Witch Sweat

This week we’re talking breast lumps, the doom forecasting that comes with health scares and awaiting *results*, talking to angels, and our very good but mysterious pal SURRENDER. And, like, how to fall dizzyingly in love with the lumpy mess of reality precisely as it is right now. Spoiler alert - I gotta clean bill of health, this is about the upgrade in consciousness we get when we let the stunning truth of our mortality have its way with us weeeeee hey, I love you thanks for being here. Book 1:1 Creative Coaching time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

An episode for the artists, creatives and solo entrepreneurs out there who get bogged down by the idea of having to *do it all* all by your lonesome. You've got other unseen forces up in your corner, who have your back, who are gassing you up and have secret lil intel to support your vision and work. Call them your guides, the angels, God, call them the indwelling consciousness of your projects and your art. Whoever they are, go talk to them, ok?? Momentum gathers rapidly when you enlist the *whatelseness* of reality as your collaborator. Enjoy 🤍🦋 Does your creative practice or movement practice need a surge of fresh energy? Get some 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

Oh lookie here, we are BACK baby. The AI bot that helped me audio engineer this episode thought it would be a good idea to title it "Savoring the Petite Droplets of Life Experiences" and they would be not wrong. Listen to me try to make the parallel between the experience of fomo and an inflammatory yet very magical take on DEATH. Whoops another accidental episode on death stuff. Sorry I'm congested here, when the mood strikes to press record, one jumps. The muse cares not for presence of phlegm. ENJOY Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals and jingle wizardry on the outro Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset More — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter

Jimmy and Melissa air some things OUT. We’re talking about the cost of an unexpressed life. We’re talking about the cost of wrangling our true voices to be more palatable to institutions - for clout, visibility, legibility, resource access - and how the curated version of ourselves is like an addiction that must be recovered from, boy howdy! We’re looking at the micro and macro impact of power differentials, and thinking about how so much of our behavior is about avoiding rejection from people and organizations that have more perceived power than us. Turns out rejection is a secret portal to becoming more of yourself, and improvisation is the medicinal lifeway we’ve all been searching for. OK!!!! More about our guest — 🕯Learn more about Into the Velvet Black ~ Melissa’s 3-week inbox grief retreat starting December 11, 2023! Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

In this episode, we look at what’s happening in G@za, specifically through the lens of social media, and the forces that want to keep us skewing towards nervous system collapse and disassociation. Spoiler alert: it’s whiteness! It’s the ‘soothing’ lull of consumerism and capitalism! It’s the unconscious practice of abdicating personal power! It's compulsive information guzzling as a proxy for participation! It’s a habit of helplessness and prioritizing comfort in the face of inconceivable human suffering! This episode will be of interest to you if: Mentioned in the episode— Adrienne Maree Brown live on IG Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

An episode for people who wanna get into the loving mystery and magic of death, dying and grief work. In this solo show, Melissa shares a story from a recent encounter with a dying person, and some powerful / hard-won lil gemstones of truth that have emerged since. Don’t be scared! Let’s normalize these convos and make it feel less bewildering and weird. Ilysm thank you for being here ⚡️ **Join the waitlist for Grief Threads ~ doors opening for our Fall Cohort this Friday October 6, 2023** LINKS If you enjoyed the episode, check out — Your Palatability is a Liability w/ Narinder BazenThe Ancestral Hot Seat Mentioned in the episode— Andrea Gibson interviewed by Glennon Doyle Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

We are in search of more imaginative expressions of masculinity - in ourselves and in the world, who tf is with us?? Let’s get into the energy of the nourishing and life-affirming badassery that is the sacred and dare-we-say intergalactic masculine principle. We talk Sedona vortexes, performative masculinity as a survival strategy, entity work, erotic power, desire, exhaustion, and MORE! This episode is a GRAND follow-up to last week’s The Holy Fire of Other People’s Opinions ~ having a relationship with the inner masculine can offer some major healing to our people-pleasing recovery journey… More about our guest — hezstalcup@gmail.com Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

This week Mel shares an excerpt from a recent mini-workshop on the cost of prioritizing likeability in the eyes of others. We unravel the tangled knots of codependency, living as if to placate others, and orienting to life as if you’re always on the edge of being in trouble or needing to explain yourself. She shares a few somatic tools for loosening the grip of some of these learned habits and trauma responses, all in the name of getting more free and having more access to our DANG MAGIC. Join the Getting Unpalatable Dance Class Tuesday, September 19 // 6-8pm est If you enjoyed the episode, check out — Your Palatability Is A Liability w/ Narinder BazenGetting Cracked Open By the Divine w/ Dajé Aloh Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

This week we are joined by the dazzling Dajé Alōh aka The Story Doula, and DANG do we get blessed by her presence. She takes us all the way to church and to the underworld beneath the church, and has us swinging from the rafters by the end of it. We talk recovery from fundamentalist Christian upbringing, and mining the jewels from the faith for a more creative, more gritty OF THE EARTH AND DIRT kind of spiritual fortitude. We talk about the patriarchy killing our relationship to worship and awe. We talk about how everybody can be a land-steward regardless of your location or occupation, and how our relationship to the land we live on has everything to do with our relationship to the Divine. I got drunk on the magic sauce up in this one. Enjoy enjoy, babies. LINKS More about our guest — Dajé Alōh’s InstagramDajé Alōh’s WebsiteDajé Alōh’s PodcastKinspirit Mentioned in the episode— Getting Unpalatable Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals. Go listen to everything Ben has made, you won’t be sorry! I love you, thanks for being here!

Mel takes us on a journey through the imagination and the realm of the ancestors, sharing a visualization tool for connecting to the big, fun resource that is your kindreds on the other side of the veil. Beginners and skeptics welcome! This is not about talking to dead people in a mediumship kind of way, but more like tippy-tapping on the back screen door of the ~beyond~ and recognizing that we really aren’t ever alone. We have a team of guides that want to play, and we aren’t expected to slog through life all by our lonesome. It’s really just a matter of what we’re paying attention to… We alsoooo talk about why you might feel shame, indifference, or avoidance altogether in connecting to the ancestors. Let's get into it! Book 1:1 Creative Guidance time with Melissa Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

This week we are graced by fitness-pole star-movement legend Marlo Fisken, who is one of the most delightful, goofy, generous humans I know. We talk about the ways she empowers people to have more creative and unconventional relationships to their body and movement, and her tools for bringing as much play as possible into her world as an aid for doing hard things and disrupting the status quo. This conversation lit me all the way up. Marlo offers much inspiration and many delicious tools. Get into it! More about our guest — Marlo’s Instagram Marlo’s Website Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals we love you, thank you for listening 🖤

What a death midwife-performance artist has to say about the habit of palatability. It miiiiight be killing you. The cultural program of *making other people more comfortable over authenticity* gets parsed out as Melissa and Narinder yuck it up and talk about the role of the sacred clown in society, the shadow side of performing your very likable personality, and what it takes to get thyself free from the program of living small. Buckle up baby, there are tears, there are spicy rebukes, there are confessions! Let's go! Thank you for listening, we love that you’re here. 🖤 More about our guest — Narinder’s InstagramNarinder’s Website Mentioned in the episode— Cathy Heller's Instagram Free Resources — Attention Reset Stay Connected — Melissa’s Instagramweeklyish newsletter Big thanks to Ben Coleman for composing our theme music, and Gavin Bernard for vocals

This is the beginning of something. Let's gooooooo Music by Ben Coleman - find more of his music at Ben Coleman Sounds on bandcamp Vocals by Gavin Bernard - he does not want to be found anywhere, enjoy this rare encounter with his baritone dulcetness