LaidOPEN Podcast

If you haven't heard of Annie Brook before, you should have. She has a Ph.D. in perinatal psychology and is a seasoned somatic psychotherapist who works with birth trauma and developmental trauma. Her work is key to discovering why you repeat the same behaviors, resulting in the same disappointing outcomes over and over again. If you are curious about why you keep repeating the same patterns, and want to change but don’t know how--this is the episode for you. Annie explains the different courses she offers so anyone can become ready for the relationship they’ve always wanted or heal their birth trauma. Additionally, she's trained therapists for decades in how to work with complex trauma in a sustainable and effective way. Plus, how to facilitate the unwinding and repatterning of patients on a cellular level. We talk about all the ways birth trauma can imprint and show up in adults, how to detect it, and integrate it to fully heal, something most of us want, even if we can't admit it to ourselves. We also, both share our in-utero and birth experiences and Annie provides some case studies from her over 4 decades of experience.     

This week we welcome Nathaniel Hodder-Shipp, a drug and alcohol counselor, breathwork practitioner, and founder of the American Breath Work Association and Breathwork For Recovery, an 800-hour breathwork clinician that provides more intense training for teachers and practitioners. We sit down and talk about Nathaniel’s journey of becoming involved with breathwork, his decision to help create Breathwork For Recovery, and the necessity of developing equity, ethics, and regulation in the field of breathwork. I also share my story about attempting to learn breathwork and that it was a traumatizing experience. Nathaniel offers a compassionate take on what I went through, which may have also happened to some of you. We end the episode with two breathing practice options you can choose to do to reset and reframe yourself anywhere, and at any time. This episode is a must for anyone looking into breathwork who wants to know about it from a real expert.

This week we welcome Sarah Strong. She is a star seed coach, divine feminine activation coach, medium empath, telepath, and psychic. She also channels star beings, beings from other dimensions, and many other beings of the light, including the ascended masters angels, and fairies. Together we speak about how trauma can be a gateway to spiritual awakening, paranormal phenomenon, how trauma is associated with spiritual awakening and what can happen when you push a young person well beyond what they’re capable of handling, and how a reaction to that manifests in a variety of ways.  She also guides us in a lovely meditation that’s sure to help you clear space as you start 2023.

I was thrilled to have Lucy Wallace, the founder of Dance to be Free, as a guest. I strongly support her mission of bringing dance to incarcerated women to help heal trauma. I share a little about my own experience growing up with a father who was in prison and my own volunteer work teaching kids in an orphanage in Nepal so they could teach their peers. This coincides with Lucy’s program, as she identifies the importance of the teacher training program for the prisoners rather so they can continue to help people instead of going in to “save” them.  In addition, we talk about how this mission found her and unfolded with dedication despite all of the bureaucracy inside the prison system and how this transformative program has grown into over 15 prisons nationally. We also explore a variety of other topics that align with Lucy’s work and her program including how trust is earned, holding space versus preaching, and how freedom is a perception and state of mind.   We end the episode with a practice Lucy uses with her students that you can also use.

Our guest this week is a dear friend of mine. Ned Buskirk is the founder of You’re Going to Die, which started as an open mic that offered a communal space to share stories about death, loss, and grieving. It progressed, as most things do, eventually becoming a nonprofit that brings music to the bedside of hospice patience, operates grief groups, delivers resources to help people in the prison system process their own grief and loss, and even a podcast of the same name, You’re Going To Die.  I truly believe in Ned’s work and purpose, which is why I’ve repeatedly used these resources myself, as well as, referred my clients to them over the years. Together we discussed how You're Going to Die has evolved, reorienting to aliveness and life after tragedy, what he has learned over the years, what his own coping strategies around loss are, remaining humble, being a community resource, and the positive as well as the weighty impact of this work on all aspects Ned’s life. We even spend a good amount of time talking about, Alive Inside, a non-profit and runoff of You’re Going To Die, where Ned brings his work and experiences to the incarcerated.  Dying, death, grief, and tragedy are all a part of this journey we call life and Ned brings a lot of necessary community and awareness to these topics. Join us this week in demystifying death by accepting it during our life.

I am so honored to have Julia Loken, a comedian, podcast host, and astrologer from Los Angeles, as my guest this week. I really enjoyed our conversation because Julia is one of those people who can talk about anything while making you feel like you’ve been friends forever. Because of this, we discuss a variety of topics including her astrology podcast @whatsyoursign, her discovery of astrology, and how astrology can be used to gain perspective in our own lives, as well as, how it can be used to look at cultural and political trends. Plus, we talk about how it was for her to listen to her husband’s interview with me, being to another comedian, her bachelorette weekend at the notorious Madonna Inn, the merits of being flexible in an ever-evolving partnership with your best friend, and how therapy led her to develop more self-love and acceptance. We end the episode with Julia guiding us through a brief grounding practice that she uses to reset anywhere, anytime.

This week’s episode of LaidOPEN Podcast features former guest Jessica Graham. She returns to help me answer a listener's question on the topic of having our pleasure matter in the context of a sexual relationship. This leads us into an extremely interesting conversation between two sex educators about what sex is, how to be an advocate for your own pleasure, what attunement and connection are, how we can freeze up in a sexual situation or hard conversations, how to become present, and how to practice speaking up on your own behalf when you want your sexual needs to be included. There’s a lot to learn about ourselves, how do we relate to others and how we treat our own pleasure. A must-listen for anyone who struggles to communicate their sexual needs.

Welcome back to Laid OPEN, this week we’re continuing our conversation with David Chambers, a relationship coach and host of the podcast, The Authentic Man.  We finish our conversation by talking about a variety of interesting topics relevant to men looking to lead authentic lives. This includes, the nature of women to ask for and then recoil at when experiencing a man's vulnerability, sexual shame as it affects men and of course, we speak about sexual freedom and what it means to David. He also speaks to his experience in the ISTA training, which he calls, “incredible.” You won’t want to miss the helpful breathing exercise I use to end this episode. There’s so much to be learned from the conversation I have with David, and I can't wait for you to experience it.

This is part 1 of a special two-part interview with David Chambers, who is a relationship coach and host of The Authentic Man Podcast. David and I engage in a fascinating conversation that explores how to find healthy models of masculinity when you grow up without a dad. he shares about the commitment issues and fear that held him back from not only fulfilling relationships but living a joyful, fulfilling authentic life. We also explore what it takes to grow beyond what your parents are capable of and partnership as a spiritual path. Plus, David ends this episode with a mindful masturbation practice he does with his clients. Stay tuned for part 2 of this important episode coming out next week.

After a decade of seeking, life coach Anton Wisbski found himself guiding small groups of friends through breathwork practices. Soon, a coaching career followed. A disinterested student growing up, Anton followed an entrepreneurial path and started his own successful social media business. After working closely with Dr. Joe Dispenza, Bob Proctor, and Tony Robbins–among other seminal teachers– Anton felt he was saturated in the wisdom needed to manifest and create the life of your dreams. In doing this, he healed his own chorionic anxiety and depression.  However, much of his own self-work and growth was instigated by using break-ups as a repeated opportunity for self-reflection, change, accountability, and learning. This taught him the value of vulnerability versus positioning himself as the victim and attacking and blaming others. We talk about acknowledging how disappointing mentors can be when their personal lives or actions aren't always in alignment with what they preach. Additionally, we discuss how to remain humble and avoid the pitfalls of public visibility and power. Anton leads a powerful guided meditation you won’t want to miss.