Bonnie Buckner, PhD, founder of the International Institute for Dreaming and Imagery, guides us into dreaming as a living language rooted in the body and asks: What if your dreams weren’t random—but precise, intelligent messages leading you toward change?

In this conversation, Jessica and Bonnie move beyond traditional dream interpretation and into a more dynamic, participatory approach—one where images are not decoded from a distance, but entered, felt, and transformed from within. Dreams are not static symbols, but living processes that reflect your current state and invite you into deeper relationship with yourself.

They explore how nightmares often signal imbalance rather than danger, and how, when engaged directly, they can become powerful gateways to resolution, creativity, and healing. Bonnie shares how working with imagery in the waking state can shift internal patterns, restore coherence in the nervous system, and open intuitive channels that extend beyond sleep.

At the heart of this episode is a reorientation: dreaming is not something that happens to you—it is something you are already participating in. When you begin to work with it consciously, it becomes a powerful tool for transformation.

If you’ve ever felt there is something deeper speaking through your dreams—or wondered how to truly engage with that language—this conversation is for you.

Guest Bio

Bonnie Buckner, PhD, is the founder and CEO of the International Institute for Dreaming and Imagery and the author of The Secret Mind: Unlock the Power of Dreams to Transform Your Life. She also serves as program lead for George Washington University’s One Humanity Leadership Coaching Certification, where she integrates dreaming and imagery into leadership development.

Her work draws from an ancient lineage of embodied dream practices, supporting individuals and organizations in accessing deeper intelligence, creativity, and transformation through imagery.

Learn more:bonniebuckner.cominstitutefordreamingandimagery.com

Host Bio

Jessica Shepherd is a writer, astrologer, and intuitive guide based in Honolulu, and the author of five books, including A Love Alchemist’s Notebook. Her work explores sensitivity, embodiment, and the deeper intelligence that emerges when we return to ourselves.

Through her writing, podcast, and companion Substack Soft Human Words, she creates spaces for reflection, emotional clarity, and inner transformation—blending intuition, wisdom, and energetics into grounded, resonant insight.

Learn more:https://www.instagram.com/_jessicashepherd_/jessicashepherd.commoonkissd.com

Credits

Produced by Noah Tetzner

Jessica is joined by BACP-accredited psychotherapist Marina Lorenzato. If you’ve ever overgiven, over-accommodated, or lost your center in love—this is for you.

What unfolds is an honest look at the subtle patterns that pull us away from ourselves, and how to begin returning, moment by moment.

In this episode of Soft Human Voice, Jessica and Marina explore people-pleasing, attachment styles, and the ways we can lose our sense of self in connection with others.

Marina shares how parts work, nervous system awareness, and simple embodied practices can help us return to center, make clearer choices, and build relationships rooted in presence rather than survival.

This conversation also touches on friendship dynamics, emotional consistency, and the courage it takes to choose what we truly want in connection.

The episode closes with a gentle grounding practice you can return to anytime you feel activated or pulled out of yourself.

A grounded and practical exploration of what it means to stay with yourself, and others.

Guest Bio

Marina Lorenzato is a BACP-accredited psychotherapist based in London, working with women and couples who find themselves losing their sense of self in relationships. Drawing on psychosynthesis, internal family systems, and somatic approaches, her work focuses on patterns such as people-pleasing, anxious attachment, and blurred boundaries.

She is the creator of Authentica, a self-esteem program for women ready to reconnect with themselves, and shares relationship psychology and self-awareness content with a growing audience online. Marina offers therapy in both English and Portuguese.

Instagram: @marinalorenzato

Website: marinalorenzato.com

Host Bio

Jessica Shepherd is an astrologer, intuitive guide, and the author of five books, including A Love Alchemist’s Notebook. She is the host of the Soft Human Voice podcast and its companion Substack newsletter, Soft Human Words, where she also shares embodied practices through Soft Human Movement. Her work explores sensitivity, intuition, and the power of returning to oneself.

Instagram: @jessicashepherd

Website: jessicashepherd.com

Production Credit

Produced by Noah Tetzner

Debra Martin, intuitive healer and cancer survivor, joins me for an honest conversation about what healing actually asks of us.

We begin with a grounding practice, then explore emotional permission, illness, and self-awareness. Debra shares how she moved through cancer by listening to her body rather than fighting it — blessing her medicine, releasing control, and shifting from fear-based thoughts to grounded presence.

We talk about handing back what isn’t yours, honoring your limits without guilt, and why expectations can quietly block receiving. At the heart of this episode is a simple reframe: it’s not only what we experience, but how we hold it.

If you’re navigating illness, uncertainty, or the tender work of becoming more self-aware, this conversation offers perspective without pressure.

About Debra Martin

Debra Martin is an intuitive healer whose work integrates mediumship and energy healing. Certified by the Windbridge Research Center, she is the author of six books, including Proof of Miracles, and offers private sessions and global healings.

About Jessica Shepherd

Jessica Shepherd is an astrologer, intuitive guide, and author of five books, including A Love Alchemist’s Notebook. She writes Soft Human Words and hosts the Soft Human Voice podcast.

Production

Soft Human Voice is produced by Noah Tetzner.

Randy Spelling, life coach, author, and founder of Randy Spelling Coaching, joins me for a grounded conversation about sensitivity, survival patterns, and what real connection requires.

Growing up in one of Hollywood’s most recognizable families, Randy learned early that external success does not create inner fulfillment. In this episode, we explore how sensitivity is often misunderstood, how people pleasing begins as survival, and why addiction is a form of disconnection.

Together, we trace the evolution from unconscious sensitivity to conscious sensitivity, shifting from automatic survival responses to chosen ones. We unpack the difference between absorbing and registering energy, the role of curiosity in breaking comparison, and how awareness can move from burden to strength.

Randy shares his “Soul Walk” practice, and we reflect on reconnecting inward rather than chasing connection outward.

If you identify as sensitive, intuitive, empathic, or simply human, this conversation offers grounded tools for navigating energy with greater clarity and choice.

About Randy

Randy Spelling is a life coach, author, and speaker with over 17 years of coaching experience. Growing up in one of Hollywood’s most recognizable families, he learned early that external success does not guarantee inner fulfillment. Through his coaching work, Randy helps individuals recognize the choices they didn’t realize they had so they can create greater freedom, presence, and happiness in their lives. Learn more at randyspelling.com or on Instagram @randyspelling.

About Jessica

Jessica Shepherd is an astrologer, intuitive guide, and author of five books including A Love Alchemist’s Notebook. She hosts the Soft Human Voice podcast and writes the companion Substack newsletter, Soft Human Words, where she also shares qigong-based movement practices. Based in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Jessica’s work explores sensitivity, embodiment, and intuitive connection. Learn more at jessicashepherd.net.

In this episode of Soft Human Voice, Jessica sits down with author and intuitive storyteller Rebecca Barry for an open and heartfelt conversation about listening beyond the noise of culture and conditioning. Together they explore intuition, embodied awareness, creative guidance, and the delicate balance between imagination and grounded reality.

The conversation moves through personal stories of grief, creativity, and spiritual practice, reflecting on how kindness, truth, and presence often emerge when we learn to listen more deeply to ourselves and to life itself. At its heart, this episode is an invitation to soften, become curious, and remember the voice that speaks through intuition, body, and experience.

About Rebecca BerryRebecca Berry is the author of Later at the Bar and Recipes for a Beautiful Life. She is an intuitive reader and live storyteller whose work has appeared on The Moth and TEDx, and in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Tin House, and One Story. Her work explores storytelling, intuition, and the relationship between creativity and the unseen world. Learn more about Rebecca at rebeccabarry@substack.com.

About Jessica ShepherdJessica Shepherd is an astrologer, intuitive guide, and author of five books including A Love Alchemist’s Notebook. She is the host of the Soft Human Voice podcast and writes the companion Substack newsletter Soft Human Words, where she shares reflections on intuition, creativity, and embodied practices including qigong. Learn more at jessicashepherd@substack.com.

CreditsHost: Jessica ShepherdGuest: Rebecca Barry Produced and Edited by: Noah TetznerPodcast Theme: Soft Human Voice by Jessica ShepherdLearn more: jessicashepherd.net | Soft Human Words on Substack

In this episode, Jessica speaks with naturopath, nutritionist, herbalist, and medical astrologer Kira Sutherland about using astrology as a practical lens for understanding health, stress, and self-care.

They explore how the body reflects emotional and energetic patterns, why symptoms can be understood as meaningful signals, and how small shifts in nourishment, routine, and attention can support long-term wellbeing. Kira shares how she blends natural medicine with astrology in a grounded, ethical way that avoids fear or prediction and instead supports clarity, alignment, and choice.

This episode is for anyone curious about listening more closely to the body and responding with care.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome + introductions03:00 Kira’s path into medical astrology07:00 Jessica’s health origin story10:00 Reading the chart for health14:00 Ethics and why prediction is avoided18:00 Transits as activators22:00 The nodal axis and alignment25:00 Self-care and the body’s signals29:00 Why change is hard33:00 Food as a gateway to healing36:00 Emotions, digestion, and the Moon39:00 Modern food culture and imbalance42:00 Weight, medication, and compassion45:00 Honoring individual differences

About

Kira Sutherland is an Australian naturopath, nutritionist, herbalist, and medical astrologer with over 25 years of clinical experience. She teaches and consults internationally, blending astrology and natural medicine to support physical and emotional wellbeing through practical, ethical, and individualized care.

Jessica Shepherd is an astrologer, intuitive guide, and author of five books, including A Love Alchemist’s Notebook. She is the host of Soft Human Voice and the companion newsletter Soft Human Words, exploring sensitivity, embodiment, and self-trust through reflective conversation and practice.

Instead of adding something to your list, this episode is meant to take something off your plate.

During the holidays, many of us are holding more — more people, more emotions, more expectations — while still trying to make everything feel smooth and magical. Sensitive bodies feel this deeply.

In this short, grounding episode, I offer a simple recentering practice you can return to whenever you need a breather. It’s designed for those quiet moments — a few minutes alone, a pause between gatherings, or a chance to come back into your body (the guided practice begins at 8:00).

May this Soft Nudge support your nervous system, your energy, and your ability to receive your own presence this season.

Happy Holidays,

Jessica

What really happens when consciousness goes beyond the brain?

In this illuminating conversation, neurosurgeon and bestselling author Dr. Eben Alexander joins Jessica to explore what he discovered after a rare bacterial meningitis left him in a week-long coma—an experience that forever changed his understanding of life, death, and the mind itself.

Together, they trace the bridge between science and spirituality, discussing how near-death experiences point to the primacy of consciousness, how love underlies all existence, and how meditation can help us access that larger awareness here and now.

Eben shares the story behind Proof of Heaven, Living in a Mindful Universe, and his daily practice of binaural sound meditation. The two also reflect on the nature of soul growth, the purpose of challenge, and the power of remembering that we are not separate but deeply connected.

A conversation about awakening, presence, and the living truth that we are more than our bodies, and love is what holds us together.

ABOUT US:

Dr. Eben Alexander is a neurosurgeon and New York Times bestselling author of Proof of Heaven, The Map of Heaven, and Living in a Mindful Universe. His work bridges science and spirituality, exploring the nature of consciousness and the continuity of life.

Learn more at ebenalexander.com and explore free meditations at sacredacoustics.com. Follow him on Instagram @ebenalex3MD.

Jessica Shepherd is an astrologer, intuitive guide, and author of five books, including Venus Signs and A Love Alchemist’s Notebook. She hosts the Soft Human Voice podcast and writes the companion Substack newsletter, Soft Human Words, exploring intuition, sensitivity, and the art of living connected to inner truth.

Follow her on Instagram @_jessicashepherd_ and Facebook @Moonkissd.

CreditsHost: Jessica ShepherdGuest: Dr. Eben AlexanderProduced and Edited by: Noah TetznerPodcast Theme: Soft Human Voice by Jessica ShepherdLearn more: jessicashepherd.net | Soft Human Words on Substack