What happens when you've your life learning to be good, follow the rules, suppress your desires, and disconnect from your body? In this episode of Unmute with Priya, I sit down with Reanna Dillon, founder of Align and Prosper and a trauma-informed somatic coach who works with high achievers navigating religious and sexual trauma. Reanna grew up as a Jehovah's Witness and left the religion at fourteen. But leaving the environment didn't mean leaving behind everything it had taught her about herself. We talk openly about religious conditioning, sexual shame, perfectionism, people pleasing, overachieving, and the ways we can become disconnected from our bodies without even realizing it. This conversation also became deeply personal for me. As Reanna shared her experience, I began recognizing parallels with my own upbringing as the "good Indian girl", following the rules, suppressing parts of myself, and carrying shame around sexuality and self-expression. Together, we explore what it can look like to come back to yourself. Reanna shares how somatic work helped her move beyond intellectualizing her experiences and begin reconnecting with her body, sensuality, desires, playfulness, and sense of aliveness. And we talk about something many women may rarely say out loud: what happens when shame has made it difficult to experience pleasure or even feel fully present in your own body. In this episode, we explore: • How religious and cultural conditioning can shape our relationship with our bodies • Sexual shame and the messages women receive about desire and pleasure • The connection between perfectionism, people pleasing, and overachieving • Why leaving a restrictive environment doesn't automatically undo its conditioning • Sensuality beyond sex: food, movement, touch, beauty, pleasure, and presence • Giving yourself permission to play, celebrate, move, and take up space • Beginning to identify your own desires underneath everyone else's expectations If you've ever felt like you had to shrink yourself to be accepted, be "good," or belong, this conversation may give you a new way to think about what it means to come home to yourself. Connect with Reanna Dillon website: https://www.alignandprosper.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alignandprospercoach?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&stkn=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== email: reanna@alignandprosper.org
