Sick and Seeking
Sick and Seeking is hosted by Leslie Field who, after a diagnosis in her late teens of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), has been on a 22-year journey of healing and self-discovery.
In this podcast, Leslie invites you to join her for intimate, honest and heartfelt conversations with others who are also on their own healing journeys as they live with and manage the long-term effects of “dis-ease” in the body.
Listen to the stories of courageous people who, in the face of an uncertain medical future, are on a quest to go deeper into their bodies, beyond symptom and diagnosis—or in some cases no diagnosis—to reach a place of intuitive knowing, healing and transformation.
This podcast is, above all, an exploration in healing and examines a variety of modalities and knowledge from conventional medicine to holistic and complementary therapies that bring a spiritual, psychological and mystical perspective to bodily healing in our modern culture.
Sick and Seeking
Ep. 5 | Julia LeFrancois on Ableism, Crip Kinship, Body Neutrality, Disability Justice and Living With Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis
In this episode I speak to storyteller and scholar Julia LeFrancois about her journey living with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. Julia identifies as a change-maker who strives for social and disability justice through her research and activism. We discuss many important topics including the societal invalidation of chronic illnesses, ableism, crip kinship, body neutrality and disability justice.
In this episode we speak about:
- How fibromyalgia is hard to diagnose and is often invalidated by the medical community.
- Finding our own way with both conventional and holistic therapies and trying different things to support oneself on their journey with their body
- How frustrating it can be that no matter what we do, our bodies have a brilliance of their own.
- How the feelings of self-loathing, shame, and anger can surface when attempting to be intuitive about one’s body and health.
- The concept of “BodyMind” and how we experience things both in our bodies and minds simultaneously
- The idea of physically "feeling your feelings".
- The idea of body neutrality vs body positivity.
- Disability awareness vs disability justice
- The crip community and their refusal to conform to society's unrealistic standards.
- Showing up in one's body as it needs to be, rather than conforming to societal expectations.
- The concept of ableism and how our world is set up for people who don’t have medical conditions.
- Patty Berne and her work in disability justice.
- Tricia Hersey and her book Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto
- Crip Kinship by Shayda Kafai
- How being in conversation about what you’re doing through in your body and life can be healing and cathartic
Timestamps:
03:06 - Julia’s diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and RA
04:21 - Fibromyalgia diagnosis and treatment
09:09 - Emotional Rollercoaster with Chronic Illness
10:16 - Sensitivity and Role as a Change-
🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥
- In-Person:
- Tuesday, 8:30am PT in South Pasadena, CA
- Wednesdays, 6:00pm PT in San Marino, CA
- Virtual/ ZOOM
- Thursdays, 5:30pm PT on ZOOM
🌟 FREE support group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT
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Sick and Se...
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