LaidOPEN Podcast
Charna Cassell
Welcome to the LaidOPEN Podcast hosted by Charna Cassell. Charna is a Trauma-Trained Psychotherapist and Sexuality Coach with over 20 years of experience. Every day, Charna helps clients heal from trauma and access more bodily joy, emotional regulation, vitality, and hope.
Now she’s bringing her expertise to podcasting with interviews from post-trauma thrivers who share creative resources to support living an authentic, passionate, mindful existence.
Together they explore how to have a more pleasure-filled, peaceful life while reducing self-sabotaging behaviors and gaining control over reactive behaviors. Charna’s mission is to help people like you understand the impact of trauma on their nervous system and therefore their relationships with an emphasis on ways to heal.
In every episode, Charna explores how to build our physical and emotional capacity to be with all that moves through us and around us to ultimately feel more liberated on the other side. Join our community as we embark on this transformative journey by reaccessing our connection to aliveness.
Now she’s bringing her expertise to podcasting with interviews from post-trauma thrivers who share creative resources to support living an authentic, passionate, mindful existence.
Together they explore how to have a more pleasure-filled, peaceful life while reducing self-sabotaging behaviors and gaining control over reactive behaviors. Charna’s mission is to help people like you understand the impact of trauma on their nervous system and therefore their relationships with an emphasis on ways to heal.
In every episode, Charna explores how to build our physical and emotional capacity to be with all that moves through us and around us to ultimately feel more liberated on the other side. Join our community as we embark on this transformative journey by reaccessing our connection to aliveness.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 21, 2021 • 1h 4min
9. The Role Curiosity Plays in Releasing Sexual Shame featuring Amy MacClain
This week’s episode starts with a listener question that leads Amy & Charna to dive into the somatic shape of shame and how to unwind it. They explore the impact of family conditioning, trauma, and religion. The discussion guides them to sexual abuse, the function of shame, being with shame versus turning away from it, and how remaining curious plays an essential role in overcoming fear-based modes. Plus, Charna assigns a simple practice for shame you can do daily, within minutes.
Dec 15, 2021 • 54min
8. Running Away To Discover Yourself featuring Farid Yusof
Farid Yusof is a student of the world. They speak with Charna about the way culture impacts our freedom of self-expression and how they use their art as a resource to find healing. Farid’s travels were a mechanism for finding themselves and they use social media as a tool for coming out as gender nonbinary while quarantining with their conservative family. This conversation highlights how developing rituals around self-care can help anyone thrive, even in isolation, during the pandemic.
Dec 8, 2021 • 1h 16min
7. Breaking Your Heart Open aka Stockpiling Grief Versus Allowing It To Move Through You
This episode was recorded before the pandemic. Charna opens this episode talking about grief on the somatic level--regardless if it’s the loss of a relationship, a death, a friendship or a pet--the physical sensations of grieving are the same. Charna offers some practices that can be useful in being with loss.
Nov 30, 2021 • 1h 2min
6. Mothers, Daughters and the Evolution of Healing From Trauma featuring Laura Davis
On today’s episode, we welcome Laura Davis bestselling author of “The Courage To Heal,” her seminal book about healing from sexual trauma. She waxes philosophical on a variety of topics, including her new memoir, “The Burning Light Of Two Stars,” (which I cannot recommend enough). We talk about the relationship between reader and author, how life experience changes our perception of the past, and what it's like when you have a parent who refuses your reality. We end with an exercise on forgiveness.
Nov 23, 2021 • 53min
5. The Art of Dearmoring the Cervix and Transcendent Sex featuring Olivia Bryant
This week on LaidOPEN Podcast, Charna speaks with Olivia Bryant, the founder of Self:Cervix. Self:Cervix is a movement dedicated to educating and experiencing the orgasmic cervix. Olivia’s mission is to share this information with cervix owners, their partners and people worldwide to aid in shifting and expanding the conversation around female sexuality. They discuss the value of practice, the connection between spirituality and sexuality, how to heal, surrender and have more connected sex with self and other. Olivia guides us through an exercise in discovering your cervix and gaining pelvic presence.
Nov 16, 2021 • 47min
4. Spinning The Lazy Susan of Sex & Dating featuring Amy MacClain
Amy directs conversation to the topic of Charna’s private life. They visit a variety of stories from Charna’s past including how much she hates swiping right, kissing tips, hairy chests and finding your Cinderella aka the perfect fit. There’s also mention of the elusive Sex Ninja, voicing your desires, and learning to ask for what we want. There’s also an exercise for managing dysregulation and how to come back to the present moment. Amy MacClain is a social storyteller and healer, committed to building a more resilient, equitable and accountable world. She trains, consults and designs to help others create change that lasts and is relevant in real life – raising consciousness, building community and bringing justice into unstoppable action. She does this by narrating the healing journey in song, coaching white folx to dismantle systemic oppression and offering engaging interactive experiences within which we can heal and explore.
Nov 9, 2021 • 40min
3. Dating in the 4th Dimension featuring Amy MacClain
Amy is back for this episode and she has questions for Charna about dating and sex. Together the two of them discuss defining sex in broader terms than Penis In Vagina (PIV), the importance of mindful self-touch within self-care, and why Charna’s writing her book. Charna also leads a guided embodiment meditation in length, width, and depth.
Nov 2, 2021 • 1h 33min
2. Holy Erotica and Shaking off Shame After Religion featuring Nathan Novero
In this week’s episode Charna talks with Nathan Novero, ex-youth pastor, and the genius behind the seminal work, “Holy Erotica.” Together they touch on a variety of topics that intersect between religion, sex and shame. Nate speaks candidly on the topic of expectation versus reality in a relationship that’s influenced and guided by the church. Additionally, he interviews Charna about her drastically different upbringing, growing up in hippy, addict culture.
Oct 16, 2021 • 55min
1. Mind, Body & Sexual Freedom featuring Amy MacClain
Charna Cassell, a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Master Somatic Coach talks with her friend Amy McClain, a master facilitator, executive coach, and curriculum developer, about the ways in which her life story has informed her belief that all different kinds of trauma shapes sexuality. Charna also explains how she uses her somatic work to help people discover what sexual freedom means to them. Plus, she guides a pelvic floor practice for grounding and managing anxiety. Amy MacClain is a social storyteller and healer, committed to building a more resilient, equitable, and accountable world. She trains, consults, and designs to help others create change that lasts and is relevant in real life – raising consciousness, building community, and bringing justice into unstoppable action. She does this by narrating the healing journey in song, coaching white folx to dismantle systemic oppression, and offering engaging interactive experiences within which we can heal and explore.
