What if your body isn’t a barrier to spirituality, but the place where the sacred actually meets you. This is the heart of the conversation with spiritual teacher and retreat leader Brandon Nappi, whose work weaves together Christian mysticism, Zen practice, and somatic healing.

Together, we explore a spirituality that is grounded, honest, and lived through the body. Brandon shares how his understanding of faith was transformed through contemplative practice and relationship, learning to hold both insight and belovedness at once. We name the ways body and spirit have been divided through history, and we also remember the quieter traditions that insisted on an embodied faith.

This episode offers a practical, compassionate invitation to begin where sensation and breath are available, to build capacity through daily practice, and to meet discomfort without bypassing it. For anyone engaged in leadership, healing, or inner work, this conversation is a reminder that the body can be a place of refuge, devotion, and return.

In this episode: 

• 0:00 – Welcome And Embodiment Framing
• 3:26 – Body As Home: Defining Embodiment 
• 11:11 –  Meeting Buddhism And Somatics
• 16:43 – Practice Grounding: Zazen And Breath
• 22:24 – How The Body Was Split From Spirit
• 29:27 – Slow Repair: Somatics And Unlearning
• 32:42 – Men’s Work: From Fragility To Feeling
• 39:34 – Why Spirit Still Matters In Somatics
• 46:00 – The Bandage Story: Sitting With Pain

You can read the transcript here

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

In this episode of How To Be In This Body, we explore the fawn response as an adaptive survival strategy (not a character flaw) and trace a gentle path from self-abandonment back to self-contact. Dr. Ingrid Clayton, clinical psychologist and author, brings together clinical insight, lived experience, and practical tools for building internal safety and reducing shame.

Together, Ailey and Ingrid unpack how fawning develops, why danger can feel familiar, and how our bodies learn to prioritize connection over selfhood. This conversation offers compassion, language, and embodied understanding for anyone who has learned to appease in order to survive and who is ready to begin coming home to themselves.

In this episode:

• 0:00 – Embodiment And Show Welcome
• 1:47 – Meet Dr Ingrid Clayton
• 8:16 – Agency, Validation And Reclaiming Story
• 16:28 – The Missing Discourse On Fawning
• 20:26 – Codependency Versus Trauma Response
• 23:27 – How Fawning Feels In The Body
• 28:34 – From Self-Abandonment To Self-Contact
• 34:57 – Fawning In The Therapy Room 
• 41:34 – Trust Your Body’s Unique Path
• 44:27 – Everyday Practices For Regulation

You can read the transcript here

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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Join Ailey Jolie for a raw and personal solo episode of How To Be In This Body. In this New Year's reflection, Ailey shares what happened when her body stopped letting her perform; a year of health crises, the real story behind her viral posts, and the decision to focus her attention on her upcoming book and course INBODY. 

In this episode, she explores what it means to let go of an identity built around being needed, why she's done setting goals from the neck up, and the question she's carrying into this year: how do I actually want to spend my time? This episode is for anyone in their own season of stopping, listening, or questioning what comes next. 

In this episode: 

• 0:00 – Welcome and Embodiment Focus 
• 1:16 – New Year Messaging Challenged 
• 3:06 – Illness as Unwanted Teacher 
• 8:15 – Writing from Inside the Body 
• 10:31 – Calm Versus Capacity 
• 22:31 – Stopping the Performance 
• 26:00 – Self-Regulation Needs Co-Regulation 
• 33:20 – Holding Less to Live More 
• 39:20 – Capacity, Fawn Response, and Needs

You can read the transcript here

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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Join Ailey Jolie for a tender and personal solo episode of In This Body, where she weaves a health update, insights from a sacred MRI, and listener questions into a nuanced meditation on embodiment. Ailey explores the delicate terrain between anxiety and intuition, the truth about hypervigilance and self-trust, and how regulation can sometimes be disguised compliance. She reflects on the role of anger as sacred information, the necessity of honoring the body’s pace, and the deep practice of meeting life without forcing it. Through her own story, she invites you to listen more deeply; to yourself, to your body, and to the spaces in between. We hope you enjoy the episode.

In this episode:

01:00 – Personal Journey through medical Challenges
03:18 – The Importance of listening to the Body
07:53 – Navigating Intuition vs. Anxiety
10:32 – Understanding Hypervigilance and Nervous System Regulation
28:29 – Navigating Disconnection and Cultural Norms
32:25 – Understanding the Threat of Embodiment Work
37:16 – Distinguishing authentic Needs from Conditioning
41:08 – The Challenge of receiving Love
45:06 – Authentic Regulation vs. Comliance
49:15 – Reclaiming Anger without bypassing

You can read the 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: i[email protected]

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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Join Ailey Jolie and Mariel Pastor, therapist, trainer, and creator of Character Mapping, on this episode of In This Body. The conversation moves through the heart of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy; exploring how self-energy, parts work, and somatic presence can bring us into deeper peace with ourselves and with one another. Mariel shares reflections on spiritual embodiment, cultural conditioning, and the healing power of love in therapeutic spaces. Together they speak to the nuanced relationship between trauma and creativity, the sacredness of the client-clinician connection, and how healing opens us to both tenderness and aliveness. We hope you enjoy the episode.

In this episode: 

• 02:04 Understanding Internal Family Systems (IFS) 
• 08:11 The Systemic Nature of Mind, Body, Spirit, and Culture 
• 12:09 Navigating the Challenges of IFS 
• 18:02 The role of Somatics in IFS Practice 
• 26:03 The importance of Connection in Therapy 
• 34:14 The Role of Nature in Healing 
• 37:21 Creativity and Healing: a deep Connection 
• 39:34 The importance of doing our own Work 4
• 43:53 Artists and the wounds of Creativity 
• 52:09 The Nuances of Performance in Therapy

You can read the show transcript here

To find out more about Mariel:

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Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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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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Join Ailey Jolie and Jambo Truong, bodyworker, yogi, clinician, and mystic, on this episode of In This Body. The conversation journeys into the rich intersection of yoga, trauma recovery, and spiritual ritual—exploring how forest yoga can become both a refuge and a catalyst for transforming self-loathing into embodied presence. Jambo shares his story of growing up between East and West, the healing potential of holding poses long enough to meet what’s hidden, and how mantra, tantric practice, and somatic awareness can root us more fully in our bodies. Together, they reflect on spiritual sovereignty, compassion as an embodied frequency, and how to meet discomfort with curiosity rather than escape. We hope you enjoy the episode.

In this episode:

02:48 – What It Means to Be Present and Embodied

03:45 – Bridging Buddhist Ritual and Western Healthcare

06:30 – Early Meditation Practice and Learning to Feel the Body

08:53 – What Is Forest Yoga and Why It’s Unique

13:03 – Eating Disorders, Self-Loathing, and Finding Joy in the Body

18:52 – Trauma, Karma, and the Gifts Hidden in Discomfort

24:28 – Adapting Ancient Practices in Modern Culture

30:08 – Mantra and Tantra as Somatic Tools for Embodiment

36:34 – How Tantra Can Ground or Dissociate Us

41:59 – Final Reflections on Choosing Practices That Cultivate Presence

You can read the show transcript here

Find out more about Jambo:

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• Explore: YouTube

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Explore: Substack
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• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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Join Ailey Jolie and Dr. Christy Gibson, physician, trauma educator, and author of Modern Trauma, on this rich and timely episode of In This Body. Together they explore how trauma lives not just in our minds but in our bodies, and how the pressures of modern life—from the climate crisis to constant digital exposure—shape our nervous systems in ways both visible and hidden. Dr. Gibson shares her vision of trauma as an adaptive response rather than a pathology, highlighting the importance of creativity, interoception, and somatic awareness as tools for personal and collective healing. The conversation weaves through the power of language, the necessity of flexible approaches to care, and the hope that arises when we reclaim agency in our healing journeys. We hope you enjoy the episode.

In this episode:

01:48 – Redefining Trauma as an Internal Process

03:29 – What is Modern Trauma? Collective Exposure and Overuse of the Term

07:16 – The Body’s Memory: Amygdala, Triggers, and Stuck Responses

09:34 – How Trauma Shapes Core Beliefs About Safety and Worth

13:28 – Finding Safety Inside When the World is Unsafe

17:40 – Creating an Island of Sanity: Somatic Practices and Grounding

19:23 – Personalizing Your Pathway to Post-Traumatic Growth

23:40 – Challenging Dogma: Flexibility Over Prescriptive Trauma Modalities

27:45 – Creativity, Community, and Ancient Ways of Healing

41:17 – Collective Trauma, Hope, and Changing Systems

You can read the show transcript here.

To find out more about Christy:

• Find: Website 
• Follow: Instagram 
• Explore: Toolkit 
• Explore: Safer Space Training 
• Follow: TikTok 

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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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

Join Ailey Jolie and Dr. Christine Pieton, physical therapist, Pilates instructor, and founder of Pieton Physical Therapy, on this illuminating episode of In This Body. Together they explore the often overlooked world of pelvic health—how our relationship to this part of the body shapes everything from intimacy and emotional wellbeing to physical freedom and self-trust. Christine shares her unexpected path into pelvic floor therapy, weaving in insights about shame, trauma, nervous system regulation, and the importance of consent in healing spaces.

The conversation touches on cultural silence, medical trauma, and how honouring the intelligence of the pelvic floor can open up new dimensions of embodiment. We hope you enjoy the episode.

In this episode:

• 01:56 – The Journey into Movement and Healing
• 04:24 – Foundations of Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy
• 09:15 – Understanding Body-Mind Centering and Authentic Movement
• 11:32 – The Power of Witnessing in Movement Therapy
• 13:52 – The Rise of Somatic Practices Post-COVID
• 16:43 – Introducing Embodied Spirit and Conscious Earth
• 24:04 – Embodiment of Spirit and Consciousness
• 25:13 – Trauma and Transpersonal Experience
• 27:36 – Honoring the Earth Body in Healing
• 34:43 – Grief and Gratitude in Healing

You can read the show transcript here.

To find out more about Christine:

• Find: Website
• Explore: Youtube Channel  
• Explore: Resources 
• Follow on Instagram: pietonpt

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Experience: Insight Timer
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Find: Website
• Email: i[email protected]

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:

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• Email: info@aileyjolie.com

Join Ailey Jolie and Linda Hartley, somatic practitioner, author, and a teacher of The Discipline of Authentic Movement, on this contemplative episode of In This Body. Together, they explore embodiment as an evolving, relational journey—shaped by age, memory, and the quiet intelligence of the body itself. Linda shares her path from early dance to the development of a healing modality rooted in Body-Mind Centering and Authentic Movement, offering insight into how presence, witnessing, and somatic attunement can transform personal and collective experience. The conversation also touches on the Earth body, the arc of aging, and the grief and gratitude that accompany living in connection with all that is. We hope you enjoy the episode.

In this episode:

• 00:00 – Introduction to Embodiment and the Podcast
• 01:00 – Linda's Journey into Somatic Practices
• 03:04 – The Development of Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy
• 05:47 – Understanding Body-Mind Centering and Authentic Movement
• 08:58 – The Importance of Witnessing in Somatic Practices
• 12:02 – The Rise of Somatic Movement and Therapy
• 15:00 – Exploring Linda's Book
• 17:51 – The Connection Between Personal Healing and Earth Healing
• 21:09 – Grief, Gratitude, and Healing
• 26:51 – Final Thoughts on Being in the Body

You can read the show transcript here.

To find out more about Linda:

• Find: Website
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• Experience: Discipline of Authentic Movement and Publications
• Explore: Earth Body Conversations

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Experience: Insight Timer
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Email: i[email protected]

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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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

Join Ailey Jolie and Andrea Juhan, psychotherapist, embodiment teacher, and co-founder of Open Floor International, on this expansive episode of In This Body. Together, they explore the healing potential of movement, not as performance, but as presence. Andrea shares her journey from Esalen bodyworker to somatic psychotherapist, weaving a life devoted to understanding how the body stores story, spirit, and self. The conversation traces the lineage of movement-based therapies, the relational field of embodiment, and the wild intelligence of the body as teacher. Andrea invites us to consider what it means to feel and deal—with fewer defences and more receptivity. This is a dialogue for anyone craving a deeper relationship with their body, their longing, and their own unfolding truth.

In this episode:

• 02:05 – Understanding Being in Your Body
• 03:32 – The Journey of Movement and Psychology
• 06:07 – Dance Movement Therapy: A Healing Approach
• 09:51 – Movement as Healing vs. Performance
• 11:50 – Collective Stories in the Body
• 15:46 – Gabrielle Roth and the Five Rhythms
• 27:32 – Exploring the Relational Body
• 31:43 – The Essence of Open Floor Movement
• 35:11 – Spirituality and Movement
• 41:42 – Evolution of Embodiment Practices

You can read the show transcript here.

To find out more about Andrea:

• Find: Website
• Follow: Instagram
• Experience: Programs
• Explore: Open Floor

Learn more about Ailey Jolie:

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• Explore: Substack
• Experience: Insight Timer
• Email: [email protected]

To follow along with the In This Body podcast:

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• Find: Website
• Email: i[email protected]

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:

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• Email: info@aileyjolie.com