We were lucky to catch up with Ley David Elliette Cray, PhD recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ley David Elliette, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

Back when I was working as a college professor and had just recently gone public on my campus regarding my identity as transgender, I attended a “listening session” supposedly centered on the needs, concerns, and struggles of LGBTQIA+ faculty. After hearing a variety of moving and tearful stories about the realities of how gender- and sexual-minority faculty tended to be treated on campus, the career bureaucrat representing the upper administration informed us that, while she her thoughts were with us, we needed to remember that “this isn’t New York” and “we’re not going to change the culture.”

Yeah, well: challenge accepted.

Since then, I’ve returned to that memory often as I’ve very intentionally pushed back against anyone or anything that tries to tell me that we can’t improve the world and lives of those in my communities and others. It’s hard work, and it takes lots of people doing lots of things—but anyone who tells you that it can’t be done either lacks imagination or, all too often, benefits from the way things are.

Ley David Elliette, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

So many people struggle with deep questions—existential questions, of identity and authenticity, of meaning and of thriving, of place and peace and purpose. At the same time, most of the typical methods for addressing these struggles involve either over-pathologizing them—hence treating you as a person in need of being fixed—or peddling self-help books that are ultimately aimed more at raking in a profit than actually helping people in need.

Through Transentience Coaching, I collaborate with my clients via multi-faceted, customizable sessions that bring together philosophical, contemplative, and somatic approaches, all in an affirming and trauma-informed framework. This practice enables clients to engage effectively and efficiently toward realizing their goals and not just achieving alignment with their values, but really clarifying what that means to them at a fundamental level.

Whether you’re exploring issues of gender or sexual identity, moral dilemma or existential quandary, I’m here to provide my skills as a mindfulness coach, philosophical consultant, sexuality professional, and trauma-informed yoga instructor, trained by organizations including the Center for Koru Mindfulness, the National Philosophical Counseling Association, the Sexual Health Alliance, and Geek Therapeutics. These skills are fortified and amplified by over a decade of teaching experience on topics ranging from gender to well-being to Buddhist views of the mind, as well as an active and internationally recognized scholarly portfolio. If you need help, I’ve got it on offer.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My best friend broke my heart. Our relationship was intuitive and loving, but something wasn’t working. Something didn’t work. To keep myself from falling into a slump, I woke up the next morning and walked to the nearby yoga studio, intent on re-starting my practice. Exactly one year later, at that same studio, I finished my yoga teaching training—and found both sobriety and my authentic gender identity along the way.

Accepting myself as transgender left me with an immediate and deeply motivating desire to help other folks who struggle in similar ways. Working at a mostly conservative university in north Texas, however, felt increasingly out of alignment with my values. With an eye toward my future, I planned my exit strategy and eventually resigned from a tenured position—not an easy move, psychologically, given the mindset that the higher education industry tends to instill in its workers. In terms of my well-being and ability to provide direct help to people in need, though, it was one of the best moves I’ve ever made.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

As far as considering other hypothetical career trajectories: I wouldn’t change a thing.

It hasn’t all been easy, but the experience—and the experiences—I’ve accumulated are invaluable to me, personally and professionally. I’ve had the opportunity to lead yoga for transgender folks coming together in community, facilitate Queer Mindfulness retreats that dove deep into queering the notion of mindfulness itself, and educate countless people on queer culture and gender-affirming care. I’ve presented scholarly work across the world on topics ranging from gender expression to contemporary art to comic books, and led sing-alongs at academic conferences and anarchist infoshops alike. The consent workshops, sexuality symposia, polyamory panels—I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything at all.

Sure, going a different route and just becoming a traditionally trained and licensed mental health professional might have been a bit more straight-forward, but, in my experience, the twisty-turny, convergent paths are where the life is. So, no regrets here.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.transentiencecoaching.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/transentience.coaching/

Image Credits
ley1, ley4, ley5: Diana Urbina ley6: Natalie Cochran