Care Work with Alida Miranda-Wolff

Known as “the therapist who moves you,” dance therapist and bestselling author Erica Hornthal has spent her career helping people heal through their bodies. She joins to talk about how to practice non-judgment, why exercise isn’t the only form of healthy movement, and how to address trauma through a body-aware lens.

Topics Discussed:

• How Erica is involved in care work (3:20)
• What led Erica into the intersection of different interests in her career (4:59)
• The ways that Erica uses movement to heal (8:13)
• What it means to befriend your body (12:34)
• Body positivity vs body acceptance (15:03)
• What the future may hold for somatic movement therapies (21:50)
• Erica's advice for a what to take away from this conversation (34:03)

Resources Mentioned:

• Body Aware by Erica Hornthal
• Kaye Publicity
• Bodyfulness: Somatic Practices for Presence, Empowerment, and Waking Up in This Life by Christine Caldwell

Where to Find Erica Hornthal:

• Website: ericahornthal.com
• Website: chicagodancetherapy.com
• Facebook: @EricaHornthal
• Instagram: @the.therapist.who.moves.you

Darrell Jones is a minister, spiritual guide, and mindfulness coach who brings twenty years of personal practice to his care work. In his new book, Soul Gym, Darrell explores how to link the mind, body, and spirit to nurture the soul. Darrell joins to share more about how to achieve a holistic soul experience.

Topics Discussed:

• What it means to Darrell to be a care worker (3:02)
• How Darrell's career ambitions went from rock star to spiritual coaching (5:54)
• The moment that life asked something more of Darrell (9:49)
• How Darrell uses the higher self visioning practice (16:31)
• What Darrell does to help people with reintegration (24:36)
• Observations of people that don't know who they are and come from a place of fear (28:28)
• Why Darrell wrote his new book, Soul Gym (34:30)
• Key takeaways from this episode (38:09)

Resources Mentioned:

• Soul Gym: A Manual to Connect Mind, Body & Spirit for Soulful Living by Darrell Jones
• The Bodhi Spiritual Center
• Agape International Spiritual Center

Where to Find Darrell Jones:

• Website: revdarrelljones.com
• Website: olivetreeartsnetwork.org
• Website: chillanywhere.com
• Instagram: @darrelljonesspirit

Yael Shy’s purpose in life is to help others uncover their inherent worth and capacity for deep joy. Yael wrote the award-winning What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond and teaches mindfulness and meditation at New York University. Together, we discuss how mindfulness and meditation can help us understand ourselves and the world.

Topics Discussed:

• How Yael came to the world of mindfulness and meditation (3:41)
• The experience of helping students take on the practice of meditation (5:52)
• What students need from meditation that other people might not (8:40)
• What Yael thinks life is all about (10:27)
• Why Yael wrote her book, What Now? (12:08)
• What it looked like for Yael to put her work out into the world (18:39)
• Yael's advice for moving past suffering and pain (21:15)
• What helps Yael develop her practices (27:40)
• Who Yael goes to when she needs support (37:33)
• The book that Yael would recommend to people who live a life of care (41:31)

Resources Mentioned:

• What Now?: Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond by Yael Shy
• Yael's 12-week Flourish certification program
• You Belong: A Call for Connection by Sebene Selassie
• The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level by Gay Hendricks

Where to Find Yael Shy:

• Website: mindfulnessconsulting.net
• Twitter: @YaelShy1
• Instagram: @yaelshy1
• Facebook: @yaeshy1

Celebrated disability rights advocate, speaker, and author of Demystifying Disability Emily Ladau joins the podcast to delve into the relationship between educating others and engaging in care work. Throughout our conversation, Emily offers tools, processes, and practices for having awkward conversations, supporting the disability community, and tending to our own needs.

Topics Discussed:

• How Emily describes herself as a care worker (1:15)
• How Sesame Street influenced Emily to become an educator (4:55)
• Turning awkward interactions into teachable moments (8:49)
• Why Emily is still learning how to care for herself (13:49)
• How to find a supportive disabled community (17:09)
• Advice and tips to help you provide care to others (22:46)
• Emily's experience for what you are and are not allowed to ask about someone's disabilities (26:02)
• One takeaway you can adopt right now (28:12)

Resources Mentioned:

• Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness by Melissa Dahl
• Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally by Emily Ladau

Where to Find Emily Ladau:

• Website: emilyladau.com
• Website: theaccessiblestall.com
• Twitter: @emily_ladau 
• Instagram: @emilyladau 
• Facebook: @WordsIWheelBy
• LinkedIn: @emilyladau

Micky ScottBey Jones, the Justice Doula, is a multi-faith chaplain, Enneagram coach, compassionate facilitator, nonviolence practitioner, and author who has dedicated her life to accompanying others in their time of need. Micky joins to talk about what it means to be a witness and companion to others in the hardest moments of their lives.

Topics Discussed:

• How Micky describes herself in the context of her care work (2:26)
• How the philosophy around womanism is connected to Micky's doula work (4:40)
• Why Micky set up boundaries around her doula work (7:36)
• Advice for how a care worker should take care of themselves (11:55)
• Using the Spoons Theory to protect boundaries and energy (17:20)
• How Micky continues to work with people on the worst days of their lives (22:39)

Resources Mentioned:

• What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
• Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today by Rachel Vorona Cote

Where to Find Micky ScottBey Jones:

• Website: mickyscottbeyjones.com
• Twitter: @iammickyjones
• Instagram: @electric_lady_msj
• YouTube: @therealmickyscottbeyjones

Who is in the business of providing tender love and care? What does it mean to get paid to nurture strangers? And, what kind of support do these people need? In Care Work, author and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging practitioner, Alida Miranda-Wolff, seeks answers to all of these questions with care workers of all kinds through discussions of their lived experiences. Learn how to create a culture of care in your communities and have your own care needs met through episodes that balance real-life stories with actionable takeaways.

Season 1 coming January 2023