Finding OK - Healing After Sexual Assault and Abuse

I had an amazing talk with Eliot, the creator of the Social Permaculture course, "Real Human Better". I learned more about what she's working on and what it has to offer people post-trauma. She also shares some of the personal work she's been doing, and explains the importance of approaching it from a place of curiosity instead of judgement and shame. TW/CW: Sexual assault, rap...

I talk about some of the ways activism can help shift the lens of our trauma and help us heal and feel more empowered. I share my experiences attending Take Back the Night marches, the way they helped transform the way I thought of anger, and the important way they helped me feel connection with other survivors. Tw/Cw: Sexual assault, use of the word rape, PTSD, and brief mention of stalking, mole...

This is the beautiful daily gratitude practice that Lily Sage so generously shared with us during her Quarantine Support Episode. I wanted to make it more easily available for those who want to listen to it again for inspiration and comfort. Thank you again Lily for sharing something so personal and powerful. Land Acknowledgement: Lily is speaking to you from Cochiti Pueblo, where the language of...

This episodes explores Trauma Anniversaries; what they are, how they can affect us, and some ways to get through them.  TW/CW: Brief mentions of the following: sexual assault, domestic violence, depression, anxiety, suicide, and suicidal thoughts. These are not dwelled on, but mentioned as a framework for discussion of coping with them. Support the show

Black Lives Matter. This episode is 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence. That is the length of time the police officer had his knee on the back of George Floyd's neck. If you're white, I encourage you to listen to this episode and contemplate how long 8:46 actually is. This podcast supports the Black Lives Matter protesters across America and the world. End white supremacy. Defund the po...

Join me as I touch base with Cailin during quarantine. Cailin is a yoga enthusiast, dog lover, and a non-binary essential worker. They are a psychiatric technician at a residential drug and alcohol treatment center for women. Cailin shares what this time has been like for them and their clients, a bit about their past experiences with addiction and recovery, and their decision to return to therapy...

Join me as I check in with my sister Chie to see how she's doing during quarantine. We talk about some of the ways this situation can be challenging for those who struggle with Eating Disorders, landlord nonsense and moving in the middle of this, grounding exercises to help with dissociative feelings and episodes, and how we're taking care of ourselves at the moment. TW/CW: Eating Disord...

Join me as I check in with Lila during quarantine. Lila is an artist, hula hoop and lyra performer, currently unemployed waitress, happily married lesbian, and proud cat mom. Join us for a talk about medication misadventures, our feelings around productivity, and some good laughs. Lila talks about the challenges of quarantine, as well as the beautiful moments that she's creating for herself a...

A quarantine support episode! Lily Sage and I check in with each other and discuss the unique challenges of quarantine to the soft fluttering of wind chimes in the background. Lily Sage is a Montessori school teacher focused on incorporating decolonization methods in the classroom, a wilderness guide and teacher, a Doula, Herbalist, Artist, Performer, and a sweetheart. Please join two old friends...

I talk a bit about my experiences with self-defense training post-trauma. My sister Chie joins me partway through the episode to share her thoughts as well.  TW/CW: Sexual assault, abuse, self-defense attack simulations and scenarios, and street harassment. Support the show

Chie and I talk about the flexibility of memory after trauma. We discuss what it's like dealing with repressed, altered, and recovered memories. Chie also shares a bit about her experiences with IFS and EMDR therapy. TW/CW: Repressed, altered, and recovered memories, emotional developmental trauma, emotional and verbal child abuse, and abusive teachers. Support the show

This bonus track is an excerpt from a conversation with Chie. We ended up talking about Star Trek Voyager for 20 min...it happens...join two nerds as we shoot the shit and discuss our love of Voyager's strong women, and how survivor issues intersect with some key episodes of Voyager. Be warned of spoilers!  TW/CW: Discussion of Star Trek episodes involving PTSD, flashbacks, repressed and reco...

In part 2 of my interview with Chie we discuss eating disorders, the work she's doing in recovery, having healthy boundaries, having cis male partners, and her decision to leave the Shambhala Meditation Community following the reports of abuse there. TW/CW: Eating disorders, abusive teachers, cults, and abuse within religious/spiritual organizations. Support the show

My sister Chie and I talk about what was helpful and supportive after her assault. We discuss her decision to return to college after it happened, the effects of PTSD on her life, how it influenced her thesis work, and what helped her get through it. I share an incident with a PTSD trigger in a meditation workshop, and we discuss the importance of utilizing the Disability Department in school and...

A strategy for defeating negative, intrusive, and potentially triggering thought patterns. This includes personal experience with this practice, a brief explanation of Buddhist Wrathful Deities, and help brainstorming to get you started on finding something similar that works for you. TW/CW: Descriptions of imagined graphic violence (throat cutting), and discussion of triggering thought patterns....

How your sense of smell is tied to memory and how this can affect PTSD symptoms. TW/CW: A non explicit personal experience of a PTSD flashback.  Support the show