Holistic Life Navigation

Sexual trauma is not dependent on abuse. It simply means that an event was either threatening, or overwhelming, and it involved your sexual organs, sexuality, or your body/mind in a sexual context.

In this episode I discuss how experiences like medical trauma & sexual fawning can create sexual trauma - even when sexual assault and abuse are not present.

To join my webinar on Feb 1st about sexual trauma, please visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/. If you're seeing this after February 2nd, you can purchase the replay from my site.

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 I'm joined by an incredible woman named Robin Landsong. Her story is one of literal hell and miraculous survival. By age 8 she had already experienced such tremendous abuse and trauma. She found herself being the victim of an abduction and survived several near death experiences in Africa.

She was hiding in a tree, after escaping a harrowing situation, when a woman in the village began singing to her. She didn't understand the language, but she felt a sense of safety and vitality awakening inside of her.

She began healing, only to endure another decade of abuse and trauma until she left home and reconnected to healing her trauma for another 17 years until she developed her own form of trauma healing.

Join Robin for a free 60-minute class on Nurturing Your Nervous System. During the hour she will talk about different ways to nurture your nervous system, have an open Q&A session and work with three participants to show how Singing Medicine can become a part of your healing. Schedule here.

For more information, you can find Robin at one of these links below:

Her Website
Her Facebook Page
Her Instagram Page
Her YouTube Page

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 I'm joined by my friend Karine Bell. We tend to have these long, rolling conversations when we chat and this time, we chose to record it.

Karine is a trauma therapist and facilitator of Tending the Roots, an incredible virtual collective that holds space for working with somatic abolitionism, cultural trauma healing, and liberating ourselves from cycles of trauma.

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 I speak about the spontaneous healing that I began to experience from playing music as a teenager. Looking back, I can see how I was co-regulating and creating safety within myself. I describe it in this episode & offer a song of mine for your own nervous system to experience and relate to.

To sign up for my next 6-week course, please visit: http://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]

Sometimes we don't have the physical capacity to handle the things we desire. Relationships, money, jobs, even feeling joy - these seemingly beautiful experiences can overwhelm our nervous systems and bodies depending on our trauma histories & present-moment capacity.

This episode explores the difference between capacity and desire through 2 exercises that show you how your body responds to the things you think you want as well as how to tune into what your actual capacity is right now.

For more information on my work, please 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, I navigate how we lose our bodies when we grasp at the mind. I'm inspired by my friend & colleague James-Olivia Chu Hillman who wrote about this concept through their lens and experience. I share this here, as well as my own experience with this phenomenon.

To sign up for my next course, please visit: http://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]

Bill Riddick is a therapist & facilitator of the Charrette Process. In 1971, he played  a pivotal role in desegregating the school district in Durham, NC. During this particular charrette, he paired together a black civil rights activist with a white KKK leader. The result was profound.

What he teaches me in this episode is that conflict heals through understanding & respect. Sharing information, curiosity, expressing feelings, and learning about those who oppose you can actually transform conflict into relationship.

He is portrayed in the film The Best Of Enemies, which is how I learned about him. I hope you get as much from this interview as I did.

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, I navigate the roots of comfort food. What drives our  body's desire to eat heavy, emotionally satisfying foods? I was inspired to talk about this after I heard Rupaul & Michell Visage talking on What's The Tee about why kale doesn't comfort them like a fried sandwich does.

There's a biology behind our food habits and it relates to trauma. How adrenalized we are (or are not) affects which foods we move toward.

When we understand the roots to these cravings, we get in touch with the unconscious parts of ourselves that drive many of our behaviors. Once in touch with them, we can begin relating to them and connecting to them.

Our own connection to these parts creates a safety within us and then certain foods and substances become obsolete.

To sign up for my 6-week course, visit: http://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]

Meenadchi joins me today to discuss Non-Violent Communication. It's an incredible method designed by Marshall Rothenburg & it helps us identify our needs, emotions, and requests so we can be clear in our relationships.

I, personally, hit a wall with NVC because I didn't find it to be trauma-informed enough for me. This is where Meenadchi comes in. They teach and lead NVC workshops through the lens of somatic embodiment, trauma awareness, and decolonial culture.

In addition, they're the only practitioner I've ever met who holds sessions for expanding one's capacity for joy. Amazing!

You can buy their book, or sign up for a future workshop, by visiting https://www.traumainformednvc.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 I navigate the states of duty & desire. I talk about noticing which traditions and habits we've inherited and upheld from a sense of duty & which we've inherited and upheld from a sense of desire.

I also include a short exercise around feeling the now &  noticing the difference between how now  feels compared to the duty we're dreading.

To sign up for my next 6-week course, please visit http://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]