Food for Thought:
5% of people who lost weight on a restrictive diet keep the weight off
75% of American women surveyed endorse unhealthy thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to food or their bodies
Anorexia is the most lethal psychiatric disorder, carrying a six-fold risk of death—4x the death risk from major depression.
Doctors will often treat obesity as the root cause for the same symptoms they would treat a thin person completely differently for.
“Despite illness of body or mind, in spite of blinding despair or habitual belief, who you are is whole.”
— Danna Faulds, Birthright (a poem)
Building a Paradigm of Abundance
I started dieting when I was 11.
At my worst, I was eating 1 meal per day Monday through Friday and nothing on the weekends. My weight has yo-yo-ed all my life. And it was never enough. I was never enough.
I finally gave up dieting a few years ago. It doesn’t mean I still don’t have lots of stories that creep in about being too big or about my lovability being correlated to my size. It just means I practice not reacting to those thoughts and changing how I eat.
What I do try to do is stay conscious about all that I take in to nourish myself. To let go of the false morality we’ve placed around food and eating. To feel gratitude for whatever I choose to nourish myself with, whether it’s green beans or ice cream. To nourish myself with self care like massage and walks in the woods. To love myself as I am and to believe I am worth—no matter what my size.
What’s changed?
Have I lost a ton of weight? Some. But I’ve gained some back too and I still feel so much lighter! My metabolism is boosted even though I’m well into menopause. I have less physical pain which I assumed was due to being too heavy but my weight hasn’t changed. My social anxiety has decreased. I spend a lot less time beating myself up because there’s a lot less ammunition when food and my size aren’t weapons. My body feels loved and responds in kind.
How?
I didn’t do it alone. I started training to be an Ayurvedic Health Counselor and in that community I found a philosophy and health care system that is helping to set me free from a paradigm of scarcity and culture of sizism that I’ve starved myself within my whole life.
What Is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda, translated from Sanskrit, as “the Science of Life”, is one of the oldest documented health care systems in the world. Ayurveda is grounded in the principle that all things are interdependent and subject to the same forces of nature. That means, that even by just paying more attention and making subtle changes to our daily habits, we can create more harmony within ourselves and the world around us. It’s a paradigm of relationship and reciprocity—and abundance. When we bring ourselves back into balance with the forces of nature we balance our own inner forces and we can heal ourselves.
That means, like every species of flora and fauna, we each have our own unique constitutions and evolutions through life. Ayurveda recognizes this and invites you to pay attention to how you respond to the forces of the universe and to find your own rhythms and practices to be your healthiest.
Nourishment and Ayurveda vs. Diet Culture
Ayurveda
We each have a unique constitution and “right size.” There is no ideal size.
The key to health is having a strong digestive fire.
Different foods have different qualities that will help us stay in or out of balance with the world around us.
Eat to balance with the qualities of the seasons.
Our thoughts about food and about ourselves influence how well we digest and absorb nutrients.
The “right quantity” of food to eat depends on your constitution, your hunger, and the time of day.
Each body needs different foods in different amounts to be balanced and healthy.
There is no one size fits all and one’s diet should change with the seasons and circumstances of life.
There is no wagon to fall off of so there’s no on or off. It’s all practice and it all has the power to nourish you.
Diet Culture
Thin is the ideal for all bodies.
The key to health is eating “right” and being thin.
There are “good” foods and “bad” foods.
Eat one particular way all the time and avoid “bad” foods.
It doesn’t matter what we think so long as we restrict ourselves to eating “good” food.
The “right quantity” of food to eat is based on calories and getting or staying thin.
We all need to restrict “_______ (fat, meat, carbs, etc)” from our diets and we will be healthier and we will lose weight.
We should all strive to be thin and lanky with hard bodies and no softness.
You fall off the wagon and eat “poorly” and then you need to get back on again and “do better”.
“Partnering with Jen has truly been a life opening experience for me. She embodies a full presence of mind and spirit - meeting me each session right where I was and holding space for whatever emerged. Her gentle and informed approach allowed me to tap into my own body wisdom. I continue to integrate the learning I started with her into my life. ”
IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO CHANGE A PARADIGM
I want to create a community of support for myself and others on this ongoing journey to food freedom.
I am fortunate to have studied Ayurveda and have a foundation from which to re-learn my habits of thought and emotion around food and have begun to heal after a lifetime of struggle. I want to share that with you and to hear about your journey and your experiences. Together, we can renegotiate our relationship to food and ultimately to ourselves. Together, we can find the support and encouragement we need to stay true to ourselves and resist the pervasive messaging of diet culture.
I invite you to join me in creating a community of practice in nourishment and self-care.
What is NOURISH?
At it’s heart, NOURISH is an online community dedicated to supporting our individual journeys towards healing and self-love. It’s roots are Ayurveda and Yoga and it’s fruits are joy and freedom from suffering. It’s intention is to be compassionately real. We will learn about and acknowledge how ingrained diet culture is in our mindset and heartset and challenge ourselves to be honest about that and the damage is causes us. There will be no judgement, EVER, just loving accountability and support.
There are several ways to engage based on what you need and how much support you want:
Monthly Sangha. Sangha means community in Sankrit. It’s purpose is to bring together those who wish to learn and to have offerings of inspiration and guidance on how to live a life of freedom and joy. On the first Saturday of each month, I will host a 75 minute session that includes, a short dharma talk that offers food for thought and reflection, a 30 minute silent meditation, and some conversation and discussion about the topic at hand. It’s a chance to meet others and share in our common interests of health and wellbeing.
Bi-weekly Mindful Eating Moments. Eating is rarely a stand alone affair in our go-go culture. When is the last time you sat down and just ate, without anything else going on? This is a chance twice a month to sit together (on zoom) for 1/2 hour and just eat and to focus all of our attention and gratitude on the act of nourishing ourselves, whether it’s with a cookie or a cup of soup. We’ll say a special grace and then enjoy food together.
Ayurvedic Consultations. You will have the option of receiving a full Ayurvedic work up to understand your own individual constitution and current state of balance/imbalance and to receive personalized suggestions for food and lifestyle options that could help you find more balance and wellbeing.
Seasonal Resets. The transition between seasons is one of instability as the qualities and forces of nature change within and around us. It is a time to slow down and take some time to notice these shifts and tune into what your body, mind and spirit need. This is especially true in the transition from Summer to Fall and Winter to Spring. I will be offering 8-day Seasonal resets at these times where you can follow a set of Ayurvedic guidelines including simplifying your diet, meditating, journaling and practicing yoga. These programs are flexible and designed to allow for adaptation to meet your needs.
Yoga Classes. NOURISH memberships offer varying levels of access to my livestream and pre-recorded classes to support your transformation. Yoga, at it’s heart, is about calming the fluctuations of the mind, so that we connect more closely with our true selves, free from the conditioning of our experiences. Regular daily yoga practice is a great way to build your determination and confidence in manifesting your path forward.
Join As Much and As Frequently as You Like!
You can drop in to the Sangha and Mindful Eating moments as works for your schedule,sign up individually for an Ayurvedic Consult or a Seasonal Reset, or you can choose to make this community a consistent part of your life and practice by signing up for a monthly membership. There are two membership levels to choose from:
NOURISH Membership - Ojas Builder
Ojas is the Ayurvedic term for our resilience, our vitality. It is the last thing we store up after we’ve nourished all of our tissues with our food. Having strong Ojas is critical for staying healthy and leading a full life. It requires focused investment in yourself and a generous respect for your time and using it wisely. If you're looking for hands on expert guidance and the inspiration and encouragement of a whole community in creating a more connected and balanced relationship with yourself and within your life, then this is the monthly membership for you!
This full access membership in the NOURISH Program offers both personalized one-to-one Ayurvedic and Yoga consultations and regular online community support. Each month you have access to:
The Nourish Sangha on the first Saturday of each month for learning, community and meditation practice,
The bi-weekly mindful eating moments to practice bringing more intention and grace to enjoying food,
A one-to-one Ayurvedic consultation to support you in finding health and balance in your mind, body, and spirit,
Access to two 8 day seasonal reset programs per year in the Spring and Fall, and
Full access to the livestream and pre-recorded yoga classes available through Yoga Grace.
NOURISH Membership - Balance
In Ayurveda, balance is the key to health and harmony. It requires paying attention to the world around you and how you respond to it. If you are looking to learn more about the concepts of nourishment and self-care as it relates to Ayurveda and to be part of a community of practice around those concepts then this is the membership for you! With the Balance membership you will have access to:
The NOURISH Sangha on the first Saturday of each month for learning, meditation and connection.
The bi-weekly mindful eating community where we coming together for a half an hour of practice mindful eating and appreciation.
Participation in the Spring and Fall 8 Day Seasonal Reset Programs.
Three online livestream yoga classes per week and their subsequence recordings.
Drop in only for monthly Sangha community and bi-weekly Mindful Eating Moments here. Note: the inaugural NOURISH Sangha is April 1st and the first NOURISH Mindful Eating Moment is April 6th.
Professional Compassionate Experienced Support
Been there. Do that. My personal experience with these practices helped me through a significant back injury, recovery from addiction and disordered eating, and raising 2 children as a single mom. I can attest to their healing power and I know they can help you too. We can’t do it alone. It really does take a village and I want to build a robust community of support where we share in the bliss and grit of this gorgeous and messy journey called life.
I bring all of my personal experience, my passion for this practice and my extensive study to this community. Here’s a litte more about my studies:
I’ve been teaching yoga for 11 years and I love this work! It nourishes me like no other work I have ever done! I have spent the last 15 years practicing and studying in the somatic movement field. I have 1500 hours worth of nationally accredited certifications in the instruction of Yoga and Ayurveda and hundreds more hours of supplemental study. I am currently enrolled in an internationally renowned yoga therapy program led by a teacher with a deep lineage. I have taught over 3000 hours and am accredited as an experienced yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance and an Ayurvedic Health Counselor through the Boston Ayurveda School! I know my stuff and want to share it with you!
Connect with your innate and complete sense of wholeness & increase your wellbeing and health for a lifetime!
Are you ready to commit but want to talk more?
Sign up for a free phone consult.
