School of Embodied Arts Podcast with Jenna Ward

The first time I read about Polyvagal Theory, so much made sense. The idea that "stress" isn't just all adrenaline-running-around-drama, but can also also/often show up as frozen-shut-down-numbness really hit home. I feel so many of us have constant moderate-grade stress in our lives that just leaves us feeling… numb. Understanding Polyvagal Theory (PVT) helped me to understand, neurologically, wh...

The single biggest hurdle to doing more embodied movement practice, for me personally, is the tight grip of urgency I often feel around time. Today on the podcast, I'm chatting with Rochelle Schieck, founder of the Qoya movement method . A big part of our conversation is exploring how we unwind the urgency of linear time & use the body as a portal to soul time. Rochelle & I have very different fel...

How can we be fully human?    Seems like an obvious question, but when the demands (stress/trauma) of our culture & lived experience asks us to show up more like a machine than an organic being, it's a valid one.   Nahid de Belgeonne, the founder of The Human Method, believes "our modern times are relentless and our nervous system just isn't built for this kind of onslaught." So how can we calm ou...

For the first few years of my personal development & embodiment journey I was focusing on everything I needed to fix.  There was always some mindset, funky feeling, boundary, or upper limit that needed solving.  After a while, I realized that, while the skills to meet these undesirable were essential, they were not the only embodiment skills I yearned for.  What I truly wanted was to be ravished b...

I've sweated more this past month than I have in the past 5 years.  After a looooong absence from the high-intensity-energy scene, I'm back in my high-rise activewear that Australians love so much (activewear is a legitimate 24/7 dress code where I live).  It's got me thinking a lot about my journey from a once-hard-core-hot-yoga-fan to a never-exercise-flowing-feminine-embodiment-practice, and ba...

Today on the podcast, we're discussing somatic practices to help recognize and unhook from the embodied impacts of systemic oppression with Cultural Somatics Practitioner, Facilitator, and Author  Kelsey Blackwell .   When we start contemplating the question… How did we all get so disembodied, one quickly arrives at a few core factors. One of them is colonization & white supremacy. The impact thes...

A few months ago my husband & I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary in Belgium. He knows my love language (luxury) so we luxed it up over a lavish long weekend. How I ended up dating (then marrying) this guy was/is one of the wildest, life-altering decisions of my life. As a woman now in a cross-cultural relationship, living between two countries, with a second language to master (my Dutch is c...

For leaders shifting away from the cultural norms of leadership obsess with "more" "bigger" and "eternal summer/growth", who can we look to for guidance?  How might we find our way to a more mature, sustainable, feminized way of leading?  As an entrepreneur, I've grappled with these questions for years. Navigating 'doing business differently' in a landscape where the intuitive, felt, sometimes non...

Dark night of the soul, mid-life crisis, Saturn returns. Different terms for describing the death/rebirth cycle we humans go through. Today on the podcast, we're mapping the milestone along the path toward death & rebirth with Embodiment Coach Jess Staskiewicz.  If you've been feeling you're ready to shift identities or the 'old' you isn't really who you are anymore… this is definitely a conversat...

In the shower last night I noticed a whole heap of new grey hair. My body reveling the inner maturing I feel has happened these past few years. Midlife is the phase around our 40s (I'm in my late 30s but already feel the phase of mature feminine midlife approaching - plus, my husband would tell you I'm an old soul). Midlife is an often un-celebrated passage of time that creates many an identity cr...

If there's one thing I wish my younger self knew, it's this: Pleasure is a practice. I wish the younger me knew, you're not intrinsically deficient in your lack of pleasure.  I would whisper, 'always having something to unravel & heal' isn't necessarily going to bring you more pleasure, so don't go over the top down that path. Yes, it's necessary to master the skills of discomfort, vulnerability &...

My work & business can be pleasurable? Easeful? I want to believe you, but I just don't think it's so.... Today we're speaking with Ainslie Young , a Pleasure Mentor for ambitious women in business. Ainslie works with coaches, creatives, and practitioners to create successful and wildly pleasurable businesses without burning out and selling out their souls. Ainslie has dedicated years of personal...

What is a Feminine Embodiment Coach & what makes this style of coaching different?   How is the program practically delivered? And what kind of results can I expect to create?   We answer these questions (& many more) in this special Info Session with program founder Jenna Ward. Together with the teaching team, & past participants of the program, we explore the philosophy behind FEC, take a tour o...

Is there an aspect of yourself you're wanting to get to know more? Perhaps your inner wild woman or discerning decision maker? I'm a fan of trying on archetypes. Finding where we might explore more dimensions of ourselves. Using this suggestion as a map to play and develop dominant aspects of myself. But sometimes, putting on an external role can have me performing. In coaching my clients, instead...

Do you ever struggle to maintain a morning practice? To carve out a space for your connection & devotion before the day begins? It's one thing to know (as all the wellness influences will tell us) that morning practice is the solution to so many of our deeper yearnings. Yet it's quite another to actually get your body on board with that plan! This 'Coaching In Action' podcast is the second in a sh...

Want to know what happens within a Feminine Embodiment Coaching session?   Come take a peak into a real live 1-1 coaching session with me...   After many requests, I'm happy to share this 'Coaching In Action' podcast episode, the first in a short series of 1-1 Feminine Embodiment Coaching Sessions we'll be spotlighting on the podcast this month.   In this session, we explore how our body can play...

In this special podcast episode, Jenna reflects on the gestation, birth & maturation of the coaching program over the last 5 years   It's the 5th anniversary of the Feminine Embodiment Coaching Certification & this month (from October 10th to 31st); we're celebrating with a special month of events & enrollment bonuses .   This program has matured in ways that humble and astound me. Right now, we h...

If we exclude your birthday, when was the last time you celebrated you?   When was the last time you threw a party, or bought a gift, for a non-birthday related milestone?   Most of us celebrate the 'big' milestones-birthdays, marriages, anniversaries. Perhaps even we ceremonialize first bleed, matriescence or divorces. But generally speaking, the personal milestones are treated as invisible marke...

Have you ever felt a subtle sense of anxiety in the lead-up to a 'performance'?   Maybe in the hours, days, or weeks before you had to show up and coach, speak, facilitate or express yourself to the world.   Performance anxiety, for practitioners, is common.    I know this place myself. After coming back from a 6-month break in coaching after the birth of my first child, I noticed a resurgence of...

I had an epiphany last week, it was about my religion.   Although I was raised Catholic, I never strongly resonated with the traditions or stories of this faith. Instead, I've been drawn to a faith that's harder to name, that's more aligned to nature and its pulsing creative aliveness. Last week, I realized & reconciled my faith is feminine.   As I write this, I guess it's not that shocking, but i...

The first time I 'figured out' embodiment, it was a messy ride. I was in a relationship that was surface deep. I was in a job that was making me into a robot. I was on land & living in a town that I didn't feel resonant with. I was feeling numb, exhausted, tired, and knew something BIG needed to change.    I uprooted everything. Burnt it all down. And in the process found me. My desires. My creati...

Do you feel exhausted from the emotional labor required from you? I loved doing it. I loved the intimacy and magic it created. But I was also fucking exhausted. And wondering when do I get to refuel from all this labouring?   Today on the podcast… We're defining 'what is emotional labor?' (Tip-you're doing TONS of it all the time) We're exploring if you value emotional labor, or if you've internal...

When I first studied 'embodiment' there was only 1 professional training I could find on the market (it was this one). Over the years 'embodiment' has become a popular concept & the number of training has blossomed.   Those entering the space of professional embodiment training may feel overwhelmed by choice! So how can you figure out the difference between them? And which one is right for you?   ...

Usually, I'm the one doing the interviewing. But this episode of the podcast is a little different. Today I'm in the hot seat, answering some of the most frequently asked questions, about my personal experiences with a feminine embodiment, and how it all came about. I invited Kate Leiper, a friend, peer & Master Coach hereat theSchool of EmbodiedArtsto take the reins for this special interview whe...

"That time of the month" - We all know what this is code for right?   We create separation when we speak in 'code' about our own body. Part of the shaming, silencing & taboo around periods is our participation in not naming them.   In Claire's household, she has changed her language (& over several years educated her partner to do the same).   In her household, they name it - "I'm bleeding"   Ther...