The Shakti School

Feminine Form Sacred Technology

trauma

Ep. 103 Call of the Wild with Kimberly Ann Johnson

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Katie and Kimberly discuss Kimberly's new book on trauma, somatics and the social nervous system.

In this episode you’ll hear:

~ What does it mean to be wild?

~ How Kimberly found her wild calling

~ How somatic work felt different

~ How her yoga practiced changed

~ What embodied somatic yoga could feel like

~ Somatic vs psychotherapy

~ Why yoga can’t solve everything

~ Psychology vs spirituality

~ How to prioritize sensations over the verbal

~ Social media and the social nervous system

~ What a healthy social nervous system looks like

~ The nervous system states of social conflicts

~ Predator vs Prey states

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Sponsored: This episode is brought to you by PAAVANI Ayurveda. PAAVANI Ayurveda is a female owned and family run health & skincare company based in Northern California. Use promocode GHEESPOT at checkout for 15% off your order.

Learn more:

Shakti Ayurveda School

Free Divine Feminine Ayurveda Mini-Course

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HELP US SPREAD OUR POD WINGS

This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It’s seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

From my heart to your screen,

Katie

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Ep. 96 Becoming Receivers: A Taste of Shakti School

After the season of giving, can we talk about receiving? In this episode Katie talks about The Art of Receiving, nurturing your inner healer, getting out of the trauma vortex and learning how to receive with grace. This audio is from a recent Shakti School webinar and offers an immersive experience with practices.

In this episode you’ll hear:

~ We are here to experience something: a shift in yourself to become more awakened to your divine self.

~ Laya Yoga: learning to dissolve old patterns, to embody a fuller version of who we are

~ Feminine form spirituality: when we don’t take time for this, our system stays in survival mode and we are unable to receive it

~ Using your body to retrain your lineage patterns

~ The path of the least selfish

~ Finding safely outside of the current/popular power structures

~ Codependency : the way we used to get love

~ What is your relationship with the matrix? Who is giving to you? The divine dwells within the heart.

~ Intimacy with divinity will be the ultimate giver.

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Sponsored: This episode is brought to you by Ahara Ghee. Visit them online at iloveghee.com. Use promocode GHEESPOT at checkout for $5 off your order.

Learn more:

Book a call with Amaury about Ayurveda School

Shakti Ayurveda School

Free Divine Feminine Ayurveda Mini-Course

LOVEFIT: The Shakti School Subscription

HELP US SPREAD OUR POD WINGS

This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It’s seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

From my heart to your screen,

Katie

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Ep. 89 Holding Dark and Light with Dr. Scott Blossom

Join Katie and Scott where they will go deep and wide into how we can hold both our anger/fear/grief as well as great love and transformation at this time. Dr. Blossom is a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner, Shadow Yoga teacher & Ayurvedic Consultant. He has been studying yoga since 1990 and teaching since 1997. His primary teachers are Zhander Remete, founder of Shadow Yoga and Dr. Robert Svoboda, Ayurvedic physician and scholar.

In this episode you’ll hear:

~Working with grief, fear and anger in these trying times

~Bowing to Corona Devi

~The virus as a goddess with healing potential

~The Devi Mahatmya prayer

~The importance of Bhakti - love and devotion to something bigger than self

~There’s no more going back to normal—and why that’s a blessing

~The time of trauma release

~How the patriarchal + colonial mindset has influenced modes of yoga and our bodies

~The Buddha is the sangha - how our healing will come from the community

~Poets, seers and the healing role of the senses

~Katie’s favorite gospel guru: Tasha Cobbs Leonard - listen to You Know My Name

~Find Scott Online: https://www.doctorblossom.com/

"Our anxiety comes from the desire to have things be different. There's going to be the day after the election. And the day after that. We need to be present to what is regardless of the outcome you want. My ancestors had to prepare themselves over and over again for moving toward a freedom that was nowhere in sight. We prepare for life as it unfolds, not our ideal image of it. That is literally the only path forward." — Rev. angel Kyodo williams

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Learn more:

Book a call with Amaury about Ayurveda School

Shakti Ayurveda School

Free Divine Feminine Ayurveda Mini-Course

LOVEFIT: The Shakti School Subscription

HELP US SPREAD OUR POD WINGS

This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It’s seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

From my heart to your screen,

Katie

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Ep. 82 Bootleg Broadcast with Nidhi Pandya: Emotional Digestion

This is a recording of an Instagram live I did with Nidhi Pandya, a third generation Ayurvedic healer and a teacher in Shakti School’s level 2 Ayurveda certification. Join us for this MUST HEAR bootleg broadcast. There's some imperfect audio with echoing here and there, and birds singing in the background, but it’s a REALLY important conversation for our times on Agni, trauma and emotional digestion

In this episode you’ll hear:

~What is Agni

~How the concept of Agni translates to emotional digestion

~The symbol of fire in spirituality

~How we can get better at processing information

~What Agni has to do with trauma and current events

~Finding our inner resource of knowing

~Tips for boosting your capacity for emotional digestion

~Why meditating on the body is most centering and calming

~Find Nidhi on instagram at @my_ayurvedic_life

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Learn more:

Book a call with Amaury about Ayurveda School

Shakti Ayurveda School

Free Divine Feminine Ayurveda Mini-Course

LOVEFIT: The Shakti School Subscription

HELP US SPREAD OUR POD WINGS

This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It’s seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

From my heart to your screen,

Katie

Continue Reading

Letter from Katie

Letter from Katie

My Love Letter to You This Month

This is a major time for change. The Solstice is coming. Can you feel the quickening weather changes? The tides turning? That SOLAR energy asking us to burn the old and snake-skin shed into our BECOMING? Yeah, me too. And it's not always easy to shed our skin.

When I heard of the murder of George Floyd weeks back, I intentionally held back on speaking. Truthfully, my own nervous system felt just completely overwhelmed. I wanted to process in order to be able to respond appropriately. I wanted to be able to come to the community as a beacon of stability and love.

I feel that capacity online in my system now. I know this is not about me or what is going on in my personal life. I just want you to know why I didn’t respond immediately. It was because I wanted to respond thoughtfully, authentically and from a resourced place.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been communicating with trusted friends and colleagues, both BIPOC and white friends that I know have a background in race equity. They have recommended resources to me, both professionally and personally, to deepen my education on how to be a better race advocate and ally.

My response has also been slow because I'm committed to authenticity. I don't want to be just another white person parroting back the current narrative used by many, and then moving on. I actually want to be changed and melted by this. This is the definition of yoga - to have the unconscious stuff made conscious.

This is a whole body, emotional experience. It is not enough to simply write an instagram post. I want to act and stand in solidarity with the Black community in dismantling racism once and for all. And I also want it to come from a trauma-informed, authentic place within me. 

And I also want to honor the fact that there are as many black experiences and opinions as there are black people. I realize that we are in a very necessary deconstruction time, where race matters. But I also hope that this break down can lead to a rebuilding that does hold true to the vision of MLK - where we will be judged by who we are and not the color of our skin. I realize that is a journey that will take time and effort from all of us.

I come before this topic with much humility and even moments of confusion. I am not an expert, in any way shape or form in this realm. I am a somewhat new student to this world, and I will make a conscious effort to continue to learn because it is important to our mind, body, soul and the well-being of others.

I am also deeply aware that it is so difficult for many white people to speak at this moment in a way that doesn’t hurt, dismiss or offend and I want to walk gently. I also believe that ALL beings have the right to think for themselves and should never be coerced or shamed.

We must shed light on systemic racism, frustration and the hurt that black and indigenous Americans have endured for hundreds of years.

So here is what I am committed to doing:

Perhaps by hearing this, you may feel inspired to write a list of actionable items that you will commit to do to bring about change.

  • I will speak up-personally and publicly on my commitment to being an advocate on terms that feel authentic to me.
  • I will personally commit to deepening my ongoing education on race and history by reading books and following leaders who I feel embody wisdom, fierce love and a trauma-informed approach.
  • In addition to the work we have done with charity and scholarships programs here at Shakti School, we will be doubling our Diversity Scholarship recipients for the 2021 school year.
  • We'll be partnering with our mentors and teachers to create more learning content that addresses issues such as racial diversity in the wellness/Ayurveda community, cultural appropriation and other concerns.
  • I will personally make donations and $ contributions to the organizations and thought leaders that I feel are in alignment with the support of black voices and healing for all.

I am not perfect. None of us are. I am going to do and say things, perhaps even in this letter to you, that may hold unconscious aspects of my bias and ignorance. But I am committed to showing up fully, with the capacity that I have each day, and in a way that feels right in my heart, towards being a support to the BIPOC community, as well as all beings who need to be heard. I ask that you truly use this school as a home for your body to unravel pain patterns. I ask that you USE the support and resources you have learned here with us to do the work as well.

The Shakti School is a home for people to work with being more in tune with the natural rhythms of our bodies. We are NOT a school that will teach a particular brand of social justice theory. We are NOT a school that will teach a particular ideology or politicized perspective. We welcome all women, of all backgrounds, including women who identify as trans.

Here we can support students by sharing ancient health wisdom that can support our bodies and minds in this incredibly challenging moment to come back into wholeness and goodness and safety. I can support you all by guiding us back into our bodies in a time where the images and news media’s words, while necessary to stay informed, are oftentimes so overwhelming and unsettling to our animal body and bones. These are the areas where I feel I can most support this community during this time. Here, with you, in this school, because we are SO firmly dedicated to being a place where the body can heal. And I am good at holding space for this.

Lastly, I am also aware of that which does lie beyond our colors and races and backgrounds, which is the spirit within. This spirit is untouched by the injustices of the past and the present. Allowing this part of us to ALSO be here, alongside the pain and reactivity and confusion and fear and anger. Allowing this part to ALSO be here in NO WAY detracts from the deeper and uncomfortable work that we must do, especially those of us who have existed in a world that has historically valued whiteness, to unravel that bias and unawareness. 

It is HARD to take a look at our shadows, both culturally and individually, but if it is done in the spirit of Kali (fierce love) it is the fastest way towards our growth, and towards actually being able to connect with one another.

I hope you will join me in this global effort. Let’s grow our capacity to treat each other as individuals, with love, to use critique to uplift and not tear down.

With love,

Katie

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