Holistic Life Navigation

Today's episode is about one woman's journey to reconnect with her indigenous roots. Like Kai says in this episode: our bodies are our ancestors. Our bodies carry their stories: traumas and triumphs. Oral traditions once passed down those stories so we had context of why our bodies do what they do and why we express certain behaviors and patterns.

Kai grew up in America seeing images of Filipino children living in poverty - the only representation she saw. Until, one day, she saw an image of a Filipina woman in a magazine who looked powerful, wise, and radiant. So she decided to go find her.

Kai embarked on a journey to the Philippines and traveled through the mountains to connect with this woman, get tattooed by her and begin the journey of reconnecting to her indigenous heritage to heal her own trauma & connect more deeply to the Earth.

BIO

Angelica “Kai” Bautista was born in 1979 on Tongva land post colonially renamed Los Angeles, California. She is the youngest daughter of Filipinx parents from Pampanga and Balanga, Philippines. Having roots from a land with a complex history of colonization and untold genocide by multiple nations including  Spain, the US, and Japan, there was a wide disconnection from her identity. Kai found herself digging into her ancestry after reading about an elder named Whang Od Oggay,  who was the last Mambatok (hand tap tattooer) from the Butbut tribe in the mountains of Luzon, Philippines. Prior to this, she had no idea that there were still indigenous tribes from her ancestral land. 

Kai has backpacked and traveled extensively for the past 20 years and has naturally found herself with healers, priestesses, curanderas, and shamans within the mountains, jungles, lakes, coasts, etc. of the world. It was not until 2016 that  she traveled back to her roots in the Philippines, as an adult, in order to get tattooed and meet her idol Whang Od Oggay in the mountain village of Buscalan. 

Since then she went  back to learn indigenous medicine  and is now a Binabaylan (One who walks the path of the Babaylan). A Babaylan is a pre-colonial shaman, healer, mystic, and warrior. She is an energy worker  and reiki vessel who understands the spectrum of life and death after four death and near death experiences. She is a shadow and root worker who delights in helping people move dense blockages within the psyche, spirit, emotional and physical body.


My personal IG is @Angelikai11 and my e-mail is [email protected]

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

----

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]

Trauma is when events so big, so scary, and so overwhelming cause a reaction in the body the breaks us off from ourselves. Trauma is an inevitable rupture we must all experience throughout our lives. When those ruptures repair, we are left with deep wisdom and insight into life. We are given new perceptions, have more resilience & capacity in our bodies, and often emerge with more gratitude for life - even the trauma.

My guest today shares how the journey of fertility and the desire to become a mother ended up teaching her so much about herself & her own unresolved traumas. For instance, realizing how poorly she mothered herself for most of her life and how this would become a priority before she could expect herself to mother someone else.

BIO

Theresa is a Health and Life Coach who loves helping others heal, dream and thrive. She's founder of Anahata, a community based organization centered on healing, and host of the radio show and podcast, "i want what SHE has." As long as she's practiced her self care for the day, she also makes time to organize the City of Kingston's Heal Well Focus Team, serve as a member of Ulster County's Restorative Justice Task Force and uplift as a member of the Girls' Inc. of Ulster and Dutchess Counties Advisory Committee. And she sends a big hug to all those wanting to be mamas. You can do it!

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

----

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]

Healing intergenerational trauma is nuanced, unique, and personal. No two people will do it the same way. Vincent has found a pathway to ancestral, intergenerational, and cultural-collective trauma through the process of transitioning.

We speak about the spiritual experience of being transmasculine. The process, for Vincent, helped him balance his feminine and masculine energies into a place that's become more authentic, ambiguous, and free to be whatever feels natural.

I alway say that nature is androgynous. How could it not be? Our biologies are on thing, but the energies that move through our biologies are an entirely different creature. A creature that cannot be tamed, regardless of how hard we may try.

BIO

Vincent Frano is a primarily self-taught, queer artist. His works are autobiographical accounts from his daily life; where domesticity, nature, and science are all manifestations and reflections of spirituality. Frano’s work explores a series of visual languages that evolve with time. Each piece expresses his understanding of Life through an innate animistic view.

You can learn more about Vincent & his work by visiting: https://www.vincentfrano.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

----

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 episode welcomes Holly Howard who is a business consultant, music therapist, and founder of Ask Holly How. Her work is unorthodox, radical, and powerfully transformative. I wanted to have her on because she believes that one's business is an extension of their own psyche and body.

Holly speaks about the term "scarcity supremacy". She sees white supremacy as an extension of this - and I agree. In America, we can see it in our history everywhere. Our original flight response from Europe was steeped in threat and, I believe, that trauma response just got projected into slavery, classism, sexism, and any other kind of phobic othering that we've seen in the massive cultural & collective traumas throughout our history and present day.

Still, how do those trauma responses affect our businesses? How do we create a more bio-diverse experience in our business? From our employees & customer base to the our sourcing of materials - so much depends on how secure am I within myself?

Holly answers some of these questions and introduces her holistic, avant-garde business philosophies to us in this episode. Holly is not on social media, yet she has a very successful business. To learn from her, sign up for her newsletter at https://www.askhollyhow.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

----

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 welcome back April Harter to speak about racism being  a branch of narcissism. It is important to go back and listen to previous episodes I've recorded with April. In this order:

Episode 5 & 6: Racism Recovery: Healing Racism Through The Lens Of Trauma
Episode 16: Narcissism Comes From Unprocessed Trauma

Her concepts, philosophies, and approach to narcissism & racism are very pioneering. There's no one else really talking about this the same way she is. Specifically how she, as a black woman, finds compassion for racists and narcissists because she understands that they both stem from trauma and social learning.

In this episode, we speak freely about her understanding of racism being a relational addiction and, in that, a form of narcissism. The racist is addicted to using the other race to feel better about themselves. From that place, they are soothed. This is part of what's been taught and passed down through the centuries in America.

For more information on April's work, please visit her at https://www.narcissismrecoverycenter.com.

You can get instant access to all of the HLN webinars and video courses here: https://hln.thinkific.com/collections

You can read more about, and register for, the retreat at Broughton in the UK here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/broughton-2026

----

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 episode is probably my favorite of all time. I speak with Claudia Serrato who is, among many other things, a womb ecologist & indigenous culinary anthropologist.

We speak about reawakening our  bodies with ancestral foods from our heritage, as well as wild foods ancient to the lands that we currently reside on.

We speak about decolonizing our bodies and minds through our diets. We also talk about decolonizing the taste buds of our children as they develop in the womb.

The foundation of our conversation is about honoring our land through food. We both agree that, through honoring our land, we become aware of our connection to all living things and we lose the social constructs of classism, racism, sexism, and any other concepts that separate us.

BIO

Claudia Serrato is a  womb ecologist, indigenous culinary anthropologist, chef, professor, mother, & co-founder of Across Our Kitchen Tables.  She is a Xicana woman living on Tongva land in what we call Los Angeles, CA.

To connect with Claudia, and stay updated about her important work, you can follow her on Instagram @xicana_indigena or by visiting https://www.instagram.com/xicana_indigena/

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

----

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, I welcome back Karen Hurd to teach us about dairy & how it affects the body. Personally, I have linked all of my childhood illnesses to dairy. I had high cholesterol, was 50 pounds overweight, suffered from debilitating asthma, and had really painful cystic acne all over my face, neck and back.

Medications suppressed the symptoms for me, which offered some relief, but they did not go away until I removed dairy from my diet when I was around 18. I am 33 now and I have none of these conditions anymore. They've all completely reversed.

So I had Karen on to tell me what dairy was doing to my body and why so many of us will find relief from inflammation, auto-immune conditions, and chronic illness just by removing dairy from our diets.

For more information on Karen's work, visit her website at http://www.karenhurd.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

----

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 bring my colleagues back for a roundtable discussion about vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma is when your body experiences someone else's trauma. This can happen through media, witnessing horror in person, or while listening to someone recount a traumatic event. Vicarious trauma is especially common for therapists and medical professionals.

Some things we discuss are:

- The difference between somatic empathy & vicarious trauma.
- How to physically notice when you're becoming overwhelmed by a person or event.
- How we, as therapists, maintain our center while holding space for trauma.

If you're interested in working with, or contacting, any of the therapists from this discussion you can find their info below:

Linda Dukess: http://www.lindabernsteintherapy.com/
Alexis Katz: https://www.alexiskatzlcsw.com/
Laurie Robbins: http://www.robbinscounseling.com/
Daniel Schidlowsky: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/daniel-schidlowsky-kingston-ny/342788

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

----

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, I speak with three men (Michael, Danny, & Todd) about what it was like to grow up with the pressure of the masculine archetype. Through embracing the feminine, we found balance and restored our natural, authentic way. I wanted to record this special, 2 hour sacred conversation about our experiences in hopes to give others a reference of what it looks like when men come together, talk about their truest feelings and experiences, and create space that is receptive, loving, and healing.

So often, men are characterized and pigeon-holed into specific roles that limit our full selves. I've held space for many men in my practice and in men's circles and hear the same stories over and over again about the desire to be more feminine, more balanced, and engage in intimacy and affection with other men.

The father wound runs deep in most of us because they grew up without a compass for being an integrated man, and so we're left with society's story about men. The rockstar, the superhero, the knight in shining armor - cinematic drag kings depicting one aspect of maleness, masculinity, and power & magnifying as the normal standard of male.

So, as we come into our male bodies, we fall short in comparison and experience a ton of shame and competition. Our male peers, going through the same pressures, project their own pain onto the boys who are the most unusual, the most feminine, and the most vulnerable.

The healing comes from the non-binary. Not being masculine, or feminine. Instead, letting those words show up as energy that comes, that goes, and that shape shifts, rather than attaching these polarities to our identities and having to live up to one while we suppress the other.

BIOS

Michael Miller

Michael is a student of embodiment, singing, Kirtan, somatic coaching, shamanism, energy healing, and life. Through Bhakti and Vocal Coaching he supports others to discover their True Voice and live wild, passion-driven lives. Michael currently resides in Topanga, CA where he enjoys spending his free time in nature, singing, creating music, writing, and practicing Kung Fu. You can find out more about his Bhakti and Vocal coaching work at: https://www.michaelpatrickmiller.com/

Daniel Kerry

Daniel is a stay at home dad, a mentor for men in 12 step recovery, and a life coach. Currently, his focus is parenting but he is very open to hear from you if you'd like to reach him. You can do so by emailing him at [email protected] .

Todd Nickens

Todd J. Nickens is a screenwriter, Director and graphic novelist. A Brooklyn native, Todd received his Master’s Degree in Media Studies from The New School. He was a 2016 quarterfinalist in the Cynosure Feature Competition for his screenplay Pump & Punishment. Todd is a member of Origins Films: a writer’s collective for artists of color. Todd is currently working on his latest screenplay, entitled: Heavy Metal: Isis, as well as developing his screenplay, Daku Ronin, into an animated feature film. You can contact him by emailing him at [email protected].

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

----

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]

Meghan Fisher is my guest on this very special episode. I found Meghan's work on Instagram and was immediately taken by it. She started a personal project of shadow expression & integration which she called Chronicles Of A Sasquatch. Images & videos of her in this sasquatch outfit followed with deep, meaningful, and confessional texts. I loved it and wanted her to come onto my podcast to talk about the process.

The first part of this episode is an interview with her about her shadow work and sasquatch expressions. The second part, is a somatic therapy session between her and I where her body takes us through the forgotten memories that its still holding onto, as well as how those stored moments are currently showing up in her life.

For more information on Meghan, you can visit her Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/meghanalexisrose/. 

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

----

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]