Ever find yourself completely wiped out, hustling through the admin, laundry, marketing—all the not-so-glamorous parts of running a bodywork practice—while your actual passion feels buried under a pile of “shoulds”? This episode felt like a permission slip to see your business as a living, breathing thing—not just a machine you’re supposed to keep running at all costs. I loved Daniela’s take on bringing permaculture and farming principles into the way we care for ourselves and our work; honestly, it’s such a relief to think about business growth as messy, seasonal, and cyclical, instead of linear and relentless.

If you’ve ever struggled with productivity guilt or felt bad about letting an old offering die out, this conversation unpacks why letting things compost—whether it’s a service, a habit, or even a whole version of your business—isn’t just okay, but vital. Sometimes rest, observation, and small slow shifts do more to nourish your practice (and your nervous system) than any grand rebrand or marketing sprint. The big mindset shift here? Trusting yourself and your cycles enough to step back, notice what’s really feeding you, and let go of what isn’t—even if that means unlearning a whole lot of business advice along the way.

Click here to explore more of Danielas work!

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Founder’s pricing for The Sustainable Bodyworker Membership is open until March 8th (lowest rate, locked in while you’re a member). Founder members also get a 90-day framework workshop in mid-March, and you can book a 1:1 call with me as soon as you join to map your best first steps. Click here to join!

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Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

✨ What if charging your worth isn’t about money at all, but about reciprocity, nervous system safety, and the longevity of your career?

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In this solo episode, Gretchen reflects on an “aha” moment that connected relationships, boundaries, and pricing in a way she hadn’t fully articulated before. She explores why energy imbalances, especially around money, quietly erode our capacity to show up fully, even when we’re deeply committed to doing good work.

Drawing from lived experience in clinical practice, sliding scale experiments, and years of mentoring bodyworkers, Gretchen unpacks the difference between generosity that comes from overflow and self-sacrifice that leads to burnout. She names the uncomfortable truths many practitioners sense but are afraid to say out loud, and offers a grounded reframe for raising prices without guilt, shame, or fear of becoming “unethical.”

This episode is for the bodyworker who feels overbooked and underpaid, underbooked and undervalued, or caught between wanting to be accessible and needing to be sustainable.

🌿 You’ll hear reflections on:

If this conversation stirs something in you, relief, resistance, or curiosity, that’s not an accident. It’s information. And it might be pointing toward a different way of practicing that supports both your clients and your body.

For deeper support around pricing, boundaries, and building a nervous system-aligned practice, Gretchen shares more inside the Sustainable Bodyworker community: a space for practitioners who want their work to feel as good for them as it does for their clients.

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Founder’s pricing for The Sustainable Bodyworker Membership is open until March 8th (lowest rate, locked in while you’re a member). Founder members also get a 90-day framework workshop in mid-March, and you can book a 1:1 call with me as soon as you join to map your best first steps. Click here to join! 

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Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

Burnout isn’t proof you’re failing. It’s a distress signal — and the panic, resentment, and “I can’t keep doing this” moments aren’t meant to be bypassed. They’re information. In this Season 2 opener, I’m naming the old stories that keep bodyworkers trapped, and sharing a new way to build a career that’s actually sustainable for you — your body, your nervous system, your values, your life.

In this episode:

Why “sustainable” is personal — not one proven system

The old stories keeping therapists chained to the table (and why they feel so real)

Why “I know what to do but I can’t do it” is biology, not a character flaw

The 4 keystones: freedom-generating revenue, purpose + meaning, nervous system capacity, and community

3 actions to take this week (plus a bonus):

Highlighter Audit: Identify your green/yellow/red clients and start a plan to discontinue the reds.

Do the math: Your real life needs + your sustainable hands-on capacity.

Name the signal: “This is information.” “This is my signal.”

Want support + structure?

Founder’s pricing for The Sustainable Bodyworker Membership is open until March 8th (lowest rate, locked in while you’re a member). Founder members also get a 90-day framework workshop in mid-March, and you can book a 1:1 call with me as soon as you join to map your best first steps. Click here to join! 

Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

Click HERE to join us in our Sustainable Bodyworker Bingo Challenge for 2026! 

So many of us set big resolutions and think, “this year, I’ll finally stick with self-care”... only to get steamrolled by old patterns, client demands, or that sneaky voice insisting five seconds of breathwork doesn’t “count.” We get it—and we’ve done more than our share of Monday-morning resets, chasing motivation until burnout finally called our bluffs. The real shift? Ditching the all-or-nothing mindset and actually embracing what nervous-system regulation looks like: tiny, doable actions that build self-trust, not shame.

This episode isn’t about overhauling your life or getting “perfect.” Instead, Gretchen and Kelsy put real talk behind January’s Sustainable Self-Care Bingo challenge—micro habits that can fit into the messiest seasons, even if you’re running on fumes. These aren’t silver bullets, but think of them as proof that the smallest boundaries, the shortest moments of presence, and the quietest acts of kindness toward yourself are enough to start rewiring your brain and your workday. It’s not about smashing the overwhelm in January—it’s about making space for the kind of change you might actually keep.

Get your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen HERE!

Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

Who am I to raise my prices, teach a class, or even call myself an expert? If those thoughts have ever circled your mind louder than clients on a Friday night waitlist, you’re not alone—Gretchen lays it all bare in this episode. She shares the very real, not-so-glamorous side of growing beyond what you ever thought possible (and what happens when a “You’ll never make any money doing that” moment from your past tries to call the shots years later). Instead of hustling for confidence or waiting for the imposter feelings to disappear, Gretchen offers simple, nervous-system friendly shifts: name what’s happening, zoom out beyond your inner critic, and take one tiny action—because real confidence is built, not inherited.

Whether imposter syndrome has you procrastinating, scrolling, or losing sleep, you’ll hear reminders that you are not broken and you don’t need to “think positive” your way out of growth. Sometimes, the fact that your brain is screaming may just mean you’re on the very edge of something meaningful.

Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

If you’re still wondering why your hands and shoulders ache after every deep tissue session—no matter how precisely you “fix” your body mechanics—it’s not because you’re doing something wrong. This conversation with Jim Funk and Kelsy Filler goes straight to the heart of what so many of us never heard in massage school: the mythical “low table, squat all day” advice isn’t actually the answer for longevity.

Jim Funk breaks down how he had to unlearn years of pain and “muscling through” (sound familiar?), and take a totally different approach with his forearm fusion work—one that actually leaves you with energy at the end of the day. The raw honesty about burnout, sneaky patterns of overgiving, and the constant practice of boundary-setting feels like a relief. If you need permission to work smarter, not harder—and to stop sacrificing your body for your clients—this one will hit home.

To attend Jim’s Forearm Fusion course, click HERE, or come see what CE classes are being held at The Academy of Massage Therapy & Bodywork HERE. 

Get your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen HERE!

Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

Get your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen HERE!

Are things in your treatment room feeling a little… off? A low-key unsettled vibe you can’t quite name, but your nervous system absolutely picks up on? Turns out, the space itself is doing way more of the heavy lifting than most of us realize. Gretchen Popp gets honest about how she barely used to think about her massage room beyond the basics—until talking with Jamie Smith left her wheels spinning all week about the real impact of design on work, rest, creativity, and client care.

The most powerful shift? Recognizing that your environment shapes everything—from how safe clients feel to whether you leave work each day depleted or actually regulated. You’ll walk away seeing your clutter, lighting, linens, and workflow in a totally new light (and maybe give yourself permission to upgrade the table or toss that ancient salt lamp). Forget perfection—start with what drains or nourishes you most. Regulation and calm don’t just happen; you can build them right into your space, one intentional choice at a time.

Click HERE to work with Jamie on revamping your treatment space! 

Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

This shortened track is adapted from a longer, in-depth hypnotherapy session available inside The Sustainable Bodyworker Membership, where you’ll find an entire library of custom hypnotherapy tracks created specifically for massage therapists and bodyworkers.

Inside the membership, you’ll also get:

Links Mentioned:

Tags:

Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

Get your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen HERE!

If you’re someone who finds gratitude tough when everything feels heavy — or worries that you’re “doing it wrong” — you’ll find real relief here. Tiny, regular practices aren’t just fluff; they literally retrain your brain, replenish your emotional reserves, and help you start seeing the small wins when life gets hard. This one’s full of practical shifts you can use right away, from a simple morning practice to a soothing visualization you’ll actually want to return to, especially when you need some grounding before a client or after a long day. Gratitude, reimagined — no performance required.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.

Stuck in the burnout trap even after trying all the "right" self-care? You’re not alone. Gretchen Popp pulls back the curtain on what healing from burnout—especially that chronic, nervous system kind—really looks like, and spoiler: it’s not a straight line or a magic overnight fix. She shares real stories from her own years-long journey with fibromyalgia, fatigue, and self-sabotage, getting honest about the messy process of figuring out what actually works and what just piles on more guilt.

What shifts things isn’t perfection, but tiny, ridiculously doable habits—like leaving a glass of water by the bed, sitting on the yoga mat for just a minute, or tackling whatever actually has the least resistance. If you’ve been stuck waiting to feel motivated before starting something new (and then beating yourself up for failing), this episode is a permission slip to get real about how habit change, nervous system safety, and even hypnotherapy can help you stay out of that burnout spiral—for good. Consistency doesn’t mean perfect; it just means you keep coming back, one small decision at a time.

Click HERE for your FREE Mindset Shift hypnotherapy session with Gretchen!

Affiliate Links: 

We’re careful about what we share here. Everything in this section is something we personally use and come back to again and again — tools that support our own bodies, nervous systems, and day-to-day work.

Bon Charge: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 15% off!

Swanwick Glasses: Scientifically tested and proven to improve your sleep.

InHarmony Meditation Mats: Use code NEURO5 for 5% off!

Global Cupping: Use code NEURO for 20% off your first order!

If you’ve got a story, skill, or insight you think would help other bodyworkers, we’d love to hear from you — click here to apply to be a guest on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast.

The ideas and techniques shared by our guests on the Sustainable Bodyworker Podcast are their own unique perspectives and don’t necessarily reflect those of Gretchen Popp or the Sustainable Bodyworker team or community as a whole.