Episode
Where Gothic Literature Meets Ashtanga Yoga
- Podcast
- Finding Harmony Podcast
- Published
- Jan 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4317
- Processing state
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Summary
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 Podcast Meet Jessica Murphy: Gothic Literature Scholar & Ashtanga Practitioner Teaching English Literature at the University of Iceland Jessica's Literary Works: Wishbone, Ossa Vivi, Moss & Rose Poetry, Novellas, and the Gothic Genre Victorian Literature vs. Romantic Period: Claiming Jane Austen and the Brontës Existentialism, Death, and Childhood Philosophy with Her Father Father's Influence: TM, Hippie Culture, and Zen Catholicism Coming to Ashtanga Yoga at Age 39 The Challenge of Backbends vs. Hip Openers & Arm Balances Using the Body to Be Embodied: Balancing Cerebral and Physical Work Kapotasana and the Death Drive: Flirting with Mortality Eating Disorder History and Ongoing Body Image Work Why Backbends Bring Up Old Wounds and Feelings of Not Enoughness The Beginner's Mind in Yoga Practice Creating False Equivalencies: Yoga Series as Academic Degrees LSD, Academic Structures, and Her Father's Generation Jack Kerouac's Journey and the Beats Memorization in Education: What We've Lost Reciting Shakespeare: "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" William Blake's "The Tiger": Fearful Symmetry Reading from "The Face in the Window" (Gothic Short Story from Ossa Vivi) Visual Imagination and Playing with Language Meeting Her Husband: Two 19th Century Literature Scholars in Iceland Looking for Someone Like Herself vs. Someone Opposite Balancing Creative Writing with Academic Pressures The Difference Between Tenure Track and Department Member Positions Her Husband's Prolific Academic Output: Philosophy and Literature Writi…