20 OCTOBER 31, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Mental health podcast launches in R’wood
Minista Jazz, Mike, Coach D of the “Minista and Coach D Podcast LIVE @ Much Diff erent.” Photo courtesy of Minista Jazz
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Minista Jazz and Coach D, the hosts
of “Minista and Coach Podcast LIVE @
Much Diff erent,” launched their oneof
a-kind show about mental health
on Monday — or, as they call it, “Much
Diff erent Monday.”
“Everybody has a brain. Everyone has
a mind,” Coach D told QNS, reciting the
show’s fi rst message.
“Mental health is an everybody issue,
it’s not about those that have a mental
illness, it’s about all of us that have a
brain and a mind,” Jazz said, explaining
even further the meaning behind
Coach D’s words.
Monday’s live recording session
took place in an intimate, dimly-lit
space in Ridgewood’s H0L0 venue at
1090 Wyckoff Ave.
Jazz and Coach D sat on their couches
in a ‘90s-throwback set comprised
of a framed image of a cassette tape,
a rubik’s cube on top of stacked VHS
tapes of movies like “The Lion King”
and “The Mask,” and background
music of classic Hip Hop tunes.
The duo gave the audience a sense
of who they are by talking about
their day and the public fi gures who
have impacted them, such as Oprah
Winfrey, Pat Summitt, and Maya Angelou.
They also shared the stage with
Lil Xtra, a rapper with a compelling
story about using music to help him
deal with the tragic loss of his baby
niece, and Bridget Barkan, a musical
healer.
Throughout the night, Jazz and
Coach D also invited the audience to
participate in some of the practices
that they’ve cultivated such as breathing
exercises and a way to check in on
themselves and those around them
called “What’s your temp?”
“There’s a scale, and the scale goes
from one to ten,” Jazz explained. “One
is amazing, like nothing is wrong in
the world, at all, everything is perfect.
And then ten is for when you’re feeling
like…”
“Like you need Jesus, Buddha, Allah,
all of them,” Coach D said, fi nishing
Jazz’s train of thought.
Jazz and Coach D are both certifi ed
in Mental Health First Aid, which is
part of the city’s ThriveNYC initiative
to train 250,000 New Yorkers in what
they call “CPR for mental health.”
Jazz shared that thanks to the certifi
cation process, she learned that
depression and anxiety are the number
one diagnosed mental illnesses in
America. But, according to Coach D, an
important aspect of the issue is that
many people don’t even get diagnosed
or are aware of their condition.
“In specifi c communities, it’s even
further under-reported,” Jazz said. “In
the LGBTQIA+, under-reported, in the
black community, under-reported, in
the brown community, under-reported
severely. There’s tons of stigma.”
According to Jazz and Coach D, who
are both Brooklyn natives, there is a
direct connection with “what happens
around us and within us.”
This is why their podcast — which
also off ers commentary about pop
culture, sports, and the news — is
“culturally synchronistic.”
“What we mean when we say a ‘culturally
synchronistic’ approach, we
mean that we want to be able to talk
about mental health so that it will
encourage people to speak up about
it so people who they know can hear
them,” Jazz said.
Jazz believes that through authentic
entertainment — or “edutainment,”
like the kind she wants to instill with
Much Diff erent — people will be able
to heal and come to terms with who
they are.
Although she’s worked in the world
of hairstyling, education and politics,
Jazz feels that she can do more for
the community by amplifying their
voices through entertainment.
“Because it’s not that people need to
be fi xed, it’s just that they need to know
that they’re not alone,” she said.
Coach D, on the other hand, is new
to the radio and podcast world.
The full time basketball coach and
trainer created the 100 Coaches Certified
initiative based on ThriveNYC’s
mental health certifications, so that
she can teach fellow coaches and
athletes the importance of the issue
even in the sports industry.
She has certified about 50 coaches
so far, and is teaching two more free
classes on Nov. 16 and Dec. 14. More
information can be found on her
Instagram page @GetFitFlyRight.
“I want to train my community,”
Coach D said. “I’m from Brownsville,
I’m from the projects — mental
health doesn’t look like me. I want
to be able to equip my people, as
well as myself, about how to be in a
mental space that doesn’t keep you
in constant fear, worry, anxiety or
depression.”
You can listen to “Minista and
Coach Podcast LIVE @ Much Different”
on their website WeAreMuch-
Different.com/Podcast, and follow
them on Instagram @WeAreMuch-
Different for more information
about their next “Much Different
Monday.”
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