Mixed Race Belonging

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...

Join me for a conversation with the very wise Maribel Ramirez for a conversation on attachment, trauma, indigeneity, mixed identity, and belonging. Maribel will be a guest speaker in my Belonging Building Blocks program that starts on March 15! – 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...

In today's episode, I talk about how belonging - feeling held - is a somatic and emotional memory that you can cultivate through personal somatic practice and your relationship with others who DO see you. You'll learn how somatics can help you restore your neurobiological wiring for connection and belonging. – Learn the three-step somatic strategy that will help you feel safe and secure in your bo...

In today's episode, I'm talking about how the lifelong experience of being rejected and othered keeps you trapped in a state of hypervigilance and how that's BOTH protecting you from harm AND preventing you from feeling like you belong. – 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 f...

Mixed folks - especially women-identified mixed folks - have been getting HEAT on the internet lately. In this episode, I've got a special message for mixed folks with white moms. -- The Mixed Race Belonging podcast explores the intersection of mixed identity and belonging through the lens of somatics and personal and collective liberation to help you go deep to untangle, unpack, and get to the ro...

In this episode, I'm speaking on a topic that I think we sometimes shy away from - how do mixed folks with white ancestors/parents/family members reconcile their proximity to whiteness? I'm breaking down how to handle the fact that you have white ancestors or are assumed to be white, and how to find a place of centered accountability when it comes to your privilege and access. -- The Mixed Race Be...

In today's episode I share how I supported a client who wanted to reconnect with their Taino culture, but worried they would be appropriating it. I also speak to how healing connecting to our ancestral indigenous cultures can be during such disturbing times. -- The Mixed Race Belonging podcast explores the intersection of mixed identity and belonging through the lens of somatics and personal and c...

In this week's episode, I'm breaking down why nervous system "regulation" pop psychology is problematic AF - and why dysregulation is actually important for building relationships. Sign up for the FREE 60 minute Somatics of Belonging workshop . We’re live on January 12th from 5:30-6:30pm ET. – The Mixed Race Belonging podcast explores the intersection of mixed identity and belonging through the le...

I'm out of office this week but popping in with a quick announcement! Sign up for the FREE 60 minute Somatics of Belonging workshop . We’re live on January 12th from 5:30-6:30pm ET. – The Mixed Race Belonging podcast explores 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...

In this week's episode I'm here to remind you that you are WHOLE and that your identity is NOT complicated. I talk complexity theory, river confluences, and more. Sign up for the FREE 60 minute Somatics of Belonging workshop . We’re live on January 12th from 5:30-6:30pm ET. – The Mixed Race Belonging podcast explores the intersection of mixed identity and belonging through the lens of somatics and...

When it comes down to it, the mixed belonging wound is really grief. In today's episode, I'm covering what grief is, how it interacts with your mixed race belonging wound, and why we're all so afraid of it in the first place. -- The Mixed Race Belonging podcast explores the intersection of mixed identity and belonging through the lens of somatics and personal and collective liberation to help you...