"I coach folks on tapping into wonder and play so that they can experience more pleasure and joy in their lives, in alignment with who they are authentically and unapologetically. And knowing who you are, unapologetically, translates into improvements in your more meaningful relationships and how you run your business."

cw: this episode of PowerPivot contains some discussion of sexual abuse.

Meet Dr. Christina Helou (they/them), pleasure and play expert, private coach, thought leader, speaker and doctor of physical therapy. Join Leela and Dr. Christina as they discuss pleasure and joy; finding one's own power; pelvic exams and body sovereignty; why FOSTA/SESTA is terrible and harmful; false scarcity; and the serious importance of fun.

Connect with Dr. Christina at:

https://www.christinahelou.com/

Transcript and show notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/interview-dr-christina-helou

Recorded 30 June, 2023.

"The demand avoidance means that I can neither rest nor do something that I want to do. And so I end up doing the things that I do not want to do."

Pathological Demand Avoidance, or, as we here at the Intensives Institute prefer to call it: Persistent Demand for Autonomy. That bone-deep pressure to say 'no', no matter how much pressure the world and we ourselves place on our selves to be productive, to do the thing, to complete the task. Even when it's something we want to do. Even when it is something we take satisfaction from. It's a puzzle- this pressure to avoid the demands, which can out-push even the demand for rest.

What if we can solve that puzzle by breaking the rules; by dismantling the puzzle itself? What if we approach the puzzle with a sword, like the Gordian knot of antiquity? What then?

Let's find out, together.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/a-gordian-knot-approach-to-demand-avoidance

Recorded 7 January 2024.

"Shame is a paradigm that distances us from our power. It's a paradigm within ourselves that, when internalized, it keeps us from recognizing our own experience in a variety of ways, and also recognizing our own experience as valuable....

There's this whole culture that tells us to love ourselves, right? And, well, have you even gotten to know yourself? It's like self love just kind of happens when you really get to know yourself."

Listen in on a fascinating conversation between Leela Sinha and Sara Rhiannon (she/her), a hypnotist who uses somatic work and other interventions designed to un-shame the psyche. Sara has a particular specialty in helping people remove their cravings for sugar. Sara and Leela discuss the intersections of shame and anti-oppression work; kindness and redemption; creating safety and honesty in working groups; and that mushy feeling in your brain when you're learning something and seeing how your brain can be different than it was. Which, naturally, some people love, and others... well, not so much.

Links!

Find Sara on

Facebook by name, or as quit_sugar_coach on Instagram or TikTok.

For more on David Bedrick, visit https://www.davidbedrick.com/

For more on Kimberly Shepherd, check out: https://www.kimberlyshepherd.com/

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/interview-sara-rhiannon-the-quit-sugar-coach

Recorded 9 June 2023.

"...and this is the important part for us as intensives. As soon as we figure out what's happening, we can begin to prepare mentally and sometimes systemically and sometimes structurally, for whatever comes next. And now I need to know that I borrowed all of that energy and all of the spoons from the next month. And act like it."

Leela reflects on thriving in busy times, planning a retreat that is accessible from the ground up, the way that Go Mode can sneak up on us, and how to prepare ourselves and those around us for the crash when we shift from Go Mode to Intensive Stop.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/case-study-planning-an-accessible-retreat

Recorded 25 November 2023.

"This is where we shift from critical to curious. Isn't it worth asking the question, what would drive a kid to lose control that way? It's so easy to be critical. But you're gonna get a lot better return on your investment for being curious."

Meet Dr. Matt Zareski (he/him), clinical psychologist, international speaker, and advocate for all things neurodivergence, specifically within the LGBTQ+ community. Join Leela and Dr. Matt for an engaging discussion about bringing equity to our workplaces and schools, accommodations for all, the cognitive biases that maintain power structures, Taylor Swift, Shaquille O'Neal, and planning an Eighteenth Century themed costume party.

Links!

The Neurodiversity Collective:

https://www.theneurodiversitycollective.com/

Dr. Matt Zakreski's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/drmattzakreski

To learn more about CB Beal's Preemptive Radical Inclusion, visit:

https://justiceandpeaceconsulting.com/preemptive-radical-inclusion/

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/interview-dr-matt-zakreski

Recorded 4 December 2023.

"This is one of the times of year where we all have to be exquisitely careful of our own inspiration."

Here in the late hours of the year, it can be tempting to dismantle, to take apart, to solve a dead end with dynamite. Especially if you're an intensive, and you don't know if you're entirely alive unless something is tugging at the edge of impossibility. As the solstice nears, perhaps this is the time for wrapping ourselves in darkness and stillness and breath. And finding the strength and finding the dream. Retrieving who we have been that we loved.

Transcription and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/dont-blow-it-up-unless-its-time

Recorded 17 December 2023.

"When we want to do this sacred work of uprooting injustice and inequity where we're seeing it, we're not just doing it for us. We're holding a space for change to be different."

Meet Anuradha Kowtha (they/them), founder of The Kowtha Constellation and a partner in Sowing Post Capitalist Seeds. "My work’s thread could be described as undoing the impact of the inherent indoctrination from capitalism and colonialism on who we are and how we do our work in the world."

Join Anuradha and Leela Sinha in a lovely and rich conversation that encompasses transformative justice, the meaning of 'pariah', Indian classical dance, and holding spaces for change.

Connect with Anuradha!

Instagram: @thekowthaconstellation

https://www.sowingpostcapitalistseeds.com/ https://www.thekowthaconstellation.com/

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/episode/interview-anuradha-kowtha

Recorded 5 May 2023.

"I do not dream of labor. But I do dream of my mere existence being beautiful and interesting enough for a small child to stare and wonder for hours."

Let's think about how our work differs from our labor. Let's think about how we build bridges and buffers and install drivers to ease communication between different people in our organizations, just like we use those devices to ease communication between different places and different machines. Also, let's talk about the true mother of invention: irritation.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/i-do-not-dream-of-labor

Links!

You can find Dr. Emily Garside and her substack here:

https://substack.com/@emilygarsidewrites

Marge Piercy's poem "To be of use":

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57673/to-be-of-use

The Rube Goldberg Institute for Innovation and Creativity:

https://www.rubegoldberg.org/

Recorded 5 December 2023.

"This is your reminder to remove one barrier. This is your reminder to find the thing that you already did. This is your reminder to love on yourself in a little tiny ways...."

Thoughts on removing- and sometimes adding- barriers to help us do the the things we need to do. Especially when that thing is to give our selves the care that we so often neglect.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/this-is-your-reminder

Recorded 25 November 2023.

"It's not that I don't want the art that my body can make. It's just that sometimes it's been too hard to get there."

On asking our bones and muscles what they need, and pausing to listen to them before we launch ourselves out of bed in the morning. Also- our bodies as complicated sewing machines, and fiddling around in our guts with tweezers.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/this-morning-I-lay-still

Recorded 25 November 2023.