Radical Adventures in Wellness | LaTreice V Branson

latreice v. Branson

RADICAL ADVENTURES IN WELLNESS

Challenging the mind and body through an adventurous wellness practice.

Wellness is an extension of our self-care practice. Caring for the self is a reflection of our self-awareness, self-acceptance, and self-love. The R.A.W. method welcomes participants to re-imagine wellness through guided conversations, leadership trainings, collaborative art making and pop-up adventures in Mother Nature.

With a focus on the rested life, encouraging physical endurance and spiritual renewal, we affirm that rest is not achieved in sleep state alone, but in the amplitude, trough and crest of the awakened soul. There is a flow to the rested life, and as we remain alert to both spiritual and natural frequencies, we are able to allow wisdom to guide and preserve our energy. We mustn’t allow an individualistic, capitalistic society to drain us with competition and attention-seeking desperations. Comparison breeds envy, which inevitably hinders us from the potent impact of collaborative work. The art of collaboration will preserves us, enhances us, and give us room for rest.

Becoming well is challenging, and it not always comfortable. There is no immediate gratification in this method, but the long-term benefits are sustaining. What we must do to achieve a state of well-being will require sacrifice; we must be willing to reach outside of our comfort zone and explore new strategies to strengthen the mind, body and spirit through preparedness, patience, adaptation, perseverance, and rest.

My wellness journey...

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" I have been living with chronic pain and depression for most of my adult life. I first began experiencing pain as a child, and as I looked back, the only time that I was not plagued by my pain was while I was in the midst of drumming.

After I discovered the restorative power of drumming for myself, I started out on a mission to share the joy of drumming with as many people as I could, with an emphasis on others that are living with illness, chronic pain, depression and trauma.

My mission is curate spaces where individuals are welcomed to experience radical wellness, by reconnecting with their inner drum - the heart, by redirecting their pain receptors through touch, by exploring new challenges that invite us to re-imagine and diversify our personal wellness strategies."

Outreach programming for individuals overcoming violent trauma

“I loved how she explained how, we all had different instruments, but she said, ‘Stay on your beat, your tempo. If somebody else switches up, just you know, make sure you stay doing your same beat. And you know, that kind of when it came together, it was pure music. It just kind of showed me, it spoke to me like, no matter what you’re doing or what someone else is doing, it can come together in a marvelous way. And also, I like how she was open to talk about her trauma. She kind of re-directed trauma, she re-identified trauma, she kind of like, with the music showed that you can use other forms to release your trauma, just like every other program or segment to this program. Every other teacher showing you ways to just redefine trauma and how to release it you know.”

“I loved drumming. I liked the drumming part but she was just such a positive, up-beat…The word for her is just cool. She was cool. A real cool person, seriously. So positive. Energy. Cool.” - Transcript excerpts from "Healing Hurt People Program"

Workshops on self-care

The next generation of young people need to see what restored adults look like; they need to hear our stories and experience a community of individuals who are here to support and encourage their emotional wellness.

I always ask youth to remember how young they were when they first experienced psychological or physical abuse. Imagine if we could prevent even one child from experiencing that pain? What if we could empower a room full of young people to protect their hearts and empower their resolve. What if they're given wellness strategies in adolescence?

What if we came together and became determined to change the generational narrative of trauma in our communities? We might just change the world!

Interactive jam sessions that create a culture of sharing in schools, in the workplace and at college campuses

With the belief that we all have rhythm, we welcome college students and faculty to experience a new soundscape, rooted in improvisation, set to the beat of the drum, encouraging participants to use their gifts and talents to create positive change.

"I loved meeting other musicians. I'd never played drums before today, but you made me feel like I could. And I did."

- from "The Jam Jawn" at Drew University

"Did you see my comment on your video last night? I wrote that your performance yesterday, with all the people, all the ethnicities, was a truly a preview of heaven!!!