Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

Riva Jean-Paul
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Alternative Health
  • Updated Weekly

Are you feeling overwhelmed, disconnected from your body, or stuck in cycles of stress and trauma? Healing Her Story is here to guide you from feeling lost, isolated, and exhausted to feeling empowered, grounded, and deeply connected to yourself. This transformative podcast dives into trauma recovery, somatic healing, creativity, and the profound wisdom of trauma-informed menstrual cycle awareness. Each episode offers practical tools, inspiring stories of resilience, and insightful conversations to help you reconnect with your body, break free from societal expectations, and align with your natural rhythms. If you're ready to shift from surviving to thriving, join us as we illuminate the path toward healing, empowerment, and wholeness. It’s time to rewrite your story and embrace the life you deserve. Start your healing journey today with Healing Her Story—a podcast created for women, by women, who are reclaiming their power.

  1. 6d ago

    Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | Premenstrual Phase & the Waning Moon: The Science of Refinement & Creative Completion

    The waning moon is here, and with it comes one of the most underrated invitations of the entire cycle. As we come off the Aquarius full moon and close out our mini-series on creativity and the cycles, this week Riva explores what it actually means to refine, complete, and consciously let go, and why this phase of the lunar and menstrual cycle is biologically designed for exactly that. Through the metaphor of metal refinement, the science of the premenstrual brain, and her own real-time experience finishing a painting that had been sitting in the corner of her living room for months, Riva offers a grounded and practical lens for working with this often overlooked phase of the cycle. In this episode, you'll explore: 🌘 Why the waning moon and premenstrual phase are the most powerful time for refinement, editing, and completion in your creative practice 🌘 The metal refinement metaphor  and what it teaches us about what our creative work needs to become what it was always meant to be 🌘 The science behind the premenstrual brain: how the drop in progesterone activates the prefrontal cortex, sharpening focus, analysis, and discernment 🌘How completing projects builds deep trust in yourself and your creative process 🌘 What creative chaos is, why it shows up during this phase, and a simple tool to contain it without losing the ideas and so much more. Your invitation this week: Look at what is unfinished. Is there a project that only needs a little more work to be complete? Is there something that has been sitting in the corner, literally or metaphorically, waiting for you to return to it? This is your week. And if there is something that no longer feels alive, give yourself permission to release it. Not everything needs to be finished. Some things need to be composted. Resources to Support You This Week 🌹🤲🏼 🌸 Join Riva's Monthly Women's Circle — Sacramento — three spots remaining in the founding group; next gathering Friday, August 14th, timed perfectly with the new moon in Leo and total solar eclipse 📩 Book Your Somatic Assessment & Care Planning Session — two slots available this week; the first step into working more deeply with Riva Send us Fan Mail Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering. This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy. You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are. Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper: Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book HereFree Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn MoreMeditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen HereWatch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch HereFollow on Instagram: @healingherstorypodcast Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Email riva@windsofchangesac.com or DM @healingherstorypodcast on Instagram.

  2. Jul 31

    (REPLAY) Creativity as Medicine: What Happens When We Finally Share Our Truth with Leah Morris

    This week's Healing Her Story episode is a replay, and it is arriving at exactly the right time. As Riva has been moving through Leo season exploring themes of courage, creativity, and being seen, this conversation with her dear friend and transformational coach Leah Morris felt like it was made for this moment. Leah kept her self-portrait paintings in a closet for nearly twenty years. Not because they were not beautiful. But because she believed she was too much. That her emotional expression was a burden. That her art was too personal to be shared. But this carries profound wisdom about what happens when we finally let our truth be seen. In this episode Riva and Leah explore: How childhood emotional caretaking shaped Leah's relationship with self-expression and why she spent years believing her feelings were too much The moment a stranger saw her hidden paintings and cried and what that revealed about the power of authentic creative expression How two EMDR sessions shifted everything and led to the breakthrough belief that she gets to decide how much space she takes up What happened when she finally shared her art with the people closest to her and how their reactions taught her that other people's responses are not hers to carry Why framing her paintings felt like giving them boundaries and how that mirrors the work of protecting what we create before sending it into the world The connection between secure attachment and creativity and why the ability to take creative risks requires a felt sense of safety first How motherhood has become the ultimate creative act and what her daughter Eden witnessed by being present at the exhibit What Leah would say to every woman afraid to share her voice or her gifts — love yourself harder, and know that the fear was never yours to begin with This episode is a love letter to every woman with something beautiful still hidden in the closet. Connect with Leah Morris: liferemade.com @leahemorrisVlogLeah's Book - The Integrity Sessions Send us Fan Mail Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering. This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy. You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are. Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper: Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book HereFree Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn MoreMeditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen HereWatch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch HereFollow on Instagram: @healingherstorypodcast Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Email riva@windsofchangesac.com or DM @healingherstorypodcast on Instagram.

  3. Jul 27

    Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | Full Moon in Leo: Your Creative & Menstrual Cycle Peak — Here's How to Work With It

    This week's Healing Her Story episode tunes into the energy of the full moon in Leo -- and the timing could not be more perfect. The sun just entered Leo. The full moon is at its peak. And as we have been exploring this cycle, this is exactly the moment where everything shifts from intention into expression. But this carries profound wisdom about what the full moon is actually asking of you creatively. If you have been following along since the new moon, you planted a seed. You chose a project, an intention, a creative focus. This is the week it starts to take form. In this episode Riva explores the culminating energy of the full moon and what it means for your creative practice and menstrual cycle. This is no longer about dreaming or planning. This is about showing up and doing your part. She covers: Why the full moon is where the rubber meets the road and how to channel the amplified energy into pure expression How to pick one thread that runs through everything when you have too many creative desires to choose from Sharing and being seen -- why the full moon is an invitation to put what you have been creating out into the world What happened in Dr. Tavina's writing circle and why writing with no agenda for 20 minutes can be surprisingly nourishing and freeing A special invitation for women local to Sacramento — Riva's women's circle is welcoming three new members and the next meeting is Friday August 14th If something has been building in you this cycle, this is your sign to let it move. Resources to Support You This Week 🌹🤲🏼  Learn More About Riva's Monthly Women's Circle Dr. Tavina Lynn's Writing Circle Somatic Meditation for Feeling More ConfidentSend us Fan Mail Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering. This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy. You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are. Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper: Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book HereFree Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn MoreMeditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen HereWatch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch HereFollow on Instagram: @healingherstorypodcast Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Email riva@windsofchangesac.com or DM @healingherstorypodcast on Instagram.

  4. Jul 24

    The Fear of Being Seen: Why Your Nervous System Was Wired to Hide

    This week's Healing Her Story episode steps into one of the most charged threads of Leo season. Being seen. Not just on a stage or in a spotlight. But in the everyday moments where we hold back our opinions, our photos, our ideas, our truest selves. But this carries profound wisdom about why so many women find it so hard to show up and what the research actually says about it. In this solo episode, Riva opens with data that stops you in your tracks. Forty four percent of women report fear of public speaking. Fifty nine percent say fear of online backlash makes them less likely to share their opinions. Fifty four percent are less likely to share photos of themselves online. Over half of women are hiding. And it is not a mindset problem. Riva explores the evolutionary and biological roots of this fear, including why the same brain regions that activate during physical pain also light up during social rejection. She unpacks why the nervous system was literally designed to keep us hidden, and why that once kept us alive. She covers: The statistics on women and visibility and why the gap between men and women is significant Why being seen triggers a survival response rooted in the oldest parts of the nervous system Polyvagal theory and why women freeze, fawn, or go quiet in the exact moment they are invited to show up Imposter syndrome and why it shows up more in women than in men Riva's personal journey with being seen from performance art and numbing, to studio art critiques and wearing a menstrual cycle dress in front of her class Three practical tools to begin building capacity for the discomfort of visibility This episode is not about pushing through the fear. It is about understanding where it lives in your body and slowly, gently learning to stay with it. Resources to Support You This Week:🌹🤲🏼  Somatic Meditation for Feeling More ConfidentWhat is Somatic Breathwork?Sources: Public Speaking Statistics — Teleprompter.com — public speaking anxiety gender gap (44% women vs. 37% men), sourced from NIH data30+ Revealing Fear of Public Speaking Statistics — Crown Counseling — glossophobia/specific phobia rates by gender (12.2% women vs. 5.8% men)Gendered Inequalities in Online Harms: Fear, Safety Work, and Online Participation — ScienceDirect — online expression gap (23% of women vs. 40% of men comfortable expressing political views online)Gendered Inequalities in Online Harms (preprint) — arXiv — fear of backlash reducing sharing (59% less likely to share opinions, 54% less likely to share photos); origins of that fear (37% of women cite a female friend's experience)Nearly Half of Gen Z and Millennial Women Fear Being Judged — Principal Foundation via PR Newswire — fear of judgment silencing disclosure (45% of women vs. 33% of men)Send us Fan Mail Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering. This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy. You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are. Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper: Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book HereFree Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn MoreMeditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen HereWatch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch HereFollow on Instagram: @healingherstorypodcast Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Email riva@windsofchangesac.com or DM @healingherstorypodcast on Instagram.

  5. Jul 20

    Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | How to Work With Waxing Moon Energy for Your Creative Practice & Menstrual Cycle

    This week's Healing Her Story episode continues the Leo season mini series on creativity -- exploring how the lunar and menstrual cycle can inform the way we create, what we focus on, and the energy we bring to it. This phase is associated with the season of spring. Rebirth. Fresh starts. New beginnings. And there is so much creative potential available right now. But this carries profound wisdom about what this tender, emerging energy actually needs from us. In this episode Riva introduces the three P's for your creative practice during the waxing moon and follicular phase. Planning -- blocking time, gathering supplies, mapping out the month, and getting clear on what you actually want to create Protecting -- why sharing your creative work too soon can invite the inner critic in before the idea has had a chance to take root, and how to be intentional about who you share with and when Pacing -- why doing too much too soon during this rising energy phase leads to burnout before you even reach ovulation, and how to nourish yourself back to center before pushing forward Riva also shares her own personal creative recommitment this cycle, including her dance practice, a painting waiting on big canvases, a song in progress, and the childlike pull toward possibility that spring always brings. If you tend to surge forward and crash before the full moon, this episode is for you. Resources to Support You This Week 🤲🏼🌹 🧘 Somatic Meditation for Patience & Anxiety Relief — this week's trauma-informed somatic meditation on Insight Timer to support you in pacing yourself through the waxing moon ✍️ Dr. Tavina Lynn's Writing Circle — a free community writing circle meeting every second Sunday, a beautiful way to create accountability in your creative practice 🌀 Synchronize — Menstrual Cycle Coaching — Riva's four-month menstrual cycle coaching program for women ready to go deeper with their cycle awareness and reclaim every phase Send us Fan Mail Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering. This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy. You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are. Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper: Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book HereFree Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn MoreMeditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen HereWatch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch HereFollow on Instagram: @healingherstorypodcast Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Email riva@windsofchangesac.com or DM @healingherstorypodcast on Instagram.

  6. Jul 17

    Somatic Healing & Conscious Breathing: How Breathwork Rewires Trauma with Dr. Colleen Quinn, Author of Essence Merging

    This week's Healing Her Story episode welcomes a guest whose healing journey took her from traditional psychology into the depths of breathwork, somatic healing, and spiritual transformation. Dr. Colleen Quinn is a transpersonal psychologist, breathwork practitioner, and author of Essence Merging -- a book that traces her path from health crisis to profound awakening and the discovery that love is the primary healer. But this carries profound wisdom about what becomes possible when we stop trying to think our way through trauma and start breathing our way through it. Riva opens up about her own synchronicities while reading Colleen's book, including deep connections to her breathwork practice and her recent studies on in utero wounds. This conversation felt destined. In this episode Riva and Colleen explore: How a health crisis became a doorway into breathwork and energetic healing after traditional psychology reached its limits The difference between fast paced and slow paced breathwork and why slower circular integrated breathing creates a safer, deeper healing environment for trauma How breathwork activates DMT in the pineal gland lighting up the brain in ways similar to plant medicine experiences Why the body stores emotional energy for decades and how conscious breathing creates the conditions to finally release it The concept of essence merging and surrender and why true surrender means detaching from the ego to fully merge with the present moment Collective awakening and what we are moving through right now and why love is the only true healer for physical, mental, and emotional pain Practical ways to begin exploring conscious breathing even outside of a formal breathwork session This episode is for anyone who has done the talk therapy, read the books, and is ready to go somewhere deeper. Connect with Dr. Colleen Quinn: WebsiteSelf Therapy BookColleen’s YouTubeColleen’s Book: Essence MergingSend us Fan Mail Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering. This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy. You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are. Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper: Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book HereFree Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn MoreMeditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen HereWatch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch HereFollow on Instagram: @healingherstorypodcast Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Email riva@windsofchangesac.com or DM @healingherstorypodcast on Instagram.

  7. Jul 13

    Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | Leo Season & the New Moon: Aligning Creativity With Your Menstrual Cycle

    The new moon is here, and so is a new focus. As we slowly close out Cancer season and welcome the energy of Leo next week, this week's Cycle Sync episode marks the beginning of a brand-new creative arc. Over the coming weeks, we'll be exploring how to work with each phase of the lunar and menstrual cycle to support and deepen your creative practice. In this episode, Riva shares real-time reflections from her own bleeding time, including a spontaneous visit to a contemporary art museum, what she discovered reading Her Blood Is Gold, and how indigenous perspectives on the menstrual cycle reframe the bleeding time not as a period of fragility, but as a time of profound psychic power and creative potency. In this episode, you'll explore: How the new moon and bleeding time are a powerful entry point for your creative practiceWhat indigenous traditions understood about women's psychic power during menstruationWhy the bleeding time is a time of retreating and potency, not just restHow to begin (or recommit to) a creative practice in alignment with your cycleThree practical ways to work with new moon and bleeding time energy for creativity this weekResources to Support You This Week 🌹🤲🏼 📖 Her Blood Is Gold — the book Riva references in this episode on menstrual cycle wisdom and the psychic potency of the bleeding time 🎙️ The Menstrual Cycle & the Moon — Healing Her Story Podcast — a deeper dive into the connection between your cycle and the lunar cycle 🗺️ The Cycle Support Map — Riva's $4.95 PDF guide to working with every phase of your menstrual cycle, plus weekly trauma-informed somatic meditations delivered to your inbox for one full cycle Send us Fan Mail Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering. This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy. You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are. Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper: Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book HereFree Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn MoreMeditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen HereWatch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch HereFollow on Instagram: @healingherstorypodcast Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Email riva@windsofchangesac.com or DM @healingherstorypodcast on Instagram.

  8. Jul 10

    Why We're Starving for Community and Why the Village We're Missing Is the Cure with Laura Ambrosio, founder of Aspen & Elder

    In this episode, Riva sits down with Laura Ambrosio, founder of Aspen & Elder, to talk about what it really takes to build community in a culture that often rewards isolation. Laura shares the personal story behind her work, including her own childhood experience of navigating shame and confusion after abuse, and how that search for safety and belonging eventually led her to years of travel and self-discovery. She opens up about the contrast between individualistic Western culture and the collective, reciprocal community she experienced abroad, and how that shaped her vision for Aspen & Elder. The conversation moves into what authentic friendship actually requires: showing up as the friend you want to have, having the hard conversations, and resisting the pull of "artificial intimacy" that social media offers instead of real connection. Laura also shares how embracing her feminine and manifestor energy (rather than pushing through in a masculine, hustle-driven way) has changed how she's building this next chapter, including asking for help with things like grant writing instead of trying to do it all alone. Key Topics Discussed Laura's early experience of feeling misunderstood in a religious household, and how that shaped her search for belongingHer personal healing journey and how it led her to years of travelWhat she learned abroad, particularly contrasting Brazilian community culture with American "bootstraps" individualismWhy she built Aspen & Elder: intergenerational connection, humanizing people across political and religious linesThe real cost of "artificial intimacy" and social media on friendshipWhat it actually looks like to become the kind of friend you want to haveHow conflict, handled well, can deepen a relationship (including in marriage)Leading Aspen & Elder through her feminine and manifestor energy in human designWhat's next: renovating a vacant Sacramento building into a community art hub and space for female entrepreneurs Resources & Links 🤲🏼🌹 Learn more about Aspen & ElderSupport the Kickstarter to open Aspen & Elder Community Wellness SpaceConnect with Laura on InstagramSend us Fan Mail Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering. This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy. You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are. Looking for support? Here's how to go deeper: Book a Somatic Assessment: Your 75-min 1:1 virtual session to explore what your body is holding and shape a personalized care plan. Book HereFree Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: A self-guided intro to trauma recovery and nervous system care. Download Here1:1 and Group Support: Virtual and in-person offerings. Learn MoreMeditations on Insight Timer: Guided practices for nervous system regulation. Listen HereWatch Reclamation: A music video and expressive arts project. Watch HereFollow on Instagram: @healingherstorypodcast Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Email riva@windsofchangesac.com or DM @healingherstorypodcast on Instagram.

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About

Are you feeling overwhelmed, disconnected from your body, or stuck in cycles of stress and trauma? Healing Her Story is here to guide you from feeling lost, isolated, and exhausted to feeling empowered, grounded, and deeply connected to yourself. This transformative podcast dives into trauma recovery, somatic healing, creativity, and the profound wisdom of trauma-informed menstrual cycle awareness. Each episode offers practical tools, inspiring stories of resilience, and insightful conversations to help you reconnect with your body, break free from societal expectations, and align with your natural rhythms. If you're ready to shift from surviving to thriving, join us as we illuminate the path toward healing, empowerment, and wholeness. It’s time to rewrite your story and embrace the life you deserve. Start your healing journey today with Healing Her Story—a podcast created for women, by women, who are reclaiming their power.

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