Brené Brown
It is no secret that I am a big Brené Brown fan. She just gets it! I believe men and women NEED to take note of this amazing research around vulnerability. Our relationships depend on it!
I often listen to Brené Brown Audio books while I am home alone cooking or folding laundry. I return to them again and again. She allows me to stretch myself into new thinking. She could be any one of us. You will see yourself in her stories.
Mindfulness
As a child, I found mindfulness to be easy. I could take in the smell of the earth as I made mud pies, roamed through the neighborhood taking in nature, and even in eating a cookie (enjoying every bite) vs. swallowing it whole.
It’s not so easy anymore. It takes practice and resetting my intentions many times a day. Just like you, I can get swallowed up in electronics, to-do lists or even the demands of my children and adult responsibilities. I can become irritable while doing dishes and then, remember that it’s an opportunity to feel the warm suds on my hands. And then, there I am, feeling quite different about my task at hand. Here are a few of my favorite reads that taught me to slow down and enjoy the moment. I think of these lessons daily.
Nutrition & Body Image
I am obsessed with food! Okay, maybe that’s not exactly true. I am more aware of the deep pain people have surrounding their relationship with food. I can’t NOT see it.
From the woman who is driving out of the Sam’s parking lot with a pizza slice the size of her head. I watch, as she is shoveling it in and managing to get her turn signal on. And then the man next to me at the stop light, eating a large French fries at three-thirty in the afternoon looking more dazed than awake. I get it. Some don’t. Lucky them! And I mean that. Somehow they have escaped the jaws (no pun intended) of this complex relationship to food.
I have only deep compassion for how this relationship is rooted, developed, and then difficult to stop. It is an area that I feel immense compassion for those that find this aspect of their lives to be so painful.
I sit with mostly women, who starve themselves or binge and purge and everything in between. We must learn to stop being at war with our bodies and ourselves.
It is my own personal work too - navigating in a world that does not value our health. I am intrigued by our childhood relationships to food – from poverty and lack thereof, to family rituals and emotions around food. It is something we need and yet, it is so out of control in this country.
But it doesn’t have to be.
I spent six years working as a therapist in an eating disorder treatment program and ran a body image group as well. These are just a few resources I found helpful.
Pregnancy & Fertility
So, I was one of those women that thought – hey, getting pregnant is easy! Just have unprotected sex one time and bam! Prego! Well, guess what? It’s not that simple.
But this book is so much more than that!
Listen; there is so much empowerment in knowing about your body. Don’t let the title fool you. Its good information if you want to have children or not. Knowledge is so powerful. It’s fascinating and amazing information that is easy to understand even for teen girls. Our bodies are awe-inspiring.
"Whenever I am looking to refer someone, Tracy is one of the first people I recommend. She is particularly an expert in dealing with women’s issues, body image and disordered eating. She is warm and empathic and has the ability to offer perspectives that her client’s may not otherwise see. She is a dedicated and highly ethical professional who is committed to her client’s emotional health and growth."
— Johanna Rayman, Clinical Social Work/Therapist, MSW, LCSW