Today we’d like to introduce you to Janna Diamond.
Hi Janna, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been a sensitive human. Growing up feeling deep empathy for people, animals, and the earth, was not always the easiest place to navigate the world from. I learned early on, like many of us do, that to keep ourselves from getting hurt, we develop strategies (often reflexive and automatic) to disconnect from or protect those sensitive places. And in the process, lose connection with our true nature and the full range of our human experience.
I’ve spent the last two decades working with mentors who have supported me to see that the sensitivity I learned to mask was actually a receptivity and responsiveness to life and that it’s a much-needed thing in the world! So I’ve been on a quest to reclaim parts of myself that I had to hide and help others to do the same, which isn’t just for our own personal benefit.
This led me down the path of training in somatic (body-oriented) therapy, which emphasizes that our bodies, not just our minds, carry our stories, memories, trauma, and most importantly, our wisdom. Learning the language of the body supports us to come into closer contact with our humanness and gives us a map for integrating the fragmented or hidden parts of ourselves. And the awareness, or wholeness, we grow in the process has big ripples out into our relationships, our communities, and the world.
In essence, all my life experience has played a role in informing my work of guiding others to be present with what life presents, take better care of each other and the earth, and find beauty, joy and ease along the way.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Every challenge has been a teacher and each struggle steers me toward more clarity around the work I’m here to do at this moment on earth, where our actions, aliveness, and ability to respond to life around us really matter.
Healing is inner and outer work. To get to the good stuff, we have to trek through the sticky spots and meet our vulnerability, which has big rewards. Any moment we feel stuck or notice the same pattern playing out is an opportunity to slow down and connect with what’s happening on a deeper level. This is a process that never stops but does get smoother with practice.
In addition to learning to meet emotions and sensations on the inside, healing happens in relationships with one another and in kinship with the natural world. We need each other far more than we may realize, and this challenges the myth of individuality that’s so dominant in modern culture today.
I know firsthand how important opening to support can be. For the personal struggles, family struggles, and also the collective ones, life is constantly asking us to adapt, evolve, and soften. I’m grateful for the amazing teachers along the way who have encouraged me to keep going.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Evolutionary Somatic Practice?
I offer an integrative therapeutic approach to trauma healing that supports people to embody transformation in their lives. This looks like evolving limiting perceptions, growing embodiment skills, expanding emotional resilience and practicing feeling good in our moment to moment experience.
I call this work Evolutionary Somatic Practice and it’s about coming into deeper relationship with yourself, your loved ones, and the animate earth. At its core, I guide people to find safety, courage, and belonging in complex and uncertain times.
Which leads me to the work I’m most known for, which is a specialization in climate change. At this moment, as temperatures reach record highs, floods occur in places they shouldn’t be, and wildfires wreak havoc on air quality, we are witnessing accelerated shifts in the environment that are eliciting anxiety, anger, grief, and fear in individuals and communities. These are appropriate responses if you’re paying attention, and there’s great wisdom available here.
As a climate-aware and trauma-trained somatic practitioner, I help individuals and groups transform overwhelm and despair, build nervous system capacity, and generate new and expansive pathways for self-expression that move us toward the future we want.
I work primarily one-on-one with adults in person in my Atlanta office and virtually around the world. Clients include leaders in a wide range of fields, educators, scientists, students, entrepreneurs, therapists, and anyone curious about bringing more consciousness, connection, and creative possibility into their lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jannadiamond.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolve.and.practice/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvolutionarySomaticPractice
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jannadiamond/
Image Credits
Jordan Diamond
