Taking Up Space with Cassie Krajewski Cassie Krajewski, LCSW, CST, Body Trust® Certified

In today’s episode we’re talking about our PELVIS with pelvic health expert and physical therapist, Dr. Brittney Ellers. In this enlightening conversation, we explore the often overlooked realm of pelvic health, addressing common misconceptions, and shedding light on the importance of connecting with this aspect of our bodies. Whether you're seeking to enhance your understanding of pelvic health or are on a personal journey towards restoration, this episode serves as a beacon of guidance and support. Tune in as we uncover the keys to achieving holistic well-being and reclaiming control over your pelvic health. Get ready to embark on a transformative journey towards empowerment and vitality.

Guest Bio

Dr. Brittney Ellers is a holistic pelvic physical therapist who has dedicated her life to breaking the chains of silence surrounding this vital aspect of well-being. With a doctorate in physical therapy, Brittney discovered her calling when she navigated the profound healing of her own menstrual cycle and pelvic floor pain, transcending the shadows of shame around sex, body, and pleasure. She firmly believes that the pelvis is the root, the center for life, creativity, and confidence. Through her expertise, she'll guide you gracefully through life’s evolving seasons with ease, helping you embody the brightest version of yourself. Meet In her private practice, Dr. Ellers has become a beacon of light, empowering hundreds of clients to overcome pelvic health issues and reclaim their lives with joy. Her mission is clear: tackle the "taboo," openly educate about pelvic issues, and guide others towards healing and creating a profound connection with yourself, inside and out, embracing both your pussy and heart (YES, we're reclaiming this word!).

In this episode of Taking Up Space, we discussed: 


Brittney’s body story and how it led her to reconnect with her body, pleasure, and joy.


Exploring the messages of stigma and shame around sexuality that interrupt embodiment


We define what’s included in the concept pelvic health


Tips and exercises to connect with our pelvis in a more empowered and attuned way



Connect with Brittney: 


Website: www.brittneyellers.com


IG: www.instagram.com/b.ellers


Moonlit Muse Rituals E-book: https://www.brittneyellers.com/moonlit-muse-ritual-e-book



Subscribe, rate and leave a Review for the podcast to help us spread our message of body liberation for all!

Free Offerings to Get You Started


Come Home to Yourself Guide - https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/resources



Get my Taking Up Space Workbook


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/shop



Join Our Community (Footer)


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com



Connect with Cassie:


Website: inneratlastherapy.com


Read our Blog https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/blog


Schedule a Consultation https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/get-in-touch


Cassie on IG https://www.instagram.com/inneratlastherapy/


Cassie on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@inneratlastherapy

Today we have Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall on the pod, a licensed eating disorder psychologist in California where we discuss anti-careral and liberatory eating disorder treatment. Jennie and Cassie explore the necessary shift to a more agentic and empowering form of eating disorder treatment. They unpack the ways in which traditional eating disorder treatment and mental health care can be carceral and paternalized. Jennie weaves together the web of systems into how she engages in her practice. 

Guest Bio

Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall is a licensed psychologist in California who has treated eating disorders at all levels of care since 2011. Jennie is passionate about community building and social justice education for providers looking to learn about liberatory care. Working in various treatment centers and teams with differing approaches, Dr. Wang-Hall has trained in a multitude of approaches and has witnessed the utility and futility of various modalities. These experiences have led her to an eclectic and client centered lens that facilitates empowerment and agency in ED recovery. Core to Dr. Wang-Hall’s approach is attunement to systems of oppression that manifest in both the development and treatment of eating disorders. She integrates attention to ableism, white supremacy, misogyny, cis heterosexism, capitalism, and settler colonialism in her care of individuals from all backgrounds struggling with eating disorders. Serving on the Board of Body Reborn is a profound privilege that represents Jennie's commitment to creating accessible, compassionate care for everyone.



In this episode of Taking Up Space, we discussed: 


Jennie’s body story and her emphasis on lived and living experience
How Jennie is challenging the pathologizing that exists within eating disorder treatment providers for those who continue to struggle, instead advancing a non-shaming and destigmatized space for providers
How Jennie’s recovery transformed as she discussed collective liberation work
Exploring and defining abolitionist care, psychiatric abolition, and how it applies to eating disorder treatment
How systems of oppression manifest in how mental health providers are trained and how treatment is delivered within mental health care, specifically eating disorders
How fears of liability within the mental health industrial complex lead to carceral treatment filled with ultimatums, contracts, and policing of symptoms
The freedom and liberation that also is available to mental health providers within this shift in treatment
The value of imagination, creativity, and envisioning care for liberation

Connect with Dr. Jennie Wang-Hall: 


Website: https://revolutionaryedpsychotherapy.com/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.jenniewh/?hl=en
Jennie’s Provider Solidarity Group: https://nq9hmnx5.paperform.co/ 

Subscribe, rate and leave a Review for the podcast to help us spread our message of body liberation for all!

Free Offerings to Get You Started


Come Home to Yourself Guide - https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/resources

Get my Taking Up Space Workbook


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/shop

Join Our Community (Footer)


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com

Connect with Cassie:


Website: inneratlastherapy.com
Read our Blog https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/blog
Schedule a Consultation https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/get-in-touch
Cassie on IG https://www.instagram.com/inneratlastherapy/
Cassie on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@inneratlastherapy

Today we talk with registered yoga teacher, Christy Calahan who specializes in educating yoga teachers on plus size inclusivity in their classes and in studios. Yoga can be a way that many folks on their embodiment journeys learn to inhabit their bodies differently and more fully, but there are a lot of body hierarchies in Westernized yoga culture, so I really appreciate all of the work Christy is doing to shift perspectives to make yoga truly more accessible and inclusive for all bodies. 

Guest Bio: 

Christy Calahan is an E-RYT 500 and a yoga educator (YACEP) who specializes in educating yoga teachers on plus size inclusivity in their classes and in studios.

With a teaching journey that began in 2010, Christy spent the majority of her career as a straight-sized yoga instructor. However, a few years ago, she experienced an injury that resulted in a rapid weight gain that had her transition into a larger body.

Navigating the transition of her practice and teaching to her newly plus-size body wasn’t intuitive for Christy. She questioned whether yoga was still feasible for bigger bodied people and contemplated giving up her practice altogether.

Determined to find a solution, Christy embarked on a path of self-discovery, characterized by trial and error, tears, trauma work, frustration, and lots of practice. Through this personal journey, she developed techniques, theories, and methods that are both trauma-sensitive and highly effective.

Drawing from her extensive experience of teaching herself and others, Christy is dedicated to making the yoga community more accessible to individuals with larger bodies. This commitment is the cornerstone of her life's work.

In this episode of Taking Up Space, we discussed: 


Christy’s body story and how it impacted her yoga practice and current work as a size inclusive educator


Her frustration with how yoga studios and teacher’s exclusionary culture for size diversity


Christy’s priorities as a size inclusive yoga teacher and her activism through educating other yoga teachers about the importance of size inclusivity


Christy’s issue with the phrase “All bodies are welcome” 


How Christy prioritizes choice and agency in her yoga teaching vs compliance and command


Some of Christy’s practice recommendations for all those in fitness spaces to authentically create space for larger bodied and disabled bodied folks



Connect with Christy: 


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sizeinclusiveyoga/


Website: https://sizeinclusiveyoga.offeringtree.com/



Free Offerings to Get You Started


Come Home to Yourself Guide - https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/resources



Get my Taking Up Space Workbook


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/shop



Join Our Community


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com



Subscribe, rate and leave a Review for the podcast to help us spread our message of body liberation for all!

Connect with Cassie:


Website: inneratlastherapy.com


Read our Blog https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/blog


Schedule a Consultation https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/get-in-touch


Cassie on IG https://www.instagram.com/inneratlastherapy/


Cassie on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@inneratlastherapy

Guest Bio

Dr. Becky Belinsky is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California who specializes in working with clients who struggle with eating disorders and any type of food and/or body image related issues. Her approach is size inclusive and fat positive, and she is passionate about exploring the societal and relational factors that contribute to eating disorders and disordered eating. She has conducted research around the intersection of weight stigma, eating disorders, and family relationships, and is also a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. In addition to her work around eating disorders, Becky provides psychotherapy for adults, couples, and families around the issues of anxiety and relational challenges.



Overview: 

Becky Belinsky is on the show today to talk about her incredible dissertation research: Relationships Harm, Relationships Heal: Exploring Larger Bodied People's Experiences of Weight Stigma and Eating Disorders in the Context of Family Relationships. This study explored the intersection of weight stigma, eating disorders, and family/intimate partner relationships, which sought to understand the intersection of weight stigma, eating disorder development and recovery, and specifically the experience of receiving stigma from family and partners. Our discussion sheds light on the importance of working directly with and combatting weight stigma at the family system and societal levels in order to create more significant and meaningful change for people struggling with eating-related distress, and particularly for people in larger bodies.



In this episode of Taking Up Space, we discussed: 


Define internalized and externalized weight stigma


How experiences of weight stigma in our friends and family hurt eating disorder recovery 


How attachment theory and our drive to connect and belong influences our relationships


Boundary setting with those who are antifat, including family and partners





Resources Mentioned


Relationships Harm, Relationships Heal: Exploring Larger Bodied People's Experiences of W s Experiences of Weight Stigma and Eating Disorder Stigma and Eating Disorders in the Context of Family Relationships  


Website: www.beckybelinsky.com


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dr.BeckyBelinskyLMFT


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beckybelinskytherapy/





Free Offerings to get You Started


Come Home to Your Self guide https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/resources





Get my Taking Up Space Workbook


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/shop





Join Our Community


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/





Subscribe and leave a Review!



Connect with Cassie:

inneratlastherapy.com

Read our Blog https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/blog

Schedule a Consultation https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/get-in-touch

Cassie on IG https://www.instagram.com/inneratlastherapy/Cassie on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@inneratlastherapy

Guest Bio

Today’s conversation is really special and important as we’re talking with Sam Dylan Finch about his story and its intersection with intergenerational trauma. Sam Dylan Finch is a writer, content strategist, and daydreamer leveraging the power of digital media to inspire hope and challenge stigma. Sam is a recognized and trusted voice within mental health media, having reached millions of readers worldwide after his first of many viral articles back in 2014.

Since then, his unique combination of lived experience and authenticity, alongside his journalistic expertise, has led to memorable, culture-shifting moments across the web.

His work has not only shifted attitudes around LGBTQ+ identity and neurodivergence, but has brought compassionate and necessary depth to many stigmatized conversations and 



In this episode of Taking Up Space, we discussed: 


We define what intergenerational trauma and how it’s relevant to the development of eating disorders


Sam’s body story as he’s telling and understanding it today, specifically looking at the development of the eating disorder as a symptom of intergenerational trauma


Exploration of Sam’s family immigration and its involvement in Sam’s development of an eating disorder


We discuss how white folks are divorced from their ancestral and cultural stories and the impact that this has on 


The difference that it made to have a therapist who encouraged Sam to look at his ancestral and family history as a part of his story


Sam’s experience of intellectualizing collective liberation work vs. embodying collective liberation


How Sam once thought that he was “too autistic” for parts work until he tried the Safe and Protocol which made parts work a more embodied experience


Sam’s definition of what it means to take up space to not abandon himself and stay present in the pain and joy in our world



Resources Mentioned


Website: https://samdylanfinch.com/


Sam’s Blog: https://letsqueerthingsup.com/


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samdylanfinch/?hl=en


Sam’s Blog “Why I’m Not Fighting My Eating Disorder Anymore”: https://helloalma.com/blog/not-fighting-eating-disorder/


More of Sam’s writing: https://helloalma.com/blog/authors/sam-dylan-finch/





Free Offerings to get You Started


Come Home to Your Self guide https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/resources





Get my Taking Up Space Workbook


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/shop





Join Our Community


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/





Subscribe and leave a Review!



Connect with Cassie:

inneratlastherapy.com

Read our Blog https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/blog

Schedule a Consultation https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/get-in-touch

Cassie on IG https://www.instagram.com/inneratlastherapy/Cassie on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@inneratlastherapy

Guest Bio: 

Deb invites you to blaze a liberating new path to a respectful, nurturing relationship with your aging body.  She has helped hundreds of women heal their relationship with food, eating, and their bodies in her more than 35-year career as a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist and Registered Yoga Teacher specializing in preventing and treating disordered eating. Now in her 60s, she focuses her research, training, passion, clinical, and lived experience on the intersection of pro-aging and body liberation. 

Her work is rooted in helping you: Shift your relationship with your body from your life’s project to your life partner; Nourish your body in midlife and beyond to support growing older in alignment with your values; Recognize internalized ageism and end it; Untangle from diet/wellness culture mess, and See midlife and beyond as a time of Emergence and Authenticity. Deb centers accessible practices so you can apply principles to your daily life and experience true transformation. Deb is also a lover of rivers, words, and her kids and grandkids.  She is currently envisioning life as a semi-nomad.

Overview: 

In this episode of Taking Up Space, we discussed: 


Why women in particular can have such a hard time with aging and a changing body


Youthfulness, sexiness, thinness, and the pressure to maintain the body you have as you age


Body changes are normal and protective as we age, but someone women continue to feel as though its a personal failure or inadequacy


the key challenges that people face in embracing aging with vitality while navigating societal pressures and expectations around appearance and wellness


practical strategies or practices that individuals can incorporate into their daily lives to promote vitality and well-being as they age



Connect with Deb and her Work:


Website: https://www.debrabenfield.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agingbodyliberation/ 


Deb offers 1:1 coaching, small group coaching, a membership community, and professional consultation.  


Deb also founded Body in Mind Nutrition, a group practice of big-hearted and highly skilled Registered Dietitians specializing in weight-neutral care and treating eating disorders. 



Free Offerings to Get You Started


Come Home to Yourself Guide - https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/resources



Get my Taking Up Space Workbook


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/shop



Join Our Community (Footer)


https://www.inneratlastherapy.com



Subscribe and leave a Review!

Connect with Cassie:


inneratlastherapy.com
Read our Blog https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/blog
Schedule a Consultation https://www.inneratlastherapy.com/get-in-touch
Cassie on IG https://www.instagram.com/inneratlastherapy/
Cassie on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@inneratlastherapy