Holistic Life Navigation

On today's episode, Luis speaks with Sophie Strand, self-described writer, compost heap, and neo-troubadour animist. Together they explore identity as a strategy: sometimes useful, sometimes not, but never the truth. Often when there is low capacity for ambiguity, the identity is the strategy born from that, fueled by desire for stability. Luis and Sophie discuss: · not getting trapped in the...

On today's episode, Luis has a conversation with Noah Michelson, editor at HuffPost Personal, over their shared love of Tori Amos, and the way her music has helped them explore their own traumas. Tori Amos shares so honestly (both through her music and her personality), and they discuss how it has a way of making others feel seen, and how it can be life saving to experience. The also explore...

On today's episode, Luis explores how we often overcouple anger with rage, violence, oppression, and harm, and how it doesn’t always have to equate. He discusses: the relationship between boundaries, anger, and rage the difference between stress and trauma how rage is a thwarted fight response, repressed by a freeze or fawn response the relation between anger and fight response how rage is of...

Today’s bonus episode is a recording of the most recent Somatic Drop-In. Luis takes us through a variety of topics and practices as he invites us to drop in, play with the philosophy and techniques of somatic work, and see what we learn. This Somatic Drop-In focused on overwhelm, and the relationship between overwhelm, boundaries, and capacity. Luis invites participants to share, and together he a...

We welcome back friend of the show, Carolyn Waiters Carter, a human development professional, poet, and somatic relational coach. Carolyn generously shares with us a story of grief, grace, grit and gratitude. She feels called to to share her grief journey after her beautiful beloved only daughter China transitioned in November 2021 from a long heroic journey with kidney disease, autoimmune disease...

This is a bonus episode which features an interview with Luis and Jaguar Mary X.  They had Luis on their program called Midday Medicine Journey. It's a live, public radio out of Kingston, NY. You can find the entire episode here . For more information about Jaguar Mary X, visit: https://www.kaliartproject.com/ You can get instant access to all of the HLN webinars and video courses here: https...

On today's episode, Luis explores the sensations and stories behind our kinks, sexual desires, and turn-ons. Luis discusses the complicated relationship that can occur between overwhelm, fear, and turn-on. He invites us to explore the following question: "do I experience relief, openness, tenderness, and a deeper connection to myself and the other from sexual experiences, or does the thr...

Today’s podcast episode is a repost from the “Soul & Psyche” podcast, where Luis and Otto Maier discuss topics that include art as therapy, the mystical experience, animism, and more.  Otto is a trained and Certified Psychedelic Integration guide, Jungian Coach, Ceremony facilitator, Kambo practitioner, and Breathwork facilitator for retreat centers around the world. You can listen to the “Sou...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Anita Brown, a grooveologist, yoga teacher, and writer. Luis and Anita have a fascinating conversation about the sole of somatics within Christianity. Both Luis and Anita were raised within the Catholic tradition and they discuss the impact of those experiences, the concept of embodied praying, and how religious pluralism shows up in their lives. Also, Anita shar...

On today's episode, Luis discusses the somatics of lying. In his own words:“lying is what I do when I don’t have the capacity for how you may respond to my truth.” Some of the topics he covers include: lying as a strategy to give us space understanding (thinking) vs. experience (somatic) exploring what lying really is, how we experience it, and what are our stories around it lying and fawning...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Simone Grace Seol, a life coach and business mentor. Simone explains why business can and has to be relational in order for it to be sustainable. Although it can be counterintuitive, Luis and Simone discuss why slowing down and building a relationship with the body and the nervous system actually provides people with the capacity to make money over the long term....

On today's episode, the HLN Team discusses cancel culture. From the perspective of the person or organization being "cancelled", cancelling can only exist if you aren’t in your integrity or authenticity. Cancelling is often rooted in the fawn response, especially from the corporate perspective. In order to be "on the right side of history", organizations will often flip th...

Today's podcast episode is a replay from the special session Maureen Gallagher offered during the Spring 2023 six week course. Maureen discusses her own personal experiences, how she uses IRF, and then takes us through a demo with Victoria. You can learn more about Victoria Platt here: https://www.ielevateme.com/ You can learn more about Maureen Gallagher, and her available courses, here: htt...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Anne Connor, a trauma-informed educator, energy healer and certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP). However, being an SEP is not all that Anne and Luis have in common. In this episode that both share how the identity constructs of "Wicca" and "Witch" once served them but then there came a time where they began to experience incongrue...

Today’s bonus episode is a recording of the most recent Somatic Drop-In. Luis takes us through a variety of topics and practices as he invites us to drop in, play with the philosophy and techniques of somatic work, and see what we learn. These Somatic Drop-Ins are bi-monthly, public, pay-what-you-want offerings. You can view the upcoming schedule to attend one live here: https://www.holisticlifena...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Lacou Flipse, a binge eating recovery coach and creator of the Pleasure Eating Process. Luis and Lacou discuss their shared history of binge eating, and how somatic awareness builds our capacity to bring attention to the feelings that are underneath the urge to binge. Lacou shares how much confusion and shame she once experienced around binge eating recovery, and...

This is a bonus episode which features an interview with Luis and Jaguar Mary X.  They had Luis on their program called Midday Medicine Journey. It's a live, public radio out of Kingston, NY. You can find the entire episode, and others, by visiting them here. For more information about Jaguar Mary X, visit: https://www.kaliartproject.com/ You can register for the upcoming webinar, "Sexua...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Paul Simard, Executive Coordinator at Sacred Sons . Drawing upon ancient wisdom and modern technologies of human development, Sacred Sons utilizes the power of ceremony, ritual, and intentional spaces to deepen into authentic brotherhood and catalyze growth in men in order to teach healthy masculinity. Paul shares with us his own life events that lead him to begi...

In today's episode, Luis introduces some of the topics he's planning to cover during the free, three week email series he's offering, titled "Healing From Sexual Trauma." You can sign up here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/healing-from-sexual-trauma Sexual trauma can be caused by an array of experiences: if an event or events cause an overwhelm related to the char...

Sickness isn’t a punishment being done to you, but a request coming from inside of you. In this episode, Luis explores a reframing of sickness, and how symptoms are the way that the body speaks to us without words. Symptoms are the messenger, and not the problem. They are the body's way of expressing something that is in perfect accordance with what it’s connecting or in relationship with. Lu...

This is a bonus episode which features an interview with Luis and Jaguar Mary X. They had Luis on their program called Midday 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, Luis leads a somatic experiencing demo with Jaguar Mary X around a traumatizing event they experienced, and they discus...

In this episode, Luis is joined by Inge Sengelmann, a  somatic resilience educator and integrative mind-body healer. Luis and Inge have a interesting conversation about the role of identity and belonging. They discuss how their experiences as White-passing, multi-cultural individuals has impacted them, as well as what it means to find a sense of belonging inside your body rather than in external g...

On today's episode, the HLN team is joined by Simone Grace Seol, and they discuss overcouplings as they relate to race and prejudice. Simone had posted on Instagram about the phrase “I don’t see color", and Luis was curious to explore the statement through the lens of somatics. They discuss: the difference between your mind’s reactions and the body’s reactions the difference between inno...

We welcome back the HLN team for another raucous conversation! In this episode, the HLN team explores the constriction many entrepreneurs experience around setting and raising their rates. They each share their own background and overcouplings with money and how it has impacted their ability to set their rates. They also discuss how money helps feed capacity for their work, the difference between...

In today's episode, Luis discusses sexual fawning, fetishes, sexual trauma, and the notion of liberating them from our bodies so that we can experience vitality. Inspired by the feedback from a recent Instagram post, Luis decided to record a podcast episode, and to create an email series and webinar. You can sign up for the free, three week emails series, "Healing From Sexual Trauma,&quo...