October, Heavy and Hopeful

The calendar flips to October and the air feels heavier—yet there’s a pulse of hope running through it. We sit with that tension and talk frankly about awareness that actually heals: mental health beyond buzzwords, breast cancer beyond pink, and domestic violence beyond stereotypes. Instead of glossy slogans, we lean into the messy truth of mornings that feel impossible, bodies that hold old stories, and choices that take courage one small step at a time.

You’ll hear a brief, guided grounding practice you can repeat anywhere: 
If this conversation resonates, share it with someone who needs a steady hand today. Subscribe for more grounded, trauma-informed reflections, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your voice matters—what truth are you wearing this month?

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome, Music, and Season Setup
• 2:29 October’s Web of Awareness
• 4:39 Beyond Labels: Shared Human Struggle
• 6:46 Honesty About Healing’s Nonlinearity
• 9:14 Mind–Body Links and Somatic Wisdom
• 10:05 Guided Somatic Practice
• 14:14 Actionable Awareness: Checkups, Therapy, Boundaries
• 16:49 Worthiness, Compassion, and Closing Blessing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:12

That song It's Beautiful You Are by Ruby and Manfo. It's one of my favorite songs. And welcome to episode two of season seven. And to my new listeners, welcome. I'm Lorraine, your host, or I'm Redactor. Oh, I've had a journey to this point. I've been many lives. But my current life, I am a psychotherapist specializing in trauma, holistic care, trauma-informed, somatic informed, CBT-informed care. And this is my podcast, Am I There Yet? And this is a space where we kind of just slow down, you know, get real and talk about what it means to heal, to grow, and to find our way into life's messenger. You know that. So what are we gonna talk about this evening? We are in October already. We've entered into the last quarter of the calendar year already. It felt like just it was just Christmas yesterday. But October ushers in a certain heaviness tinged with hope. You know, nobody you look around in October and all you see just blankets of pink and a breast cancer awareness, breast cancer awareness. But this month also so also raises some other issues. It's mental health awareness month, it's domestic violence awareness month, it's child loss month, and yes, it is breast cancer awareness month. But let's for now we're tonight today. And I've just settled in to have this conversation. Because these conversations touch every one of us in some ways. Whether you're facing you face illness yourself, whether you've had to support someone through it, survived an abusive relationship, or just simply live through seasons of quiet struggle with your own mind. This episode, yeah, let's get into it. Because healing isn't something that belongs to a single group, it's a universal story and it connects us all. So this October, we're pausing and reflecting, not just on the statistics or rhythms, but on the people. Mental awareness isn't just about anxiety or depression, it's about that silent battle in the mornings when getting out of bed feels impossible. It's the mask we wear to work, and that laugh you give when you're trying to hide that exhaustion. Breast cancer awareness reminds us of bodies that we that have fought wars we can't see. You know, it's about the scars, the courage, the redefining of beauty, and it's about women and men. Because sometimes people seem to forget that men also get, you know, get you know suffer through breast cancer. So whether you're male or female, you know, just standing in front of a mirror and saying, I am still here. And then there's a topic of domestic violence awareness, and this reminds us of voices that are often silenced and that power required to reclaim them. It's about survival, not shame. Survival, not shame, it's about the man who finally leaves and that woman who finally tells, and the child who finally feels safe. Different experiences, yes, but you know, there's a shared friend between these three topics, and that is the courage to keep going. So this evening I want to talk, just speak honestly, just have a talk about awareness because awareness without honesty is just nice, seriously, and so the thing we we hear this all the time that healing is not linear, there are days when you feel strong, and others when you will just break down and wonder if you've undone all your progress, but healing doesn't mean you never fall apart again, you know. It means you know how to rebuild when you do. You don't stop getting triggered, you just stop getting triggered as often, and you know you know situations to avoid, you know how to circumvent certain conversations. So maybe your story includes therapy sessions, sleepless nights, hospital visits, quiet prayers, or silent tears. Maybe smart by resilience that you didn't even know you had. And if you're listening and you've never faced these experiences directly, this month is about empathy. Because holding space for others without judgment, without judgment, because we have to remember that pain in its many forms doesn't discriminate, it visits us all, whether we're male, female, young, old, curious, cautious, broken, or becoming. You know what I mean? But we have to remember they live in the same house. When the body suffers, the mind remembers. When the mind suffers, the body keeps going. And whether it's trauma from abuse, whether it's the anxiety that lingers after illness, or the fear that comes from knowing, not knowing what tomorrow holds, it all lives within us. So part of awareness is listening inward, you know, noticing how our shoulders tense when we're afraid, how our breast shortens when we're anxious, you know, how our heart feels heavy when we're grieving. And so I'm gonna invite you not to fight your body, but to return to it, to treat it like an ally and not an enemy. So we're gonna take a few minutes, we're gonna pause in the middle of my con or conversation, and we're going to do a somatic practice. Let's just take a few minutes to just be here. So if you're able, find a comfortable place to sit, shake your shoulders, shake your shoulders, yes, rest your feet on the floor, close your eyes, or just soften your gaze. Take a deep breath through your nose and exhale gently through your mouth. Now bring one hand to your heart and one hand to your belly. Let's feel the warmth of your palms, the rise and fall of your breath, and whisper quietly to yourself. I am still here. Still matters. If you face illness, offer your body gratitude, it is carrying. Offer your heart grace, it is still capable of love. If you face mental struggle, offer your mind compassion, it has tried to protect you. You are not broken, you are rebuilding, center down, move your neck, move your jaw, and come back, exhale. So whether you're male or female or somewhere in between, this episode isn't about labels, it's about the human experience. And we all bleed, we all cry, we all heal. And so what I'm invited to you to do maybe this October, that awareness may mean reaching out to check on a friend. Maybe it means scheduling that mammogram or calling that therapist. Maybe it's leaving a relationship that's been slowly destroying you, or simply decide that this is time you are this time you're going to choose you. Awareness is the beginning piece, but compassion, compassion for yourself, for others, that's the real medicine. So before we close, I want to remind you that you don't have to be perfect to be worthy, you don't have to be strong all the time to be resilient. You're allowed to heal softly and slowly. And this October, wear your ribbon if it feels right, but also wear your truth. Because awareness is not just about recognition, it's about reclaiming our stories. So this October, that's what we're doing. We are reclaiming our stories, and this is the rain, Irie Data. And you've been listening to Am I There Yet? Short and sweet. Until next time. Remember, you are not alone, and you're not your pain. You are your thing. You are perseverance. And you are beautiful. Until next time. We're all this is your reminder that we're all out in ourselves. Am I there yet? Bye bye, peeps.