A Neuro-Affirming Approach to Parenting: Autonomy & Co-Regulation, w/ Dr. Carolyn Solo

What if we saw creativity as not just a nice-to-have extra thing, but as an essential part of the human experience, the healing process, and the work of collective liberation? We are all creative beings (yes, even if you think you’re “bad at art” or “not creative”). In this episode, I’ll explore the link between creativity, healing, & collective liberation. 01:48 Creativity can look so many different ways - from picking an outfit for the day to knitting a sweater to singing a song 04:33 Creativity is a part of healing - individual & collective 06:12 Creativity is a way to connect to Self 07:26 Creativity is a shared experience with community 08:34 Creativity is a means of pattern disruption, allowing the brain to build neuroplasticity 11:24 Creativity is an antidote to toxic perfectionism, challenging capitalistic standards of productivity 13:14 Creativity is a means of hope & world-building 15:48 How do you experience creativity? The intention of this episode is to inspire you to be your most creative Self. Quote: “Creativity is a stepping stone to world-building. It is the ability to look around us, to challenge the parts of the status quo that are not working, and to come up with something different and hopefully better.”

What is intuition, how does it work, and how can accessing our intuition help us live more joyful & fulling lives? Join me & Nanae as we unpack these questions - with thoughtfulness & nuance. Nanae shares about her journey as a therapist & social worker who was completely skeptical about things like intuition, souls, & higher self - to actually becoming an intuitive & energy healer herself. If you’ve ever struggled with feeling stuck, in despair, or depressed - like something is off in your energy or in your life, but you can’t figure out why or where to go from here - I invite you to listen to this episode. You might enjoy the practical & insightful reflections that come up in this conversation. Topics covered: How do you define intuition? 04:50 What’s the difference between intuition & a conditioned bias toward something? 08:14 Personal experiences that helped Nanae understand how intuition works 11:13 Why listening to your intuition is not the same thing as feeling your emotions (& why it’s easy to mix up these two experiences) 17:37 How intuition can help you live the life that you’re uniquely designed to live (aka: what we lose if we don’t use our intuition) 19:20 What if someone doesn't believe in intuition, higher self, or the soul? Would intuition still “work” for them? 23:23 How intuition can help us move through despair & depression 27:34 What’s the difference between mental health counseling & intuitive healing? What happens if we bring these two different paradigms in conversation with each other? 30:45 Practical ways to access your intuition - so you can live a more joyful & fulling life 36:39 How Nanae takes care of her nervous system as an intuitive healer: the power of breath 41:54

If you’ve ever criticized yourself for being “lazy,” “unproductive,” or “not trying hard enough”, you may be struggling to conform to capitalistic standards of productivity. But that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with YOU - it means you’re navigating a system that wasn’t built to account for your full humanity (like your body’s need for rest). Under capitalism, we’re taught to base our worth on our productivity. Any hour spent resting, playing, or otherwise not working, is considered an hour “wasted.” This is an exhausting way to live - especially if you’re also navigating disabilities, neurodivergence, chronic illness, or anything that makes it harder for you to keep up with the (unsustainable) pace of capitalism. In this episode, I share how embracing cycles, seasons, and a nonlinear relationship to time can help us deconstruct from capitalism & live more fully. We’ll explore: how capitalism runs on linear time, while nature runs on cyclical time why it’s not realistic to expect ourselves to be constantly productive - we are humans, not machines why it’s important to honor cycles in nature & in our bodies examples of cycles that appear in nature & in cultural traditions: the 4 seasons (fall, winter, spring, summer); the phases of the lunar cycle; and the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac

If you experience the world through a highly sensitive nervous system - and often feel stuck in overstimulation, or more deeply impacted by stress compared to others - this episode is here to support you. Join me & April in a soothing conversation on: What is the HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) nervous system & how does it differ from non-HSP nervous systems? | 05:52 How to care for your highly sensitive nervous system: Calming Portals & Tending Practices | 08:11 How lifestyle shifts can support your HSP nervous system | 14:12 Why April wrote the book: Big Feelings, Big Joy | 22:47 How April tended to her nervous system while writing this book | 28:18 The HSP community: HSP traits show up across cultures, races, genders, sexualities, ages, and identities | 32:10 April shares practical tools that you can begin to practice today, to help your nervous system shift from overstimulation to calm, regulation, and joy. Let this conversation remind you: >> Your sensitivity isn’t a flaw. Though there are challenges that come with being highly sensitive, HSPs also experience unique gifts & strengths. >> When we’re proactive & intentional about taking care of our nervous systems, it’s easier to access the joys & best parts of being highly sensitive. >> Your sensitivity doesn’t make you “weak” or “fragile.” Due to a phenomenon called “differential susceptibility,” your nervous system has a deep capacity for joy & resilience.

The nervous system communicates in different “languages,” and one of those languages is sensation - like muscle tension, heart rate, breathing patterns, and other internal bodily experiences.