johannah Reimer is a soulcentric educator, ceremonialist, teen mentor, and an artist of many trades. Trained as a Waldorf teacher, Johannah has been working with children of all ages for over 20 years and holds a particular passion for tweens/teens striving to meet their developmental needs for mentorship and initiation in a culture that has forgotten how to do so. An apprentice of visionaries: Sage Hamilton and Melissa Michaels of SOMA Source, Johannah has worked for many years as a Waldorf teacher under the guidance of her elder Sage, and as an embodied leader for international youth in movement based Rites of Passage with Golden Bridge & Golden Girls Global.
What She Shares
Initiatory rites for girls crossing the threshold into adolescence
Village mindedness in a Culture without village norms
Severance - a death happening in rites of passage
Stepping into a threshold, into a new phase of being
What does it mean when girls go on a quest to leave childhood behind and then return back to their parents and community?
Parents also cross a threshold when their children go on such a quest.
A year long process that she does with 5th graders
The conflation of big experiences with rites of passage
Distinguishing between a rite of passage vs. a threshold
How short-term retreats are often not living up to the term rites of passage
Girls Groups are designed for a longer-term structure within a collective
The power of collective work vs. over-emphasis on the self
Working with teens you sometimes need an iron fist and a velvet glove
The power of improvisation when working with teens
The power of parents letting go of control
Parents fear of their own children: important to assert boundaries/values and stay connected
Parents: âStay true. Stay the course.â
As a child of divorce, the challenge of being a single parent
Gathering the men around the son of a single mother
She describes her upcoming free class for anyone who feels the call to be a village auntie, as well as her intimate 9-month Girl Group facilitator training.
The power of the Matricarchical archetype and Village Aunties.
Resources
Pathways to Womanhood - Girls Group Facilitator Training
Becoming a Village Auntie (Free Training)
www.wakefulnature.com
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In this episode, Kimberly discusses wild mothering, elder mothers, and mothering from our centers with Tami Lynn Kent, returned special guest, womenâs health healer, elder mother, and teacher of previous Jaguar classes. We discuss how to remain in true relationship with the feminine, unlearning how weâve embodied patriarchy, and living and mothering from our feminine centers. She also discusses the challenges of mothering during these times, especially for mothers of teens and young adults. Ultimately, she offers deep wisdom and medicine for staying true to our centers during these fractured times.
Bio
Tami Lynn Kent is a womenâs health physical therapist, founder of the original method of Holistic Pelvic Careâą for women, and author of âWild Feminine: Finding Power, Spirit & Joy in the Female Body,â âWild Creative,â and âWild Mothering.â She is passionate about the potential in our female bodies and cultivating this vibrant energy thatâs meant to run through all aspects of a womanâs life. She draws upon hers daily in mothering three sons now all young adults themselves. Her previous book, âMothering from Your Center,â is being re-released as âWild Mothering,â which includes new elder mother wisdom.
What She Shares:
âDeep relationship with the feminine
âUndoing internalization of patriarchy
âMothering teens during challenges
âEmbodied mothering during fractured times
What Youâll Hear:
âWalking in deep relationship with the true feminine
âBoundaries around values and work
âUnlearning embodied patterns of patriarchy within us
âOvercompensation in business
âBodies giving out from overcompensation
âWomen giving up space instead of centering
âComing into truth of where energy and body are
âOver-extending out of perfectionism and wanting safety
âHelping children find their centers gradually
âMothering young adults with internet, pandemic, polarization, etc.
âInformation is not wisdom
âImportance of listening to embodied wisdom and those with it
âMothering as a wild journey
âPrioritizing the body and face-to-face
âEmbodied presence important to mothering
âWeekly family facetime meetings
âGoing through the pandemic with males
âStrain on mothers and families feels higher now
âLack of safety webs and social supports
âTrends of delaying independence from youth
âDetermine of pandemic on isolation and young adults
âAssessing nervous systems after isolating during pandemic
âEmbodied care versus smoothing discomfort
âCreative, inspired, moving towards passion, tracking health, connection
âIncrease of body images issues in boys
âGetting boys out of looking and more of feeling/felt sense
âFear of interacting in world
âTracking and noticing people around us is embodied mothering
âLost art of tending to home and those around us with presence
âMonitoring screen time for young adults
âPlaying online with real peers
âEncouraging children to verbalize online interactions
âRules as child-specific and season-dependent
âBuilding trust bridges
âChecking in and checking on
âCreating daily embodied moments with children
âEmbodied mothering as the tether
âPresence with children creates more presence within themselves
âStories we tell our children, stories they hear
âBalancing heavy times as parents
âLack of deep containers taking toll
âEnergetic force pulsing through life
âReaction versus resonance
âAlways new medicine and new hope in true feminine
âNot disassociating from deeper problems
âLiving in deep relationship to feminine field
âTending to our parts of the field is the mending
âUsing connection to mystery to do our part
âRepairing a fractured web
âMay 11th Mini Motherâs Day Retreat!
Resources
Website: https://www.wildfeminine.com/
IG: @tamilynnkent
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In this episode, Kimerberly interviews Ajaye, the founder of The Project PT, a fitness center creating major social change in the community of Oxford, England. They discuss Kimberlyâs experience at the gym, similarities of fitness culture in the U.S. and U.K. and how it is intimidating to many kinds of people interested in exercise. They also discuss the decrease of physical movement in schools and how that motivated The Project PTâs mission of supporting teen girls in health and fitness. They also discuss other community outreach programs that The Project PT runs as well as the importance and business model of ethical bonds and balancing service-related businesses with motherhood.
Bio
Ajaye is the driving force behind The Project PT, a fitness center committed to ethical business standards, social justice, and community outreach. Ajaye has over 18 years of experience in the fitness industry and is a fully qualified personal trainer, crossfit coach, Olympic weightlifting coach, and a sports therapist. The Project studio runs several social work programs in the Oxford community and continues to expand.
What She Shares:
âIntense gym culture and The Project PT
âDiversity and inclusion in fitness spaces
âSupporting youth in fitness
âCommunity outreach
âBalancing business & motherhood
What Youâll Hear:
âDifferent physical needs after motherhood
âIntense gym culture
âDiversity at Project PT Gym
â17% in UK attend gyms, 83% do not
âForming community for Project PT
âRepresentation and informed professional development
âLimited physical movement in schools
âWorking with fitness and teenage girls
âSkateboarding, boxing, and weight-lifting for girls
âFocusing on enjoyment in fitness
âLong-term goals for Project PT
âForming a blueprint for other fitness centers
âPolicy change needed
âWorking with vulnerable young people
âProviding confidence and skills for young people
âCrime prevention program working with police
âRun social impact reports to study findings
âImportance of studies and representation
âFitness, business, and motherhood of 3 children
âStruggling to find balance in business and parenting
âKimberly navigating perimenopause and physical/emotional changes
âAccepting limitations and being open to change
âAdopting children and business thriving
âEthical Bond
âEthical Exchange supporting business bonds and shares
âOffering employee shares
âCollaboration and community with other businesses
âEthics platform for housing, energy efficiency, etc.
Resources
Website: https://www.theprojectpt.com/
IG: @theprojectpt
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In this episode, Kimberly and Joelle discuss the joys, challenges, and complexities of writing a book and publishing. They met when Kimberly was pitching âThe Fourth Trimesterâ and have connected ever since. Kimberly discusses her journey as an author in relation to her other work previous three books. They also discuss self-publishing, traditional publishing, how the publishing industry has changed because of social media, and the importance of book proposals. Joelle is currently enrolling for the Book Proposal Academy, a six month, robust course and mentorship program that supports new authors through the book proposal process. Register through the link below!
Bio
Joelle Hann is an award-winning writer whose essays and poems explore the nature of our deepest relationships, and whose articles have covered the highs and lows of yoga culture, as well as food, film, books and travel. Sheâs worked in-house as a Senior Development Editor at Bedford/St. Martinâs. A decade later she jumped ship to freelance as a book doctor and collaborator. Since then, sheâs developed and written many acclaimed books for authors in the realm of self-transformation, activism, spirituality, health, finance and business. Joelle is also a seasoned yoga teacher and practitioner. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times, TimeOut New York, Poets & Writers, Yoga Journal, Yoga International, and other publications. Her essays have appeared on NPR, YourTango, Geist, and others. Joelle is also an award-winning poet with an MFA (poetry) and an MA (English Literature) from New York Universityâs top-ranked program, and many publications in journals and anthologies including McSweeneyâs, Matrix, Painted Bride Quarterly, Drunken Boat, Breathing Fire: Canadaâs New Poets, Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn and more.
What She Shares:
âTraditional versus self-publishing
âPitching your book idea
âTending to the voice within
âBook Proposal Academy with Joelle begins April 17th!
What Youâll Hear:
âKimberlyâs process of book writing
âExperiences with various kinds of publishers
âSelf-publishing process
âKimberlyâs upcoming book deal
âFive main publishing houses and politics
âDifferences between first-time proposing versus fourth
âLack of confidence in initial stage of process
âSmall advances versus large advances
âThe Fourth Trimester best selling back-listed book
âPublicity and marketing during proposals
âMaking the case for your book
âAuthor versus writer
âBookTok as powerful engine for making authors
âPower of readers to make best-sellers from BookTok
âHybrid publishing on the rise
âChallenges of self-publishing
âUniversity publishing
âTrauma angles need hope, tools, and resilience
âShorter and easy to digest are book preferences
âLiterary agent burnout
âSoul calling towards writing
âTending to the voice within
âFollowing and engagement from audience
âQuality and marketability
âProposal is key in not getting lost in process
âProposal is a map for book
âArtistry and practical vision
âJoelleâs Book Proposal Academy begins April 17th!
âRuns for six months through 5 phases
âEarly bird sign-up begins April 3rd
Resources
Website: https://brooklynbookdoctor.com/bpa/
IG: @@brooklynbookdoctor
Book Proposal Academy Application: https://brooklynbookdoctor.com/bpa
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Summary
In this episode, friends Kimberly and Kendra share their experiences and insights around mothering and the complex webs of care in non-traditional family structures. They discuss the beauty and challenges of single parenting, parenting young children while dating, forming new care structures, and navigating professional roles while mothering children of all ages. They also discuss their co-led upcoming retreat Apprenticing the Web taking place in Booneville, California this September 2024!
Bio
Kendra Cunov has been studying, facilitating, and practicing Authentic Relating, Embodiment Practices & Deep Intimacy Work for over fifteen years. Kendra has worked with thousands of men, women & couples in the areas of embodiment, intimacy, communication & full self-expression. She co-founded âAuthentic World & Fierce Grace,â as well as âThe Embodied Relationship Training Salonâ (with John Wineland), and pioneered some of the most cutting edge relation work on the planet. Kendra has consulted for companies such as Genentech & been on staff for 4PC, an elite mastermind for the top 4% of coaches in the world. She works with organizations & leaders, as well as men, women & couples, who know that embodied presence, truth, connection & integrity are our truest access points to success â in business & in love.
What She Shares:
âNon-traditional family structures
âCo-parenting with young children
âLove as a guiding compass
âMothering and professions
âUpcoming retreat with Kimberly and Kendra in September
What Youâll Hear:
âApprenticing the Web Retreat September 2024
âBlended families, partnership, and parenting non-traditionally
âMothering and marriage traditionally and non-traditionally
âEase as a compass in hard situations
âKimberlyâs pregnant in Brazil
âMaking partnerships for co-parenting
âFeeling alone in single parenting
âMothering alone in marriage
âCentering the child/children
âFacilitating opportunities for children to connect with fathers
âInquiring in co-parenting
âLove as an invitation to the co-parent
âDating while single parenting young children
âWork changes through mothering
âLove as a compass
âManaging finances while single parenting
âWanting to be in the world sooner while parenting young children
âOlder children needing more mothering than younger
âTraveling and working while mothering young children
âCreating community as single parents and living abroad
âBenefits of single parenting
âNot wanting to be a buffer while co-parenting
âUnpacking child at the center
âMothering the culture
âMaiden-Mother-Crone transitions
âSomething to âkeep upâ with while mothering
âMothering through menopause
âAccepting missing out in mothering
âResponding to life in the moment
âCultivating capacity for discomfort and the unknown
âTrusting self to respond in the moment
âBeing willing to fail relationally
âCuriosity over shaming
âUpcoming retreat in September, California!
âKendra buying land near Mt. Shasta
âStewarding the land before building
Resources
Website: https://kendracunov.com/
IG: @kendra_cunov
Retreat Details: https://kendracunov.com/apprenticing-the-web/
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With special guest host Stephen Jenkinson, Kimberly and Stephen consult with three engaged couples and an unmarried woman to wonder aloud about the institution of marriage.
Stephen describes his experience, when he was asked to marry several couples, how he did his homework.
What does it mean to approach matrimony as something other than a predictable, foreseen conclusion? Are weddings overly performative? Is it possible for a wedding to feel authentic?Kimberly describes what she learned from having a wedding in the working terreiros culture of Bahia, Brazil.
Stephen describes why a ceremony has no audience - it only has witnesses and participants. Stephen and Kimberly contend with how contemporary couples, longing for ceremony in their matrimony, strive for integrity in their union.
This episode is just the tip of iceberg. Starting February 25th, Stephen and Kimberly will start their 5-part Online Series "Forgotten Pillars: Patrimony, Matrimony, Kinship, Ancestors & Ceremony." They will dive much deeper into the lessons gleaned from working cultures of the past to inform meaningful ways for couples, families, and communities to come together for experiences that linger long past the "big day." Find out more or join us: https://kimberlyannjohnson.com/forgotten-pillars/ -
In this episode, you hear reflections on Kimberlyâs wedding, just weeks out from the event in Salvador, Brazil. With guest host/podcast producer/cousin, Jackson Kroopf, you will hear Kimberly sit with all of the proceedings: from spiritual preparation to rehearsal to ceremony to celebration. What does it mean to be married in the traditions of a spouseâs culture? Who is a wedding for? What role do children play in their parentâs ceremony? How do we understand the relationship between matrimony and contemporary weddings? In this open hearted conversation, you will hear family reckon, reflect, and bask, in real time, on their expanding family.
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In this episode, Kimberly and Bodhi discuss his work as a death doula at Doorway Into Light, Hawaiiâs only nonprofit green funeral home and educational resource center, The Death Store. They discuss what green burials and ocean burials are and how they are more generous and sustainable to the planet than modern burial practices. They also discuss how dominant culture fears death, responds to death, and death traditions across cultures. In light of all of the ways that people, and even babies, die, Bodhi asks us to deeply reflect on the question, âWhat is a full life?â P.S. His nonprofit is still taking donations for those displaced by the Maui fires; find the link below to donate!
Bio
Bodhi is an ordained interfaith minister and teacher in the Sufi lineage of Sufi Sam and Hazrat Inayat Khan. He is the founder and executive director of Doorway Into Light, a nonprofit organization on Maui, which provides conscious and compassionate care for the dying, their families and the grieving, and has been offering community presentations and trainings since 2006 in the fields of awakened living and dying and the care of the dying. Bodhi is a bereavement counselor and educator; a hospice volunteer; a home funeral guide; a teacher and trainer of death doulas; a speaker and workshop leader and a ceremonial guide. He hosts a weekly streaming radio show, âDeath Tracksâ, on a Maui station. Bodhi guides memorials and funerals and leads grief rituals. He facilitates grief support groups for teenagers. He has trained hundreds of doctors, nurses, hospice staff, social workers, ministers, chaplains, therapists, artists and lay people in the spiritual, psychological, emotional and logistical care of the dying and the care of the dead, and for 4 years has taken dozens through a certification program to be death doulas. Bodhi has written a column called âAsk the Death Professorâ for a local Maui magazine. He is a notary public, a coffin maker and a Reiki practitioner. Bodhi and his wife Leilah lead spiritual retreats in Hawaii and around the world.For many years Bodhi collaborated with Ram Dass, a neighbor and friend, who served on Doorway Into Lightâs Board of Directors. Bodhi is continuing the work Ram Dass helped birth, in the fields of conscious dying in America.
What He Shares:
âDeath doula work
âGreen burials and ocean burials
âRunning a nonprofit funeral home and resource center
âWhat you do (literally) when someone dies
âLegalities of keeping a body with you
âGenerational stories of death
What Youâll Hear:
âHow he was led to death work and spiritual counseling
âWorking with Ram Das
âStarting the death doula movement and a ministry of death
âRunning a non-profit funeral home
âCulture pushing away death
âGreen burials
âHazards of embalming
âBiodegradable graves
âDeath and burial as another practice removed from traditions
âCultural differences around death and burial
âOcean body burial
âBeing with bodies after death
âGenerational stories after death
âLingering with the body to witness death
âHealthy life includes its death
âMothers of stillborns fighting for baby body
âGiving families time and space with death beyond laws
âOutlaw moves
âMedical rules around bodies and placentas
âNavigating baby and child death
âWhat is a full life?
âEntitlement around death
âDeath doula trainings
âFacing Death, Nourishing Life course
âShowing up for life and death
Resources
Website: https://www.doorwayintolight.org/
IG: @thedeathstoremaui
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In this episode, Kimberly and Dr. Elliot Berlin discuss his informed pregnancy focused chiropractic work. He explains noticing a rise in out of hospital births post-pandemic as well as an increase in hospital restrictions and inductions in hospital births. He discusses various causes of breech positions, his chiropractic approaches to breech babies before birth, as well as the long history of cesareans and how VBACs became stigmatized in recent decades. The common thread through this whole conversation is providing education and information for pregnant people to make the best informed decisions for themselves and their birth.
Bio
Dr. Elliot Berlin is an award-winning pregnancy-focused chiropractor, childbirth educator, and labor doula. His innovative techniques for prenatal wellness care address tight and painful muscles and tendons utilizing specific massage techniques based on soft tissue releases. He combines this with traditional chiropractic adjustments to restore motion to restricted joints. Dr. Berlin notably works with several hundred breech babies each year, most of whom turn into the ideal pre-birth position once normal function is restored to the mother's low back and pelvis. He is also the host of Informed Pregnancy Podcast, an award winning pregnancy focused chiropractor.
What He Shares:
âDifferences in births post-pandemic
âChiropractic approaches to breech babies
âHistory of cesareans
âInformed VBACs
âMind-Body health for fertility
What Youâll Hear:
âPregnancies post-pandemic
âRise in out of hospital births
âIncrease in restrictions and interventions in hospitals
âGuiding clients in making best choices for birth
âTraining for breech births
âUsing Webster technique to reposition breech babies
âStructural reasons for breech positionings
âFunctional issues of mother posture
âMinimizing ultrasounds
âLooking at baby position at 32 weeks
âChiropractic care outside of pregnancy
âApproaches to releases and maintenance
âHistory of cesareans
âMyths around VBACs
âHow VBAC information is portrayed
âUterine ruptures
âInsurance policies and cesareans
âInduction drugs causing uterine ruptures in 1980s
âVBAC Facts website
âUsing modern technology to improve childbirth
âDownsides to how interventions are applied
âWhat led Dr. Berlin to his work
âMind-body practices leading to natural fertility after years of treatments
âInformed Pregnancy podcast
âInformedpregnancy.tv streaming app
Resources
Website: informedpregnancy.com/informedpregnancy.tv
IG: @doctorberlin
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In this conversation, journalist Allison Yarrow and Kimberly discuss Allison's new book âBirth Control: The Insidious Power of Men Over Motherhood.â They go in depth about the culture and systems of perinatal birth care. They explore Allisonâs extensive research around the differences between home birth care and hospital birth care, and go into depth about their personal experiences with each scenario. They wonder how future generations will approach their birth, as well as the deep impact of race on varying birth experience. With all of the information out there, they ask how do you prepare for birth?
Bio
Allisoni Yarrow is a journalist for nearly two decades (in newsrooms like NBC News, Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and Vice), a national magazine finalist, the author of 90s Bitch (finalist for the Los Angeles Press Club Book Award), and she has written about the shortcomings of the perinatal experience in America for the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, Vox, Harper's Bazaar, and Insider. Her new book Birth Control: The Insidious Power of Men Over Motherhood, which is out July 18 and arose out of my TED Talk. With the recent news that maternal mortality has risen 40 percent to the highest level in our lifetime, this subject couldn't be more important. The book draws on extensive reporting, interviews, an original survey of 1300 birthing people and mothers, and my own personal experiences, to document how women are controlled, traumatized, injured, and even killed, because of traditionalist practices of medical professionals and hospitals during pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and after.
What Youâll Hear
How birth procedures and techniques were not developed by science by traditions?
The overriding of midwives knowledge by doctors.
How has birth become such a profitable medical field?
Why C-sections are so prominent despite their limited need?
How does home birth care differ from hospital care?
What kind of mother culture do we need around birth trauma?
The pressure to educate onesellf in the perinatal experience.
What role does agency play in the birth experience?
What needs to change about the system of birth?
How will future generations experience birth care?
Our bodies perceive surgery as interruption.
The importance of sex education to the birth experience.
The racial dimensions of birth culture.
Links
www.allisonyarrow.com
Instagram: @aliyarrow
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In this episode, podcast producer Jackson Kroopf interviews Kimberly about her upcoming course "Activate Your Inner Jaguar - Feminine Sexuality and Spirituality" that begins October 17th. Kimberly describes the nine year evolution of the course, tracing its foundations and considering the ways her ongoing somatic and spiritual work continues to serve different generations of women from maiden to crone. She opens up about her own experiences that have informed her evolving relationship to the intersection of sexuality and spirituality. She also describes what the experience of taking the class entails, particularly around issues of privacy, shame, and the concrete practices she offers class participants. You will hear about some of the class' guest lecturers including pelvic priestess and author of "Women's Anatomy of Arousal," Sheri Winston, and sex educator and writer of "Taking Back the Speculum" Pamela Samuelson. As the carrier of many womens' stories, Kimberly describes the way combining personal stories and somatic tools can address many things women are most curious about related to sex and self-actualizing an erotic practice for each participant.
You can learn more or sign up for the nine-week intensive course here: https://kimberlyannjohnson.com/alive/
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In this episode, Kimberly and Perdita discuss Perditaâs latest book âTake Back the Magic,â which was inspired by the death of her father, their ambivalent relationship, and ongoing relationship to him now that he's passed. Perdita shares her experience of communicating with the dead for over thirty years and guides us in how we can do the same. They also discuss the history behind why we fear the dead and the suppression of communicating with the dead by organized religion. She shares how the dead are connected and long for the erotic and how we can return to the inner wisdom and rituals of ancestors that pre-date religion and political systems. She describes the crucial role of the this communication with dead to her key relationships with the living: as a mother, wife, and community member.
Bio
Perdita Finn is the co-founder, with her husband Clark Strand, of the non-denominational international fellowship The Way of the Rose, which inspired their book "The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary." For many years she supported her family writing books for children and educators like the "Time Flyers" series for Scholastic Books, "My Little Pony," and many others. She has been a ghostwriter, a book doctor, a copy editor and a writing teacher, but these days she is happy to be working primarily on her own books. She has a lively substack, "Take Back the Magic," where readers can get sneak peeks into what she's working on right now. Finn now teaches popular workshops on Collaborating with the Other Side, in which participants are empowered to activate the magic in their own lives with the help of their ancestors. She is the author of "Take Back the Magic: Conversations with the Unseen World" and lives with her family in the moss-filled shadows of the Catskill Mountains.
What She Shares:
âWriting âTake Back the Magicâ
âWhy we fear the dead
âCycles of life, death, and rebirth
âHow to commune with the dead
âEros and the dead
What Youâll Hear:
âDarkness and dark matter as origin of life
âCircles of entanglement and belonging
âUse of letters in âTake Back the Magicâ
âRelationship with father and his death
âCultural fears of the dead
âLong history of suppression of speaking with dead
âUnderstanding how dead communicate
âAlchemizing experiences with past monsters
âFinding safety of ancestors
âStarting small with communication
âAssigning worries to those on the other side
âHonoring the dead
âPerdita and husbandâs spiritual backgrounds
âSpiritual experiences through birth
âSpiritual community outside of empire
âHistory of rosary
âErotic nature of the dead
âExperiencing eternal return of dead and living
âTrusting the long story of your soul
âEverything dies and everything is reborn
âNot every prayer is answered in every lifetime
âWhat is the prayer we would carry with us beyond this lifetime?
âWe are all each othersâ mothers
Resources
Website:
wayoftherose.org
takebackthemagic.com
IG: @perditafinn
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In this episode, podcast producer Jackson Kroopf interviews Kimberly about her upcoming free class "Erotic Seasons: Connect to Your Sensual Flow Through the Stages of Womanhood," which begins October 10th at 9:00am PST. We discuss Kimberly's inspiration for the class, and her evolving thoughts on the archetypes of the mother, maiden, virgin, crone. The class explores what it means to develop a mature sensual identity. Go on a journey through the seasons of womanhood and how those might impact your erotic energy (hint: itâs not all downhill). Shine a warm salt lamp light, not strobe lights, on some tender places that could use attention and give you clues about your unique erotic path. Discover your next proximal step to bridging the gap between your sensuality and spirituality. You can sign up for the free class at: https://kimberlyannjohnson.com/erotic-seasons/
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In this episode, Kimberly and Atira discuss her work as an advocate against sex-trafficking in South East Asia, how she combines art therapy and somatic practices to help survivors heal and repair, and the trauma-informed programs she offers for practitioners of plant medicine ceremonies. She describes how her own experience being an Asian woman facing compacted oppressions led her to her work. She also describes how even in some of the darkest places, she is able to see beauty and light in community and relationships.
Bio
Atira is a senior yoga and meditation teacher (500 E-RYT), art therapist (M.A. Expressive Art Therapy & Grad Dip. Transpersonal Art Therapy), a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), a somatic trauma specialist in sexual abuse recovery and trauma educator, TED speaker and #1 best-selling author. Iâm currently completing my Ph.D. studies in Expressive Art Therapies. CEO of Art to Healing and Yoga for Freedom. She is also an Expressive Art Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Yoga Teacher, Counsellor & Coach, public speaker and author on women's health, sacred activism and leadership. You can find more about Art to Healing and her upcoming programs Somatic Plant Medicine and Integration program and a Trauma Informed Plant Medicine Facilitation program.
What She Shares:
âIntergenerational trauma in the body
âSomatic applications for recovery from sex trafficking
âPlant medicine and trauma, catharsis and integration
âUpcoming program dates for facilitators
What Youâll Hear:
âWork supporting sex trafficked survivors
âAtiraâs ancestry and upbringing as an Asian woman
âHistory of oppression of Asian female bodies
âWitnessing child sex trafficking firsthand
âExpressive art therapy to address complex trauma in the anti-trafficking org
âFamilial and religious trauma and cultural responsibility
âCervical cancer diagnosis at 26 years
âReclaiming sexual and sensual innocence
-Developing a non-profit Art to Healing and train the trainer for survivors
âProgram in Cambodia and Nepal
âCulture and place in non-profit work
âFirst SE training for sex traffic survivors in 2019 with research
âGap in trauma-informed facilitators of ceremonies and psychedelics
âMyth of catharsis and real integration
âCreating app for sex trafficking for assistance, awareness, and education
âLooking for tech & app development support
âUpcoming Somatic Plant Medicine and Integration program
âTrauma Informed Plant Medicine Facilitation program
âMaster classes available on differences of plant medicines
âExploring goals, resources, and intentions around using plant medicines
âStaying well in midst of so much intensity and suffering
Resources
Website: https://www.arttohealing.org/
IG: @arttohealing
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Summary
In this episode, Kimberly and Khadija reflect on their recent mutual aid efforts in the wake of fires in Maui. Khadija shares what she has witnessed in her community and the tremendous impact of donations that have directly reached her neighbors. They reflect on destination travel and the impact of tourism on both the land and the people of Hawaii. Khadija describes what led her to invite Kimberly and Stephen Jenkinson to Reckon on the island this coming November. They wonder together about the ethics of retreats, tourism, and what it means to be an âunder-the-sceneâ worker.
To learn more about Maui Reckoning with Kimberly Ann Johnson and Stephen Jenkinson, hosted by Khadija Striegel, go here. This is a gathering for the Maui âohana.
You can contribute to the event by making a donation here.
BioKhadija is an herbalist, bonesetter and farmer born, raised, and living in Maui. Sheâs in graduate school studying Hawaiian language and culture. Khadija works with a non-profit caring for the native plant gardens at a Heiau, an ancient Hawaiian place of prayer. She offers Lomi Lomi body work to her community, in addition to tinctures and remedies under the title Family Traditions Maui.
What Youâll Hear:
There are not only stories as a result of the fires in Maui - there are still ongoing lives and lived experiences.
The variety of extremes that co-exist in Maui - of destination weddings, vacations, and those walking heavy with grief.
These fires arenât an isolated incident. They are part of a broader timeline of things that have taken place on Maui.
The donation effort of money and herbs and medicine are no small thing. This community is making an impact.
There are still areas of the island that do not have safe water.
Opening care packages with kids after a disaster.
Development and tourism on the island has directly impacted the land in a way that doesnât feed the land, water, and people. The fires are inextricably linked to this.
Lahaina as a special gathering place, whose streams lack water as a direct result of hotels and vacation homes and visitor rentals
Land stewardship is actually simple. An act of love. Loving something not just for ourselves. Loving something by letting it be.
The parallels of tourism and addiction. The addiction of going anywhere, doing anything, wherever I want.
Whose job is it to teach the culture of a place? And to what audience?
There is a longing to belong for many people. Many people find it in Hawaii. But at what cost?
The difficulty of land and home ownership for native Hawaiians.
Retreats in Hawaii. The infrequency of native Hawaiians leading sacred nature experiences?
The power of a voice that doesnât say simply âitâs all okayâ when itâs clearly not âall okay.
What does it mean to be under-the-scene workers? Not behind-the-scene but under-the-scene?
Reckoning in November is to offer something to the residents of Maui.
Resources
Maui Reckoning, with Kimberly Ann Johnson and Stephen Jenkinson, hosted by Khadija Striegel, for the Maui âohana
You are welcome to contribute to the event. Please send your donation via PayPal to Khadija here with the note âMaui Reckoning Donationâ.
If you would like to send herbs and materials directly to Khadija to support the community in Maui, find Khadijaâs letter and list here.
You can connect with Khadija via [email protected]
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Summary
In this episode, Kimberly and Rachel discuss how Rachel discovered copywriting and turned it into a business. When many entrepreneurs feel uncomfortable with marketing and social media expectations around business, Rachel provides thoughtful solutions to authentically representing oneâs own business, making meaningful professional relationships, and regulating our nervous systems while marketing. They also discuss how to use social media as a tool, using discernment when posting content, as well as the pluses and minuses of Artificial Intelligence. Last, they discuss remembering humility and humor both in social media and business, as well as our everyday lives.
Bio
Rachel Allen is the owner of Bolt from the Blue, a copywriting and marketing business that provides clients with services to best communicate their message to their audiences. Bolt from the Blue also offers a variety of trainings and workshops for professionals. Check out all that they provide in the link below.
What She Shares:
âMarketing and consent
âAIâs capabilities and limits
âBringing authenticity into sales
âRemembering humanity and relationship in marketing
âGenuine social media content
âBuilding our world on and offline
What Youâll Hear:
âHow Rachel began copywriting
âBody and mind in conflict
âMarketing and consent
âReframing predator/prey mentality in marketing
âAI and human creativity
âAI cannot create
âUsing AI for ideation and brainstorming
âNo intellectual property rights over AI generated writing
âCurrent market trends in online business
âThinking of clients as real human beings
âAll copy is sales copy
âBringing authenticity into sales
âSales as generative not conversion therapy
âRelationship physics and marketing
âQuality over quantity in marketing everytime
âBeing genuinely interested in relationships with people
âReferrals over endless content posting
âBeing comfortable with ourselves as individuals before others
âFind ways youâre comfortable connecting with people
âUnderstanding own nervous system state and moving from there
âPosting content that feels good to you
âMistaking transparency for authenticity
âSharing âminimum viable truthsâ in posting content
âFiguring out your genuine âYESâ
âRemembering our social media algorithms as silos
âBuy in with novelty and stay in with empathy
âHormones, marketing and empathy
âFeeling connected and really good, closing the hormonal loops
âBeing responsible for consequences and outcome
âBuilding in live interactions amongst digital work
âGrounding in relationships in real time
âStaying humble and using humor
âFinding humanity and building world we want
Resources
Website: https://www.boltfromthebluecopywriting.com/
IG: @backfromthebluecopywriting
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Summary
In this episode, Kimberly and Marysia discuss the origins of School of the Sacred Wild, plants as medicine, and entrepreneurship. Marysia shares about how her family and heritage influenced her journey to plants, how plants provide somatic, restorative experiences, and how she navigates single-parenting and running a business. Registration is now open for a new course at the School of the Sacred Wild starting September 12th.
Bio
Marysia Miernowska is a teacher, author, Earth activist, green witch, folk herbalist and healer rooted in the Wise Woman Tradition of Healing. Born in Poland, she carries with her a lineage of European folk herbalism. Marysia honors plants as sentient beings, elders, healers and teachers. As a Plant Spirit Communicator, Marysia channels messages from the Earth spirits and guides students to connect with plant spirits through meditation and through their bodies, to receive guidance and learn about the constituents, energetics and properties of plants. Registration is now open for the School of the Sacred Wild and can be accessed through the link below.
What She Shares:
âSchool of the Sacred Wild
âSomatic experiences with plants
âBenefits of motherhood and entrepreneurship
âAligning life seasons with cycles of nature
What Youâll Hear:
âEmbodying love and vastness
âCreating container of safety and new culture of no judgment
âInviting in ancient plants
âPlants offer flavor of love
âInteracting somatically with plants
âCreating intimacy with the natural world
âNew learning experience engaging with plants
âOrigin of School of Sacred Wild
âGrandparents in Warsaw during WWII
âGrew up in Poland during 1980s
âRaised with responsibility to fight for justice
âSymbols of Black Madonna and Isis
âMother as cosmic fertile void
âPower issues in alternative medicine communities
âFinding wild weeds from childhood in Vermont
âDepleted by modern living
âRestored with plant medicine
âLearning to do business and being self-employed
âMaking earth medicine accessible to all people
âWorking with abundant, wild, and free plants
âMaking courses accessible, sliding scale, and scholarships
âSingle-parenting and business
âHaving fire from mothering to channel into business
âBalancing motherhood with business
âAligning with the currents of nature and our bodies
âMother archetype is time of production and hard work
âWorking hard in summer to have a nourishing bounty in fall
âTurning to plants and earth for healing support
âPrayer to change culture
âLearning through bodyâs challenges around needs
âDigging and uprooting ancestral patterns of martyrdom
âWild plants encourage wildness in ourselves
âRegistration now open for School of the Sacred Wild
Resources
Website: https://www.schoolofthesacredwild.com/
IG: @marysia_miernowska
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Summary
In this episode, Kimberly and Uma discuss the controversial updated edition of her book âYoni Shaktiâ which Kimberly has used all throughout her writing and classes. Uma describes the legal battle she faced from the yoga industry when she wrote about all kinds of abuses happening in certain yoga schools. They discuss how yoga technologies which stabilize and help us understand our nervous systems have been co-opted by commercialization, creating much harm for practitioners, and taking away our intuition. They share how perimenopausal and menopausal women have a role to play in speaking out against systems of oppression and abuse as well as how intergenerational circles can enable all of us to make change against failing systems and create liberation for all.
Bio
Uma Dinsmore-Tuli PhD is a yoga therapist, yoga teacher trainer and retreat leader with special expertise in women's health, including birth, pre-and post-natal yoga, and yoga for positive menstrual health and fertility. She works internationally, sharing yoga retreats, trainings and empowerments that support the natural arising of prana shakti: the power of life. She trains specialist teachers in Total Yoga Nidra and Yoni Shakti Well Woman Yoga Therapy for menstrual and menopausal health, pregnancy, birth, and postnatal recovery. She is co-founder of the Yoga Nidra Network and has developed Total Yoga Nidra, Wild Nidra, Yoni Nidra and Nidra Shakti: radical creative and intuitive approaches to sharing yoga nidra. You can follow Umaâs writings and offerings on her website linked below.
What She Shares:
âThe cancel campaign against âYoni Shaktiâ
âRevealing abuses in the yoga industrial complex
âDiscernment, intuition, and nervous system technologies
âPower of crones speaking truth
âYoga for liberation
What Youâll Hear:
âCancel campaign against âYoni Shaktiâ
âRevealing multiple abuses and investigations in yoga schools
âCensoring of yoga school abuses in first edition
âUma sued for âdefamationâ of a guru already in investigation
ââYoni Shaktiâ back in print
âToxicity of the Yoga Industrial Complex
âTurning to yoga after sexual boundary ruptures
âYoga technologies and nervous system repairs
âPoliticizing and patriarchal overtaking of yoga
âPowerful birth initiations
âDiscipline and discernment versus control
âEntering ethical arrangements with trust, agreement, and discernment
âCultivating intuition and understanding nervous systems
âEradicating individual intuition through prioritizing certain knowledge
âMoving beyond legality and consent as baselines for human interaction
âEducating potential yogis on abuses of power
âYoga schools and structures not fit for purpose anymore
âDeciphering stressful events through perimenopause
âNavigating climacteric menopause
âUncontrollable rage speaking on behalf of those without voices
âRole of perimenopausal and postmenopausal women to speak up
âIntergenerational groups of women
âFierceness and integrity of crones
âCommercialized and colonized yoga trying to have maidens forever
âWhat are you willing to risk?
Resources
Website: https://umadinsmoretuli.com/
IG: @umadinsmoretuli
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