In This Body

Why can you understand your patterns completely and still feel them happening in your body?

In this solo episode, Ailey responds to listener questions about the space between what we know intellectually and what the body has learned through experience. She explores why understanding where a pattern comes from does not necessarily stop the stomach from dropping or the body from bracing when something feels unsafe.

Ailey considers how our bodies learn through repetition and relationship, often long before we have language for what is happening. She reflects on what can happen when we repeatedly override internal signals and why reconnecting with the body may require something different from simply understanding ourselves better.

The conversation also turns toward pleasure and the surprising difficulty some of us experience staying present when something feels good. Rather than treating disconnection as another problem to overcome, Ailey invites us to become curious about what the body may be protecting us from and to practise staying with sensation in ways that feel manageable.

Ultimately, this episode offers a gentler understanding of why healing does not always follow what we know. Sometimes the body needs time to experience something different before it can begin to believe something different.

In this episode:

• 2:40 Listener Questions And What’s Next
• 8:44 Beauty Standards Stored As Reflex
• 14:10 Untangling Inherited Body Disgust
• 18:34 Relearning Hunger After Dieting
• 21:48 Building Real Space To Slow Down
• 25:53 Why Talk Therapy Isn’t Enough
• 29:18 When Pleasure Triggers Numbness
• 33:34 Making Embodiment Last In Life
• 40:17 Final Invites And Closing Grounding

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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What if the place you feel pain is not the only place asking for your attention?

In this episode, Ailey sits down with somatic sexologist and pelvic care specialist Serena Gold to explore what becomes possible when we begin seeing the body as an interconnected whole. Together, they consider how pain and numbness can carry information that is easy to miss when symptoms are treated in isolation.

Serena shares the fascinating relationship between the jaw and pelvis, offering a different way to understand tension and the patterns our bodies hold over time. The conversation invites us to become curious about what the body may be communicating before immediately trying to make a sensation disappear.

They also explore the role of scar tissue in healing, including the places where sensation may feel absent altogether. Serena offers a powerful reframe: numbness itself is a sensation. Rather than seeing disconnection as evidence that the body has stopped communicating, it can become another place from which we begin listening.

Ultimately, Ailey and Serena invite us to approach the body with greater curiosity, recognizing that healing may begin not by focusing more closely on one part, but by noticing the relationships that have been there all along.

In this episode:

• 2:57 Defining Embodiment As Home
• 8:41 Pain, Safety, And The Psoas
• 10:02 Why Jaw Mirrors Pelvis
• 18:58 Botox, Relief, And Disconnection
• 24:06 Head Carriage And Vagus Regulation
• 29:28 Scar Tissue Changes The Whole System
• 35:51 Internal Scars And Skilled Support
• 49:39 Slow Devotion And Real Integration
• 58:52 Where To Begin With Self Touch
• 1:03:23 Serena’s Offers And Closing Reflections

You can read the full transcript here.

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

What does it mean to feel at home in your body when the world around you does not feel equally safe?

In this episode, Ailey sits down with Dr. Krystal Redman, a self-published author, and a speaker throughout sexual and reproductive justice, and health justice movement(s), as well as in the public health sector, to explore embodiment beyond the individual. Together, they consider bodily autonomy as something shaped not only by our relationship with ourselves, but by the conditions that determine who gets to feel safe and free within their own body.

Dr. Redman shares how their understanding of care has been shaped by both their work in public health and their own lived experience. They reflect on the premature birth of their son while they were leading maternal and child health initiatives designed to prevent the very outcome their family was experiencing. That experience revealed the distance that can exist between what systems understand about health and what people actually need.

The conversation turns toward community as an essential part of healing. Dr. Redman invites us to consider what becomes possible when care is something we create together rather than something we are expected to achieve alone.

Ailey and Dr. Redman ultimately explore a vision of embodiment that makes room for joy. Rather than treating freedom as an individual destination, they ask what it could mean to build the conditions that allow more of us to feel safe enough to fully inhabit our lives.

In this episode:

• 3:30 Content Note And Gentle Care
• 5:26 Bodily Autonomy Needs Community
• 10:08 Care Beyond Capitalism
• 16:03 How To Find And Build Community
• 27:14 Pleasure Beyond Sex And Shame
• 34:20 Weathering And Oppression In The Body
• 41:57 Joy At The Centre Of Liberation
• 44:36 Closing Reflections And How To Support

You can read the full transcript here.

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Sign up: InBodyMethod
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Find: Website
• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

What happens when thinking becomes the place you go to avoid feeling?

In this episode, Ailey Jolie sits down with clinical life coach and former therapist Mollie Birney to explore embodiment as the practice of being present with ourselves rather than constantly trying to manage our experience. Together, they consider how overthinking and control can become ways of creating safety, even when they ultimately keep us disconnected from the body.

Drawing from her own recovery and clinical work, Mollie shares what it means to change our relationship with the inner voice that tells us how we should behave. Rather than waiting for that voice to disappear, she explores the possibility of loosening its authority and making room for what we actually feel.

The conversation also examines the difference between thinking about an emotion and allowing ourselves to experience it. Mollie offers a simple but powerful perspective: thoughts can give us somewhere to stay, while feelings can show us where to go.

Ailey and Mollie ultimately return to what it means to live with greater authenticity, finding the courage to trust your own voice without reshaping yourself to be more acceptable to others.

Please note that this episode includes discussion of eating disorder recovery. We encourage you to take care of yourself and listen in whatever way feels supportive.

In this episode:

• 4:14 Presence As The Core Of Embodiment
• 8:16 Patriarchy, Recovery, And The Inner Voice
• 13:34 Isolation, Grief, And Outgrowing Safety
• 21:53 Coaching Versus Therapy And Fit
• 26:52 Psychodynamic Training And Nervous Systems
• 32:02 Free Fall And Feeling Versus Thinking
• 38:58 Resonance, Voice, And Taking Up Space
• 47:49 Reflections, Clarifications, And Next Steps

You can read the full transcript here.

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Find: Website
• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

What if the voices we instinctively trust have less to do with wisdom and more to do with what our bodies have been taught to recognize as authority?

In this solo episode, Ailey explores how cultural conditioning can quietly shape whose knowledge we trust and whose confidence makes us uncomfortable. Drawing from what she has been noticing while writing her book, she considers how these patterns can live beneath our conscious beliefs and influence the way we respond to women in positions of authority.

Ailey reflects on the difference between confidence and safety, questioning why women are so often expected to prove their expertise while navigating the discomfort that can come with fully claiming it. She also turns toward the women whose work has profoundly shaped modern approaches to trauma and embodiment, despite their names not always receiving the same recognition as the ideas they helped establish.

Rather than approaching these biases as something to judge or intellectualize, Ailey invites us to notice them in the body. What happens when a woman speaks with certainty? What shifts when the same message comes from a man?

This conversation is an invitation to become more discerning about whose wisdom we receive, while creating more freedom for women to take up space within their own work.

In this episode:

• 4:07 The Question Of Female Authority
• 16:44 Confidence Is Not The Issue
• 22:22 Naming The Female Elders We Miss
• 33:22 Neuroception And Somatic Misogyny
• 37:20 Family Conditioning And Inherited Safety
• 39:29 Ageism And Women As Threat
• 44:06 A Body Based Practice For Change
• 47:03 Ways To Go Deeper Together

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Sign up: InBodyMethod
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

What happens when you learn to read everyone else before you learn to read yourself?

In this episode, Ailey sits down with registered clinical counsellor and yoga therapist, Heidi Stokes, to explore how the nervous system shapes our experience of safety. Together, they look at how easily we can become focused on reading the room while losing touch with what is happening inside our own bodies.

Heidi shares how patterns like people pleasing can develop as ways of staying connected and protected. The conversation explores what it takes to turn our attention inward again, especially when insight has not been enough to create meaningful change.

Ailey and Heidi also discuss why trauma healing requires patience and why feeling safe with another person can be an important part of learning to feel safe within ourselves. Rather than pushing the body toward change, they consider what becomes possible when healing moves at a pace the nervous system can actually hold.

If you have ever struggled to know what you feel or found yourself paying more attention to everyone else than to yourself, this conversation offers a gentler way back to your body.

In this episode:

• 3:25 What Being In Your Body Means
• 6:00 Women Trained To Leave The Body
• 11:27 Somatic Therapy Versus Talk Therapy
• 22:16 What Yoga Therapy Looks Like
• 27:24 Trauma Disclosure And Building Safety
• 35:37 The Harm Of Going Too Fast
• 40:57 Co-Regulation Before Self-Regulation
• 48:59 Self-Regulation As A Gentle Choice
• 57:16 When Talk Therapy Is Not Shifting
• 1:00:00 Closing Invitation To Rest And Validate

You can read the full transcript here.

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Sign up: InBodyMethod
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

When does wellness become another way of trying to fix yourself?

In this episode, Ailey sits down with Amanda White, licensed professional counsellor and author of Not Drinking Tonight, to explore how the pursuit of wellness can quietly pull us further away from our bodies. Together, they question the promise that the right routine or enough self improvement will eventually create a version of ourselves who no longer struggles.

Amanda shares how her own recovery shaped the way she understands avoidance and our desire to escape uncomfortable experiences. The conversation considers what changes when we stop treating discomfort as evidence that something is wrong and begin developing the capacity to stay present with what we feel.

Ailey and Amanda also reflect on the difference between protecting ourselves and avoiding life. Rather than searching for the perfect boundary or healing practice, they explore a more flexible way of relating to ourselves that leaves room for uncertainty and the full range of being human.

If you have ever felt exhausted by the pressure to optimise yourself, this conversation offers another possibility: a life built around greater capacity rather than greater control.

In this epsiode:

• 4:30 Learning Safety In The Body
• 9:29 Wellness Culture And Optimisation Illusions
• 13:03 Therapy Speak Boundaries And Armour
• 26:13 Recovery Eating Disorders And Substance Use
• 35:05 12-Step What Helps What Limits
• 49:34 Practising Friction In Daily Life
• 1:00:45 Building Discomfort Tolerance That Lasts
• 1:05:17 Closing Reflections And Ways To Join

You can read the full transcript here.

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

How do you know when to trust what your body is telling you?

In part two of this conversation, Ailey welcomes back Carissa Schumacher, a neuroscience trained forensic psychic medium and sacred ceremony facilitator, to explore the relationship between intuition, embodiment, and self trust. Together, they examine how we can reconnect with our inner knowing without losing our grounding.

Carissa shares her perspective on the different ways intuition can be experienced and why sensitivity is both a gift and a responsibility. The conversation explores how to distinguish intuition from fear, why boundaries are essential for those who feel deeply, and how our nervous system shapes the way we interpret what we experience.

Ailey and Carissa also reflect on healing as a process of integration rather than elimination. They discuss shadow work, shame, and the importance of developing a relationship with every part of ourselves instead of trying to push difficult experiences away.

If you have ever questioned your intuition or wondered how to trust yourself more deeply, this conversation offers a thoughtful and grounded place to continue the journey.

In this episode:

• 5:21 Dreams Visions And The Seer Path
• 10:58 Feelers Knowers And Psychic Clairs
• 16:01 The Price Of Gifts And Surrender
• 26:14 Sleep Science And Mental Health Nuance
• 43:31 Integration Over Eradication
• 52:02 Interoception Boundaries And Closing Invitations

You can read the full transcript here.

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

• Find: Website
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• Experience: Insight Timer
• Sign up: InBodyMethod
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

What helps us move through life's biggest transitions without losing ourselves?

In this episode, Ailey sits down with Carissa Schumacher, a neuroscience trained forensic psychic medium and sacred ceremony facilitator, to explore what it means to navigate change with the body, rather than simply endure it. Together, they reflect on why major life transitions can leave a lasting imprint and how healing becomes possible when we are witnessed through them.

Carissa shares how her own experiences with illness, sensitivity, and trauma shaped her understanding of embodiment. The conversation explores the relationship between the physical and the spiritual, offering a grounded perspective on what it means to care for both without losing sight of either.

At the heart of the episode is the role of ritual and community. Ailey and Carissa consider what happens when life's thresholds go unnamed, and why grief, loss, and transformation are often easier to carry when they are acknowledged rather than endured alone.

If you are moving through change or searching for a deeper way to understand life's transitions, this conversation offers a thoughtful place to begin.

In this episode:

• 2:26 Meet Carissa Schumacher
• 5:44 A Gentle Content Note
• 6:20 Hope, Essence, And Stewardship
• 17:11 Childhood Sight Of Spirit
• 23:07 Building Boundaries With Intuition
• 27:49 First Period Without A Rite
• 36:11 Why Rites Of Passage Heal
• 41:53 Everyday Thresholds You Might Miss
• 51:12 Purification, Grief, And Channel Work
• 1:01:08 Liminality, Language, And Listener Next Steps

You can read the full transcript here.

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

• Find: Website
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• Explore: Substack
• Experience: Insight Timer
• Sign up: InBodyMethod
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

• Follow: Instagram
• Find: Website
• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

What happens when shame becomes the way you experience your body?

In this episode, Ailey sits down with psychedelic somatic therapist Christian Snuffer to explore how shame can shape our relationship with ourselves long before we have words for it. Together, they reflect on what it means to lose touch with the body and why healing often begins with simply noticing what has been there all along.

Drawing from his work in somatic therapy and psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, Christian shares how we can begin rebuilding trust in our inner experience. The conversation also explores what it means to reconnect with intuition after years of self doubt, and how staying present can become the foundation for lasting change.

Rather than searching for a quick transformation, Ailey and Christian consider healing as a gradual return to ourselves. They reflect on the quiet work of integration and the possibility of becoming more open to love, connection, and life itself.

If you have ever wondered what it feels like to come home to yourself after shame, this conversation offers a thoughtful and compassionate place to begin.

In this episode:

• 5:25 What Being Embodied Means
• 10:10 Intuition And Psycho Spiritual Openness
• 17:35 Leaving Mormonism And Meeting Shame
• 20:46 How Shame Lives In The Body
• 25:22 PSIP And Readiness For Psychedelics
• 38:34 Ketamine As Resourcing Not Escape
• 45:21 Integration That Changes Real Life
• 56:02 Closing Reflections And Ways To Continue

You can read the full transcript here.

A note: Ailey shares this conversation not as a recommendation but as information. Psychedelics carry real risks, psychological, physical, legal, and aren’t appropriate for everyone. If this is a path you’re interested in, please approach it with care, do your research, and seek appropriate support. This isn’t medical advice or advocating for psychedelic usage. These substances remain illegal in most countries; this is just one perspective in a much larger conversation.

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

• Find: Website
• Follow: Instagram
• Explore: Substack
• Experience: Insight Timer
• Sign up: InBodyMethod
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

• Follow: Instagram
• Find: Website
• Email: info@aileyjolie.com