In this episode, we sit down with Jessica Maitri, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Yoga Therapist, and Brainspotting practitioner based in Boise, Idaho. Over her 15 years in private practice, Jessica has woven traditional psychotherapy together with intuitive movement, energy attunement, and embodiment work—culminating in the creation of The Yothera Method.

Born during the stillness of the COVID era, Yothera was Jessica’s “COVID baby”—a deeply channeled download from higher consciousness that unfolded over six transformative months. Blending the wisdom of yoga (which means union, not posture) with therapeutic modalities, Yothera guides practitioners and their clients through a three-phase journey: rewriting old mental stories, awakening embodied intuition, and aligning body, mind, and spirit.

Jessica shares how her years as a yoga therapist laid the groundwork for this integrative approach, how local practitioners began referring clients to her for this unique somatic therapy, and why her true passion now lies in teaching others through Yothera Method trainings for continuing education credits.

Whether you’re a therapist, healer, or simply curious about the meeting point of neuroscience, intuition, and energy, this episode explores what happens when the body becomes the bridge to deeper healing.

Jessica Maitri is an LCSW, a Brainspotting Consultant, a Certified Yoga Therapist, a Breathwork Practitioner, and an Intuitive Energy Healer. She is the creator of the Yothera Method. This therapeutic modality integrates somatics, yoga therapy, and Brainspotting to help individuals transform limiting mental narratives through the wisdom of the body and intuition. Jessica is passionate about mentoring fellow helping professionals, offering Brainspotting consultation, and leading the Yothera Method Facilitator Training for CE's to support deeper healing and embodiment in the mental health and healing professions.

Want to know how you can begin your journey to hope and healing? Visit Elevated Life Academy for classes and free resources for personal development and healing.

Resources:

CherieLindberg.com

ElevatedLifeAcademy.com

Guest Links:

https://www.yothera.com/ymft-feb

https://www.yothera.com/yothera-brainspotting

https://www.yothera.com/ymft-selfpaced

www.yothera.com.

IG: @yothera_method

00;00;02;11 - 00;00;31;27

Cherie Lindberg

Hi, I'm Cherie Lindberg and welcome to Elevated Life Academy, where we share real stories of healing, hope and transformation. Tune in to hear how everyday people are rising above and lighting the way for others. Hello, everybody. This is another episode of Elevated Life Academy and I am your host, Cherie Lindberg. And we have Jessica Maitri with us today.

00;00;31;27 - 00;00;52;24

Cherie Lindberg

And I'm going to let her in, her introduce herself. And like we do on this podcast, we're going to who knows where we're going to go. We're going to talk about her journey. She's going to share about your Thera, and then we're going to see where this takes us. So without further ado, Jessica, please come on and introduce yourself.

00;00;52;24 - 00;00;54;16

Cherie Lindberg

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

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Jessia Maitri

Awesome. Thanks. Very excited to be here. Yeah. My name's Jessica Maitri I'm based in Boise, Idaho. I've been a licensed clinical social worker and private practice for about 15 years. I'm also a yoga therapist and a brain spotting consultant, and I also offer trainings called the author, a method which we can talk about in a little bit for procedures.

00;01;17;06 - 00;01;19;04

Jessia Maitri

And that's definitely my passion.

00;01;19;06 - 00;01;42;18

Cherie Lindberg

So, yeah, well, thank you. So let's talk about your journey to your thera. Like, how did this all come to be? Explain what it is so that, you know, because this is a podcast about helping people live an elevated life. And so you have found this method to be very helpful. You teach it, you have a facilitator program.

00;01;42;18 - 00;01;44;13

Cherie Lindberg

So talk all about that, please.

00;01;44;16 - 00;02;12;00

Jessia Maitri

So yeah, the journey with Yo Thera started actually during COVID, so a lot of people that I've talked to had what I call COVID babies. Like we birthed things into the world during that time. And you know, Thera was my coach. I called my COVID baby and there was a six month period of time where, you know, I you know, I think I can talk candidly here, but like I, you know, I was receiving what I call downloads from a higher consciousness.

00;02;12;00 - 00;02;46;13

Jessia Maitri

00;02;46;15 - 00;02;55;01

Jessia Maitri

And we do that through a lot of different ways, like yoga, therapy practices, embodiment practices, free movement. There's there's a lot there, but.

00;02;55;07 - 00;03;02;20

Cherie Lindberg

Mm hmm. So. So tell me the title. You're Thera. I'm sure there's a meaning behind it. So please share about life.

00;03;02;23 - 00;03;20;28

Jessia Maitri

So, you know, thera was a combination of the words yoga and therapy. And so, yeah, so I was like, funny, I assume people know that. And I'm like, they probably don't know that answer, though. Yeah. So the word yoga people think of the poses like the asanas and actually the word yoga means union of body, mind and spirit.

00;03;20;28 - 00;03;35;14

Jessia Maitri

So the author method really is a holistic approach to bringing the body into therapy. So I had been a yoga therapist for about seven years before this really kind of came into my practice as a mental health therapist.

00;03;35;16 - 00;03;43;22

Cherie Lindberg

So, okay, so did you just start out teaching it? Like, how did you get how did you go from that to then? I'm going to have facilitators.

00;03;43;29 - 00;04;04;04

Jessia Maitri

Yeah, good question. Well, I came through and then it was like, well, what do I do with it? And it was really clear to me that I was meant to teach other professionals how to do it because I was having other therapists in my town refer their clients to me for yoga therapy. And I was like, okay, but I could also teach you how to do this.

00;04;04;07 - 00;04;27;17

Jessia Maitri

00;04;27;17 - 00;04;30;04

Jessia Maitri

It's, it's just been a labor of love, if I'm being honest.

00;04;30;04 - 00;04;54;03

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah, well, please, let's, let's talk about this journey, because not only are there going to be people that are going to be interested in this healing practice, but there's also going to be entrepreneurs and business people that are interested in their baby, right. And so talk about the journey because I know what it's like to create and go through the whole process of getting.

00;04;54;03 - 00;05;10;17

Cherie Lindberg

CS and creating a manual and all that, just like you're doing. So. So talk a little bit. What was that like for you and really gets this effect because, you know, I'm sure there were times when you're like, like, how did you keep going and possessed?

00;05;10;22 - 00;05;31;16

Jessia Maitri

I you'll probably understand this and many people listening probably will too. But my I started to discern like what my ego wanted versus what spirit wanted me to do with this because it was such a big idea. I literally had postpartum after birthing this and it was strange. It really came through. And then I was here and I was like, Oh, what do I do with it?

00;05;31;16 - 00;05;51;21

Jessia Maitri

And then it was there was a there was some lag time of like, what do I do? What am I supposed to do with all of this? And that's something people don't really talk about when they bring big things into the world, that there is a dip and it's not all up. And so there was a dip and then I'd get support and I'd put, you know, I'm a single solopreneur.

00;05;51;21 - 00;06;21;07

Jessia Maitri

00;06;21;09 - 00;06;39;29

Jessia Maitri

And then it came back around. I started getting the nudges again. I started getting people interested again. And I wasn't trying as it was coming to me. Yeah. So I just feel like it chose me and I, I didn't feel like I really had a choice. It's like this is something that I brought to the world and now I need to tend to it.

00;06;40;05 - 00;06;41;09

Jessia Maitri

So here we are.

00;06;41;11 - 00;07;07;04

Cherie Lindberg

Wow. Yeah. And I think it's really important. I mean, I do understand what you're saying, but I think it's really important to talk to. Like what kept you listening with the nudges? Because I think people get those whispers and people get those nudges, but then you get these blocks that get in the way. And so what kept you tending to the nudges and the whispers that you were hearing?

00;07;07;07 - 00;07;25;19

Jessia Maitri

You know, really the what kept me going was it was so exciting, like the nudges were like, oh, like, like I could feel my soul light up with joy when those not like the door, you know, the knockers would come like, Hey, what are you doing? And and it felt so joyful that I feel like that was my that's what I followed.

00;07;25;21 - 00;07;41;04

Jessia Maitri

And then when it wasn't joyful, sometimes I still did follow because I believed in the bigger vision. So I do believe and like, persistence is key with boundaries, with these kinds of things, you know? So I don't know if the answer to your question.

00;07;41;06 - 00;07;54;09

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah, well, what what were some things that, you know, even when there was a dip, what were some things that you did or what happened that got you back, like on track with persistence.

00;07;54;11 - 00;08;14;28

Jessia Maitri

Yeah. What got me back on track? I remember when I had a dip and I and the other method itself was just it felt like it was dead in the water. There was nothing happening. I wasn't inspired. And so what I did is I started over here and then I started doing like workshops that were still yo thera related, but I would do them in person in my at a home studio or I would do some webinars, not me.

00;08;14;28 - 00;08;35;12

Jessia Maitri

So I stayed involved in the energy of it without pushing like the training program as much. So I, I tried to keep myself in the energy of what was authentic to me, and that felt joyful and felt fun and as much as I could. And then that would kind of bring this back. So it was kind of like this balancing act.

00;08;35;17 - 00;09;03;01

Cherie Lindberg

MM Yeah. Well, I mean, just listening to what you're saying, it almost sounds like I don't know what else to call it, but maybe there was this limbo or learning stage or I don't know what that that was, or maybe it was growth trying to happen and you were, you were still playing around with it. At what point did it go from the limbo stage to, okay, I'm going right back after this.

00;09;03;05 - 00;09;12;09

Jessia Maitri

I as you're talking and I'm realizing, I think when it stopped doing this so much was when I healed enough inside to hold it more.

00;09;12;12 - 00;09;12;27

Cherie Lindberg

Okay.

00;09;13;00 - 00;09;35;19

Jessia Maitri

You know, like there was something about I, you know, you're given these, these downloads or whatever you want to call them, and then almost like I had to grow into it, I had to grow into it. And then once we were more matched, it was like we can grow together and really brain swelling. Was part of that true Like that was a big part of my me anchoring and stabilizing my ability and worthiness to receive it too.

00;09;35;19 - 00;09;36;20

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah.

00;09;36;23 - 00;09;37;06

Jessia Maitri

So.

00;09;37;06 - 00;09;50;15

Cherie Lindberg

Well, yeah. So you did more personal work. Yeah. And then that connected to like more self agency or belief or staying grounded in your belief and in this project.

00;09;50;17 - 00;09;54;04

Jessia Maitri

Yeah. Like I didn't get thrown with self-doubt as much.

00;09;54;05 - 00;09;54;19

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah.

00;09;54;27 - 00;09;56;18

Jessia Maitri

Because that really blocks vision.

00;09;56;19 - 00;10;17;28

Cherie Lindberg

Absolutely. It does. Well this is where and I try to the folks that I mentor, business owners it's like you know the imposter syndrome is going to come up. Any of your insecurities any time you're trying to upload into something or you're going, you're going to doubt your ability. But thank goodness Spirit just kept nudging you and it just kept coming back.

00;10;17;28 - 00;10;21;21

Cherie Lindberg

And so at some point you really started to listen more, it sounds like.

00;10;21;23 - 00;10;36;10

Jessia Maitri

Yeah. And I don't know if it's timing to you, but everything started to move forward really. Actually, in just the last few months, it was like things started working right. And however that works, I don't know, maybe it started reflecting my internal state, I'm not sure.

00;10;36;10 - 00;10;50;03

Cherie Lindberg

But yeah. Yeah. Well, tell us a little bit more. Can you give us some specifics, like even maybe one of the exercises or something that you put a practitioner through or that you're teaching them about your?

00;10;50;03 - 00;11;11;28

Jessia Maitri

Sarah Yeah. So you know, there is three phases. So I'll tell you something that happens in each phase. So phase one, it's the mind, and that's really about helping the practitioner learn how to break down the old story of what's really going on. So we use archetypes, we use defense mechanisms, some of those things to really get clear on what the old story is.

00;11;11;28 - 00;11;39;11

Jessia Maitri

And so there's a lot of shadow work in phase one, and then phase two is in body image, and that's actually where more of the yoga therapy and movement comes in. And really a lot of phase two is teaching practitioners how simple it actually is to use the body and natural intuition in therapy. So just teaching simple things like tapping into sensations, like getting into the senses as a way to get the client more in their body.

00;11;39;11 - 00;12;00;26

Jessia Maitri

So using edge work, putting their own body into a position and holding it and being present, like, for example, it takes at least 30 seconds for the mind and the body to make a connection. And so if we can stay present to whatever's coming up, if you can stay present of that sensation, then more information comes up, which is similarly more inspiring, actually.

00;12;00;28 - 00;12;13;00

Cherie Lindberg

Mm hmm. Yeah. And and I can just I can imagine some of the positions you're holding. Maybe they're a little uncomfortable or they're not a natural pause. And then all of a sudden, the narratives start to happen.

00;12;13;03 - 00;12;13;20

Jessia Maitri

Yes.

00;12;13;20 - 00;12;17;06

Cherie Lindberg

And you get access to the parts, right? Exactly.

00;12;17;09 - 00;12;18;01

Jessia Maitri

Yes, exactly.

00;12;18;08 - 00;12;18;20

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah.

00;12;18;21 - 00;12;30;24

Jessia Maitri

So it's learning to be the witness of that. And and again, this, like the other method, teaches the practitioner how to do this for their client, but they're also going through it as a person. So it's very transformative for them, too.

00;12;30;26 - 00;12;32;18

Cherie Lindberg

So was that was that three or.

00;12;32;19 - 00;12;50;21

Jessia Maitri

No, that was phase two. And then phase of the review is called being seen. It's like the alchemical gold. It's like really solidifying and I call it embodying the new story. So in phase two, they get really clear on what is the new story from a higher mindspace and then a phase three. How do I be witness in that in my life?

00;12;50;21 - 00;13;01;16

Jessia Maitri

And so there's a lot of partner work, there's a lot of witnessing, learning how to I call it embodied witnessing. So how to really witness and other how to help them bring it into their day to day life.

00;13;01;19 - 00;13;06;11

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah. Which is expansion. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

00;13;06;15 - 00;13;11;20

Jessia Maitri

You know, honestly, when I first learned about brains, why, I was like, they go, they're like, married here.

00;13;11;20 - 00;13;23;04

Cherie Lindberg

For the great. Well, you are going to be bringing this into the brain spanning community. Now you're going to be doing a version of it. Yeah. Yeah. In, in there. So. So who knows where else this is going to go?

00;13;23;06 - 00;13;24;07

Jessia Maitri

Yeah, I'm excited.

00;13;24;13 - 00;13;45;26

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah. Yeah. So tell me more about where you're at now with all of this, because it's been, you know, quite a journey and you've, you've had to jump through a lot of hoops with all these different processes to make sure you're aligned with this or that or whatever. So where are you at with all of it now?

00;13;46;03 - 00;14;17;24

Jessia Maitri

Well, we worked very hard, didn't make sure I'm getting a stability and is Mrs. Evers. I'm so excited about that. So the authoring method facilitator training, the next one's in February. That one's approved for me as WB and I've finally stoked about that. And then the brain spotting specialty workshop is in January, so that's exciting. And I'm also doing a Rocky Mountain Brain Spotting Institute webinar in just a couple of weeks this is starting to reach people that might be interested in learning more, so.

00;14;17;26 - 00;14;26;00

Cherie Lindberg

Mm hmm. Wonderful. Yeah. So what do you see moving forward for you and for this baby that you've birthed?

00;14;26;03 - 00;14;47;02

Jessia Maitri

00;14;47;02 - 00;14;48;11

Cherie Lindberg

I think that's important and all.

00;14;48;15 - 00;14;57;26

Jessia Maitri

My Yeah, yeah. And I really want the two worlds to come together more anyways. It's open to all professionals that work one on one with people, right?

00;14;57;26 - 00;15;09;19

Cherie Lindberg

I mean, basic healers. I mean, there's so many different ways of healing. So that's what I'm hearing, is that this is something you're offering to healers that are going to help them facilitate and support their clients healing.

00;15;09;21 - 00;15;10;20

Jessia Maitri

Yes. Yes.

00;15;10;20 - 00;15;13;03

Cherie Lindberg

Okay. Obviously, we have to go first.

00;15;13;05 - 00;15;27;13

Jessia Maitri

Yeah. And that's part of what I mentioned at the beginning is a lot of feedback I've had is like this felt like an attunement. And that's the word. Yeah, like we went through it and it's all of a sudden they transformed, which then up levels who they weren't with. Mm hmm.

00;15;27;13 - 00;15;46;15

Cherie Lindberg

So, so we're I mean, I know you said this all happened for you in COVID, but we're. Did you pull these ideas from like, was it some experiences that you had or I mean, I know you were getting downloads and you know how to put it all together, but where did the spark start?

00;15;46;17 - 00;16;17;12

Jessia Maitri

00;16;17;14 - 00;16;26;23

Jessia Maitri

So really like the spark came in with how do you organize this in a holistic way that's organized for a therapist to use, Right.

00;16;26;25 - 00;16;27;12

Cherie Lindberg

Right.

00;16;27;14 - 00;16;28;01

Jessia Maitri

Yeah.

00;16;28;03 - 00;16;42;20

Cherie Lindberg

So I know what archetypes are, but if you could share a little bit about because some folks are order archetypes, believe it or not. But yeah, could you share a little bit about the different archetypes that as human beings, like we often into these different categories.

00;16;42;22 - 00;17;04;12

Jessia Maitri

Yeah, there's, there's actually like thousands of archetypes, but in the, you know, there are methods specifically we use 12 and that was part of like what inspired me was like, Well, what archetypes do I encounter the most with my clients? And there were 12 specific archetypes that I was seeing the most of in clients. So I kind of pulled those together.

00;17;04;14 - 00;17;27;01

Jessia Maitri

So an archetype is there's a shadow and a light side to these, Oh, how would you say it? They're like characters that show up in all different cultures and you know, and there's different names for them, but they show up pretty consistently in all different cultures. So for example, there's a victim archetype, there's a there's a child, there's like an a wounded child archetype.

00;17;27;01 - 00;17;46;10

Jessia Maitri

There's another cultures you would call it the queen or the king, or that would be the mother or the father somewhere else. So yeah, So archetypes, how you work with them is to first be able to identify the shadow, which was the parts of that archetype that are not serving you, but are probably playing a role in your life.

00;17;46;15 - 00;18;00;29

Jessia Maitri

Well, once you identify that, then you can actually see the gift that they bring, which is the light, and then that actually ends up being the ally for you. But we don't try and get rid of them. We actually invite them to be an ally using their light aspects.

00;18;01;02 - 00;18;06;02

Cherie Lindberg

I mean, really, you're using different language, but you're you're teaching parts work.

00;18;06;05 - 00;18;11;11

Jessia Maitri

I didn't even know about parts work when I saw what I this came through. But Yeah. So it's exactly what it is. Yeah.

00;18;11;12 - 00;18;26;28

Cherie Lindberg

Mm. Yeah. So that we can understand, you know, the different parts of us like, and accept all of them to it. Like you said, not getting rid of them by to start to see the positive aspects as well. Because sometimes our brain just focuses on the negative.

00;18;27;00 - 00;18;27;12

Jessia Maitri

Right.

00;18;27;18 - 00;18;28;13

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah.

00;18;28;15 - 00;18;39;22

Jessia Maitri

Like the victim archetype can actually be your ally to show you where you're, where you are being victimized senses for yourself, you know, And it will don't they just try and get rid of the victim a lot.

00;18;39;22 - 00;18;59;02

Cherie Lindberg

And so again, for our listeners because we you know, all these podcasts are about helping people learn to live an elevated life. Can you talk more about how understanding what shadow work is can be helpful to people?

00;18;59;07 - 00;19;20;19

Jessia Maitri

Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's kind of the key to living an elevated life. It's being so self-aware and willing to look at blind spots. I mean, that's what it is. It's really getting clear on. We all have blind spots and so archetype work and shadow work is one way that I've found to help you see your blind spots a little more.

00;19;20;22 - 00;19;28;23

Jessia Maitri

And without that, I mean, it's pretty hard to know where where you're at as far as your self-awareness journey.

00;19;28;25 - 00;19;34;25

Cherie Lindberg

And what's the consequence in your in your thinking and in your experience of not doing shadow work.

00;19;34;27 - 00;19;55;04

Jessia Maitri

As a practitioner? I feel like the consequences too big because you're hold your your job is to hold space and be more self aware so you can really only meet your clients as far as you've gone. So if you're not elevating yourself and getting clear on your own stuff, it's going to be harder to hold that bigger space for your clients to grow into.

00;19;55;07 - 00;20;23;14

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah, and and from a clients perspective, what I would share is, you know, you can, you can choose which pain you want, productive pain is doing the shadow work so that you can release these recycling patterns and understand them and show up differently. Or if you don't do that work, you keep recycling it. And then that's that's going to be very painful.

00;20;23;16 - 00;20;29;14

Jessia Maitri

Yeah. And you don't know that you're recycling. It's like it's so easy to justify it and.

00;20;29;21 - 00;20;31;14

Cherie Lindberg

Right. Yeah. Like here it is again.

00;20;31;21 - 00;20;37;06

Jessia Maitri

Here it is again. And here's all the reasons why I should keep it going or it's working. And so, yeah.

00;20;37;10 - 00;20;55;12

Cherie Lindberg

Can you share one thing or more that your, the feedback that you've gotten about the workshop and how it's helped people transform their lives, like which was the pivotal moment for people or what? Like really spoke to them and then they experienced a transformation.

00;20;55;12 - 00;21;17;00

Jessia Maitri

And what's coming to me right now is one of the archetypes in the author. A method is called the Innocent Archetype, and it's actually, in IFC terms, our internal families. It would be called, I think, Your Higher Self, but it's called the innocent archetype. And throughout the author or method, the invitation is to invite the innocent archetype to be your guide through the journey.

00;21;17;02 - 00;21;43;16

Jessia Maitri

And pretty consistently that has been the turning point for people, is recognizing that that can like that can actually guide them. That can actually and it's joy. Joy is the light side of that archetype and the shadow is shame and guilt and fear. And so recognizing that that that can really be what guides them, I think was a big turning point.

00;21;43;19 - 00;21;59;07

Cherie Lindberg

Well, it sounds like, again, just different words are coming from me as I'm listening that this process is about people like finding their lost selves and coming back to you. They truly are. Yes, as well.

00;21;59;09 - 00;22;05;03

Jessia Maitri

Yeah, old story, New story. But the new story isn't really new. It's just who they've always been, just been covered.

00;22;05;05 - 00;22;10;25

Cherie Lindberg

Yeah. Is there anything maybe that I haven't asked you that would be important for our listeners to hear?

00;22;10;27 - 00;22;15;03

Jessia Maitri

Nothing's coming to mind, but I feel like we did it justice.

00;22;15;06 - 00;22;47;03

Cherie Lindberg

We covered everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I wish you well with this baby that you've birthed. And, you know, I just want to say to our listeners that, you know, whether you are a healer, you know, a, you know, practitioner, you know, you should, you should check it out not only for your own healing, but for how you hold the space for your clients, because it's going to help expand yourself as a practitioner, but also, you know, help your clients along the way in their healing.

00;22;47;03 - 00;22;49;15

Cherie Lindberg

Thanks for coming and sharing with us.

00;22;49;17 - 00;22;54;07

Jessia Maitri

Thank you. Cherie.

00;22;54;09 - 00;23;18;16

Cherie Lindberg

Thank you for joining us today. And Elevated Life Academy stories of hope and healing. As you move back into your world, I invite you to take a breath and hold on to what ever stirred something in you from our podcast today, Healing isn't always loud, but it is always sacred. Whether today's story Open Your Heart gave you a new perspective or just reminded you that you are not alone, it matters.

00;23;18;16 - 00;23;38;17

Cherie Lindberg

And so do you. Keep choosing alignment, keep trusting your becoming. And remember, the elevated life is imperfect. It's present. If this episode resonated, share it with someone who needs a little more light. And if you're ready to go deeper in your own journey, you know where to find me. Until next time, stay rooted, stay rising and stay. You.