Holistic Life Navigation

In this episode, we explore how rather than using the notion of "everything happens for us, not to us," as a form of bypassing, we can instead use it as a form of self-inquiry to get curious about the agency or benefits that remain even when things don't go according to plan.

Luis shares with us his personal experience of implementing this practice when first lamenting his lack of mainstream, commercial success in his musical career. When he asked the question -- not stated the affirmation -- "how does this work for me?" some beautiful insights and opportunities emerged.

Luis also guides us through a brief somatic practice that can help us being to notice how unexpected or challenging events may in fact serve us.

For more information about Luis's work, please visit: www.holisticlifenavigation.com.

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Luis is joined by Dr. Ingrid Clayton, a clinical psychologist and author. Her most recent book is Believing Me: Healing from Narcissistic Abuse and Complex Trauma,  a memoir of her personal healing journey.

Ingrid generously shares with us a bit about her own healing journey and how even as a clinical psychologist it was very difficult for her to relate to her own trauma. She explains to Luis how gaslighting was a large part of her trauma experience as a child and how as an adult a key part of her healing has been releasing hope -- hope that certain people would see, hear and believe her. She and Luis discuss how releasing hope, projections, or expectation of others actually allows for more choice and agency in relationship dynamics.

Luis and Ingrid also discuss why it is so important to acknowledge and incorporate joy and laughter into trauma healing as well as the detrimental impact of maintaining the wall between "healer" and client to all parties involved.

For more information on Dr. Ingrid Clayton's work, visit: https://www.ingridclayton.com/

For more information on Luis' work, visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Luis invites us to challenge, question and explore the commonly held overcoupling that death equals loss.

Luis explains why grief is often the charge from attuning only to what we have lost which is usually oriented in the past. How can we also begin to attune to what we have gained, i.e. the present?

Similarly, bypassing is when we only orient to what we gain. But with holistic integration, we begin the practice to be able hold both the loss and the gain.

Luis guides us through a brief practice exploring capacity for death and explains how this work is related to all types of death, not just the death of the body. For example, the death of a plan, the death of a relationship, the death of an expectation, and so on.

For more information about Luis's work, please visit: www.holisticlifenavigation.com.

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Today's bonus episode is a replay of Episode 2. Fawning is often overlooked as a trauma response, and even more so, misunderstood.

This episode is about Fawning - what I call "The Fourth F" after fight, flight & freeze in response to threat. Fawning is mistaken for "politeness" and "having manners", but it's actually a learned threat response. We fawn so that we can dissolve the physical discomfort held in our own bodies when we disappoint someone with our truth. This episode explains why we do it, what happens, and how to begin healing this body mechanism.

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

On today's episode, Luis & Yaya discuss what it was like growing up mixed race in the United States, and explore the medicine of being mixed. They discuss intergenerational trauma, and the stories get passed down through the body and through gestures.

Yaya shares her life experiences, relational traumas, and how she navigates the burn-out that comes from being a self-employed practitioner. Taking time to slow down, prioritize, listen to the land, and practice self-care are her healing salves.

You can learn more about Yaya's work here:
http://www.activeculturefamily.com/about-acf

For more information about Holistic Life Navigation, visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

In this episode, we welcome back Unique Hammond! She and Luis discuss the impact of nutrition on their personal healing journeys and the impact it has on the healing journeys of their clients. And you probably guessed -- we are gonna explore beans.

Unique and Luis explore how nutrition actually provides the capacity for healing, i.e. why in the absence of nutrition, it can be extremely difficult for a body to receive and implement different healing tools.

Unique specifically shares with us how nutrition allows here to develop the capacity to slow down, pause and question rather than reflexivley react.

For more information on Unique's work, visit: https://www.youregreat.com/

For more information on Luis' work, visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

To sign up for the fawning email series, please visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/fawning-series

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

“Things come when they’re supposed to come.”

Luis is joined by Camille as she shares how she has been processing the high likelihood of her baby having heart issues and Down syndrome.

The news triggered a freeze response, but rather than developing into a shock trauma, Camille returned to the information in a safe space, and used the "Tracking The Charge" exercise, and pendulation, to navigate the sensations and ideas that arose.

They discuss the ways in which spirituality and somatic practices can support each other, and how being present can help release attachment and future expectations. Camille shares how the ongoing practice of somatic exercises have allowed her to increase her capacity, and how each of her children has taught her something about herself, and pushed her to meet her edge.

For more information about Holistic Life Navigation, visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

In the episode, Luis shares how awareness of our capacity can support us in business, whether we are entrepreneurs or employees.

Capacity is simply the space inside of us to tolerate sensation. Many of us have been born into cultures, communities and families where we are taught to bypass our body's capacity for the sake of work for various reasons.

However, bypassing our capacity can only work for so long before it leads to burnout. So how do we begin to unlearn the practice of bypassing our capacity? We begin to integrate a practice of checking in with our capacity and playing with it.

Luis shares how checking in and playing with his capacity has helped him design and continue to evolve his business.  He also guides us through a brief practice of noticing our current capacity.

Related podcast episode: Navigating Capacity & Desire: How To "Stop Self-Sabotaging" -- https://www.buzzsprout.com/278649/9801817

For more information about Luis's work, please visit: www.holisticlifenavigation.com

To sign up for the fawning email series, please visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/fawning-series

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Luis is joined by Music Carolyn, a recording artist and veteran music business professional, who describes her music as R & Chill, vacation soul, and meditation jazz.

Music Carolyn tells us her story of how she came to realize she had all these internalized expectations of herself -- how much money she should make, how big her house should be, what her marriage should be, what she should provide as a mother, etc -- and that in order to save herself, it meant others around her would get less. She and Luis also explore what it means to get in touch with our authentic desires vs. what we should want, i.e. what is real vs. what is expected.

Music Carolyn generously shares with us an original song, "The One", that illustrates her healing journey and what it means to have released her internalized expectations.

For more information on Music Carolyn's work, visit: https://www.musiccarolyn.com/

For more information on Luis' work, visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

To sign up for the fawning email series, please visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/fawning-series

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Luis is often asked, "How can I believe my body?" In this episode, he shares with us the difference between following the body and relating to the body.

Luis guides us through a practice where we tease apart three critical yet distinct parts of ourselves: the mind, the body, and the witnesser. Very few of us are taught to experience these separately.

However, when we can tap into all three parts separately, the conscious self becomes the parent of the mind and body. Which allows us to relate to the sensations, rather than reflectively acquiescing to trauma responses, by pausing to explore the meaning or root of the sensation.

For more information about Luis's work, please visit: www.holisticlifenavigation.com.

To sign up for the fawning email series, please visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/fawning-series 

You can read more about, and register for, the Navigating Weight & Body Image With Somatics webinar here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/weight-and-body-image-webinar

You can register for November's Community Somatics here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/events/community-somatics-november

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]