Not all rest actually restores. Sometimes it just delays the crash.
In this solo episode of Embracing Intensity, I talk about what shifted for me when I went back to working full-time in schools, and why having less free time pushed me to get more intentional about how I use my energy.
I used to focus a lot on trying to do the “right” things—eat better, exercise more, use my time more efficiently—but I kept ending up exhausted anyway. What started to change things was paying closer attention to what actually gave me energy versus what drained it.
This episode is where I walk through that shift and share the RECHARGE framework I’ve been using—looking at energy across physical, mental, emotional, social, and connection areas. It’s less about fixing everything and more about noticing patterns and making small adjustments that actually stick.
Aurora Remember Holtzman is a neurodivergent educator, coach, and host of the Embracing Intensity podcast. She supports gifted, creative, and outside-the-box thinkers in understanding their energy, working with their nervous systems, and building more sustainable ways of living and creating.
This episode looks at five different areas that all impact how recharged (or depleted) you feel. You don’t need to overhaul all of them—just noticing where something feels off can be enough to start.
This includes the obvious things like sleep and movement, but also how your body feels in your environment and routines. Small shifts—like changing positions, stepping outside, or actually finishing a task you’ve been avoiding—can make a noticeable difference.
The way your brain is engaged matters. Too much stimulation can be overwhelming, but too little can leave you stuck. Play, challenge, and creative thinking can all help shift your energy in ways that feel more engaging.
Emotional fatigue doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it shows up as irritability, numbness, or just feeling off. Letting yourself process things—through expression, movement, or even just naming what’s there—can ease that buildup.
Some interactions leave you feeling more like yourself, and some leave you drained. This section looks at things like masking, belonging, solitude, and what it feels like to be around people where you don’t have to explain yourself.
Even when you’ve rested, you can still feel disconnected. This area looks at things like purpose, ritual, time in nature, and moments that help you feel part of something beyond your day-to-day tasks.
In this powerful and deeply embodied conversation, I sit down with Juliana Allen - somatic experiencing practitioner, trauma-informed guide, and founder of Reclaim with Juliana - to explore nervous system regulation, reclaiming your body, and increasing your capacity to live from truth instead of obligation.
Juliana shares her journey of overriding her body for decades - through dance culture, perfectionism, an eating disorder, and even heteronormative expectations - before finally learning how to listen inward. Her story of coming out later in life during the pandemic is a powerful reminder that we don’t know what we don’t know - until we slow down enough to feel.
This episode is about unlearning, grounding, increasing nervous system capacity, and reclaiming your fire in a way that doesn’t burn you.
Juliana will also be kicking off our 2026 Speaker Series inside the Embracing Intensity Community, where she’ll go deeper into nervous system regulation and capacity building. I’m still welcoming feedback on the 2026 lineup - so reach out if you have requests!
Juliana Allen (she/her) is a somatic experiencing practitioner in advanced training who specializes in nervous system regulation and trauma healing through the body. Through her work at Reclaim with Juliana, she helps women reconnect with their bodies, increase emotional capacity, and stop overriding their inner truth.
Her work is grounded in lived experience - including recovery from a long-term eating disorder, coming out as a lesbian in her mid-30s, and dismantling perfectionistic conditioning rooted in ballet culture. She brings depth, honesty, and fierce compassion to the healing process.
You can find her at:
Instagram: @reclaimwithjuliana
Website: reclaimwithjuliana.com
How overriding the body begins early - through school structure, dance culture, and social conditioning
The connection between perfectionism, eating disorders, and nervous system dysregulation
What it was like to come out later in life during the pandemic
Why many of us were never taught to know what we actually want
The role of somatic experiencing in trauma healing
Why nervous system capacity determines how much we can hold - emotionally and relationally
The difference between artificial regulation (like forcing calm) and true embodied regulation
Why grounding is essential for fiery, “windy,” or ADHD-leaning personalities
How intensity becomes a gift once we learn how to stay with it
Increasing your capacity so you can better serve others - and expand impact outward
Juliana speaks candidly about years of overriding hunger cues, emotions, sexuality, and discomfort - and how learning to “stay with” sensations changed everything.
The more regulated your nervous system, the more you can hold - for yourself and for others. Capacity expands impact.
Intensity feels overwhelming when we don’t know how to be with it. But when grounded and embodied, it becomes power.
Especially for those who feel “airy,” fiery, or scattered - grounding practices and anchors are essential.
“The more work I do personally, the more my capacity increases. The more my capacity increases, the more I'm able to hold with other people. And then the more their capacity increases, the more they are able to do their work in the world. And it just expands.”
Reclaim with Juliana: https://www.reclaimwithjuliana.com
Instagram: @reclaimwithjuliana
Join the Embracing Intensity Community: embracingintensity.com/community
Free Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook: embracingintensity.com
If this episode resonated, consider sharing it with someone who’s learning to trust their body again.
And if nervous system regulation is something you’ve wanted to understand more deeply, join us in 2026 when Juliana returns to speak live inside the community.
Intensity doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
With capacity, it becomes expansive.
This week on Embracing Intensity, I’m thrilled to finally sit down with the powerful and passionate Inger Shaye Colzie, a therapist and coach working at the intersection of ADHD, identity, and cultural experience. Inger shares her journey of being diagnosed with ADHD later in life, after decades of navigating systems and expectations that didn’t see her neurodivergence—or the unique challenges that come with being a Black woman with ADHD.
Together, we dive into her experiences growing up gifted but overlooked, her path to founding the ADHD Black Professionals Alliance, and how she helps others own their fire and intensity without apology. Inger’s insight, humor, and realness make this an episode you won’t want to miss.
P.S. We’re planning to bring Inger back for a guest call in the Embracing Intensity Community during the 2026 speaker season—I'd love your feedback on upcoming topics and guests!
Inger is a therapist, ADHD coach, and the founder of the ADHD Black Professionals Alliance. Diagnosed later in life, she now uses her lived experience, clinical knowledge, and coaching tools to support other Black women navigating life, work, and relationships with ADHD. Through her practice and community, she creates spaces for healing, advocacy, and unapologetic self-discovery.
The experience of being undiagnosed with ADHD well into adulthood—and what finally led her to seek answers
Growing up as an intense, passionate child whose energy was often misunderstood
Why culturally relevant care is essential for Black women with ADHD
The emotional impact of living with ADHD in a world not built for neurodivergent minds
How diagnosis and coaching helped her reframe her identity and harness her gifts
Creating the ADHD Black Professionals Alliance as a safe and empowering space
Turning down the dial—or turning it up with intention
The importance of coaching, community, and embracing your whole self
Whether you’re navigating ADHD yourself or supporting others who are, this episode offers compassion, clarity, and community. Inger’s story is a reminder that it’s never too late to rewrite the narrative—and that when we embrace our fire, we light the way for others.
🎧 Listen now and share with someone who needs to hear they are not broken—just unseen.