The Kendra Vantrice Podcast

Kendra Vantrice

Unfiltered reflections on faith, embodiment, leadership, and the cost — and reward — of no longer self-abandoning. soulfullyk.substack.com

Episodes

  1. 4d ago

    Reading the Body Without Shame

    There is a difference between noticing the body and condemning it. Reading the Body Without Shame is a reflection on interpretation, self-return, and the quiet practice of listening to ourselves without immediately turning what we discover into a problem to solve. Many of us learned how to override the body long before we learned how to understand it. We learned to push through exhaustion. To dismiss discomfort. To mistrust emotion. To treat the body as an obstacle rather than a source of wisdom. But what if the body is not asking to be corrected? What if it is asking to be heard? This episode explores embodiment, curiosity, survival, and the sacred work of returning to ourselves with honesty instead of judgment. “Awareness is not the same thing as judgment.” “The body is not asking to be controlled all the time. Sometimes it is asking to be witnessed.” “Noticing is not the same thing as condemnation” A Question from the Inner Well: What changes when you approach your body with curiosity instead of criticism? Body Sermons is an audio reflection series exploring embodiment, faith, nervous systems, power, and the inner lives of Black women. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    11 min

  2. May 27

    The Body Keeps the Theology

    There are forms of theology the mouth professes… and forms of theology the body remembers. The Body Keeps the Theology is a reflection on the ways belief systems move beyond doctrine and settle into the nervous system itself—shaping our relationship to safety, belonging, authority, worthiness, and God. This episode explores embodied theology, spiritual formation, survival, and the quiet ways the body interprets what environments teach long after the sermons end. Especially for Black women, the body often carries theological imprints formed through endurance, performance, silence, and the pressure to remain faithful while disappearing from ourselves. Because the body does not only remember trauma. The body remembers theology too. “My mouth knew the language of faith. My nervous system was learning the language of survival.” “If we are not listening to the body preach, our faith will begin sanctifying our survival.” A Question from the Inner Well: What did your body learn about God before you had language to question it? Body Sermons is an audio reflection series exploring embodiment, faith, nervous systems, power, and the inner lives of Black women. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    10 min

  3. May 20

    Inherited Silence

    Some things are never spoken aloud. And still…they are inherited. Inherited Silence is a reflection on what families, churches, cultures, and systems transmit without language—through tension, expectation, fear, endurance, and survival itself. This episode explores the ways silence becomes embodied. The ways the nervous system adapts around what could not be named. The ways Black women, in particular, often inherit emotional atmospheres long before they inherit explanation. Because the body remembers what language avoids. “What could not be safely expressed was often silently inherited.” “The body carries what the mouth was never permitted to say.” A Question from the Inner Well: What forms of silence did your body learn to interpret before anyone ever explained them to you? Body Sermons is an audio reflection series exploring embodiment, faith, nervous systems, power, and the inner lives of Black women. If this work has been meaningful to you, paid subscriptions are now open. Paid subscribers help support the continued creation of Body Sermons, essays, reflections, and future conversations exploring embodiment, faith, nervous systems, power, and the inner lives of Black women. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    11 min

  4. May 13

    Before Language, There Was Knowing

    Before language, the body was already interpreting the world. Before explanation, there was sensation.Before conscious thought, there was response. This episode explores pre-verbal intelligence—the ways the body learns safety, danger, belonging, and disappearance long before we have language to describe what we are experiencing. Especially for Black women, the body often becomes fluent in adaptation before the self is ever given permission to fully emerge. This is a reflection on nervous systems, memory, survival, and the quiet intelligence of the body. A Body Sermon. The body was learning long before the mind could explain The body remembers atmospheres language cannot always name. What if the body knew before you did? A Question from the Inner Well: What did your body understand about your lifebefore you had the language to explain it? Body Sermons is an audio reflection seriesexploring embodiment, faith, nervous systems,power, and the inner lives of Black women. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    8 min
  5. Before Somara Had a Name

    Apr 29

    Before Somara Had a Name

    Last week, I shared a word. What I realized almost immediately is that it didn’t begin there. Somara didn’t start with a name.It’s been forming through the work—through the questions I couldn’t let go of, through what I’ve felt in my body before I had language for it. This episode isn’t an introduction. It’s me tracing what has already been here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    7 min
  6. What Were We Taught About Each Other—In Practice

    Apr 15

    What Were We Taught About Each Other—In Practice

    There are things we say about each other. And then there are things we’ve been taught. Not explicitly.Not always consciously.But in ways that shape who we trust, who we move toward,and who we hold at a distance. This episode is not a conclusion. It’s a question I’m learning to sit with: What were we taught about each other? And more honestly— What does it cost to speak about it? This is a solo reflection. Not because there’s nothing to say collectively… but because I wanted to ground the question first. Before we answer it.Before we debate it.Before we try to resolve it. I’m staying in the conversation. ✨ Subscribe to Soulfully, K—where faith is not just believed, but lived in the body. © Kendra Vantrice | Soulfully, K This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    10 min
  7. Self Governance: Living Without Anesthesia

    Apr 1

    Self Governance: Living Without Anesthesia

    I’ve been thinking about what it actually means to govern yourself. Not as an idea.Not as language.But in real time. Because for a long time, I thought self governance meant: disciplinestructurecontrol Doing the right things.Holding everything together. But what I’m learning is… self governance is much more intimate than that. It is the decisionto stay with yourselfwhen everything in you wants to leave. I’ve been learning what it means to live my life…without anesthesia. Not numbing.Not overriding.Not outsourcing what I already know to be true. There is a cost to that. Especially when the structures that once held youno longer do. Especially when certainty isn’t available the way it used to be. But there is also something else on the other side: A different kind of stability.One that isn’t given.One that is lived. 🎧 Listen to the full episode: Self governance is not control. It is the moment you realize no one is coming to override what you already know… and you choose to stay with yourself anyway. I thought I needed more certainty. What I needed… was the capacity to live my life without anesthesia. A Question from the Inner Well Where in my life have I been living with anesthesia…and what might it mean to stay? © Kendra Vantrice | Soulfully, K This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    11 min
  8. The Red Queens's Religion: Why Systems of Power Never Stop Adapting

    Mar 18

    The Red Queens's Religion: Why Systems of Power Never Stop Adapting

    Lately, I’ve been noticing a kind of exhaustion in myself that doesn’t come from doing too much… It feels like I’m running…but not actually getting anywhere. And I’m starting to realize—it’s not just me. It’s the system "I’ve been running inside of. In this episode, I explore what I’m calling The Red Queen’s Religion—the quiet, persistent pressure to keep adapting, performing, and evolving just to remain in the same place. I used to think this was about work. About productivity. But I’m realizing it shows up everywhere… I’ve been seeing it in how I… * relate to myself—there’s this quiet pressure to be further along than I am * move through expectations—adjusting, responding, sometimes without even checking if it’s what I actually want * and even how we approach healing—turning it into something to get right…instead of something to move through Because sometimes…what looks like growth is just a more sophisticated version of survival. What I’m exploring in this episode: * Why systems of power never actually stop—they just adapt * How performance disguises itself as progress * The difference between awareness and embodiment * Why slowing down can feel threatening * What it might mean to step out of the cycle entirely If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything “right”…but still feel like you’re running—this conversation is for you. Take your time with this one. I’m not interested in teaching you how to run faster.I’m interested in exploring what it means to stop. Soulfully, K© 2026 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    9 min
  9. The Day I Stopped Hiding Behind My Work

    Feb 18

    The Day I Stopped Hiding Behind My Work

    For a long time, I believed I was behind in my life. In this opening episode, I share why I started this podcast under my own name — and what changed when I stopped confusing survival with destiny. this is a reflection on self-abandonment, competence as camouflage, and what it means to return to yourself in real time. If you've ever felt behind, this one is for you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit soulfullyk.substack.com/subscribe

    6 min
  • 9 Episodes

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Unfiltered reflections on faith, embodiment, leadership, and the cost — and reward — of no longer self-abandoning. soulfullyk.substack.com

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