The Embodied Jewish Woman with Rena Reiser

Rena Reiser
  • 4.7 (38)
  • Judaism
  • Updated Biweekly

Welcome to The Embodied Jewish Woman with Rena Reiser. This podcast is for the frum Jewish woman who feels things deeply, senses what others miss, and has never quite found her place in the standard approaches to healing — the therapists, the coaches, the trauma work. Whether you're on a personal healing journey, building a business, or a somatic practitioner deepening your work with sensitive, complex clients — you've probably done the work. The books, the therapists, the workshops. And something still isn't moving. This podcast is for that. Here we slow down and go deeper — using Focusing, nervous system work, Polyvagal Theory, and Torah wisdom to help you finally feel at home in yourself. Embodiment is the feminine path to Menuchas Hanefesh, and that's what we're building here — from the inside out. I share somatic tools and body-based practices from my own life and my work with clients. And scattered throughout the feed you'll find dozens of guided somatic practices — short, accessible, and ready to use whenever you need them. Download Rena's free Tune In Journal and accompanying meditation to help you embody your emotions at https://www.tuneinjournal.com.

  1. 4d ago

    373 - The 70% Rule and What Good Somatic Training Looks Like

    This week, my husband Rabbi Yonasan Reiser and I talked about something I get asked about fairly often: how to choose a somatic training program. My answer might surprise you. We're taking a model of learning that's designed for cognitive content and applying it to body-based work. The model is  information-heavy and lecture-based, and I think that's a problem for what we have here. If you're learning a somatic modality, at least 70% of your time in training should be experiential. Learning this modality doesn't work by watching or listening to lectures. To be effective, we need to actually practice it in all three roles: as a practitioner, as a client, and as an observer. The reason is simple: if you don't have the lived experience of what you're guiding your client through, you can't guide them.  In this week's episode, I also talk about why the nervous system needs a little context before jumping into practice, and why ongoing practice after training is what separates the practitioners who can actually use this work effectively from those who can't. And then I tell a story I don't share often. When I was looking for a focusing practitioner for myself, I worked with several people who claimed to do focusing, and I was appalled. What they were doing caused re-traumatization. They were good people trying their best, but they didn't have the depth of lived experience that this work requires. This kind of training needs to be lived. Join the conversation and let me know what you think. If this episode resonated with you, I recommend The Power of Focusing by Ann Weiser Cornell. Cornell studied directly with Eugene Gendlin, the originator of Focusing, and this is probably the most practical guide to Focusing that exists. It's not theoretical; instead, it walks you through how to actually do it. This maps directly onto everything we talked about today: the difference between understanding something conceptually and having the lived experience of it. This book won't give you the lived experience that only comes from doing the work with another person, of course, but it's the closest thing to a hands-on guide you'll find in print. Order a copy here. This is an affiliate link which doesn't cost you anything extra and helps support my work. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Focusing-Practical-Emotional-Self-Healing/dp/157224044X?tag=towardsahealt-20

    373 - The 70% Rule and What Good Somatic Training Looks Like

  2. Aug 3

    372 - Are You Serving Your Clients or Losing Yourself?

    When someone comes to you with a request or a demand, there are two things you can do: support or acquiesce. Supporting means both people exist. You're here, they're here, and it's a real relationship. Acquiescing means you stop existing, like a balloon where all the air goes out of one side to inflate the other. In this episode, we talk about what it actually looks like in a business context to stay present while serving your clients. We get into the nervous system piece: why fawning is a behavior and not a state, and why it doesn't actually regulate you. We talk about hishtadlus inside Menuchas HaNefesh. And we get practical: filters, recordings, scheduling, and how to use your needs and your clients' needs as the compass for every business decision. If you've ever bent yourself into a pretzel trying to accommodate a client, and then felt resentful or burned out, like you're serving everyone but yourself, then this one's for you. If this episode resonated with you, I recommend Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker. This is the book where fawning as a concept was developed, originating in Pete Walker's work with complex trauma. The way he describes it maps directly onto everything we talked about today: giving yourself up in order to feel safe, stopping existing for the sake of the other person, and the nervous system cost of living that way over time. It's not a light read, but it's not overly clinical, either. Walker writes from both a professional and a personal place, and that comes through. Order a copy here . This is an affiliate link which doesn't cost you anything extra and helps support my work.

    372 - Are You Serving Your Clients or Losing Yourself?

  3. Jul 27

    371 - The Edge in Focusing And What Therapy Is Actually for

    What is therapy actually for? This week, we got into one of the questions I think about most,  and it led us somewhere really unexpected. We started with the idea of "the edge," that place in Focusing between what we already know about ourselves and what we don't yet know. That's where real change happens. Not in the rehashing, not in the advice-giving, not in mapping everything we've already mapped, but in the unknown territory that only opens up when we slow down enough to get there. From there we talked about why self-help books, while genuinely valuable, can only take us so far, and why knowing something and actually integrating it are two completely different things. The Sifsei Chaim has something beautiful to say about this: the avodah isn't the knowing, it's the bringing-to-the-heart. Because the longest distance is to our hearts, and our hearts need constant reminder. We also got into what focusing sessions actually look like from the inside, from the "edge extravaganza" days to the days you just don't want to go there at all, and why a person cannot take themselves out of jail, and why that's not something to be ashamed of. Plus the Super Mario metaphor that I'm pretty sure will stick with you. Join us. If this episode resonated with you, I recommend Focusing by Eugene Gendlin. This is the foundational text: the book that introduced the concept of the edge, the felt sense, and what it means to bring something from information into the body. Everything we talked about today lives in this book. If you're a practitioner who wants to understand what you're actually helping your clients do when you slow things down, or if you're someone who's been in therapy for years and wondering why knowing things isn't moving you forward, this is where to go next. Order a copy here. This is an affiliate link which doesn't cost you anything extra and helps support my work. Focusing: Gendlin, Eugene T.: 9780553278330: Amazon.com: Books

    371 - The Edge in Focusing And What Therapy Is Actually for

  4. Jul 20

    370 - The Energy You Broadcast Is the Business You Build

    Is your voice betraying your nervous system? Because there's a good chance it is, and it's worth paying attention to. This week's episode is part of the ongoing business series, and we got into one of the most honest signals our bodies give us: voice. Not whether you sound polished or professional. Where your voice is actually sitting when you present. Whether it's up in your throat or whether it's dropped into your body. Whether it has that ebb and flow (prosody) or whether it's flat or stuck. Here's what we covered: How fight-or-flight literally raises your vocal pitch, and what that's communicating to potential clients before a single word lands. The difference between regulated excitement and dysregulated high-energy, and why only one of them builds something sustainable. How mirror neurons mean your audience isn't just hearing your content — they're sensing your nervous system state. What it actually costs you to present from dysregulation: cortisol, adrenaline, and the difference between regulated tired and depleted. The concept of faulty neuroception, and why something healing can feel totally overwhelming when your system isn't ready for it yet. And, most importantly, why all nervous system states are good. If this episode resonated with you, I recommend Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory by Deb Dana. This is the book that goes deepest on everything we were talking about — the three states, prosody, neuroception, what regulation actually feels like from the inside. Deb Dana is one of the clearest writers on Polyvagal Theory out there, and this particular book is accessible even if you don't have a clinical background. If you want to understand why your voice does what it does, why certain things feel threatening even when they're safe, or why you keep attracting a certain kind of client energy, this is where to go next. Order a copy here. This is an affiliate link which doesn't cost you anything extra and helps support my work.

    370 - The Energy You Broadcast Is the Business You Build

  5. Jul 14

    369 - Why Earth Types Hold On (And How to Let Go)

    In this episode, I sit down with my husband, Rabbi Yonasan Reiser, to explore four personality elements—fire, air, water, and earth—focusing on the complexity of Earth types: deep thinkers and feelers who often hold onto experiences long after others have moved on . I explain why Focusing is uniquely effective for Earth types. Unlike rigid modalities, Focusing is client-led; when a therapist misses the mark, the Earth type's deep internal attunement allows them to immediately identify the mismatch and correct it, creating a powerful sense of being understood . We conclude by discussing the "felt shift," what happens in the nervous system when words finally match our pre-verbal sense, and the Earth identity paradox, where non-Earth types often claim the label while many Earth types struggle to recognize themselves . ------------------------------- If this episode resonated with you, I recommend Get Along With Everyone: Especially Those You Find Most Challenging by Rabbi Shimon Gruen. This is the book I referenced when talking about the four element types — it's the framework that shaped how I think about fire, air, water, and earth, and why certain people seem so different from everyone around them. If you're a practitioner and you're starting to see your clients through this lens, or if you recognized yourself as an Earth and want to understand that more deeply, this is where to go next. Order a copy here — this is an affiliate link which doesn't cost you anything extra and helps support my work. https://www.amazon.com/Get-Along-Everyone-Especially-Challenging/dp/1981221999?tag=towardsahealt-20

    369 - Why Earth Types Hold On (And How to Let Go)

  6. Jul 6

    368 - The Invisible Drain: Why the Masculine Business Blueprint is Quietly Burning You Out

    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 why connection isn't a "nice extra" but a basic regulatory need, why the masculine blueprint for building a business quietly burns women out, and why even the most "successful-looking" women eventually hit a wall that no pros-and-cons list can solve. This isn't a business strategy episode. It's a permission slip to listen to what's actually happening underneath the structures, the systems, and the 30-day plans, and to build something that can actually hold you.

    368 - The Invisible Drain: Why the Masculine Business Blueprint is Quietly Burning You Out

  7. Jun 30

    367 - The Missing Piece: Helping Clients Access Their Bodies When They Can't

    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 enough for those who are disconnected, flooded, or operating from a place of chronic dysregulation . In this episode, we move away from the "all-or-nothing" expectation of immediate embodiment. Instead, we explore a more practical, incremental framework for helping clients safely build the capacity to go deeper. By using the Experiencing Scale as a roadmap, we can meet clients exactly where they are, before even mentioning the word "body," to help them bridge the gap between their stories and their internal experience .

    367 - The Missing Piece: Helping Clients Access Their Bodies When They Can't

  8. Jun 25

    366 - Beyond the Protocol: The 30-Second Shift CBT and Somatic Work Are Missing

    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" where true transformation lives . This isn't just about refining a clinical technique for those in the chair; it's about rediscovering a way to access our own internal wisdom, allowing us to show up more fully, both for ourselves and the people we support . This episode is a deep dive into the "30-second shift": a precise neurological moment where the logical left brain and the emotional right brain finally integrate, creating a level of clarity that standard protocols often miss . We discuss how to move beyond merely "thinking" or "breathing" through a problem and instead learn to lean into that "unknown something" to foster a genuine, system-wide settlement . Whether you're looking to break through your own barriers or help your clients unlock the change they've been longing for, join us to discover how to integrate these vital, moment-to-moment shifts into your life and your practice.

    366 - Beyond the Protocol: The 30-Second Shift CBT and Somatic Work Are Missing
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About

Welcome to The Embodied Jewish Woman with Rena Reiser. This podcast is for the frum Jewish woman who feels things deeply, senses what others miss, and has never quite found her place in the standard approaches to healing — the therapists, the coaches, the trauma work. Whether you're on a personal healing journey, building a business, or a somatic practitioner deepening your work with sensitive, complex clients — you've probably done the work. The books, the therapists, the workshops. And something still isn't moving. This podcast is for that. Here we slow down and go deeper — using Focusing, nervous system work, Polyvagal Theory, and Torah wisdom to help you finally feel at home in yourself. Embodiment is the feminine path to Menuchas Hanefesh, and that's what we're building here — from the inside out. I share somatic tools and body-based practices from my own life and my work with clients. And scattered throughout the feed you'll find dozens of guided somatic practices — short, accessible, and ready to use whenever you need them. Download Rena's free Tune In Journal and accompanying meditation to help you embody your emotions at https://www.tuneinjournal.com.

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