Somatic Wisdom

I have my first returning guest, my friend Patrick Geary, an Astrologer, Coach, and Healer to talk with us about ways to work with Equinox Energy.

We start with a lovely equal breath meditation in honor of this season, and as a tool for times when we feel like we are "going to war" or pushing against something. We can introduce a pause into the process, and take a moment to realize how we can work together as spiritual warriors rather than operating from a scarcity mindset.

Collaboration has a multiplicative energy, and we used a gardening metaphor in how the spirit of cooperation can really accelerate what we are working toward.

We talk a bit about plants and how they can give us useful metaphors when thinking of the cycle of life, with less of a fear of death. When we appreciate the beauty of this natural cycle, it helps us have less fear of death, understanding our cosmic connection and our soul energy.

I come from a Mexican-American tradition so I reflect on my emerging spiritual beliefs. I found out that Patrick was born on November 1st, so we talked about how "day of the dead" can be a celebration of lives and spirits that continue to live on.

We talked about the mystery and surprises in the universe.

Patrick helped me understand how Aries energy gives us a sense of "firsts" or initiation energy. Every beginning is also and ending, so it makes sense to bring to conclusion what we are called to let go of, and what we want to bring in for the new year.

I love how Patrick describes the lunar cycle and how tracking it and follow it helps him understand the cyclical nature of our lives. "Peaceful nurturing of my own existence" was a phrase that resonated.

We explored the interlocking nature of a "lunar" type cycle, and how it can apply to different phases of the year together. Because we have a new moon on the equinox, there is a special creative and intuitive impulse at this time. We are laying the foundation for our desired experiences and we need to uncover what we want, assert it, and go for it.

There is a sense of liminality and we may not "see" the full "house" of the foundations we are laying this year, but it is important to unapologetically embrace what we want!

Hear hear!

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

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

For a collected list of episodes on astrology with Patrick, check out this Spotify playlist!

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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.

***

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

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

I was delighted to have this conversation with one of my favorite coaches, Stephanie Lindloff. We worked together for a year and a half during the time I was writing my first book. I can tell you that, without Stephanie's compassionate and warm support, I would have been able to calm the "anxious perfectionist" within me to get that project started and completed.

Stephanie Lindloff is an Eco-Intuitive Coach and Teacher who helps anxious perfectionists reclaim your peace through nature. Her unique approach combines mystical practices, environmental science and thought management. Steph offers 1:1 and group coaching.

She's also creator of the digital course "Reclaim Your Peace: Cultivating Self-Compassion Through Soulful Gardening." In her first career, Steph was an internationally-recognized expert in river restoration. She lives in Northern Illinois with her husband, two kids and their very fluffy cat.

We cover how getting connected with our own natural wisdom helps anxious perfectionists to be able to get out of our heads and able to get grounded. This way we are able to watch our thoughts to see how they affect our emotions, and then our actions.

I love this notion of reclaiming who we are, at a soulful and spiritual level, by making tiny changes and micro-practices throughout our days. This is a source of peace and transformation.

We also talk about the relationship between neurodiversity and our connection to nature, and how we can see this as an asset and natural part of biodiversity.

I loved that Stephanie shared with me a guided inner journey to share with listeners as well, which can also be found in the bonus episode released on March 10, 2023.

For more about Stephanie, check out the following links:

Our Natural Wisdom website

Our Natural Wisdom on YouTube

Our Natural Wisdom on Instagram

Our Natural Wisdom on Facebook

In the episode on Sunday we will talk about her digital course, Reclaim Your Peace: Cultivating Self-Compassion through Soulful Gardening . The course is now open for April enrollment!

***

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 Somatic Wisdom listners,

I couldn't resist sharing this guided inner journey that is an excerpt from the interview with Stephanie Lindloff of Our Natural Wisdom for episode 46 (this coming Sunday).

Stephanie has been a coach to me, and we worked together for over a year and a half while I was conceiving and completing my first book.

I just love her guided inner journeys, so this feels like too lovely a gift not to share as a separate episode.

For more about Stephanie, check out the following links:

Our Natural Wisdom website

Our Natural Wisdom on YouTube

Our Natural Wisdom on Instagram

Our Natural Wisdom on Facebook

In the episode on Sunday we will talk about her digital course, Reclaim Your Peace: Cultivating Self-Compassion through Soulful Gardening . The course is now open for April enrollment!

***

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/

I enjoyed this conversation with one of my friends, Heather Ussery-Knight, who is a coach with an extensive background in counseling and psychology.

Heather has Masters in Counseling Psychology, over 20 years in the field of counseling and psychology. She currently works as a coach focusing on Inner Parts Work. Because she is a MultiPod with a penchant for writing, creativity, Integral Theory, video gaming, Systema, crafts and other artistic endeavors, and learning, she uses all these interests towards her work.

You can find out more about Heather's coaching work at Lizard Dreaming, her coaching practice.

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We talked through "inner parts" work and inner critics, which she developed in parallel to the development of Internal Family Systems Therapy. It really has come about as an understanding through other therapeutic practices as well.

The notion that some of our parts as being non-humanoid is also a really creative approach to our inner "cast of characters." We sometimes have a "truculent teenager" part or other places where they take over our bodies energetically.

There are many ways we can unburden our parts through the kinds of work that Heather provides in some very creative ways. We talked about parts that get us in trouble. For me, this is my "Peter Pan" part and for her she mentioned a "caveman" part that might come out when she hasn't been taking care of herself.

She mentioned that most of our parts are "younglings" and they serve(d) a purpose in our lives. Awareness is the key part of this process.

We talked about her journey through a Russian combat martial art called Systema and how that has helped her, and deepened her somatic wisdom. Systema helps her understand pain and the way stories increase our pain.

Inner Critics have a function. As Heather explained, there are many ways they try to serve us, but they may be misguided. Expending energy can seem "dangerous" to our system, and inner critics are quite clever. I love her ways to engage with the critic and helping us work through this when it is holding us back.

Embodying our full energy and surrendering to the process helps us get out of our own way.

Heather is a gamer and she talked about ways we can engage in a somatically healthy way while gaming. We talked about how the psychology world and the gaming world have some very interesting intersections.

We explore the synchronicity of the 100th monkey and Carl Jung's work on the collective unconscious.

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You can find out more about Heather's coaching work at Lizard Dreaming, her coaching practice.

***

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 my lovely listeners!

Thanks for taking me to 3000 downloads of this podcast as of the time of the recording! Wow! Each month the listenership has grown, especially since January, and I really appreciate your time.

If you're on Apple Podcasts and you enjoy these episodes, can you help me out by writing a short review and "breaking the seal" on reviews? Just a sentence on what you like would be amazing. Or if you're short on time, leaving a 5 star review makes sure that I can continue to offer guests and content that you enjoy. Thank you so much in advance for this grateful gesture. It is truly appreciated!

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This episode is a brief introduction to Internal Family Systems Therapy, a methodology originally developed by Richard Schwartz, PhD. I've also explored Somatic IFS with Susan McConnell, and I definitely recommend her work, along with the book No Bad Parts (by Schwarz)

This is partly to set the context for the conversation I will release in episode 45 with my friend Heather Ussery-Knight of Lizard Dreaming, a coaching practice that helps with inner critics.

I use myself as an example and give you a window into three of my parts: the comfort-loving Calvin, the dictator, and the "big sis" part. A shorter version of this essay can be found at my newsletter on Substack.

At the end of the episode I ask a few questions that you can consider if this topic feels relatable to you:

Do you ever get the sense that there are neglected parts inside you?

What did they look like?

How did their voices sound?

Do they remind you of anyone familiar?

Do they ever fight with each other or you and sabotage your efforts?

And if you are thinking there might be "exiled" parts within you that don't want themselves to be known, we will likely cover that in episode 46. I am also including a link to a directory of IFS Trained therapists here in case you need further support.

This podcast is intended for general advice and does not substitute for proper medical or psychological counseling. If you feel you are in a situation that requires individualized support, I encourage you to seek counseling with a therapist or licensed provider.

Cristy is not a therapist. She studies psychology and neuroscience for the benefit of herself and her coaching clients.

***

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,

I'm changing it up this episode with a interview that originally aired on Wade Brill's Centered in the City podcast (original title: Episode 110: Living in Our Bodies with Cristy De La Cruz) back on June 23, 2022.

You'll learn a little more about when I am most "uncentered," along with more of my story. Wade got me to dig a little deeper into what my somatic practices are all about, and what personally led me to that path. I have learned more about podcasting in that time, especially about creating better audio with less extraneous sound! ;-)

Wade was kind enough to share her audio file with me to free up my content creation time for this week. Jenny Blake, here's looking at you and your Free Time principles! This might fall under "embrace imperfections" or possibly "save someone next steps." ;-)

Wade Brill is a coach, speaker, meditation teacher and podcaster. She created Centered in the City, a virtual, on-demand, self-care, and mindfulness platform with over 200 different meditations, journaling prompts, nourishing recipes, and pilates flows all designed to support you feeling calm, focused and and energized as you live your life in this modern day world. If you're interested, she offers a 7-day free trial to see if it's right for you.

HUGE thanks to Wade Brill for allowing me to share an edited version of this podcast for my listeners. <3

You can find more about Wade on Instagram and at her website.

***

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/

I loved this conversation with fellow coach and podcaster, Kathy Oneto of Sustainable Ambition.

Kathy Oneto is an executive and life-work coach who is passionate about helping people succeed on their terms both at work and in life. She is the founder of Sustainable Ambition and host of The Sustainable Ambition Podcast. Her mission is to help people attain more joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment in their careers from decade to decade, helping them to be ambitious with more ease and without burnout.

Kathy and I talk about how we see ambition, how our lives have an ebb and flow from decade to decade, and how to better plan how we sustain ourselves as we stretch, strive, and grow.

We are both curious souls and I think you'll be able to relate to her story. As an endurance athlete for many years, she has much somatic wisdom to share, and great perspective on how to look at our life and career adventures.

I also appreciate her notion of adult stages of development, and the very real process to unpack what are our true ambitions, and which ones come from that early sense of being socialized to want certain things.

We tackle the notion of planning not only for the things we want to achieve, but the activities that will keep us resilient along the way. Planning can be loosely held, and with flexibility to help us know that we need to follow our energy cycles. Being too rigid can just set us up for failure, so flexing when necessary is important.

We both love the notion of following our curiosities instead of one big passion. Sometimes it take a little more turning inward to hear those quieter voices that are truly pointing us toward our next steps.

Kathy is working on a book project, and we got to geek out about writing process, and that's always fun.

I highly recommend Kathy's book of prompts, My Little Book of Curiosity. I personally love the hardcover version becasue it's easier to write in but she also has paperback versions available.

If you looking for a different approach to planning, check out the Sustainable Ambition planner, which is available in three distinctly different colors, which is also cool.

Kathy can be found at her website and on LinkedIn to stay in touch.

***

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, my lovely listeners.

As I worked through some insomnia and some feelings of urgency in the past week, I wanted to address an issue that some of us with busy brains struggle with regarding rest.

Some of us have "Ferrari brains with bicycle brakes" like Dr. Ned Hallowell would say. It's actually not very easy to slow ourselves down to get proper rest. Unless we literally hit a wall and burn ourselves out, that is. Then we are forced to rest until our brain recovers.

But this episode tackles the very real need we have for "active rest" in the form of exercise. This is such helpful treatment for those of us who have overactive minds and perhaps who need to remind ourselves to step away once in a while.

When I'm getting my walk breaks regularly, I find that I sleep better. This week as subzero temperatures made it harder for me to get out, I had trouble releasing all that energy.

The benefits of exercise cannot be overstated. And this can take whatever form moves you, whether it is walking, running, swimming, dancing, or doing yoga. Allow the "brain rest" that only moving your body can give you.

You might even find that this kind of "active rest" helps you get better, deeper sleep at night. The BDNF that is generated from vigorous exercise gives us all kinds of happy chemicals for our brain (like dopamine). And if we meet a friend for a walk, we are also getting an oxytocin boost, which can be restful and can help us feel connected.

I also address the notion of being able to "rest down" into our seat when we have brain work to do and to stop that busy mind from taking us off track as we try to get something done. I share my "memo book" trick where I can dump any impulse thoughts out so they don't derail my work session.

And I give myself tons of self-compassion for the times my busy brain just doesn't wind down. All of culture conspires for us NOT to rest. It's not our fault that we are like this, and we probably got a lot of accolades for NOT resting.

***

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/

I have been so inspired by the work of Tricia Hersey, creator of the Nap Ministry and author of Rest is Resistance, A Manifesto. She has helped me understand and see through some of the false beliefs we had been taught in this "grind culture" we live in.

This episode is an introduction to some of the ideas she covers and encouragement to explore her work if you need more rest in your life, and are interested in creating space where ALL can have access to rest.

Our inherent worth is not dependent on our productivity. Rest is a birthright, not a privilege or a luxury.

The Four Tenets of the Nap Ministry are written here:

1. Rest if a form of resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy.
2. Our bodies are a site of liberation.
3. Naps provide a portal to imagine, invent, and heal.
4. Our DreamSpace has been stolen and we want it back. We will reclaim it via rest.

These fundamentals have been shaped by Hersey's scholarship and study of Black liberation theology, womanism, somatics, and cultural trauma.

The other big "aha" I'm taking away is that community care is fundamental, and self care (conceptually) is more of a product of an individualistic culture that doesn't recognize our connection with other living beings.

I love how Hersey focuses on the dreaming, daydreaming, and imagination that springs from adequate rest. This is the real reason for rest, not just so we can "come back" and be productive. To invent a world where there is justice for all, and we have for freedom and ease, we must make time to imagine and daydream.

"Rest is a meticulous love practice."

If you are intersted in listening to the talk on Rest as a Portal of Healing that first drew me to Hersey from the Minneapolis Institute of Art it is linked here.

Rest is Resistance is available anywhere books are sold, and I especially love the audio book in her own powerful voice.

Another podcast favorite of mine (We Can Do Hard Things) also hosted a conversation with her back in October 2022 and it did a lovely job of sharing her work in a nuanced way.

***

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/

I loved this conversation with my new friend and colleague Patrick Geary, a coach, astrologer, and healer who has given me such insight through a reading he did for me back in November.

We cover experiences with somatic wisdom in terms of burnout and bodily cycles and Patrick shares his more of his back story.

For those who are beginning with the notion of the planetary bodies influencing us, you might start with the moon cycle. Patrick walks us through the different phases, and I comment on how I've been working with that for the last couple of years as I've entered menopause. Syncing my schedule with my natural energetic cycles really helps me work with my energy instead of against it.

We also go over how to understand the main three parts of our astrology chart including the sun, moon, and ascendant. I am still learning how these work, but so much made sense when Patrick explained them to me during our 1:1 reading.

I was also curious about how the "house" system works, and maybe we will need to do a future podcast on that, because it is also fascinating how cyclically that is manifested.

My favorite quote in this conversation from Patrick is here:

"We cannot always be living at peak performance.

That doesn't make sense and, our culture really doesn't respect the dark moon and it doesn't respect that time to draw in. "

To learn more about Patrick, feel free to check out his website for more gems. I'm also loving his newsletter, which has given me insight in the past few months about how cosmic events may be impacting my energetic cycles. You can easily subscribe to that on Substack.

For a collected list of episodes on astrology with Patrick, check out this Spotify playlist!

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Thanks for listening!

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/