Welcome to my podcast, The Wellness Project with Des, where I interview people with passions, hobbies, or side hustles trying to live their best lives by following their dreams and pursuing their goals. Get ready to be inspired!
On today’s podcast episode, I interviewed, Juniper Waller (she/her). Juniper is a Vocal Empowerment Coach and Breathwork Guide. She uses guided vocalization and meditation practices to help people free their voices. After 10+ years of voice study, four years of teaching singing, and a background in performance, social justice work, and holistic healing modalities, Juniper has merged her passions to help others use their voices as their most effective tool. Born and raised in Oakland, CA on Ohlone territory, Juniper now lives in Sacramento on unceded Nisenan land.
Juniper’s story is nothing short of inspiring and empowering. She has taken an unconventional and winding path throughout her life and has lived to become the truest version of herself.
Growing up, she was always writing, and singing, and being creative in some way. She says as a kid, she “wanted to do everything!” went to Sarah Lawrence College and earned a Liberal Arts degree. Graduating during the recession of 2009, her first job out of college was at the Census Bureau.
While taking classes in college, Juniper was politicized and pushed into the social justice field. After getting burned out, Juniper returned home to California to heal and pursue her long-time interest in holistic health. In 2017, Juniper started a band called The Gold Souls as well as started teaching singing lessons. While teaching singing, she discovered the missing link, Breathwork.
Juniper now offers private Breathwork sessions and a group session, Breathwork for collective liberation, which takes place the second Saturday of every month on zoom. Juniper explains the process and benefits of breathwork as well as other self-care and self-discovery tools you can try out. I took Juniper’s group work class and loved it! It was a completely new experience for me. I loved trying something new and loved hearing the other group member’s experiences during the session. It was powerful. I recommend you try out breathwork!
I appreciated how refreshingly honest and vulnerable Juniper was during our interview. She discusses the work she put into overcoming self-criticism and society-imposed expectations. We talked about how it has been ingrained in us that doing fun and creative activities is a waste of time and how we feel lazy and guilty when we aren’t being “productive”. How business and “productive” activities are tied into the feelings of our self-worth.
Listen to this interview and be inspired to follow your passions and live your life on your terms.