Healing Out Loud: Queer Resilience, Rest & Radical Self-Love

Healing isn’t one-size-fits-all. For queer, trans, Two-Spirit, and BIPOC folks, the path to healing often looks layered, complex, and personal.

This Pride Month, we’re touching on the kind of healing that doesn’t always get talked about, the kind rooted in rest, community, and quiet acts of survival.

We talk specifically about BIPOC queer and Two-Spirit folks because these communities often live at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression, racism, homophobia, transphobia, colonialism, ableism and still don’t see themselves reflected in mainstream wellness spaces. That erasure can be isolating. It can make healing feel even harder.

But the truth is: we’ve always found ways to take care of each other. Through culture. Through chosen family. Through music, movement, and storytelling. Through simply surviving.

Healing here doesn’t have to be loud. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Sometimes it looks like sleeping in, unfollowing accounts that drain you, taking a walk, starting therapy, or just saying “I don’t have it in me today.”

And for those moments when you need a little extra support, here are some resources—created with and for our communities—that center care for BIPOC queer, trans, and Two-Spirit folks across Ontario and Canada:

1. Across Boundaries – Mental Health Services for Racialized Communities](Toronto/GTA)

Provides holistic and culturally safe mental health care for Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities, including 2SLGBTQ+ folks. A space that understands how identity and oppression shape our healing.🔗 acrossboundaries.ca

2. Native Youth Sexual Health Network (Canada-wide)

Indigenous youth-led organization that supports Two-Spirit and queer youth through a cultural, community-rooted lens. Focused on wellness, harm reduction, and decolonized care practices.🔗 nativeyouthsexualhealth.com

3. Healing in Colour (Canada-wide)

A therapist directory designed for BIPOC folks to find culturally affirming mental health support. Many therapists listed specialize in working with queer and trans clients.🔗 healingincolour.com

4. BlackCAP – Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention(Toronto/GTA)

Supports the health and wellness of Black queer and trans communities in Toronto through counselling, housing assistance, and HIV support—all rooted in Black liberation and community care.🔗 blackcap.ca

We don’t heal in isolation. We heal in connection with ourselves, each other, and the land we’re on. So whether you’re navigating mental health, identity, grief, or just trying to catch your breath, you deserve rest. You deserve ease. You deserve to be supported.

And if you’re ready to share your story we’re listening. The Healing Thread is a space for our stories to live, grow, and remind others: you’re not alone.

Because healing is queer. Healing is collective. Healing is revolutionary.

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Share Your Story Here: The Healing Thread

Mental Health: Mind-Body Connection

Because your mental wellness doesn’t exist in isolation, it’s part of a living, breathing ecosystem.

May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, a time when we’re invited to pause, reflect, and reimagine what mental wellness really looks like. While it’s easy to think of mental health as something separate from the body, research and lived experience both tell us: the two are deeply connected.

Here are three surprising truths that reveal just how intertwined your mental and physical well-being truly are—and why that matters. 

Your Gut Is Talking to Your Brain

This might sound strange, but your gut and your brain are in constant communication through what's called the gut-brain axis. Roughly 90% of serotonin—the "feel-good" neurotransmitter—is produced in the gut. That means your digestion doesn’t just affect your comfort; it influences your mood, focus, and emotional regulation.

Things like poor diet, stress, antibiotics, or inflammation in the gut can actually contribute to symptoms of anxiety or depression. On the flip side, nourishing your digestion with fiber-rich foods, probiotics, and stress-reducing practices may have a positive impact on your mental clarity and emotional well-being.

🧩 Surprising but true: healing your gut might just help heal your mood.

Chronic Stress Feels Like Injury to the Body

💡 If you’ve felt “off” physically and emotionally, it might not be all in your head—it could be stress manifesting in your body.

We often think of stress as “just a mental thing”—but the body experiences chronic stress as a physical threat. When stress becomes constant, it keeps your nervous system in a heightened fight-or-flight mode, which can : Increase inflammation and disrupt sleep and digestion as well as Contribute: to headaches, tension, fatigue, and even chronic pain

Left untreated, prolonged stress can take a toll on nearly every system in your body.

Movement Heals—Even in Small Ways

🌱 Start small. What would feel good to your body today—not as punishment, but as care?

We know that exercise helps mental health, but it’s not about hitting the gym hard or forcing yourself into a rigid routine. Even gentle forms of movement—like stretching, walking, yoga, dancing in your kitchen, or even breathing with intention can help shift your body out of stress mode.

Movement boosts your brain’s production of endorphins and dopamine, which help regulate mood, reduce anxiety, and improve sleep.

💬 Final Thoughts: The Ecosystem Within

Your body, mind, and spirit aren’t separate departments. They work together in a fluid, ongoing relationship. By tuning into one, we naturally support the others. This Mental Health Month, give yourself permission to explore healing in all its forms, nutritional, emotional, physical, and beyond. You don’t have to do it all. You just have to begin.

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🌿 4 Everyday Mental Health Resources (You’ll Actually Use)

You don’t have to be in crisis to care for your mental well-being. These resources are supportive, free or low-cost, and frequently used by people across Ontario, Canada, and beyond.

🏥 Ontario: Bounce Back (by CMHA)

A free program for managing stress, anxiety, and low mood using guided workbooks and phone coaching.🌐 bouncebackontario.ca

🍁 Canada-Wide: Psychology Today (Therapist Finder)

Easily find therapists based on location, specialty, and availability. A widely trusted tool for connecting with mental health professionals.🌐 psychologytoday.com/ca

🧡 Indigenous-Focused: NWAC – Health and Well-Being

The Native Women's Association of Canada offers culturally grounded wellness programs for Indigenous women, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people.🌐 nwac.ca

🌍 Global: Insight Timer

A free mindfulness app with thousands of guided meditations, sleep tools, and expert-led courses for daily mental wellness.🌐 insighttimer.com

We are also here to help and support your mental health journey. Our naturopath can help guide you towards helpful and supportive habit and supplementation if necessary. Our mental health counsellor can also help you to feel supported and help you with tools that can support your mental health. Click on the link below to get started.

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📚 Citations & Sources

Here are the credible sources and references used in the blog post:

1. Mayer, E. A. (2011). Gut feelings: the emerging biology of gut–brain communication. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 12(8), 453–466. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3071

2. McEwen, B. S. (2006). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators: central role of the brain. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 8(4), 367–381. NCBI

3. Rebar, A. L., Stanton, R., Geard, D., Short, C., Duncan, M. J., & Vandelanotte, C. (2015). A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations. Health Psychology Review, 9(3), 366–378. Taylor & Francis Online

4. Mental Health Commission of Canada. (2023). Understanding the Connection Between Mental and Physical Health. mentalhealthcommission.ca

When do I need therapy?

Some clues that the time is right to seek the help of a therapist..

Very often the feelings of thinking you might need therapy happen long before the appointment is actually made, Sometimes it isn't really clear if our situations and feelings warrant a visit with a therapist . Here are some clues that it might be time to get some support:

1) You are experiencing a major (or seemingly minor) life event

Divorce, infidelity, death, loss, and grief are all big life stressors and major traumas They are also more obvious in their call for support. Often these events are in the distant past, but continuing to have an effect in the present. But what if life events are simply a change or not as obviously turbulent. Events like a move, children being added to or leaving your home, a change in health status, and getting married or cohabitating with someone can also trigger certain feelings . If you have considerable stress or even just concerns around these events, it might be time to see a therapist

2) Your feelings and personal habits have changed in a way that interfering with your best self.

If you are fatigued, sad, feeling overwhelmed, struggling in your life roles, sleeping/eating less or more than usual, uninterested in things that you used to enjoy and find yourself socially isolating, it might be time to see a therapist

3) You are unable to regulate your internal environment

You may find yourself unable to focus, are over-scheduled, are overly emotional in certain situations, distracted by technology or are emotionally flat, While these behaviors are not as overt as some signs of mental distress, they could signal an inner discomfort that should be addressed. it might be time to see a therapist.

4) You have some family patterns that you want to disrupt in your own life

Families are where we first learn about the world and ourselves. They can be our greatest source of security and support however, they also have the ability to create pain . People pleasing, lack of boundaries, negative self talk, emotional shut-down, self-esteem can all have their roots in our family systems. Patterns of communication, boundaries, distribution of labor, can all be friction points. Understanding this important system and fostering the type of environment we desire often requires support.. If you are concerned your current family dynamics, it might be time to see a therapist

5) You are getting in your own way consistently:

Do you have a habit of wanting to show up for yourself in some way, but you are having trouble following through? Do you interact with situations or people in a way that is not good for you? Do you have trouble doing what you know is right for you? It is so common to show up for everything and everyone else at the expense of oneself . This is not only unsustainable, but it has more and It might be time to see a therapist...

If any of those resonated with you and you would like seek support, we are here to help.

Book your appointment below or contact us to schedule a free 15min private consultation.

Be sure to check our blog for more tips on how to choose a therapist and what to expect....

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