Queer Story Time The Podcast · Stevie Inghram

Overcoming Your Reactive Mind through Mind-Body Connection!

·1 hr 12 min·5 clips

Jay Mark's partner went from using a wheelchair to completing surgical rotations after healing trauma.

Host Stevie Ingram welcomes Jay Mark Accento, a Philippinex non-binary trauma recovery coach who integrates science and spirituality. This episode focuses on trauma recovery and the role of mind-body practices in healing. Jay Mark shares their personal journey, which began after recognizing they were in an emotionally abusive relationship, an experience initially obscured by their upbringing in a military immigrant family and societal expectations around masculinity. Their partner’s severe health struggles, including fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, which doctors deemed permanent, became a catalyst for exploring trauma-informed healing. Jay Mark describes their partner’s remarkable recovery, transitioning from using a wheelchair to completing surgical rotations in medical school, which challenged Western medical paradigms. They discuss their own therapeutic journey, noting that finding the right therapist was like "speed dating" and that early attempts at healing were often avoidant. A pivotal moment occurred in 2018 when their partner survived a suicide attempt, deepening Jay Mark’s commitment to holistic recovery. The conversation explores Eastern philosophy, particularly Buddhism, which appealed to Jay Mark due to its encouragement of personal inquiry over dogma, contrasting with their Catholic upbringing. They explain that trauma healing involves moving from a reactive, survival-focused state to one grounded in inherent goodness and responsive awareness. Jay Mark argues that unhealed trauma is a major existential threat, leading to short-term reactive solutions in society, like Chicago’s problematic toll booth privatization. They critique spiritual bypassing, where spiritual ideas are used to avoid reality, and neoliberal capitalism’s influence on wellness trends like yoni eggs. The dialogue examines the false dichotomy between science and spirituality, noting historical figures like Einstein integrated both, and links COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy to reactive distrust rather than spirituality. Jay Mark emphasizes that trauma is not the event itself but the internal reaction, where the brain normalizes stress and filters for threats, leading to over-identification with labels. They advocate for practices that help the brain normalize joy and peace instead, moving beyond egoic reactivity. The tone is conversational, educational, and deeply personal, blending lived experience with philosophical and neuroscientific insights. Listeners interested in holistic trauma recovery, queer and trans wellness, and the intersection of Eastern philosophy and modern psychology will find this episode valuable. Those seeking a strictly clinical or secular perspective on trauma may find the spiritual components less aligned with their preferences.

As heard by us

A queer-affirming look at trauma recovery, grounding practice, and the meeting point of science and spirituality.

Queer Storytime keeps its focus on trauma recovery and gives the conversation a calm center with a brief grounding practice. That choice matters: it makes healing feel practiced and lived in, not just discussed.

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Why you'd press play

If your nervous system wants gentle queer care, this conversation starts with breath and stays with trauma recovery.

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