Chakra Savvy™ with Jessica Goulding

Today we have the distinct pleasure of speaking with Charles MacInerny, a master yoga teacher and community leader here in Austin, Texas. He has so much to share with us about the creation of Free Day of Yoga , which is a long-standing Labor Day tradition here in Austin Texas. Whether or not you live in Austin, this episode will delight and inspire you.  Because you are a yoga student, a yoga teac...

Today we’re exploring how an open and blooming sahasrara , the crown chakra, involves being part of a community, how as yoga therapists we’re trained to make sure our clients are connected to one, and why it makes such a difference to our overall well being, and a life that is healthy and delightful. More about Jess: Website jessgoulding.com Resources: Chakra Savvy: Reset Your Life Game Plan ⁠Chak...

In this week's episode, we are delving into the practice of looking for the good, for seeking the delightful, because it is good for your body, mind, and soul. "Looking for the Good" is a practice I learned in my Anusara Teacher Training back in NYC in 2003. Listen as I share a funny story that proved delightfully inspiring to my students (hint: it involves a pigeon and the Port Auth...

Today we’re spillin’ the tea on gossip, toxicity, and the fifth chakra. If you’ve ever been around gossip, you're a recovering gossiper, or if you just can’t put your finger on what it is, I hope you’ll have some clarity after this episode.  In doing some research on this topic I drew wisdom from the Jess G Yoga Facebook community, Rudyard Kipling, and Eleanor Roosevelt. At the end, we’ll make...

I’m so happy to be back! Today I’m going to share why I’ve been away (which is very heart chakra related). I’m going to share a quote from Brené Brown that explores the theme of love, and an affirmation practice for you to try that helps foster self compassion–a delightful heart quality. 🙂 Read my blog post "Maternity Leave for Graduation:" https://www.jessgoulding.com/blog/graduation M...

Dr. Deb Kern is a health scientist, visionary teacher and guide who is dedicated to helping women live divinely embodied lives. Her years of practice as a nurse, health educator, personal trainer, yoga teacher, Nia teacher and yoga therapist, combined with her life experiences, have given her insights not found in books.  She has observed, time and time again, that when we take actions in our own...

Manipura, chakra three, is our center of self esteem. Self esteem is pretty important when it comes to delighting in life and seeing beauty. After all, if we feel not so great about ourselves, life itself seems not so great.  Today I’m going to talk about: Clues that you might have low self esteem. Ways to boost your chakra three vitality. My favorite yoga technique for chakra three. More about Je...

Scout Chavers is a community birth worker, student midwife, and yoga teacher who is passionate about the cycles of life, death, and pleasure. She is joining us on Jess on the Mountain today to talk about how the chakras and her journey as a birthing professional have taught her important lessons in letting go, holding space, and the power of pleasure. Scout says that chakra work changed everything...

We hold so much within us, and letting go is a practice that leads to openness and space for delight. In this episode, we explore a few types of attachments, or kleshas, that keep us from experiencing ease and flow. 1. Attachment to ideas about what is perfect or ideal and letting go to find delight in the just right for right now; that Perspective Training skill! 2. Attachment to My Way in differ...

This episode is fun and different because this time I'm the one getting interviewed! I recently had a joyful conversation with Shannon Jamail , the founder and creator of Mind & Body Complete, and host of the Retreat Leader's Podcast. You might remember Shannon from last season's podcast when I interviewed her for Episode 28: Embodying Surrender and Manifestation . Shannon owns a r...

Today we welcome back the guest from our most downloaded episode of last season – Ana Pilar Cruz. She's a teacher's teacher and an expert in yoga philosophy. Our second conversation is centered on the second chakra (how fitting!). We kicked things off right away with a question that is frequently debated among those of us who study the chakra system: Can chakras become blocked? Tune in for...

How do we experience pleasure, sensuality and creativity in Chakra 1, muladhara? DELIGHT in the material, tangible things in life helps us feel safe and secure and leads to an overall sense of well-being. In this episode I share practices you can do right now to: - enjoy meals and foster a balanced, secure relationship with food - delight in your physical body, see the wonder of your form and acce...

In Season 3 of Jess on the Mountain, we’ll explore chakra 2 and the theme of DELIGHT as we move up the liberating current of the chakras from root to crown.  In this episode you’ll hear what I’ve been up to during “Acorn Time” and some of the ways you can experience DELIGHT by taking more time to savor, more time to celebrate and less time to worry. I tell a little about what is inspiring me and i...

Chakras are part of your subtle body system; your energetic self. You can't see them, but they spin like gears and encounter the world around you and create the world within you. This can be hard to wrap the mind around. I get it. Truth be told, I don't think we have to understand or believe all that to make the chakras, and the study of them, valuable, applicable, and pragmatic.   Listen...

Rob Bell has evolved from a megachurch pastor to a world renowned heretic (which I think is a good thing), questioning some of the ways the Christian religion has been teaching things that actually go against Spirit and Scripture, and proposing that the world, that God, is much more about love than damnation, and heaven and hell can be found right here on earth. His book, Love Wins, catapulted him...

How does your body communicate with YOU? We have officially returned to the bottom of the mountain, as we dive this week into Chakra One: Muladhara. The first chakra is the earth element – our body, and our foundation. Located at the base of the spine, it houses our trust, fears, and ability to feel safe in the world. Chakra One asks us to be IN our body and LISTEN. Join me as I share how I embodi...

For this week's podcast episode, we have officially arrived in Chakra Two: Svadhisthana. Located in the pelvic bowl (the sacral complex), this is where we house our creativity, sensuality, sexuality, emotions, desire, and reproduction. Since our theme this season is Embodiment, I decided to focus this conversation on Sensuality . The word "sensual" simply means 'of the senses&#39...

Today’s episode is all about the third chakra - Manipura. Located at the solar plexus, the color is yellow, the element is fire, and its focus is on the will, self-esteem, personal identity, and transformation. Joining us for this conversation on surrender and manifestation is the multi-talented Shannon Jamail , a best-selling author, podcast host, retreat leader, therapist-turned-mentor, and yoga...

Today we arrive in chakra three: our lustrous gem, the beautiful yellow of Manipura , that houses our ability to do and to transform. It is the seat of our will and self esteem, and asks the question: How is your fire burning?   Building and embodying a strong will, an appropriate fire, requires discernment, right action, and proper boundaries. Too much heat, stress, or effort and we burn out. Not...

We are back with part 2 of our Chakra Four conversation with Emily J. Hooks and her deep wisdom around the topic of forgiveness. As the discussion continues, we explore how there is a time and a place for forgiveness, that we have to dismantle what forgiveness even means, and how forgiveness doesn't have to include reconciliation (or even the other person's participation or knowledge of yo...

This week's episode is all heart. That's right, we're delving into Chakra Four - Anahata. We are joined by the incredible writer, speaker, and workshop facilitator Emily J. Hooks . Emily's work focuses on inquiry-based healing from past hurts. Her work reorients readers toward compassionate self-acceptance and accountability, and she specializes in the topic of forgiveness, which i...

This week's episode is all about sound, which is directly related to Chakra Five - Vissudha (which means "purification"). Sounds are happening everywhere, all the time. Pause for a few seconds and just listen. What do you hear? Maybe an airplane flying overhead, traffic on the streets below, birds chirping, the wind blowing, your dog snoring, children playing, a phone dinging, your s...

In today's episode, we have reached the part of the mountain that is Chakra Six - Ajna. This chakra allows us to clearly see reality. It helps us discern between what is an illusion and what is truth. Living in a world full of differing opinions, false flags, false prophets, and propaganda – the truth can be tough to get to! Luckily, the six chakra helps us cut through the noise and distractio...

Our first guest of Season 2 is a fellow Austin-based yoga professional whom I've known for many years and have a ton of respect for. Ana Pilar Cruz has been teaching yoga since 2001 and, in the modalities of Hatha, Hatha Flow, and Ashtanga Yoga, has been training yoga teachers since 2006 at both 200 and 500-hour levels in the United States and abroad. As the current Director of Yoga Therapy at...

Welcome back to Jess on the Mountain! We are kicking off Season 2 at the top of the mountain with the crown chakra – the thousand-petaled lotus of Sahasrara. Not sure how to pronounce that? Don't worry - even I mispronounced it for years! Imagine the snow cap of a mountain taking the shape of a beautiful white lotus of enlightenment. This is our connection to Spirit and the Divine. This is whe...