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EP64: Beyond Talk Therapy: Transforming Trauma Through Embodied Practice with Charna Cassell
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In this episode, Alex talks with Charna Cassell, a Trauma-Trained Psychotherapist and Sexuality Coach from Oakland who combines somatic coaching, bodywork, and energy medicine in her practice. Charna explains why talk therapy often fails to create change in trauma recovery, and how physical practices can transform the nervous system in ways cognitive understanding cannot.
Charna shares her journey through "boundary bootcamp" at Good Vibrations and her training at the Strozzi Institute. "I really needed physical practice," she says about why ten years of talk therapy created awareness but didn't change her nervous system responses.
Throughout the conversation, Charna demonstrates somatic exercises that reveal embodied habits. She explains how our bodies show our patterns under minimal stress and introduces the concept that "until you have an embodied No, you can't have a genuine Yes." The episode covers how repetition creates new neural pathways—like a deer path that becomes visible after being walked repeatedly—and how practice transforms boundaries from rigid or absent to compassionate.
Key Highlights:
- 00:00 Introduction to Charna
- 04:06 Boundary bootcamp experience
- 10:15 Strozzi Institute training
- 14:47 Current practice overview
- 18:36 Contact exercise demonstration
- 24:02 Freeze response explained
- 27:45 Boundary progression stages
- 31:42 Healing relationship boundaries
- 33:16 Bodywork benefits described
- 37:54 Kundalini yoga journey
- 40:31 Managing collective fear
- 42:27 Breath of fire technique
- 44:04 Ways to work with Charna
Links & Resources
- Website: https://charnacassell.com/
- Website:https://passionatelife.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laidopenpodcast
- FacebookL: https://www.facebook.com/LaidOpenPodcast/
- Podcast: https://charnacassell.com/laidopen/
Find us Online:
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https://www.redbeardsomatictherapy.com/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedBeardSomaticTherapy
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