QUESTIONING THE LABELS WE LIVE IN S3|E8

Welcome to the TRUE NORTH COLLECTIVE PODCAST: SEASON 3! With co-hosts Rachel Bellotti and Jenell Riesner, this is a gathering of un-sugar-coated conversations celebrating the untold stories of everyday people fearlessly finding and living their true north. 

In our own search to discover and live from our TRUE NORTH, we continue to meet many interesting, courageous people from all walks of life, doing all sorts of amazing things to live life in their own unique way. Stories from all over the world. Stories with heart. Stories with grit. Stories with plot twists. Stories going untold - until now. This season, we celebrate these untold stories of everyday people who are fearlessly living their true north and inspiring each of us to do the same.

Today, we talk to Joaquin Torres-Maryea, a dear friend of Jenell’s who worked with her on the MindBody Leadership + Development team. We unpack labels. Labels that we put on ourselves and others, feeling alone in our labels, how to live without labels, and unlearning and relearning who we actually are versus what society asks us to be. Plus, so many amazing nuggets around dancing and movement, the sweetness of silence and sitting in the discomfort of life, taking the easy way out, and the stories we live into. 

*note: this episode includes explicit language appropriate for those ages 16+

 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Tate Donovan
• Friends
• Sense8
• DISC assessment
• Brene Brown
• Wherever you go, there you are by Jon Kabat Zinn
• Marianne Williamson
• RuPaul
• H.P. Blavatsky
• CC Music Factory
• Hanson
• Music from: https://www.jukedeck.com/

 

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. The gift of slowing down, sitting in silence, and noticing the seemingly mundane moments and things around you can create a freshness, a beauty, a new perspective in life that isn’t really possible when we are constantly moving and keeping busy and staying distracted. And the more you can do this, the more you are actually YOU.
2. Labels absolutely serve a purpose; they are entirely good or bad. However, if you as a person can no longer be authentic because of a certain label in society or in your own household, it can be damaging because now we are hiding certain parts of ourselves from the world and ourselves. To shift this, we have to start to show up fully for ourselves first, and maybe eventually for the world.
3. Our body has a TON of wisdom and movement is a way to tap into soul guidance and innate, somatic awareness. It connects you to something magical and spiritual within and beyond this perceived reality. It’s a language that speaks beyond words and emotions into something life knowing. By moving we can tap into that innate life force/energy and get us trusting and listening and experiencing and living in our bodies and out of our heads.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [1:40] Jenell reaches a new low!
• [5:00] Introducing, Joaquin! ...and nicknames for Joaquin
• [11:00] A short story about a girl who hates silence
• [13:30] Standing naked in front of a mirror + sitting in discomfort
• [19:00] Making Jenell smile + first impressions
• [24:30] Are you your social labels?
• [33:00] Unlearning
• [43:00] Owning the labels that we put on ourselves
• [57:00] Finding a partner who's a friend (aka has a core self that you find valuable as-is)
• [1:01:00] Freedom + fluidity with love
• [1:06:00] What if we grew up in a society where we were truly free to date anyone?
• [1:12:00] Power of interdependence
• [1:15:00] Ultimate acceptance: we are all just trying to walk each other home
• [1:25:00] Moment by moment self-actualization
• [1:30:00] How dance + movement fits into finding + being yourself
• [1:48:30] How do you live your TRUE NORTH?
• [1:49:20] Contact Joaquin via IG @joaquin_a_tm