How My Gallbladder Reminds Me of the Why Behind Reclaiming Beauty
As the winter winds down and we prepare for spring, I return to an annual conversation with my gallbladder. As a part of my own embodiment healing journey, I have spent the last two years exploring Chinese Medicine. In this tradition, now is the season the liver and gallbladder start to prepare for spring. My body is apparently very in tune with the seasons, and at the moment is especially cranky and demanding me to be very attuned to nourishing myself in a way that doesn't make it angry.
I am also aware that my gallbladder is sensitive ever since I had rapid weight loss in a short period of time in 2014. This weight loss happened as a result of being on a weight loss medication that I initially was using to prepare for a surgery, and then stayed on as I became hooked on the euphoric feeling of returning to a smaller body and the safety of being closer to the privileged identity group. Gallbladder issues are very common for folks who use weight loss medications or have any sort of rapid weight loss. Weight loss medication companies neglect explicit informed consent about many of the medical consequences of these types of interventions even as they are flooding the market with new products.
I have grown to appreciate the ways my gallbladder talks to me this time of year, and reminds me about some of the whys for the work we do at Reclaiming Beauty.
As Deb Burgard, one of the founders of the Health At Every Size model and the Body Positive movement says, “If you want to prevent or treat eating disorders, you must make it safe to be fat.”
Challenging Internalized Fatphobia
The fatphobic cultural seas in which we swim create the environment that makes eating disorders and body image issues proliferate.
Ask yourself:
Where did you first learn it was not OK to be fat?
If you are in a straight sized body, what are you afraid would happen if you were to be on the higher end of the weight spectrum?
If you’re in a larger body, what are you afraid would happen if you made peace with your shape and size?
Living in a larger body is a marginalized identity in this culture, and like any less privileged identity, creates vulnerability for judgment, prejudice and oppression.
What if the answer to this situation is not to change the size of our bodies, but rather to challenge the systems of oppression that perpetuate division and hierarchies?
Learning to Listen to the Body
I hear my gallbladder talking this time of year and recognize that my identity is now in a small fat body. As I let go of weight suppression strategies, my fear was to lose access to love and belonging. Finding relationships and spaces where all of me is celebrated has supported my healing. It feels like a radical act not to perform weight loss, but instead access healing to feel embodied safety in the size and shape my body has landed at this stage of life, with all of its scars and history, joys and celebrations.
Reclaiming Beauty supports all people towards embodying their own definition of beauty and challenges the systems of oppression that contribute to eating disorders and body image concerns.
Are you ready to begin your healing journey?
If you live anywhere in North Carolina or South Carolina and would like to start weight-inclusive body-centered psychotherapy for your eating disorder recovery and body image healing journey, our experienced and effective therapists can help. At Reclaiming Beauty, we are able to see clients living anywhere in North Carolina or South Carolina. We offer everything from eating disorder therapy, trauma therapy, and nervous system therapy. In addition to Safe and Sound Protocol, Safe and Sound Protocol Groups, embodiment coaching & more. We treat all genders, teenagers, and adults all the way across the lifespan. Our therapists each have their own specialized training in somatic approaches to eating disorders and unique personalities. It’s important we get you matched up with the right therapist.
Getting Started with A Body-Centered Therapist in Asheville, NC
If you’re ready to begin your healing journey and get paired with the right disordered eating therapist, follow the few steps below! We are ready to support you in developing a more compassionate relationship with your body.
Reach out online or give us a call at 828-279-7091.
Learn more about who we are!
Develop an empowering self-care plan.
Other Services We Offer in Asheville, NC
Discover a holistic approach to well-being at Reclaiming Beauty. Our personalized embodiment coaching unlocks the wisdom within, fostering self-compassion and resilience. Or, explore the transformative benefits of the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP). This is a non-invasive auditory intervention that enhances social engagement and reduces stress.
