44th Edition

Ok so when I first wrote to all of you about my weight/health struggles, I never dreamed that my words and struggles would resonate with SO MANY OF YOU.

Of course, as women, we are conditioned to be aware of our bodies and often feel the constant pressure of looking a certain way, but I guess I somehow thought that we therapists were above all that.

And wow, was I wrong.

Of course, I certainly am not immune AT ALL (hence my continued struggles with weight, appearance, health, emotional eating, etc. etc.) but it seems like MANY of you also have your own type of demon when it comes to this subject.

So, since this newsletter continues to be my open letter to all of you, I'm here to provide you with an update on how I've been doing with my weight/health journey for these past several months.

Before I get to the actual numbers update, I want to provide you with some key concepts that I've experienced and learned on a body level. To be clear, just because I have "learned" these doesn't mean I don't still struggle with all the things. I do. Every damn day.

But I'm slowly realizing some long-overdo (maybe no-shit) things about myself and my body.

1. My body has to carry me for years to come. I can't NOT be nice to it and survive, literally.

2. It's all choices. Every time I eat something good for my body or not so good, it's my choice. Black or white thinking isn't helpful; it's choices every day, every meal.

3. Working out with weights puts me in a better headspace for the day. I still hate straight up cardio (running) but I can get in shape and make my body stronger through weight circuits.

4.Relationshps help keep me on the right track. My trainer Chandler is now a friend and I don't let my friends down. So I show up and do the work while she cheers me on. Also, my husband cooking healthy for me is a HUGE help in so many ways.

5. The hardest times to make good choices are when I'm upset, anxious, sad, mad, etc. Those are my trigger times and I still miss my comfort food.

Again, none of these things are likely AMAZING BREAKTHROUGHS for you, but they've been knocking around in my head during this journey.

AND? As I've written before, I still have to feel my feelings. And it's not always fun at times but if I want to be the healthiest version of me, stuffing down emotions with food won't get me where I want to go.

One part of this is doing regular sandtrays.

Here's my latest one. I won't discuss it but you likely recognize themes and even miniatures that go with a healthy/weight journey.

Now for the numbers.

From Mid-June, I'm down 23 lbs and 16.5 inches in total.

But- more importantly, I feel better. Not like I'm dancing around all of the time, but I generally feel better. Other important numbers: My blood pressure is down nearly 20 points and my A1C has dropped by .3 (which is the difference between okay and pre-diabetic).

Of course, I still have a WAY to go but one of the things that keeps me going is that this is who I am now.

I simply cannot and be able to live the life I want. It's so simple but so hard.

One other area of growth that I'm working through - advocating for myself with my doctor. I feel like my current doctor does not listen to me so rather than just get angry and frustrated, I'm changing doctors. I can do that.

As therapists, we tend to get anxious and not advocate for ourselves in many areas. We tend to put ourselves in the one-down position and I'm refusing to do that with my health. It's too important.

Ok, so continuing with the weight-related struggles, here's some articles/podcasts/resources that have resonated with both me and my clients. I'm linking the things here so you can do the same.

1. Two best friends read statements to each other that they say to themelves. Of course, we've all heard the saying "talk to yourself like someone you love would" but hearing it and experiencing it takes things to a whole another level.

Think about what you say about you and your body on a regular basis and then imagine telling someone you love (like your child or best friend) those things.

I'm betting you can't imagine doing so but this is what lives in so many of our heads.

Again, it's all a journey and positive self-talk makes the journey less heavy.

2. I recently came across this graphic and it hit me hard. Generational trauma (and healing) is real. So the healing that you do NOW will help your children and grandchildren be better people.

Through sandtray, we CAN heal the world one sandtray at a time and this is what it looks like when we do!

3. Part of being able to manage myself with my weight/food is knowing my body. As I've stated before, it was not until around 3 years ago during a yoga class that I ever even heard the idea of thanking my body.

Something that we help all of clients do is feel their body and pay attention to what it's telling them.

This article is written for "young minds" but it was super helpful for both me AND my clients. I continue to work on paying attention to my body and being kind to it.

I encourage you to read this, send it to your clients, or even print it out for future reference.

What is interoception and why is it important?

Ok reality (and humor) break!

Is this not for real though - and it's now only 2 months away!!

OK so speaking of 2022, we are releasing the dates for the ICST 2022 cohorts.

Here's the deal though - we are doing something different than ever before...we're only opening registration through email for the first spots.

Last year, our ICST spots were GONE within hours of opening registration. This year, we're opening a special wait-list that will get early access to the coveted ICST training spots through Southern Sandtray and yours truly.

If you want on the special early-bird list, click below and you'll be the FIRST to get notified when we open the invite-only registration on January 3, 2022.

The dates and other info are listed on this waitlist page as well.

2022 ICST Waitlist

Wondering what ICST is all about??

It's the way you get credentialed to be a sandtray therapist through IAST.

For more info - check out this page below

https://southernsandtray.com/icst/

Want more sandtray, community, and transformation??

If so, then join me this weekend for the 3rd annual Sandtray Therapy Summit, happening virtually!

www.sandtraysummit.com

Yours truly is doing the opening keynote titled "We're all not doing well but sandtray (and IAST) can help!"

AND Bessel van der Kolk is joining us for Day 2 keynote AND I'm doing a special never-before-seen training with my good friend Rebecca Spooner all about the Enneagram and Sandtray.

Yep, you're going to want in on this - so go ahead and join us!

I know ya'll love some good directives so I'd be remiss to close out this edition of the Ally without giving you more of what you love.

So, because we've been talking about weight/worth/self-talk, here's 5 of my favorite directives centering around these struggles.

1. If eating/food was not an option, what would you have to feel?

2. Make a tray about the messages you received growing up about food and your image.

3. If the weight came off exactly like you wanted it to, what would your life look like? What would change?

4. Make a tray about what runs through your head as you're looking in the mirror.

5. Make a tray about what you want your child/best friend to say to themselves about their body. Now practice saying that to yourself and see what comes up for you in your body.

Here we are at the end of ANOTHER edition of the Sandtray Ally.

Thank all of you for being loyal readers and travelling on this journey with me as I "try to figure out this thing called life"

Have a great week - remember that you've got this and sandtray is magic.

Hope to see you Saturday!

Amy