A big thank you to Brandi Hearn, who joined me for this second episode of thecuriousclit Podcast! I met Brandi at my yoga teacher training last year, and she is a dear friend and someone who has been inspiring me on my own healing journey.
I am soooo excited to share this episode, and I can’t wait to hear what you think <3
About Brandi:
Brandi Hearn (she/her) is a strong, dedicated, resilient wife and mother to 3 teenage boys. Life has tried to make her lose her balance many times, every time yoga has been there to help her regain her focus and reconnect with her heart. Health challenges took hold in March of 2022, the stress and trauma associated with her career (as the Assistant to the Chief of Police) and the violence tearing through black homes (such as hers), communities and families, was too much for her body to bear.
She was hospitalized and diagnosed with C-PTSD, Functional Neurological Disorder, non-epileptic seizures, tics, tremors, anxiety, extreme fatigue and a host of other limitations; all of which were stress related.
The need to establish the mind/body connection was overwhelming. When Western Medicine could only offer a spot on a waitlist, Brandi's main focus became educating herself about the mental and physical benefits of yoga, meditation, body awareness, mind/body connections, emotional regulation, stress reduction and nervous system regulation.
Since March of 2022, she has completed Reiki Master training, a 200-hour YTT with Yandara Yoga Institute, a 200-hour Trauma-Informed YTT with School Yoga Institute, as well as continued education in the areas of Re-parenting Your Inner Child, A Deep Dive Into the Chakras, Intuition Awakening and Yoga Through the Lens of Incarceration and Trauma. She is currently working on a 95-hour kids YTT, a 300-hour YTT, a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course, Pranayama (Breathwork) Certification, as well as an Ayurvedic Nutritionist Certification.
Right now her sole focus is healing and finding out how to work with her body to provide an environment to nurture herself back to a whole way of being. After that, who knows what the future may hold.
In the first part of the conversation, we talk about the way that trauma and stress have impacted Brandi’s life:
-how repressing the expression of her truths has impacted Brandi’s health
-her experience with Western medical care and pursuing alternate methods of healing
-how the support of her husband, sons, and friends has impacted her healing
-healing by addressing trauma and stress (the root causes of her illness), rather than focusing on the symptoms
-prioritizing herself for the first time in her life
In the second part of the conversation, we talk about Brandi’s early experiences with sex:
-being curious about sex as a kid
-some of the experiences that led to her repressing her curiosity & delight in her body
-how her childhood shaped the way that she parents her kids & what she teaches them about sex
-what the process of healing from her illness & being open about sex has brought to her family
-how sex has been one of the places where she feels like she can be present in her body & has been a place of healing
-“felt” vs. “said” sense of safety and how having a “felt” sense of safety has helped her explore sexually
-her tips to other survivors of how to approach sex as they’re healing
-what a yes and what a no feels like her in body
So much gratitude to Brandi for sharing her story with us! You can keep up with Brandi’s journey at:
Instagram: @the_cosmichivemother
Facebook: Brandie Foreign
Next year, she will be supporting her friend at a yoga retreat in the beautiful Cabo Pulmo, Mexico! The retreat is called “Finding Joy in Your Journey” and will take place on March 6th-12th, 2024. There will be yoga flows and mantra and mudra meditation, beachfront swimming, amazing food, and a Cacao ceremony. Visit here for more info.
Thank you for reading the thecuriousclit, my newsletter + podcast where I hope to spark curiosity and conversations about sex and our bodies. To check out more of my writing and embodiment classes for women and gender expansive folks, you can head to https://www.kelseybritt.com.
*In our conversation Brandi mentions the “Transcending Trauma through Yoga” deck: you can find that here. She also mentions The Body Keeps the Score, a book by Bessel van der Kolk.
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