Resilience in Rhythm: The Honey Badger's Journey from Trauma to Triumph through Poetry and Sound Healing
Apr 04, 2024Season 2Episode 47
Julie Jewels Smoot
Bearing scars that now serve as testament to an indomitable spirit, our guest, a Navy veteran known by the pen name Honey Badger, offers an intimate look into their life's most arduous battles. From the darkness of a military sexual assault and the ensuing storm of shame and reprisal that culminated in their untimely discharge, Honey Badger emerges not broken, but rather, with a fervor for advocacy. Through their story, we witness the metamorphosis of pain into poignant poetry with the publication of their works, "The Journey Back to Myself" and "The Boulders in My Life That Shaped My Journey," serving as guiding lights for others navigating their own tribulations.
As Honey Badger's tale unfolds, we are led down the path of their remarkable recovery, illuminated by the transformative practices of the Nia Technique and sound healing. The rhythmic movements of Nia carried our guest to a first-degree black belt and beyond, while the loss of their mother to cancer and the isolating tides of the pandemic set the stage for an exploration into the therapeutic embrace of music. Through the harmonies of handpan, gong, and Tibetan singing bowls, Honey Badger found solace and strength. Their journey is one of resilience, a reminder of the power of self-expression, and an exploration into the profound ways in which the arts can become a sanctuary for the healing soul.
Bearing scars that now serve as testament to an indomitable spirit, our guest, a Navy veteran known by the pen name Honey Badger, offers an intimate look into their life's most arduous battles. From the darkness of a military sexual assault and the ensuing storm of shame and reprisal that culminated in their untimely discharge, Honey Badger emerges not broken, but rather, with a fervor for advocacy. Through their story, we witness the metamorphosis of pain into poignant poetry with the publication of their works, "The Journey Back to Myself" and "The Boulders in My Life That Shaped My Journey," serving as guiding lights for others navigating their own tribulations.
As Honey Badger's tale unfolds, we are led down the path of their remarkable recovery, illuminated by the transformative practices of the Nia Technique and sound healing. The rhythmic movements of Nia carried our guest to a first-degree black belt and beyond, while the loss of their mother to cancer and the isolating tides of the pandemic set the stage for an exploration into the therapeutic embrace of music. Through the harmonies of handpan, gong, and Tibetan singing bowls, Honey Badger found solace and strength. Their journey is one of resilience, a reminder of the power of self-expression, and an exploration into the profound ways in which the arts can become a sanctuary for the healing soul.
Good morning. I wanted to talk a little bit about myself today. I'm a Navy veteran. I live with post-traumatic stress after being raped in the Navy. I was victim, blamed and shamed, retaliated against, retaliated against. I was discharged by my chain of command and got out in 2008. In 2012, the man who raped me sent me an email admitting to what he did, and nothing was ever done. Since that time I started advocating. I published two books the Journey Back to Myself, a Book of Healing Poetry, and the Boulders in my Life. That Shaped my Journey. That's under my pen name, a Honey Badger.
Speaker 1:
Once I got out of the Navy in 2008, I moved to Raleigh, north Carolina, and went to the VA to have a surgery for my knee. I had a knee injury that my chain of command didn't help me with and ended up having a Falkerson Oster Tommy and a knee scope to fix what they said wasn't wrong. From there, I went to Wake Tech, majored in human services technology, and in 2015, I found my way to a $1 billion in rising. Wait a minute, let me back up. So in 2014, I went to a program in Bluemont, virginia, at Boulder Crest, and called Artemis Rising, and from there is where I started to find a real healing, find a real healing. And then in 2015, I went to an event called One Billion and Rising that Nia Technique was having five minutes from my house. The Nia technique was created by Debbie Rosas and Collar Rosas in the 1980s and Nia technique has brought me a lot of healing. I'm now a Nia first degree black belt house certification to teach Nia floor play, house certification to teach knee and floor play. And then in 2020, my mom died from metastatic breast cancer and I ended up getting into sound healing and got my accreditation as a sound healer.
Speaker 1:
It was through dance and through Nia that I found poetry. I had written some poetry in the Navy, wrote two poems after leaving Artemis Rising, but it was during Nia Bluebell that I found my voice through writing poetry, and that's when I released my book, the Journey Back to Myself a book of healing poetry first editions and then released a second edition. I find writing poetry is very healing for me. I cover difficult topics such as loss, grief, traumatic stress, anxiety, betrayal, self-harm and resilience. I want to give aim to my own experience and I believe that it can help to heal and connect people. I believe that it can help to heal and connect people. For myself and other veterans, I see writing to heal as a way to help myself and other vets to be able to heal.
Speaker 1:
And one thing I want to say is don't be afraid to write about your experience. Your story is important and needs to be heard, just like your story is important and needs to be heard, just like my story is important and needs to be heard. And so I just I wanted to share a little bit about me. Um, you know, the sound healing has been amazing for me.
Speaker 1:
Uh, you know, after my mom died, all the COVID restrictions, losing my, losing my friends and community, uh, being told several different things by several different people, I was shattered. I mean, I had lost my mom, I needed my friends, but Fucci and CDC and the government and Governor Cooper had scared the bejeebies out of everybody, and Governor Cooper had scared the bejeebies out of everybody. And you know, and when you're going through grief and you had just lost your mom, you needed your support network to be there for you, but thanks to COVID, you know, they ruined. These bureaucrats have ruined a ton, a lot of friendships, all for nothing. Um, so then I started creating my own sound and got my first gong the heart gong from there, you know, I took accreditations, started with the academy of sound but then ended up leaving from there and got certification through Medicine of Sound on UBD, got some other training, learning how to play the handpan and gong and Tibetan singing bowls, and the music has been a really lifesaver for me.
Speaker 1:
I mean, I have always connected to music since I was a little kid. I've always known that there's something magical about music. I know that there's different vibrations, there's different frequencies. You know, like the 528 hertz, the 432 hertz, 528 hertz is known as the love vibration and it's very moving, calming. The Chiron Gong is very healing. It's known as the wounded healer and helps to heal trauma, which I have found repeatedly by using it and playing it.
Speaker 1:
The Venus Gong, the New Moon Gong, neptune Gong, venus Gong All of these are amazing tools that I use every day and I try to ground myself with every day. And then there's the Aquamarine Crystal Singing Bowl and the Cosmic Crystal Singing Bowl, all of these which are amazing tools to use and I invite you to use your music to listen to my music and, if you didn't know, I have have several tracks available for purchase on my website, wwwjuliejulesmootcom. I also have music on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and then I have my podcast, modern Sound Healing with Julie Jel Smoot, and I'm stepping into offering sound healings live. I'm wanting to travel and just wanted to share a little bit about me today. Thanks, namaste.