The Mountain Mystic Podcast
From yoga and embodiment to mountains and ultra running, I bring you a podcast that gets to the heart of the wild, messy, complex living of the modern human being.Welcome to a new kind of ascension journey: an embodied spirituality for modern times — one that's grounded, centered in physical reality, as we explore what it means to be em-bodied as the wild, beautiful, creative human beings that we are.I get it. Times are wild right now, and I don't mean that in a good way. Here, we find the path forward — one that keeps us grounded, centered in the...
Descending into Autumn Energy | Scorpio Season, Letting Go & Grounding Journey
Descending into Autumn Energy | Scorpio Season, Letting Go & Grounding Journey
Descend with me into the magic and power of Autumn Energy! Especially here as we find ourselves in the second half of Autumn. The leaves have shown their bright colors, and now the trees begin the powerful process of Letting Go.
In this episode
Life update! Running 100 miles through the mountains (again), followed by my wedding! The energy of culmination, followed by the need to rest & rejuvenateLetting go, descending, and gr...Meditating In the Body, Not Out of It | Embodiment Practice #5
Episode: Practice #5 — Embodied Meditation
Meditating In the Body, Not Out of It | Embodiment Practice #5
In this episode, we explore the fifth of the 11 Embodiment Practices: bringing your consciousness fully into your body, holding focus there, and entering a meditative state through the body rather than by leaving it behind.
Western spirituality has often taught us to treat the body as an obstacle — the vessel of suffering we meditate our way out of. This practice offers a different orientation: grounding more fully and skillfully into the body as the very place awakening happens.
Leo New Moon, Sacred Union & the Real Roots of Patriarchy | Albert Mitchell Interview
Episode Summary: Albert Mitchell, author of The Way of the Sphinx, joins the podcast for a conversation that moves from the roots of patriarchy to the path toward masculine-feminine union, and from there into his reimagined, elemental approach to the zodiac. We close with a Leo embodiment practice, timed to Leo season and the approaching new moon in Leo.
Topics Covered:
Spirituality and its role in modern daily lifeTracing patriarchy's roots — from ancient Greece, into Christianity, and outward across the globeWhat it means to move from patriarchy into a balanced union of ma...Focused vs. Expanded Consciousness: The Balance Between Attention and Awareness | Embodiment Practice #3 & #4
Episode Description
We continue our journey through the 11 Embodiment Practices — the foundation for your healing and awakening — arriving now at Practices #3 and #4: focused consciousness and expanded consciousness.
We start with a quick look back at Practices #1 and #2, physical stillness and movement as spiritual practice, before moving into this episode's focus. Focusing your attention is essential — we have to be able to reign in our consciousness — but since that ground was covered in depth in the last episode, we don't linger there. Instead, this episode centers on expanded awareness: why it matters for building genuine...
How to Center Yourself When Everything Feels Chaotic | A Guided Embodiment Practice
How to Center Yourself When Everything Feels Chaotic | A Guided Embodiment Practice.
In this episode, we explore the second step of The Embodied Path: Centering — the practice of coming into the core of your being while staying connected to the world that expands far beyond you.
Episode Summary
Center isn't a fixed point — it's a tool. It's what lets us collapse the complexity of our being into a single, simple location, while still holding the infinite potential of who we are. In this episode, we talk about what i...
Movement as a Spiritual Practice
Movement as a Spiritual Practice: Move your body every day, throughout the day. It doesn’t matter so much what you do, so long as you do, indeed, go move.
Walk. Run. Dance. Bike. Lift. Wander. Swim. Do yoga.
It doesn’t matter so much what you do, as long as you do, indeed, move!
Furthermore, do not just do this as a one-off. Make it a part of your day, throughout your day! Get in the habit of being in motion. Toss your sedentary lifestyle away!
As you move, there is a...
Coming Home to Your Body: An Introduction to Physical Stillness
Welcome back to The Mountain Mystic Podcast. After a quiet winter of rest and renewal, Season 3 is here — and it carries something close to my heart.
This season, we're walking together through The Embodied Path: a spiritual framework rooted not in transcendence or escape, but in the radical, tender act of being here — present, grounded, and alive in your body.
The Embodied Path is a spiritual framework developed by myself, Katie Hemphill, built around the principle that true spiritual growth happens in the body, in the present moment, and in the ordinary textures of d...
Journey to Your SoulFire: A Sagittarius New Moon & Winter Solstice Practice
Embody the energy of this powerful moment—the Sagittarius New Moon aligning with Winter Solstice creates a rare opportunity for alignment and intention-setting.
In this episode, we explore how to harness the fiery wisdom of Sagittarius during the darkest time of the year. You'll discover a special guided practice to commune with and ignite your inner SoulFire, release what no longer serves you, and set bold intentions for the new cycle ahead.
This isn't surface level shedding and manifesting. This is a journey deep into your inner truth - communing with soul as you align to...
The Mountain Archetype: Grounded Awareness & Aligned Living
What would it feel like to move through life with the stability of a mountain? In this transformative episode, we explore the Mountain Archetype - an ancient wisdom teaching that helps you cultivate unshakeable grounding, expansive awareness, and skillful navigation through life's ever-changing landscape.
This is not just a conversation about the mountain - it's an experiential journey. Throughout this episode, you'll be guided through multiple embodiment practices designed to help you directly experience what it means to be grounded like a mountain, to hold open awareness like vast sky meeting stone, and to move forward through...
Be the Light in This World: Grounded Practice for Making Real Impact
Episode Summary
"Be the light" has become such a common phrase that it's lost much of its transformative power. But what if we could reclaim this concept and turn it into something practical, grounded, and genuinely impactful?
In this episode, we get to practice what it means to call in and embody "the light," and we get to dive into what it means to apply this in what has become a dark world. As we find our grounding and connect into our own embodied selves, we get to learn to show up for...
Embodying Light: The Journey of an Ultra Running Earth Priestess
Right now, I am up in the big mountains of Colorado, training for my 3rd 100 mile ultra-running event later this summer. Join me as I explore the rugged beauty of the Colorado mountains as I train for this wild 100-mile race. More than just miles and vert, this podcast delves into the profound connection we share with the Earth, inviting you on a journey of embodiment and self-discovery. But the trails are under threat. Powerful forces are at play, attempting to disconnect us from the healing power of nature. That's why it's never been more critical to cultivate discernment...
Embody The Mountain - Grounded, Centered, and Present on your paths forward through life
We have made it! After many episodes this season we are ready to jump into the core theme - the heart, the soul, the inspiration - for The Mountain Mystic Podcast!
The Mountain. In all her majesty. In all her glory.
We all know the sayings and the cliches about The Mountain, including its use as a metaphor for our journeys through life. But I want to take you deeper. I am here to invoke The Mountain, to inspire her within you as you call her in, embody her, and let her guide you...
Healing Planet Earth - Our most skillful path forward
We have a long list of challenges to face in this world. We do this by putting our minds together, working as a collective with effort to resolve that which needs to be resolved. But our task in these times requires more than this! We must also be doing the heart-centered embodiment work that brings us into a felt, known connection with that which connects us all.
This is biological concept, just as much as it is a spiritual one. In our newest conversation centered on The Embodied Path, I speak to the heart of the concept...
GROUNDING: Finding support and heart-centered connection in a wild and turbulent world
As we find ourselves in turbulent times, one of the most powerful things we can do (for ourselves and for the whole planet we are all a part of) is to stay grounded: To find that connection with the support we need to feel safe and vitalized, centered and ready to show up for this world.
Grounding has to do with presence, just as it has to do with connection. How present can you be in any one moment has much to do with how grounded you are. And, how grounded you are has a lot to...
Full Moon in Leo Sacred Warrior Activation
Join me today for focused practice as I guide you to tap into your sacred heart warrior within! Release the chaos of the outside world that is constantly trying to steal your attention. Find your grounding, get focused, and connect into the path that aligns with your highest service to this world.
Plus, in this episode we get to play in Leo Full Moon energy! What a treat to tap into our inner strength, courage, and compassion under the power of this full moon. This sacred activation will guide you to release the distractions and get focused...
Grounded, centered, present, focused: Embodied Living during turbulent times
In this podcast episode we dive into the importance of staying embodied in turbulent times. In a way, this means staying grounded centered, present, and focused on what truly matters.
As always, embodiment is an umbrella term encompassing a broad set of experiences:
felt connection to all parts of self, including the ability to know which parts of self most need your conscious awareness in any momentgrounding and connection to your physical self, as well as your connection to this Planet EarthEmbodiment is a path and process. It isn't a state, but a dynamic s...
Embodying a New Vision for Planet Earth [New Earth Embodiment]
I am sitting here watching LA on fire: the latest catastrophe hitting our planet with devastating effects; and I am holding space for how I can best lead myself and my communities into the healing and transformation that we are all ready for. And I am humbled, because I just don't know how to fix this and how to solve these great problems that our world is now facing.
It is in this space that I return to the practices that I have learned as I've come to know the embodiment path. The reality is that us human b...
🔒 Guided Meditation to Find Your Grounding
Subscriber-only episode
Join me for a 12 minute guided practice to help you find your grounding: that feeling of presence while safe, held, and nurtured. Join me for a practice of finding your grounding in connection to Earth, and for finding your grounding within self.
Join me in Earth Embodiment Circle! The newest addition to the many ways you can join me in practice and in community. Learn more here.
Deepen into practice in Membership - The Forest: A Library of Guided Meditations and Embodiment Practice. Learn more here.
<...How to be present with life's challenging experiences
Presence is a powerful term, but what we don't often understand is how much we are asked when it comes to the path that is becoming ever-more present to reality. In this way, I see presence less as a state and more as a process: an art and skill that is cultivated over time as we become more and more able to sense/feel/perceive and otherwise hold our consciousness with that which is arising in each moment.
Today we continue to speak to presence by looking at those challenging times that life asks us to stay...
Inner Stillness and Discernment in a Noisy World
Finding myself in a wild season (The Holidays) that bring forth a whole lot of noise and chaos while simultaneously bringing through a pull to get quiet, to turn inward, and to nestle deep into stillness. Oh, how this season is a strange time: one that makes my head spin as I do my best to sort it all out.
Inviting you into an episode to help guide you through these strange times:
R...
Be Guided to Your Inner Truth - The Power of Working with Sagittarius Fire
As the days grow dark and the chill sets in the air, a powerful force awakens to guide you into your inner truth. Ha! The power of Sagittarius. Which, yes, has so much to do with adventure and expansion! And, has so much more to offer you!
Explore the exciting nature of reality, brought to you by a full-blooded Sagittarius on a mission to make this world a brighter, more beautiful place to live.
With this, know that what this episode offers you is an opportunity to know this energy in its light-filled, exciting, outward expressive...
How to be a positive force of change in the world
Calling you in. Time to show up and be present in your life in this reality. Because this reality is hurting right now. And it needs you present in real, felt connection: to self; and, to that which lives and breathes outside of self.
In today's episode we get straight to the heart of what it looks like to be a powerful force of change in this world. We speak to how this power can be an increasingly positive thing, and we speak to how we can cultivate awareness around what we are unconsciously creating in the...
Guided Autumn Meditation for Rest & Release
Deepen into the energy of Autumn with this guided meditation. Be guided into a deep state of relaxation as you are held by Earth, herself, finding nourishment and support as you let go of anything that you are holding onto that isn't serving your path forward.
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Join me in Earth Embodiment Circle! The newest addition to th...
Journey into Autumn in the mountains: Deepening into Joy and Letting Go
Oh the autumn season! A potent time for letting go, releasing all that does not serve your path forward. And, what a time to connect with the joy that fills you when you open to the powerful beauty of nature shining her brightest colors! This is what we're here to talk about today, bringing to your story and teaching and guided practice to connect you with the spirit and the energy of the Autumn season in the mountains.
Deepen into practice with 2 free guided autumn meditations
Support the show
Deepen into our...
Introducing The Mountain Mystic Podcast
Introducing The Mountain Mystic Podcast in this mini episode here to stand as our official chapter turn from Upward Slopes to The Mountain Mystic.
Whether you are an old or new listener, I invite you to tune into today to join me in this new stand for walking an embodied path, here, fully present as these complex human beings that we are, here living these wild and chaotic and often dark and painful yet still, always, infinitely beautiful lives here on Planet Earth.
The Mountain Mystic is a podcast for exploring the mysteries and magic...
Owning a new path forward [Upward Slopes Reflections]
Join me in this episode for some deep reflections on The Upward Slopes journey - holding space as I look forward to the turning of a chapter for this podcast and speak to what this means for all of us here on this journey together. In this episode I speak to the origin of Upward Slopes, including the original intentions set for calling in grounded transformation that truly calls in more light, more joy, deeper fulfillment, and the real alleviation of harm that causes unnecessary suffering in our world. How did this intention lead to me leaving the world...
Lessons from Running 100 miles [Joy and Achievement when living in alignment]
People call me crazy when I tell them that I am running another 100 miler next month! Yet, what I know to be crazy is living anything other than a path that fills me up with joy as I work hard for that which matters and brings true meaning to life! But how do we know that we are on a path that actually matters? How do we know that all of our planning and strategizing as we set goals and work hard towards achieving is actually going to bring forth the fulfillment that our hearts and souls...
The Great Dance of Movement and Stillness on your Path to Presence
Stillness meditation is all the rage, isn't it? We sit in quiet stillness and call in the light and peace that is here to answer all of our prayers! But this is only one side of the story! For how can we sit in stillness unless we allow ourselves to move! To move our bodies freely as we move and and awaken the energies within.
Today on the Upward Slopes Podcast I share my favorite practice on Planet Earth: One that has everything to do with getting outside (in the forest, on a mountain, in the desert....) a...
What it takes to heal Planet Earth [Earth Day Special!]
An Earth Day Special! Brought through to you by the sacred fires raging through me as I yearn for a world in deeper listening, and in deeper connection to this one great planet we call home. Join me today for conversation and a guided meditation practice! It's time for a new paradigm on this Planet Earth: one where we are deeply connected into life (within our own selves and within the world around us. Calling in Earth Day as a jumping off point for all that gets to unfold. Sister episode focused on Embodied Activism available at https://youtu...
Focused and centered amidst life's chaos [Guided Spring Meditation]
Join me today for a special practice-focused podcast as we step into meditation and weave it together with this wild time of year. Yes, springtime is wild! Finding myself in this beautiful time of year where the days are finally longer than the nights, and with this, stepping into warmer and brighter days that leave me overflowing with excitement for what is to come!
But we aren't quite to the bright days of summer yet! And, in the meantime, spring is here to throw some wild weather at us that keeps us frustrated in our impatience for m...
Embodied Living Your Way: Cultivating practice that serves your unique wiring
I truly believe that embodiment practices are important for every single human being on this planet. The important question is, what sort of practice serves you given your unique wiring?
In this episode I talk about my own journey into a felt, present connection with my own self. It's a journey unique to me, as my own unique human self, and I tell it because I know that others , too, have struggled with traditional paths through yoga, meditation, or other structures embodiment practices.
If you've ever been called to yoga or meditation or some other...
Calling in deeper fulfillment in 2024 [with Guided Practice]
Today we come together in conversation and guided practice as we set our sights on the next 6-12 months, asking our own selves from deep within: What is it that you are ready, willing, and excited to call in??
As I speak to in this episode, I am so done looking to call in anything that isn't coming from a space of deep, embodied excitement.
In this episode we also talk about what I am looking forward to calling in and working towards this year: My second 100 mile ultramarathon! I talk about how I've been...
Setting the stage for the New Year - Holding space for light and dark [Embodied Practice]
When life is so much, how is it that we make sense of all of it? Better yet, how do we move through it all with as much grace and skill as is possible?
This week we hang out in the space in-between the big energy of the major holidays. Christmas has fallen away and the New Year is up ahead; and, as we rest here in the space in-between, I invite us to deepen into conversation and practice focused on this favorite theme of mine.
Join our new Facebook Group to join in with...
🔒 Guided Meditation for Deepening into Connection with Earth, Herself
Subscriber-only episode
Podcast Premium Guided Practice - Join me in this special meditation for deepening into connection with Earth beneath your seat.
Here, we step into three invitations: rest, release, and receiving.
I invite you to find a space where you will not be disturbed for 25 minutes. The invitation here is to journey deep into the Earth the receive these gifts directly from her source.
Join me in Earth Embodiment Circle! The newest addition to the many ways you can join me in practice and in community. Learn more...
[Bonus] Guided Winter Meditation for Deep Rest
Join me in this special episode where I guide you into embodied practice, taking you into the forest as the season turns to winter. Being here, fully present, resting in a winter forest as we step into all that winter may bring:
- the deepening into our own, internal worlds
- the joy and light that comes with the magic of snowy day
Join the new Facebook Community! [Launches the same day as this episode is released, 12/18/2023]
Join in with the greater community:
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Cultivating Joy this Winter Season
Let us continue this conversation that is being present in our own truth, in our own realities - whether that means being present with the darker aspects of a moment (as discussed in Episode 3), and/or allowing ourselves to be filled with the joy of a moment!
It turns out that both aspects of the human experience sometimes require some conversation and practice so that we can fully allow ourselves to be present with what is.
Practice mentioned at end of episode is part of the paid Substack community. You can access it when you...
Opening up to dark spaces [Grounded and Embodied Practice]
We live in a dark world. Not always, but much of the time. Whether that realm exists in your own self or out in the greater expanse of humanity, the invitation today stands to open the door to darker spaces; to learn to more skillfully bring your attention into challenging spaces that are asking to be seen, to be felt, to be heard, to be known.
I invite in today's episode as the first of a series on making our way through the light and dark aspects of life. A fully embodied life means the ability to...
Get Out of Your Head and Create Meaningful Transformation
Get out of your head, heal your body, and create real transformation that means something - to you and to the collective. That's what we're talking about today.
You know that feeling when you're desperately trying to move forward towards something you want so much, but no matter what you do, you just can't seem to move forward?
Maybe you've been so caught up in your head and you're stuck in a sea of overwhelming amounts of information, and you just can't find a clear answer that leads you to where you want to go.<...
Embodied Living in a Dis-embodied World
Episode 1 is here and I couldn't be happier to introduce you to several themes at play in this space - beginning, here and now, with a practice that takes us... well, into the here and now.
That is, What is alive for you in this moment in space and time?
It's a question that I pose to myself consistently, and it's one that I open with as we move into conversation on how our over-emphasis on science & technology (what I speak to as two paths of the human mind) may be the very t...
[Bonus] Guided Autumn Meditation
Listen along to this Bonus Guided Meditation - a gift to you as I gear up to release our first official Episode on October 23rd!
Here, I guide you in a walk through a changing Autumn forest, inviting you to move through your own story of grounding and release. Give yourself these 17 minutes in a quiet space so that you can fully participate in the experience.
Watch video version of this Guided Meditation (including images from my hikes and trail runs in the mountains of Southern Colorado):
https://upwardslopes.ck.page/563ae5c9b5
