Chronic Wellness

Chronic Wellness

By Annette LeonardHealth & Fitness
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Chronic Wellness episodes

  • Episode 254: An Act Of Courage And Trust
    What are the impediments to dismantling systems of injustice?
    Why are conversations about race so difficult?
    When I'm held accountable for my 1) racist 2) privileged or 3) non-ally behaviors it's painful and so easy to get defensive.
    When my identity is challenged it feels threatening and it is difficult to press on.
    However, when I pan back and take myself out of it, I can see that the person holding me accountable is giving me a tremendous amount of love, grace, and TRUST. Because if I didn't matter to them, they never would have trusted me with this conversation. If they didn't believe that I wanted to do better, they wouldn't have brought the incident to my attention -- they would have written me off.
    If I can remember that this is about love and trust, it can shift the whole thing.
    I can process the experience (away from the person who brought it to me) and return to the person to try and repair.
    We're so unaccustomed to having our core identities challenged or shown to us in unfamiliar light that it feels like more than we can bear.
    If we remember that this is an act of courage, love, and trust, it can be an amazing opportunity for growth, building our relationship, and healing something that was broken.
    Reading Resources
    Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article, The Case for Reparations
    Van Jones’ article, “Black People ‘Loot’ Food..White People ‘Find’ Food”
    Books
    The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
    Caught, Marie Gottschalk
    Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
    White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo
    Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
    Uprooting Racism, How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, Paul Kivel
    Shelly Tochluk, Witnessing Whiteness
    Race and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race, Derald Wing Sue
    So You Want to Talk About Race Ijeoma Oluo
    Where to give money or time:
    NAACP
    Southern Poverty Law Center
    Dream Defenders
    Black Youth Project 100
    National Bail Fund
    7 min
  • Episode 253: Conversations Are Key
    What are my reflections on whiteness?
    How does being in touch with my whiteness inform my perspective?
    White privilege is based on whiteness being invisible.
    We have likely not been told we have to represent our race.
    If you aren't already, start talking about whiteness with other white people, particularly your family.
    Would you rather your children learn about sex and violence from TV and kids at school?
    If the answer is no, isn't the same thing true about race. Wouldn't you rather shape the conversation?
    We start to dismantle white supremacy by having these conversations.
    It is better to do it imperfectly, than to not do it at all.
    Reading Resources
    Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article, The Case for Reparations
    Van Jones’ article, “Black People ‘Loot’ Food..White People ‘Find’ Food”
    Books
    The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
    Caught, Marie Gottschalk
    Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
    White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo
    Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
    Uprooting Racism, How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, Paul Kivel
    Shelly Tochluk, Witnessing Whiteness
    Race and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race, Derald Wing Sue
    So You Want to Talk About Race Ijeoma Oluo
    Where to give money or time:
    NAACP
    Southern Poverty Law Center
    Dream Defenders
    Black Youth Project 100
    National Bail Fund
    6 min
  • Episode 252: Commitment
    Commitment is required for the work of dismantling white supremacy.
    How is today's uprising going to be different from those in the past?
    For change to occur, this work is a long game.
    When I say and do things in error, I must accept that, take time to heal/figure my shit out, pick myself up and keep going.
    Curiosity, love, and commitment, three skills that are necessary that we white folks need to address systemic bias and for dismantling white supremacy.
    Reading Resources
    Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article, The Case for Reparations
    Van Jones’ article, “Black People ‘Loot’ Food..White People ‘Find’ Food”
    Books
    The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
    Caught, Marie Gottschalk
    Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
    White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo
    Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
    Uprooting Racism, How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, Paul Kivel
    Shelly Tochluk, Witnessing Whiteness
    Race and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race, Derald Wing Sue
    So You Want to Talk About Race Ijeoma Oluo
    Where to give money or time:
    NAACP
    Southern Poverty Law Center
    Dream Defenders
    Black Youth Project 100
    National Bail Fund
    4 min
  • Episode 251: What's Love Got To Do With It?
    Can we solve a problem with the same energy that created it?
    I don't think we end hate by meeting it with hate.
    I think love is required. We must love ourselves and one another.
    Self-love because we white people are not used to seeing ourselves in a negative light around issues of race and equity. If we say things and get it wrong or are afraid to say things and get it wrong - we need self-love to cope with the difficult emotions that are going to arise.
    Standing up for the right is a thankless job fraught with opportunities for hard learning.
    In order to keep moving forward, I have to have enough love to take responsibility, to repair (internally or externally), to have compassion (for myself or others) that I will not proceed.
    To heal, we need love.
    Reading Resources
    Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article, The Case for Reparations
    Van Jones’ article, “Black People ‘Loot’ Food..White People ‘Find’ Food”
    Books
    The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
    Caught, Marie Gottschalk
    Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
    White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo
    Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
    Uprooting Racism, How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, Paul Kivel
    Shelly Tochluk, Witnessing Whiteness
    Race and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race, Derald Wing Sue
    So You Want to Talk About Race Ijeoma Oluo
    Where to give money or time:
    NAACP
    Southern Poverty Law Center
    Dream Defenders
    Black Youth Project 100
    National Bail Fund
    5 min
  • Episode 255: How Can We Handle Shame?
    How is shame like vampires?
    Why is it so difficult to hear information about ourselves that doesn't fit with what I believe to be true?
    How should we receive race related criticism?
    We shouldn't manage our white guilt and shame with BIPOC.
    Shame can derail our work if we do not allow it to be aired so it can dissipate and be gone.
    Reading Resources
    Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article, The Case for Reparations
    Van Jones’ article, “Black People ‘Loot’ Food..White People ‘Find’ Food”
    Books
    The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
    Caught, Marie Gottschalk
    Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
    White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo
    Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
    Uprooting Racism, How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, Paul Kivel
    Shelly Tochluk, Witnessing Whiteness
    Race and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race, Derald Wing Sue
    So You Want to Talk About Race Ijeoma Oluo
    Where to give money or time:
    NAACP
    Southern Poverty Law Center
    Dream Defenders
    Black Youth Project 100
    National Bail Fund
    5 min
  • Episode 250: Curiosity
    What skills are required for dispute resolutions?
    A mind that stays curious -- remains open, engaged, questioning, able to see the possibilities.
    Can you hear about another's lived experience?
    Curiosity is a key skill in unlearning white supremacy.
    We must be curious to learn about the systems that continue to prop up and sustain the inequity of white power.
    To gain understanding and make change, we must be curious.
    4 min
  • Episode 249: Steps Toward Change
    How do we change our habits?
    First we must see and name them.
    Individuals cannot change what is happening in our nation until we acknowledge what has been happening.
    While these systems predate us, we now all play a role in their continued existence.
    Acknowledging that I have these privileges, naming, and surfacing what is true, is the precursor for change.
    We cannot change what we don't name or see.
    How are you having these conversations?
    5 min
  • Episode 248: How Do We Disarm?
    What does it mean to personally disarm?
    How do we do that?
    How do I embody practices of love?
    This relates to what's happening in the world right now in the wake of George Floyd's death because the more I can become less defensive, less fragile, less tentative, less uncertain about my role in white supremacy and structural bias, the more opportunity we have for creating a different society.
    4 min
  • Episode 247: White Is A Race
    How do systems of injustice get dismantled?
    We, the powerful, must decide it's time.
    Are you fluent in race conversations?
    Do you think of yourself as having a race?
    How is talking about it critical to change?
    White is a race, and we must be more comfortable talking about race.
    What kind of world do we want to live in?
    5 min
  • Episode 246: Who Are We?
    chronic illness and quality of life,chronic wellness,white supremacy,George Floyd murder,unlearning racism,how do we change the power in this country?,blackoutTuesday,Black Lives Matter,BlackLivesMatter,Chronic illness and hate,bigotry in all forms,racism and illness,chronic illness and race,the stress disease connection,who do you want to be in the world,white is a race,white privilege,racial fluence,talk about race,diversity and change
    Feeling broken, disheartened, sad, outraged, and horrified.
    Why are we waging war on people of color?
    How does white supremacy still inform our decisions as a nation?
    This is who we are. Is this who we mean to be?
    3 min

About Chronic Wellness

From the publisher's feed

Are you one of the millions living with a chronic illness or pain? Our diseases may be very different, but we have many of the same experiences, obstacles and frustrations. We are all working for a better quality of life knowing that pain and limitations will be our traveling companions. My name is Annette and I'm the host of Chronic Wellness, a brief, weekly, podcast where we talk about it all: sex, self-care, mental heath, loss of identity, anger, how to navigate health care and have less days that suck so hard.