Me? Patient? Babe, I want things done yesterday. I ride on impulsivity. Based on my birth chart - it's a birth right...but one that needs some mastering. Healing has required me to be patient or try to learn to be patient, but I almost want it to be done? I'm like 'Ok, I've been patient long enough, let's get going!!!' Unfortunately - that's not how healing works.

Healing is not linear. Just because some things are good now, doesn't mean they'll be good forever..or maybe they will be, but then some other shit's gonna come up. While healing does go up over time, life will keep lifeing.

Personally, with a TBI, every day is a surprise of new side effects. Yes, even all these years later. Because, say it with me, brain *clap* injury *clap* recovery *clap* is *clap* life *clap* long *clap.*

Oh - and do you think PTSD goes away quickly? No, no, no - it just often changes the way it presents, leading you to think you've handled it all, but you haven't entirely.

With the debut of this podcast, the completion of my surgeries, and lots of other life changes, I am finally in a place of being able to address a lot of what I've been forced to push down in order to survive and keep myself moving. And most of it -well, actually all of it, if we're being honest - I didn't even realize I was pushing down.

That's why we have experts like neuropsychologists, psychologists, therapists, and life coaches who all us out!!!

Both mentally & physically, flare ups of conditions can occur. New hurdles will appear. Sometimes, when you're confident you've figured something out, you realize there's a whole other piece you gots to handle - or what you thought you had handled says 'bitch, I'm back.'

Patience is the softest form of love. If you love yourself, you owe it to be patient with yourself. If you love others, you owe it to them to be patient with them.

We all need more patience. We are all deserving of patience.

Win most, lose some

@gabriellarebranded on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNWOqOEBzoNvE_TfkQqzDw

Website : https://www.gabriellarebranded.com/

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Ever had a heart-to-heart with the Universe? I did! - On shrooms, of course. In this episode, I share what was dragged out of me from somewhere deep inside—truths about who I am, how I love, and why we’re all here (spoiler: the job description for being human is very simple and easy - but we overthink and make it harder different than you think). We’ll talk trust, friendships, the cosmic inside joke we’re all in on, and that feeling when your subconscious finally decides to spill the tea (which is what shrooms do!!!) . It’s part revelation, part comedy, part “wait… what just happened?”—and you might just hear something you already knew.

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Do you believe in giggling? Do you believe in hehe-ing? Do you believe in haha-ing? And do you believe that it can heal you?! I preach it, I scream it, I yell it - and so does Dean Lin, cohost of the Definitely Delusional podcast.

I mandate that laughter saved me and I wouldn't be where I am today - as recovered, healed, happy, and back to life I am today, if it hadn't been for my ability to giggle while my life getting railed with a cheese grater.

Dean is a comedic genius who has battled - and fucking won - his own monstrous pile of trauma. When I say monstrous pile, I mean rehab 3 separate times. And how did Dean get through it as gracefully ass he did to be excelling at life today? Laughing.

Sometimes the emotions we feel about something are so intense that if we don't laugh we'll cry, I choose to laugh, Dean chooses to laugh.

Win most, lose some

@gabriellarebranded on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNWOqOEBzoNvE_TfkQqzDw

Website : https://www.gabriellarebranded.com/

Dean's instagram @deanwlin: https://www.instagram.com/deanwlin/

The Definitely Delusional instagram @definitelydelusionalpod: https://www.instagram.com/definitelydelusionalpod/

The Definitely Delusional podcast website: https://definitelydelusional.com/

Dean's TikTok @deanwlin https://tiktok.com/@deanwlin

Dean's website deanlinn.com / deanwlin.com

Dean's Recommendation:

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-body-keeps-the-score-bessel-van-der-kolk-md/1117229987

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Another episode about hair?! Guys, the curly hair community NEEDS this one, I need this one. The haters will say trauma from curly hair is a stretch - by haters I mean people without curly hair! Anyone with curly hair knows it's a fucking struggle, a beautiful struggle, but still a struggle.

Meet my hair stylist, Valerie or Val of ValCutColor. Val is a curl specialist and the first specialist I found in LA - after 7/8 years of trying 7 different curl stylists in LA before her. When I got my extensions out for good, I had two not very cash money hair cuts before I found Val, who spent 4 hours putting my hair back together. She went curl by curl to get it to the sexy as hell place it's in today.

Curly hair is more expensive, it requires more time, internalized racism and microaggressions surround curly hair. Curly haircare is is muddled with misinformation and a lack of education. People can be ashamed of their curly hair and reluctant to own it for a while, if not forever.

Knowing all this, when Val heard my story, she extended a level of empathy that is so hard to find and get from beauty specialists. I'm not the only one she has extended that empathy, time, love, and care to - she extends it to all her clients. She knows all curly q's have had a lifetime of niche trauma.

There is barely any discourse in the community about this, so I figured, I would create it. I owe it both to myself and all curly girlies.

Win most, lose some

Follow for updates!

@gabriellarebranded on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNWOqOEBzoNvE_TfkQqzDw

Website : https://www.gabriellarebranded.com/

Val's website: https://www.valcutcolorla.com/

Val's Instagram: @Valcutcolor

Val's Recommendation:

The Answer to How is Yes by Peter Block

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-answer-to-how-is-yes-peter-block/1122984927

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I met Taylor Swift because I was hit by a car. This is that story. And this story reflects the entire moral/thesis of this podcast: Using what you have to work with the Universe, rather than focussing on what you don't have. I was able to take said coma and said 16 surgeries and said two month hospital & rehab stay and said brain injury and said Uh Oh experience and use it as a way to canoodle with the most famous woman in the world.

But how?! How does one?! And what exactly do you mean you vague bitch?!

I have the audacity to make you only able to find out by unpacking the whole story with me aka listening to me speak for 46 minutes and 31 seconds.

Win most, lose some

Follow for updates!

@gabriellarebranded on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNWOqOEBzoNvE_TfkQqzDw

Website : https://www.gabriellarebranded.com/

My recommendation: The Pitt - medical procedural drama television series on Max

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Being a party girl can make you a good person! My friend, Emily, cohost of the 'Definitely Delusional' podcast, is here to tell you allllll about that. She wanted to restore the rep of untz untz and tell about how music festivals, the dance floor, and how what most identify as taboo debauchery woke her up to the Universe and connects her to her chakras. At it's core, festivals, partying, and dancing are about connection, community, freedom, and love. As a retired party girl (s/o mini SUV's), I absolutely subscribe to this hot take.

Our banter is impeccable, we rep Calabria, and we do espresso shots in leopard print. Check out our mob wife style (that's ALWAYS been the girls from Calabria's style - my culture is not your costume), hear about how Serena Williams is teaching my editor, Nick, how to crip walk, and celebrate the divine feminine freedom that comes from throwing it back. Plur.

Win most, lose some

Follow for updates!

@gabriellarebranded on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNWOqOEBzoNvE_TfkQqzDw

Website : https://www.gabriellarebranded.com/

Emily's instagram @em_simms: https://www.instagram.com/em_simms/

The Definitely Delusional instagram @definitelydelusionalpod: https://www.instagram.com/definitelydelusionalpod/

The Definitely Delusional podcast website: https://definitelydelusional.com/

Emily's Recommendation:

The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz & Janet Mills

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-four-agreements-don-miguel-ruiz/1100993587

The Fifth Agreement by Miguel Ruiz, Don Jose Ruiz, and Janet Mills

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fifth-agreement-don-miguel-ruiz/1100736199

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My written plans for my funeral and wake extravaganzas are as follows. It is very important to write down your funeral plans. Make your final farewell specific to your personal brand. It is more important that we all get more comfortable talking about our own deaths because yeah...that's gonna happen.

Win most, lose some

Follow for updates!

@gabriellarebranded on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNWOqOEBzoNvE_TfkQqzDw

Website : https://www.gabriellarebranded.com/

My recommendation: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins : https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-let-them-theory-mel-robbins/1146342595

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When I left the hospital, I couldn’t walk more than 10 feet. Prior to that, I spent over a decade in a toxic relationship with food & my body defined by alternating between overeating and under eating and over exercising and under exercising. Now, I’m in the best shape of my life and my kink is making boys insecure at the gym.

Hannah Leboff was a key part of that journey. An instructor at my gym, whose strength training class I’ve taken weekly for nearly 4 years now. Hannah is a fitness instructor who I owe my body to. She is certified in literally everything, taught me to not ‘fear’ weights as a woman, and inspires me weekly.

However, Hannah wasn’t always that way. She also spent over a decade encompassed by literally every eating disorder ever: anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia, binge eating - you name it, she had it. Ignited by mental health issues like ADHD and depression, she spent years hopeless and thinking she had no way out.

Like me, Hannah found the gym. Fitness became a source of empowerment, not something to fear. She dedicated herself to healing her body and brain. Now; she’s a new mom, killer instructor, strong af, and a glowing light in my life.

The brain & body are connected, a little too connected. Well, actually, that depends on how you view it. Working out can be a source of happiness, community, self respect, pride and relaxation or diet & exercise can be something to agonize over, try to control in negative ways, and destroy one’s self confidence, love, and happiness.

Exercise is a crucial and often ignored part of mental health. It saved my brain and dragged both Hannah and I out of some nasty dark places. Prioritizing exercise is prioritizing the brain.

Follow for updates!

@gabriellarebranded on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellarebranded

@gabriellarebranded on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNWOqOEBzoNvE_TfkQqzDw

Website : https://www.gabriellarebranded.com/

@sweatwithhannah on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/sweatwithhannah/?hl=en

@sweatwithhannah on TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@sweatwithhannah

Hannah's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCchd_xRA6qMlvnu5CToprfg

Hannah's classes and offerings: https://linkin.bio/sweatwithhannah/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaerontm0XoR8X3xed3ruzo6dg2ePkkTXtdSEXRrxw0zOr2UJx09U-3N9PIzjg_aem_8RoM25Spa4-MijpXEjWItA

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