Sacred Crow Counseling and Consulting is a mental health private practice that operates on
the land of the Piscataway Conoy tribe. This practice is eternally grateful to the
Piscataway Conoy people for establishing and tending to this land.
Thank you.
S A C R E D C R O W
counseling + consulting
Intuitive Eating + Body Image + Movement
The -isms of the world have made being a human who has a need for food and movement complicated, and downright cruel. From the moment we are able to conceptualize that we have a body, the world and the social spheres around us begin telling us the ways it should change.
“Don’t be too loud,
Don’t take up so much space,
Wear something more flattering,
Wow did you gain weight,
Boys don’t wear those kinds of clothes,
If you stopped pigging out you would look better,
Oy are you really going to wear that?”
Any of that sound familiar? The influence of capitalism, patriarchy, and societal expectations is so overbearing and insidious that the internalization of fat-phobic values exists in us all. The thin-ideal has polarized our perception of what pure beauty is, and has caused an epidemic of self-loathing and hate.
Body, weight, and identity struggles are universal.
At Sacred Crow, I recognize that healing from body and weight trauma encompasses three key factors: Intuitive Eating, Body Image Work, and Mindful Movement.
Intuitive Eating is an eating philosophy that rejects traditional dieting and calls for listening to the body's own cues to decide what, when, and how much to eat. This framework supports that food is food, there is no good vs. bad food. Food becomes an object of both nourishment and pleasure, versus a tool that supports the biology of starvation. Intuitive Eating encompasses 10 principals and also asserts the need for gentle, blissful movement, not militant exercise.
At Sacred Crow, you will learn how to exemplify the 10 principals as well as working towards understanding your body’s rhythm and feelings of hunger + thirst + fullness.
Disordered Eating and Eating Disorder recovery also encompasses Body Image Work.
Body image is how you see yourself, and it encompasses...
1. What you believe about your own appearance
(including your memories, assumptions, and generalizations).
2. How you feel about your body, including your height, shape, and weight.
3. How you sense and control your body as you move.
4. How you physically experience or feel in your body.
Through Body Image Work, you’ll learn how to appreciate your body for what it can do for you, not what it looks like, and begin challenging the internal critic + plastic surgeon that has been ingrained within your psyche. It’s possible to stop obsessing and grieving over the body that you’ll never have, and begin acknowledging + valuing yourself for who you are as an individual. Body Image work sheds light on what thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviors perpetuate body terrorism, and in turn, teach folkx how to incorporate body neutrality + positivity actions, beliefs, and values into life.
Mindful Movement is another key factor when navigating the path to body positivity and freedom. Our body is meant to be moved and strengthened, but it is not made to be overworked and overextended. The idea that exercise must be intense, sweat-inducing, painful, and militant is a falsehood bred from the diet and body modification industry. Exercise does not serve or work as a weight loss tool, though our society continues to subscribe to that narrative. Mindful movement is a way to move and feel good in your body, without over exerting yourself. Walking, dancing, stretching, light yoga, and Tai Chi are just a few of the ways that you can move delicately and intentionally.
Through the course of counseling, you will discover how your body
likes to move and learn ways to balance the throws of life with self-care and mindful wellness.
For information on weight inclusive social media handles and blogs, books, podcasts, and more
click + download out my Intuitive Eating Resource Guide.
"Radical self love demands that we see ourselves and others in the fullness of our complexities."
- Sonya Renee Taylor