Are you pursuing “health” in your life but coming up short? Are you feeling overwhelmed by all of the recommendations floating around in mainstream media and simultaneously ashamed that you can’t do it all? Keep reading to hear some thoughts on how to re-frame this concept and step into a more compassionate and nuanced space as it relates to your pursuit of health.
Read MoreAs part of breaking the cycle of acting on ED behaviors in response to negative body image, you can learn skills to help tolerate urges for eating disorder behaviors.
Read MoreBody image research is DEFINITELY lacking but we do have an understanding based on the research that tells us about why some people have better body image than others and what qualities, skills, components they have that allow them to have a healthier, more positive relationship with their body.
Read MoreHealing your shame is key in healing your relationship with food and your body. It starts with changing the question “what’s wrong with me??” to “what happened to you?” When we make that simple shift, grace enters the room. What happened to you offers explanations, not excuses. It opens the gate to understanding. Understanding gives us knowledge, even in the most seemingly “irrational” situations. Your fear and your pain is not senseless. It may not seem fitting for the situation, and that just means we have more to learn.
Read MoreIf you’re working on healing your relationship with food or your body, yoga can be a powerful tool to support connecting with your body and breath and exploring a different form of movement. The Sanskrit terms sthira and sukha means steadiness and ease.
Read MoreNext time you find yourself questioning your treatment needs, check-in here. You may have been asking the wrong questions all along…
Read MoreFinding yourself feeling stuck? Noticing Shoulds pulling strings in your life? It doesn’t have to be this way! Let’s start rewriting your Shoulds today.
Read MoreBoth struggles and wins in our recovery raise our awareness. The eating disorder thrives in the unexplored. They both give us indispensable experiences. We need both. And it is this awareness that is so powerful because it gives us insight and understanding that we need to move forward.
Read MoreHave you ever heard the phrase “bloom where you’re planted?” I have sometimes wondered, what does that really mean? I suppose the meaning changes when you actually know where you’re planted. For example…
Read MoreOn a scale of 1 to 2020, how much negativity are you facing today? When it comes to the struggle, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how real it is. I am writing this in late September 2020, the gift that keeps on giving. (Or rather, taking.) On the one hand…
Read MoreThey say no person is an island. And honestly, that’s not a great comparison, because even no island is an island! Islands are not a stand-alone ecosystem by any means. Their survival depends on the surrounding waters, the climate, migrating animals, and so on. Similarly, we as people are all connected and dependent on each other for survival, at least, and to thrive, at best…
Read MoreWhen the idea of body image work feels too overwhelming, start with self-compassion towards oneself around the suffering of body image distress.
Kristin Neff, a self-compassion researcher, author, and Associate Professor, describes self-compassion as having three different components.
self kindness vs self judgement
common humanity versus isolation
mindfulness vs. over-identification
Self- Kindness is a very active stance and practice of soothing and taking care of one's suffering while self-judgment may look like judging and criticizing the suffering.
Common humanity is framing one’s experience as part of a larger human experience while isolation is isolating oneself and the experience.
Mindfulness allows us to notice our suffering and to be with the suffering as it is and be with it to then be able to give ourselves the caring and compassion we need.
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