Holistic Life Navigation

I found Lorcan after I was searching for resources regarding the indigenous, pagan ways of the Irish people. My mother is half Irish and, when I was 13, I found myself reconnecting to my Irish roots through Wicca.

Speaking with Lorcan was so lovely. He exemplifies the respectful balance of reconnecting to his indigenous roots while respecting the delicate nature of the word indigenous.

It's thought that only people of color are indigenous, but this is a stereotype that furthers racial constructs & divides. Indigenous means what land you originally belong to. Connecting to our own indigenous roots doesn't mean we have the indigenous experience, however it can help us understand how to co-create with the indigenous peoples of the lands we live on now through commonality of values that come naturally from connecting to the Earth.

This is because indigenous ways have several foundational practices in common. They are Earth-based, see everything as a relative, and are rooted in reciprocity. Connecting to your own indigenous bloodlines means you can access these traditions, rituals, and powerful ways of connecting so that you can relate to other indigenous peoples, as well as the lands you currently reside and travel on.

In short: you get to use your ancestral wisdom to relate better to everything around you.

For more information on Lorcan's work, please visit https://indigenous.ie/ or follow him on IG @indigenous.ie

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]

I welcome back Dr. Amber McZeal to speak with me about  decolonizing the psyche through a spiritual, somatic, and philosophical lens. I first had Amber on back in September. It was Episode 14: Decolonizing The Psyche & I recommend listening to it first if you haven't yet. It will help you with the language and understanding to fully receive this episode.

For me, Amber is pure medicine. Her tone, her delivery, her essence, and her work. Just sitting virtually with her feels like something is shifting and softening in me. The fertile Earth in me is opening up to some new sprouts of growth that I didn't know were there.

After really meditating on her work and our discussion from last year, I started finding the colonizer in me and, from that experience, discovered some clarity around what colonizing even means.

I see colonizing as being in control of, dominating over, or opposing something's nature. I see de-colonizing as unlearning that so we can be in relationship with everything around us. This is what I've learned from indigenous elders and witches: everything is a relative.

In this episode we explore personal experiences & philosophies in this episode to create more clarity and understanding so that we can guide ourselves, and others, toward unlearning the conditioning we grew up in and reclaiming the original ecosystem of reciprocity, respect, and relationship.

For more info on Dr. Amber McZeal, please visit: https://decolonizingthepsyche.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]

My wife showed me Stasia's Ted Talk in 2018 and I was instantly taken by her story. Like most people I have on my podcast, Stasia discovered, through trauma, a gift and a tool that she could apply to her life and teach others to aid in their healing journey. And that tool was style.

She found how much style impacts your psychology and emotional state. She first discovered this through her daughter, who was born with a myriad of medical issues and developmental conditions. Her daughter had low confidence and felt quite removed, but when she put on boy's clothing she felt alive and ran around the house saying "I feel outside how I feel inside!". And that was the moment for Stasia.

From there she developed the term "inner-outer congruency". It's the practice of developing the capacity to express your internal experience through your style. This is huge for trauma healing because we often feel threatened around being seen. The ability to use your closet and your clothing as medicine to call up pain and then transmute it into glorious style is a true magical practice that Stasia teaches now.

Have a listen, have a feel, and go back into the closet to see what's still waiting to come out.

To follow, or work with, Stasia you can visit her website at www.stasiasavasuk.com or her Instagram @stasiasavasuk.

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]

I love speaking with Carolyn. She's such a kindred soul in the way that she welcomes the trash of life as equally nourishing as the treasures of life.

I find transmutation to be the exact work that I do. I'm teaching people how to feel a sensation that is threatening to the body and, rather than constrict against it, we expand into it which gives it more space to be free, move, teach us something, or simply dissipate.

We talk about how this practice and lifestyle is the epitome of abundance. Especially in terms of how much capacity do you have to receive. Receive what? Everything!

I will say that I went into some detail about my own sexual trauma history, so if you're feeling tender you may want to give yourself extra comfort before listening. I found it necessary to explain, through my own suffering, how transmutation was working me before I even knew what it was.

Have a listen, notice what you feel in your body, and see where this takes you.

BIO

Dr. Carolyn Elliott is the author of Existential Kink: A handbook of life-altering magic, and cult-favorite creativity book, Awaken Your Genius. She runs a 7-figure online business specializing in helping people achieve dramatic positive change in their lives through shadow integration practices and applied occult philosophy.

Carolyn is known for her uncanny and uncomfortable ability to trick really smart, high-achieving magical people into doing the things that they actually want to do. She’s the teacher of life-altering online courses, including WEALTH: the alchemical community where leaders come into their full power.

You can follow her on IG @carolynelliott_

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]

I love working with parents because it gives us, as adults, the opportunity to revisit our own nervous systems and learn which parts haven't fully developed. Which parts still hurt from our own wounds with our parents? Our children give us the opportunity to get triggered into those sensations and they can become our greatest teachers.

We chat about how important it is for the parent to become embodied before we can even bring safety and regulation to our children. When we become embodied, we notice and feel our own capacity, our own triggers, and our own childhood wounds that can get easily projected onto our children.


BIO

Anna is a holistic parent coach. Her parenting approach embodies the truth that every person, including every child, is a whole being of mind, body, and spirit; and thus should be incorporated into parenting.

After going through a spiritual awakening and facing her own shadows, Anna became aware of the cycle of generational trauma she was caught in. She is now breaking this cycle as a step-parent, and is helping others see the role generational trauma plays in traditional parenting, and how in using a holistic, conscious approach, parents can break this cycle and give children what they didn't get from their parents and parent-figures. 

She provides free content on her Instagram @the.holistic.parent and offers 1:1 coaching. She also has an online course that is financially accessible and is available world-wide, guiding healing amongst families in learning this new paradigm of raising children and breaking the cycle.

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 my upcoming album titled Songs From The Land & a special ancestral & somatic healing ritual that I'm offering to the public.

Through these 10 songs, my body awakened to many things. My relationship to the land & my body being the most profound. They took me through an 11 year journey of decolonizing which, for me, is removing the act of being in dominance over something and, instead, becoming in relationship with something. A journey I have only just begun.

This personal experience has inspired me to find a way to honor and produce this album, while weaving the wisdom of what these songs and this land I live on (Esopus territory in what we call Woodstock) has taught me.

I've created a special pre-order package for $100 which includes shipping. Each order will get you the signed 12" vinyl, a bundle of hand picked herbs for burning in our ritual, a 2-hour Zoom healing ritual, and a 25% donation to the Center for Native Peoples & the Environment.

I am limiting this to 100 packages so that I can afford to produce the album into vinyl and donate $2500 to this center that I very much believe in. Those of you who purchase it will receive the digital files of the songs shortly after, as well as a monthly email with videos from me to prompt you into doing the somatic work in preparation for our ritual, which will be held in October.

The ritual will be 2 hours long via Zoom and we will weave the wisdom from our bodies & our ancestors in a collective way to be witnessed, released, and shared.

I am so excited for this! To purchase one of the 100 packages, please visit my bandcamp page here.

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]

I saw Mira's Ted Talk about "Why Not Me?" and I was instantly hooked. I'm so attracted to people who find a way to use everything that comes their way - everything - for their own healing, gratitude, and life.

I reached out to Mira because she lives by the Arabic word llhamdella, which means "I'm thankful for everything" and she means everything. Mira was born in Egypt and grew up during a war in Beirut, the capitol of Lebanon, where bombs were dropped.  Her grandmother, who lived in Palestine,  lost her home, yet they all continued to live by, and say, llhamdella.

What is the wisdom in radical gratitude? First, it keeps our biology healthy. Our physical bodies breathe deep, remain opened, and can transmute charge and stress quite easily through our bodies. This keeps the mind open, and it also keeps the body in a state of safety. Even when our outside world is very unsafe.

Mira is a beautiful example of how gratitude keeps us whole and allows us to be more abundant, generous, and open to life. She also reminds us how growing up with great co-regulators (parents in this case) make all the difference. This is why someone can see a scary movie when they're 4 and emerge with more trauma than Mira, who experienced actual violence.

There's so much wisdom and beauty in this episode. I'm very grateful for Mira sharing herself so that I can now share this with you.

Llhamdella.


BIO

Mira Kaddoura is founder of Red & Co., a female & minority owned boutique consultancy that helps brands make a larger, more meaningful impact on society. Red&Co. created “Made with Code,” one of Google’s most important initiatives to diversify the tech industry & Netflix’s lauded brand campaign, “Make Room,” that positioned Netflix as a champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Red & Co.'s clients also have included lululemon, New Belgium Brewing, adidas, Planned Parenthood, Diageo and most recently Babyganics.

Mira is an Egyptian-born Lebanese Palestinian fluent in Arabic, French and English. Her passions are her family, her mindful practices & learning to cook her mamas love-filled food. She sees nature as her greatest teacher. She’s most proud to be raising three multicultural, multiracial and multilingual daughters.

Her recent TEDx Talk “How women can change the world by asking ‘Why not me?’,” shares a lot of her thoughts on the world. In 2019, Mira was awarded Ad Age’s “Women to Watch" & Adweek’s “Creative 100” and Portland Advertising Federation’s “Ad Person of the Year”. Her work has also won Cannes Lions, TED’s Ads Worth Spreading, D&AD Pencils, Effies, Clios, Communications Arts and Webbys.

She is also known for her conceptual interactive art projects that challenge rigid cultural assumptions around feminism & biology as well as projects that highlight the media’s control on what we think is our individual Point of View. Her philanthropic efforts include, but are not limited to, sitting on the board of Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Dubai Institute of Design & Innovation and 600 & Rising a non-profit & advocacy group whose mission is to dismantle systemic racism & advocate for Black talent in advertising and public relations.

You can follow her at @mirakaddoura on Instagram.

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]

This episode explores the pain & beauty of being different. I met Carolyn on IG and we had a good old fashioned phone call which was so connecting and gorgeous that I wanted to have her on my podcast.

Carolyn embodies my personal philosophy and belief system: allow your pain to teach you so that you can teach others. We focus on the topic of racial & cultural trauma, however anyone can relate to the experience of "something is wrong with me", but not all of us find freedom from that belief. When we do, skies the limit!

Carolyn reminds me that we walk with our ancestors and we carry many lands, stories, and strengths within our bones. When we heal our trauma, our bodies, our hearts, and our minds open so that we can fully receive these gifts of past and present.

BIO

Carolyn Waiters Carter has served 27 years in the fields of
Human Services, Non Profit Management, and Project
Management, including Decades of experience in Training and
Development, Program Design,, Community Economic, and
Workforce Development, Disaster Recovery, Housing
Revitalization, Youth Development, and Racial Healing,
Reconciliation and Equity.

Carolyn is currently using her intuitive ability, passion for healing,
personal development, beauty, justice, with her decades of
diverse experiences and skills,  towards  self mastery coaching,
self healing resourcing, ,focused towards supporting, nurturing
and facilitating people, communities, and organizations in
discovery and activation of their highest self.

Carolyn can be reached by phone at 504-505-5528 or email her at [email protected]. You can also follow her on IG @lunabloom4u

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]

Music was the force that connected me back to myself. It was my Kintsugi - the Japanese art of putting broken bowls back together with gold. I was broken from trauma and the vibrations of music brought my back into my body and taught me capacity and, essentially, transmutation of energy.

On today's episode, I invited by dear friend Fredo Viola on to speak about using music to process trauma. He is an accomplished composer, singer, and performer who's newest album releases on April 9th, 2021. This particular album, titled My New Head, is truly about transmuting pain into beauty & I use it as a compass for this discussion.

You can purchase his album on vinyl, or digitally, at  http://mynewhead.com.


BIO

Fredo Viola is a singer, composer and audio visual artist living in the United States.  He studied film making at Tisch School fo the Arts and released his first full-length album with experimental videos to great acclaim in France and England in 2008.  For more info about Fredo’s latest album, My New Head, go to http://mynewhead.com.  More info about Fredo’s projects can be found at http://fredoviola.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]

I was given a very unique name growing up: Luis Monroig Mojica III. I am the third generation of this name lineage and I never quite understood it until recently. Like a seed that sits dormant, waiting for nutrients. My name sat there out in the open waiting to be nourishing with curiosity and inquiry.

Growing up, I would often ask what my name meant. I was visibly white but my name and soul were not. My grandfather and father would always say "Spanish Indian". This never made any sense because he came from Puerto Rico. So I would say "Which tribe?" and no one would answer. It was like an unthinkable question was asked.

Then several years ago I received results from a DNA test that said I my Latino DNA came from Indigenous Puerto Rico & North Africa: Los Tainos y Los Guanches peoples. Amazing! So many confirmations came flooding in. My affinity for the tropics, my pagan nature, and my deeply profound connection to Native American culture.

Since then, I've been connecting with friends, elders, and scholars around these first peoples and learning more about them - my ancestors. This episode is part of that journey.

I welcome Akutu (Grandmother) Irka Mateo to tell me about her journey of reclaiming her indigenous Taino heritage in a world that claimed it had gone extinct. She shares that story, her own wisdom, traditions, and a very powerful medicine song.

Let this be a reminder to us all: we're all indigenous to somewhere. Your heritage can unlock some profound body wisdom and gift you with a compass to navigate yourself with. This does not create "tribalism" as a way to separate from one another. Instead, it shows us how alike we all our as we are all children of the same mother, Earth, and because of that we are all related.

BIO

Akutu Irka is a Taino medicine woman (bohutio), ceremonialist, singer-songwriter, and teacher. She practices animism and ancestors’ reverence in the tradition of Caribbean and South American indigenous spirituality. Guided by her compassionate spirit guides, Irka conducts the healing ceremonies through spontaneous sacred chanting and the playing of Taino ancestral instruments, such as the Mayowakan (drum), rattles, and playing Pre-Hispanic ceramic whistles – replicas of which she makes herself.

For more information on Irka, you can visit her at:

https://sacredtainohealing.com/
http://irkamateo.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]