Bodyful Episode #23: Cleveland Hughes on Trauma-Informed Boxing to Heal and Find Your Power

By Valerie Martin

As a person who’s never been into sports, the thought of walking into a boxing ring is more than a little intimidating— but that’s exactly what I did yesterday with the support of trauma-informed boxing coach Cleveland Hughes.

Not 10 minutes prior, I called it a “boxing rink” 🤡 😂 — so suffice to say, I don’t know much about boxing. But even with just a few minutes of instruction, it was so clear to me how useful these skills could be, not only to develop physical strength, but also sharp mental awareness, bodyfulness, and perseverance.

In this conversation, Cleveland and I talk about his journey to boxing, and his decision to gain further education to become one of the world’s first trauma-informed boxing instructors through his signature program, Healing Mitts. We also commiserated about some of the ways the fitness industry can be inherently harmful, especially for trauma survivors, when leaders do NOT have a fundamental awareness of trauma.

🎧 To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or visit this link to find the episode in your favorite podcast player. There will not be additional new episodes of Bodyful, but the existing episodes will live on in Valerie’s main podcast feed (which is now Bad B*tch Therapist podcast).=

About Cleveland Hughes (he/his)

Cleveland Hughes is a boxing coach and the developer of the Healing Mitts Intentional Boxing Training System. In 2009, a therapist suggested to Cleveland that he try boxing to help him cope with my anxiety and depression. He noticed the life lessons he was learning in therapy also applied to boxing. Through deep inner work, he gained the skills necessary to fight back against his mental health issues and trauma. He knew that he wanted to help people heal through the sport of boxing.

With 15 years of experience coaching boxing, and additional education on trauma-informed best practices, Cleveland developed Healing Mitts to help empower people struggling with mental health issues. He is proud to be a trauma-informed boxing coach and a mental health advocate.He currently offers group and private coaching in-person in Miami and Nashville (soon fully relocating to Nashville), as well as coaching online.

You can learn more about Healing Mitts at healingmittsboxing.com (a work in progress, more coming there soon!) and book a virtual or in-person session with Cleveland at the website or through DM on Instagram @clevelandh.boxing, where he shares tips and resources on boxing and mental health.

Stuff Mentioned + Additional Resources:

• Cobra Kai (if you watch it, track down the original 3 karate kid movies first — they are a must for backstory!)

• Bodyful episode 19 with Laura Khoudari on Healing Trauma One Rep at a Time

• Polyvagal theory

Bodyful #16: Solo Episode on Nervous System Regulation

By Valerie Martin

I've had a bad case of Life Getting in the Way recently— which has involved some amazing trips and experiences, but I'm eager to get back to a biweekly routine with the podcast!

My next guest interview was gracious about rescheduling when I got unexpectedly stuck in New York, so that episode will release in two weeks. 

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share a solo episode with a primer on self-regulation via working directly with the nervous system— why we should know about it and how we can do it, with a few of my go-to tools.

I hope you find this episode helpful, and I'd love to know if there are topics you'd like to see covered on future solo episodes, and/or guest recommendations for the show. (Comment on this post or email me at valerie@gaiacenter.co !

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Links + Additional Resources:

• Nadi Shodhana pranayama - alternate nostril breathing video demonstration

• Andrew Huberman - short video explaining the “physiological sigh” and a full episode of his pod that details more on this and other strategies

• Faster EFT - video explanation and demonstration

  • Melissa Tiers - the person who convinced me of the power of faster EFT!

• Legs of the Wall / Viparita Karani video demonstration

5 of Our Go-To Tools for Anxiety-Surfing

by Valerie Martin

For all of us, anxiety is a part of life. For some of us, anxiety is a WAY of life... and I've got news for you, babe: if that's you, this doesn't have to be your "normal."

I want to share with you five of my go-to strategies for "anxiety-surfing"— notice I'm not saying "anxiety management" or "anxiety control"... because I've learned that trying to manage and control anxiety is a bit like trying to force your way out of a Chinese finger trap (remember those?). You might resonate with some but not all of these, which is totally fine— and our awesome Gaia Center team has lots more tricks up our sleeves for anxiety that we’ll share in future blog posts, newsletters, and on our Instagram.

ONE

Alternate Nostril Breathing // Originally from the yogic tradition (known as nadi shodhana pranayama), this breath practice is incredibly effective— AND the extra cool thing is that it can be modified slightly to have a different effect, depending on whether you need to balance, energize, or chill TF out. Until I get around to recording my own tutorial, I'll share this one from the wonderful Adriene Mishler! 

TWO

Tapping // AKA Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, tapping is designed to work with the subtle body's meridians (also what acupuncture does) to clear energetic blockages that are causing physical and/or emotional pain. Does it sound woo woo? Absolutely. Does it work? Find out for yourself— for me and the clients I've shared it with, definitely. I love The Tapping Solution app (just ignore the weight loss section, #dietculture) and there are TONS of videos on Youtube that walk you through EFT for any challenge under the sun. Nine tapping points seem a bit too complicated for you? Learn "Faster EFT" by watching the last 90 seconds of this video with Melissa Tiers.

THREE

Leaves on a Stream // When you're having the racing-thoughts kind of anxiety, it can be really helpful to use a visualization trick like Leaves on a Stream to "unhook" from those thoughts. This is different from trying to force or WILL the thoughts away; rather, it's a practice of activating the observing mind, so it becomes clear that YOU are NOT the thinking mind. Here's a helpful tutorial! 

FOUR

Legs Up the Wall // I half-jokingly call this pose (known in Sanskrit as viparita karani) "Yoga Xanax," because it's an excellent way of activating the parasympathetic nervous system, AKA the "brake pedal" of your nervous system (and way more friendly to your nervous system than actual Xanax). And it's great because when you do this pose, you're doing something for yourself without actually DOING much of anything. You're laying up against a wall and swinging your legs up— and that's it. So when using some kind of more sophisticated skill seems a bit overwhelming, this one is very accessible... and you can modify it by swinging your lower legs up onto a couch or chair if you don't have any free wall space. Here's a visual!

FIVE

Naming the Story // A lot of times, the kinds of things we "spin out" about are based in catastrophic thinking, mind-reading, or other thought distortions that have us jumping to conclusions that are A) likely untrue, and B) certainly not helpful. Even just naming to ourselves (and sometimes someone else, too) the story we are telling ourselves can be incredibly helpful. Example: If you notice you're feeling defensive about something your partner just said, you could name out loud, "I'm telling myself the story right now that you think my idea was stupid." This is WAY more approachable than an accusatory snap like "fine, if you think my idea is so stupid, you decide!"— and it gives the other person an opportunity to "reality-check" your assumption.

We’d love to hear if any of these strategies are also go-to's for you, if you have questions, or want to share any suggestions about what works for you. Leave a comment below!

DISCLAIMER: All content shared on our website and social media is intended for educational purposes and is not considered therapy or a substitute for therapy or medical treatment.