In Your Ellement

When we hear the word sensuality, we tend to think of sex and/or sexuality, even if only subconsciously. This conversation is not centered around either of those things, but instead it is about connecting to our senses - becoming a sensual being. Abby talks with podcast host, author, and sensualist Ev’Yan Whitney about the myths of sensuality, what sensuality means to them, and ways for us to be more in our body and present with our senses. Ev’Yan shares practices that help us to not only hold space for ourselves but to claim our body as our own. 

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Ev’Yan Whitney is a Sexuality doula®, somatic practitioner, and sensualist. Since 2011, Ev'Yan has been dedicated to sex education and sexual activism for women and non-binary folks, helping individuals reclaim their unique sexual expressions and reconnect to their sensual bodies. Ev'Yan's work focuses on decolonizing, unshaming, and liberating sexuality at the intersection of identity, pleasure, and embodiment. Ev'Yan is the author of Sensual Self, a forthcoming self-guided journal that will help you come home to yourself through your senses. She also hosts a podcast of the same name. For more about her work go to evyanwhitney.com and follow her on Instagram @evyan.whitney.

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

Have you ever felt anxious about giving a speech in front of a class or inadvertently becoming the center or attention? This version of anxiousness called social anxiety is not a form of introversion or about being shy, rather it is a feeling like everything in a social situation is pointing towards us. Social anxiety comes to life and begins to present itself the most as we become teens. 

Today we hear Sami share ways to identify the ways social anxiety can show up, as well as give us invaluable tools of how to work through our anxiety in these situations.

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knowingup.com

Since she was in her teens, Sami Halvorsen has been an expert at feeling anxiety. If there was a world contest for the person who has felt the most anxiety, she just might be the champion! If you’ve ever experienced anxiety, you know how horrible it feels. You also know how it affects every part of your life. In her journey to feel better, she has tried so many different things. (Because when you feel horrible, you basically will do just about anything to feel better!) She studied relentlessly to find the answers and tools that eventually changed her life. She fell so in love with these tools that she knew she had to teach them. She worked very hard to become a Certified Life Coach through the Life Coach School (best program ever). She has taken the knowledge, tools, and skills she has mastered and put them together into programs adapted for teenage girls and young adult women. 

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

Music is such a powerful force that connects and brings us together. Bella Wright tells us about how this has inspired her to write music and pursue music as a career.

Bella shares what inspires her, what keeps her going, how she listens to the "doubters" in pursuing a career as a songwriter, and even lets us know her "backup plans" if music doesn't work out :)

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Bella Wright is an indie folk pop songwriter 🌼🌙 Native to Montana and now studying music composition in Liverpool!

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

Sex Education has come a long way in the last century, and yet it still has a ways to go. Abby talks with Inclusive Sex Educator Mariah about some things that are often left out of the classroom, and the home. She shares how comprehensive sex education goes beyond sex and the body, it includes conversations, education, and resources that expand to media literacy, consent, pressures, body awareness, relationships, communication, identity (gender and orientation), and more. 

It is important to know that this conversation does bring up abuse and may be triggering to some. We encourage listening with a trusted adult or friend. If you are needing support or know someone else that is needing support you can call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or get more info at https://www.thehotline.org/. 

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Mariah advocates for trauma-informed, pleasure-centered, comprehensive sex ed & shares anonymous Qs from youth!

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

Issues being voted on in our local and federal government matter, but it's hard to feel like you can do anything about them - especially when you aren't old enough to vote. Maria Yuan of issuevoter.org helps us navigate how we can play an important role in our politics and how we can have influence right now with issues we care about for today and for our future.

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Maria Yuan first envisioned IssueVoter while managing a State Senate campaign in Iowa, a battleground state known for its voter engagement. Having previously worked for a Representative, she knew how little contact voters have with legislators year-round despite the fact that reps really do count every constituent contact. She thought, “How can we extend engagement beyond elections and keep elected officials accountable? How can we help everyone understand new laws that will affect their daily lives?” Maria founded IssueVoter to give everyone an effective, easy-to-use digital platform to voice their opinions and play an active role in the policymaking process.

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

Words are powerful. For non-binary individuals, the use of proper pronouns is a sign of respect and can help them feel seen and heard. For many cisgender people who are working to become advocates for others, there can be a learning curve when it comes to using new pronouns for those who identify as non-binary.

Silen Wellington shares their experiences of exploring personal pronouns, making mistakes and learning advocacy. Through their stories and work, Silen sheds light on how the act of using proper pronouns can uplift others in the LGBTQ+ community.

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Silen Wellington is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and is striving to make the world a better place as the Alliance for Suicide Prevetion’s LGBTQ+ Youth Outreach Coordinator. Silen believes every young person needs a space to explore who they are and be witnessed for their unique gifts.

Silen’s background is in psychology and music composition, and they are passionate about mental health, advocacy, and community building. Outside of work, they enjoy world-building through performance art, harvesting stories, continual transformation, and unhinged-unfettered-unapologetic dance. Silen’s superpower is creating spaces where people feel safe to come closer to their authentic selves.

silenwellington.com

allianceforsuicideprevention.org

mypronouns.org/what-and-why

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

At any given moment in our lives, we are required to tap into a deep inner strength to see us through. These moments can often surprise us, and they make us stronger.

Ellement Teens reflect on some of these key moments in their own lives when GRIT gave them the strength to stand up and push through.

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

Grit… what is it and how can it help me as a teen? Abby brings Charlotte Wasserman of the It’s A Girl’s Life podcast and nonprofit back onto the podcast to dive deeper into this way of being. 

Charlotte breaks down every aspect of what it means to live with G.R.I.T… Having guts, being resilient, embracing imperfections, and finding your team. 

Share a time with us that you’ve been gritty to get featured on our next episode.

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

Some take challenges in their middle school and high school years and make something of it later in life - today's guest Charlotte, on the other hand, started a non-profit AND a podcast. Her non-profit, It's a Girls Life, is geared at helping young women build resilience and motivation younger in life. Abby and Charlotte talk about how these two things have shown up in their lives and how you can work with them.

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Charlotte Wasserman has always dreamed of creating change and impacting other girls. 

She started a blog for girls in 2015 after facing the typical middle school challenges socially and academically. She wanted to learn how to build confidence, how to stop feeling the need to be perfect, how to find a core group of friends who supported her, and how to bounce back from setbacks.

She created It's A Girl's Life because she wanted to share the tools and skills she was learning with other teens. She partnered with a California-based organization to create the first of three GET GRITTY Cleveland events for teen girls. She hosted events in 2019, Spring 2020, and the first virtual event in Fall of 2020.

In early 2021, Charlotte decided she wanted to focus her mission and share her vision and passion even further, creating her own 501c3.  It's A Girl's Life was granted official non- profit status in August 2021. It’s A Girl’s Life empowers girls to be R.E.A.L (Resilient, Empowered, Authentic, Leaders) through local and national events and other initiatives.

Through this nonprofit, Charlotte and her team continue to create programs, events, and content to connect, support, and motivate teen girls to be unstoppable. 

​Charlotte will know she has succeeded once “our educational platform is one of the top resources for teen girls in the nation, and our basic program is available to all girls for free through their local middle and high schools.”

---> itsagirlslife.org

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!

Music likely holds some meaning to all of us in different ways. What does music mean to you? 

Teen musicians join us on this episode as they reflect on just that, the role that music plays in their lives and what motivates them to play. 

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In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.

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---> Check out our website!

---> Join our sister organization the ellement collective at their next workshop in Colorado!