The Body Grievers® Club

CONTENT NOTE: In this episode I discuss weight loss surgery.I used to think that acceptance was a destination, that peace was a place of arrival. After my lap band surgery, I thought that the weight would just melt off and I would love how my body looked. That’s the promise I was sold, and it was a lie. Turns out, there’s no surgery to go from hating your body to loving it.Body image has very little to do with your body. It’s about how you FEEL about your body, or how you believe other people see you.One of the things we talk about in my Body Grievers Course is body scapegoating. That’s when we put the blame or responsibility on our bodies. If my body was smaller, I’d get more dates. If my body was smaller, I’d love myself more. That may work for a short time, but it’s not sustainable. Letting go of the expectations can suck.Visit my free webinar about how to sit in the suck: Investigate why it’s bothering you. Decide if you can manage it. Honor the grief work that’s happening. Assess the suck. You don’t have to find a solution or reframe, just whether you’re able to explore it.Sometimes the solution is the process.Check out my resources, course, and membership community “The Body Grievers Club” at https://bodyimagewithbri.com/A Podcast Launch Bestie production

CONTENT NOTE: In this episode I discuss weight loss surgery.As long as I can remember, I hated my body. I was encouraged from a young age to diet, for “health.” The result was that I was striving for ultimate health and despite following all the diets and exercise plans to a T, I was never satisfied with the amount of weight I had lost.I still had a strong sense of self-worth for 2 reasons: I had some strong emotional and parental attachments with people who made me feel valuable. I had strong faith that God loved me.Even still, my self-esteem was low. I would worry about whether the world would love me, or a partner would love me. I hit my breaking point at 19 years old. I decided I was done dieting, it wasn’t working, and with the influence of my family I had weight loss surgery.The surgery promised better health, a smaller body, and exponential weight loss and like dieting, it didn’t deliver on what it promised. Instead, I couldn’t eat and my hair was falling out.Part of the thing with body dysmorphia is looking at a part of our body convinced that it’s wrong, working to fix it, then moving on to another part, and another. Unfortunately, in the clinical definition of eating disorders, a disordered eating pattern isn’t necessarily diagnosed unless certain physical characteristics are present, such as low body weight in the case of anorexia.Working in an eating disorder center and going to therapy highlighted the cognitive dissonance that I didn’t believe that I could be healthy in a larger body. That depression in the area of body image brought me to the concept of body grief.Body grief is the loss or losses accompanied by the conscious choice to stop attempting to change one’s body size. Grieving sucks, but you don’t have to grieve alone.Check out my resources, course, and membership community “The Body Grievers Club” at https://bodyimagewithbri.com/A Podcast Launch Bestie production

Welcome to The Body Grievers Club Podcast – a podcast aimed to support those people struggling to make peace with their body image. In my experience of grief it often feels like a club. A club that no one wants to be a part of but when you meet someone with that shared experience, you understand them. This has been my same experience with body grief.   So I made the Body Grievers Club.Body Grief is a part of body image that we don’t talk about enough. Grief is described as deep sorrow. In the process of making peace with my body, one of the pinnacle parts was grieving the loss of intentionally pursuing weight loss.I’m an admitted people pleaser. I felt that by reaching a certain size or weight that I was a personal failure. Thing is, the game was rigged from the start.Check out my resources, course, and membership community “The Body Grievers Club” at https://bodyimagewithbri.com/A Podcast Launch Bestie production

In this finale episode of Season 2 I talk with my personal physical therapist, Danny Shapiro. Daniel Shapiro is a Dutch trained Physical Therapist and specializes in manual therapy. He has developed his own pain elimination techniques that have helped people get rid of pain and get back to enjoying life quickly. Daniel has been helping people who want to stay active and continue doing their favorite activities for many years to come.Daniel believes that everyone who wants to stay active, mobile, and retain their independence should have access to care that doesn't require painkillers, injections, or surgery.He is currently licensed to work with all NY, NY & FL residents. If you'd like to learn more about how Daniel Shapiro can help you get back to feeling and living great again, check him out on social media or his website https://projectphysicaltherapy.com/about/IG: officialdannyshapiroTikTok: officialmusclewhisperer

Arielle Juliette from Madison, WI is the owner of Dance Life, an in person and livestream dance community specializing in body positive and fat positive belly dance, burlesque, ballet and cardio classes for adults. Arielle believes that dance is for EVERY single body, especially those who feel left out of a traditional class, and that movement should be fun! Arielle is passionate about Health At Every Size and spreading the body liberation message, and loves to help her students declare a truce with and connect positively to their bodies.To learn more about Arielle, follow her on social media or at her website www.madisondancelife.com

In this episode, Bri & guest Kate Rosen discuss the nuances of being a fat performer and hurdles they have faced in the industry.  They also discuss the parallels to vocal work and body image work as the importance of fat-positive representation in the media.Kate Rosen is passionate about helping others discover greater joy in singing.She has taught hundreds of students with all sorts of different goals and dreams.  Some have gone on to musical theatre programs at schools including the University of Michigan, or have been selected as a classical soloist for the Michigan Youth Arts Festival.  Others have found their voices so they can enjoy karaoke with friends, finally get into the top choir at school, or just feel more like themselves.A lifelong learner, Kate is level 2 certified in Somatic Voicework™ with Jeanie LoVetri, has studied Musical Theatre Coaching with Nate Plummer of Stagedoor Unlocked, and has studied vocal anatomy and science with The Vocal Instrument 101.  She has also studied Transgender Voice and Speech Training for Teachers with Liz Jackson Hearns, a pioneer in the area of trans voice work.Kate earned her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and her Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan.  She has served on the Board of Directors for the Detroit Children's Choir, and is a proud member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She’s also a member of the raddest group of voice teachers on the planet, the Speakeasy Cooperative.  Kate is an adjudicator for the Sutton Foster Ovation Awards, the Michigan branch of the Jimmy Awards.To find out out more about Kate find her https://www.katerosenstudio.com/ or on her instagram at @fatjoyvoice

In this episode, Bri interviews Elizabeth Armstrong (she/her) is a therapist in Dallas, Texas who works with people living with PCOS. She is passionate about helping women heal their relationship with their body, find freedom from diet culture, and advocate for better health care of PCOS.Together, they dissect how Elizabeth's experience of the seasonal ritual of going through clothes can to lead to body discomfort. They delve into how our childhood traumas can inform us on how we react to body change, and in result our view of our bodies. Even something as simple as shopping with a parent for new clothing can be an impressionable experience. More importantly, Elizabeth notes how body trauma does not have to be physical or violent to hurt us. The medical field, social media, and entertainment industries can amplify the alienation and discomfort when oneself reflects on their body.Elizabeth busts the biggest myths told about PCOS, and goes over the methods she uses with her clients. Her techniques and mindset are always rooted in body neutrality and the HAES perspective. Bri and Elizabeth discuss exactly what that means, why "positivity" is not incredibly helpful for self love, and how do we get there. She also goes in depth about how having a supportive partner can make all the difference in the world.For more info on Elizabeth Armstrong, you can visit her at website: https://pcostherapy.com/ & her Instagram @pcostherapist

In today's episode, Natalie Peikoff and I discuss what it is like to grieve our old bodies, especially when reminded through photos. Natalie Peikoff is a psychotherapist with Full Bloom Counseling Group in Denver, Colorado. She works with people of all ages to help them find the inner peace and clarity they deserve. Natalie thrives on meaningful human connection and brings a deeply empathic perspective to her therapeutic work. Her specialities include body image, disordered eating, anxiety, and relationship issues. Natalie is trauma-informed and works from a Health At Every Size and Intuitive Eating lens.Follow Natalie on Instagram at @kneadtotalk for a mix of therapy thoughts, self-love notes, and delicious baked goods!

In this episode, Bri speaks with certified holistic wellness coach Ivy Felicia about her journey to becoming a coach and creating a space in the wellness industry for people of all sizes. Ivy helps clients of all backgrounds realize that body peace is possible, that self-love is a choice, and that body freedom is a birthright for all. They discuss how multiple marginalized identities play a part in health and wellness, and how the traditional concept of wellness must change to reflect diverse perspectives and abilities. Ivy Felicia is dedicated to helping people strengthen their love for themselves. Ivy is a certified holistic wellness coach, a motivational speaker, a body image expert, a coach with over 5 years of acclaimed service, and a passionate public advocate for fat acceptance and body diversity. She has offered body image coaching to people of all sizes, offering body peace, and radical self-love to all who struggle to achieve it.Through the combination of her education and her own powerful journey to body peace, Ivy has developed an innovative system of Body Relationship CoachingTM. This powerful system is a unique combination of weight-neutral holistic wellness and radical self-care. By using simple strategies, mindful accountability techniques, intuitive listening, and ongoing training, Ivy facilitates shifts in mindset and perspective that help people achieve positive, sustainable changes in their relationship with their bodies.No matter what stage of life a person is in, no matter what body they have, no matter their health status, or their feelings about their image, Ivy teaches that body peace is possible, that self-love is a choice, and that body freedom is a birthright for all.For more ways to work with Bri, check out her offers on https://linktr.ee/bodyimagewithbri or on her website: https://www.bodyimagewithbri.com.And as all my podcasting friends say - this podcast is for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only and cannot be a replacement for medical or mental health advice. If you like this episode, please like, subscribe, and share it. Leave a review or comment!Season 2, Episode 5

In this IGTV Live turned episode, Bri answers her followers' questions about how to handle body changes. In a society where we're constantly told that our changing bodies are bad, how do we begin to rebuild body trust? How do we manage when we find ourselves unlovable? And how do we cope with the reactions of family members and friends who've noticed our changing bodies? She answers important questions like what can we do right now to feel better in the bodies we have? And the big question, who profits off of the thought that there's something wrong with our bodies in the first place?Statistic stated in the episode that health is only made up by 30% of what we eat and how we move is from Lindo Bacon's Body Respect:https://lindobacon.com/body-respect-book/Others mentioned this episode:Natalie Peikoff - @kneadtotalk, www.fullbloomcounseling.comSeerut Chawla - @seerutkchawlaFor more ways to work with Bri, check out her offers on https://linktr.ee/bodyimagewithbri or on her website: https://www.bodyimagewithbri.com.And as all my podcasting friends say - this podcast is for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only and cannot be a replacement for medical or mental health advice. If you like this episode, please like, subscribe, and share it. Leave a review or comment!Season 2, Episode 4