Holistic Life Navigation

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

We aren’t gonna tell you how to fix ADD/ADHD. (Spoiler alert, you or your loved one don’t need fixing.) We are, however, going to teach our 6-month group on how to relate to ADHD, in yourself or in someone else. The actual problem is a societal standard our brain wasn’t designed for. 

In this podcast we are talking about months 3 & 4 of the slow group curriculum. We will explore navigating overwhelm, and our capacity versus our desire. Modern society rewards our working beyond our capacity, forcing many of us to burnout and collapse. No wonder it’s even more difficult to not fit the standard productivity mold that shames so many patterns of ADHD brain types. 

The slow group will learn how to assess, then tend to, capacity. Instead of living from desire, an inherently dominating pattern, we can start to honor the ebb and flow of our capacity. An important element is finding our unique motivators, based in pleasure and interest, as willpower does not provide the dopamine to motivate an ADHD brain.  

Also discussed will be relationships, from the perspective of the person with ADHD, or from the perspective of being in relationship with the person with ADHD. 

Camille and Luis talk about how they navigate their family relationships when different brains need different systems from each other to thrive. 

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]

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

At the age of nine Luis was diagnosed with ADHD. He never medicated with pharmaceuticals: instead his drugs of choice were coffee, cigarettes, and a stimulating diet. Over the years Luis has learned how to reduce the stimulants needed to keep him engaged. 

ADD/ADHD is when there is not enough dopamine getting to the brain, usually because of low levels of brain and gut, or vagus nerve inflammation. People in this situation are sometimes referred to as “bored”, “lazy”, or "depressed", as a body collapses in to functional freeze.

Camille and Luis discuss the upcoming 6-month ADHD Slow Group starting April 7th. It begins with learning to relate to the ADHD nervous system, overcouplings and judgments about ADHD behaviors, animism of the body, overwhelm, dopamine, relationships and finally cultivating a fascinating life. They will also teach how to leverage balancing foods, and how to consciously use stimulants.

The gift of ADHD is a low capacity for bullsh*t, or as Luis calls it RITC, a Radical Inability To Conform. Instead of seeing it as a disorder, we see it as the dopamine deficiency that it is, so that we can learn to relate to in a healthier way.

To learn more register here for the free Food Therapy webinar on March 16th: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/march-food-therapy-event

and register for the slow group by March 19th for 10% off: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/slow-practice-adhd

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]

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

In this replay episode, we explore ADHD or RITC -- a Radical Inability To Conform.

Luis shares with us his own childhood experiences with ADHD, Tourette's syndrome, and nervous ticks. Often people are prescribed medications to suppress these conditions but Luis questions what would it mean to allow ourselves to relate to them as expressions?

Luis begins to reframe the idea of ADHD; pivoting from "I can't focus" to "I have attention for what interests me."  He also explains how guilt or shame resulting from an ADHD expression, i.e. a lack of attention to something you "should" be doing, can propel someone into a state of freeze, reinforcing the notion that they "can't" do something.

So whether we have ADHD or not, he invites us into a practice to explore the spectrum of tasks we have to do or should do and how can we interweave them with activities that genuinely interest us and rejuvenate us, thus giving us more capacity for doing the "have-to" tasks.

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]

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

Our favorite biochemist, Karen Hurd, joins us again to discuss how stress fuels disease. Chronic levels of stress, be it from food, relationships, physical exertion, thought patterns, or the environment, all tax the adrenal glands. Karen tells us how and why this happens. With taxed adrenals we are left feeling burnt out and reach for coffee and stimulants, forcing us to push past our bodies need to rest. Luis and Karen talk about cultural conditioning around resting in the age of a DO MORE culture. They also address cancer, viruses, and chronic fatigue. 

We always love exploring the science with Karen behind why our bodies do what they do! 

You can read more about Karen's work, and register for her courses, here: https://karen-r.mylearnworlds.com/pages/home

You can listen to previous episodes with Karen Hurd here:

[Ep. 256] How Stress Affects Your Hormones, Digestion, & What To Eat About It w/ Karen Hurd

[Ep. 218] The Biology Of Your Emotions & How Food Helps w/ Karen Hurd

[Ep. 8] Healing Your Body With Beans | Karen Hurd

[Bonus Episode] The Sugar-To-Adrenaline Pipeline

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]

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

Kymber Maulden joins us on the podcast today. Fertility isn't just for women who want to be mothers, it is a sign of health in menstruating females. Trauma stresses and rapidly oxidizes the body, causing it to need even more nutrients and therefore be in metabolic debt. This draws on resources contributing to low progesterone and elevated testosterone, which may lead to PCOS and infertility. 

Luis and Kymber discuss actionable steps to start healing hormonal health, such as tracking cycles and what to note, glucose tracking, HTMA testing, and a consistent macro nutrient intake which signals the body that it is safe. 

They also talk about the birth control pill, and open sex culture. The open sex culture and sexual revolution are based on a male model of sexuality that requires women to disconnect from their instincts, bypass what actually turns them on, and is often branded as empowered feminism. There is a difference between erotic energy and hypersexuality as a trauma response. 

How can women find balance in their femininity if they are avoiding their instincts? 

You can read more about Kymber here: https://www.kymbermaulden.com/

You can register for the Recovering From Sexual Fawning HLN video course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/recovering-from-sexual-fawning

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]

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

The new Food Pyramid is released in the United States, turning the old one on its point. Regardless of how you feel about the administration it is released under, the focus has shifted from carbs and demonizing fats to centering protein, vegetables, nuts, beans and healthy fats. Camille reminds us that it is a guideline, not a hard and fast rule, because diverse bodies have diverse needs. And, she reminds us, science is always evolving, and should be questioned, so this will not be the last food pyramid. 

Luis is excited about the shift because so many illnesses, such as diabetes, high cholesterol, anxiety and cognitive decline can be traced to excess glucose, a byproduct of all those refined cards we were told to eat in the old mythology (funded by cigarette companies). All those ultra processed foods leave us with less macro-nutrients, therefore less nourished, and with less GLP1 in the body telling us when are a satiated. At first glance eating a balanced whole foods diet might seem more expensive, but considering long term health consequences and quality of life impacts, the balanced approach is economical. 

Gleefully, beans hold rank in the new pyramid. Luis and Camille indulge some excitement over this point. They also discuss grass-fed versus mass produced meat, what they think of the inclusion of dairy, and the proportions that are recommended. 

Dive in to geek out with Luis and Camille as they explore this new dietary recommendation. 

You can view the updated Food Pyramid PDF here: https://cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf

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]

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

Luis and Camille banter as they dive into the concept of the Self in somatics. Along the way Luis offers 3 practices to work with finding the Self as witness. This witnessing allows us to be with a sensation or state and feel it rather than avoid it. It also helps us dis-identify from the state. From there we can experience something unpleasant and be with it rather than fix it. From this place of witnessing, Luis finds that others cannot shame or embarrass him. This realization brings responsibility, as others can no longer be blamed for his state. 

Practicing somatics, they discuss, connects them to spirit, which reminds them, as these things do, of Darth Vader and Yoda. Many religions require us to detach from the body to find God, whereas with somatics it's connecting to the body that allows them to connect to spirit.

Camille dips in to her practice of savoring depression, a state that cyclically visits her in the dark of winter. She notes that if she identifies with it, fights or resists it, it will be prolonged. Whereas if she savors it, and practices sinking into it she can actually find pleasure in the experience.  

You can register for Camille's upcoming 6-month program, "Embodying My Cycles & Rhythms", here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/cycles-and-rhythms-slow-group

You can learn more about Maureen Gallagher here: https://maureengallagherphd.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]

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

Luis and Tasha talk about beauty standards, eating disorders and their role in Tasha's life. She used food as a way to control her appearance and fit into beauty standards. Her hormones tanked. Out of desperation she began the complicated journey of taking control of her own health. In 2020-2021 she found herself within the nuance of liminal space. She felt non-binary, identity-less. In 2022 she suffered long-COVID and learned that her body needed to shift out of veganism into eating animal products. 6 weeks later her body felt like a woman again. She reconnected to herself in a way her Maiden body had never experienced. She realized how disconnected she had been and revels in it's new connection.  

She uses her newfound life force energy to reintroduce people to their power through dance, likely with the same grace and openness that she shares her life with us here. She DJ's parties, teaches workshops, and she teaches facilitators.  Embodied DJing, facilitating initiatory experiences, is the modern form of ancient medicine, creating the heartbeat of the crowd. Let's shake it out together! 

You can read more about Tasha, and work with her, through these links:

https://www.tashablank.com/
https://www.phdj.dance/

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]

PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

Meet Linda Erman, Luis' Somatic Godmother, Art Therapist and Somatic Experiencing practitioner. About a decade ago Luis decided to go back to school for psychology. Instead of school his own body's resurgence of symptoms led him to Linda and her Somatic work. Linda herself found SE in her 50s. SE carefully tended her body, titrating into the trauma it held. Her changed biology was the proof she needed.  

As a therapist Linda's practice helps clients titrate into creativity so that their energy can be expressed. Freeing the body from the splinters of trauma. Check out her PDF to start working with her practices today. 

Somatics makes therapy work. 

You can read more about Linda, and work with her, here:

https://hudsonvalleytraumahelp.wordpress.com/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/creative-somatic-therapy-linda-erman-lcat-sep-new-paltz-ny/213926

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]

Curious about how Luis teaches? Here is your window into a nutritional teaching about stored trauma, visceral fat, and inflammation. 

Stored trauma in the body sets off a chain reaction resulting in elevated insulin, putting the body into fat storage mode. Visceral fat becomes an endocrine organ producing protein molecules called cytokines that create an inflammatory response. This process primes the body for carb consumption. Often food is either avoided, or binging is chosen, stressing the body out further.  Stored trauma also creates excess adrenaline that gets filtered through the liver. The metabolites go into the bile resulting in acidic bile that inflames the gut lining. In times of stress many of us turn towards processed foods, and those also contribute to an inflamed gut lining. Chronic inflammation in the gut usually leads to auto immune diseases, chronic illness and weight issues. 

Interested in learning more? Pre-order Luis' upcoming book Food Therapy here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can join the waitlist to register for the next Embodied Nutrition group here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/slow-practice-nutrition-group

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]