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November 5, 2025 12 mins

Catherine & Brenda guide a Body Scan that turns stress into clear signals and shows how somatic awareness supports desire-led choices. Breathwork, curiosity, and small resourcing moves help you feel safer, softer, and more honest with yourself.

Episode Highlights:
• why a five-minute body scan builds self-trust
• naming sensations to separate signals from stories
• lengthening breath to calm the nervous system
• breathing into tension and letting it speak
• using humming, hand-to-heart, and grounding as resourcing
• choosing a one percent action for support
• integrating presence into daily decisions and desire

You can find our links to book calls with us if you're interested in working one-on-one with either one of us.  Links to message us are in the show notes. We would love to hear from you xoxo


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Email Us:
desireasmedicine@gmail.com
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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:07):
Welcome to Desire is Medicine.
We are two very different womenliving a life led by desire,
inviting you into our world.

SPEAKER_00 (00:16):
I'm Brenda.
I'm a devoted practitioner tobeing my fully expressed true
self in my daily life,motherhood, relationships, and
my business.
Desire has taken me on quite aride, and every day I practice
listening to and following thevoice within.
I'm a middle school teacher,turned coach and guide of the
feminine.

SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
And I'm Catherine, devoted to living my life as the
truest and hopefully the highestversion of me.
I don't have children, I'venever been married, I spent
equal parts of my life incorporate as in some down and
low shady spaces.
I was the epitome of tired andwired, and my path led me to
explore desire.
I'm a coach, guide, energyworker, and a forever student.

SPEAKER_00 (00:58):
Even after decades of inner work, we are humble
beginners, on the mat, stillexploring, always curious.
We believe that listening to andfollowing the nudge of desire is
a deep spiritual practice thathelps us grow.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12):
On the Desire as Medicine podcast, we talk to
each other, we interview peoplewe know and love about the
practice of desire, bringing ina very important piece that is
often overlooked, beingresponsible for our desire.

SPEAKER_00 (01:26):
Welcome back to the Desire as Medicine podcast.
This is Brenda.
I am joined with my absolutelyamazing and incredible co-host,
Catherine.
My partner in crime over here.
I should say partner in desire.
Partner in helping our listenershave exactly what they want in

(01:47):
their life.
How about that?
Because that's what we reallywant.
That's what we go to bedthinking about over here.
She's melding amen.
So in our last episode,Catherine and I dove into a body
scan.
And what it is, it's somethingthat Catherine and I both use,
not only in our own personalpractice, but we do it with our

(02:10):
clients as well.
And the purpose of it is toreconnect with yourself and know
what is happening in your body.
Not for the purpose that youhave to do anything about it,
but to get to know yourselfmore, to understand your body.
Because being connected toyourself and your body is one

(02:32):
way to get closer to yourdesires, to having what you want
in your life.
And there is nothing better thanbeing connected to yourself.
And this is possible anywhereyou go.
And if you're sitting therelistening, going, oh my God,
nope, not me.
I've never been able to do that.

(02:54):
Don't worry, because we have atreat for you today.
Catherine will be guiding youthrough this body scan.
So if you've ever said anythinglike, I can't slow down, or my
body's tight all the time, orI'm always stressed, this
practice is for you.
So I'm going to hand it over toCatherine to take you on this

(03:19):
beautiful body scan.
Welcome.
Thanks, Brenda.

SPEAKER_02 (03:24):
To another episode of the Desires Medicine Podcast.
Thank you for listening, family,friends, loved ones.
I'd love for you to take thismoment to just take a deep
breath in.

(03:53):
If you need to drink on the dowhatever you need.

(04:29):
Whenever you're ready toreconnect with yourself.
Whenever you feel like uh oh,I'm no longer in my body.
Uh-oh, I'm about to do somethingreally big.
And you're just going to do ashort rundown and check in with
yourself.
Check in with your body.

(04:51):
It's simple, it's fast, it'selegant.
And you're just going to pause,listen, and notice.
Again, watching your inhale andyour exhale.
Seeing if you can lengthen bothof those to a five-second

(05:15):
inhale, five-second exhale,scanning your body for
sensations, emotions, feelinginto the state of your breath,
any thoughts that are passingyour mind.
This practice isn't to fixanything, it's just to gather

(05:36):
information.
As you breathe, you're going toscan your head, forehead, eyes,
nose, cheek, lips, throat,clavicle chest, arms,

(06:07):
fingertips, belly, thighs, legs,feet.
See if there's any tensionanywhere in your back, upper,
lower, coccycks.

(06:31):
See if there are any thoughtsthat are passing through your
mind, and you're just noticing,you're just gathering
information.
If there's tension, can youbreathe into that location?
If you're hearing a story, canyou just be with the story?
No judgment.

(06:53):
If you're hearing something orfeeling something, can you ask
that something?
Who are you?
What do you have to say?
Can you check in with yourbreath?
Can you be with whatever'scoming up for you with curiosity

(07:15):
and love and compassion?
What are you noticing in yourbreath?
Is it shallow?
Is it fast?
Or something else?
What thoughts are passing yourmind?
How do you feel now?

(07:35):
You're just noticing your body'ssignals, noticing what your
body's saying to you, andlistening.
And as challenging as it may beto listen, because maybe you
want to fix or jump in, justnotice it.
As if you're on a train andyou're just watching it pass.

(08:09):
Notice how you were feelingbefore you started to scan, and
how you're feeling now.
Did you have any realizations asyou scanned?
Did you tap into some intuition,a thought that may have popped
up for you?

(08:36):
In tough times when we feelmaybe out of body or like we
want to disassociate, or we'rejust having a tough time, maybe
feel stressed, stressed, or off.
It's good to notice where do Ifeel it?
And breathing into that locationin the body.

(08:58):
And then just asking yourself,what can I do for me right now
that would have me feel even onepercent more resourced?
Is it taking a few more breathswhere I lengthen my inhale and
lengthen my exhale?

(09:22):
Is it potentially just breathinginto my throat?
Maybe it's humming.
Maybe it's once again touchingmy hands and my heart and
telling myself I am safe.
I'm loved and I belong.

(09:44):
Whatever version is coming upfor you is perfect.
Nothing is wrong.
Everything is perfect.
This is just a conversationbetween you and you.
That is all.

(10:15):
Collect yourself.
Maybe you wiggle yourfingertips, your toes.
You just move your body andjiggle a little.
As you land back in yourself,and if your eyes were closed,
you can slowly start to openthem.
If your eyes were open, start tolook at what is in front of you.

(10:36):
Maybe it's a bookshelf, a mug,or a lamp.
So you can just land back inyour body and in the space that
you're in.
Collect yourself, and at thistime, you can either write down
your thoughts or go do that onepercent.

(10:57):
Big inhale, big exhale as youland in the present moment and
come back in.
And that is it.
That's the body scan.

SPEAKER_00 (11:13):
Thank you, Catherine.
That was really beautiful.
Our bodies know the truth.
Our bodies have so much to sayto us.
It's just waiting for us tolisten.
There's nothing to fix.
It's just about reconnecting andlistening to ourselves.
So thank you for that.

(11:35):
And listeners, if thismeditation helped you, this body
scan helped you, even feel alittle bit more connected to
yourself.
Imagine what could shift or bepossible when you practice this
kind of presence with yourselfconsistently.
Catherine and I both help womenin our one-to-ones.

(11:58):
Use this type of somaticawareness to transform anxiety,
stuckness, emotional overwhelminto flow and ease.
You can find our links to bookcalls with us if you're
interested in working one-on-onewith either one of us.
The links are in the show notes.

(12:19):
We would love to hear from you.
And with that, may all of yourdesires be and even better than
you can imagine.
Until next time.
Thank you for joining us on theDesire is Medicine podcast.

SPEAKER_01 (12:41):
Desire invites us to be honest, loving, and deeply
intimate with ourselves andothers.
You can find our handles in theshow notes.
We'd love to hear from you.
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