Ep. 120 Ancient Wisdom for Modern Bodies: Josh Schrei of The Emerald

What if your trauma isn't something to extract, but something that has shaped you the way weather shapes an ancient tree?

In this episode I sit down with Josh Schrei, creator and host of the beloved Emerald Podcast, for one of the most expansive and nourishing conversations I've had on this show. Josh brings the wisdom of animist and mythic traditions to the very modern problem of living in a fractured, overstimulated world, and what emerges is a roadmap for healing that goes far beyond talk therapy.

We explore why ritual is actually trauma work, how the cycles of nature are mirrored inside your nervous system, and what the trickster archetype has to do with this particular cultural moment. We get honest about the cost of doom scrolling for sensitive and porous people, the difference between an open heart and a guarded one, and why community and embodied practice rewire us in ways thinking alone never can.

The episode closes with a guided dissolution meditation drawn from the ancient Indian concept of pralaya that you won't want to miss.

Josh Schrei is the host of The Emerald Podcast and creator of The Mythic Body, a yearlong course in mythic and animist tradition. Find him at themythicbody.com/courses

I'm Charna Cassell, a licensed trauma-trained psychotherapist and somatic coach with over 20 years of experience helping people heal from trauma and reclaim pleasure and vitality in their bodies. You can pick up my workbook Pathways to Peace: A Practical Guide to Embodied Healing and Living Somatically on my website, and learn more about me and my course work at charnacassell.com and passionatelife.org or follow along on Instagram and Facebook at @LaidOPENPodcast.