Holistic Life Navigation
This podcast explores holistic stress and trauma recovery. I am your host, Luis Mojica. My work, Holistic Life Navigation, was modeled after my own journey in healing myself from chronic illness and PTSD. I share this podcast with many brilliant minds who, like me, healed themselves through unique, unusual, and unorthodox ways.
For more information, please visit: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com
Written, produced and recorded by Luis Mojica. Edited by Fredo Viola. Intro/outro song: "Witch Love" by Luis Mojica.
Episodes
369 episodes
[Ep. 318] How Nourishing Foods Helped Her Feel Like A Woman Again w/ Tasha Blank
Luis and Tasha talk about beauty standards, eating disorders and their role in Tasha's life. She used food as a way to control her appearance and fit into beauty standards. Her hormones tanked. Out of desperation she began the complicated journ...
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54:53
[Ep. 317] Meet Linda Erman: The Woman Who Initiated Me Into Somatics
PRE-ORDER the upcoming book now: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-bookMeet Linda Erman, Luis' Somatic Godmother, Art Therapist and Somatic Experiencing practitioner....
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37:37
[Ep. 316] LECTURE EXCERPT: The Correlation Between Visceral Fat, Inflammation, and Trauma
Curious about how Luis teaches? Here is your window into a nutritional teaching about stored trauma, visceral fat, and inflammation. Stored trauma in the body sets off a chain reaction resulting in elevated insulin, putting the body...
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12:12
[Ep. 315] Cracking The Code For Weight Loss: Insulin, Calories, and Stress
3 Oreos and 1/2 an Avocado join Luis on the podcast today. Their calories are the same, but how each affects our glucose levels is very different. Refined carbs spike glucose, which increases insulin, and puts us into fat storage mode.An...
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14:40
[Ep. 314] Food Therapy: How Nutrition Impacts Addiction & Recovery (Webinar Replay)
Today's episode is a replay of the recent free Food Therapy session.Recovery is different from abstinence, though both are important as you heal from addiction. Abstinence is the avoiding of an addictive substance, while recover...
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1:16:52
[Ep. 313] The Connection Between Weight Gain & Trauma
Quick and dirty, Luis outlines the science between insulin and fat storage. It's not the least amount of calories that is the golden ticket, instead, it's the least amount of glucose spike. He teaches us which foods, and the ideal combination o...
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17:04
[Ep. 312] How This Blue Collar Carpenter Became An Embodied Man w/ Colin Safranek
Colin is our fourth and final small group facilitator for the Embodied Masculinity program starting January 6th 2026. His journey to somatics, and Luis, started with a nail gun, and the pain resulting from repetitive use. He realized he was hol...
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44:50
[Ep. 311] How S*x Apps Affect The Gay Community And Men
Do YOU know any gay men in long term relationships who aren’t hooking up on sex apps? Al Romano, Naveed Heydari, Tim Paula, and Rio Allen join Luis for a collaborative conversation about sex apps in the gay community, and what men r...
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1:50:18
[Ep. 310] "They Called Me Gay Just For Singing" Why Men Shut Down & Isolate w/ Steven Rasovsky
2025 and it's still fringe as f*ck for men to do somatic work. Why? Because men are conditioned to suppress the parts of themselves that are tender and vulnerable with dissociation and porn. Join Luis and his friend Steven as they discuss mascu...
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50:59
[Ep. 309] Share This With A Man You Know: How P*rn Affects Their Relationships
Our boys, too often, grow up using porn as a formulaic way to self soothe. They experience the dopamine rush, stimulation and sexual gratification in isolation. There is no touch or feedback in return, no boundaries to navigate, just dissociati...
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16:32
[Ep. 308] "He Called Me A F*ggot For Wearing Striped Socks"... How One Man Reclaimed His Masculinity From Toxic Modeling w/ Atarah Valentine
Atarah Valentine joins Luis on the podcast today. They warm up talking about how we can practice self hatred, and we can practice gratitude. It's all a practice. What choices and practices have adapted you to be the person you are? ...
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54:59
[Ep. 307] Mystic Nomad: A Woman’s Wild Journey to True Connection w/ Annette Knopp
On today's episode, Luis is joined by Annette Knopp - meditation teacher, somatic educator, nature mystic, and author - to discuss her newly released book Mystic Nomad: A Woman's Wild Journey to True Connection.In her book, Anne...
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46:46
[Ep. 306] When Men Don't Have To Hold It All Themselves w/ Zach Kalatsky
Meet Zach Kalatsky, a mentor for the Embodied Masculinity 6 months slow group, as well as a member of the HLN retreat team. He joins Luis today for a chat about their experience as friends, and as part of a team that holds the all male slow gro...
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46:49
[Ep. 305] Why Men Don't Practice Somatics
Somatics is naturally an inward focused practice involving the noticing of internal feelings and sensations, something that sociatally, in America at least, only women are "allowed" to notice. Men often feel like they need to be loud and domina...
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14:41
[Ep. 304] The 2nd Puberty & Embodying Masculinity w/ Naveed Heydari
Naveed and Luis connect over their work in the 6 month Embodied Masculinity Slow Group, a vulnerable, male only, space. Often boys traverse the transition of puberty in isolation, taught only by porn. After a lifetime of objectification from po...
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41:57
[Ep. 303] How I Stopped Hating Men
Join Luis as he gets vulnerable about his history with dysphoria around masculinity. His DNA is coded to express as female, yet he has male sex organs that produce testosterone. Feminine attributes made him the target of male abuse, and as a re...
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16:57
[Ep. 302] Radical Rehumanizing: How To Dislike Someone With An Open Heart
In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Luis invites Camille Leak and Gray Doolin into a raw conversation about the somatics of dehumanization. Together, they explore what happens in the body when we dislike someone so deeply that we ...
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1:34:51
[Ep. 301] Sovereign Love: Finding Safety In Yourself, THEN Your Partner w/ Dené Logan
On today's episode Luis welcomes his friend and colleague Dené Logan - group facilitator, therapist, and author - to the podcast.They discuss her concept of Sovereign Love, and dive deep into the nuance of relationships and the way we sh...
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58:34
[Ep. 300] Hate Speech: Can Words Really Hurt Us?
Luis and Camille dive into the complexities of free speech, exploring the difference between what is truly dangerous and what is simply triggering. They discuss how words can hurt when our sense of self isn’t yet established, and how building t...
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1:02:20
[Bonus Episode] Food Therapy: Supporting ADHD With Nutrition (Webinar Replay)
Today's episode is a replay of the recent free Food Therapy session.Most treatments for ADHD rely on stimulants that create dopamine spikes, helping us push through tasks that otherwise feel painfully boring. While these can hel...
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1:27:21
[Ep. 299] The Connection Between Processed Foods & Trauma
Why do we crave junk food when we’re stressed? In this episode, Luis explores how trauma and chronic stress deplete the body, driving us toward processed foods for quick hits of serotonin and temporary relief. He explains the three categories o...
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28:45
[Ep. 298] Unfawning, Risking Conflict, & Channeling Anger w/ Dr. Ingrid Clayton
On today's episode, Luis welcomes back Dr. Ingrid Clayton for a deep dive into fawning.Both share their personal experiences with fawning, both historical and present, and how their relationship with this trauma response has evolved over...
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44:05
[Ep. 297] The Biology Of Trauma [THE BOOK] w/ Dr. Aimie Apigian
What if your body wasn’t broken, but brilliantly designed to survive?In today’s episode, Luis speaks with Dr. Aimie Apigian — medical doctor, biochemist, and foster parent — about her new book The Biology of Trauma. After her foster son...
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48:44
[Ep. 296] Pendulation: The Practice That Saved My Life
On today's episode, Luis teaches about pendulation, a term coined by Peter Levine, and taught through Somatic Experiencing. Luis shares about his understanding of "active" pendulation, how to not bypass, and how the practice changed his life. A...
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15:35
[Ep. 295] Humanizing Charlie Kirk: Using Somatics & Technology To Expand Our Hearts
On today's episode Luis discusses his practice of humanizing those he disagrees with, and how the killing of Charlie Kirk, and the response to it, inspired him to share his reaction.When one of the people who had abused him died, Luis th...
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52:50
