The Balance + Bliss Podcast
Want to live healthier and more well? What does that even mean!
Wellness is not linear, and it’s not just one thing, it expands into so many areas and on this show, we’re going to talk about just that!I want you to feel like you are in control of your health, prioritizing moving your body regularly and fueling it well, taking care of your mind, setting boundaries, practicing self and body acceptance, personal growth, manifestation and everything in between. There’s a little something for everyone who desires to evolve as a human, so let’s dive in!
The Balance + Bliss Podcast
Episode 148: Exploring Acceptance: From Body Image to Personal Growth on Go Be Great with Becca Dicicco
In this week's episode, I share with you an interview I did on the Go Be Great podcast with Becca Dicicco, where I share my personal journey - from grappling with societal beauty standards as a teenager, embarking on a weight loss journey, to nurturing a renewed perspective post-parenthood - the common thread: grace, compassion, and acceptance.
Listen to more episodes of Becca's show here.
To learn more about The Bliss Retreat, visit thebalancebliss.ca/retreat
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Welcome to the Balance and Bliss podcast. I'm your host, andrea Mondu, a three-time published author, speaker and a lifestyle transformation coach who believes everyone should be given the gift of knowing how to live their lives feeling healthy and empowered. Things like moving your body regularly and feeling it well, taking care of your mind, setting boundaries, practicing self and body, acceptance, personal growth, manifestation and everything in between. This is not linear and it's not just one thing. It expands into so many areas and on this show we're going to talk about just that. We're all striving to live a little more healthy and a little more well, but what does that even mean? My goal is to help you see that you can move from the mundane to the magic when it comes to living aligned and fulfilled, and by tuning in each week you can be assured you'll leave with nuggets of wisdom that you can implement into your day to day, like right now, to help you maximize your health, wellness and your life. Now let's dive in. Hey, welcome back to another episode of the Balance and Bliss podcast. I hope you have been having an excellent summer and also that you've been enjoying all of the replays and the re-releases that I have been sharing with you, with a few nuggets of new episodes in there.
Speaker 1:I have been having a really busy, really filling, really kick-ass summer. Back at the end of June, when I shared kind of what some of my summer plans were and how it was like a reclaiming of the summer. I really feel like it has been that I have spent so much time by the water. I have spent so much time doing things with friends and with family and just really soaking in all of the moments that I can have with both of the girls home with me over the summer. If you follow me over on Instagram, at the beginning or at the end of July I shared that Eloise is going to be starting daycare, or had started daycare some sporadic days over the summer, and we're really closing like one chapter, one season of our lives and moving into the next one.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of feelings around that, mostly positive, though it's just like you know, whenever you're in the throes of something that's really really tough, oftentimes it's like oh my gosh, I feel like this is going to go on forever, like I don't know if I can do this, how am I going to be able to get up for another day? And you know there's a lot of changes and challenges that come with navigating a new baby and a second child, growing your family, figuring out all of those transitions and all of those adjustments, and then, on top of that, you know, managing the podcast and the business and like, what is my life going to look like and how do I want to create? You know our days once the girls get older and how available do I want to be. Like I was having all of these big moments of feeling like what you know, what am I doing and what do I want my life to look like. And so it was a lot. But of course, you know, now we're on the other side of that and the summer is ending and school is going to be back in session soon. Everybody's going to be getting onto like a little bit of routine. That's one thing that I really crave for near the end of the summer is I'm like, okay, I'm ready for the free, for all to be done. I'm looking forward to routines and schedules and dedicated work time and all those things. You know, as much as it's nice to have late nights and be going this place and that place, our bodies really thrive on routine and predictability, and you know my body is asking me for, for that routine.
Speaker 1:So, you know, take a minute and think about what your body might be asking you for as you're listening to this episode today. You know thinking about how has the last week been for you, how has the last month been for you. Have you taken a moment to sit, close your eyes, and maybe you do that right now. You sit, you close your eyes and you can almost do a little bit of a body scan. How is your body feeling? Are there any parts of you that are tight? Are you wearing your shoulders as earrings, as my massage therapist has said to me before, can you relax those shoulders? Is there any tension in any part of your body? What's going on in your mind right now? And maybe you can't sift through all of that in this moment, but taking some time to sift through what's going on in your mind, what is weighing you down, what thoughts are going on that are no longer serving you, these regular check ins can be really helpful in kind of keeping that homeostasis and that stability that our nervous systems are looking for.
Speaker 1:Back in July we went on a week's vacation. It was in the middle of July and in the middle of two birthdays. So both of the girls have a birthday early July, or the 14th and the 29th, and our cottage weekend was smack dab, or cottage week, rather, was smack dab in the middle of that and my brain was going 100 times a minute during that leading up to the cottage. All the things that I have to do for the parties, all the things that I have to like pack and bring and make sure we have, plus all the stuff that I had going on at that time. I just finished up or was just finishing up, rather my bare coaching certification and so I was going through class twice a week at that time, obviously doing the homework, making sure that I'm getting my coaching hours in, like a shit ton of stuff. And I remember the night before we went up to the cottage feeling like really wound up Once we were driving up there, I'm like going through the did.
Speaker 1:I forget anything? Do I have everything? Did I turn off all the things? Did I give all the instructions? Going through all those things in your mind.
Speaker 1:Once we got up there, we started, you know, we unpacked, we saw the water. There's something for me I said this before, but there's something for me about being near the water. It just really brings me down to a place of calm. And so, as each day went by at the cottage, I almost felt like my nervous system was slowly calming down, like my sympathetic nervous system was like we've been running on this for so long, and the parasympathetic system was like it's okay, I've got this where I'm coming in Listen, I'm coming, I've got this. And by the end of that week vacation, there was so much like chill and calm in my body. I feel like I've still kind of carried that through. And so if we don't allow ourselves the time to take a minute and check in with our body, with our mind, with how many things are spinning in there, if we actually can bring our body to a place of calm, then we're never really able to get there right Because we're not being intentional and we're living on that autopilot which I talk often about.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, all that to say, this was supposed to be an intro for today's episode and it is, but I just wanted to throw that in here for you. So today's episode is an interview actually with that I did on another show. So my friend Becca she's also a co-author in Body Bliss Book Two and she is the host of the Go Be Great podcast Her and I talked on our on our show hey, becca, it's our show together now Her and I talked on her show a little bit about my journey, a little bit about body image, and we talked about mermaids randomly, but we had a really great conversation about being at home in your skin, what that can look like, all the influences on the exterior, and I wanted to share that with you today. So, without further ado, here is the interview of me on the Go Be Great podcast. I really hope you enjoy it. It was really great to talk to you today and I will catch you next week. I hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2:I'm Becca and this is the podcast. Go Be Great. There's no such thing as TMI here, so let's chat, meet amazing humans and have conversations about life, confidence and more, without the filter. Come hang weekly as I shed light on the topics we often feel we need to hide, as we celebrate the ebbs and flows of learning what being great really looks like. Buckle up Buttercups and let's go be great together.
Speaker 1:This show is brought to you by Female Alliance Media, by women for women.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello, welcome back. I am so excited for this episode, so we are just going to put on our little swim goggles and dive right in, because I know that you guys probably already saw my stories. This week we are talking to Andrea Mondu, author of you Actually Can Do this, lead author of the bestselling Body Bliss book series. She is a speaker. She's the podcast host of the Balance and Bliss podcast. One of the founders of Female Alliance Media. Let's give a round of applause. I loved adding that last one in there. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know what I actually like? I don't know why I just it's almost like a separate identity. I don't like really talk about it in like my Balance and Bliss space. But yeah, no big deal.
Speaker 2:Huge deal. We're going to get into that in a second. I had to ask some fun questions just to get the party started, and these came about either on a TikTok feed or just life, and I actually saved them because I feel like you would have really good answers for this. Okay, number one do you believe that mermaids are real? Yes, okay, follow up. I was hoping you were going to say yes. Do you think they are evil?
Speaker 1:Okay, First of all, I have to say literally yesterday I went to see the new little mermaid that just came out and yeah, have you seen it yet?
Speaker 2:No, but I've heard amazing things.
Speaker 1:It was so good I was like crying Okay. So that was like my favorite movie growing up. I had like flashbacks. When you asked me that question of like when I was a kid, I would like glue my legs together in my mind in the pool and I would pretend I was a mermaid. You know how you like flip your legs and like sit up on the side and like do the thing with the tail. So obviously they're real and yes, the movie was fucking fantastic. No, I do not think they are evil. I think they are misunderstood.
Speaker 2:What are these siren sounds? Have you seen these videos, by the way?
Speaker 1:No, I don't have TikTok. Well, I shouldn't say that I don't go on TikTok I have it, but I don't go on it. Okay, I'm going to send you them.
Speaker 2:Just so you can see it. It's this. It's this guy who's on a sailboat I don't maybe not a sailboat, he's in a some type of boat in the middle of the ocean late at night and he's recording a video and all of a sudden you hear these sounds, like it sounds like somebody, a woman, yelling, and so he's like wait, did you guys hear that? And he keeps recording and he like shows it out and on both sides of the boat there's like something on either side of the boat jump like swimming and like talking to him and like it sounds like an echoey voice. It's the creepiest thing. But they say that like the mermaids, like lower sailboat, like sailmen I don't know what the word is in the middle of the night Miller sure Sounds great In the middle of the night and like lures them in and then like attacks them and like takes them down to their lair. What?
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, I don't. I know none of this. I know the little mermaid and Ariel, and she's wonderful.
Speaker 2:Yes, I didn't learn this until like literally last week and I like wrote that down because I was like, oh, definitely going to ask Andrea this one. Oh yeah, I mean these videos.
Speaker 1:I'm curious. I'm going to ask Mike if ever I'm like not sure about something or like if I'm hearing you know random stories about things going on in the world, I always like send them to Mike for, like, I vet them through him. I'm like what do you think about this? Is this real, is this not real? And then he like talks me off the anxious ledge.
Speaker 2:Oh good conspiracy theories. I would love to hear his what he thinks about mermaids being evil or not.
Speaker 1:I will ask him.
Speaker 2:What are your last three Google searches, if you will be so brave as to bring them up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I totally will. Crockpot healthy recipes. Cute Dr Callflesh. What is my dentist? I need to reach digital Clara's appointment.
Speaker 2:Oh, the last name is Callflesh. I was like oh, are we getting into cannibalism already?
Speaker 1:No, when I said flesh I thought you meant other type of fallatio. That's even better. And then the other one is 777, angel number meeting.
Speaker 2:Oh, what is the meaning?
Speaker 1:Mike, mr Logical Brain Mike's my husband, by the way, for anyone who's listening my lovely partner. He is like super, not into like witchy stuff, as he calls it, but he literally sent me a picture of his odometer today and it was like 777777. And then the picture said what does this mean? So I looked it up for him and it means seeing 7777, or 7777 is your guardian angel's way of telling you to stay strong and to continue moving forward on your journey, even through changes and obstacles. The path ahead can become challenging, but the message is to keep a positive outlook in order to overcome anything. Ooh, dig it. Yeah, I did. And then he didn't respond to me for the rest of the day.
Speaker 2:Way to go, Mike. Everything's okay. By the way, you need to check back in after that. Oh my gosh. Okay, that actually really went beautifully into my final question. Do you have any full moon routines or like rituals that you do?
Speaker 1:I love the full moon. I fully believe in full moon rituals. Do I always do them? No, like there was just a full moon this past Saturday and I looked at it when I let the dog out and I was like, oh, that's really nice, and then I didn't do anything else, but I posted full moon events in the past. So like I'm all over the spectrum in terms of how I harness that full moon energy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. I think it's fascinating and I'm so into it. I also really am envious of the women whose cycles are in alignment with the phases of the moon. That would be cool, yeah, and I just I've been seeing again another thing all over the internet about how, like all of these very intuitive souls and like mediums or spirit, like psychics and stuff like this, are all of their cycles, who are in line with the moon, are suddenly shifting out and they're like wondering why. And there's a bunch of research behind that. I really need to go off conspiracy theory TikTok, but I just thought it was fascinating and I was like, oh, my little witchy girl, I know she's gonna have Of course.
Speaker 1:I must say, though, on Saturday, mike and I had a little tiff and I, before I went to bed, I literally said to myself I was like, and I am releasing this fucking discussion with the full moon. So I did do that. The full moon is all about releasing, and the new moon is calling in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, okay, that's a good thing to release. Sometimes that's all it takes, right? All right, well, that was all my fun questions. Now we're going to get down to business. Okay, so I feel like there is so many we could. I could have you back on here for like 17 episodes, because there's so many different avenues that we could like really lube up and dive into. But for starters, tell us about your relationship with your body. What has that looked like over time?
Speaker 1:Oh, my, okay. So the way, the relationship that I've had with my body over time I'll tell you, the first thing that's coming to mind for me right now is like this really big shift that I had with the way that it's almost like there was a very definitive like before children and after children. For me, in terms of like the way that I accept and view the skin that I'm in, historically it hasn't really been the greatest. I am somebody who is as per the ideal standard of beauty not quite that. So I'm really tall, I'm like almost six feet, and I am like big, boned, curvy, mid-size is a term that I've heard people use that I can kind of like identify with mid and like plus size. Like I. The most recent pair of like gene shorts that I bought were a 20.
Speaker 1:So like I'm definitely don't shop, can't shop everywhere necessarily, and so I obviously, as do a lot of women or girls at a young age like notice that I was different from people around me. I couldn't like share clothes with my friends and all that kind of stuff. Right, it's like, oh my gosh, let's all get together and like share clothes and stuff, and I'm like, oh cool, or like do you remember? Did you guys have a garage clothing at your in the States? No, so it's like a teeny bopper, it's kind of like a forever 21, like dynamite kind of store. Do you have dynamite Anyway?
Speaker 2:No, but that would be like our limited too. I'm getting that vibe. Yeah, like real bubble gum girly.
Speaker 1:Yes, and so those were like the stores that we were shopping at when I was a teenager and they only went up to like a size 13. And I have like very like I have a narrow, narrow waist but a very wide bootay, which I love now, but I was like I hated it back then because I was like trying on the size 13 jeans and I could barely do them up, or like my butt crack was hanging out or like you get like the muffin top, and I was so insecure about like all of that and I just I was different, right, I just I felt different. And so you know, I remember there was this one like a monumental moment for me when I was in college, where this was early on in the relationship that I have with Mike now that was a weird way of saying that, but anyway. And I remember, like you know, looking at myself in the mirror, stepping on the scale and feeling like just absolutely devastated with the number that I saw, with the way I felt in my skin, and I just was like really tied to this number and how unworthy I was. And you know, like why would Mike ever want to be with somebody like me, like all this kind of stuff. So, as most people do before, I think they like wake up to there's more than just needing to lose weight.
Speaker 1:I went on a weight loss journey. I was like, listen, if I can lose weight then I'm gonna feel better about myself. And I did. I did, when I lost the weight, like let's be honest, you get all the praise from everybody on the outside and it was great. And then I peed on a stick and I found out I was pregnant and my first thought was, oh my gosh, I'm gonna undo all the hard work I just did by getting pregnant and having this baby. And that's like really shitty to. You know, when I think back, like that was the first thought that I had it. Just, I just feel really sad that like I thought that. But of course you know we're only as woke as we are, you know.
Speaker 1:So I had Clara and Clara's, my older daughter, and I was like, okay, now I can like get that pre-baby body back and I was like, wait, like that's, you know, that's just doesn't like feel as right anymore and I'm thinking about raising a daughter and like my internal dialogue, and so when I say there was like a very distinct like before and after. It's because, all of a sudden, I was like, oh shit, like there's also somebody else that I'm influencing, and I know the countless hours that I have wasted wishing that my body was different, wishing that I could be smaller, wishing that I could be. I just wish that I was short, like my whole life. I wished that I was short because, you know, I could was always scared to wear high heels, for example, if I could find a fucking shoe size that fit me, cause, again, I'm like an 11 wide, sometimes 12, depending on the store, and so I just I didn't want that same type of like path for Clara, or journey rather.
Speaker 1:So I literally started faking confidence. I was like, oh, I feel good, like I'm happy with my body, even though, like, deep down, I still was, you know, struggling a lot and over time. I mean Clara is going to be eight soon, and so it definitely was a slow transition. Now, you know, if you were to ask me how I feel about my body and the skin that I'm in, I mean, I still have bad body image days. That's a mouthful. But I think that I have personally, for me, spent so much time unpacking and unlearning and like relearning the ways that you actually can talk to yourself, that the days where I do struggle, you know. Back in February I went to LaVion Rose to get like a little cutesy lingerie with my postpartum body and I went in feeling great and nothing fit me in the store and I left feeling horrible for a short time but then I was like no, no, listen, this doesn't matter what. They don't have your size here. Just go to a different store, you know, but those things historically like have spiraled me. Oh yes.
Speaker 2:That is that's awful. And then you kind of have that moment where it's like again we allow myself to feel like it's for a minute. But then it's also that reminder of that replacement follow-up thought of okay, it's not my body's fault, it's the store's fault Not having my stuff Like it's never our body's fault.
Speaker 1:Yeah, literally, when I was pregnant, I went to Walmart to get a bathing suit and I remember being like pumped because I'd heard that Walmart was carrying like more diverse sizing and I was like, yes, like I can walk, I don't have to go to a plus size store and spend like three times as much on a bathing suit. Because why? Why the does that exist, you know? And I was like, cool, I'm going to go into Walmart. I literally got a three X bathing suit and the bottoms were still snug and I was like this is not a three. Oops, I just shook my whole table. Yeah, she's getting real passionate guys. This is not a three X, like, it's just, and again, for people who haven't like or are still going through the work, because it takes work and it's constant work, you know that could be like really fucking discouraging and that's not fair. That's not fair. That like, if you live in a bigger body, that you have to have those experiences when people who are naturally smaller don't have like this. Just not fair, right, right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah, and not even that. So like, oh, and you're going to have to pay X amount more when really the fabric doesn't cost that much, and men can walk around and just know their measurements and go and shop and get whatever they need. It's really only women that have to worry about this weird sizing thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I saw that recently on Instagram. It was like, if your waist is this, you go into a store as a man and you buy that size. Yeah, but like here you're the size, or the size, or the size. Like it's wild, it just like plays into, like the mindset, which is yeah.
Speaker 2:Exactly yes. So what have you put into practice postpartum then? That has helped you connect back with yourself, Cause you just had baby number two. Oh my gosh, you make adorable children and Clara's like a little mommy and I just love it so much. But what have you done round two on this that has maybe helped you connect now that you've learned from Clara?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that in the last almost a year like next month she's going to be a year which is wild to me. That is wild, I know. I know In the last year I think that I have really honed in on, like, what are the things that really allow for me to like be in this place of like, bliss and acceptance with my body? And so those three things that have really allowed me to like stay in this mindset are grace, compassion and acceptance. You may have heard me talk about these things before.
Speaker 1:I think that I have spent a lot of time. You know, you have those pictures from high school and you look back at them and you're like, oh my gosh, like I think back to when I was in high school and I had a very distorted perception of the size of my body. I was relatively slender in high school, other than like, again, hippie, and I had those like experiences where I couldn't shop at stores but compared to now, like I was definitely a smaller version of myself. Yet at that point in time I was struggling. But anyway, the whole point of saying that these high school pictures is that, like we sometimes look back on whether it's high school or, you know, pre-kids or pre-marriage or pre-whatever it is, and we compare our now selves to that other version of ourself and say, well, why can't I do that? I'm now a failure as a result of that.
Speaker 1:So for me it's like, listen, I've had two children now, so this body has housed and created and birthed two people.
Speaker 1:Okay, you've made your own people. It literally made my own people. And so, being really compassionate for myself, for that and you know, not putting these expectations on myself to show up in the same way that I showed up in other seasons so I give myself a lot of compassion with you know where I'm at right now and my resilience around that, showing myself a lot of grace because, you know, if we are on some sort of wellness journey or on some sort of path to be better, we can get really down on ourselves on the days that we struggle, right, and it's like, oh, you know where's my motivation, I don't have any willpower, but like we don't need as much willpower as we just need like grace and compassion for ourselves. So those two things have been really helpful for me. And then acceptance is the third. One is just like you know, we can want our bodies to maybe be different. Or you know, for me I've been pretty open in the intro of Body Bliss, book 2, which are you gonna read really soon?
Speaker 2:Yes, oh my.
Speaker 1:God, oh, my God.
Speaker 2:Today. Wait, I just realized we're talking to you guys in the past, but this episode comes out on launch day. Forgot to say that in the beginning.
Speaker 1:Okay, so in the intro of the book you know I talk about because I think that there's like this misconception that if you are living in a place of like acceptance with your body, then you shouldn't want to lose weight. You know what I mean? And it's like one or the other For me. I'm very much in acceptance of where I'm at right now, but also I do want to lose some weight, but it's not tied to like because I want to look better or whatever. For me, I notice it in my workouts, for example.
Speaker 1:Or like I'm very flexible but I can't flex as far as I can with my stomach in the way, and that's just the reality of. But the desire for that doesn't come from a place of hate. It comes from just like hey, this is what I want to be, but I'm not going to hate on myself right now, I'm just going to be in acceptance of like this is the season that I'm in. This is one part of my whole life's journey In that, then, I just have started until like, just release some of the pressure that I put on myself and I'm just leading more with love for myself and like for that.
Speaker 2:And it's so hard to do that too, because I feel like sometimes, when people hear grace or they hear compassion, they're like oh, but is that the same thing as an excuse? Or like are you making an excuse? And it's like no, that's definitely not. And if you are making an excuse, you're not leading with love, You're not doing all the things that you just explained. You're not coming from a place of desire based on aesthetics. It's just based on how you want to show up and live life, and those are two very different things.
Speaker 1:I also don't want my knee to hurt as much while I'm running. Like you know, there's these things that I know that like, anyway, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, it's all about the root of it all and being really honest with yourself about that too, cause I know I tried to like mask that for a while too and be like oh, I just want this, I just want it to be because I want to take care of myself when really like no, that wasn't what you were really doing. Like you have to like really be able to catch your own shit. Yeah, and you've got to dig deep.
Speaker 1:You got to dig deep, cause it's really like we get so good at lying to ourselves If we don't check ourselves. Do you know what I mean? Like you got to really check. You got to be willing to ask yourself the hard questions instead of living on the autopilot, you know?
Speaker 2:Yes, oh my gosh, that's so. Yes, so has all of this I'm assuming. Correct me if I'm wrong inspired this career path for you. What, like, really made you want to just go and be all the things and do all of the things, write all the books, speak at all of the speaking engagements and all of the above?
Speaker 1:Well, multiple things. The first is that I am a helper, like by nature. At my, like, absolute core, I just have this innate desire to help people. So before I had this career path and passion, I was in social services. So I worked frontline, crisis work, like always doing the helping stuff yeah, I don't know why, Like I just was really attracted to crisis. So, like mental health, I was like the hoarding person for our region for a really long time, Just like you know the really the really heavy stuff that other people didn't necessarily want to help these folks I did. Then, when I started to do my own healing, I just felt inspired to be the person that my past self needed for other people going forward.
Speaker 1:When I was in college, I had to change my email, I remember, and I needed a professional email. I changed it to my name and then had the option to create an email signature. In that email signature I put a quote. That quote is still to this day, like 16 years later, the quote that I live by, and that is be the change that you want to see in the world. Every single thing that I do is driven by this desire to create impact for other people and be the person that I needed 16 years ago, when I was sitting on the edge of my bed sobbing, thinking I was disgusting and unworthy and all that. I sometimes think if I could go back and talk to that 20-year-old girl, I would give her so much healing. I would hope to anyway. Instead, I'm just talking to everybody else About breaking down all the shit that we think that wellness is, but instead spreading the word about what wellness actually is.
Speaker 1:What it actually is. It's not talking shit to yourself every single day when you get up and look in the mirror. It's looking at yourself and being like you're awesome, you did a really great job today. You've got this. I know this is going to be hard, but you've got this Insert.
Speaker 1:Whatever this thing is, it's so much more than simply now, mind you, how you fuel your vessel and how you move your body super important. That is absolutely a part of wellness, but it's such a small fraction yet we are so hyper-focused on those two things. I've just realized that more people need to lean into spirituality, lean into positive coping strategies for when shit gets handed to us, because you can do all the work in the world and shit is still going to get handed to you. If you've really developed a strong, solid internal foundation and compass to deal with all the shit that you get, it just helps you to move through it more quickly or it allows for you to again be compassionate with yourself when you're going through this stuff. It's about so much more. I'm like anybody got a mic that I can tell that to. You're going to listen? Cool, I'm here for it. Amazing.
Speaker 2:Yes, Give me the mic. The ultimate mic drop moments come from the end of those things. Oh my gosh, I love that mindset of I just want to speak, healing, not necessarily speak from any other notice me, or I know all these things. So here we talk. It truly comes from a place of healing and helping people. I think that's why we connect so much too, because I'm very much a helper. So just people helping people, helpers helping out first.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly that's why the idea for the books came. That's literally where the idea for the books came from I was just thinking about. So I was in one of Courtney's co-author projects at the beginning of the pandemic 2020, she did a co-author project called Five Lessons Learned in Motherhood. So in your chapter you put the five lessons that you learned as a mother. It was cool. It was like 15, five lessons. Whatever 15 times five is, somebody can do the math on that.
Speaker 1:I teach reading. Yeah, carry, the one I don't know. So after we had our book launch, I was like, oh my gosh, you remember Chicken Soup for the Soul? I was like that's what these books reminded me of. I don't think I have ever read a book that has 15 people, or nine people, saying, hey, this is how I felt about my body or this is what I've experienced in the world that I've lived in as it relates to how my body is in this world. But how healing would it be for you and I to open up a book and be like, oh my gosh, I'm getting chills right now how this person has been through, whatever it is Me too. There's so much power in saying me too.
Speaker 1:So I went to Courtney and I was like, hey, what do you think about this? She was like, hey, I really like that idea. Like let's put it out into the world and see what other people think about it. I had the first project filled in a month. Wow, 15 authors, just like I'm going to share, I'm going to share, I'm going to share, I'm going to share. And it was such a beautiful process.
Speaker 1:And when launch came about, I was like, oh no, I'm sad it's over and like there's more stories to be shared, and so we done it all over again. And now here we are, like so many people talk about how they've been impacted by body bliss, even like I'm having conversations in my DMs right now with people who are asking about book three and they're like I read book one and it was so great and I can't wait for book two to come out and like it's just, it's really cool to see like the ripple effects of what the authors are making. Because, yes, I have. I've had the idea for the project, I've pulled it together, I'm the lead author, but I'm only one story. There's so many other people that have shown up for themselves and shown up for others. You included in like sharing a piece of your story, a piece of your heart, with other people so that they can feel more connected unless alone.
Speaker 2:Yes, that drive and that mission for connection, I think, is what really.
Speaker 2:I didn't even have to think twice, I said yes and then, like clenched my butt later about it, but like it was just that innate feeling of like this is, this is immediately right, and my nervous system, like my whole body, was just telling me yes, from the beginning of it all.
Speaker 2:So I really just followed that and I think that it is really brave for women to be sharing their stories and because it does create that connection, when you feel like you're there's been things that I've written down in our chapter that I have been like, oh man, is it just me that has felt this way? And I'm like, no, absolutely not, there's not, there's not, never going to be that, and there's so many different stories so there's not really a way that you can't. You're either connecting or you're learning. You're either connecting or you're opening your mind and opening your heart and you're realizing that like wow, this is not a me issue, and it once again will hopefully help other women realize that it was never me, it was never my body's fault and this is all why, like all of these lived experiences, Well, in this book, for example, we have somebody sharing in their chapter about, like skin bleaching, where, like people, where people around her were bleaching their skin so that they felt like they could fit in and like that was.
Speaker 1:You know, that was something that was new to me. I didn't realize that that was you know lengths that people were going to, but it just goes to show you, like, you know, all of these things exist in the shadows and until we shine the light in those corners, we, we really don't realize what's going on. And so it's just like, so beautiful to be able to like, and let me tell you so, from this day forward, it's going to make your day when somebody sends you a DM and says, hey, I just finished reading your chapter and what you said, like really resonated with me. I think that's one of the coolest feedback that I've gotten from like the first books authors. It's is they're like. I'm getting a lot of messages from people that I know, but also people that I don't know, who, like, have the book and, you know, have read my story and felt so compelled to reach out to me and tell me how much that impact. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Yes, which really is just like the why behind it all, like you just want to help that and spread that healing and that connection. So I can, only I can't wait to like not that I can't wait to have you DM me, but I just can't wait to like have the book in everybody's hands, to like really connect with all of these amazing humans that are in this book.
Speaker 1:Listen, if you haven't so powerful Sorry, I was just was like if you haven't ordered your copy already or if you haven't pre-ordered, well, listen, message Becca and get one, because it's going to be, it's going to be great.
Speaker 2:It is. It really is so because I didn't log into the right Zoom account. We only have a few minutes left, but I do want to know what advice would you give somebody who's trying to build a better relationship with themselves.
Speaker 1:I think that. So I'm currently reading a book right now and I'm actually in a certification program for the bear coaching. I don't know if anyone listening to this is familiar with Susan Hyatt. She's also anti-diet and I'm loving it. One of the things that she said that was really the catalyst for her journey and I think is so beautiful and I've been sharing it with my clients and my people is that if you're feeling really overwhelmed with where you're at, with the relationship with your body or the way that you're talking to yourself, tomorrow morning when you wake up, just start to think about all of the decisions that you're making in a day, including the things that you're saying to yourself on that day, and start to think about how can you lead with love I said this a little bit earlier on, but not how can you love yourself more, but every decision that you're making, everything that you're saying to yourself, how can you start to shift to love type of decisions? I'll give you an example.
Speaker 1:If you're sitting down to like watch I'm pointing at my TV. Nobody can see. If you're sitting down to like watch Netflix at the end of the night or something like that, are you going to watch like some show that's going to give you like so much anxiety before you close your eyes? Or are you going to like watch something that's like going to make you feel good and then maybe that will solve the issues that you have with sleeping? Or, like you know, there's so many. Even like when you're eating something that you really enjoy, that's like a guilty pleasure or whatever, like enjoy it, but don't eat so much of it that your body is like hurting.
Speaker 1:After you know that, like your stomach is just like feels like it's going to explode and you're like, oh my God, I'm in so much pain. Just like think about all those small things you can do to lead with love and sorry, this is a really long answer. I love it Meeting it up and also just take it one day at a time, because what you're doing is you're literally creating new neural pathways. That shit doesn't happen overnight. You're undoing years and years and years of programming and if you, if you, slip up, it's fucking going to happen and it's okay. And you need to be compassionate with yourself in those moments. Give yourself some grace and then just put one foot in front of the other.
Speaker 2:Oh my, again Mike dropped. Do we see why? She's a speaker? Guys, Put her in front of any type of Mike, whether it's the one she's sitting at right now or on a stage somewhere. That was so good. Oh my God, I love that. Yes, lead with love. Find a way to choose love or choose you throughout the day and those little moments, because that really is where it all happens, guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's little moments every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, where can we find you on the socials and all of you who want to definitely join book three after reading and listening to this? Reading this podcast, listening to this podcast?
Speaker 1:By the way, reading podcast number four on my Google searches was how to transcribe my podcast for free. Oh, there you go. That's a good one, because I dream of like a anyway like a blog file podcast. So I am balance bliss on everything. So on Instagram I'm the balance bliss. As you mentioned earlier, it's the balance bliss podcast. My website is the balance bliss dot CA. Everything balance bliss and yeah.
Speaker 2:I love it. Thank you so much for being here. I know that there's going to be tidbits, especially from the mamas of the crew that are just going to love and get some advice from you, and I think that that's so important to do, I hope so. Guys, tune in next week. Happy launch day. Cheers to that. Shake your ass.
Speaker 1:Go be great. Shake your ass. Go be great, yes.
Speaker 2:I love it. Oh, my God.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much for being here. I hope you're leaving with a full heart, some inspiration, or you're feeling the kick in the butt you felt like you needed. If you really enjoyed this episode, be sure to share it with a friend or let me know Rates, reviews, subscribing and sharing are all great ways to support the show and if you want to stay in touch, follow me over on Instagram at thebalancebliss. Thanks for listening today and stay well.
