Recently I was listening to a session on a meditation app and the instructor said something about the role of the body in developing mindfulness that has stuck with me and I am compelled to explore further. He talked about how we begin developing mindfulness by working with the body, because body awareness is the stepping stone, the foundation to…
Health and nutrition are important considerations when it comes to the choices we make with food. But they should not trump the joy and satisfaction that comes from eating food that both nourishes us and is pleasurable to eat. In their book Intuitive Eating Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole outline ten principles to support a healthy relationship with food. Principle…
A simple but powerful way begin or deepen a journey with Body Trust is to start paying attention to the physical experience of your body. Invite yourself to explore the world with your senses. The feel of the sun on your skin, or the wind in your hair. Notice the embrace of a comfy chair, the smoothness of a stone…
As part of our work of reclaiming body sovereignty I offer a monthly Goddess Guidance reflection. I do this by drawing a card from The Goddess Oracle Deck by Amy Sophia Marashinksy and reflect on what insights/challenges/gifts are being offered to us on our Body Sovereignty Journey. February 2020: Ix Chel (e’shell)Ix Chel is a Mayan Moon/Snake Goddess who helps…
Recently, in a guided meditation I heard an affirmation: “Today I will offer love to my body”. What a wonderful and compelling thought! It has me thinking about what offering love means and how it could be a beautiful healing opportunity for people who are not at a place to love their body. This is what I’m thinking. Love Your…
When we think of transformation and the body, we have been conditioned to immediately think about how we can change our body. Whether we feel we need to lose weight, gain weight, sculpt, tone or condition, …it is hard not to live in our society and be compelled to try and change our body in some way. To succumb to…
The longer I learn about self-compassion, the more layers of understanding and engagement that are available to us I discover. We often hear about the benefits of self-compassion, but not as much on how we practice it. First, we start with the idea that self-compassion is the ability to offer the compassion we have for others to ourselves. Fairly straight…
Today – May 6, 2019 is International NoDiet Day. NEDIC (National Eating Disorder Information Centre) tells us that No Diet Day is “a day for organizations and individuals to push back against the industries and messages that encourage us to engage in dangerous dieting behaviours.” Push back…yes, let’s do it! As someone who educates and advocates against the dangers of…
Why befriend our inner critic? This often unhelpful aspect of our inner world represents a sequence of patterns in our brain associated with threat response. Fighting or trying to block out our inner critic reinforces the negative feelings because it triggers the same threat response system once again, keeping us in a cycle of fear and self criticism. Our inner…
When I say All Bodies are Good Bodies, I am talking about YOUR body. Your body is a good body. Your body, just as it is. Right now. You. Not some theoretical person you read about in an article or on Facebook. You. Not just your best friend who can’t seem to see her beauty. Or other people in your…