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.

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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.

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📅 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

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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.

S2E4: “Flow, Depth, & Play: Spirit Animals of the Water”

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

Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell

This week, Alex and John wade into the world of water beings—fish, salmon, octopus, dolphin, and otter—to explore how “the swimmers” carry medicine for emotional depth, intuition, transformation, and joyful connection.

From Matsyasana (Fish Pose) as a heart-and-throat opener to salmon’s ancestral memory and upstream persistence, octopus-inspired resilience and regeneration, dolphin’s breath-and-sound healing, and otter’s inner-child play and community bonds—discover practical ways clinicians can weave these symbols into therapy, yoga, and somatic work.

Whether you’re navigating burnout, rebuilding purpose, or inviting more play into sessions, this conversation offers grounded tools and rich metaphors for healing.

🎧 Download and listen on Spotify.

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S: 02 Epi 03: “The Winged Ones: Spirit Animals, Healing, and Therapy”

Hosts: Alex Runolfson & John Cottrell

In this week's episode of The Rebel Clinicians Podcast, Alex and John continue their Spirit Animals series by turning their focus to the winged ones--ravens, sparrows, seagulls, hummingbirds, and eagles. These powerful messengers of the sky carry wisdom across cultures and traditions, from Norse mythology to Native American healing ceremonies.

Together, your hosts share personal encounters and clinical insights that highlight how bird energy can help us navigate shadow work, celebrate resilience, embrace joy, adapt to change, and soar toward big-picture clarity. Along the way, they explore how these animal archetypes can be woven into therapy, yoga, and somatic practices to guide clients through transformation.

Discover what it means to follow the raven into the liminal, honor the sparrow's "common nobility," embody the adaptability of the seagull, savor the sweetness of the hummingbird, and rise with the vision of the eagle.

✨ Don't miss this inspiring conversation about how the winged ones can open pathways to healing and self-discovery.

🎧 Download the audio episode on Spotify and make sure to subscribe if you're new to the podcast. New episodes arrive every Monday!