Podcast
Embodiment Matters Podcast
Hosted by Carl Rabke and Erin Geesaman Rabke · EN
Embodiment Matters is an ongoing, rich conversation about what it really means to be embodied, and why and how embodiment matters so much in our daily lives and in our world. Our guests include wise and insightful teachers from the realms of somatics, Buddhism, meditation, social justice, psychotherapy, movement arts, bodywork, martial arts, neuroscience, environmentalists, indigenous teachers, and more.
In our conversations, we explore a wide range of topics around waking up and being embodied, and offer guided practices to help return to your embodiment as a source of wisdom, guidance and intimacy with life.
Your hosts, Carl Rabke and Erin Geesaman Rabke, have been devoted to waking up and being embodied for the last 25 years. They have extensive training and practice in The Feldenkrais Method, Yoga & Yoga Therapy, Structural Integration, Embodied Life, Buddhist Meditation, Tai Chi, Focusing, Ayurveda, and more. They share a passion for sharing potent practices that support people in becoming more embodied, more mindful and aware, more rooted in liberating kindness, and more free in all ways; as well as more able to bring their unique gifts forth to benefit the world.
They live in Salt Lake City, and can be found at bodyhappy.com
66episodes
Episodes
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A Meeting of Two Rivers of Wisdom: A Conversation with Pat McCabe (Woman Stands Shining) and Dr Jaiya John (Mshkiki Odeh Inini, Medicine Heart Man)
4w ago02:06:48Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we follow a river of a conversation that is a meeting of two beautiful souls, Pat McCabe and Jaiya John. We three, (Carl, Erin and Alexandre) have been deeply moved and influenced by Pat and Jaiya's writings, and presence, and work in the world, and we were inspired to host a conversation introducing these elders, who each carries such potent medicine for our times. Together, Pat and Jaiya weave through many themes including power, protection, trickster energy, the sacredness of water, the importance of finding one's joy, and how to support young ones in this time. This conversation is also a beautiful love letter to the lands of Northern New Mexico, where Pat lives and Jaiya grew up. Woven throughout the conversation is the theme of sacred remembrance, and the importance to not forgetting who we are, and why we are here at this time. We hope you enjoy the conversation, the pace and the pauses, the tone of voice, the songs, the humor, and the quality of reverence and respect and Jaiya and Pat each embody with such grace. Dr. Jaiya John (Mshkiki Odeh Inini, Medicine Heart Man) was orphan-born on ancient Indigenous Anasazi and Pueblo lands in the high desert of New Mexico, and is an internationally recognized ancestral Baba, freedom worker, medicine poet, and keynote speaker. Jaiya is the founder of Soul Water Rising, a global rehumanizing mission to eradicate oppression. The mission has donated thousands of Jaiya's books in support of social healing, and offers grants to displaced and vulnerable youth. He is the author of numerous books, including Daughter Drink This Water, We Birth Freedom at Dawn, Fragrance After Rain, and Freedom: Medicine Words for your Brave Revolution. Jaiya writes, narrates, and produces the podcast, I Will Read for You: The Voice and Writings of Jaiya John, and is the founder of The Gathering, a global initiative and tour reviving traditional gathering and storytelling practices to fertilize social healing and liberation. He is a former professor of social psychology at Howard University, and has spoken to over a million people worldwide and audiences as large as several thousand. Jaiya holds doctorate and master's degrees in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow with a focus on intergroup and race relations. As an undergraduate, he attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he studied Tibetan Holistic Medicine through independent research with Tibetan doctors and trekked to the base camp of Mt. Everest. He is a Lewis & Clark College Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. His Indigenous soul dreams of frybread, sweetgrass, bamboo in the breeze, and turtle lakes whose poetry is peace. For more on Jaiya, visit his website. Pat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining) is a Diné (Navajo) mother, grandmother, activist, artist, writer, ceremonial leader, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace, and her paintings are created as tools for individual, earth and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations, Women's Nation and Men's Nation, in being functional members of the "Hoop of Life" and upholding the honor of being human. Her primary work at the moment is: • The reconciliation between the masculine and feminine, Men's Nation and Women's Nation • Remembering, recreating or creating anew a narrative for the Sacred Masculine • Addressing the Archetypal Wounding that occurred in our misunderstanding and abuse of technology in prayer, ceremony and science You can find more about Pat's work at https://www.patmccabe.net And you can find more about our dear brother, Alexandre Jodun and his wife Alyona Kobevka at https://www.ahealingbridge.com
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Practices of Reconnection and Remembrance and Why They Matter: A Conversation With Erin Geesaman Rabke and Carl Rabke
Jan 1700:56:13Tap to summarizePractices of Reconnection and Remembrance and Why They Matter: A Conversation With Carl Rabke and Erin Geesaman Rabke Greetings listener friends, we are so grateful to have you join us for this deep conversation about practices of Reconnection & Remembrance and Why They Matter. This is the third in a series of podcasts on Practices of Presence, Practices of Depth and Soul, and Practice of Reconection & Remembrance and Why They Matter. We begin with a favorite line from dear Dr Jaiya John: "It is not that we have so much to learn. It is that we have so much to remember. We are alive in the colonizing centuries of the Great Forgetting. Let us journey now into this new era upon us of the Great Remembering. We need teachers gifted not at cold instruction but at Loving reunion. We need homecoming." We have so much to remember. We follow the muse through many topics related to reconnection and remembrance. We speak about the long tail of our human history and ancestry, and how it has only been roughly 1-2 generations since the technological revolution, only 20 since the industrial revolution, just 600 since agriculture, and at least 200,000 generations before that - of being humans in intimate relationship with the living world. We speak of this long ancestral inheritance in terms of foundational human intelligences that many modern humans have forgotten, that we can always remember and return to. Movement intelligence, ritual intelligence, village mindedness, rhythmic intelligence, sensitivities to the natural world and so much more. We reflect on naturalness, and what is different in the learning process when we are remembering a capacity that is natural yet perhaps forgotten or unpracticed, and what kinds of practices offer the soil conditions that support the blossoming of our naturalness and uniqueness. We speak about the importance, from our Tibetan Buddhist lineages, of short glimpses, repeated many times. We share many ways to return to our embodied presence, our connection with the Earth, ways to return to what is most essential and important, over and over and over through the day. May you enjoy the conversation! And, if you are as lit up about these topics as we are, please share the episode with your friends and networks. We really appreciate it. To find out more about our Refugia training program, visit https://embodimentmatters.com/refugia/
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Practices of Depth and Soul and Why They Matter: A Conversation With Carl Rabke and Erin Geesaman Rabke
Jan 1401:00:08Tap to summarizePractices of Depth and Soul and Why They Matter: A Conversation with Erin Geesaman Rabke and Carl Rabke Greetings, listener friends! We are delighted to share this conversation, the second in a series of three podcasts we're releasing during January 2026. The first is on practices of presence. The second, (this conversation) is on practices of depth and soul. The third will be on practices of reconnection and remembrance. We explore in each epsiode what these are and why they matter. These three realms of practice are woven through the foundation of our upcoming 13-month depth training, Refugia, which begins in early February, 2026. What are practices of depth and soul? Why do they matter? We begin with a line from Michael Meade: "Slow and down are the primary movements of soul." Erin shares a beautiful quote from Francis Weller pointing toward a mythopoetic definition of soul. We explore honoring depth and soul in a culture that tends toward the spiritual and the transcendent. We touch on many practices of depth and soul and why they matter, including growing an apprenticeship with sorrow, embodying one's unique genius or soul medicine, what it means to grow one's adult presence, the importance of the imagination and the imaginal, how to be in relationship with our wounds and sacred limps. We honor those from whom we have learned about soul, including Michael Meade, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Jaiya John, Francis Weller, Maya Angelou, James Hillman, and so many more. We hope you enjoy this dive into depth and soul as much as we did. To learn more about Refugia, visit embodimentmatters.com/refugia "Soul rebellion precedes social rebellion, which is why the first and last revolution work occurs in the soul. In the soul." – Jaiya John
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Practices of Presence and Why They Matter: A Conversation With Carl Rabke and Erin Geesaman Rabke
Jan 1101:03:04Tap to summarizeIn this podcast, we dive into one of our favorite topics: practices of presence and why they matter. This is the first in a series of three podcasts on practices of presence, practices of depth and soul, and practices of reconnection and remembrance, and why they each matter. These three interweaving spheres and practices are the foundation of the curriculum for our 13-month Refugia training program that begins in February 2026. How important it is to have practices that help us remember and return to presence over and over through the day! We speak of growing an embodied ground, and how movement can either deepen the sense of split and objectification, (doing something to our body) or can deepen intimacy with life – through embodiment. We speak of how when we learn how to learn, and learn how to deepen presence through movement, this can touch every aspect of our lives. We speak about our approach to meditation (not mind control!) and the importance in this speedy world of taking time for stillness, silence, and spaciousness. We speak of the present moment as being vast enough to hold the past and future, to hold the ancestors and future ones. So many rich topics, quotes, and practices in this conversation. We hope you might enjoy it as much as we did. To find out more about our Refugia training, you can visit https://embodimentmatters.com/refugia/ To join us in our weekday online embodied meditation practice, you can visit https://embodimentmatters.com/meditation/
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Men of Depth and Soul: Living in A Good Way: A Conversation With Kedar Brown
Jan 601:25:03Tap to summarizeIn this conversation, we speak with ritualist, healer, and rites of passage facilitator, Kedar Brown, founder and director of the Rites of Passage Council. Our conversation meanders through a variety of soulful topics. Kedar opens the conversation with a beautiful prayer and invocation. We speak of what it means to live in a good way, to become who we are meant to be, and give our gifts to the world. We speak of the markings and indications of adulthood, and what happens in the absence of initiation. We also speak of the importance of remembering our innate ritual intelligence. We loved speaking with Kedar, and look forward to him joining as one of the guest teachers in our upcoming Men of Depth and Soul along with Francis Weller. You can find out more about Kedar and his work at ritesofpassagecouncil.org You can find more about the Men of Depth and Soul Class at embodimentmatters.com and ahealingbridge.com Kedar is the founder and director of Rites of Passage Council, an organization offering deep nature ceremonial encampments around the world. He is an internationally known ceremonialist, healer, intuitive and teacher of psychological and spiritual awareness with over thirty-five years of professional experience. Over this time Kedar has developed an effective and unique approach to emotional and spiritual healing by braiding together his depth of clinical knowledge of experiential psychotherapies with more nature based, indigenous wisdom teachings and healing methods from around the world. In 1994 Kedar apprenticed with Steven Foster and Meredith Little at School of Lost Borders in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the form and process of the vision quest ceremony and eco-psychology. He has also apprenticed for many years with Malidoma Some, PhD, initiated elder and shaman of the Dagara tribe of Burkina Faso, West Africa. Kedar has also had the honor and privilege to learn many valuable insights into healing from his apprenticeship with Cherokee elder and medicine person, Will Rockingbear. "I have known Kedar for a long time as a man of spirit with remarkable devotion to healing. He tends to his duty with royalty and ferocious commitment. As a man who hears the call of Earth and Nature, Kedar extends his hand to those in quest of change and transformation and is always willing to lead them into and guide them through a deep sense of communion with themselves. Having worked with him in a number of rituals and ceremonies and watched carefully the way he gives of himself to spirit, I have come to respect his priestly devotion to the sacred in Nature and in every human. His work deserves respect and reverence."~Malidoma P. Some´ PhD. Author, Teacher & Tribal Elder of the Dagara Tribe of West Africa.
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In the Absence of the Ordinary: A Conversation with Francis Weller
Dec 3000:59:06Tap to summarizeGreetings listener friends! This is a re-release of a conversation we had with writer, teacher and soul activist, Francis Weller in 2020. We are releasing some of our favorite conversations that are connected with the themes we will be exploring in our 13-month mentoring training, Refugia, which begins in February 2026. Francis will be one of the guest teachers, along with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Alexandre Jodun and Alyona Kobevka. We recorded this conversation just after Francis released the first version of In the Absence of the Ordinary was released as an e-book. The book was recently published in 2025, and is a beautiful collection of soulful and potent essays about the time in which we find ourselves. There is also an audio version with Francis reading that is lovely. In this episode, recorded in May, 2020, we jump right into discussing our global circumstances as what Francis calls a Rough Initiation. We explore Francis's suggestions for responding to overwhelm: self-compassion, turning toward our feelings, being astonished by beauty, and having patience. We explore what Francis calls growing an apprenticeship with sorrow, and the possibility metabolizing our sorrows into something medicinal for soul and for community. Francis speaks to a powerful quote from human biologist Paul Shephard, that states: "The grief and sense of loss, that we often interpret as a failure in our personality, is actually a feeling of emptiness where a beautiful and strange otherness should have been encountered." We explore this beautiful and strange otherness and so much more. We are sure you'll enjoy this beautiful conversation as much as we did. Many thanks to Francis for sharing his words and wisdom so generously. For more information on Francis and his work, visit francisweller.net For more information on our classes, grief rituals and Refugia program, visit embodimentmatters.com
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Becoming Refugia: A Conversation with Carl Rabke, Erin Geesaman Rabke and Alexandre Jodun
Dec 1901:23:28Tap to summarizeIn this episode, our dear friend and colleague, Alexandre Jodun, interviews us! Alexandre had noticed that over these last six years of the Embodiment Matters podcast, and us (Carl and Erin) interviewing so many extraordinary teachers and luminaries, that you, our dear listers, had not heard so much from us about our work, and the soul medicine we carry. So, Alexandre reached out and asked to interview us on our podcast. We loved this conversation with Alexandre so much! It felt like the three of us sitting on the porch together reflecting on all the things we love. We speak about integrating practice with family, growing community, ripening adulthood, embodying freedom, the value of grief work, and many other rich topics. We also talk about the intention and vision behind Refugia, our 13-month mentoring training that begins in February 2026, that weaves together these threads we have carried in somatics, soul-work, deep ecology, grief-tending, meditation, voice, and more, in ways that help us each become more fully ourselves, and support us each to become refugia, places where pockets of life are protected and can flourish amidst all that is collapsing and unraveling. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did. You can find out more about Alexandre and his and his wife, Alyona's beautiful work at http://www.ahealingbridge.com And you can find out more about Carl and Erin's work and Refugia program at https://embodimentmatters.com/refugia/
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Men of Depth and Soul: A Conversation with Dr. Jaiya John and Alexandre Jodun
Mar 11, 202501:25:44Tap to summarizeGreetings listener friends! We are excited to share this conversation with Dr. Jaiya John. This is the second episode in the Men of Depth and Soul series that Carl is hosting with our dear friend and colleague, Alexandre Jodun. Jaiya is an incredible poet, writer, teacher, and human being and the founder of Soul Water Rising press. as he writes on his website: "My lifelong calling and work is freedom from the sickness of supremacy and inferiority. Freedom from oppression. Freedom to live a beautiful life. Food, water, and shelter are nothing if the one being fed, watered, and sheltered is immersed in the profound suffering that is poverty of the soul. I am grateful to carry out the humanitarian work of feeding souls the bread and breath of Love, compassion, and hope. In an often dehumanizing world, Soul Water Rising is a global rehumanizing mission, stirring the soul to remember itself. We support the healing and freedom journeys of historically dehumanized populations and cultures. We honor womanhood and fatherhood. And we treat the sickness of racial and cultural supremacies wherever they exist." In our conversation, we move through so much terrain looking at how men are being called by the times. We unpack the notion of freedom, and what it means to seek freedom for all beings, we talk about systems top-down dominance, and the pervasive presence of what Jaiya calls the "superiority/inferiority virus." We speak of the sacredness or eros, and how few boys have models of how to be with this energy in a way that feeds life. So much goodness. We hope you enjoy the conversation, and please share it with any friends who might enjoy listening. You can find more about Jaiya and his work at https://jaiyajohn.com More about Alexandre https://www.ahealingbridge.com/holistic-psychotherapy-counselling And more about Carl and Erin at https://embodimentmatters.com
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Men of Depth and Soul: A Conversation with Francis Weller and Alexandre Jodun
Jan 30, 202500:56:03Summary readyIn this conversation, we begin a new sub-series of the Embodiment Matters podcast, Men of Depth and Soul, where Carl and our dear friend and colleague, Alexandre Jodun will be hosting interviews around what is being asked of men in these times. We begin the series with our friend and mentor, Francis Weller. Francis is a psychotherapist, soul-activist, and author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief. Our conversation moves through many topics: men and grief, the relationship between power and love, the loneliness and isolation so many men feel, how we can bless each other and call out to each other's gifts, and so much more. On February 13th, Carl and Alexandre begin an online men's group, Men of Depth and Soul: Rooting into Sacred Activism. Francis Weller will be one of the guest elder/ teachers along with Pat McCabe, Woman Stands Shining. You can find out more about that course here, https://embodimentmatters.com/menofdepthandsoul/ You can find more information on Francis and his work at https://www.francisweller.net More on Pat McCabe https://www.patmccabe.net More on Alexandre at https://www.ahealingbridge.com
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Open Me: A Conversation with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Jan 10, 202501:13:05Tap to summarizeWe are so excited to share this podcast with the amazing poet and human, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. As Erin mentions in the intro, you might want to have some tissues handy, as we dive right into the deep end, and the conversation is filled with tenderness and beauty. In our conversation, Rosemerry reads some of her gorgeous poems, and we move through many rich themes including grief and gratitude, ways to be with someone who is grieving, holding paradox and the stretch of the human heart, and being opened by life. The conversation has the same wide range of this experience of being human as does Rosemerry's writing. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer lives with her husband and daughter in Placerville, Colorado, on the banks of the wild and undammed San Miguel River. She served as San Miguel County's first poet laureate (2007-2011) and as Western Slope Poet Laureate (2015-2017) and was a finalist for Colorado Poet Laureate in 2019. She performs as a storyteller, including shows in Aspen at the Wheeler Opera House, at the Taos Storytelling Festival, Page Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. Her TEDx talk explores changing our outdated metaphors. For five years, she performed in the Telluride Literary Burlesque. She has been writing a poem a day since 2006, posting them since 2011 on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils. In 2023, her poems can be heard daily on the Ritual app, The Poetic Path. Favorite themes include parenting, gardening, ecology, love, science, thriving/failure, grief and daily life. You can find more about Rosemerry and her work at wordwoman.com You can find more about the the course that Erin mentions, Take Heart, Embodying the Great Turning, that she will be teaching with Leilani Navar, with Rosemerry as a guest teacher, along with Francis Weller, Cynthia Jurs, and Lydia Violet Harutoonian at embodimentmatters.com/live-with-erin-and-carl/
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