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Judith Blackstone, PhD, is the founder of the Realization Process, an approach for embodied psychological healing and nondual spiritual awakening that bridges psychotherapy, movement, and subtle awareness. A former psychotherapist of thirty-five years and an early professional dancer, Judith's life changed after a serious injury ended her performing career in her twenties. While lying on the floor one day "praying for help," Judith began to sense a subtle current of energy and a spacious awareness in the right and left sides of her body that helped her spine to heal. What began as a personal healing discovery evolved into what she later taught her dance students as a "subtle attunement"—the foundation of the Realization Process. Influenced by spiritual teachings on undivided awareness, including those of Adi Shankara, Judith's work points to what she calls fundamental consciousness: a felt sense of oneness that connects us deeply to ourselves and the world around us. Her books, including The Realization Process, Trauma and the Unbound Body, Belonging Here, and The Embodiment Workbook for Women, offer multiple entry points into this deeply embodied journey.
In this episode, host Shay Beider and Judith discuss how many of us learned in childhood to "hold back" parts of ourselves—emotions, impulses, and expressions that didn't feel safe or acceptable—and how these patterns of restraint become physically embedded in the body over time. Judith explains how this tightening often lives in the fascia, the connective tissue she describes as the interface between mind and body, echoing principles found in myofascial work such as that of John Barnes. Through simple yet profound practices—bringing awareness into the hands and feet, sensing the space around the chest, and finding balance through the shoulder sockets—Judith guides listeners from merely being aware of the body to truly living within it. She shares how trauma, especially from childhood, can create subtle imbalances across the body, and how restoring this balance can open a pathway to greater calm, creativity, compassion, and presence. For Judith, healing is not about transcending the body but inhabiting it more fully, uncovering a depth of being where love, pleasure, and connection arise naturally. This conversation invites listeners to explore embodiment not only as a therapeutic tool, but as a doorway into a more grounded, spacious, and deeply human way of living.
Show Notes:
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Learn more about the Realization Process here and find out more about the senior teachers here
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Read Judith's books: The Realization Process, Trauma and the Unbound Body, Belonging Here, and The Embodiment Workbook for Women
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Learn more about fundamental consciousness here
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Discover what myofascial release is here
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Read more about Adi Shankara here
This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.
Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org
