The weekly perspective
One question to ask yourself
If you were the main character in the movie of your life & you had an audience watching, what would the audience be screaming at you to do?
What is it? What needs to change?
Something to consider
A woman who is self-conscious can't relax to let her sensuality come into play. If she is hungry she will be tense. If she is ashamed of her body, its movement will be stilled. If she does not feel entitled to claim attention, she will not demand that airpspace to shine in - Naomi Wolfe
The Beauty Myth - an essential and classic read from me to you
One thing I'd tell my younger self.
Separate how you feel about someone vs. how they make you feel
I've thought a lot of sunshine shone out of a lot of assholes in my time, feeling these people were gods. At the same time, feeling small, insecure, uncertain. I wish I'd known how to separate the two. I wish I'd known how to recognise the feelings in my body around these people, the visceral responses that are so evident in my life now.
One thing to try this week
Set a time limit for your preoccupation
At the start of this year, one of the resolutions I made was to restrict access to me in specific situations and relationships. I realised I was giving one relationship in particular too much of my energy, and this person too much of me. You have to earn this kind of access to me, but I was giving it away for free, and a lot of that was what I was giving in my own head. This relationship would be non existent anywhere but my mind at some points, and I'd spent a lot of time overthinking scenarios past, present and future, conversations we'd had, things I wish I'd said, I would say. It was exhausting and having a pretty negative impact on my mental state. One solution to this is a tool we use at ETPHD around food and body sometimes. Thoughtwork that requires the awareness of your action of overthinking, and using the power of choice to set a limit on that overthinking. You are not your thoughts. You are the listener. You can choose to stop. For me? 5 minutes is my limit on this relationship. Thinking about it beyond that goes against my rule, doesn't serve me and steals my peace. What's your preoccupation and your time limit for the week?
A few things to tell you...
New solo pod from me & it was just a tiny bit ranty - the truth about post partum weight loss
I LOVED last weeks EIQ pod - we covered much of the BS women's health information out there right now & the difference between PCOS and hypothalamic amenhorrhea
Fantastic solo pod from Anna on navigating chronic pain, disordered eating & body image on the ETPHD pod too
One more thing...
Please share your favourite stuff.
Thank you all for continuing to share your favourite Monday email quotes. I see them all. I know how much I love seeing impactful quotes from strangers, so it means a lot that you allow me to hopefully be that person for someone else. If there's something you really relate to or know someone who'd benefit from something in this email, please share it and pay it forward. Words are magical, and if I've learned anything from writing these emails to you for years, you never know when someone needs to hear the exact thing you've got to say.
