“Without community, there is no liberation…but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.” ― Audre Lorde
My signature program, the NeuroDefiant Collective, is a group coaching annual membership. Part of the value and transformation my clients experience is due to having the opportunity to do liberation work in community, building relationships, with others.
The Lineage of my Methodology
There are so many people and books that have brought me to where I am today in my practices, growth, learning, and becoming. Without them, none of this work would be possible, and not all of the healing work I’ve done would have been done. This is a living document, a work in progress, and most definitely not an exhaustive list, and still it is an attempt to show who and where I come from, and in doing so, honor with deepest gratitude my teachers and mentors.
I come from Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural, one of the most formative communities and places of my life. I come from Trini and Luis Rodriguez, soul parents, mentors, guides, and friends. I come from the Tongva lands, the mountains and ocean and sage bundles that formed me.
I learn from the teachers: Patrisse Cullors, adrienne maree brown, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Robert Jones, Jr., Sonya Renee Taylor, Renee Linklater, Ibram X Kendi, Resmaa Menakem, Kelly Diels, Alice Wong, Dr. S. H. Moon, Tiffy Hammond, Melody Li & Inclusive Therapists, Lindley Ashlin, Kina Reed, J Mase III, Geo Soctomah Neptune, Imani Barbarin, KC Davis, Ijeoma Oluo, Sonny Jane Wise, Tabitha Brown, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw
Who are you learning from?
Who are you watching?
I listen to the poets: ire’ne lara silva, Rosalilia Mendoza, Kristy Lovich, Saddiq Granger, DeShauna Hollie, Sammy Quetzalli, Ceasar K. Avelar, Edward Vidaurre, Vincent Cooper, Viktoria Valenzuela, Audrey Kelley, Liz Ligawa, Katie Gordon, Becky Fox, Sasha, Maya Chincilla, Chiwan Choi, Andrea Gibson, nayyirah waheed, Mary Lambert, Mary Oliver, Xitlalic Guijosa, Sha’rol Henning, jo reyes boitel
I watch the artists, the musicians, the storytellers creating culture
I consult Trees, Wind, and Ocean they are my wise counsel
I listen to my heart, that most ancient drum, the vibrations of all things that have been and are and will be
Collective Healing/Care:
“It is crucial for the future of the Black liberation struggle that we remain ever mindful that ours is a shared struggle, that we are each other’s fate.” –bell hooks
I believe there is no such thing as a “self made” anything, especially not a self made millionaire. I cannot identify a single person I have ever learned about who built a thriving life in complete and utter isolation. And while sometimes I may fantasize hermiting myself off in the woods away from all other humans, I know, deep down, it is my connection with others and our relationships that are my most cherished asset.
“At its best, activism is a form of healing. It is about what we do and how we show up in the world. It is about learning and expressing regard, compassion and love.” — Resmaa Menakem
We are wired for connection. We long to belong. Many of us are wounded by different kinds of relationships and yet, it only is within healthy relationship that those wounds can heal. When we gather together with others with similar identity intersections, or shared interests, or overlapping goals, we have the opportunity to help each other go farther and deeper into what is good and lovely in life. Part of transforming ourselves, and thereby transforming culture, is moving from independence to interdependence and building communities of care and mutual aid.
It’s like that children’s book I loved so much when I was young, Stone Soup, by Marcia Brown, about a village that was in poverty and starving. One day someone brought out a huge cooking pot and added water and a stone and invited each villager to put in one item they had…1 potato, 1 carrot, 1 onion, and so on until everyone had added something and lo and behold together they created a hearty meal that no single person could have done alone.
Life is not designed to be lived and thrived alone and is so much more delicious when co-created and shared with others.
Somatics & Embodiment:
“There’s a way out of this mess, and it requires each of us to begin with our own body. You and your body are important parts of the solution. You will not just read this book; you will experience it in your body. Your body—all of our bodies—are where changing the status quo must begin.” ― Resmaa Menakem, My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
Somatics are a knowing we feel in our bodies. Sometimes that is pain, tension, or discomfort; sometimes that is energy, warmth, and ease. Reconnecting with our bodies is as necessary for systemic change as reconnecting with the people around us. Capitalism, white body supremacy, and the patriarchy all teach us to disconnect from our bodies, to press on even when where tired and in pain and cant go anymore, we are pressured to keep on that “hustle and grind” or we will not survive.
To Embody: “be an expression of or give a tangible or visible form to (an idea, quality, or feeling).” In order for us to embody expansiveness, we need the somatic work of identifying and removing the poisonous residue of toxic systems.
Expansive Mindset Coaching invites you to return to your body, to rebuild trust with your inner wisdom, to reconnect with your intuition, healing those channels of yourself that provide knowing so that you may be liberated into your fullest, truest, expansive self.
