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Podcast

Ep. 150 The Healing Climate in Spiritual Practice (and life)

Spirit Sessions Podcast Guest for website

For the past four years, I have had the incredible good fortune to work very closely with a one-on-one mentor and therapist named Cristal Mortensen.  And today, I am so honored to share this podcast with you where I interview her. In it, we discuss what she calls "the healing climate," and why, without it, our efforts to heal ourselves and to hold space for others may work against our deepest desire. This podcast touches deep into the essence of my personal inner practice, as well as the ethos we are working each day to do our best to uphold within what we teach at The Shakti School.

In this episode you’ll hear: 

~ What the healing climate is and how it can help us 

~ Resistance and how finding ‘the spot’ within ourselves can be supportive of healing 

~ The importance of compassion and gentleness toward ourselves

~ Letting awareness be the light that shines through our uncomfortable feelings, rather than changing them

~ Our unique resources within and how we may be able to better access them

~ How these techniques can impact manifestation intentions

~ Noticing how we experience ourselves energetically and the way it can bring self-compassion

~ Being in relationship with energy

~ Join Katie and The Shakti School for the Embodied Ayurveda + Mystical Mind live in-person and virtual retreat May 6th and 7th. Live spaces are filling up fast, so register now to get in! Payment plan options available.

~ Cristal Mortensen is a trauma and nervous system specialist and Certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, in private practice for over 20 years. She helps people heal and clear unresolved trauma, attachment wounds, balance energetic, emotional and mental disequilibriums, find their way back to themselves and discover their wholeness.  Her multidimensional approach to trauma healing developed out of her own journey of healing, which began when she learned yoga and meditation at the age of 16 and henceforth dedicated her life to the path of healing.  She has healed from debilitating complex PTSD, severe anxiety and depression, addiction, disordered eating, chronic pain and physical illness and has dedicated her life to supporting others in healing from the pain of trauma and finding freedom. 

Cristal’s ability to deftly weave between and integrate the realms of the mind, emotion, physical body, subtle body, energy and spirit and bridge ordinary and non ordinary reality, along with her compassionate presence has made her unique work highly sought after.

She has practiced and studied extensively over the past 30 years with masters in the fields of trauma, attachment, somatics, meditation, breath, movement and energy healing, bringing the balance of ancient wisdom and modern science to her work.  She has developed Multidimensional Trauma Healing and Sacred Attachment work, out of the need for an approach to trauma healing that is truly effective and transformative.   Her work builds access to an organizing matrix from which inherent safety, security and an integrated mind and body can develop, creating a new template from which we can heal and our life can evolve.  Her mission is to be a guiding light for those suffering from trauma.  She believes passionately that the seeds of healing and transformation are within each of us, waiting to be discovered and activated.  You can connect with her at awarealignedawake.com

 

This episode is brought to you by PAAVANI Ayurveda. Use discount code SHAKTI15 at checkout for 15% off a one time purchase on paavaniayurveda.com

Female founded PAAVANI Ayurveda is an artisan line of small-batch, pure, organic health & skincare products formulated in Northern California. 

Handcrafted with the wisdom of Ayurveda, these gals seek to raise conscious awareness of the whole by practicing the philosophy of ahimsa or nonviolence in making their products. This means that their offerings are certified cruelty free and vegan and that PAAVANI carefully selects herbal ingredients that are sustainable, ensuring that plant medicine is abundant for future generations. 

In addition to mindful formulations, PAAVANI Ayurveda packages their products in glass to maintain the integrity of their herbal ingredients. Additionally, their labels are printed on recycled paper stock, using water-based inks that generate little to no paper waste & no harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

With every purchase made with PAAVANI Ayurveda, you are supporting a female founded, small business that strives to maintain the health of not only your skin, but also our earth. 

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This smoothie is a little love letter to pitta sea This smoothie is a little love letter to pitta season. 🌿🥥 Bananas, coconut, mint and coconut water all help replenish fluids, soothe excess heat and nourish the tissues, while spinach adds additional minerals and cacao nibs bring in a hint of richness. 

I love to drink this as a mid-morning snack or afternoon pick-me-up on hot summer days. A cooler smoothie like this can dampen digestion if you have slow agni, so it’s best to drink it during peak pitta hours and avoid first thing in the morning or too late at night. 

This recipe is especially supportive for those experiencing classic pitta signs like feeling overheated, irritability, acid reflux or inflammatory skin flare-ups.

If you’re ready to learn how to eat, live and move in harmony with your unique constitution through every season of the year, our 2027 Ayurvedic Wellness Coach Certification Training is now enrolling with early bird pricing!

🌿 Comment AYURVEDASCHOOL below to book a call with one of our coaches and learn more.

🕯️ Comment WISDOM to dive into our free Women’s Wisdom and Ayurveda Mini-Course right now!
Vata is the wind of change in the body: creative, Vata is the wind of change in the body: creative, enthusiastic, inspired... and occasionally running on caffeine, adrenaline and pure optimism. 💨✨🌀⁠
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If you've ever wondered why you do what you do or why you are the way you are, Ayurveda offers a beautiful roadmap for understanding your unique constitution and bringing yourself back into balance.⁠
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Lady, did you know that your nervous system is listening to every thought, every breath and every moment of presence (or lack thereof!)?⁠
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If you're ready to understand your body through the lens of Ayurveda while learning practical tools for regulation, embodiment and vitality, we'd love to have you. ⁠
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Join us for a FREE live class, Somatic Ayurveda: Balance Your Nervous System with Ancient Embodiment, on Tuesday, August 25 at 10am US Eastern.⁠
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🌀 Comment ENERGY below to register for free.
Join us for a FREE class on Tuesday, August 25th a Join us for a FREE class on Tuesday, August 25th at 10am US Eastern (the replay will be sent out to everyone who cannot attend live!⁠
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In this free class, we will explore the human body as both a biological and subtle energetic system shaped by presence, perception, love and awareness. ⁠
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Drawing from Ayurveda, Tantra, neuroscience and nervous system science, we’ll examine how interoception, proprioception and autonomic regulation influence healing, embodiment and awakening. ⁠
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This talk bridges ancient wisdom and modern physiology to explore how deeper states of coherence, vitality and conscious presence emerge through the restoration of our relationship to body, breath, sensation and subtle awareness.⁠
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Participants will explore:⁠
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• The Tantric idea of the “crystalline body”⁠
• Ayurveda and the subtle body: prana, ojas and awareness⁠
• Interoception, proprioception and nervous system regulation⁠
• Presence and love as healing forces⁠
• Trauma, stress and embodied awakening⁠
• Practical tools for regulation and subtle awareness⁠
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🧬 Comment ENERGY below for the link to register.
My Ayurveda is not built on rigid rules or impossi My Ayurveda is not built on rigid rules or impossible standards. Trust me, I’ve tried that. It doesn’t work.⁠
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My Ayurveda is not about perfection, but it is about remembering that your food can be your medicine, and everything we take in is food. ⁠
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My 30 years of study have taught me that Ayurveda must also meet the time, the place and the people in which it is living. ⁠
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My Ayurveda is imperfect because it’s alive, it’s real and that’s what makes it holy.⁠
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Beautiful person, I invite you to join us for a year-long mentorship with your own body and soul, to discover YOUR Ayurveda. 🌿⁠
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Our Ayurvedic Wellness Coach certification is a spiritual initiation into the wisdom of your body. It’s about remembering. ⁠
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This is the year you stop searching for someone else’s Ayurveda and learn how to come home to yours.⁠
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Our 2027 class begins January 20th. Comment AYURVEDASCHOOL for more information. ❤️‍🔥⁠
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Want a taste of Shakti Ayurveda School right now? Comment WISDOM and we’ll send you our free mini-course, Women’s Wisdom and Ayurveda.
In August, the heat and fire of pitta that built u In August, the heat and fire of pitta that built up in June and July starts to rise to the surface, especially as moisture in our body begins to dry out. 🌞🍂 ⁠
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Ayurveda invites us to focus on foods that are cooling, hydrating and slightly grounding. It’s time to soothe the lingering fire of summer while gently preparing our bodies for the cool, dry, vata winds of fall.⁠
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Here’s your shopping list:⁠
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• Mint: Cooling and calming, balances Pitta heat and soothes digestion.⁠
• Peaches: Helps balance dryness with juiciness and hydration!⁠
• Grapes: Sweet, cooling, lightly grounding and ojas-building.⁠
• Pears: Moistening, helping combat late-summer dryness.⁠
• Cucumbers: Cooling and deeply hydrating for your tissues.⁠
• Jicama: Crunchy, sweet and grounding, perfect for balancing rising vata.⁠
• Sweet Potatoes: Nourishing and help stabilize the body ahead of fall.⁠
• Yellow Squash: Moistening and light, supports digestion and balances pitta.⁠
• Apples: Astringent and cleansing, they gently clear excess summer heat.⁠
• Quinoa: Light yet grounding, ideal as we transition from summer to autumn.⁠
• Milk: Especially organic + warm! Nourishes and lubricates as dryness sets in.⁠
• Coconut Oil: Cools pitta, lubricates tissues and calms inflammation.⁠
• Carrots: Sweet and earthy, they ground airy vata and prep digestion for fall.⁠
• Ghee: Builds ojas, lubricates tissues and strengthens agni without heat.⁠
• Tomatoes: For kaphas, their acidity and lightness help stimulate digestion, but avoid for pittas + vatas.⁠
• Mung Beans: These light legumes balance pitta and gently detoxify the digestive system.⁠
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If you're joining us from the Southern Hemisphere, choose foods that balance vata right now. As always in Ayurveda, the best medicine is what's fresh, local and in season where you live.⁠
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🕯️Comment WISDOM to dive into our free Women’s Wisdom + Ayurveda mini-course now.⁠

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