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“Unveiling the Power of Interconnected Love: A Journey with Jaina.”
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On today’s episode…I introduce you to Jaina Portwood, a wife, mother, college professor and practicing yogini who seeks wisdom in the natural world. Her belief in oneness and the power of love as life’s purpose shines through. We explore nature, spirituality and the profound impact of interconnected love in the world.
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Exploring Nature, Spirituality, and Love
Speaker 1Good afternoon and welcome to everybody . The podcast which shares stories that highlight people in life , that make the world an interesting place , which ultimately ties us all together in unique and wonderful ways . And who am I , you might ask . I would be the headwrapped socialite Weith mom , micro-influencer in the fashion and etiquette world . But on this podcast I will be introducing you to some people who I've had the opportunity to meet along my journey , who have helped enrich me in my life in beautiful ways and who I hope will do the same .
Speaker 1Today we will explore the extraordinary interconnectedness of life with my friend , Jaina . She has created an open space within her life to search for the wisdom which exists in the natural world , within the depths of her existence . Jaina is a practicing yogini who believes in a oneness that transcends our individual ego-mind-body complex . Her journey continues to lead her to the realization that kindness is the very essence of life and that love underlies every aspect of our existence . Today we talk about the realms of nature , spirituality and the power of love .
Speaker 1So , before I turn the floor over to my friend , I wanted to share how I know you . So Jaina and I have worked together in the fashion sphere . We have done some modeling projects together , from fashion shows to print work , and what drew me to her is that she has always led with a kind heart , not just for me but for others in our space . So today I welcome my friend Jaina , to the podcast . Thank you for being here , my friend . It's really good to be here with you . Can you tell the audience a little bit about who you are ?
Speaker 2I think that my biggest and most profound turning point in my life was when my son died and I had an opportunity to either fall into the depths of despair and depression and death , essentially , or I had the choice to live life to the fullest which sounds like a Hallmark card , but really to live life to the fullest .
Speaker 2I had a breaking point where I had to make that decision and then I feel like that was a turning point in my life and from then on I've really been guided by nature , by spirit and I say spirit from a secular space , so not tied to any particular religion and I believe that enlightenment or self-realization ultimately comes from this interpersonal relationship with others , those interactions we have one on one with everybody you meet throughout the day . This is where I find God , this is where I find enlightenment . I've been very fortunate to see the planet touch every continent in the last , I'd say , six years , and particularly being in Hindu cultures or Muslim cultures and Christian cultures . Just but he prays the same , we're all doing the same procession , the same bowing , the same work from Mahla's with a different language and a different outfit on , and I'm really moved by people that connect with spirit again , whether that's secular or through a church .
Speaker 1I'm going to ask you about your farm because I can hear In the back . I know you spend a lot of time there . What things do you embark on while you're in that space ?
Speaker 2I grew up in South Minneapolis probably poorer , although we never use those words . Growing up we had rich family life and lots of opportunity to travel , even as a child , but definitely grew up in Powderhorn Park neighborhood in a small house . It wasn't a family that had a cabin . We didn't have land . A lot of my other friends had natural spaces to go to . I would run around Powderhorn and play in the trees there . That was my nature experience . Luckily , my mom has always been fascinated with the Boundary Waters Canoe Area . She's definitely a wilderness woman and took us camping often . Being in nature is everything for me . Camp growing up was probably my funnest time as a child , being with the trees and everything . I'm super fortunate to have eight acres up here in Duluth .
Speaker 2My husband is a tea maker . It's like a permaculture homestead . He's also herbalist . He has a lot of passion around systems such as ponds and just the type of agriculture and plant work that feeds into the soil , feeds into symbiotic relationships . I've been lucky to learn a lot from him Then . I've also done some coursework on my own about herbalism and working with the land .
Speaker 2Right now we have CSA , we have farmers market . We grow a lot of the herbs for his tea business . In fact , I just have to do a little shout out , because , if you're familiar with Awamnee the restaurant on the river that just won the James Beard Award downtown there for the best new restaurant in the country they carry his teas . All their beverages are made with his herbs and his teas , so super proud of him for that . The thing about organic farming , though , is we don't use pesticides or herbicides or fertilizers or things . We have a lot of critters . We have a beaver that's moved in along the creek , we have skunks and all kinds of animals muskrat and groundhog , all these animals that have moved in . So that's been interesting . So you don't be , they are just there . It's been a process for me , being a city person , getting comfortable with it .
Speaker 1I was going to ask you because for me , would you say , you have a beaver and a muskrat in my head . They're the same thing I was like , I'm going to look this up .
Speaker 2I will say that one of the most incredible gifts we have is really pure water . The well we have , like when I take a shower , the well water is so luxurious and I just really want that for people who are living in Minneapolis to have this experience of clean water .
Speaker 1I was talking to another podcaster and we were saying you know how many hours from Minneapolis is the looth ? Not all people get a chance to experience the true freshness . Yes , and just what a blessing that you all have there with having the eight acres and having fresh water and just being able to kind of separate yourself from city life every once in a while , to have that place so that you can detox . Yes , also provide something back to not only the community but to the environment as well . Absolutely , absolutely . Can you share with us the experience that you've had , since you are surrounded by nature , that has deepened your belief in our oneness ?
Speaker 2Absolutely . I feel like any human given the opportunity and the space to sit alone in the woods would come upon these revelations as well , and sometimes we need some space . Some people need more space than others to really tap in . We have the fortune of being butted up against the University of Minnesota , like arborist fields and forests , so , even though it's just eight acres that are ours , we have a lot of roaming , forest , quiet space that nobody's ever out there .
Speaker 2So I watch my children taking , you know , some space in the morning to go for a solo walk , and they always come back much calmer , much more patient , much more in tune . I see it . I see it in their demeanor and I've experienced it myself . But something about sitting with the trees and just watching the natural flow of the birds flying from one tree to the next , the little ants in the soil , the way that the leaves move , taps you into something ancient and innate and deeper . It's hard to put in words , but I know , trina , you've had this experience before . Sitting with water is another example . I used to live in Hawaii and being with the oceans reflects our movement of breath in such a beautiful way . It makes you breathe slower and calmer and deeper .
Speaker 2So I've been a yoga teacher for about 25 years .
Speaker 2Yoga has been a really big part of my life , not just the physical stretching and asana , but the deep philosophical and spiritual work that the ancient practice of yoga brings some 5,000 year old technology for the science of the mind and the science of self-realization and knowledge of self .
Speaker 2The breath is the one thing that's constantly changing . So within yoga philosophy we identify the physical body and all of nature . We call this property , and that includes the thoughts in your mind and it includes the movement of breath . So things that are coming and going , things that are constantly changing , and then we identify that within you , that is the conscious awareness that is observing all of the things that change . So the seasons , your mind , your thoughts , your emotions , your breath . And the idea with yoga practice is to live from that space of conscious awareness , to be the observer , to sit on a throne as a royal goddess and be the witness of life , unbound by situation , unbound by the weather patterns , unbound by the mental complexities and something about sitting in front of the ocean which you find a rhythm with your breath .
Speaker 1It's such a deep meditation for me that's beautiful because , as you're saying , that I recently added into my yoga practice . When I'm sitting on my mat , I think about my breathing and I've been focused on that a lot more . I can see myself in this space , sitting across from myself as the ocean is going back and forth , and something so tantric , I think , and something just so beautiful , and I just keep thinking why didn't I discover this before ? And a part of me goes back to maybe it wasn't for me to discover at that point . The visuals that you give are so strong and you're very aware and I can see now why I was drawn to you .
Speaker 1And not to mention that you are a lover of trees , which you already have my heart , and I don't know if you've ever read this book which I just started amongst my other thousands of books that I'm reading , but it's called the Hidden Life of Trees and a friend had suggested it , but it's by Peter , I think it's Wolbin , peter Wolbin , I think that's his name . But the Hidden Life of Trees , and it kind of just tells how they feel , how trees communicate , and I totally get what you're saying when you're amongst nature and you're with the trees and with your breath .
Speaker 2Oh , I've heard of this book but I have not yet read it , and I think they probably speak to the mycelium connections of the mushrooms underneath too .
Speaker 1Yes , how it's all connected . When we were up in Duluth this is crazy okay , full circle moment , really quick . But when we were up in Duluth a few years ago , so this is before pandemic we had gone into this artist shop and he had this framed print by John Muir and I remember being drawn to it because it said when you tug at a single thing in nature , he finds it attached to the rest of the world . As I'm talking to you about the interconnectedness of life , would you mind explaining to us how you perceive the interconnectedness of all living beings and what place that holds in your life ?
Speaker 2Oh , I just love that visual of tugging , tugging a bit at nature , tugging a bit at a pedal on a daisy and feeling the fabric of reality shifting , because quantum physics I mean their Western science , is finally catching up with Eastern philosophy . You go down into a microscope , beyond the cellular level , beyond the atomic level , deeper and deeper , and we see that it's just one canvas of experience and that we can manipulate matter through our intention . That's what's so striking , because we say this , you know , and it sounds kind of new agey , like oh yeah , manifest your reality . But Western science is actually quantifying , calculating , breaking it down and showing that atoms are in fact impressionable by what you're thinking , which is so wild .
Oneness and the Power of Connection
Speaker 2One piece of yoga philosophy that I'm thankful to have downloaded early , like in my 20s , and whether it's true or not , I feel like is beside the point , because if this philosophy allows me to be kinder and more compassionate and more patient and a deeper listener , that's the point of life , those you know , fine-tuning our relationships with everyone we meet . So this philosophy is that the conscious awareness within my head looking out through my eyes is the same conscious awareness of every sentient being around me looking out through their eyes . So I'm essentially talking to myself . When we do that , all fear dissipates , all afflictive emotions fall away . You can't help but fall in love , fall in the deepest love with everybody you meet . When you know you're talking to yourself , which is to say you're talking to God , which is to say you're talking to nature , there's just one consciousness beating through all of our hearts .
Speaker 1Wow , that gave me chills , because you have said it so eloquently . I believe when we put that kindness back into the world , not only are we putting it out to help other people right , in all essence , we're helping ourselves but we get to be a mirror to other people who get to be a mirror to us when in fact , we're all one of the same . And it's mind-blowing when you think about it like that . You look at your fellow human being and why would you want to have your ego come into play when you're just me going against yourself ? I just feel like in these moments we get to be selfless and more compassionate , when we get to view the world in the way it was just described , because I , through these moments , we are continuing to create different pathways to the love source .
Speaker 2Well , also just to add to that , through my world travels I really have realized that it's a secular experience . You can find that through every religion or through no religion , and it works .
Speaker 1And it works .
Speaker 1It's like the more and more , and I don't know if it's because as you get older , but I know there are so many younger people who I like to say that they're like old souls and they have this wisdom about them and for me I felt like it took me like 50 something years to get to this point where other people get there a lot sooner . But it's okay because , again , it's all a part of our individual journeys but it becomes the collective journey of the whole and it's mind-blowing when you start to think of the world in that way . It goes back to why would I want to hurt someone else if that same hurt is really directed at myself ? Yes , once we all get to a point and you know everybody's on their different parts of their spiritual journey , whatever that spiritual journey looks like . But I really believe , once we get to that point of almost like you said in the beginning , there's an enlightenment and you get to see , you know it's like okay , this is where we're all trying to go , if we're all open to this experience .
Speaker 2Or there's only one of us here and the moment I wake up , the whole world's gonna wake up .
Speaker 1Mmm . Okay , I'm gonna marinate on that because that's deep , but have you always thought this way ? Have you noticed that about yourself ?
Speaker 2Mmm , no . So I was a swimmer for most of my life . I started swimming competitively when I was four and that eventually led me to a college scholarship out in Seattle and I think moving from Minnesota to Seattle was a huge breakthrough in breaking open my mind and my heart . The Pacific Northwest I met people I was not involved with them in Minnesota , so hippies and people living off the land and psychedelic people , just a fully blasted my mind open . And I feel like it was at that point that things started to shift , this idea that just even the concept of having an ego and watching the ego experience separate from my divine self , which is my conscious awareness .
Speaker 2From Seattle , I ended up moving to Hawaii for about three years , so I'm 19 years old at this point . I'm kind of living on the beach , I'm surfing every day and I grew up Trina in a very scientific household . So my parents were like science people who believe in God . That's superstition . Those people are stupid , it's just science .
Speaker 2And I remember going to Hawaii and meeting a friend . We were sitting on a cliff and you know I don't know if you've been to Hawaii , but there's rainbows every day . We're sitting on this cliff watching the ocean and there's rainbows , and I'm in absolute bliss . And I turn to him and I say I've never been so happy before . I just feel like I'm at home . This rainbow is blowing my mind . And he said this feeling you're having right now . He said , jaina , this is what people are talking about when they use the word God , and that I will remember that moment for the rest of my life . And he said you don't have to call it God If there's some ties to feeling like the patriarchy and like this white bearded man in the sky and all that . Like you can . You can not call it God , you can call it the rainbow . And so I started calling that feeling of oneness the rainbow . Yeah , I was 19 years old . That was when a big shift happened for me .
Speaker 1Well , that's amazing and it goes back to me , I think , in like the people that you meet along the journey , they help you a lot of times , unlock something that was there all along , but you just have that key .
Speaker 2Yet , yes , that's such a beautiful way to say it . You're right . I want to share it because I wonder if some of your listeners don't have the opportunity to see these really epic and nourishing places . I'm a college professor and two semesters ago I had the opportunity to lead some yoga classes in a medium security prison Lionel Lake's medium security and this is one of the reasons you know to the listeners if you haven't tried a yoga practice or a meditation practice yet , you don't need anything . You don't need a beautiful space . You don't need , you don't even really need a mat .
Speaker 2I mean , these guys in the prison didn't have space . They're in a cell with two beds next to each other and a toilet in between , and I taught them about bad yoga . We called it bad yoga , where you do your stretches and your meditation on the bed . We need not have the perfect environment to step into it and enlighten state of being , and , in fact , you need not have the perfect teacher , you need not have the perfect environment . That it's within us and it's kind of inherent in the essence of the foundation of who we are that we go on this journey . I really love how , a minute ago , you said certain relationships will , you know , will be the key to unlock whatever evolution you're ready for and to really trust into that space , to trust into life , to trust into the timing of your life .
Speaker 1I was thinking when you said that as well . It's the hidden gems . It's a book that calls you and just like you could go and read a book and it takes you away from the place that you're in . If you're in that meditative state , in that meditative space , you really can close your eyes and be anywhere .
Speaker 2Yes , and divine oneness is coursing through them too . Amen .
Speaker 1Thank you for sharing that and what you're doing to help others , because that is important and to bring them a piece of humanity . Yeah , exactly so thank you , my friend , for doing that and sharing with them . The one question that I that's kind of like tugging at me is how do you hope to inspire others to cultivate that deeper connection with the natural world and to embrace this idea of oneness ?
Speaker 2Yes . So I really feel walking , the walk , is the most important thing . I think that that has the most influence and I think it's a domino effect . So the more . And this comes back to this idea that there might only be one one of us here , this one consciousness . So if I walk through the world with really beautiful steps , with really regal steps , as a goddess moving through the planet in selfless service so not service to bolster my own ego identity , but service of nature and if every interaction I have like meta , loving kindness , how can I serve , how can I uplift the person in this situation ?
Speaker 2That does have a domino effect , even just smiling at somebody as you walk by them in the city , you know , sometimes we just don't even make eye contact . But even just smiling and connecting , you don't even know how you can change someone's day . So you know , teaching yoga classes and speaking about these philosophies are good , but I feel like the impact that I have is most powerful in my day to day choices to be in a space of selfless service , and it doesn't mean that you're not an activist . One of my early teachers , sharon Gannon from New York City , she the nail on the head for me in this reminder that to be a yogi doesn't mean you're just passive , like spiritual bypassing , like everything's fine roses and rainbows , like to actually stand up for what's right and to be an activist , but to do so with compassion , knowing that everyone is doing the best they can with what they know . So speaking truth and speaking light into injustices is to be a yogi .
Speaker 2Something else that comes to mind , because I do have a lot of children and I'm around children often , you know , especially in the last couple years , I've really reoriented and dedicated my life to enriching their lives Like I want . My purpose in life right now is to help save the bees that comes with the gardening and to enrich the children's lives , because every moment Makes a difference and teaching them . I have an opportunity this fall . A friend of mine , chance York , and I and Aaron Lipkin Some real movers and shakers in Minneapolis with youth sports and yoga we're starting a nonprofit called peace and practice to bring Yoga , teacher training , college credit , gym credit and career training to kids in high school .
Speaker 2Oh , we're working on grant writing right now , but we've been doing strategic planning for this for about two years . We're very , very excited to hopefully pilot with North High School this fall and get it started and and connect kids . You know , at this critical age where you know having a trade right out of high schools , being able to make money doing something that you love , that is , making a difference in other people's lives , is so valuable for sure .
Speaker 1And not only that , but you're paying forward of all the information that you have to help kids along their journey Earlier than maybe they would have even began to think about , and that , in turn , changes the spirit in which they live to promote Compassion and love , and that will change a whole new generation . And I would love to see , once this program starts , what these kids end up doing . They definitely you know how a jumpstart and changing the world . Yeah , I believe it . How wonderful my friend Is there . Is there anything that you don't do ? But you , my friend , are just super magical and Just so much knowledge and wisdom .
Speaker 1And , like I said in the beginning , that you notice when somebody has that compassionate heart and that compassionate spirit , and when I first noticed you At one of our gigs , first of all , not only are you strikingly beautiful , but you're generous . You're generous and you share information . And just a Side story , if you ever have a map but you don't have a map you think you know what you're doing , but you don't . Jena is the woman for you . She will get you to where you need to be , on time , in the right In the right space , in the right state of mind . Every single time .
Speaker 2She's just Well and Trina , thank you for your beautiful words . I also want to point out that you see me Because you're cut from the same fabric . You know , you see you . You see we value the same things and this is why you see this in me . So thank you for the work you're doing on this planet .
Speaker 1I love you , my friend . Any of the listeners wanted to follow you on social media because you do a lot of different things . How would they go about following you ? Yeah , they wanted to get your cheese . How would they go about doing that as well ?
Speaker 2so I'm on Mostly just Instagram and that's just my name . At Jena Portwood . My main focus in my shares Is my yoga retreat Business , the trips I do . I take about four International yoga retreats a year and we're always on a different continent . This year upcoming we're going to Egypt , bali , india , japan and there's some local retreats as well . So definitely check out the Instagram page .
Speaker 2One thing I love about the work that I do on these week-long trips is , you know , of course we're doing cultural immersion and visiting a new country , but we also are doing this spiritual work yoga , philosophy , conversations , circles , journaling and I really find that people come back from the experience and they feel that they've shifted Something really profound and big . So it's it's a vacation , but it's also a really , really rich experience and it's always awesome , beautiful , all ages . I mean I get women in their 70s , I get men in their 20s , like it's . It's literally all ages . So I encourage listeners to check that out , can find my website and everything through
Tea and Retreats Conversation
Speaker 2the Instagram . And then the tea is called on a hot to herbals Okay website for that . Yep , how do you spell that ? It's a , n , a , mm-hmm , a , t , a and then herbals , h , e , r , b , a , l , s , comm , perfect and so we can go on there and Grab some teas as well .
Speaker 2Yes , in my website's beloved retreats Dot com .
Speaker 1Okay , first of all , I'm going on the website now and I'm gonna grab some teas , because you know I'm a tea genado and I'm also gonna check out beloved retreats to check out you know , the different retreat offerings that you have and I am hoping One of these days that I'm gonna be able to join you , because I know that it would be experience and a knowledge filled afternoon and Weekend and experience and anytime that I get a chance to spend with you . Yeah , I'm down . Thank you , trina , is great to talk with you . It's great to talk to you too , my friend , and I would just say until the next time , may all of our hearts Be open and may we all find harmony and the oneness that unites us all . And thank you , friend , for being that guiding spirit . Oh , love you .