What happens when a scholar who studies death for a living discovers she must learn to truly live in her body? This haunting conversation explores literature, yoga, and the long road to embodiment.IN THIS EPISODE:Introduction to Finding Harmony PodcastMeet Jessica Murphy: Gothic Literature Scholar & Ashtanga PractitionerTeaching English Literature at the University of IcelandJessica's Literary Works: Wishbone, Ossa Vivi, Moss & RosePoetry, Novellas, and the Gothic GenreVictorian Literature vs. Romantic Period: Claiming Jane Austen and the BrontësExistentialism, Death, and Childhood Philosophy with Her FatherFather's Influence: TM, Hippie Culture, and Zen CatholicismComing to Ashtanga Yoga at Age 39The Challenge of Backbends vs. Hip Openers & Arm BalancesUsing the Body to Be Embodied: Balancing Cerebral and Physical WorkKapotasana and the Death Drive: Flirting with MortalityEating Disorder History and Ongoing Body Image WorkWhy Backbends Bring Up Old Wounds and Feelings of Not EnoughnessThe Beginner's Mind in Yoga PracticeCreating False Equivalencies: Yoga Series as Academic DegreesLSD, Academic Structures, and Her Father's GenerationJack Kerouac's Journey and the BeatsMemorization in Education: What We've LostReciting Shakespeare: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"William Blake's "The Tiger": Fearful SymmetryReading from "The Face in the Window" (Gothic Short Story from Ossa Vivi)Visual Imagination and Playing with LanguageMeeting Her Husband: Two 19th Century Literature Scholars in IcelandLooking for Someone Like Herself vs. Someone OppositeBalancing Creative Writing with Academic PressuresThe Difference Between Tenure Track and Department Member PositionsHer Husband's Prolific Academic Output: Philosophy and LiteratureWriting as a Labor of Love vs. Academic RequirementBeing "High on Life": Creativity and SensitivityWhy Creative People Struggle with Depression and AnxietyThe World Feeling Like "Too Much": Colors, Sounds, PeopleArtistic Pursuits as Protection from Overwhelming SensationsThe Quiet Life with Cats and Writing and YogaRussell's Invitation (That Got Declined)Victorian Tea Ceremonies and Paying for ArtThe Japanese Tea Ceremony as Art Form: Greg Kinsey's StoryBad Art, Bad Writing, and Bad AsanasHarmony's Inner Circle Mentorship Program InvitationThis episode is a deep, insightful exploration of navigating life as a highly sensitive creative person, balancing intellectual pursuits with embodied practice, and finding home in your body after years of disconnection. GUEST BIO:Having taught at Vanier College, Dawson College, and Université de Montréal in Montréal, Qc, Canada in the past, Jessica Murphy, Ph.D. currently lives in Reykjavík, Iceland and teaches English literature at the University of Iceland (Háskóli Íslands). Her areas of interest and expertise are Victorian and Romantic literature as well as detective novels, gothic fiction, and children's literature. In addition to publishing a novella entitled Wishbone (available on Amazon) and having her poetry published in an anthology featuring the works of poets from around the world entitled Words Apart: A Globe of Poetry, she has co-authored an epistolary novella, Moss and Rose and a collection of gothic short stories, Ossa Vivi, with Mae Kellert. Her scholarly publications include "'[T]he world's a beast, and I hate it!': Naturalism in Amy Levy's The Romance of a Shop" and an article on Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale. At present, she is working on a chapter on the double in Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted that will be included in a book, published by Routledge, featuring various essays on the doppelgänger. A cat lover and an avid Ashtangi, she has been practicing Ashtanga yoga for the last seven years.CONNECT WITH JESSICA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjcats/Books available on Amazon and major retailersKEY TAKEAWAYS:Gothic literature and yoga philosophy both explore tr