Holistic Life Navigation

In this episode, Luis is joined by Marth Beck, a Harvard-trained sociologist, world-renowned coach and New York Times bestselling author. Martha wrote The Way of Integrity which Luis lovingly refers to as "The Guide on How to Stop Fawning." Martha and Luis engage in a dynamic conversation about trauma response of fawning, how fawning impacted their lives, and how it felt to release that...

In this episode, Luis shares how modern comforts and convenience can actually distract us from moments of peace and gratitude. Luis  invites us to explore our trauma ego -- the trauma ego needs to find threat even when none is actually present. As such, even when we have a roof over our heads, food in our refrigerators, running water, etc., the traumatized nervous system won't allow us to ori...

In this episode, we welcome back one of Luis's teachers, Maureen Gallagher, a Licensed Psychologist (NY, NJ), Somatic Experiencing Faculty Member, and Inner Relationship Focusing Trainer Maureen and Luis dive deep into Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF), sharing how it has been an integral  part to their Somatic Experiencing practices.  They explore what it means to have a relationship with va...

This is a bonus episode which features an interview with Luis and Jaguar Mary X. They had Luis on their program called Mid-Day Medicine Journey. It's a live, public radio out of Kingston, NY. You can find the entire episode, and others, by visiting them here. In this episode, they interview Luis about his experiences growing up that led him into somatics and trauma healing work. The accidenta...

In this episode, we welcome back friend of the show, Jeana Brown founder of The Sweet Dark. Jeana shares with us how self-touch and how bringing ritual to self-care or daily hygiene helps to bring us into better communicaiton and relationship with our bodies. She and Luis explore why the intent of self-care and self-touch is not to erase surface-level tension in the body but instead use that tensi...

We welcome back the entire HLN team in this episode! Luis, Marika, and Camille first explore their learnings from the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids . In particular they share how this movie helped to spark their curiosity around things such as animism, human supremacy, and examining the world from different perspectives. They further explore the idea of human supremacy and its relationship to tra...

In this episode I share a replay from a webinar I did in which I talk about how my own trauma and chronic illness led me to this work. It's taken me 17 years to understand and put into words what I went through. It's also taken me 17 years to map out how to release stress & trauma with self-inquiry, nutrition, and somatics. I teach it all in my 6-week course. Listen to this episode t...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Monica Guzman, author of “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times" and the director of digital  storytelling at Braver Angels , a nonprofit dedicated to bridging the partisan divide. Monica and Luis engage in a very interesting conversation about navigating politics when it seems almost imposs...

Paula Engebretson joins Luis today in this interesting discussion between medication, holistic nutrition, and somatics. We often get the question if you can do this work while taking meds. Paula teaches us that the answer is individual and, for her, was YES! She explains how she lived with symptoms of ADHD and stress for decades before getting her official diagnosis, getting medicated, and then di...

In this episode, Luis explores why without overcouplings, comparisons are actually benign and without meaning -- they are just observations. He shares his own experiences with comparisons and body image as well as explains what "your truth is my myth" means to him and how it became a practice in helping him have to capacity to be with differences. For more information about Luis's w...

In this episode, we welcome an incredible teacher of Luis, Byron Katie. She is a speaker and author who teaches a method of self-inquiry known as "The Work." Byron and Luis muse on what it means to relate to the ego and to our thoughts rather than trying to beat the ego or suppress our thoughts, i.e. what it means to be in a place of curiosity rather than judgement. The Work was born dir...

In this episode, Luis shares how changing his perspective of trauma changed his life and how we was able to relate to others. We often over-couple trauma with the event itself -- but trauma is how our bodies respond to that event. When we come to see trauma as the force or reverberation that moves through our body, propelling us to survive threatening and/or overwhelming situations, we can pivot f...

This episode is an excerpt from our live session that took place last Tuesday. Luis had designed a 3 week email series about the process of Wintering, which is when we let our bodies retreat from progress and nurture our capacity through rest. In this live session we have 300+ people practicing, sharing, and weaving with us around this practice and subject. We learn a lot about rest, our resistanc...

In this episode, we welcome back Lorcan MacGiolla Bhrighde and Helen Henderson, collaborators on Indigenous Ireland . In this episode, Luis, Lorcan, and Helen discuss what it means not just to decolonize, i.e. remove constructs of colonization, but to re-indigenize their lives, i.e. reintegrate elements of their indigeneity. The three of them share how immersing themselves in indigenous languages...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Erica Hornthal, known as "The Therapist Who Moves You", is a board-certified dance/movement therapist and licensed clinical professional counselor. Luis and Erica explore the misconceptions of dance and dance therapy and Erica shares how she came to define "Dance Movement Therapy" based on her own experiences rather than what text books say. T...

In this episode, Luis and Camille dig into the pros and cons of political correctness. Camille shares why she personally does not strive to be politically correct but instead seeks to understand. Luis and Camille also share their own experiences with safe spaces vs brave spaces, what it means to have a conversation vs. a debate, expanding capacity for conflict, and finding the beauty in rupture. F...

 We welcome back the entire HLN team in an episode where Luis, Marika, and Camille explore several things that can trigger us including: Attuning to joy and/or the now Releasing the Story Experimentation, Mystery & Ambiguity Empathy & Understanding Rupture They share their own experiences with these triggers, what they witnessed in others, and their own practices for expanding their capaci...

In this episode, Luis explores what it means to dis-identify with our thoughts and sensations. Many of us have come to believe, "I think, therefore I am." As such, we can become overwhelmed by the millions of thoughts that invade our by everyday. But what would it mean to relate to a thought rather than to identify with it? Luis discusses the practice of witnessing our thoughts from a pl...

We welcome back the entire HLN team as they explore what it means to break the rules. In previous episodes, we've explored cultivating disobedience. In this episode, we hear from Luis, Marika, and Camille how they built the capacity to break the rules, i.e. do what they aren't "supposed to", and how doing so has impacted their lives. They share with us how they released their s...

Luis welcomes Daniel Mate to the podcast to speak about the book he co-authored with his dad, Gabor Mate, titled The Myth Of Normal . They speak about: how writing the book invited repair for Gabor's and Daniel's relationship how Daniel practices uncoupling to have a good relationship with his father how identity and behavior or two different things how personality is often born from a t...

The episode is actually a recording of a live, virtual event Luis hosted for the HLN Membership and Course participants. HLN members and students often ask "How can I feel safe, calm or peaceful in a word that is dangerous or where there are so many horrific things happening?" In the wake of the US Supreme Court's over-turning of Roe v. Wade (as well as a recent shooting and the out...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Fritzi Horstman, the Founder and Executive Director of Compassion Prison Project. In this episode, Luis and Fritzi explore what a trauma-informed justice system might look like and why it is urgent to bring humanity and compassion to those living behind bars and these acts will help transform our society. They discuss the connection between vulnerability and acco...

In this episode, Luis explores why building capacity for pleaser is a critical yet often over-looked part of trauma-healing. Pleasure, joy, peace, etc. are an excellent resource when trying to heal our trauma. They are the counter-vortex, i.e. they provide the resourcing our bodies need to be with sensations that are more constricting. However, it can be very difficult and overwhelming for a traum...

We welcome back the entire HLN team in this freestyle episode! Luis, Marika, and Camille explore a myriad of topics, including: The role of media  Navigating Politics  Judgement vs. Curiosity Capacity & Time Death as a Teacher Dissociation vs. Detachment Also, we learn about yet another job Luis had in his past! For more information about Holistic Life Navigation, visit: https://www.holisticli...

In this episode, Luis explores why attuning to the present moment isn't about bypassing but rather it is about inviting everything in. We can often bypass the beauty or calm of the present moment because our bodies are responding to a remembered past or an anticipated future. However, by allowing our bodies to feel the absence of threat, it actually provides our bodies the resourcing to respo...