The Embodied Jewish Woman with Rena Reiser

Running your own business was supposed to feel like freedom. So why does it sometimes feel like the loneliest, most triggering relationship in your life? In this episode, I pull back the curtain on what actually happens in the nervous system of a self-employed woman, all the unprocessed parts that get stirred up the moment you put yourself out there, ask to get paid, or try to be seen. I unpack wh...

Many practitioners are taught that the key to therapeutic change is helping clients drop into their bodies to access a "felt sense." But what do you do when a client simply can't feel what is happening inside? If you've ever felt frustrated by standard approaches, or watched a client struggle to follow instructions that just don't land, you aren't alone. Following the "six steps" is often not enou...

We've all been there: guiding a client through a protocol only to feel like we're still not getting anywhere, or maybe finding ourselves stuck in our own patterns despite "doing all the work." In this week's podcast, Rabbi Reiser sits down with Rena Reiser to explore why our reliance on rigid, systematized therapy models, whether cognitive or somatic, can sometimes bypass the organic "felt sense"...

We're pulling back the curtain on how subconscious patterns like fawning, people-pleasing, and body judgment are actually desperate attempts to find safety when our inner world feels unsafe. By shifting out of our analytical minds and learning to truly listen to our body's somatic cues, we can finally stop the unfortunate dance of chronic dysregulation. Tune in to discover how to lift your foot of...

Have you ever repeated a positive affirmation you were supposed to say, but realized deep down that your body didn't believe a single word of it? We tend to look at our bodies from the outside in by judging what we see in the mirror, criticizing our "imperfections", and treating our struggles with body image or intimacy like separate, frustrating problems to solve. It's exhausting, and honestly, i...

Why You Can't Think Your Way Out of Anxiety Is your mind a meaning-making machine that just won't stop spinning? When a wave of worry or dread hits, our minds immediately look for a story to explain the discomfort. But what if the story isn't the source? Long before your brain catches up, your nervous system has already answered its core question: Am I safe or in danger? In this  episode, we chall...

This week's podcast episode was all about journaling, expression, and what happens in our bodies when we don't let things out. And right after recording it, I sat down and recorded a short somatic practice to go with it. It's a focusing-based exploration of your relationship to expression — what comes up when you think about it, what it would feel like if it were free, and what your body already k...

When my husband and I were first married, I suffered from chronic migraines, back pain, and other physical symptoms. What I've come to understand since then is that my body was doing the only thing it knew how to do: expressing through pain what I wasn't letting myself express. In this episode, we talk about the connection between self-expression and physical and emotional wellbeing — and specific...

We're back! After almost two months away - because life here has been a lot - I'm so glad to be back with a new episode, and as always, joined by my husband Rabbi Yonasan Reiser. This week we're talking about being honest with ourselves. The kind of honesty that requires us to look underneath the surface - at the beliefs, the feelings, the needs, the thoughts that are quietly running the show whet...

It's been a week. In this episode, my husband Rabbi Yonasan Reiser and I sit down to talk about something that's been very alive right now: coping mechanisms in a real, honest, this-is-what-our-nervous-systems-actually-do way. We talk about what coping mechanisms actually are, why we can't just decide to stop doing them, and why the self-deprecation that comes after — the memes, the jokes, the hah...

Purim is over. Your nervous system might not know that yet. The body doesn't reset the moment the seuda ends. It takes time to unwind from noise, from running, from giving, from holding everything together — or from not quite managing to. The activation lingers. The tension stays tucked into places you might not even notice until you slow down enough to feel them. This week's practice is a somatic...

We recorded this one fast — "recording in 30 minutes, send your questions" fast. The questions that came in were honest ones. About the weight of expectations, the mishloach manos pressure, the teenagers you can't control, the joy you're supposed to feel but don't. The life force that feels stifled. My husband and I sat with all of it. Before you press play: What's the one thing about Purim you're...

This practice uses the physical boundary between your body and the surface supporting you as a way to sense into relational boundaries — where you end and another person begins. When to use this practice: Before a conversation where you need to set a boundary When you're not sure if you're taking on someone else's emotions After listening to "His Reaction Is Not Your Responsibility" When you know...

You know that conversation that starts with one thing and somehow ends with both of you feeling terrible? This episode is the antidote to that. My husband Rabbi Yonasan Reiser and I speak about asking for what you need in marriage, and how you handle it when the answer is no. We role play it. Twice. The difference is striking. If you've ever swallowed a need because you were afraid of how he'd rea...