Squats & Séances
What happens when physical strength meets spiritual awakening?
Squats & Séances dives headfirst into this fascinating intersection, offering a fresh perspective on the mind-body-spirit connection that goes beyond conventional wisdom.
Meet Venessa – CrossFit trainer, nutritionist, former competitive bodybuilder, and self-described "burgeoning intuitive" who received some divine guidance during meditation to share her self-healing discovery journey with others. After years of building expertise in fitness and nutrition while simultaneously battling anxiety and processing trauma, she discovered that true wellness requires balance across all three foundational pillars: mind, body, and spirit.
This podcast serves as both personal roadmap and community resource, drawing from Venessa's extensive background in fitness training, medical knowledge, and spiritual exploration. Expect deep dives into functional fitness, nutrition, neuroplasticity, trauma healing, energy work, intuition, and spiritual connection – all approached with an authentically gritty perspective that values truth over comfort.
What separates Squats & Seances from other wellness podcasts is its commitment to integration rather than separation. You won't find pure spirituality divorced from physical reality, nor physical training devoid of mental and spiritual dimensions. Instead, you'll discover how these aspects complement one another to create a fully present, engaged, and optimized life.
Whether you're a fitness enthusiast curious about spiritual growth, a spiritual seeker looking to strengthen your physical foundation, or simply someone wondering if there's more to life than what meets the eye, this podcast offers valuable insights without forcing any particular belief system. Take what resonates, leave what doesn't, and join us on this journey of discovery. Share your stories, ask your questions, and become part of a community dedicated to living well in all dimensions.
Episodes
29 episodes
When Your Pilates Teacher Also Talks To Joe
A corporate career in Alzheimer’s care, a highway crash that stole her ability to work and walk, and a “brand name” that eventually became her legal identity. That’s just the starting line of our conversation with Jennifer Pilates, a globally k...
Pleasure Is A Practice
Sex is one of the only places where we can’t fake being present for long, and that’s exactly why it can transform us. I’m joined by Emma Galland, founder of Tantric Awakenings, to talk about tantra as a full-body path of self-realization and wh...
What If Your Symptoms Are Your Soul’s Curriculum
Doctors told Dr. Jonathan Locus Jr. he’d be on medication for life and on paper his career was thriving, but internally he was spiraling. That collision of success, depression, and a terrifying diagnosis sends him in the opposite direction of q...
No Groupon Botox Allowed
In this week's episode we take a detour from the spiritual realm and dive deep into the physiology of medical aesthetics. Our discussion with Jody Work, RN and founder of Beauty Lounge Med Spa will cover an overview of the field and recom...
Rewiring Trauma: NLP, Huna, And A Wildland Firefighter’s Path
What happens when a wildland firefighter, pushed to the edge by grief and burnout, discovers that changing the mind can change the body? We sit down with visionary healer and entrepreneur Thomas Wurm to unpack a life that veered from helicopter...
From Collapse To Coherence: Lisa Babincsak On Apapacho And Presence
What happens when the life that once looked perfect begins to quietly undo you? We sit down with writer and movement-builder Lisa Babincsak to explore Apapacho—an ancient Nahuatl concept meaning to embrace from the soul—and why tenderness, pres...
Your Chakras Called; They Want Their Luggage Back: with Cheryl Stelte
What if the fastest way forward is first to sit still? Our conversation with spiritual coach and master healer Cheryl Stelte begins with a startling beachside vision and unfolds into a practical blueprint for transforming stuck energy into real...
I Came For Biceps, Stayed For Bliss: A Conversation With davidji
Welcome to Season Two of The Squats & Séances Podcast. The guided meditations shared over the break were unanimously well received. What better way to kick off a brand new season than with the master of meditation himself, david...
Flame of Intention Meditation
Resolutions pile up; intentions land softly. We open the year with a calming, guided meditation designed to help you set one clear, heartfelt intention and actually feel it take root. Instead of hustling into dozens of goals, we slow down toget...
Strength Lives Where We Soften
When life demands armor, choosing softness can feel radical. We guide a calm, precise journey that starts with breath, then travels head to toe using brief, controlled muscle tension followed by full release. That simple rhythm—tighten on the i...
Presence Is A Practice, Not A Place
The mind loves to sprint while the body asks to slow down. We bridge that gap with a concise, soothing practice built around a two-word mantra and steady breathwork, designed to help you return to the only place you can actually live in—this pr...
Holiday Box Breath
If the holidays have you overwhelmed, stressed, and screaming silently inside - your not a grinch, you just need a breath. Try this quick mindfulness practice to reset your nervous system so you can be fully present for those magical holi...
Five Minute Mindfulness - A between Season's Gift to our Gritty Community!
Drop in for a quick 5 minute guided mindfulness moment to slow that monkey mind and reconnect to your body. You'll feel amazing after this, we promise!
Season 1 Finale: Priestess of Mystic Gnosis Yeshe
A single session set a bold challenge: make your voice available and your people will find you. That moment sparked a season of conversations and a growing community of spiritually gritty, physically resilient listeners who show up with curiosi...
Unplug Meditation: How Suze Yalof Schwartz Simplified Meditation For Millions
What if three minutes could change your day—and then your life? We welcome Unplug founder Suze Yalof Schwartz to trace the surprising journey from high-speed fashion editor to architect of a global, modern meditation movement. Suze shares the e...
From Out-of-Body Awe to Everyday Alignment with Intuitive Coach Laura Hoorweg
We sit down with Laura Hoorweg—international intuitive coach, spiritual counselor, and psychic medium—to map how awe becomes practice, and how practice becomes healing that lasts.Laura shares how a three-decade career in high-pressure m...
Grit, Heat, and HYROX
What happens when a hot-room yoga leader and a strength-obsessed coach decide to tackle a doubles HYROX together? We share the plan, the missteps, and the gritty mindset it takes to run eight 1Ks while grinding through sled pushes, sandbag lung...
Grace & Going Rogue with Angie Manson
A judge’s mercy changed a life—and set off a movement. Angie Manson, CEO of Elevate Addiction Services, joins us to share how she went from a teenage spiral and a near 10-year sentence to leading an award-winning rehab that rejects limiting lab...
Mastering Movement, Coaching, and Life Beyond the Barbell with Pat Barber
Pat Barber brings two decades of CrossFit wisdom to this candid, wide-ranging conversation that delves into the mechanics of movement mastery and the art of coaching development. As a six-time CrossFit Games competitor and Level 4 coach who's m...
Naked Under the Stars: Finding Wisdom in Darkness
Two women wade into the inky darkness of the Pacific Ocean, stripped bare under a moonless sky. It's a ritual they've established—where anxiety transforms into calm, where something is left behind in the sea, and something new is taken back to ...
From Predictive Processing to Present Moment: A Journey into Mindfulness
Your perception of reality literally creates your reality. This profound truth sits at the heart of our exploration into mindfulness—not just as a trendy wellness buzzword, but as a scientifically-backed practice that can transform your physiol...
The Neuro-Spine Yogi with Dr. Ciara Harraher
What happens when cutting-edge neurosurgery meets ancient yogic wisdom? Dr. Ciara Harraher bridges these worlds with remarkable insight and grace.As a Stanford neurosurgeon and 30-year yoga practitioner, Dr. Harraher offers a unique per...
The Sugar Trap: Why Carbs Aren't Your Enemy
Ready to uncover the biggest nutrition myth that's keeping you from achieving your health goals? Prepare to have your assumptions challenged as we dive deep into the truth about carbohydrates and sugar in this eye-opening episode.As a d...
MetFix with Michele Mootz: The Evolution of Greg Glassman's Fitness Revolution
The gap between fitness and medicine has long been a chasm filled with misunderstanding and missed opportunities. In this groundbreaking conversation with Michele Mootz, we explore how MetFix—Greg Glassman's newest venture alongside medical jou...
Starboys Story: How My Autistic Son Became My Greatest Teacher
Against all odds, I found myself pregnant at 39. What unfolded next wasn't the typical story of motherhood I'd imagined, but rather an extraordinary journey into the depths of neurodivergence, intuition, and spiritual connection that would tran...