We believe everyone is entitled to the freedom to live in their body as it is, without ridicule, blame or bias. Addressing and denouncing body oppression SHOULD be a foundation everywhere, particularly in the helping and healing professions, but…it isn’t yet.
We believe health is an ideal that has been primarily sold to us, and the discussion to define well-being separately from the social construct of health is only emerging. We believe the pursuit of “health” is an individual choice and is not required to be accepted as “good enough”, “whole” or even “worthy”.
Our intention is to offer experiences that hold space for you to mitigate the impact the culture has on you when it doesn’t mirror your wholeness. We see and know that oppression and discrimination, as well as the furthering of the thin, cis, white, able-bodied ideal, has created conditions that repeatedly reinforce shame, separation from knowing one’s own voice and truth, and self-hatred that is unfounded and damaging. The social determinants of health are far more impactful on well-being than individual health behaviors.
We are aware of how our own apparent privilege as white, cis-het, able-bodied women of average and small fat size requires us to examine and re-examine the way we offer and develop our work over time. We push ourselves to be good listeners, vulnerable community members, and whole-hearted human beings who are highly fallible and always growing. Our unlearning is centered in social justice, inclusion and addressing our privilege. We acknowledge our influence in this work with humility and a keen eye on our own humanity.
We would like to see the arena of the body be a place free from self-blame, self-improvement and shame. We want to support you in healing from the ideas, the trauma, and the lies that have been expressed to you about bodies so you have the opportunity to live more compassionately in the body you have today. We see, feel, and understand that body blame and disordered eating have shared roots in the systematic and institutionalized oppression happening EVERY day.
We believe there are tools and philosophies, such as Body Trust®, Health at Every Size®, body respect, the incredible fat acceptance movement, Intuitive Eating, self-compassion, shame resilience, and stigma resistance work, that can help you decide what is yours to release and/or heal. We have seen these approaches provide a necessary counterpoint to the incessant prescription of weight-loss, which tends to elevate stigma, disordered eating, and internalization of shame instead of improving a person’s health and well-being. We know finding safe pathways to heal, free from bias and stigma, is an enormous challenge. Part of the work we do at Be Nourished is training and supporting fellow helping professionals who would like to approach their work from an inclusive and respectful lens.
We support your right to live as you choose in the body you have today. Our programs may be a way for you to move closer to YOUR very own truth.
Equity Pricing
Be Nourished embodies the values, policies and practices that ensure that all people have access to supportive resources. We acknowledge the systems of power that grant privilege and access unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and we are committed to dismantling these systems. Everyone deserves access to a full, vibrant, creative life, which is essential to a healthy and democratic society. People of color, queer/trans folx, and people with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by barriers to healthcare and wellness services due to systemic and institutionalized systems in place that have created these barriers, and we wish to push back against this impact with equity pricing (available by request). Clients that can pay full price for our services create the capacity for others to access support, and everyone’s needs are met. Learn more or make a pricing request.
Striving for Diversity & Inclusion
Be Nourished promotes diversity and inclusion as a core value in our work and with our clients. We recognize all types of diversity including ethnicity, race, size, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, class, religion and abilities.
As a company, we believe that working with those differences is what enhances our work and we want our clients to share that belief. We honor the strength, creativity and power that comes from experiencing different viewpoints, backgrounds and cultures.
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Let’s talk about the new weight loss injectables Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro. We cannot ignore the timing of this medication’s popularity, while everyone continues to reckon with the impact of COVID on their lives, communities and overall health (including mental).
One way we dismantle structures is to divest personally from them. We have the power to collapse systems if we include ourselves in the process. This process is about healing and reclaiming body trust.
Body Trust is a radically different way of relating to, occupying, and caring for your body in a culture that doesn’t trust bodies.