A few talks I’m giving, thinking about, and excited for! Hey friend! I wanted to let you know that Thursday I’m giving a digital talk on body neutrality and the 4 Body Image Avatars for the Cary Memorial Library in Massachusetts!  >>You can find all the details here, and register to join if you want to watch!<< When my book BODY NEUTRAL came out last June, I did a live reading and Q&A at the book launch event at a local body positive gym All Bodies Movement, and I loved it. Getting to talk about all my favorite topics (and connect with people who care abo ..read more

Two topics that can impact how we feel IN and ABOUT our bodies Hi friend! If you’ve read my book BODY NEUTRAL or been following my work for a while, you know that body image issues are never just about the way you look. Body image distress, which is to say the suffering caused by body negativity, anxiety, or shame, is always about something deeper, and it’s always trying to help or protect you in some way. For example: Wanting to look a certain way might be functioning as a sort of unconscious strategy to get certain needs met—like for connection, belonging, authentic self ..read more

How stress & depression helped me cultivate a new approach to movement. While navigating a depressive episode (and the process of writing my book BODY NEUTRAL!), I put all health, wellness, and fitness related self-care habits into low gear.  It’s not that I didn’t care about my physical health during this time, mind you, it’s just that I recognized health is holistic and contextual, and that the healthiest thing I could do was to give myself permission to just do the bare minimum; to do only what I could do, and only when I could do it.  I took my meds, I c ..read more

Bringing curiosity & playfulness to the darkest of topics… Hi friend, I recently watched a video about the 6 different types of narcissism, and found myself fascinated.  The topic of narcissism is interesting to me for a variety of reasons, both personal and professional, and one of my all-time favorite podcast episodes is actually all about it! This Is (Not) About Your Body, Season 2 Episode 34:  The Impact of a Narcissistic Parent, with Jessica Engle For anyone interested, the video was of a clip from an interview with Doctor Ramani, author of It's Not You: Identifying ..read more

Overcoming my postpartum book blues… Hi friend! The one-year publication anniversary of my book ,,BODY NEUTRAL: A Revolutionary Guide to Overcoming Body Image Issues is coming up in June, and I’m feeling excited about the possibilities.  Unfortunately, when the book actually came out, I was in a state of such extreme burnout from writing and editing it that I didn’t really get to enjoy the experience.  I remember being so mentally and emotionally exhausted that the only feeling I really had about it was relief, like… oh thank god, it’s finally over.  It wasn’t really over ..read more

Exploring non-monogamy as a tool for liberation… Hi friend, If you’ve been exploring body neutrality and liberation for a while, you’ve undoubtedly come to understand that growing up in a culture rife with sexist, racist, ableist, homophobic, and transphobic messages leaves us with a lot to unpack and unlearn. This is the work of liberation: instead of just continuing to believe in whatever default messages we learned, we get curious. We listen to people who see things differently– especially those being disadvantaged and harmed. We actively explore and challenge our thoughts, assumptions, a ..read more

…is still NOT a neutral word. (And that’s ok!) “I was super curious about the content, I just didn’t want to buy something called ugly.” This was, by far, the most common feedback I got about my coaching program ,,Project Ugly. I understand why, of course— in a world where appearances matter, and beauty is celebrated and rewarded, the word “ugly” is thought of as a terrible insult, a moral failing, or just a flat-out rude thing to say. It reminds me of the pushback I always get when I talk about the importance of not complimenting people’s appearance.  Giving people compliments on how t ..read more

Conflict, commitment, coaching, and free content! Hey friend, The first time a client came to me for relationship coaching, I almost said no.  At the time, I was in a relationship that… wasn’t working. The guy was emotionally unavailable, and we wanted very different things, both out of a relationship and out of a life. It had become painful and challenging, and while I was slowly starting to see we just weren’t a good fit, I was still hoping he (or I) might be able to change enough that it could work.  When a woman I’ll call Lori (not her real name) reached out for help working th ..read more

Musings and updates on the intersection of ethical business, personal healing, and cultural liberation. I still remember hearing the phrase “make your mess your message” for the first time.  I was 26 years old and preparing to launch my first online business when these words stopped me in my tracks.  I had been spinning my wheels for months, reading business and marketing books written by overly confident white dudes, and trying to come up with a brand, niche, and message that “filled a gap in the market,” offered a “unique value proposition,” and solved or addressed ..read more

The vulnerability (and creativity) of launching a live group program. Hi friend, I had every intention to sit down and write a piece about Valentine’s day for you today, but my heart just wasn’t in it. (The irony, lol.) After writing some seriously uninspired lines about love and relationships, I figured there was just no point in trying to force it (this email series is called #transparenttuesday, after all!), and that I should just write about the one thing I can’t stop thinking about:  ,,PROJECT UGLY. For what it’s worth, part of the reason I’m hyper-focused on PROJECT ..read more