Bodyful Episode #22: Jasmin Cage on the Power of the Subconscious

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By Valerie Martin

In 2018, I went to a hypnotherapy training near Seattle. It was not your traditional therapy training— there were maybe about 30 of us staying at essentially a large cabin in the woods for about 6 days, sharing a room with 3 random strangers.

One of my roommates, Jasmin Cage, happened to be from Memphis, just a couple hours down the road from me in Nashville— and we hit it off instantly. Both yoga teachers, both vegan (for the animals and other reasons), both Enneagram 7 squirrel-brains. 😝

I’d always regretted not staying in touch with Jasmin after the training… one of those things where, after a few months had passe, I felt like I’d missed the window. Wouldn’t it be “weird” to reach out a year, 2 years later? Would she even remember me? But 4 years after that training, this August, Jasmin popped into my inbox with the gift of reconnecting AND reminding me an important lesson that avoiding doing something based mostly in worrying about what other people might think is just plain SILLY.

In this conversation, Jasmin and I shared our candid thoughts on hypnosis/hypnotherapy, the yoga world, and got into a nuanced discussion of drinking culture, sobriety (including her new project Sobrietree), and… well, we had so much to cover that we’re planning to do a part 2, coming soon!

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Jasmin (she/her)

Jasmin Cage is a Memphis, Tennessee-based fine artist and RYT-200 (soon to be 500) yoga instructor. She is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, Heart-Centered Hypnotherapist, and a Certified Y12SR practitioner (Yoga of 12 Step Recovery). Jasmin currently teaches yoga, breathwork, and meditative practices at Lakeside Behavioral Health Systems- a network of inpatient psychiatric facilities in west Tennessee. She recently launched Sobrietree, a project incorporating yoga, art, and spoken word.

You can find out more about Jasmin and her work at jasmincageart.com and on Instagram @sobrietree.

Stuff Mentioned + Additional Resources:

Creatures of Change Episode #1: The Story of My Life in 10 Changes

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By Valerie Martin

Valerie Martin Creatures of Change podcast

Welp, not to make it ~aLL aBoUt Me~ 😝 but for the first episode of Creatures of Change, I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the changes I’ve made or experienced throughout my 36 years so far.

Once I finished outlining the 10 changes I wanted to touch on, I realized that in many ways, I sort of accidentally told the story of my life (in 30 minutes— buckle the F up! 😂).

That’s pretty cool to think about: my intention was to talk about changes, and it turns out that those changes were all the moments that were either pivotal in getting me to where I am today, and/or are a big part of my daily life now. This insight just reaffirms my excitement about exploring change with a variety of guests on future episodes.

🎧 To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Creatures of Change on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

More About Creatures of Change

We’ve all said it at some point: “ I’m just a creature of habit.” And sure, there’s a lot to say for consistency and routine. But what about that other saying, “the only constant in life is change”? Maybe we’re creatures of change, too…

Creatures of Change explores the concept and practice of change from a variety of perspectives: stories of folks who’ve made huge changes in the trajectory of their lives, others who have made small but lasting and impactful changes in their day-to-day lives, and— we’ll also just nerd out about the science of human behavior, and how we can get better at executing the small changes, and embracing the big ones.

Oh, and if you’re looking to make a change in your life and want some guidance and support to set yourself up well for it? We’ll also do episodes featuring coaching with podcast host Valerie Maritn, who happens to be both a therapist and self-development supergeek.

Additional Links + Resources

Did you love this episode? Please leave a review, tell a friend, and subscribe to Creatures of Change for a new episode every 2 weeks!

✨ Creatures of Change episode archives and show notes

✨ Watch the video version of the podcast on my YouTube channel (click subscribe! 💜)

✨ Want to be a guest or know someone who should be? If you or someone you know has an interesting and inspiring story about change, or want to be considered for coaching with Val on a future episode, reach out to creaturesofchangepodcast@gmail.com, or direct potential guests to our submission form at bit.ly/creaturesofchangeguest.

✨ Sister podcast Bodyful

✨ In Tennessee and looking for therapy? Check out The Gaia Center.

✨ Get the monthly Gaia Center newsletter with exclusive content & tips from our therapists

✨ Learn about coaching, speaking, and other stuff Val is up to

Bodyful Episode #15: Zephyr Scott on Food System Alienation

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By Valerie Martin

Every now and then someone comes along who stops you in your tracks and makes you just want to pull out your notebook and write down everything they’re saying.

Zephyr Scott is one of those people.

They are incredibly passionate, wise, unconventional, kind, and dedicated to their work of bridging disconnections that have been ignored to the detriment of our individual and collective health.

This dynamic conversation reaches across a wide range of topics, from why eating disorder treatment facilities should consider biophilic design, to what Zephyr defines as “food system alienation,” and how a year of living as a vagabond taught them more about breaking free from the cultural script than anything they could have learned inside a therapy room.

I can’t wait to read Zephyr’s future book, and it’s clear to me just from this hour-long conversation that they are going to leave a real mark on the world.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Zephyr Scott (they/them)

Zephyr has been many things: a freelance painter, international solo hitchhiker, burlesque performer, dissident, student, emergency caseworker for survivors of domestic violence, citizenship test interpreter, vagrant, teacher, and more. They have lived in moldy squats, on sidewalks, at occupations, out of a backpack in the woods, and as far from their Chesapeake Bay region birthplace as Aotearoa (New Zealand). Zephyr now lives in a log cabin with friends of varied species in the high desert wilderness on occupied Apache Chiricahua land. It is a place that they aspire to transform into a multispecies sanctuary of sorts for individuals whose bodies have been harmed by human food systems.

Zephyr is finishing their Masters of Science in Sustainable Food Systems, writing a book that examines food and body struggles from a critical food systems studies perspective, and is spending the first half of 2022 doing an intensive mentored study in regenerative architecture with a focus on the psychological and embodied impacts of existing eating disorder treatment center designs. Their upcoming projects will reimagine and radically redesign care for people who are struggling with food and embodiment. Much of Zephyr’s research and writing has centered on the weaponization of food systems by systems of power, the framework they have been creating of “food system alienation”, and the utilization and reclamation of food systems in liberatory struggles.

Zephyr believes in taking action to facilitate autonomy for everyone regardless of class, race, gender, species, and all other assigned categories.

Links + Additional Resources:

Bodyful Episode #14: Emily Murray on Healing Our Relationship With Food

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By Valerie Martin

There’s so much conflicting information out there about nutrition (including some that is straight-up harmful), that even very intelligent people can end up frustrated and confused about something so fundamental as daily nourishment.

That’s why, when I find people who are highly trained and are able to translate the cacophony of information on nutrition into something actually true and helpful, I want to spread their message far and wide.

One such person is Emily Murray, a registered dietitian here in Nashville and owner of Murray Nutrition.

In this converastion with Emily, we explore the normalization of disordered eating (thanks, diet culture!), what it looks like to start to heal a dysfunctional relationship with food, common obstacles that come up in that process and in eating disorder recovery, and more.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Emily Murray, RD, LDN, CEDS (she/her)

Emily is a non-diet, HAES registered dietitian and certified eating disorders specialist through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp). Emily offers a warm and direct therapeutic pre    sence, aiming to support her clients through radical honesty, practical skill building, and enduring hope.

After completing her dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Emily worked in a variety of practice settings and levels of care for eating disorders, including The Renfrew Center in Nashville. She has since founded her own practice, Murray Nutrition, and currently serves as a board member on the Nashville iaedp chapter.

In her free time, Emily enjoys arts and crafts, listening to music, nature walks, and spending time with her husband and pup, Theo. To learn more about the services that Emily and her team offer, head to murraynutritionco.com, and follow along with Emily’s Instagram @murraynutrition.

Links + Additional Resources:

Bodyful Episode #06: Michelle Cassandra Johnson on Finding Refuge & Prioritizing Collective Care

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Michelle Johnson Bodyful Podcast

We each have maybe a handful of teachers in our lives that fundamentally shift the way we see or experience— Michelle Cassandra Johnson has been one of those teachers for me.

Michelle is a true embodiment of grace, fire, compassion, and grit, and is a radiant example of how to to show up with skillfulness and heart in a dysfunctional world.

Her new book Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief was released just this week, and I am so excited to dive into and savor it starting next weekend when I’ve carved out some special time and space to do so.

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Michelle, and that if you arent’ already familiar with her books and other offerings, that this will be the first of many times you get to experience her gifts.

“Our culture conditions us to notice what is going on from the head up and not from the throat and heart down. The only way out is through, by way of the feelings. If we are going to make social change, we need to cultivate a practice of feeling... When one connects with their feelings as yoga teaches us to do, one can connect with their heart. If one is connected with their heart, they have the opportunity to be changed and to shift their perspective. They have the opportunity to feel the pain of living in a world that is designed to break the spirit through violence, oppression, and injustice.”
— Michelle Cassandra Johnson (from Skill in Action)

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Michelle Cassandra Johnson (she/her)

Michelle is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. She has led dismantling racism work in many settings for over two decades and has a background and two decades of practice as a clinical social worker. Michelle’s work centers on healing from individual and collective trauma, coming back into wholeness and aligning the mind, body, spirit, and heart. She published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017 and her newest book, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief was published by Shambhala Publications in 2021.

Michelle teaches workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide and is on the faculty of Off the Mat, Into the World. In 2020 she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.

Links + Additional Resources:

Bodyful Episode #05: Sarah Jane Chapman on Yoga Therapy & Body Liberation

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Sarah Jane Chapman Bodyful Podcast

Occasionally you meet someone who makes you feel good just by being in their presence, no matter what you’re doing or talking about. Sarah Jane Chapman is one of those people.

She is (in my words) a modern-day witch who lives in alignment with the earth as an extension of herself, and has worked hard to heal her relationship with her body after years of slogging through diet culture and eating disorder recovery.

Sarah Jane is a mama, a massage therapist, and a yoga teacher who teaches the kind of classes I actually want to take (which, TBH is rare 😄). And does a lot of other cool shit, which you can hear about in our conversation or read in her bio below or at her website. I hope you enjoy this conversation!

“Yoga therapy is an individualized practice created to work with someone’s specific system. I typically see clients once or twice a month to check on their practice and tweak it if necessary. If practiced regularly, I can see changes in my clients’ systems. It’s truly magic.”
— Sarah Jane Chapman

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Sarah Jane Chapman

Sarah Jane Chapman was born in Upstate New York where she would spend her days climbing trees and laying in the grass. She started practicing yoga at 14, which helped her through some of the most difficult times of her life. In 2012, she traveled to Rishikesh, India where she became certified in Hatha Yoga, and shortly thereafter moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Sarah Jane is a licensed massage therapist trained at the Mind Body Institute, and offers a plethora of body work and Reiki, as well as astrology and tarot readings. She is currently playing a lot with creating tinctures and teas from plants to facilitate health and connection with the earth, and loves spending time outside with her daughter and going on walks with her husband in their east Nashville neighborhood. You can follow her on instagram @sarahjanechap and learn more about her in-person and virtual offerings at sarahjanechapman.com.