Somatic Wisdom

Hello my Lovelies!

This is a full circle moment for me, an opportunity to speak with a podcaster and author I've admired from afar since 2018.

We geek out on topics like intuition, somatic and body-based wisdom, free time, neurochemistry, avoiding social media, envy, desires, opting out of parenthood, the auntie brigade, vulnerability, and salty podcasts. Such a juicy conversation!

Jenny Blake is an author and podcaster who runs a media and licensing company. She loves helping people move from friction to flow through smarter systems, powered by Delightfully Tiny Teams. She recently released her award-winning third book, Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business (Ideapress, 2022).

Jenny is also the author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One (Portfolio, 2016), winner of the Axiom award for Best Business Book in the Careers category, and co-creator of Googles's global drop-in coaching program, Career Guru. She hosts two podcasts with over 2 million downloads combined: Free Time with Jenny Blake for Heart-Based Business owners, and Pivot with Jenny Blake for navigating change.

Many thanks to Jenny Blake and her BFF community.

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Topics/Books Mentioned in the Episode:

Sam Quinones Dreamland and The Least of Us

Elizabeth Gilbert's book Committed

My favorite 12 episode "series" on intuition from Pivot Podcast - Penney and Jenny Show (with Penney Peirce, author of The Intuitive Way)

Martha Beck (She has many books, but my favorite is Finding Your North Star)

The Work of Byron Katie

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If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

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Interview recorded at Wisdom Ways Studios: https://www.wisdomwayscenter.org/studiorental

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

Hello Lovely Listeners!

Here's a brief intro on two topics which will be covered in further depth during my conversation with Jenny Blake for episode 56 (to be aired May 21st).

I touch on Intuition, with the briefest of summaries of what I've learned (mostly from lived experience but also from Penney Peirce).

Then I explore the notion of mimetic desire, specifically in the way Luke Burgis talks about it in his book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life.

This should help set the stage for the next episode so please be sure you're subscribed so you'll get the download automatically when that is published.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Link to more on labyrinths and if you want a visual for them: https://earthandaltarmag.com/posts/qs6pevk77i0lhpqlvv8w0u23f1sbwk

Luke Burgis' book and Substack Page

Penney Peirce, My favorite book of hers is The Intuitive Way

Many thanks to Jenny Blake and her BFF community.

Wisdom Ways Studios: https://www.wisdomwayscenter.org/studiorental

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

Hello Lovely Listeners,

I'm bringing you a "minisode" this week to encourage you to listen to nature, or to listen inward rather than listening to podcasts.

While you may decide to listen to a different show, maybe you will feel drawn, as I did, to listen inward and to slow down your input channels. Mercury is in Retrograde April 21 through May 14th, and Pluto just turned retrograde in Aquarius.

So whether you believe in astrological influences or not, there may be some collective energy in the zeitgeist that asks us to slow down and listen to ourselves. I'm honoring that in myself by not wanting to do a lot of editing, and I encourage you to do so as well. Maybe step away from your devices and give yourself an outside nature listening break!

This is very healthy for your nervous system and for your body.

I'll be back with you next week with a regular episode.

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

Hello Friends!

The audio on this one might not be up to my usual standard. I believe I've fixed the audio issue I was having through the kind support of people at Descript, but the sound might be a little more variable than it usually is. I'm blaming Mercury Retrograde!

This episode speaks about a process I have done annually since about 2016 after reading the book by Marie Kondo called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

Particularly in Western culture and in our capitalist society, we are taught the skill of hanging on and accumulating. But when we do this in excess it's actually not healthy for us. Clutter in particular can build up and become unhealthy or even dangerous to us. Physical clutter and mind clutter need to be processed and let go on a regular basis.

Sometimes letting go of physical objects is a way of helping train ourselves "let go" as a skill. This can include thoughts and beliefs that no longer serve you, and items which once had a purpose but are not just taking up space.

I did not talk about Liminality as a concept here...and I think I may have covered in a prior episode. Or I may have to cover that in a future episode, because it's a helpful concept to understand when you're in a period of what feels like intense change.

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Resources Mentioned In This Episode

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

It's Not Your Money - How to Live Fully from Divine Abundance

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

Hello All.

I'm returning for part 2 of this exploration of Dr. Devon Price' book Laziness Does not Exist. Please head back to episode 51 first if you haven't already heard that one, since I lay the ground

Feelings of laziness can be a powerful self-preservation instinct.

I talk about Tara McMullin's notions about how we think about working people, and her essay which explores people who don't work. This might include people who are unemployed, or struggle with a disability, or have some other limitation.

The three main tenets of the Laziness Lie (as characterized by Dr. Devon Price) include:

1. Your worth is your productivity.
2. You cannot trust your own feelings and limits.
3. There is always more you could be doing.

Often in Western culture we define people based on what they do, what their career happens to be. But given the changing nature of work, and the fact that people are less and less likely to spend their entire career doing the same job, or even being in the same field, this really doesn't make sense anymore.

I reflect on my experiences with depression and how this can affect our ability to get things done. I also explain how this isn't typically a "constant" condition but has its ebbs and flows.

When someone is suffering from an acute episode of depression, from the outside they can look lazy. In reality, fighting depression is like a full time job in itself. When someone's brain and body chemistry are out of sync, it takes enormous effort to accomplish basic tasks.

Dr. Price cites research that show that "when an employee divulges to their manager that they have depression, they're more likely to be punished for taking sick days than other employees are. Their odds of being fired go way up too, even if their quality of work remains the same."

The WHO indicates that depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. In 2018 people with Major Depressive Disorder made up 8% of unemployed US adults.

I remember one of the recurrent thoughts I had while depressed was that I wasn't trying hard enough. If you are there, please know this is a false and erroneous thought that your mind may be feeding you. Getting support is a sign of strength, not weakness.

I explore the concept that the body sometimes says "no" when we truly do want to keep working, and how this is a protective mechanism, not a weakness. This happened for me when I suffered an appendicitis attack in 2017.

Our creativity benefits from a little laziness (aka loafing time) also. So many great inventions and brilliant ideas came forth not when people were working hard, but when they allowed themselves to daydream or take a little time off.

Seeing through the Laziness Lie means we can see it for what it is, question it, and push against it in subtle or sometimes not so subtle ways.

Accept that your body is perfect the way it is today. Yes, you have limits, and those limits can be honored. Your body doesn't need to conform to a societal standard that makes no room for size diversity. Our associations with fatness and laziness are completely false, and conditioned.

That brings me to point two and probably the crux of the argument presented by Dr. Price, which is that compassion kills the laziness lie.

Lacking compassion for a struggling group actually makes it harder to be gentle with ourselves. To make this practical, notice when you're tempted to judge someone as lazy, and ask yourself if there may be some hidden challenges.

Using curiosity rather than judgement is a helpful way to allow for a more expansive view of what situations may be eliciting this behavior.

As always, thanks for listening! I appreciate you! If you have time to leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast player (especially Apple podcasts) that would be amazing! Thanks in advance for helping me grow this show.

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

Hello Listeners,

I start with an update on the audio book process. To receive the FREE Audio version of the Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven book when it is published, please enter your name and email at this form.

Today I'm bringing you some initial thoughts after my second listen to Dr. Devon Price' book: Laziness Does Not Exist. I include some history on where the word "lazy" came from as well as a few of my own stories about work and laziness.

Lazy has always been a shame trigger for me, and now I'm starting to understand how culturally ingrained the idea is that hard work has moral value. While I often enjoy working hard on things like this podcast, and other creative projects, there are some kinds of work that I don't enjoy.

I used to shame myself for not liking this kind of work. But in understanding human nature, I now have so much more compassion for this. Sure, there are some life maintenance things most of us need to do. But when this comes from a place of caring about our health for example, instead of feeling like we "must" do something, it tends to go a lot better.

Since I did a lot of work on my audio book this week, I didn't have the bandwidth to complete this topic. Come back on April 23rd and you'll hear reflections on this, particularly related to mental health and ableism and how this ties into laziness.

Also, if you're interested in receiving a free Audible download of my book once I complete the audio, please leave me your email and name via this form, so I can send that to you when it is complete.

As always, thanks for listening! I appreciate you! If you have time to leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast player (especially Apple podcasts) that would be amazing! Thanks in advance for helping me grow this show.

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To receive the FREE Audio version of the Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven book when it is published, please enter your name and email at this form.

***

Hey, my podcast mentor Jenny got nominated for a Webby for her show Free Time! The Webby Awards are considered the "Oscars of the Internet!" They celebrate the best and most innovative online content across websites, podcasts, games, apps, and videos.

📣 Between now and April 20th: Please visit itsfreetime.com/webby and cast your vote for Free Time! This nomination alone is a major achievement, putting us in the top 12% of nearly 14,000 projects entered. Free Time is up for the best individual episode in the Business category.

Please visit itsfreetime.com/webby and cast your vote for Free Time before Thursday, April 20!

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

Hello Lovely Listeners,

This conversation was especially rich to me, and I know you're going to want to hear more from Natalya Kolosowsky.

Natalya is a bilingual artist, coach, facilitator, and teacher of creative processes. She is the founder of Shadow Tender - an interdisciplinary project that teaches people how to dance with their demons. Natalya's work is informed by 3+ decades of experience in dance, somatic modalities, and formal training in art, design, and psychology. Her work has been presented in universities, museums, and theaters around the world. Natalya also provides strategic branding and communication services for educators and creative entrepreneurs.

We speak about her experiences as an artist, dancer, and the parts of her background that brought her to where she is today.

She brought insight to my own embodied intuition about being "dismembered" internally in some of the ways I haven't been able to express all parts of my cultural identity. I also loved her perspective on what we can do in this world that can be so destabilizing and how spaces for creativity can be healing.

Links:

Upcoming April 8th & 9th Shadow Tender workshop in Portland, Oregon:

https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/classes-events-1/shadow-tender-spring2023

Natalya's Offerings

https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

@natalya_chaos

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalya-kolosowsky

The Shadow Tender project here:

www.shadowtender.com

Upcoming events and programs will be announced through this link:

https://gmail.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?id=2bd8795ff3&u=bf57377a1aa883713eb7981f9

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

Here's a few updates on what's up lately. I am in the final stages of editing the audio version of my book, which will be released via Audible later in April.

To receive the FREE Audio version of the Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven book when it is published, please enter your name and email at this form.

Though I'd intended to release an episode on The Laziness Lie (a concept coined by Dr. Devon Price in the book Laziness Does Not Exist), this week I had a few too many things going on.

I like to live my own message and listen to my body's cues of when I've been at the computer for too long, and audio editing can take time!

So this episode has a preview of some of next week's interview with Natalya Kolosowsky (who you might recognize from the end credits of these show notes). I can't wait to share our conversation in episode 50. What a big milestone for this podcast!

I also touch on some of the work I've been doing on ableism, which is in preparation for a speech I'll be giving as part of my Speaker Academy and a topic I'd love to cover in more depth. My own path has taught me that people with ADHD and other neurodiversities can be amazing employees, as long as you make sure to support workstyles that may be outside the "typical" setup.

Here is the YouTube video "shorts" series on Strengths and Superpowers of those with VAST minds (variable attention stimulus trait, which is how I characterize ADHD). I also created a mini-series on virtual workplace tips for those with ADHD or ADHD-like tendencies in case you find that interesting.

So far I haven't had people reaching out to be to address the topic of Wellbeing@Work! I had hoped from episode 36 with Izzy Iwen, we would have some interest in that. Please reach out via LinkedIn if you'd like to chat about being a guest on the podcast.

Here's the link if you want to get connected to Jenny Blake's small-business BFF inner circle.

Also, I plan to give away 5-10 free copies of my audio book during launch month so that I can get some early reviews. To receive the FREE Audio version of the Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven book when it is published, please enter your name and email at this form.

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

Hello Lovely Listeners!

This is my first solo episode in a while. I hope you enjoyed my conversations with Kathy Oneto, Heather Ussery-Knight, Stephanie Lindloff, and Patrick Geary.

Today I want to give you a useful model for thinking about how to ride the waves of change that are inevitable with more grace and ease.

I mention the article I recently wrote for my Substack Newsletter on the What it Means to be Human in a world of Artificial Intelligence.

Using my "marital pivot" (definitely a spiritual pivot, if there ever was one) I explain Jenny Blake's Pivot model which includes:

1) Plant

2) Scan

3) Pilot

4) Launch

More about this idea can be found in Jenny's book, Pivot - The Only Move that Matters is Your Next One, and at her Pivot Method website here.

This is such a useful way to think about change. What people usually skip for forget is the process of planting ourselves where we are and taking stock of our strengths, values, and interests. We need to do this before reaching out to scan, so we can move with our own internal compass, which is our embodied wisdom, to a direction that's a fit for us.

As we pilot different options, we can think of these small experiments as windows into our next step, or possibly like horses at the Kentucky Derby. We gather data to see where we might want to go next.

This is a helpful reduction of risk stage before we go into an "all out" launch and take a bigger step.

What I love about this model is that it's cyclical and it's more of a mindset than just a set of activities we need to follow. Change is a constant, so Jenny helps us get better at it, developing this metaskill of pivot as a life skill.

I applied it to my relationship, because I was seeing all the parallels here. Maybe in a future episode I can unpack one of my (many) career pivots so you can see how it applies there as well. Better yet, read Jenny's book if you're interested in this topic.

Jenny Blake hosts the Pivot and Free Time podcasts, and she is a wise soul. Full disclosure that I'm a part of Jenny's BFF Circle Community. She's been an integral part of helping me develop a podcast through her offerings and mentorship through her community. If you are a small business owner, looking for a generous community of support, I highly recommend it.

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/

This is a special bonus episode in honor of the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere and the Fall Equinox in the southern hemisphere.

This is an excerpt from my conversation with Patrick Geary from episode 47 released on Sunday, March 19th.

For more information on Patrick Geary, please see the following links:

You can access more information about Patrick's Lunar Cycle Workshop coming up in May here.

Follow Patrick at his Substack Newsletter here, and learn more about his practice or schedule a reading by using this link.

***

If you want to leave us a voice message, Somatic Wisdom is now on Speakpipe! We would love to hear your thoughts or questions: https://www.speakpipe.com/SomaticWisdomLoveNotes

For more resources, subscribe to my the Somatic Wisdom Substack newsletter, where additional content can be found in essay format.

For potential guests: we love it when you listen to at least 2-3 episodes and leave a positive review. It lets us know you've done your homework to see if you are a fit for the show. Many thanks! ;-)

Support for this podcast comes from readers of Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven, from clients, and from listeners like you. To support my work, you can purchase the audio version of my book here.

***

Music credit: https://www.melodyloops.com/composers/ihsandincer/

Cover art credit: https://www.natalyakolosowsky.com/