Feel This with Frank and Jess

Ready for today’s adventure story time? Frank’s father becomes deregulated, leading Frank into a cascade of young parts. Can he hold onto himself? Can he practice what he preaches in a stressful moment and come back to himself? Jess brings interesting inquiries to the postmortem analysis. TW: This episode contains references to childhood trauma and violence, Ketamine treatment, psychotic breaks. P...

It’s an exciting ride of revelation and connection. Jess comes in significantly triggered, while Frank is annoyed with “Frank the Podcast Host” after listening to a recent episode. In today’s meditation we notice our thoughts as the “Theater of the Mind” and reflect on the recent Holiday season TW: This episode contains references to Ketamine treatment. Please listen with care for yourself and you...

Continuing their conversation, Jess and Frank explore the interplay between authentic desire, the honest Yes and No, and what happens when Shoulds soften. Hint: We don’t need to put so much energy into controlling the flow of our lives. TW: This episode contains references to sexuality. Please listen with care for yourself and your nervous system. Links: Somatica Recorded 12/06/22 New to Feel This...

In today’s 8 minute meditation we turn toward the present moment and see how that changes the present moment.  Then we each share examples of that juicy, very human tendency to want to squirm our way out of our missteps and lies and the medicine of setting the record straight. TW: This episode contains references to sexuality, aging parents, illness and mortality. Please listen with care for...

Be back next Sunday!

Have you heard the phrase “Don’t Believe Everything You Think”? Well, what do we do when something “feels” SO true, but we know it’s not? We explore changing long-standing patterns and ways of seeing that can’t be changed by simply thinking differently. TW: While there are no obvious triggers in this episode, please listen with care for yourself and your nervous system. Links: Non Violent Communic...

What do we do when an unresolved hurt from our past is suddenly activated simply by someone's response to what we’ve said? Today Jess and Frank take an opportunity for some live rupture and repair. Today’s meditation moves the awareness down to the belly, bringing new meaning to the phrase “trust your gut”. TW: While there are no obvious triggers in this episode, please listen with care for yourse...

Ask yourself, “Am I reaching out to you from love, joy, security, care, and presence OR from anxiety, panic, worry, and fear?” Whatever the answer, simply notice. TW: We’re not aware of this episode containing triggering references. Nonetheless, please listen with care for yourself and your nervous system. Links: When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron Recorded 11/08/22 New to Feel This? We're so h...

Today’s meditation takes you into a 9 minute, nuanced exploration of the breath and acknowledging your current emotions. Then we share the discomfort of our current growing edges and the feelings that come with crossing the gap between who we are and who we want to be. Can we do it without causing harm? TW: This episode contains references to cults, misuse of power, prostitution, and death. Please...

Frank shares two rich stories from his recent family reunion that might look like family drama and chaos to most, instead staying grounded and aware of the invitations into control and anger. Trigger Warnings: Family abuse, potential gun violence, political differences Links: Uncle Frank , 2020 movie Recorded 10/25/22 New to Feel This? We're so happy you're here! Our primer episodes establish the...

Meditation (8 min) - Listening closely and attuning to right now within, which we return to again and again, like practicing scales on a piano. Frank shares stories from his recent family reunion, including his own “latent growth”, that now results in handling family interactions with calm and warmth. Trigger Warnings: Physical & Verbal Family Abuse; Bullying Recorded 10/25/22 New to Feel This...

So, getting to know my distortions is how I begin to myself and others?! In Part 2 we look at disidentification, distorted thinking and why it can be so intense to wake from these nightmares we call reality. Links:  Nine of Swords image Ten of Swords image Happiness Book: From Strength to Strength by Arthur Brooks Recorded 10/11/22 New to Feel This? We're so happy you're here! Our primer epis...

Frank begins with a nuanced meditation on sound which transitions into a nuanced exploration of our current mental patterns and stories. Today we look at creating safe containment to be in direct relationship with our emotions. We’re looking specifically at anger, the compartmentalizing we do in childhood to keep ourselves safe, and how that cuts us off from our life’s energy and flow. We explore...

After receiving a negative comment online, Frank shares what ensued in his inner landscape and discovering his inner troll. Now was it a negative comment, after all? Links: Episode 3: The Red Button The Drama Triangle Recorded on 09/27/22

Today’s meditation asks us to be with the experience of our feelings purely and separate from the thoughts that accompany them, a practice that few of us have been taught. After Jess shares a project she’s excitedly working on, the discussion turns toward the intrinsically, or internally rewarding and the extrinsically, or externally rewarded things we do. If an intrinsically rewarding life is a m...

Today Frank dives into a recent experience that left him ruminating. Ruminating can signal that we may be stuck on the drama triangle and have parts that need attending. Frank shares the process of attending to his parts and Jess shares about her experience with fasting for the first time. Recorded 9/20/22 New to Feel This? We're so happy you're here! Our primer episodes establish the space our co...

We begin with an 8 minute heart-centered meditation taking you right into the flow of care moving from you to those you love and vice versa. After a chat about the physical, emotional, and spiritual heart, we get into a different kind of check in that includes sharing from the present moment experience of our physical, emotional and mental realms. Recorded 9/20/22 New to Feel This? We're so happy...

#27 Part 2 Tapas… More than Just Small Bites When Frank and Jess look to understand Frank’s personal growth trajectory, they return to Frank’s brain tumor experience. Jess brings in three yogic concepts, including tapas. Not easily translated from Sanskrit, tapas is often translated as fiery zeal, austerity, or intense discipline. With this inspiration, they look at the effect of Frank’s two and h...

This episode is released in two parts. Today begins with a beautiful 10 minute basic practice of connecting and communicating with our parts from Self. Then Frank and Jess explore the whats and whys around internalizing self-judgment and internalizing love and compassion. The choice seems obvious… Right? Recorded 9/13/22 New to Feel This? We're so happy you're here!  Our primer episodes estab...

Beginning in the few minutes of meditation with what’s present, we explore what becomes one of the themes of the day, seeing the universal in the personal. Have you ever noticed how the movement between personal and interpersonal spaces is one of the most basic and yet tricky parts of being in a healthy relationship? Bringing our authentic desire is essential to authentic connection. Recorded 8/30...

After a 9 minute meditation, we get right into an exploration of what “good” and “bad” emotions look like through a non-dual lens and how the story of the Tower of Babel may explain why “We Chat” is so dang tricky. Enjoy! Recorded 8/23/22 Your Feedback is Welcome! Please leave us a comment. We might share it on an episode so let us know if we can use your name or if you prefer to remain anonymous....

#24 Unblending is Awakening What’s unblending? Today, after 6 minutes dropping our awareness into our heart and belly, we look at how to find space from our critical messages and the pressure of “trying for excellence”. Who are we once we stop trying? Recorded 8/16/22 Your Feedback is Welcome! Please leave us a comment. We might share it on an episode so let us know if we can use your name or if y...

Starting with a short drop into the heart and belly and the basic emotions, we discover how Frank’s energetic flatness affects Jess’s enthusiasm. And so begins a conversation exemplifying many key features of “We Chat”* which we eventually make explicit. Other themes include our adaptive child parts and their relationships with the energies of our fathers. *For more on We Chat, check out our first...

After a short 4 minute meditation with the senses, we create safety before beginning a “We need to talk” conversation. We revisit Jessica’s definition of Reciprocal Vulnerability and Frank brings attention to his young parts wanting recognition. This sets us into a juicy conversation about the difference between what our young parts think they want and how it actually feels in our system to receiv...

Recorded on July 19th, 2022.