Sex Birth Trauma with Kimberly Ann Johnson

In this episode, Kimerbly and Juna discuss our relationship to anger, especially as people pleasers. While we are often conditioned to resist or dismiss anger, Juna describes anger as being an ally for our ultimate healing and the charge for our life force energy. Juna explains her relationship to anger which often made her uncomfortable as she spent much of her life pleasing people at the expense of her own mind, body, and vitality. She learned how anger can show us parts of ourselves that need tended to as well as move us deeper into connection with others. Her upcoming course on anger and people pleasing begins March 5th! Bio Juna Mustad is a friend and recurring podcast guest. Juna is an iIntuitive counselor, somatic experience practitioner, life and relationship coach, and support team member for Kimberly of all things somatic. For 13 years, Juna has been offering intuitive coaching sessions for individuals and groups. Her upcoming course, "The People Pleasers' Guide to Anger" is a six-week online course for cultivating a healthier relationship with anger, boundaries, and your innate power. What She Shares: –Juna's relationship to anger and people pleasing –Destigmatizing anger and fight responses –People pleasing as survival –Reconnecting to our bodies' desire through anger –"The People Pleaser's Guide to Anger" online course What You'll Hear: –Jana's TedTalk on anger and people pleasing –Anger as an ally for healing –Anger as a pesky, creative spark and connecting with life force –Visceral fight responses leading to transformation –People pleasing same as fawning –Internal Family Systems and multiple selves –Distancing core self from other selves in fawning –People pleasing and gender/racial dynamics –Effects of people pleasing like illness, distortions, addiction, etc. –Destigmatizing fight responses and anger –Using play, humor, and safety in accessing anger –Multitudes of responses to anger –Using play to release charge –Destigmatizing people pleasing as a coping skill –People pleasing as a survival tactic –When people pleasing becomes dominant way of being –Creating capacity for relating better –Primal power and instinct is outside of people pleasing –Leaving ourselves to create connection through others –Leaving a psycho-abusive relationship –Anger needs action –Reconnecting to body and desire –Speaking to our anger instead of from our anger –Holding others' anger with our own –Fight response as our inner protector –Dismissing anger blocks flow of life force energy –People pleasing to make others feel safe over ourselves –Cultural differences around confrontation –Adolescence and people pleasing/social nervous systems –Six-week online course beginning March 5th Resources Website: https://www.junamustad.com/ IG: @juna.mustad

In this episode, Kimberly and Racha discuss Gather Grounded Midwifery, a midwifery practice and birth home created by Racha. They also discuss Racha's generational influence to midwifery care, how she ended up in Virginia as a California native, and how the pandemic impacted midwives in particular. They also discuss the rich and complicated history of Black midwifery and how it tends to entire communities. The link to contribute to Gather Grounded Midwifery to help this Black owned birthing home provide the resources and services can be found below! Bio Racha Tahani Lawler Queen is a Black homebirth mama, wife, and midwife of 20 years. She is the CEO and owner of Gather Grounded Midwifery, a Black-owned and operated birthing home and center in the Musqueam Territory / Richmond, Virginia. Opening this Spring 2023, Gather Grounded Midwifery is a safe and welcoming place where Black, Brown, Indigenous, and queer families are prioritized. The birthing home features two birthing suites, where our very own can receive pregnancy, birth and postpartum care in a unique retreat space, nestled in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Gather Grounded Midwifery has a goal to provide families with a sacred place to receive prenatal care, labor amongst 100-year-old pine trees, birth in and out of water, and receive postpartum care that's in alignment with their individual, Ancestral and spiritual practices. We will also support and partner with Black businesses that prioritize the healing and protection of Black birthers and families. Find the GoFundMe link below to contribute to this important space. What She Shares: –Impact of pandemic on midwives and home births –How and why Racha relocated to Richmond, Virginia from LA to create a birthing home –Black midwifery history and community care –The impact of a birthing home on a community What You'll Hear: –How Racha from CA ended up in Richmond, Virginia –Midwifery services and birthing home in Virginia for Black and Brown families –Taking a break from birth work to grow –Racist real estate practices while finding birth home –Impact of pandemic on midwives –Background in environmental health and safety and disaster preparedness –Hospital turning away home-birth transfers during pandemic –Advocating for community midwives –EMTs refusing to service –Midwives and birth workers quitting after pandemic-induced trauma –Black Farm Studio House in LA county, non-profit –Non-profit relocated to Richmond –Importance of midwifery in community care –Making midwife ancestors and grandmothers proud –Eradication of Black midwifery in previous centuries –Midwives regaining acknowledgement as intimate healthcare profession –Legacy of great, great grandmother was town midwife –Providing safe care in homes during pandemic –Midwifery as more than prenatal visits –Providing care during so many unknowns –Wider possibilities for midwives in Virginia –Birthing home honors Black midwives elder for rest and care –Prioritizing Black and Brown birth –Birth home will be opening by March –GoFundMe: "Support a Black-owned Operating Birthing Home" –Crowd-funding for $50,000 for an operating home Resources Website: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-a-black-owned-operated-birthing-home IG: @gathergroundedmidwifery

In this episode, Kimberly and Esi discuss how to lean into discomfort during difficult conversations. Esi explains her background growing up in a Black middle-class family in Los Angeles, how she came to her current work and offerings, and her four years of somatic experiencing school. During that program, Esi learned how to stay in her body as a Black woman with mostly white individuals, especially surrounding discussions of race and racism. Through the years, she learned the importance of non-shaming, curiosity, and having truthful conversations through difficult topics and uncomfortable experiences. She offers a nuanced perspective and radical medicine in a time when most are quick to cancel or dismiss. Her Human Slop course begins February 19th. Bio Esi Wildcat is a Somatic Practitioner and Ceremonialist, an Ordained Priestess of Isis, a Shakta initiate and yogini in the lineage of Sri Vidya, certified holistic health practitioner, and interdisciplinary healing artist with over 20 years of expertise. As a bridge builder to the New Earth, she is making waves in the cultural somatic realm and is injecting the social justice sphere with much needed humanness and nuance. Esi seeks to highlight the extraordinary in the ordinary – and how the power of presence in our lives can transform not only how we relate to ourselves, but the world around us. Her upcoming offering, Human Slop: A Radical Aliveness Worldworking Dojo, starts February 19th. What She Shares: –Esi's upbringing and call to her work –Somatic experiencing school and feminine chaos –Avoiding cultural scripts and bypassing –Radical aliveness and magic of being human –Human Slop circle coming February 19th What You'll Hear: –Cultivating awe and wonder everyday –Deep connection to unseen world –Attended Radical Aliveness Institute –Learning to be with the feminine (chaos) –Mentor's nuanced perspective on systems of oppression –Subversive work recognizing beauty –Sanitization and carefulness of somatic experiencing programs –Decision to not be trauma-informed as a practitioner –Working towards real racial integration in community –Being in reality of tensions –Accessing and thriving from own life force and vitality –Deconditioning from being the "good girl" –Pain and tensions around race and difference –Systemic influence in personal contexts –Telling truth of socialization around race and class –Spiritual bypassing versus holding multiplicities –Addressing rage, anger, and collapse –Subversiveness in being alive and feeling instead of running away –Learning to stay and increasing capacity for conflict and disappointment –Remembering to human and holding grief –Living in a traumatized culture and a loss of soul –Ripples for culture making and the magic of being human –Human Slop: A Radical Aliveness Worldworking Dojo –Upcoming program starts February 19th Resources Website: https://wildholyhuman.com/ IG: @wildholyhuman

In this episode, Kimberly and Dr. Molly discuss psychedelics, biohacking, and frontiers for the future of modern medicine. Dr. Molly's background in medicine and innovation has led her to advocate for the supportive use of psychedelics, understanding biohacking for female biology, and the importance of bonding hormones and building safety and connection in western medicine. They discuss the benefits and risks of psychedelics, who should and shouldn't use psychedelics, problems with male-centered psychedelic circles, as well as the male-centered biohacking world. They also discuss the importance of understanding sexuality and hormones, from an evolutionary perspective as well as in regular medicinal care. Dr. Molly offers a vision of an evolving and innovative healthcare system which centers non-traditional medicines, safety, connection, and the female experience. Bio Dr. Molly Maloof is on the frontier of personalized medicine, medical technology, health optimization, and scientifically-based wellness endeavors. Since 2012, she has also worked as an advisor or consultant to more than 40 companies in the digital health, consumer health, and biotechnology industries needing help with clinical strategy, product development, clinical research and scientific marketing. Dr. Molly challenges healthcare practitioners as well as industry influencers to re-think health and healthcare in order to reduce costs, improve patient outcomes, and improve the human condition. Her upcoming book "The Spark Factor" comes out January 31st and is available for pre-sale purchase. What She Shares: –Risks and benefits of psychedelics - Biohacking for women –Frontiers for modern medicine to expand –Safety, connection, and love as fundamental for health What You'll Hear: –Dream of being a doctor as a child –Works in tech and medicine –Creating a new system of building health in the body –Boom of psychedelics during 2020 mental health crisis –Healing sexual trauma with psychedelics –Transforming trauma to bliss and empowerment –On ketamine and ayahuasca –Not discounting modern medicine for evidence-based results –Understanding dominant nervous system structures and connective tissue –Male-centered culture, power-dynamics, and containers in psychedelic circles –Neurobiological impact of experiences like birth and sex –Psychedelic experiences without psychedelics –Moving towards innovation but preventing harm –Development of oxytocin in evolution for connection –Oxytocin as bonding hormone –Lack of emotional intelligence knowledge and hormones in modern medicine –Sex drive is fundamental to human biology driving towards connection –Importance of safety when experiencing large amounts of oxytocin –Needing safety, trust, and love in every aspect of modern medicine –Upcoming book as treatise on mitochondrial health –Metabolism, energy, and mitochondria creating charge –Gathering electrons through food and environment –Exercise as best anti-aging practice –Different kinds of stress and hormesis –Understanding why women biohacking need to be careful and discerning –New book breaks down biohacking, personalizing nutrition, and exercise for women Resources Website: drmolly.co IG: @drmolly.co

In this episode, Kimberly and Katie discuss Katie's work as a somatic therapist, intuitive guide, and healer. She explains how she came to her craniosacral and healing work as a young child. She discusses chakras as the portals between our nervous systems and our spiritual connection, as well as the importance of grounding, alignment, and the heart space. They discuss heartbreak and grief as utterly human, and how the internet serves as the nervous system for the collective. Katie offers hope for maintaining our connection, regulation, and containment during difficult times. Bio Katie Dove is a somatic therapist, intuitive guide, healer, and mystic with over two decades of experience working with individuals and groups. She is a keeper of ancient wisdom, exploring new paths for the preservation of human nature through connection to mother nature. Her methods weave a mixture of experiences she has collected over time, modalities she has personally cultivated, and extensive studies in transpersonal psychology and craniosacral therapy. With exploration in voice, touch, sound, and movement, she guides her clients and students to investigate habits, freedom of choice, expressiveness, and the wealth of sensory information within and around them. What She Shares: –Katie's journey as a healing practitioner –Chakras as nervous system regulators –Grounding, aligning, and vulnerability –Internet as a collective nervous system –Mothering from the heart space –Upcoming in person and online classes What You'll Hear: –Initiation into healing journey at three years old –Felt light sensation passing through sister's body into own hands –Raised Catholic and trying to make senses of experiences –Developed ability to sense into the body –Experienced trauma and initiation into shadow work –Mapping unseen terrain of the body, psyche, and soul –Began massage school and followed craniosacral teachers –A gift funneled through framework of somatic work –Holding circles and living principles of community –Psycho-structural balancing –Facilitating alignment with Source –Conscious relationship with Source through somatic and transpersonal psychology –Chakras as intermediary between nervous system to ethereal –Flow state as full relationship and trust to that which moves us –Self-regulating and Source –Not living in heart is not living in relationship to Source –Grief as a portal to Source –Acknowledging the collective heart right now –Entering through the heart space instead of the mind –Develop our relationship to the Vertical –Grounding into Earth and finding individual pathway to the Vertical –Myth of aloneness causing devastation –Source regulation means being in our power –Deeply rooted vertically to connect horizontally to world around us –Chakras supported by consistent, vertical rooting –Nervous system can remain grounded –Spiritual bypassing occurs with no substance or rootedness –Cannot bypass our own hearts and connection to One Heart –Better to have broken heart than an uninhabited heart –Brokenheartedness makes us humble, curious, and driven –Experiencing heartbreak when becoming pregnant –Gift of expansion through motherhood –Connection to the planet is connection to the Greater Heart –Stewarding our bodies and Mother Nature –Internet as a collective nervous system –Turning to internet as a responsibility to coregulate in online world –Grounding online world back vertically –Individualism is not goal at this edge of human evolution –Walking the edge is revolution –The unnegotiable open heart –ROLFing for the chakras class –Upcoming online classes on source regulation, grounding techniques, and containment Resources Website: https://www.katiedove.love/

In this episode, Kimberly interviews Donna Jackson Nakawaza about her latest book "Girls on the Brink: Helping Our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression, and Social Media." Donna's book explains recent research behind the increase of significant mental health issues among girls and young women. Whereas neuroscience research only ever examined male brains and bodies, this book overviews recent research on females and how feelings of unsafety, threat, high expectations, and algorithms on social media heavily contribute to this increase. They unpack the ways in which the female brain stress responses are connected to immunity and overall well-being, as well as the myriad stressors young girls in particular face today. Last, they discuss strategies for parents to create a sense of connection, attunement, and safety with their children to mitigate these environmental and cultural stressors. Bio Donna Jackson Nakazawa is an award-winning journalist and internationally-recognized speaker whose work explores the intersection of neuroscience, immunology, and human emotion. Her mission is to translate emerging science in ways that help those with chronic conditions find healing. Her writing has been published in Wired, The Boston Globe, Stat, The Washington Post, Health Affairs, Aeon, More, Parenting, AARP Magazine, Glamour, and elsewhere. For her reporting on health-science, Donna received the AESKU lifetime achievement award and the National Health Information Award. She has appeared on The Today Show, National Public Radio, NBC News, and ABC News. Her latest book, "Girls on the Brink: Helping Our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression, and Social Media" (Random House/Harmony, 2022) is available for order wherever books are sold. What She Shares: –Increasing rates of major depression in girls –Female biology as super-powers –Girls experiencing cognitive dissonance and perpetual unsafety –Social media impact on adolescence and maturity –Parenting strategies for connection, attunement, and safety What You'll Hear: –1 out of 3 girls exhibit major depression –Recent increasing rates of major depression in girls –Suffering from guilt, fatigue, unworthiness, hopelessness –Suicide rate rising 51% among girls –Only recently NIH requested neuroscience on female brains –Significant differences in way stress impacts female body and brain –Lack of research on trans and non-binary individuals –Need to hear and know science to galvanize change –Female sex differences used against women throughout history –Unmitigated chronic stress and sense of unsafety –X&Y chromosome differences regarding immunity –X chromosomes provide extra protection in placenta –Male babies more likely to have health issues –Vulnerability of immunity shifts with increasing estrogen during puberty –Estrogen master-regulator in body of neurons –Women 3-5x more likely to have auto-immune diseases –Estrogen evolutionary advantage but flips with stressors in environment –Social and emotional stress –Estrogen increases stress response versus testosterone –Girls born 1995 or later demonstrate major drop in mental health –Trends of social media algorithms connect to mental health decline –Social media mimicking tribes but generating negative activity and isolation –High activity and high emotion in social media –Social media activates dopamine (reward circuitry) repeatedly –High health-risk behaviors from other teens of images on social media –Big emotions overtime turns off 'be careful' filters for teens –Prioritizing deep connections with real world individuals vs. digital –Girls more likely to be criticized on social media for appearance –More sexualized increase of girls with social media –Over-medicating adolescents –Girls caught in a state of cognitive dissonance between gendered sexist messages –Lowering puberty ages throughout history –Removal of in-between years of maturity, growth, self-interests –Hierarchical valuative list of benchmarks for girls to achieve –How can girls develop senses of selves in this culture –Recreating connection, attachment, and bio-synchronicity with our children –Being grounded and regulated to offer sense of safety for our children –Brains rewiring before adolescence (used to happen later) –Brains remodel on sense of unsafety before puberty –Creating connection, mattering, and belonging that is bigger than the world –Children flourish in safety and connection with parents –Parents to talk less and listen more –Younger generation needs adult help more than ever to articulate feelings –Wondering aloud with our children to develop their interior selves Resources Website: https://donnajacksonnakazawa.com/ IG: @donnajacksonnakazawa And you can sign up for the upcoming MotherCircle Waiting List here: https://kimberlyannjohnson.com/mothercircle/

In this episode, Kimberly and Virginia discuss the astrological significance of this past decade and the decade to come. They discuss how the increase of technology impacts culture, our nervous systems, and the ways in which we understand and interact relationally. They discuss what it's like to be entrepreneurs who are creating content on social media, using discernment with social media use, and parenting during the increase of tech, AI, and social media. They also discuss how to return to our humanness, embodied practices for grounding, and finding ancestral practices that have stood the test of time. Bio Virginia Rosenberg is an Intuitive Astrologer and Movement Artist. Her passion is natural healing of self and society. Virginia believes that we are made to heal, and that healing is a matter of becoming more conscious of and connected to ourselves, each other, and the more-than-human-Worlds. She teaches astrology, qi gong, and various forms of dance, leading retreats, classes, and workshops. Her writings on astrology, spirituality, and society have gone viral and are used as teaching tools in meditation and study groups. Virginia has been interviewed and featured on numerous publications and podcasts. She is Resident Astrologer for the global Qoya movement. Her educational background includes post-colonial and women's/gender studies, cultural anthropology, journalism, documentary filmmaking, Taoist philosophy and internal martial arts, myriad forms of dance, spiritual alchemy, ritual, ceremony, and energy work. What She Shares: –Increase of tech –Upcoming planet shifts –Navigating humanness in social media –Astrological significance of next decade What You'll Hear: –Evolution of sharing on social media –Making social media less personal as an entrepreneur –Speaking to collective story through personal observations –Kimberly shares experience with social media and audience –Increase of focused technology in next decade –Pluto moving through Aquarius next year –AI and astrology –Making peace with artificial intelligence –Identifying reference points for relating with others –Existentialism and motherhood –Human connection with the increase of technology –Falling out of relevancy with culture –Changing currencies in upcoming reconfiguration of society –Our role in changing of society –Being more mindful and intentional around technology use –Our perception and relationship to what's happening with tech –Finding our center points –Parenting with increase of tech –Commenting on social media as knee-jerk reactions –Viewpoints outside of acceptable milieu –Absence of humanity in relating –How psychology on social media disrupts –Specific identities and tension of expectations to be for all identities –Understanding and teaching discernment –Times of high stakes –Using nervous systems and intuition as guides during these times –Planets that role and correspond with the nervous system –Collective versus individual nervous systems –Using location as a center-point –Movement as centering nervous system –Using martial arts and embodied meditation for centering and anchoring –Connecting across ideologies –Offering astrology calendar for upcoming year –Teaches depth-foundations training in astrology Resources Website: https://virginiarosenberg.com/ IG: @virginiarosenberg

In this episode, Kimberly and Heidi discuss all things astrological. Heidi shares how she came to her work in astrology, how she incorporates astrology into her mothering, and how we can all benefit from understanding our own signs and signs' energies. They discuss how embodiment connects to astrology, balancing motherhood with work and creative projects, as well as Heidi's upcoming book which can be accessed through her link below. Heidi even reads some of Kimberly's chart which connects to sex, power, and safety. Bio Heidi Rose Robbins has been a professional astrologer for 25 years, helping thousands of clients all over the globe live with more authenticity and clarity. She hosts two podcasts, THE RADIANCE PROJECT, featuring poetry, astrology, and good company, and CHART YOUR CAREER, with co-host Ellen Fondiler. Twice a year, she leads Radiant Life Retreats, for people wishing to take a deeper dive into her work. Heidi has written two books of poetry, This Beckoning Ceaseless Beauty and Wild Compassion, and has been a featured poet at two TedX events. She was also recently a guest on Glennon Doyle's You Can Do Hard Things podcast. Last year, her 12-book series The Zodiac Love Letters, was published by One Idea Press, and her new book, Everyday Radiance--based on her daily Instagram offerings--will be published by Chronicle in January. Heidi grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, learning the zodiac with her A,B, C's, and calls herself "a poet with a map of the heavens in her pocket." What She Shares: –Heidi's work with astrology + astrological embodiment Radiant Life retreats –Embracing the energies of our signs –Motherhood and astrology –New book called Everyday Radiance What You'll Hear: –Learning astrology from a young age –Background in theater contributes to workshops and retreats –Embodying signs and energies –Teachers including somatic backgrounds in trainings and workshops –Theater providing powerful embodied experience –Building community and holding space over time –Non-linear paths of healing and growth –Positive reparative experiences with embodiment –Ritual and embodiment –Rising sign as our gift to the world –Expanding and embracing the energies of our signs –Our charts as watercolors, messy and gorgeous –Kimberly's chart is read –Heidi's experience working with her father in astrology and art –Heidi's experience with Sofia Diaz –Role of spiritual teachers versus psychologist –Finding people with your rising sign as embodied teachers –Motherhood and astrology –Mothering as a way to encourage fullness of our children –Importance of children seeing mothers in our fullness –Importance of retreat time away from mothering –Kimberly's experiencing teaching yoga while mothering –Raising children with chosen family and community –Inner-conflicts around creating with children –Evolution of Heidi's creative process while mothering –New book coming Everyday Radiance as a daily astrological read –Book available for pre-order –Heidi reads poem of hers on father's death Resources Website: heidirose.com IG: @heidiroserobbins

In this episode, Kimberly and Ralph discuss commonalities between their work regarding somatics, psychotherapy, and spiritual traditions. Ralph describes his journey of seeking from mainstream religion to various spiritual traditions and how his time in rehab propelled his work in psychotherapy, teaching, and writing his books. In addition, he describes his journey regarding gender and sexuality and how that correlated with his neurodivergence. In addition, he describes Internal Family Systems, our four selves, and his niche work of combining psychotherapy and meditation. Towards the end of the conversation, they share their reactions to receiving negative reviews and the arduous process of writing and publishing a book. Bio Ralph is the author of two internationally published books about trauma recovery, meditation, and the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of psychotherapy. He is personally mentored by Richard Schwartz, founder and developer of IFS. He is a psychotherapist in private practice and a seasoned meditation teacher known for his radically open and humorous teaching style. His most recent book, Don't Tell Me to Relax: Emotional Resilience in the Age of Rage, Feels, and Freak Outs was named one of the "Best Books of 2020" by Mindful Magazine. What He Shares: –Ralph's journey with addiction, spiritual practice, + becoming a psychotherapist –Gender identity, sexuality, and neurodivergence –Multiple selves & Internal Family Systems –Nervous system responses to criticism What You'll Hear: –Evolution of his yoga practice –Raised Southern Baptist, experienced early childhood traumas, turned to Hare Krishnas –Experienced suicidal ideation until reading Ram Das –Traveled with Amma –Turned to spirituality as an attempt to continue high –Experience of drug addiction alongside spirituality –Encountered deep spiritual practice in rehabilitation center –Began mindfulness based practice through Buddhist teachers in 2005 –Began teaching meditation at yoga studio –Seeing the humanity of Buddhist practices –Also discovered psychotherapy in rehab –Healing traumas of previous wounding and insecure attachments –Sexuality journey of "neuroqueer" –Journey around gender and sexuality distinctly –Experienced violent bullying in high school because of gender –Embracing the term "genderqueer" –Influence from Bikini Kill and Riot grrrl –Internal Family Systems Therapy and parts work –Internal conflicts and internal dialogues –Multiplicity and multiple selves offers us map of our psyche –IFS and somatics and meditation- Ralph's niche –No one therapy heals all of us –Pandemic and upheaval of socio-political upheaval –Collective inability to metabolize impact of pandemic –Process of writing first book, dealing with lack of confidence –Confronting demonization of cognition (monkey mind) in spiritual circles –Experiences after publishing first books –Risks of writing and publishing –Reading bad reviews of work –Criticism triggering sympathetic nervous system responses –Shambala as an ethical publishing company –Protecting our own energy –Meditation, movement, breath work, diet, 80-20 lifestyle –Self energy in IFS have to be in compassion and holding space –Embracing all of life's experiences –Being effective for others through burnout –How the term "neuroqueer" connecting spectrums of queerness and neurodivergence –Labels as stigmatizing and liberating –Upcoming course on mindfulness, somatics, IFS, and more –"Unstuck How to Heal every part of you" starts Dec 2nd Resources Website: https://ralphdelarosa.com/ IG: @ralphdelarosa

In this episode, Kimberly talks with Elizabeth Marglin, Niki Dewart, co-authors of "The Wild and Sacred Feminine Deck," and Jenny Kostekci-Shaw, artist of the deck. They discuss how the deck came to fruition, its roots and connection to motherhood, and the publishing process of the deck. They also discuss the rich meaning behind wildness, the sacred feminine, and embodiment, as well as their individual creating processes while mothering. At the end of their episode, they pull a card for the collective with a powerful message of traversing through these difficult times. Bio Elizabeth Marglin, M.A. is the coauthor of The Mother's Wisdom Deck with Niki Dewart. Elizabeth is a journalist and writing coach who writes for publications such as Yoga Journal and Spirituality & Health. Marglin lives in Colorado. Niki Dewart writes books, designs sacred spaces, and leads rituals and retreats that nurture the feminine soul. Jenny Kostecki-Shaw is a national award-winning author and illustrator, a homesteader, and a mother. What They Share: –Motherhood and "The Wild and Sacred Feminine Deck" –Wild, Elemental, Archetypal and Divine suits in the deck –Wildness, embodiment, and Spirit –Creative processing while mothering –Reading of a card for the collective What You'll Hear: –The Wild and Sacred Feminine Deck –Wanting to create a deck for mothers –Publishing process with Shambhala –Expanding deck from mother's wisdom to all aspects of the feminine –Meaning behind the title "Wild and Sacred Feminine" –Decision on four suits and feminine within each –Wild, Elemental, Archetypal, and Divine –Jenny's process of artwork for the deck –Meaning behind 52 cards in the deck –Multicultural approach to card selection –Using ritual to create deck –Importance of Inanna –Elizabeth and Niki's reactions to Jenny's artwork –Embodying the Shapeshifter and fluidity –Incorporating the Wolf into the deck –Jenny surprised by her own artwork –Mothering and the creative process –Creating space away to write and create –Wanting to offer other mothers shorter readings –Creating the deck at the beginning of the pandemic –Weaving pandemic, spiritual life, and mothering into the deck –Jenny's creative process while mothering –Facing struggle trying to find art in early motherhood –Kimberly's process getting Fourth Trimester cards published –Writing the How to Use guide –Kimberly's use of decks –Using decks intermittently or frequently –Co-authoring the deck and collaborating with art –Building meaning through collaboration versus individually –Deck to bring us into soul wholeness –Message of embodiment and spirit to matter through the feminine –Drawing a card from "The Wild and Sacred Feminine" deck –Collective question around our relationship to the earth and traversing these times –Reading of the card Resources Website: https://www.shambhala.com/the-wild-and-sacred-feminine-deck.html