S2E12: “South Medicine: Fire, Adolescence, and the Art of Authentic Action”

Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell

In this week's episode of The Rebel Clinicians Podcast, airing December 8th, Alex and John continue their Sacred Directions series by journeying into the South--the realm of fire, adolescence, creativity, and bold, messy, human aliveness.

Building on last episode's exploration of the East as a place of new beginnings and fresh perspective, this conversation asks: what happens when we stop contemplating change and actually start living it? The South becomes a map for that process--where heat, motion, and identity collide.

Alex and John weave together Indigenous, Andean, Celtic, Nordic, yogic, and Ayurvedic wisdom to explore the South as a direction of summer, midday sun, action, and life force. They talk about adolescence as a powerful metaphor for this phase of the journey: playful, impulsive, vulnerable, and hungry for authenticity. Along the way, they unpack how this fiery energy can either fuel our growth or burn us out when it's not held by healthy boundaries.

Listeners will hear about the medicine of Mouse, Coyote, Serpent, and even Queen Bee--animal allies of the South who embody detail, trickster wisdom, embodiment, community, and unapologetic leadership. Alex and John discuss how these energies show up in ceremony, yoga practice, and daily life, as well as what happens when we ignore natural cycles in favor of capitalist hyper-productivity.

From a clinical and healing perspective, the episode offers concrete ways therapists, yoga teachers, and space-holders can work with South energy:

- Using breathwork and pranayama (like bellows breath and alternate nostril breathing) to stoke or regulate inner fire.

- Inviting somatic awareness around heat and softness in the body, and gently encouraging energy to move rather than forcing it.

- Reframing anger and desire as powerful teachers for boundaries, truth-telling, and protection.

- Incorporating ritual and ceremony--candles, burning old narratives, color magic, and invoking elemental fire or animal spirits--to support transformation.

- Exploring how food, creativity, and community connection can nourish life force without pushing people into more burnout.

Throughout the episode, Alex and John also name the seasonal tension of recording in mid-November: feeling tired and hibernation-ready while talking about summer fire. They invite listeners to consider how to honor both--keeping a small, cozy flame going instead of forcing a blazing bonfire in the middle of emotional winter.

The episode closes with powerful reflection questions you can use for yourself or your clients, including: Where have you dimmed your fire to stay safe or acceptable? What needs to burn away for your authentic self to rise? And what would it actually look like to live with a little more heat, truth, and heart?

Listen to this episode on Spotify and be sure to download the audio so you can return to it as part of your own seasonal and spiritual practice. If you're new here, subscribe to The Rebel Clinicians Podcast so you never miss an episode--we release new shows every Monday.

Want to go further with us? Become a member of our Rebel Clinicians Patreon Page for as little as $5 per month to access bonus content, special offerings, and extra tools for clinicians, healers, and helpers on the edge of change.

S2E11: “The East -- New Beginnings, Breath, and Clinical Rituals”

🎧 Listen on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2CgnaxzPtvDCdQIbhxi9OM?si=hRzhkKSuTfCURWqyHjhkHg)

Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell

Directions Series: The East launches our multi-episode exploration of the Directions--East, South, West, North, plus Above, Below, and Center--and asks a simple question with profound clinical impact: How do we bring the energy of dawn into the therapy room?

In this conversation, Alex and John treat the East as both a map and a method: the place of birth, renewal, clarity, vision, and inspiration. They trace how cultures across the world converge on similar insights--Native traditions (eagle/vision), Celtic/Druidic lineages (Brigid, Air, Beltane), Yogic practice (facing East for Surya Namaskar), Chinese medicine (Spring/Wood/Liver for movement and flexibility), and Mongolian/Nordic sunrise rituals--then translate those ideas into accessible clinical tools.

You'll hear practical ways to work with the East in session and at home: micro-rituals that orient to the start of the day, ACT values prompts that shift "yesterday's story," IFS language for contacting Self as an inner sun, breathwork to clear mental fog, and movement sequences to unstick stagnation. The result is a portable ritual frame that helps clinicians and clients regulate, find perspective, and re-author the narrative--one sunrise at a time.

Listen on Spotify (download the episode and share a rating), and if you're new here, subscribe so you catch fresh episodes every Monday. Want extras? Join our new Patreon for as little as $5/month to get sneak previews, bonus content, and course materials that expand each episode.

S2E10: “Baking as Healing -- Intention, Magic, and the Art of Clinical Practice”

Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell

Baking as Healing -- Intention, Magic, and the Art of Clinical Practice

What does baking cookies have to do with the healing arts?

Everything.

In this special episode of The Rebel Clinicians Podcast, your hosts John Cottrell and Alex Runolfson take you into John's kitchen--yes, you heard that right--to bake chocolate chip cookies and stir up a conversation about intention, nourishment, artistry, and authentic healing.

As the oven warms and ingredients come together, so does a powerful metaphor: what we create--whether it's a cookie or a clinical session--carries the intention we put into it.

This isn't a cooking show (though you will walk away with the best cookie recipe ever). It's an invitation to rethink your relationship to healing, business, food, and how you show up in your practice.

You'll explore:

- The magic of intention--how each ingredient holds a purpose, and how that purpose translates into therapy and healing work.

- Why clinicians should bless their cookies (and never curse them).

- What it means to develop your own artistry as a healer--not just follow the script.

- How preparation (mise en place) is as important in therapy as it is in the kitchen.

- How to stop "overmixing" your emotions and let the batter of life rest and rise.

- The concept of "artistry" in healing spaces--what makes your presence unforgettable to a client.

- Why you should stop saving the "good dishes" for special occasions--and how that applies to your life.

Whether you're a therapist, coach, bodyworker, or creative, this episode blends personal story, spiritual practice, and a touch of humor to remind you: your magic is in the way you mix the ordinary into the extraordinary.

💛 Want to support the show?

Join us on Patreon for as little as $5/month--or try the FREE TIER to browse content before joining! You'll get access to exclusive behind-the-scenes videos (like the full baking episode), worksheets, extended discussions, and more.

S2E9: “Energy, Reiki & Community Healing with Amy Conn”

Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell

In this week's Rebel Clinicians, Alex Runolfson and John Cottrell sit down with healer, author, and longtime yoga teacher Amy Conn to explore how energy, belief, and community shape real-world healing. Amy shares her path from 34 years as a public-school reading specialist to her work today as a Master-Level Intuitive Reiki practitioner, yoga instructor for the University of Utah Burn Unit Camps, and advocate for cancer survivors. Drawing from her own cancer journey and her book Revealing Grace, Amy offers a grounded view of Reiki--how it balances the body's energy centers, why "listening is medicine," and how simple elements (sound, scent, temperature, light, breath) create a safe space for transformation.

You'll hear powerful stories of community care (Survivor Wellness, inclusive retreats, and peer groups), how integrative approaches (Western treatment + yoga + energy work) support recovery, and why clinicians benefit from working with vibration and frequency in the therapy room. From kids and animals as natural teachers to the practical ways practitioners can "lighten the load," this episode invites us to believe in our own medicine and make room for a little magic.

👉 Download the audio on Spotify and subscribe so you never miss a Monday release.

💛 Support our new Patreon--become a member for as little as $5/month to access bonus episodes, worksheets, and more.

📅 Air date: Nov 17 (new episodes every Monday)

Epi 36: “The Story You Tell Yourself”

Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell

What story are you telling yourself--and is it one worth living?

In this expressive, heartfelt, and often hilarious episode, Alex and John explore the power of storytelling--not just as an art form, but as a tool for healing, embodiment, and transformation.

From childhood memories of The Chronicles of Narnia and Jurassic Park to the way they help clients reframe trauma, the hosts unpack how narrative shapes identity. You'll learn how the stories we carry--whether about our worth, our profession, or our purpose--can either keep us small or guide us into fuller authenticity.

Whether you identify as a clinician, a healer, a yogi, or a wizard, this episode invites you to examine:

- Are you the hero, victim, or villain in your own life?

- Is your outer world reflecting your inner truth?

- Are you wearing your magic--or hiding it behind a polo shirt?

With practical tools like rewriting your origin story, embodying your role through movement, and reimagining your daily tasks as mythic quests, this conversation invites you to fully live your story--not just tell it.

🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

🌀 New episodes drop every Monday

🔔 Don't forget to subscribe to The Rebel Clinicians Podcast so you never miss an episode.

Epi 35: “Redefining Healer: Magic, Medicine & the Clinician's Path”

In this bold and soulful episode of The Rebel Clinicians Podcast, Alex and John explore what it truly means to be a healer--and why it's time for clinicians to reclaim that identity. Drawing from their own journeys in therapy, yoga, grief, and growth, they unravel the cultural conditioning that teaches helpers to shrink their magic in favor of certificates, credentials, and clinical detachment.

With warmth, wit, and plenty of real talk, they invite you to reflect on your medicine, your magic, and your lived experience. You'll hear about the importance of ego death and rebirth in the healer's path, the spiritual wisdom hidden in everyday practice, and how healing isn't just something you do--it's a way of being. Whether you're a therapist, yoga teacher, coach, or spiritual guide, this conversation will help you see yourself more clearly and take up space as the powerful healing presence you are.

👉 Available Monday, August 11 on Spotify and all major platforms.

💡 Don't forget to download the episode, subscribe to the show, and share it with your fellow rebels.

S2E6: “Mythic Allies for Healing & Therapy -- Series Finale”
Available on Spotify | Air Date: October 27th

Listen on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2CgnaxzPtvDCdQIbhxi9OM?si=hRzhkKSuTfCU
RWqyHjhkHg)
Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell

In the closing chapter of our Spirit Animals series, Alex and John venture into the realm
of mythological guides--Dragon, Unicorn, Griffin, Phoenix, and more--and show how
these archetypal beings can be practical partners in therapy, ritual, and daily life. While
many traditions reserve "power animals" for creatures that have walked the Earth, we
invite a more experiential approach: if a symbol shows up with benevolent energy and
moves your healing forward, work with it.
You'll hear how Dragon supports sovereignty and boundary work (and why luck
dragons can bless a project), how Centaur/Chiron models the wounded healer and
helps integrate instinct with intellect, how Unicorn restores innocence and truth for
inner-child repair, how Griffin blends earth-power and sky-vision to guard thresholds,
and how Phoenix alchemizes grief and endings into rebirth. Expect clean, clinician-
friendly takeaways--altars and simple rituals, elemental anchors, and somatic/yoga
metaphors you can bring straight into sessions.
Download the audio episode on Spotify and subscribe so you never miss a Monday
release.
Support our brand-new Patreon--get extended practices, worksheets, and guided
journeys for as little as $5/month.
Air date: Monday, October 27. New episodes drop every Monday.

S2E5: “Creepy Crawlies: Finding Medicine in the Overlooked and Feared”

Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell
What can bees, spiders, snakes, mosquitoes, and frogs teach us about healing,
transformation, and resilience? In this episode of The Rebel Clinicians Podcast, Alex and John continue their Spirit Animals series by exploring the world of "creepy
crawlies";--creatures that many of us instinctively reject or overlook.

Together, they uncover how these small but mighty beings carry big medicine:
- Bees bring lessons of community, reciprocity, and devotion, with practical tools like
Bhramari Pranayama to clear energy and connect with the chakras.
- Spiders embody creativity, patience, and the weaving of life's web, from Grandmother
Spider's myths to the gentle protection of the daddy long legs.
- Snakes reveal cycles of healing, boundaries, and transformation through shedding old
identities--linked to traditions from Greek medicine to Kundalini awakening.
- Mosquitoes, often seen as pests, remind us of persistence, boundaries, and practicing patience and ahimsa (non-violence).
- Frogs symbolize cleansing, fertility, and transition, with ties to shamanic Kambo rituals and yoga's Mandukasana (Frog Pose).

Alex and John also share their personal encounters with these animals in ceremony, nature, and meditation, offering therapeutic insights for clinicians, healers, and seekers
alike. This episode is a reminder that even the smallest or most feared beings have
wisdom to offer.
Download the audio episode on Spotify and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a Monday release.