Why I'm Creating IFS Enlightenment Snacks (and Who It's For)
If you've ever walked out of therapy, a retreat, or a powerful session thinking:
"I get it. I really get it now…"
…only to find yourself a week later in the same loop—inner critic roaring, nervous system fried, parts scrambling to hold everything together—you are not alone.
This is the gap I hear about over and over again:
"I know the theory. I just can't seem to live it when life hits."
"I love IFS, but I forget everything when I'm overwhelmed."
"I don't have an extra hour to meditate. I barely have 10 minutes."
IFS Enlightenment Snacks is my response to that gap.
It's a weekly, bite-sized podcast designed to help you bring Internal Family Systems, Effortless Mindfulness, and somatic practice into the actual pace of your life—one 15-minute "snack" at a time.
The Problem I Keep Seeing (You Are Not Broken)
I work with a lot of spirit-rooted, growth-oriented humans—therapists, healers, creatives, and quietly visionary people who have already done a lot of inner work.
They've:
read the books
done years of therapy
gone on retreats and trainings
maybe had some big experiences with psychedelics, breathwork, or spiritual practice
And still, when real life kicks up—kids, partners, clients, emails, chronic stress, the news—the nervous system goes into familiar patterns:
the inner critic amps up
caretaking and over-responsibility take over
the body flips into "on" or "off" and doesn't know how to come back to center
When this happens, many people quietly come to a painful conclusion:
"Maybe I'm just broken. Maybe something in me just doesn't work."
From an IFS and somatic perspective, I don't see brokenness.
I see loyalty.
Your nervous system has been faithfully doing exactly what it learned to do to keep you alive, loved, and safe enough. It's just that the strategies it learned earlier in life don't always fit the life you're living now.
You don't need more shame or pressure.
You need small, consistent touchpoints that help your system:
unblend from intense parts in real time
remember what Self energy feels like
and practice tiny shifts, many times, in the middle of your actual day
That's exactly what I want IFS Enlightenment Snacks to offer.
Why a Podcast, and Why Now
There are so many incredible books, courses, and trainings in the IFS and trauma world. But most require time, focus, and a level of bandwidth that many people simply don’t have at 2pm on a Tuesday between Zoom calls.
What most systems do have is:
a commute
a dog walk
a pile of dishes
10–20 minutes in bed before sleep
This podcast is my way of meeting you right there—in those ordinary pockets of time—so you don’t have to wait for the “perfect” hour of silence to reconnect with your inner world.
We’re also living through a collective moment where:
more people than ever are trauma-aware and therapy-literate
the nervous system load (personally and globally) is incredibly high
many helpers and healers are burnt out from holding so much
I don’t think we need more information.
We need ways to take what we already know and bring it down into the body, into the breath, into this moment—gently, consistently, with companionship.
A Simple Map: Where This Podcast Fits in Your Journey
In my work, I often think of the healing path as three recurring movements:
Connect – You reach out: you listen to something, read something, talk to someone. You bridge the gap between your inner experience and support.
Journey – You step into a container: sessions, groups, retreats, practices that keep you company through real change.
Integrate – You bring what unfolded back into daily life: new rituals, boundaries, inner dialogues, and ways of moving through the world.
IFS Enlightenment Snacks lives mainly in the Connect and Integrate zones:
It helps you connect with Self and your parts regularly, even if you’re not in a formal container with me.
It supports integration of the work you’ve already done—so your insights don’t just live in retreat notebooks or therapy memories, but in the way you move through your Wednesday.
For some people, the podcast will be a gentle companion alongside therapy or 1:1 work.
For others, it may be a first step toward deeper support later.
Either way, you get a regular, low-pressure place to land.
Who IFS Enlightenment Snacks Is For
This podcast is especially for you if:
You’re a deep-feeling, discerning human who’s done a lot of therapy or spiritual work and still feels like your parts hijack you under stress.
You love IFS and somatics, but struggle to remember or use them in the middle of real life.
You’re a therapist or practitioner who wants to tend your own system, not just your clients’.
You long for a relationship with your inner world that feels kind, embodied, and sustainable—not like another self-improvement project.
You do not need to be an IFS expert to listen.
You only need a curious part of you that senses there might be another way.
What You’ll Find in Each “Snack”
Each ~15-minute episode will weave together:
Plain-language IFS teachings – short, grounded explanations of parts, Self, protectors, exiles, and burdens—without jargon or perfectionism.
Awareness-based practices inspired by Effortless Mindfulness – simple inquiries and tiny shifts of attention that help you notice the awake awareness that’s already here (what IFS calls Self energy), so Effortless Mindfulness deepens your real-world, embodied sense of Self—without striving for a special state.
Guided somatic and parts-based practices – practices you can do in real time: gentle breathing, sensing, orienting, and dialogues with parts that don’t require silence or a meditation cushion.
Stories from the wild edges of healing – reflections from my years at Esalen, in the IFS world, and in my own journeys—so your system feels less alone and more understood.
You might listen:
while walking or stretching
while washing dishes
before bed, lights off, hand on your heart
No perfect posture. No gold-star performance. Just tiny, repeatable invitations to come home to yourself.
Who I Am in All of This
I’m Shankari—your Wild Wisdom Guide.
I’m an IFS Practitioner, Somatic Coach, and Shamanic Parts Work™ Guide with:
Level 3 training with the IFS Institute
Advanced training in Somatic IFS, Somatic EMDR, and trauma-informed approaches
15+ years as staff and teacher at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California
Experience teaching at the IFS Annual Conference and serving as an Experiential Practice Facilitator for LifeArchitect’s Integrating Somatic Techniques in Therapy
My work lives at the intersection of IFS, somatics, Effortless Mindfulness, nature, and non-ordinary states of consciousness, and is rooted in the belief that:
You are not broken. Your system is loyal.
And your inner healer—what IFS calls Self energy—has always been here.
This podcast is one way I can sit with you on a regular basis, even if we never share a room or a Zoom.
What I Hope This Podcast Gives You
Six months or a year from now, my hope is that you might notice:
your parts still show up, but you recognize them sooner
your nervous system still has tender days, but they’re not the whole story
you have a few practices that reliably help you come back to yourself
you feel less alone inside your mind and more connected to something wiser in you
Not because you finally became “perfect,” but because you let yourself receive small doses of support, many times, over time
A Gentle Next Step
If something in you is leaning in, you’re warmly invited to join the first circle of listeners.
👉 Join the IFS Enlightenment Snacks waitlist
You’ll be the first to know when the podcast launches in January 2026—and I’ll send you a small “starter snack” practice so you can begin right where you are.
No pressure, no perfection. Just a little more company for you and your parts as you walk your path.
With warmth,
Wild Wisdom Guide™
