Are beans an anti-nutrient due to their phytic acid content, or are they a superfood? Come investigate what is really behind the phytic acid scare around beans. How much phytic acid IS in a 1/2 cup serving of cooked beans anyhow? Luis does the math and gives us tips on how to reduce phytic acid, why it's worth the trouble, and how a little bit can be a benefit to our health. Beans contain protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins, and can help detoxify the gut. Learn how this pre-biotic powerhouse affects toxins, stress metabolites, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels.  Luis also offers suggestions on how to titrate this sustainable superfood into your every day diet. 

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Ownership is the question explored in this epic podcast where Luis interviews Unique Hammond, Zeena Ismail, and Hadar Cohen to share their distinctive perspectives of being forced out of their home/land. The inspiration for the podcast arose from the ashes of the LA wildfire where Unique's home was burnt to the ground as nature evicted her.  Forced from their homelands, Zeena Ismail is a Palestinian living in Jordan and Hadar Cohen is a Arab Jew living in the United States. 

Luis' queries if it is more painful when nature takes your home, compared to your home being taken by humans and war? All were forced to leave their homes, and there is a wisdom in their leaving. Unique notes that when you fight with reality, reality wins 100% of the time. Indeed, we may leave our land, but the land is carried in our bones, and never leaves us. Zeena shares her experience of learning to belong to a new land and welcoming it's wisdom. As the author Robin Wall Kimmerer says, she became indigenous to (a new) place. The added layer of identity is weighed. Identity, as Hadar sees it, is just a lens, not eyesight itself. Can we release the bind and binary of identity? 

Ultimately we can claim, colonize, and extract from a place, or we can belong to a place. As Hadar asks, if you belong to the land why do you need to control it? Would there even be war if we did not have ownership? A universal question emerges, do we grasp at what was, or can we allow transformation to occur? 

You can visit Unique Hammond's website here: https://www.youregreat.com/

You can visit Zeena Ismail's website here: https://www.zeenaismail.com/

You can visit Hadar Cohen's websites here: https://www.hadarcohen.me/ www.malchut.one

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

To read more about, and register for, the 2025 Menla retreat, click here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/menla-retreat

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

"As of today it will henceforth be official policy of the United States Government that there are only two genders, male and female." - Donald Trump

Luis explores how this policy effects transgender, transsexual, non-binary and intersex folks. He discusses the fluidity of gender,  whereas sex is biology assigned at birth. Luis reads this policy as a statement of two sexes, which Nature assigns.  A lot of confusion enters the discussion at large when sex and gender are confused for each other.  Gender is flowing and we choose how we identify. He notes that there has been a movement to make the fringe trendy and commodify it, but in so doing the deep culture of the fringe is lost. Have a listen and tell us how you feel about this new policy, and lets discuss it in the comments below. 

[Bonus Episode] Navigating Dysphoria

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Let's explore the often ignored connection between nutrition and trauma. Luis breaks foods down into three categories: stimulants, depressants, and balancers. 

When we eat sugar there is a spike in blood sugar levels, triggering a spike in insulin, leading to a drop in glucose, resulting in an adrenaline spike. You heard that? Your body is having a stress response, and you haven't even heard today's news yet! You've only eaten breakfast. Luis offers suggestions on how to leverage the balancers to still enjoy the stimulants and depressants. We may not be able to reduce the external stressors, but we can reduce the inner stressors.  

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Luis shares part of his family story before weaving rich voices and interviews to explore the use and meaning of the phrase People of Color, or POC. Many questions and facets are explored: Do we take on ideas to belong? Does the phrase POC other specific groups in a condescending way? What is the story, meaning, or belief we have about the label POC?  Does 'marginalized' mean oppressed? What are the somatics of group identity? How can we uncouple negative associations with the term POC? Lastly, what story do I tell about you, and does that story make you equal, lower or better than me?

In the spirit of Maya Angelou, Marika reminds us to learn about people rather than learning to label them. May we be curious and allow people to show us who they are. After all, race is a fake construct, and identity is less connecting than place. 

You can watch the extended interviews clips here: Maya Angelou, Morgan Freeman, Raven-Symoné, and Africa Brooke.


You can also listen to podcasts with Africa and Camille below:

[Ep. 193] Getting Sober Helped Me Stop Self-Censoring w/ Africa Brooke

[Ep. 219] Not Everything Is A Microaggression: Is This The New DEI? w/ Camille Leak

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

To read more about, and register for, the 2025 Menla retreat, click here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/menla-retreat

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Luis shares part of his intersex journey as he explores the idea of misgendering as progress. Join him as he discusses the difference between sex and gender, harm and difference in the context of free speech. He believes we all have a responsibility to orient to, and find safety in, ourselves. The more comfortable Luis is in himself, the less offend-able he has become. Feel free to be part of the discussion by leaving a comment below. 

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Thanks to a listener request, Camille and Luis discuss cognitive dissonance through the lens of somatics and parts work. Cognitive dissonance, the friction between held and opposing beliefs, can result in an uncomfortable tension. The discomfort caused by this tension is usually avoided, or even "erased".

Alternatively, leaning in to the tension can be an opportunity for growth, or, an indicator of boundaries. Luis uses the example of the cognitive dissonance he experienced around being vegan, and how leaning in to the messy and painful process often results in transformation. 

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

To read more about, and register for, the 2025 Menla retreat, click here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/menla-retreat

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Join Luis as he explores the effects of sugar, starch and refined carbohydrates on the body. Journey from the first bite to blood glucose levels spiking, all the way to the body's resulting stress response. Learn the balancing nutritional recommendations to employ before eating sugar, starch and refined carbohydrates to help mitigate the effects of adrenaline in the body. 

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

On today's episode Luis is joined by Kai Cheng Thom: somatic therapist, depth psychologist, and author. Back in August, Luis put up a post on social media sharing both his personal experiences and opinions about gender dysphoria, body dysmorphia, and youth in the trans community. The post received a lot of attention, and started a conversation with Kai that continues here.

They discuss:

• relating through difference
• the relationship between the body and ideology
• our projections of a person vs. their authentic self
• the importance and impact of language
• the importance of self-reflection, flexibility, and compassion

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

To read more about, and register for, the 2025 Menla retreat, click here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/menla-retreat

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

Luis teaches us about his latest obsession: postprandial bloodflow. He talks about what it is, how affects it, and why it matters. He explains how it relates to comfort foods, emotional eating, and binge eating. The video ends with a somatic practice to explore how we related to food and comfort.

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]

On today's episode Luis welcomes Ryan Abramowitz, author and artist of the book "Elegy For An Elephant", and Melissa McConnell, who introduced Ryan's book to Luis, to have a group discussion about the grief of losing a loved one to suicide, and how powerful artistic expression can be.

Ryan discusses the process of creating and releasing the book, and how the way it has shifted things for him in his process. He talks about making new relationships with the trauma and grief, practicing releasing lingering guilt, the timelessness of love, and the value in connecting with nature.

You can read more about the book, and order it, here: www.narrativesofnature.com 18% of profits from books sold are donated to Lifeline, Movember and Support after Suicide Services.

You can visit Melissa's website here: www.thehoneybeetemple.com 
She is currently working on a book about the expressive arts and somatics.

Join the waitlist for the live 7-week to get early access to registration: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/course

To read more about, and register for, the 2025 Menla retreat, click here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/menla-retreat

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You can learn more on the website: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/

Learn more about the self-led course here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/self-led-new

Join the waitlist to pre-order Luis' book here: https://www.holisticlifenavigation.com/the-book

You can follow Luis on Instagram @holistic.life.navigation

Questions? You can email us at [email protected]