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3 Oreos and 1/2 an Avocado join Luis on the podcast today. Their calories are the same, but how each affects our glucose levels is very different. Refined carbs spike glucose, which increases insulin, and puts us into fat storage mode.

Another factor to weight is stress and trauma, especially when in functional freeze, where we produce adrenaline, but do not burn it off with movement. 

Join us live on January 13th 2026 at 10am EST as we take a deeper dive into this topic together.

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 episode is a replay of the recent free Food Therapy session.

Recovery is different from abstinence, though both are important as you heal from addiction. Abstinence is the avoiding of an addictive substance, while recovery is the balancing of your body from years of addiction. For example, some people go from cocaine to coffee so the same activating patterns of addiction are playing out with a new substance. This free session focuses on the somatic psychology behind addiction (a desperation for safety) as well as the biochemistry that causes us to become addicted. Whether it's food, legal or illegal drugs, television, media, work, porn, sex, or money we welcome anyone here who is in recovery, wants to be, or supports people in recovery to learn the important role that food plays in helping the body become balanced and less dependent on addictive substances and behaviors.

Get free lifetime access on our Thinkific portal:

https://hln.thinkific.com/courses/food-therapy-addiction

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]

Quick and dirty, Luis outlines the science between insulin and fat storage. It's not the least amount of calories that is the golden ticket, instead, it's the least amount of glucose spike. He teaches us which foods, and the ideal combination of those foods, that results in the least amount of glucose release, so that the body goes into fat burning mode instead of fat storage mode. 

An important factor in the equation is addressing emotions and unmet needs that drive food cravings so we can learn to meet our own needs rather than bypassing them with foods that either depresses or stimulate our bodies. 

So grab a snack and be ready to take notes, this little gem is jam packed with info. 

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]

Colin is our fourth and final small group facilitator for the Embodied Masculinity program starting January 6th 2026. His journey to somatics, and Luis, started with a nail gun, and the pain resulting from repetitive use. He realized he was holding tension around accuracy in physical labor, and relationally around important topics. Somatics helped show him how to hold his body through work and relationships in a way that was easeful, not painful.

Luis invites Colin to share what he loves about being a facilitator in the Embodied Masculinity slow group. Colin relishes the opportunity to witness men testing the container of the group, sharing what is vulnerable and often long hidden. These shares resonate with others and a tenderness in the group emerges. 

If you have questions for Colin about his one on one coaching work, or about the Embodied Masculinity Slow Group you can reach out to him at https://colinsafranek.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]

Al Romano, Tim Paula, Rio Allen, and Naveed join Luis for a collaborative conversation about sex apps in the gay community, and what men really want. 

Men are conditioned to discover their sexuality as boys, isolated with porn. And yet, all bodies want security, touch ,and connection. Corporations prey upon this conditioning and need with sex apps that dehumanize and objectify men, gamifying their arousal and isolation with quick dissociated hook-ups. 

Where did gay men meet before Covid? Gay bars. Where are they meeting now? Gay sex apps. How can we intentionally create spaces beyond the talons of corporate predation, objectification and addictive patterns? 

You can listen to some related podcast episodes here:

Is Porn Use A Form Of Sexual Trauma?

Share This With A Man You Know: How P*rn Affects Their Relationships

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]

2025 and it's still fringe as f*ck for men to do somatic work. Why? Because men are conditioned to suppress the parts of themselves that are tender and vulnerable with dissociation and porn. Join Luis and his friend Steven as they discuss masculinity and the upcoming 6 month Embodied Masculinity Slow group, starting January sixth. 

Steven reminisces about singing with a friend when he was 11 years old, when a parent commented, "You are gay, aren't you?" Singing with a friend was "not masculine enough" and something to be repressed. But with somatic work, work that is inherently feminine in it's inward focus, men are able to soften and reclaim their masculinity. When they learn to let themselves, and a group, hold them they take the pressure off of the females in their lives from doing all of the emotional labor for them. 

As an Embodied Masculinity small group facilitator Steven gives us a peak into one of his favorite moments, and two practices, from past Embodied Masculinity Slow groups. This inspires Luis to guide an impromptu somatic practice. Slowing down and softening creates more space and capacity to drop defensiveness, allowing the body to begin releasing conditioning and therefore integrating new experiences of masculinity. 

You can connect with Steven through his website: intimatelyhuman.com and find him on Instagram @intimatelyhuman

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]

Our boys, too often, grow up using porn as a formulaic way to self soothe. They experience the dopamine rush, stimulation and sexual gratification in isolation. There is no touch or feedback in return, no boundaries to navigate, just dissociative pleasure.This stress loop, repeated chronically in a young body becomes a developmental trauma. The pattern spills into future relationships, where they find themselves numbed out and disconnected from themselves  and their partners.

Join Luis for this podcast, the upcoming webinar, the 6 month Embodied Masculinity Slow Group, or for all three! Luis and his all male team will guide a group of men, in a community container, to explore embodying their emotions while undoing conditioning.

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]

Atarah Valentine joins Luis on the podcast today. They warm up talking about how we can practice self hatred, and we can practice gratitude. It's all a practice. What choices and practices have adapted you to be the person you are? 

Men, Atarah saw, hurt women. He did not want to hurt women. As a result he practiced hating masculinity.  He evoked feminine energy emulating his grandmother who wanted to fix everything for everyone. Another woman he emulated was his mother who married abusive men attempting to fix them. 

"Real men wear white socks" he was told, but Atarah is not the white socks wearing type. So he shrank, "apologized with [his] shoulders", and stayed small, not wanting to take up space. Until the age of 40 when he decided to embrace his power and begin training. 

Training, and his platonic relationship with his male trainer, helped heal his relationship to masculinity in himself and with men. The masculine parts he had been rejecting were ultimately the parts that freed him. 

What do you do to balance the masculine and feminine energies in yourself? 

You can read more about Atarah, and work with him, here:  https://theseedlevel.teachable.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]

On today's episode, Luis is joined by Annette Knopp - meditation teacher, somatic educator, nature mystic, and author - to discuss her newly released book Mystic Nomad: A Woman's Wild Journey to True Connection.

In her book, Annette shares the personal experiences that shaped who she is as a person, and then how these events developed her way of teaching and showing up in the world. Part memoir, part modality teaching, she wrote the book with the intention of sharing her story as a way to support others.

Luis reads his favorite excepts from the book, and invites Annette to share her reflections on each section. Together they discuss the ways in which the personal can be universal, and how sharing of deep and highly personal experiences is an act of generosity.

You can order the book here: https://www.annetteknopp.com/book

You can read more about Annette and her work here: https://www.annetteknopp.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]

Meet Zach Kalatsky, a mentor for the Embodied Masculinity 6 months slow group, as well as a member of the HLN retreat team. He joins Luis today for a chat about their experience as friends, and as part of a team that holds the all male slow group members. 

So many men identify as being fatherless sons, sons of men who could not connect and support their boys the ways they needed. The result is a lingering and deep sense of never being supportively held by men in their life. Part of the shift and practice of the men's group is realizing, "I can be held". A foundational reason this is possible is the group's sense of collaboration, not competition. 

You can read more about Zach, and connect with him, here:

https://www.theforesthaven.com

https://www.instagram.com/feelherenow

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]