My all-time most hated interview question is: “Layla, do you think you ended up choosing your career path because you were sexually abused as a child?”
NO, no, no, no!!! UGGGGggggggggg NOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!
That’s like asking someone who broke their leg when they were 5 if that’s why they became a world champion runner.
My endless passion for up-leveling people’s sexuality and directing them back to the core aliveness within themselves feels like it shines through my DNA…
And while that certainly didn’t come from being abused…
I will say that figuring out how to dig myself out of a trauma-hole was by far one of my greatest teachers in life.
It taught me humility…because it overwhelmed me, overtook me and couldn’t just be figured out or pushed through.
It taught me compassion…because of how helpless, weak, terrified and lost I often was (and how much other people often are).
It taught me grit…because nothing takes persistence and dedication like healing trauma.
And I’m not the only one.
So many of us have learned from our greatest wounds and turned them into our greatest sources of power.
And in this week’s vlog, I share the inspiring and deeply touching stories of 5 women who came in to speak with me about how they transformed their own pain into power.
If you’re interested in watching the 5 women’s full interviews where they get raw, deep and real about their past trauma and healing journey, click here to skip down below.
I have gotten to a place in my life where I can genuinely say that I am grateful, not for the trauma itself, but for the privilege of healing and integrating the trauma and everything it has taught me about human resilience and beauty.
And, that doesn’t mean that trauma is a good thing.
I mean, if I’d never experienced that level of pain, I might have been able to do all these amazing things but been happier. I might have been able to have pleasurable sex sober in my first 7 years of sexual experience. I might have been able to feel my heart and accept that I was loveable before my 30s.
I don’t know who I’d be without having gone through hell – but I do know this – we can make exceptional gems out of our pain with the right approach.
Every shitty thing that happens to us can be an extraordinary lesson.
And recovering the lost bits of your soul from traumatic experiences is a massive gift that will teach you more about God/dess than any book ever will.
We can simultaneously advocate for a safer, more compassionate, more loving world…
And turn our pain into power and be grateful for all the lessons it has to offer us.
To hear the full stories of how the 5 women I interviewed turned their greatest wounds into power, watch each of them below:
P.S. If you’re on a journey of turning your wounds into power sources and want a structured space to do some of the most powerful work on your body and soul, then go here to check out my VITA™ Sacred Sexuality initiation!
2 Comments