22: Kimberly Johnson on Trauma, Our Nervous System and Creating Coherence In Our World

For episode 22, I sit down with my friend and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and author, Kimberly Ann Johnson to discuss childhood trauma, the nervous system and creating a world of coherence. This episode is deeply personal and essential for any person and any women seeking a vocabulary on how to better regulate their nervous system. 

In this episode, you will learn:

• How early childhood events and trauma helped shape Kimberly’s life and nervous system 
• How Kimberly sought refuge and confidence in academics growing up
• What Kimberly’s super power was growing up and what she believes it is now
• What learning/truth that still stays with Kimberly: “it is the tool or is it the person”
• What the process of writing “Call of the Wild” was for Kimberly 
• All about “Call of the Wild” and how its a call for women to move from prey to predator 
• What the nervous system is and what flight, fight, freeze and fawn are
• How a sympathetic response is helpful at times
• The ventral vagal nervous system and how it responses to safety and threat 
• How pleasure and productivity aren’t at odds with each other 
• Why we have been socialized to to avoid or weaponize pleasure 
• Why developing preferences on what we like and don’t like plays a role in our healing process. 
• How our puritanical inheritance of “put your head down and do it” isn’t service our capacity to enjoy pleasure 
• How the nervous system occilates and pendulates  
• What "clean pain" vs "dirty pain" is and how to apply them in life 
• What it means to have a reparative experience and how this helps us move on from trauma 
• What kimberley is actively unlearning 
• How forming a relationship with our elders can help us with our learning and unlearning

About Kimberly Johnson

Kimberly Johnson is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, birth doula, and postpartum educator who specializes in helping women recover from all from of trauma. In her book, “Call of the Wild”, Johnson offers an eye-opening look at the epidemic of “mind over matter” and a deep dive into how the nervous system responds to difficult events. 

Follow her at @kimberly.ann.johnson and her work at www.kimberlyannjohnson.com 

Please take the time to rate and review this podcast on Apple podcasts and share with a friend who would benefit. 

To learn more about Elisa and The School of Unlearning podcast, click here. 

About Elisa Haggarty: 

Elisa Haggarty is a Conscious Leadership Coach and host of The School of Unlearning Podcast. To learn more about her and her work, click here. 

Become a Patron! This podcast is and always will be a labor of love and community. I will not be using ads for my podcast to keep our conversations and time together focused and intentional. Thank you for contributing to keep The School of Unlearning ad free. Our learning and unlearning never ends, so let's do this together.

Become a patron here: https://www.patreon.com/thesoulpodcast/membership