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Creativity is something we often see "reserved" for the talented. Otherwise it's seen as indulgent, frivolous, even wasted time. In this episode, we gently dismantle that myth. 

I’m joined by writer and creative guide Allegra Chapman for a rich, grounding conversation about creativity as a nervous-system practice, a form of self-care, and a path back to self-connection. We explore why so many people believe they’re “not creative,” how early experiences — especially in the early school years — can create lasting creativity wounds, and why our culture actively discourages imagination, play, and rest.

Together, we talk about creativity as embodiment: using the hands, the senses, and the body to regulate the nervous system, quiet mental noise, and access intuition. We discuss creative practices as a kind of moving meditation — especially for neurodivergent minds — and why making something doesn’t need to result in a masterpiece to be meaningful. The process itself is where healing, insight, and clarity live.

This episode also touches on the deeper layers of creativity: how productivity culture, burnout, and constant output disconnect us from our inner worlds; how creative expression can restore a sense of agency and purpose; and why reclaiming imagination is quietly radical in a system that benefits from exhaustion and compliance.

If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your creativity, stuck in freeze, overwhelmed by productivity pressure, or unsure how to rest without guilt, this conversation offers a softer way back. Creativity here isn’t about talent or outcome — it’s about permission, presence, and remembering that expression is part of being human.

Topics we explore include:
creative self-care, nervous system regulation, embodiment, creativity wounds, neurodivergence and creativity, creative meditation, burnout recovery, intuition, and reclaiming imagination as a form of healing and resistance.

This episode is an invitation to play, to listen inward, and to reconnect with yourself — one small creative act at a time.

About Allegra

Allegra Chapman is an author, columnist and creative therapy practitioner. As an AuDHD mother, she is passionate about supporting creatives who don't fit into society's boxes to claim and embody their creative power. Allegra's latest book, Creativity Is Your Self-Care, is out now. 

Allegra is graciously offering listeners a 20% discount on her membership. Follow this link: 

 https://yourcreativefix.substack.com/becoming

Contact Allegra at any of these links: 

Website: https://creativefix.net/

Substack: https://yourcreativefix.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allegra_chapman/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@allegra_chapman

And for more guidance on building a creative practice, her book, Creativity Is Your Self-Care, has 52 simple, low-deman

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

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It's all just heavy right now. And unstable. Chaotic. Overwhelming. 

It's hard to keep up with everything that's happening. For a lot of people, the easiest response is to shut down -- not because we don't care, but because caring feels like too much. 

But that's the point -- the shut down, the apathy. When we check out, harmful systems advance. 

This episode takes a grounded approach to the hidden cost of not speaking up -- what it does to the body and nervous system when we repeatedly override our truth, suppress our voice, or disconnect from what we know deep down is not okay. We'll also cover how to break the cycle and start (or continue) speaking up. If you've felt overwhelmed, confused, numb, angry, or frozen - these are normal responses to prolonged uncertainty and collective stress. 

But the way through this is by going through it. Not around it. 

This isn’t a call to panic or perform. It’s an invitation to slow down, get regulated, and reconnect with what you stand for. To remember that using your voice doesn’t have to look loud or confrontational -- it can look grounded, intentional, and rooted in love. We talk about practical, sustainable ways to engage: speaking up in small moments, modeling values for our kids, building community, and choosing participation over apathy.

Most of all, this episode is a reminder that you are not weak for feeling this. You are not broken for needing rest. And you are not alone in the tension between wanting to stay safe and wanting to stay true. When we tend to our nervous systems and align with our values, using our voice becomes less about fear -- and more about integrity, care, and connection.

If you’ve been feeling the weight of the world and wondering what to do with it, this conversation is for you.

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

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In a world that feels heavy, chaotic, and — at times — genuinely unreal, it’s easy to swing between two extremes: doom-spiraling until your nervous system shuts down… or trying to “love-and-light” your way through realities your body knows are not okay.

This episode lives in the middle path.

I sat down with Kelly Stegman (aka The Boho Witchery) for a conversation about spiritual activism — the meeting place between inner work and real-world change. Kelly’s approach to witchcraft is one of the most grounded, accessible, and empowering perspectives I’ve heard in a long time. Here she reminds us of something we’ve been conditioned to forget: You already have what you need.

Witchcraft, in Kelly’s world, isn’t reserved for the “gifted,” the initiated, or the people with a perfectly curated altar. It's intention. It’s sovereignty. It’s the quiet power of choosing what you believe, what you’ll protect, what you’ll build — and then taking steps that move the needle.

Sometimes it looks like lighting a candle or setting a simple intention. Sometimes it looks like putting that intention behind a donation, a conversation, a boundary, or a decision. Sometimes it looks like saying: I refuse to stay numb.

Through this conversation, we explore ideas like:

If we can manifest safety, love, and expansion for ourselves… why wouldn’t we include our neighbors?
If we’re brave enough to ask the universe for guidance… why wouldn’t we also ask for justice, truth, and protection — collectively?

This is where Kelly’s work becomes powerful in a way that feels radically human: she’s building community-based spirituality through monthly community circles (free to attend) and her Patreon — spaces where people gather to set shared intentions, co-create energetic momentum, and then pair it with real-world action.

Because intention without action can become performance. And action without intention can become burnout. The medicine is in holding both.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Signs and intuition (and why specificity matters when you’re asking for guidance)
• How to tell the difference between intuition and fear in the body
• Why “spirituality” that ignores reality isn’t spirituality — it’s avoidance
• How community circles work, and why shared intention is a form of collective power
• The simplest way to start practicing: intention as everyday magic
• Why witchcraft is, at its core, about self-empowerment + sovereignty
• And why every person has gifts — we’ve just been trained to doubt them

More than anything, Kelly offers this reminder -

The first step to getting started happens exactly where you are — with what you have — when you choose connection over collapse.

Because the truth is: we shift the world the same way we shift anything — one coherent choice at a time.

Connect with Kelly

https://www.threads.com/@thebohowitchery

https://www.instagram.com/thebohowitchery 

Patreon is Witchery13

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

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In this episode of Conditioning to Consciousness, we’re talking about something a lot of women feel… but rarely say out loud: rage—the kind that builds quietly under “I’m fine,” behind the smile, and beneath years of self-betrayal, suppression, and over-functioning.

The episode starts with a quiet reflection on the importance of feeling it all at a time when there's a lot of unrest and discontent building across the U.S.

Then, I’m joined by Simone Sylvester, a practitioner and writer in the space of the dark feminine, where we explore the parts of ourselves that have been shunned, softened, or silenced in the name of being “good,” “easy,” or “palatable.” What I love about this conversation is how grounded it is—this isn’t rage as drama or chaos. It’s rage as information. Rage as truth. Rage as a signal that something in us has been overridden for too long.

Simone shares the story behind Rage Pages—a simple, powerful practice for releasing anger safely through writing (and then letting it go—rip it up, burn it, throw it away). We also talk about why so many spiritual spaces can feel bypassy, why “good vibes only” can become its own kind of cage, and how movement, ritual, nervous system awareness, and honest self-expression can help us process what we’ve been carrying—without turning it inward and letting it become anxiety, burnout, or dis-ease in the body.

If you’ve ever thought, “I’m not an angry person,” or “Rage isn’t really me,” this episode is a gentle invitation to look again. Because for so many women, rage isn’t the problem—it’s the accumulation. And when it finally rises, it’s often because something deeper is ready to be reclaimed.

In this episode, we explore:
• What “the dark feminine” really means (and what it doesn’t)
• Why feminine rage is often delayed self-respect
• How suppression shows up in the body over time
• The practice of Rage Pages (and how to use it safely)
• Why movement, dancing, and even screaming can be medicine
• How to deprogram “good girl” conditioning and return to truth

If this conversation resonates, share it with a friend who’s been holding it together for too long—and if you’re ready to experiment, try Rage Pages this week and notice what shifts.

Visit Simone on Substack. 

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

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What happens when you walk away from everything you’ve ever known - your family, your culture, your religion - and have to rebuild your life… twice?

In this episode, I sit down with Emily Adams, a speaker, coach, and creator of a new human design for leadership platform, to talk about her extraordinary journey from growing up in the Amish community to becoming a powerful, grounded leader in the worlds of business, energy, and self-trust.

Emily shares how leaving the Amish at 17 - literally climbing out of a second-story window in the middle of the night - threw her into a full identity crisis and culture shock. We walk through her climb into the corporate automotive world, her spiritual awakening after a painful divorce, and the deep trauma work (EMDR, inner child work, plant medicine) that eventually led her to astrology and human design.

Today, she uses human design to help leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs align how they work with their innate energy, instead of continuing to burn out in hustle culture.

In this conversation, we explore:

• What it was like to escape the Amish culture and start over with a sixth-grade education
• The realities of unprocessed trauma and the catalyst that led to her spiritual awakening
• How human design became a tool for healing, deconditioning, and reclaiming her voice
• What it means to be a Manifestor 4/6 and how understanding her design changed how she works, parents, and leads
• Practical, accessible ways to start using human design: type, authority, and profile
• How she uses human design as a parent to better understand and support her two sons
• Why purpose isn’t a fixed destination, but something that evolves as you do
• The story behind her new tech platform that blends human design, coaching, and leadership development

If you’ve ever felt out of place in your own life, questioned the systems you were raised in, or wondered how to build a life that actually fits your energy, this episode will speak directly to you.

Connect with Emily

Human Design + Leadership Platform:
https://leadingwithhumandesign.com/ 

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@emilyadams_

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmilyAdams_

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyadams8/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilyadamm/

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

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January is often framed as a fresh start — a time for productivity, goal setting, and pushing forward. But biologically, emotionally, and energetically, we’re still in winter. This episode of Conditioning to Consciousness offers a collective “weather report” for January and explores the real cost of ignoring seasonal rhythms in favor of constant output.

Drawing on natural cycles, nervous system awareness, and lived experience, this solo episode reframes January as a time for integration, rest, and listening rather than rigid resolutions or forced momentum. We unpack why New Year’s goals often fail, how the Gregorian calendar disconnects us from our bodies, and why honoring winter can lead to more sustainable growth later in the year.

This episode is an invitation to release the pressure to perform, tune inward, and approach the new year with curiosity, flexibility, and self-trust. If you’re feeling exhausted, unmotivated, or resistant to traditional goal-setting right now, you’re not behind — you’re responding appropriately to the season.

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

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I didn’t expect to release another episode before the end of the year, but sometimes clarity arrives when we least expect it. This episode was recorded in one of those moments — after yoga, sitting in my car, via voice note — when something just clicked.

In this episode, I’m sharing an honest reflection on the evolution of The Becoming You Project and where my heart — and this work — are leading as we move into 2026.

We explore the art of becoming as an ongoing, cyclical process: peeling back layers of conditioning, stress, and inherited patterns to reconnect with the most authentic core of who we are. Becoming isn’t a destination — it’s a choice we make again and again, especially in moments of tension, discomfort, or overwhelm.

I also talk openly about:

• How chronic stress and unprocessed emotion pull us back into conditioning
• Why nervous system regulation is foundational for any real transformation
• The harm of toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing
• How unhealed systems keep us numb, compliant, and disconnected from self-trust
• Why naming conditioning isn’t negative — it’s liberating

This episode introduces a clearer direction for the podcast moving forward, rooted in two essential themes: conditioning and consciousness.

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

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The Wisdom That Lives in the Winter Solstice and Nature’s Cycles

In this final episode of the year, we explore the quiet wisdom of winter—and what the winter solstice can teach us about rest, release, and the natural rhythms we’ve forgotten how to trust.

The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, a powerful turning point where light begins its slow return. Rather than signaling immediate growth, this moment invites us inward—into reflection, nervous system regulation, and deep preparation for what’s to come.

In this episode, we explore how humans are not separate from nature, but part of it, and how centuries of disconnection—from the land, from our bodies, and from natural cycles—have shaped the way we live today. We look at how ancient cultures honored solar and seasonal rhythms, how modern life keeps us stuck in constant “summer energy,” and why honoring winter may be one of the most radical acts of healing available to us right now.

This conversation weaves together science, spirituality, psychology, and ancestral wisdom to reframe the winter solstice not as an ending, but as a moment of orientation—where change becomes possible because we slow down enough to listen.

In this episode, we explore:

• What the winter solstice represents energetically and symbolically
• Why rebirth does not mean immediate growth
• How human nervous systems are designed to move with natural cycles
• The science behind grounding, circadian rhythms, and nature-based regulation
• How ancient cultures honored solar cycles through sacred structures
• Why modern systems have distanced us from seasonal living
• How capitalism keeps us in constant output and ignores natural rest cycles
• How patriarchy disconnected us from intuition, embodiment, and cyclical wisdom
• Why individual healing creates ripple effects that support collective healing
• How working with winter supports reflection, release, and nervous system renewal

The seasonal cycle as a map for becoming:

• Winter – Rest, repair, shadow work, and subconscious renewal
• Spring – Activation, seed planting, and emerging motivation
• Summer – Growth, visibility, connection, and outward expression
• Fall – Harvest, reflection, integration, and letting go

Visit this Substack article for my winter solstice playlist.

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

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What does it really mean to do shadow work in a world that feels like it’s on fire? In this episode, I sit down with Christine Zaroura to explore what happens when we stop running from the dark and start listening to it.

Christine shares her story of grief, spiritual awakening, and what she calls becoming a “bridge builder” — someone who can feel the darkness, name the systems that keep us small, and still choose to live rooted in the dark, shining in the light. We explore how personal healing, nervous system awareness, and deconditioning from capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism all intersect on the path to purpose.

This conversation is for you if you’ve felt lost, disconnected from yourself, or like you’re carrying a call you can’t quite name yet — and you’re ready to turn toward your own shadows instead of away from them.

In this episode, we explore:

• Christine’s 10-year journey from grief, despair, and existential dread to awe, presence, and purpose
• What it feels like to sit on the floor in the “dark night of the soul” and realize, this is where so many people stay
• How to understand shadow work as a pathway to liberation, not self-punishment
• The role of systems (patriarchy, capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy) in keeping us exhausted, disconnected, and afraid to question the script
• Why naming these systems is part of healing, not “being negative”
• The tension between survival, nervous system protection, and the desire to live a more soul-aligned life
• What it means to be a bridge builder: holding both the heaviness of the world and the possibility of something new
• The difference between the real self and the idealized self, and how dissonance between the two shows up as stress, anxiety, and dysregulation
• How to turn toward fear and shame instead of bypassing them – and why that choice is often the turning point
• Practical ideas for using this time of year (end of year, winter solstice energy) to reflect, integrate, and “clean up” your inner world through ritual and intention

You’ll hear us talk about spiritual awakening, nervous system regulation, non-duality, sacred rage, and the messy, human process of deconditioning. At its core, this episode is an invitation: to listen for the call, to become intimate with your own shadows, and to remember that your personal healing is part of a much bigger wave of collective healing and consciousness shift.

Connect with Christine: 

• Instagram: @mysticchristine
• Substack: https://christinezaroura.substack.com/

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

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In this conversation, Jess sits down with astrologer and transformational counselor Danielle Polgar to explore how astrology can help us remember who we are, why we’re here, and how to move through big life transitions with more grace.

They begin with Danielle's story: secretly discovering astrology at 12 in a Christian bookstore, hiding her fascination from her religious community, and eventually leaving the church to claim a more expansive spiritual path. From there, astrology became the thread weaving together her counseling work, spiritual practice, and understanding of human development.

Together, Jess and Danielle dive into the natal chart as a mirror rather than a mandate — a map that reflects our inner world, our emotional needs, communication style, values, and the unique frequency we bring to life. They talk about purpose beyond job titles, distinguishing between professional calling and soul purpose, and how the Midheaven, IC, and nodal axis can all speak to different layers of why we’re here.

The conversation also moves through Saturn returns, the Uranus opposition and “midlife crisis” as a potential midlife awakening, and Chiron as the bridge between our deepest wound and our greatest medicine. They explore how astrology can help us navigate these cycles consciously instead of feeling like life is happening to us.

Recorded under a Full Moon in Gemini, Jess and Danielle close by reflecting on this moment in time: the mental noise versus deeper truth, the pull toward curiosity and honesty, and the importance of quieting down as we move toward the Winter Solstice and a new energetic chapter.

In this episode, we explore:

• Danielle's journey from Catholic/born-again roots to intuitive astrologer and counselor
• Finding astrology “by accident” and recognizing it as a familiar language
• How the natal chart works as a mirror of the inner world (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars & beyond)
• The difference between professional purpose (Midheaven) and soul purpose (North Node)
• The nodal axis as a spiral of growth, not a binary of “good” vs “bad”
• Saturn return as an initiation into adulthood and inner authority
• Uranus opposition as a midlife awakening rather than a midlife crisis
• Chiron as the archetype of the wounded healer and bridge between worlds
• The Full Moon in Gemini and what this energy can illuminate around truth, communication, and curiosity
• Using astrology as a compassionate tool to work with your energetic blueprint instead of against it

This episode is for anyone who feels in-between: between identities, life chapters, belief systems, or versions of themselves — and wants a language to understand that process more deeply.

Find Danielle below: 

Website: www.daniellepolgar.com 

Substack: https://substack.com/@daniellepolgar 

Instagram: @danielle_polgar

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of Conditioning to Consciousness.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at conditioningtoconsciousness.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.