LaidOPEN Podcast

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.

This week, we're welcoming Sara Reardon, a pelvic floor physical therapist who's also known as The Vagina Whisperer.  You may know her from her viral TedX talk on rethinking postpartum care. One of the most important things we cover is that everyone has a pelvic floor (men/women/non-binary people) and that pelvic pain is not only a condition that impacts pergnant or postpartum women. That's because oftentimes, it isn’t until we experience pelvic floor pain or issues that we become aware of this part of our body. Sara's mission includes normalizing conversations about the pelvic floor, helping people understand what this muscle is,  and how to know when it needs to relaxed or be strengthened. We also chat about the different conditions that might bring you to a pelvic pain physical therapist and symptoms that are actually signals of pelvic pain. And that chronic stressors, conditioning and belief systems about sex or historical trauma can impact the tension in your pelvic floor. We end with Sara guiding us through a ribcage breathing practice that is a precursor to any pelvic floor releasing.

If Mark Tanaka sounds familiar to you that’s because he’s a past guest of LaidOPEN Podcast and featured on Episode 28. Untying the Knot. Mark’s a Qi gong and Yoga teacher, who specializes in nervous system regulation, parts-work, attachment coaching and one of my absolute favorite people. This week he returns as an expert to help answer your anonymous questions. The question this week is about the discomfort we can feel in being vulnerable. Especially, in relation to our significant other and the decision to have children and why we want them. An important conversation for anyone considering having children with reservations based on their own childhood. Plus, as always, we end the episode with an amazing exercise. Mark guides us through one that helps teach us to be with our vulnerable parts Additionally, if you have a problem or even question you need help with, please write in! I welcome listeners to write in any questions so a qualified expert and I can discuss how to navigate your questions and concerns. 

Welcome back to LaidOPEN Podcast! More and more I feel like I am magnetizing potential lifelong friends and like-minded collaborators I feature on my podcast. People like this week’s guest, @yestantra better known as Dominique D’Vita, spent her life as a cardiovascular RN until she found tantra and found her calling as a trauma-informed tantra coach.  Dominique has been a repeated guest on The Playboy Channel where she’s featured as a tantra expert. Together we chat about sex as a spiritual practice, the different kinds of tantra, what tantra is exactly, and how it can increase solo and partner-based pleasure.  We all deserve pleasure and if reading that makes you feel weird or gives you anxiety, this episode will be especially poignant for you.