The Inner Practice-Stories of Healing from the Yoga mat into Life

S1 E22: Self-Love, Inner Dialogue & the Practice of Compassion | A Collective Conversation Part 1

What does it truly mean to love yourself? In this heartfelt episode of The Inner Practice, host Jackie Vandertuin is joined by returning guests Cailea Davis, Jasmine Deleon, and Megan Pomeransky for an honest and thoughtful conversation about self-love, self-compassion, and the stories we tell ourselves. Drawing inspiration from the Buddha's teaching, "You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection," this discussion explores the many dimensions of self-love—from navigating mistakes and challenges to recognizing our inherent worth. Together, Jackie, Cailea, Jasmine, and Megan reflect on: • The origins of our inner critic and how it influences our lives • How compassionate thinking can transform our relationship with ourselves • Viewing mistakes as opportunities for growth rather than evidence of failure • The hidden beauty revealed through life's challenges • What it means to truly believe we are deserving of love and affection • The yogic principle of Ahimsa (non-harming) and how it applies to self-compassion • The role yoga plays in cultivating self-love, self-acceptance, and healthy boundaries • How our practice on the mat influences the way we care for ourselves off the mat This episode is a gentle invitation to examine your inner world, soften your self-judgment, and begin cultivating a deeper relationship with yourself, one that is rooted in compassion, acceptance, and authenticity. Join us for a meaningful conversation about learning to come home to ourselves. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who may benefit from the conversation, leave a review, or reach out to share your own story of healing and growth through yoga. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/support] If you enjoyed this show, make sure you like, subscribe, follow and download the episode or simply leave a comment.  I would love to hear from you!  Please feel free to share your thoughts, episode ideas or simply to say "hello"! This episode is sponsored by Jackie Vandertuin Therapy.  With over 30 years of practice as a Certified Athletic Therapist and professor of Athletic Therapy, coupled with her experience as a yoga therapist, Jackie Vandertuin MSc, CAT(C), will help guide you in the management and treatment of various disorders including:  low back pain, sprains, strains, anxiety and depression.  Reach out www.jackievandertuintherapy.com  for a free discovery call. If would like to be a guest of this podcast, please reach out to jackie@jackievandertuintherapy with a short bio of your story and how yoga has helped you in your journey of healing. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or this podcast, reach out to Jackie Vandertuin at jackie@jackievandertuintherapy.com. Stay in touch at: Website:  https://www.jackievandertuintherapy.com Instagram:  jackie_vandertuin_therapy Facebook:  Jackie Vandertuin Therapy To support the show, feel free to buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/theinnerpractice

S1 Trailer 23 Self Love: What is self love

What is self love?  Why is it important and how does it show up for ourselves both on and off the mat?  Finally, why is it important that we emulate self love for others. In this trailer, Cailea Davis talks about where the idea for the self love podcast came from.   In April of 2026, Cailea Davis approached me and suggested this idea for a podcast.  She had been sitting with this concept, particularly as the theme wove itself through all the previous podcasts.  This episode builds on part 1  I'm so grateful to previous guests Cailea, Jasmine Deleon and Megan Pomarensky for sharing their thoughts and their personal stories and why self love is important. This is part 1 of a our 2 part conversation. To reach out to our guests, you can find them on instagram at @bydeleon @meganpomarensky @cailea91 Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/support] If you enjoyed this show, make sure you like, subscribe, follow and download the episode or simply leave a comment.  I would love to hear from you!  Please feel free to share your thoughts, episode ideas or simply to say "hello"! This episode is sponsored by Jackie Vandertuin Therapy.  With over 30 years of practice as a Certified Athletic Therapist and professor of Athletic Therapy, coupled with her experience as a yoga therapist, Jackie Vandertuin MSc, CAT(C), will help guide you in the management and treatment of various disorders including:  low back pain, sprains, strains, anxiety and depression.  Reach out www.jackievandertuintherapy.com  for a free discovery call. If would like to be a guest of this podcast, please reach out to jackie@jackievandertuintherapy with a short bio of your story and how yoga has helped you in your journey of healing. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or this podcast, reach out to Jackie Vandertuin at jackie@jackievandertuintherapy.com. Stay in touch at: Website:  https://www.jackievandertuintherapy.com Instagram:  jackie_vandertuin_therapy Facebook:  Jackie Vandertuin Therapy To support the show, feel free to buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/theinnerpractice

S1 E21 Trauma-Informed Yoga in Prisons | Healing, Incarceration & the Prison Yoga Project with Jen Lindgren (part 2)

In Part Two of this powerful conversation on The Inner Practice Podcast, host Jackie Vandertuin speaks with trauma-informed educator and Prison Yoga Project Director of Training, Jen Lindgren, about the realities of incarceration, trauma, and the transformative role of embodied healing practices inside correctional facilities. Drawing from both her personal experience growing up with a father who was incarcerated and her years facilitating trauma-informed yoga in prisons, Jen offers a deeply human perspective on the people behind prison walls and the complex trauma histories many carry. Together, Jackie and Jen explore the intersection of trauma, addiction, poverty, systemic injustice, and incarceration — and how practices like yoga, breathwork, and mindfulness can help restore agency, emotional regulation, and self-awareness in environments often defined by control and punishment. This episode examines: *  The hidden trauma often underlying incarceration  *  Misconceptions about incarcerated individuals  *  The connection between the nervous system, survival behaviors, and harm  *  Racial and social inequities within the prison system  *  What trauma-informed yoga actually looks like inside correctional facilities  *  How body-based healing practices support rehabilitation and recovery  *  The importance of choice, dignity, and humanity in healing-centered spaces  More than 90% of incarcerated individuals will one day return to their communities. This conversation invites us to reconsider what rehabilitation truly means — and what becomes possible when healing is part of the process. This is an episode about resilience, accountability, humanity, and the possibility of transformation. To learn more about the Prison Yoga Project, see https://www.prisonyoga.org/ To follow Jen on Instagram go to yellowbikeandyoga To learn about the ACE study, click on this link for an overview https://www.cdc.gov/aces/about/index.html Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/support] If you enjoyed this show, make sure you like, subscribe, follow and download the episode or simply leave a comment.  I would love to hear from you!  Please feel free to share your thoughts, episode ideas or simply to say "hello"! This episode is sponsored by Jackie Vandertuin Therapy.  With over 30 years of practice as a Certified Athletic Therapist and professor of Athletic Therapy, coupled with her experience as a yoga therapist, Jackie Vandertuin MSc, CAT(C), will help guide you in the management and treatment of various disorders including:  low back pain, sprains, strains, anxiety and depression.  Reach out www.jackievandertuintherapy.com  for a free discovery call. If would like to be a guest of this podcast, please reach out to jackie@jackievandertuintherapy with a short bio of your story and how yoga has helped you in your journey of healing. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or this podcast, reach out to Jackie Vandertuin at jackie@jackievandertuintherapy.com. Stay in touch at: Website:  https://www.jackievandertuintherapy.com Instagram:  jackie_vandertuin_therapy Facebook:  Jackie Vandertuin Therapy To support the show, feel free to buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/theinnerpractice

S1 Trailer 22 A Shared Humanity: Jen Lindgren and the Prison Yoga Project

In this powerful episode of The Inner Practice, I sit down with Jen Lindren from the Prison Yoga Project to explore the profound human need for connection, healing, and belonging. Jen shares a moving story from a yoga session inside a correctional facility. After class, one participant found the courage to share a deeply personal experience. What happened next was simple yet transformative—another incarcerated individual responded with understanding and validation. In that moment, barriers fell away, and two people connected through a shared human experience. This episode invites us to look beyond labels, judgments, and past mistakes. It reminds us that beneath our different life stories, we all carry struggles, wounds, hopes, and a desire to heal. Regardless of where we come from or what we have done, our humanity connects us far more than it separates us. Join us for a conversation about compassion, vulnerability, and the healing power of being truly seen and heard. Listen in and discover how connection can emerge in the most unexpected places—and how healing often begins when someone simply says, “I understand.” If you want to know more about the Prison Yoga Project, check out https://www.prisonyoga.org/ Jen can be reached on IG @yellowbikesandyoga Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/support] If you enjoyed this show, make sure you like, subscribe, follow and download the episode or simply leave a comment.  I would love to hear from you!  Please feel free to share your thoughts, episode ideas or simply to say "hello"! This episode is sponsored by Jackie Vandertuin Therapy.  With over 30 years of practice as a Certified Athletic Therapist and professor of Athletic Therapy, coupled with her experience as a yoga therapist, Jackie Vandertuin MSc, CAT(C), will help guide you in the management and treatment of various disorders including:  low back pain, sprains, strains, anxiety and depression.  Reach out www.jackievandertuintherapy.com  for a free discovery call. If would like to be a guest of this podcast, please reach out to jackie@jackievandertuintherapy with a short bio of your story and how yoga has helped you in your journey of healing. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or this podcast, reach out to Jackie Vandertuin at jackie@jackievandertuintherapy.com. Stay in touch at: Website:  https://www.jackievandertuintherapy.com Instagram:  jackie_vandertuin_therapy Facebook:  Jackie Vandertuin Therapy To support the show, feel free to buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/theinnerpractice

S1 E20 From Prison Visits to Prison Yoga: Jen Lindgren’s Personal Journey of Healing, Trauma, and Purpose (Part 1)

Sometimes the work we’re called to do grows quietly from our own stories—through loss, unanswered questions, and a deep desire to create something different. In this episode, I sit down with Jen Lindgren, trauma-informed educator, movement facilitator, and Director of Training with the Prison Yoga Project. Jen’s work supports incarcerated individuals and communities navigating adversity—but her connection to this space is deeply personal. As a child in the 1990s, Jen visited her father during his incarceration. Years later, she returned to that same environment as a yoga teacher, holding space for others walking similar paths. In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, we explore: *  The impact of complex trauma and how it shapes identity  *  Movement, yoga, and breath as pathways to healing  *  What it means to return to places of pain with purpose  *  Forgiveness, self-compassion, and the human stories behind prison walls  *  How service to others can become a powerful part of our own healing  This is a conversation about seeing beyond labels and reconnecting with the heart of what it means to be human. This podcast episode contains dialogue related to sexual abuse, please take care when listening. To read more about the Prison Yoga Project go to: https://www.prisonyoga.org/ Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2515653/support] If you enjoyed this show, make sure you like, subscribe, follow and download the episode or simply leave a comment.  I would love to hear from you!  Please feel free to share your thoughts, episode ideas or simply to say "hello"! This episode is sponsored by Jackie Vandertuin Therapy.  With over 30 years of practice as a Certified Athletic Therapist and professor of Athletic Therapy, coupled with her experience as a yoga therapist, Jackie Vandertuin MSc, CAT(C), will help guide you in the management and treatment of various disorders including:  low back pain, sprains, strains, anxiety and depression.  Reach out www.jackievandertuintherapy.com  for a free discovery call. If would like to be a guest of this podcast, please reach out to jackie@jackievandertuintherapy with a short bio of your story and how yoga has helped you in your journey of healing. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode or this podcast, reach out to Jackie Vandertuin at jackie@jackievandertuintherapy.com. Stay in touch at: Website:  https://www.jackievandertuintherapy.com Instagram:  jackie_vandertuin_therapy Facebook:  Jackie Vandertuin Therapy To support the show, feel free to buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/theinnerpractice