Making Space: Why I’m Taking a Podcast Sabbatical
Send us Fan MailThis is my final episode before taking a break from the podcast. It’s not a goodbye. It’s a pause, and I want to tell you honestly how I got here.What I share in this episode:How the podcast began. The idea was born when my son was about two and a half and I was in my 40s, at a very low point. I had just been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, my mother had passed away, and we were under financial stress. I knew Ayurveda had been a lifeline for me, and I wanted to share it with others as a net of resilience for when things get hard.Launching on the road. I recorded the first episodes in California, then released them while driving across the country to Maine with my partner, my son, two cats, and a lot of plants. I recorded some early episodes, including my first interview with Abigail Rose Clark, in my in-laws’ basement in Ohio while we looked for a home.Three years later. My son just turned seven, parenting is easier, I’ve moved through waves of grief for my mother, and I’ve done a lot of work on my own health. The podcast has documented that arc, and the practitioners I’ve met along the way have woven a web of wisdom that has shaped my life and my work.Why I’m taking a pause. Even while I loved the episodes I was making, the weekly rhythm had started to feel like a hamster wheel. I wasn’t leaving enough space for the podcast itself or for my other projects. A podcast about pausing and listening to ourselves needed me to honor that too.A break, not a stop. My first thought was that I needed to stop, and that made me sad. Then I realized I can take a break and restructure instead. I don’t need to produce 52 episodes a year. I can go deeper, with different focuses, in a way that is in integrity.Space through an Ayurvedic lens. While working on the Space card for my Oracle deck, I went deeper into this element. Space is vast and infinite, and it’s also the space inside each cell, vein, artery, rib cage, and pelvic bowl. Beyond the space itself is how we relate to it: our boundaries, our containers, and the habit of filling every gap. I explore holding space, taking space, and making space, and being comfortable enough in myself (swastha) to rest in the pause without needing to fill it.What I’m working on in the meantime:Live online Somatic Stretch & Shake. Starting in November, every Tuesday at 1:30pm ET on Zoom. The class moves from warming up and stretching, to three rounds of somatic shaking with pauses for integration, to body-led movement, to yin or restorative poses and savasana. Sign up at mynourishednervoussystem.comEmbodied Ayurveda. A year-long journey beginning around late winter, meeting once a month for two to three hours. Each session follows a format I created called Learn, Move, Integrate, Share. We learn a seasonally appropriate concept, move with it in the body, take open time to integrate (savasana, journaling, pulling Oracle cards, resting), and come back together to share. Join my email list to hear more.An Ayurveda Oracle Deck. A creative side project I’m having fun with.The Ayurvedic & Somatic Toolkit for the Perimenopause Portal. An on-demand mini course with five workshop-style practices, made for the perimenopause transition but supportive for anyone with a nervous system: mynourishednervoussystem.com/tool-kitAn invitation: When I return, I’d love to shape the podcast around what’s useful and alive for you. If there are topics you’d like me to explore, email me at [email protected]. Thank you to everyone who has reached out over the years to ask a question or share a piece of your story.Links & resources:Weekly Somatic Stretch & Shake on Zoom (Tuesdays 1:30pm ET)Join my email list for Embodied Ayurveda updatesAyurvedic & Somatic Toolkit for the Perimenopause PortalSomatic Stretch & Shake on YouTubeResources:Abhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.mynourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram