In this powerful and deeply embodied conversation, I sit down with Juliana Allen - somatic experiencing practitioner, trauma-informed guide, and founder of Reclaim with Juliana - to explore nervous system regulation, reclaiming your body, and increasing your capacity to live from truth instead of obligation.

Juliana shares her journey of overriding her body for decades - through dance culture, perfectionism, an eating disorder, and even heteronormative expectations - before finally learning how to listen inward. Her story of coming out later in life during the pandemic is a powerful reminder that we don't know what we don't know - until we slow down enough to feel.

This episode is about unlearning, grounding, increasing nervous system capacity, and reclaiming your fire in a way that doesn't burn you.

Juliana will also be kicking off our 2026 Speaker Series inside the Embracing Intensity Community, where she'll go deeper into nervous system regulation and capacity building. I'm still welcoming feedback on the 2026 lineup - so reach out if you have requests!

Juliana Allen (she/her) is a somatic experiencing practitioner in advanced training who specializes in nervous system regulation and trauma healing through the body. Through her work at Reclaim with Juliana, she helps women reconnect with their bodies, increase emotional capacity, and stop overriding their inner truth.

Her work is grounded in lived experience - including recovery from a long-term eating disorder, coming out as a lesbian in her mid-30s, and dismantling perfectionistic conditioning rooted in ballet culture. She brings depth, honesty, and fierce compassion to the healing process.

You can find her at:

• Instagram: @reclaimwithjuliana

• Website: reclaimwithjuliana.com

• How overriding the body begins early - through school structure, dance culture, and social conditioning

• The connection between perfectionism, eating disorders, and nervous system dysregulation

• What it was like to come out later in life during the pandemic

• Why many of us were never taught to know what we actually want

• The role of somatic experiencing in trauma healing

• Why nervous system capacity determines how much we can hold - emotionally and relationally

• The difference between artificial regulation (like forcing calm) and true embodied regulation

• Why grounding is essential for fiery, "windy," or ADHD-leaning personalities

• How intensity becomes a gift once we learn how to stay with it

• Increasing your capacity so you can better serve others - and expand impact outward

Juliana speaks candidly about years of overriding hunger cues, emotions, sexuality, and discomfort - and how learning to "stay with" sensations changed everything.

The more regulated your nervous system, the more you can hold - for yourself and for others. Capacity expands impact.

Intensity feels overwhelming when we don't know how to be with it. But when grounded and embodied, it becomes power.

Especially for those who feel "airy," fiery, or scattered - grounding practices and anchors are essential.

"The more work I do personally, the more my capacity increases. The more my capacity increases, the more I'm able to hold with other people. And then the more their capacity increases, the more they are able to do their work in the world. And it just expands."

• Reclaim with Juliana: https://www.reclaimwithjuliana.com

• Instagram: @reclaimwithjuliana

• Join the Embracing Intensity Community: embracingintensity.com/community

• Free Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook: embracingintensity.com

If this episode resonated, consider sharing it with someone who's learning to trust their body again.

And if nervous system regulation is something you've wanted to understand more deeply, join us in 2026 when Juliana returns to speak live inside the community.

Intensity doesn't have to be overwhelming.
With capacity, it becomes expansive.

This week on Embracing Intensity, I'm thrilled to finally sit down with the powerful and passionate Inger Shaye Colzie, a therapist and coach working at the intersection of ADHD, identity, and cultural experience. Inger shares her journey of being diagnosed with ADHD later in life, after decades of navigating systems and expectations that didn't see her neurodivergence—or the unique challenges that come with being a Black woman with ADHD.

Together, we dive into her experiences growing up gifted but overlooked, her path to founding the ADHD Black Professionals Alliance, and how she helps others own their fire and intensity without apology. Inger's insight, humor, and realness make this an episode you won't want to miss.

P.S. We're planning to bring Inger back for a guest call in the Embracing Intensity Community during the 2026 speaker season—I'd love your feedback on upcoming topics and guests!

Inger is a therapist, ADHD coach, and the founder of the ADHD Black Professionals Alliance. Diagnosed later in life, she now uses her lived experience, clinical knowledge, and coaching tools to support other Black women navigating life, work, and relationships with ADHD. Through her practice and community, she creates spaces for healing, advocacy, and unapologetic self-discovery.

• The experience of being undiagnosed with ADHD well into adulthood—and what finally led her to seek answers

• Growing up as an intense, passionate child whose energy was often misunderstood

• Why culturally relevant care is essential for Black women with ADHD

• The emotional impact of living with ADHD in a world not built for neurodivergent minds

• How diagnosis and coaching helped her reframe her identity and harness her gifts

• Creating the ADHD Black Professionals Alliance as a safe and empowering space

• Turning down the dial—or turning it up with intention

• The importance of coaching, community, and embracing your whole self

• Inger Shaye Colzie's Website & Coaching Info (link to be added)

• ADHD Black Professionals Alliance: [Website or community link]

• Join the Embracing Intensity Community

Whether you're navigating ADHD yourself or supporting others who are, this episode offers compassion, clarity, and community. Inger's story is a reminder that it's never too late to rewrite the narrative—and that when we embrace our fire, we light the way for others.

🎧 Listen now and share with someone who needs to hear they are not broken—just unseen.

In this powerful episode of Embracing Intensity, I'm joined by the insightful and compassionate Fizzah Zaidi, a psychotherapist who specializes in working with neurodivergent individuals. We explore the complexities of executive functioning, and how understanding our brain's unique operating system can transform how we show up for ourselves and others.

Fizzah brings deep experience from her work with high-achieving neurodivergent clients in the tech, medical, and legal fields. Together, we discuss how neurodivergent brains often struggle not because they're broken, but because they're functioning differently—and those differences can also be sources of strength.

Fizzah Zaidi is a Chicago-based psychotherapist with a passion for working with neurodivergent adults. Her practice supports many twice-exceptional individuals in high-demand professions, and her work includes educating organizations on how to better support neurodiverse teams. Diagnosed with ADHD just before entering graduate school, she dove deep into understanding the brain and executive functioning through continuing education and real-world application.

• Why rest isn't always about being still—and how energizing activities can also be restorative.

• The link between executive dysfunction and rejection sensitivity.

• How big-picture thinkers can better support task initiation and follow-through.

• Understanding the role of the prefrontal cortex and limbic system in executive functioning.

• Why complex tasks might be easier than basic ones for some neurodivergent folks.

• The importance of personalized strategies over one-size-fits-all "fixes."

• Using self-regulation instead of self-control to support executive function.

• Shifting the mindset from "fixing" to understanding your operating system.

• Fizzah Zaidi's Website

• Join the Embracing Intensity Community

• Find Workbooks

• Embracing Intensity Guest Call Library