Interview with Julianne Vaccaro: CBD, somatic sexology and holistic health

Julianne Vaccaro is a holistic health and life coach, somatic sexologist, and podcaster. For over seven years, she has been helping women achieve their goals by guiding them to look inward. Her program, called Goddess Reclamation, aims to help women realize their feminine power through self-reflection, mindfulness, healthy eating practices, and pleasure.

"Every man, every woman struggles with body image and how we're supposed to be in the world. I think women may struggle with it a little more," she said.

https://www.hellomd.com/blogs/articles/cbd-somatic-sexology-and-holistic-health-with-julianne-vaccaro

“There are more expectations about how we should look, how we should eat, and how we should be, which makes negative self-talk even more difficult.“

By combining her expertise in integrative nutrition, somatic sexology, and personal life experiences, Julianne helps her clients feel more comfortable in their own skin. She uses a variety of tools, including cannabidiol (CBD), to help women be the best versions of themselves, inside and out.

Let's start with the basics: why did you get into holistic health coaching?

I started my journey about seven years ago (almost eight now) and I started for many negative reasons. I really wanted to fix and repair my body because I felt very broken around my body image, my self-confidence, and my whole relationship with myself.

I started out as a holistic health coach. I went on a program for it, and I went super extreme and was a raw vegan for about three years. I ate super clean, super healthy, I was really active. And I ended up with extremely severe adrenal fatigue.

This led me to heal from adrenal fatigue and to recognize how important it is to truly follow a diet that works for you and adhere to your own specific protocol. I reintroduced meat into my diet, and this really showed me how you can eat as healthily as you want, but if other areas of your life aren't going well, you can end up with something like adrenal fatigue or a whole host of other symptoms.

At the time, I was in a relationship that wasn't right for me, and even though everything seemed healthy and happy and perfect, there were all these other things going on inside that led me down this path.

And then I got into the physical side of things and started teaching yoga and boxing. I taught for about five or six years, and with personal training throughout that time, I really focused more on the physical aspect in addition to health.

Then I discovered bodybuilding and took a difficult turn towards aesthetics, and I really destroyed my body from the inside out. I lost many of the holistic practices I had and completely messed up my gut, my hormones, and my relationship with food. I developed even more disordered eating behaviors and habits—binge eating, emotional eating.

And when I finally decided to stop competing, I had to heal my body from the inside out. I had to heal my amenorrhea—I had lost my period for almost a year. I balanced my instincts and really worked on my relationship with food, myself, and my body.

This led me down a path of spiritual and personal development. It led me to somatic and sexological work. And it was a bit like the glue that holds it all together, I would say.*

Let's return to the holistic health coaching program you completed. How has it influenced your coaching style and philosophy?

I went to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I don't know how much the program has changed, but at the time, it was very focused on dietary theories. It really involved looking at every aspect of who you are and adopting this holistic approach, which I practice a lot now. It involved looking at your mindset, your emotional well-being, and your relationships and passions and how they relate to your overall health and well-being.

In addition to that, it encouraged a lot of "bio-individuality"—that is, following a dietary routine that really works for you specifically. It was almost as if we were given all these different dietary theories and all this education, and then it was like, OK, "now go for it yourself."

I am definitely training myself not to teach all the dietary theories, but rather to really give my clients an educational system so that they can strengthen their own intuition and get in touch with themselves and their bodies.

What types of people typically follow your coaching program?

Many women who participate in the program want to live their goal. I find that I attract many leaders and women who want to be at the forefront, but I recognize that their self-perception and their relationship with food really hold them back.

Why did you decide to pursue health coaching rather than another health-oriented career?

My mom, when I enrolled in health coaching school, had just been diagnosed with celiac disease, and she had been misdiagnosed for about two years. She had really severe intestinal problems, and they couldn't figure out why. All the celiac tests and all the food sensitivity tests came back negative. She wasn't getting any answers; she wasn't getting any clarity.

I think at the time, it helped me make the decision that health was where I wanted to go. But I was also enrolled in a dietetics program. I was going to go to the University of Tampa to become a dietitian, and I ultimately decided against it because I really wanted to be a coach.

And I really wanted to take that holistic approach and look at all those other areas. Mindset, personal development, and spirituality were huge passions of mine, even back then, and I wanted to embody all of that.

Your coaching style seems to focus heavily on food. Can you explain why?

I think food is largely linked to why I chose the path I followed, because I always knew it wasn't just about food. And I always recognized that while food was the controlling variable for me, it wasn't the driving force behind all my struggles.

Many women arrive with a really negative mindset. They hate their relationship with their bodies and food. But it's never about food.

My approach to food and everything that happens with the students who are in my programs is really about finding the cause and giving them back their power.

Food can be the catalyst and may be what you're looking for, but there are usually other things happening beneath the surface. If it's a question of extreme cravings, there are several levels.

How is your gut health? What are your hormone levels like? If your gut health seems to be suffering, then your cravings will be very strong. And if your hormones are out of balance, you might experience intense hunger. So it's all these elements coming together.

Why do you think food is such a major sticking point for so many of your customers?

I think it's the easiest to control—or perceived as being controlled. And so we try to control food, but food ends up controlling us. And then we find ourselves in this horrible cycle of restriction and bingeing and overeating, and then that creates this negative self-talk.

And I don't think this is just a women's issue. Every man, every woman struggles with body image and how we're supposed to be in the world. I think women might struggle with it a bit more. There are more expectations about how we should look, how we should eat, and how we should be, which makes negative self-talk even harder.

In addition to that, I think the sexological component is really important. Another common theme is a disconnect from our bodies and a lack of security within them. This stems from any stories and traumas we experienced growing up, but also from societal pressures. This creates this disconnection in our bodies, this lack of security. And so, we turn to food because we also lack pleasure and sensuality.

Let's talk about your work in somatic sexology. Can you explain what it is and why you went into it?

I am currently in a program to become a practitioner of somatic sexological work. And I stumbled upon the work of my own journey, because I felt like I had done so much personal and spiritual development, but I still didn't feel like I was where I could (should!) be.

I felt like my body was holding onto a lot of trauma, injuries, and stories. It was as if I was there, but my body was somehow in the background, standing and anchored in the past.

And so this led me on a journey of somatic healing for myself to truly release much of my own trauma and abuse. I was also involved in abusive relationships that were traumatic for me and my experience.

My journey has always been very much linked to the physical, to my physical body. And so, it made sense that I needed a body to erase that.

Somatic sex work is a combination of somatic techniques, channeling emotion and energy through the body. Then, it incorporates the sexological element where you bring pleasure and truly heal the wounds you've just opened through the somatic process with pleasure, connecting spirituality to this and bringing it into your body.

And what does somatic sexology look like in practice?

I would say it's very specific for the person interested in the program, because everyone's body reacts differently. A typical session lasts three hours. You're on a table, and there are two practitioners working with you the whole time.

Generally, it will be a man and a woman, as they represent the masculine and feminine. There will be moments throughout the session where you will need to use both energies, and both energies are extremely important for completing this memory, whether it's the male practitioner entering and holding space or acting like your father or a former partner, or the feminine who comes and does the same or nurtures you and holds that space.

A real pressure is applied to the body, searching for trigger points where memory and energy are stored. Using breath, sound, and movement, you can move through these memories and work through these traumas.

And these traumas are super different for everyone. It might look like screaming; it might look like trembling, like wailing, crying – whatever you need to really release and clarify it.

What have you personally noticed after undergoing somatic sexology sessions?

This has changed the way I see and operate in every area of ​​my life. I feel I was led to this work, and this is where I'm meant to be. It sparked my own awakening and my deeper purpose. It has truly transformed every part of me.

It dissolved all the noise in my head, the blocks that were really preventing me from being fully myself. I feel extremely expressed and authentic within myself.

Do you see yourself incorporating what you have learned into your current health coaching practice?

I think that's already a big part of the program I have now. Again, the pleasure component is so important, even when it comes to food and these difficulties we have in our bodies as women, so I find it hard to separate them.

I have a few different programs that I currently run, and I will be doing the somatic sex work in person. I also teach many of my clients in my current program to go through the process on their own and learn how to release somatically as things arise and how to truly use their bodies.

Because it is the power of the feminine.

One of the programs you offer is called Goddess Reclamation. Can you guide me through this program? What can a client expect?

Goddess Reclamation is an extreme approach to mind, body, and soul. Because to make these big, transformative changes, you have to look at every level of who you are: mental, spiritual, emotional, physical, social—you all matter. And you all invent how you present yourself to the world every day.

We begin with the first phase, which is called Foundations. Within Foundations, we become very clear about the limiting beliefs present: the old stories, the subconscious programming that keeps you stuck in your current situation, whether it's negative self-talk or the feeling that you're not enough. We dissolve these stories to allow you to truly step into your authentic self, find your voice, and move toward your full potential.

You also learn to understand how your body works, which leads to phase two, called Body Blueprint. Just as we did in phase one, which highlighted all the old things to dissolve them and create the new, we do the same thing on a physical level.

And that's thanks to gut health education. So you learn which foods work for you, which foods don't, which supplements might be beneficial, and which supplements aren't.

And it's so important to have this education and awareness, because what worked for you a few years ago won't work now, and what works now won't work in a few years. The key is to open communication with your body so that all you need is your body to guide you and always bring you back into alignment and balance.

Phase three is called Holistic Healing, where we focus on stress management. Stress is a major component of the program, as much of what we struggle with is a result of stress, and we don't even realize it. You learn how to support your body in the best way possible on all levels, whether it's through food, medicinal mushrooms, adaptogens, daily detox practices, "soul food" practices, or how to stay aligned when life throws challenges your way.

Phase four is called Intuitive Integration, where you become the master of intuitive eating on your own. You also learn to balance your internal masculine and feminine energies and to learn about seasonal, organic, and conventional foods—what is truly most important to you.

And then also more holistic supplementation, superfoods, vitamins, things like that. And then, also disordered eating habits, triggers and things of that nature.

And then the final phase is called Creations, where you truly connect mind and body and incorporate this sensual, sexual component. This involves learning to tap into your feminine power, connecting with your "yoni," and using your yoni to manifest and enter the life you desire and dream of.

Throughout your coaching, you advise your clients on many things, from coping strategies to foods and supplements, including CBD. How have you seen people change once they started adding CBD to their daily routine?

This helped them fight insomnia and sleep. It helped reduce inflammation in their joints. The main benefit I've noticed is in reducing anxiety and depression.

Many of my clients who participate in the program may be taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication, and when they finish the program, they're done with them. Many of them may be in the process of weaning themselves off CBD, or they started CBD while taking their medication, then stopped and no longer need it.

And how do you integrate CBD into your own life?

I really like taking it when I have my period too, to help with things like that and just regulate it. So, personally, I don't use any kind of over-the-counter medication. I don't use any painkillers or anything like that.

So CBD is definitely my go-to if I have a headache, feel a bit tired, want to relax, or anything like that. I'll use different combinations for different things and experiment with it that way.

As someone who has been in the wellness space for a long time, what are your thoughts on the popularity of CBD products?

I think it's really powerful and I think it's important. With CBD becoming more recognized and readily available, I think it has raised awareness of many more natural remedies and treatments for many ailments that are present in so many people's lives.

CBD has just been this powerful product that has opened the eyes of so many people in the public, and I think so many other alternative medicines can now become more common.