161 - Alexa Silvaggio - Chocolate, Pleasure, and Loving Your Whole Self

Conversations With a Wounded Healer

“It doesn't matter what your purpose is; it could be a doctor or a dog mom. Doesn't matter. But you're not gonna do it wholeheartedly if you're obsessing about the size of your thighs.” ~Alexa Silvaggio

Chocolate and ketamine.

Yes, that would be a fantastic title for a double album! Instead, they’re the ingredients for a vibe-altering conversation with wellness entrepreneur and chocolatier Alexa Silvaggio. As CEO of Savage Chocolates, she helps people cultivate an experience of pleasure and presence through chocolate.

Alexa believes in pleasure done well, pleasure done mindfully. “I don't have any interest in consuming something that leaves me feeling worse than when I started,” she says. That goes as much for people and experiences as it does food.

Alexa’s affinity for pleasure - so often treated as a dirty word and frivolous pursuit in Western culture - was born out of the years she spent restricting herself into an eating disorder. Alexa began internalizing both the conspicuous and covert messages about body shape and size at a young age, essentially disappearing in an attempt to become more valuable. The loop of self-hatred played in Alexa’s head nonstop throughout college until her sister finally helped her hit stop.

There’s a spiritual quality with which Alexa talks about starvation - of the body, of the soul. Likewise, the practices and methods she’s leaned on along her healing journey.

Y’all, I had such a soul-satisfying visit with Alexa that we didn’t even get to the healer/wounded healer questions! And I don’t even care because, instead, we unraveled several threads at once, including my decision to begin ketamine treatments, the death of Alexa’s beloved mother, and the myriad paths that reconnect us to our source.

Listeners, use promo code PAUSEBREATHESAVOR25 for 25% off Savage Chocolate!

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Alexa Silvaggio is a wellness entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. She is a yoga instructor, writer, podcast host, retreat leader, and CEO of Savage Chocolates, a mindfulness chocolate brand. She encourages you to cultivate a more loving relationship with your body and self through all she teaches. She would love to connect with you!

For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: http://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast

HEY THERAPISTS...

You’re invited to Head/Heart Conversations, our webinar series designed for psychotherapists who want to invite their inner healer to the forefront of both work life and personal life. In this four-part series, we will invite participants to learn about themselves as well as enhance their clinical skills.

Details & Registration: http://tinyurl.com/hhconvos

Promo Code for $20 off: podcast

Friday, May 7, 2021 - Trauma from the Individual to the Collective by Rayell Grayson, LCPC, CADC and Sarah Buino, LCSW, RDDP, CADC, CDWF Friday, September 17, 2021 - Body Language by Joanna Taubeneck, LCPC, R-DMT, GL-CMA, E-RYT Friday, November 19, 2021 - Queering our Conversations by Benji Marton, LCSW

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Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork.

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