Mixed Race Belonging

As a mixed kid, you might have had a lot of emotional needs go unmet – whether from family who didn’t know what to say, friends who couldn’t adequately mirror your reality back to you, or teachers who didn’t know how to handle monoracist comments from your classmates. All of this caused you to internalize thoughts that you were "too much," "needed too much," or were "not enough." In today's episod...

Expressing your needs, feelings, and boundaries can be a daunting task when you’ve spent your whole life reading the room and adjusting yourself around it. Here’s how I help my clients do so with confidence and clarity. – Book your free call to talk about how my 1:1 coaching program, Bold Belonging , can help you build an intentional support circle of at least 3 chosen family in 16 weeks - even if...

If you tend to say yes to every request you get from your family and friends, only to feel overstretched and full of regret when the time comes to follow through, you probably aren’t slowing down enough to actually check in with yourself and make an informed decision. In this episode, I’m walking you through a BRAND NEW framework I designed to help a real-life client be more intentional with their...

You’re overwhelmed. You’re dying for help, but afraid to ask for it. And yet, you say yes every time someone asks you for something, only to deeply regret it later when your nervous system is fried the fuck out. You’ve read all the bestselling books and listened to all the podcasts on boundaries. Why can’t you shake these patterns? In this episode, I’m sharing why you keep saying yes even though y...

If you’re wondering exactly what you should say when someone microaggresses you or dismisses you, you’re asking the wrong question. In this week’s episode, I’m sharing what’s more important than crafting the perfect clap back. Tune in and let me know what you think! – Join the Mixed Race Belonging Collective Sign up for my email list , get exclusive emails, and never miss an update

How does political consciousness around monoracism influence how mixed race people perceive themselves, experience life, and choose to engage or disengage from social justice causes? In this episode, I interview Dr. Victoria Malaney-Brown about her life as a mixed race person and mother, and her work as an educator, college success coach, consultant, and researcher on multiracial consciousness. Dr...

How can mixed race people embrace a hybridized approach to culture, spirituality, and ancestral connection? In this episode, I interview Camila Knigge Unibe , a graduate student in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, an artist, a curator, and a K-12 educator, whose work is driven by her belief in the inevitable liberation of all living beings. If you’ve been hungry for a deeper sense...

When does the quest for belonging become another way to bypass power and oppression? What might actually be more important than belonging? Is identity the best way to build belonging? These are some of the questions I explore in today’s episode with guest Gayatri Sethi, author of Diaspora-ish: Notes on Identities, Unbelonging, & Solidarities. Tune in for this paradigm-shifting conversation and...

Feeling whole as a mixed person does not start with the perfect description of your identity, it starts with a body that feels held. As a mixed person, you might not have felt held by anyone, anywhere, which has amplified the impulse to describe yourself in fractions, hide aspects of your personality, or avoid social situations altogether. But the truth is that most humans lack the experience of f...

This is a special episode because it's a group discussion with mixed elder and founder of the Multicentric Institute , Chiyuki Shannon, and other mixed community leaders, Bee Barba-Padilla, T Barba-Padilla, Lili Stiefel, and Preston Locklear. In this episode, we discuss Multicentriçism, which describes the worldview of mixed-race, minoritized individuals who come from split genetic, philosophical,...

People with stronger relationships and a deeper sense of community aren't lucky or cooler than you. In this episode, I'm breaking down some of the key factors that differentiate people who feel connected from those who are more isolated. – Sign up for the Mixed Race Belonging Collective and join us on July 12th for the first Belonging Building Blocks workshop. Get the FREE ‘What Are You?’ Somatic...

If you’re primarily measuring your friendships based on whether your friends completely understand you, agree with you, or meet your every need all the time , you might be missing out on meaningful relationships. In this episode, I share a personal story about something a friend said to me about mixed people that could have easily triggered me, and how somatics has helped me pause and ground mysel...

Do you find yourself opting out of cultural spaces because you might be seen as an imposter? Avoiding getting involved in movement work because you're not sure if you deserve to be there? Afraid to be vulnerable in your relationships, and stuck on surface level? If so, you might have what I call the Mixed Race Belonging Wound. In this episode I talk about that wound, where it comes from, how it im...

Blackness is one of the most surveilled and policed identities in the United States, which means that being a mixed person with Black heritage comes with a unique set of challenges – and opportunities. In this episode, I sit down with my mentor, elder, book coach, and friend TaRessa Stovall to discuss how to navigate Black culture as a mixed Black person, particularly if you didn’t grow up deeply...

Every mixed identity is unique. Not only are there infinite mixes possible, but you also have additional intersecting identities that can make your lived experience equally special and challenging to navigate. In today’s episode, I talk with my friend, colleague, and mixed elder Sarah Lotus Garrett from Mixed Bloom Room, about the both/and/all-ness of being mixed. Today’s episode kicks off a serie...

If you had a dollar for every time somebody asked you, “what are you?”... you'd probably be rich! You are no stranger to microaggressions as a biracial or multiracial person. In today's episode, I'm sharing different categories of microaggressions that have been extensively studied and named by Critical Mixed Race Studies scholars. If you find yourself feeling frozen or spiraling when these intera...

You try to make yourself make sense to other people by describing yourself in fractions (e.g. I'm half Black and half Filipina) … but then you’re disappointed and you feel unseen when someone says that you’re only half or you’re not fully something. In this episode, I'm talking about how to embrace the complexity of your identity and stop worrying about if you make sense to other people. – Sign up...

What would you do - who would you be - if you didn't feel so held back by your fears and insecurities about being mixed? The trauma of monoracism can cause you to anticipate rejection around every corner, holding you back from showing up bravely and authentically in the world. But when you're able to acknowledge your fears without being driven by them, you're able to see a more full picture of rea...

Navigating the professional world as a mixed person has always had its challenges, but with growing racial tensions it can feel even more isolating. That’s why Dr. Hayley Haywood, of Elevating Access, has created the Elevate Your Impact Summit - an “un-conference” just for multiracial changemakers. On today’s show, Dr. Haywood talks to us about why she created the summit and what you can expect. R...

If you constantly feel like you can’t find ANY friendships where you actually feel seen you might have internalized this to mean that you’re too different to fit in or make sense to other people, but there might be something else going on… In today’s episode, I’m talking about what that is, and what you can do to actually build more fulfilling relationships. If you want to do this work in communit...

In today’s episode I’m talking about how I create a real community feel in the Mixed Race Belonging Collective and I invite you to join us Sunday April 12th for the Welcome Retreat, a laid back space to get to know each other with just enough structure so that we’re not all looking at each other wondering wtf to talk about. Doors are always open for the Collective – sign up today and join us for t...

Psychotherapy can go a LONG way when you need one-on-one support, but sometimes what you really need is community and an opportunity for collective healing. In this episde, I’m talking briefly about how I realized mixed race people needed more spaces for collective healing and how the Mixed Race Belonging Collective can help! – Welcome to the Mixed Race Belonging podcast, where we explore the inte...

Welcome to the Mixed Race Belonging podcast, where we explore the intersection of mixed identity and belonging through the lens of somatics and personal and collective liberation to help you heal your belonging wounds and reconnect with your innate wholeness through relationships, new experiences, and activism. I’m your host, Raina LaGrand, a somatic coach for mixed race people with a background a...

In today’s episode I talk with Katy about her experience participating in the Buddy System, which is an optional component of Belonging Building Blocks. Hear how this helped Katy get even more out of the program. – Learn the three-step somatic strategy that will help you feel safe and secure in your body and your relationships as a mixed person (even if you’ve never truly felt held by anyone) when...

In today's episode, I'm sharing with you how my Belonging Building Blocks program helped Katy go from settling to bravely taking steps towards more fulfilling relationships and Jas go from feeling unfulfilled in her relationship to feeling secure and satisfied with her partners care. These are two powerful stories of many to come out of BBB! – Learn the three-step somatic strategy that will help y...