Funny Feelings Podcast

Treating the Spirit and the Beauty In this episode of Funny Feelings Podcast focusing on holistic approaches to beauty, Liza and Maria interview Samantha Story who works as a New York City based expert in Classical Chinese Medicine. ‘Working with someone’s face is like working intimately with their spirit’, explains Samantha. During the conversation - Maria receives a Facial Gua Sha an ancient beauty ritual. The practice supports health and glow at the same time and relaxes tension in facial muscles, increases circulation and lymphatic drainage resulting in a relaxed and sculpted face.

Community Acupuncture and Principles of Chinese Medicine Acupuncture as a healing modality can be traced back about 2,000 years and remains a popular form of healing. In this episode of Funny Feelings, Maria and Liza interview Ariel De Leon who owns a community acupuncture center in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Ariel has been part of a movement to make acupuncture accessible to everyone through community acupuncture clinics. She answers questions about healing techniques and about her practice Tigerlily Holistic while performing abdominal acupuncture on Liza. This episode was recorded in the quiet setting of Maria's apartment so that a treatment could occur during the interview.

A Transgender Man Navigates Fertility and the Medical System Dico shares his experience as a transgender man in a relationship with a non-binary partner seeking fertility care in New York City. “I have been scared of getting pregnant for the longest time,” says Dico, who leads us through the difficulties of navigating a medical system that is inherently designed for cis, white, heteronormative people. Dico's experiences with doctors at fertility clinics have been unpleasant and emotionally painful: ‘‘I walked out of there just feeling so embarrassed and humiliated and I thought maybe I couldn't do this after all, and like maybe there wasn't a space for me to do this.” After hearing about Funny Feelings Podcast, Dico was inspired to share his story, because he didn’t know any trans couples going through the same experience and there is very little information available. Maria and Liza find out about how the health system needs to change for a gender-inclusive holistic fertility experience. Joining in the studio is his midwife Shira Moss, who specializes in fertility treatment for queer couples and single people. She, together with Liza and Maria, show how education, nutrition, and community are all pillars of health.

Where No Topics Are Off Limits In Episode 3 Maria and Liza surprise Lena with a treatment – a vaginal steam – that takes place during the interview. "It’s interesting to have a positive sensation in a part of your body that's not sexual,” says Lena about her first vaginal steam experience. Recorded in the comfort of her bed, the filmmaker discusses living with chronic pain and the support of her parents during her healing journey. This episode is very personal; Lena opens up about her surgeries. After her hysterectomy, her doctors referred to her remaining ovary as ‘dead’. Lena shares how her spiritual healing/ Arvigo® therapy treatment with Liza woke up her ovary. Now Lena has healthy eggs to freeze. Through her work with Liza, her dream of having a baby might just come true. Last but not least, they all crack up about how awkward sexting has affected their love lives.

An intimate conversation with Emily Meade Actress Emily Meade from the HBO show, The Deuce, speaks with Liza and Maria about how intimacy and sexuality has been a challenging issue in her life as an actress. After she requested help and support for intimate scenes HBO provided a sensitivity coach who works as an expert when sexuality is involved on sets. In Funny Feelings she talks about bravery but also the shame she felt while speaking up for herself and her fellow actors. After three seasons on The Deuce, Emily feels like her life changed for the better and she shares stories about dating, sex, and living in Brooklyn.