Episode 165: Surviving & Thriving With Plants, Breath, and Words With Jennifer Patterson

Jennifer Patterson is a grief worker who uses plants, breath, and words to explore survivorhood, body(ies) and healing. A queer and trans affirming and centering, trauma-experienced herbalist and breathwork facilitator, Jennifer offers sliding scale care as a practitioner through her private practice Corpus Ritual and is a member of The Breathe Network. She has facilitated workshops at healing centers, LGBTQ centers, a needle exchange and harm reduction clinic, online with the Transformative Language Arts Network, sexual violence resource centers, at colleges and universities, veterans hospitals, the collective What Would an HIV Doula Do? and a Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish healing center. She is also a teacher in training programs with The Breathe Network and Breath Liberation Society. She is the author of The Power of Breathwork: Simple Practices to Promote Wellbeing (Quarto). Editor of the anthology Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from Within the Anti-Violence Movement (2016), Jennifer speaks across the country, and has had writing published in places like VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, 580 Split, OCHO: A Journal of Queer Arts, Nat. Brut, The Establishment, HandJob, and The Feminist Wire. She was also the creative nonfiction editor of Hematopoiesis Press. A graduate of Goddard College’s MA program, Jennifer is finishing a book project focused on translating embodied traumatic experience through somatic practices and critical and creative nonfiction. You can find more at corpusritual.com.   In This Episode:  Jennifer shares her origins story and how she came into trauma and sexual violence counseling and healing.  What prompted Jennifer to start studying herbalism, healing from mainstream spaces, and psychedelics.   How she started creating safe spaces for survivors and centering queer, trans, and non-binary people.  What led Jennifer to leave New York City and move to Northern New Mexico.  Her thoughts on how trauma has now become a mainstream word.  Jennifer's approach to healing to mitigate trauma and harm reduction.  How plant medicines helped Jennifer to understand the trauma in her body.  Rewriting the narrative around dissociation and the protective tools that we use as children and adults that are not necessarily negative.  How Jennifer incorporates writing and breathwork into her healing practice.  Jennifer's experiences in unwellness spaces and navigating these spaces.  Jennifer's current favorite plants.   Full Show Notes: Corpus Ritual Website Corpus Ritual Instagram Virtual Breathwork Groups Breathwork Book Queering Sexual Violence Anthology "Wellness WIthout Community Care Won't Make Us Truly Well" by Sara Weinreb for Well + Good  Laura Chung Instagram Laura Chung Tik Tok Laura Chung's Website YouTube Channel Ceremonial Cacao for 15% off use code: AWAKEN  Try The Class For One Month Free Awaken and Align Instagram Awaken and Align Website Bi-Monthly Moon Circles via Patreon  Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests.