For more background on Mel, check out episode 27, Your Inner Binge Eater is on Your Side where we dove deep on Mel's history and how to address a struggle with binge eating. Today we dive into something I once shrugged off and that's inner child work. This idea that so much of what I struggled with was rooted in childhood. And the reason I shrugged it off was because I looked at my childhood and while it had it's issues, it seemed kinda normal. At least compared to some of the horrific things ma...
Jan 07, 2019•46 min•Season 3Ep. 1
BREAKING THE SPELL OF WHO WE THINK WE "SHOULD" BE. "The idea of perfection in a body is a lie. It’s a lie that’s been sold to us since we were little, through magazines and television shows. We fell under the spell. We never had a chance. The spell is made more potent the more perceptive you are as a kid, noticing the hypocrisy and feeling the meaninglessness behind so many of the norms of this world, feeling the meaningless that comes with living in a culture that values production and profits ...
Nov 29, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 1
HOLISTIC WELLNESS AFTER HEALING AN EATING DISORDER WITH MEGAN GILMORE, THE DETOXINISTA. At the top of this episode, Megan and I talk about the varying reactions people have when they hear "detoxinista". They either get really excited that this might be a specific guide to a rigid detox protocol. OR they turn they other way because they hear "detox" and it turns them off. However, Megan's approach is neither strict nor scary. In fact, when my clients are feeling steady with the emotional side of ...
Nov 12, 2018•45 min
GETTING UNSTUCK AND FINDING NEW PERSPECTIVES WITH KUNDALINI YOGA TEACHER, KATIE SEDGWICK. So today we're talking to my friend Katie who we originally spoke with in episode 24 entitled The Eat to Feel Good Diet. She told us her story about cultivating self-love and the accidental weight loss that followed. We got a lot of great feedback and actually started this episode with a question from a listener that was brought on by that episode. Today you'll hear us dive into: ...What to do when feeling ...
Oct 29, 2018•53 min
YOUR BODY ON YOUR SIDE (PART 2) WITH ALIYAH WASHINGTON. Hello friends, just a heads up if you didn't catch last week's episode, this is part two and I definitely suggest listening to part one first. We'll be diving in right where we left off and these are some of the topics we go into: ...The power of admitting when what we are believing might not be true, and how not having all the answers doesn't equal being in pain all the time. ...The difference between surrender and apathy. ...Imagining you...
Oct 01, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 10
YOUR BODY IS ON YOUR SIDE WITH ALIYAH WASHINGTON. If you've been listening since early on this year, you'll have heard Aliyah on episode 2, sharing her journey through anorexia and today we go much, much deeper. I actually split this episode into two parts as it got long but I didn't want to cut any of it. As I've merged topics like eating disorder recovery with potentially extreme lifestyles and practices like colon cleansing and juicing, I've worried that folks could take things to an extreme ...
Sep 24, 2018•51 min•Season 2Ep. 9
VEGANISM, RE-WILDING, & BIOHACKING, OH MY! VITALITY THROUGH EASE AND CONSISTENCY WITH MICHAEL PERRINE. Mike Perrine is more than just one of the many colon hydrotherapists I've spoken with on this podcast, he's also a detox and health counselor (in the most real, least fluffy sense of that title), founder of Vitality New York City which offers gravity colon hydrotherapy, cryotherapy, and nutrition coaching, and host of one of my favorite podcasts, EveryDay detox. In this episode, Mike beauti...
Aug 27, 2018•55 min•Season 2Ep. 6
BE MORE YOU, GIVE LESS F*CKS WITH SPIRITUAL LIFE AND BRAND COACH, JESS BLANCHE. Something that I often see is that all good coaching is kinda the same. Whether we start out talking about binge eating or business, it's all going to come down to self-understanding, self-acceptance, self-love, and self-expression. And obviously we all have different histories and there will be different tools but it all often ends up being life coaching in a way. For example, last podcast when we talked to Tracy Br...
Aug 13, 2018•47 min•Season 2Ep. 4
CREATING A SENSE OF SAFETY IN OUR BODIES WITH TRACY BROWN, RD Hello friends, welcome back! This is part two of season 1, episode 25 featuring Tracy that had so many cliffhangers I had to bring her back. I definitely suggest you go back and listen to that episode first to get filled in on Tracy's eating disorder and education background as well as to get caught up on all the amazing information she shared there. And today we wanted to dive into a bit of what it takes to create an experience of fe...
Aug 06, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 3
YOUR INNER BINGE EATER IS ON YOUR SIDE WITH EATING PSYCHOLOGY AND BINGE EATING COACH, MELISSA RICCARDI. It's been amazing to me since I graduated from the Institute for the Psychology of Eating what a huge variety of teachers and coaches I meet. Some who are amazing and some who's approaches I don't care for at all and each with their own focus whether it be on weight loss or intuitive eating or emotional eating but today's guest is someone who feels like a true sister in this eating psychology ...
Jul 23, 2018•55 min•Season 2Ep. 27
THE NEW SELF-LOVE WITH SPEAKER AND SELF-EMPOWERMENT COACH, KYLA SOKOLL-WARD. Hello everyone, this officially marks the start of season 2 of the Free Spirit Academy podcast! Today I'm talking to my friend Kyla who also made an appearance in episode 14 and when I originally recorded that interview for YouTube at least a couple of years ago now - Kyla was also coaching in the world of eating psychology and intuitive eating and we spent our conversation talking about her own journey with food and th...
Jul 16, 2018•49 min•Season 2Ep. 1
COMING HOME TO YOUR BODY WITH REGISTERED DIETICIAN AND SOMATIC NUTRITION THERAPIST TRACY BROWN. Some people just seem to be born for what they're doing and I feel that way about Tracy. She's been guiding people in healing from disordered eating and dieting for the last 12 years and it wasn't because she had a lifelong dream of doing this - it was because she couldn't find solutions for her own disordered eating struggles until she was at enough of a rock bottom that she sort of discovered them h...
Jun 04, 2018•59 min•Season 1Ep. 25
THE EAT TO FEEL GOOD "DIET" WITH KUNDALINI YOGA TEACHER, KATIE SEDGWICK. Katie and I became friends during my recent kundalini yoga teacher training and it was such a lovely connection and beyond that, on the final day of training she began to tell me a story that caught me so off guard that I made her stop and hold it for the podcast. So I'm gonna make you wait too and I trust that if you're a returning listener, you'll love this conversation. Before diving I'll mention, you'll hear a book ment...
May 28, 2018•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 24
EMBRACING SHAMELESS JOY. Welcome to Episode 23 of The Free Spirit Academy Podcast with writer, filmmaker, and choreographer Jocelyn Edelstein. In this conversation with writer, filmmaker, and choreographer Jocelyn Edelstein, we talk about... ...how to listen to the body and relax into the trial-and-error process of understanding intuition and alignment. ...how embodiment manifests differently in different cultures and the different wounds cultures carry and are healing. ...and about the creation...
May 21, 2018•52 min•Season 1Ep. 23
CHOOSING FOOD VALUES OVER FOOD RULES WITH ADINA PEARSON RD. What I love about Adina's work is that she presents intuitive eating with such a beautiful perspective. There's food freedom but there's ALSO supportive structure and there's a huge honoring of our individuality and the various areas that might need extra care as we're embarking on letting go of strict rules and really learning to trust ourselves. In this episode we talk about orthorexia, why ideas about moderation might not serve us, t...
May 07, 2018•55 min•Season 1Ep. 21
MY 90-DAY JUICE FAST: WHY EXTREMES AREN'T THE ANSWER. Welcome to this short, solo episode where I'm talking about my experience with long juice fasting, diet extremes, and finding peace with food and body. Here's the truth: Even if we feel extremely far from where we want to be, an extreme measure may not be the answer. In fact, it can end up keeping us running in circles. In this episode I talk about a gentler way, but don't let that deter you. In the same way that "self-acceptance doesn't equa...
Apr 09, 2018•17 min•Season 1Ep. 17
FOOD, FEMININITY, AND FREEDOM FROM LABELS WITH RENAE TEEL. Welcome to episode 16 of the Free Spirit Academy podcast with Fertility, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Nutritionist, Renae Teel. I first met Renae 7 or 8 years ago when I was a Flight Attendant and I was temporarily working in Arizona where she lived. We had become connected through our little detox community and, as you'll hear me tell her, I was such a nut case but hiding it well. I was trying desperately to eat one meal a day and do a ton...
Apr 02, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 16
THE SECRET TO ENDING ALL BINGES. Welcome to the 14th episode with Self-Empowerment Coach, Kyla Sokoll-Ward. I'm releasing this couple-of-years-old interview from my YouTube channel as my wife and I are in France for the next couple of weeks (yay!) It's funny listening back to this 'cause I can really hear how much more embodied and relaxed I am even a year and a half later. I have to try not to cringe 'cause my voice sounds so pinched and shallow to me - like I was hardly taking a deep breath bu...
Mar 19, 2018•53 min•Season 1Ep. 14
SWAPPING PERFECTIONISM FOR DIRTY ALCHEMY. Welcome to episode 13 of the Free Spirit Academy with Soul Reintegration Guide and Co-founder of Living Earth Systems Sam Schiebold. Today we're talking to an incredible sustainable living expert which might not sound on topic but wait 'til you hear this conversation. Sam's business, Dirty Alchemy, is a guide to not only living more lightly on the earth but living more lightly in your heart. Now I KNOW that sounds cheesy but Sam;s writing isn't. There is...
Mar 12, 2018•53 min•Season 1Ep. 13
THE #1 KEY TO HEALING BINGE EATING. Welcome to episode 12! Today is special and a little different in that you're gonna hear me yammer on by myself today without a guest. If you're listening to this as it's put out, I'm launching my 40-day program Binge Freedom in Free Spirit Academy. This is a program for anyone struggling with overeating, compulsive eating, and of course, binge eating. What you'll hear today is essentially the first section of that program - AND it stands alone. As in, if you'...
Mar 05, 2018•27 min•Season 1Ep. 12
PERMISSION GRANTED TO BE WHO YOU ARE. Welcome to episode 10 of the Free Spirit Academy podcast with Human Design expert Jenna Zoe. Okay, so what is Human Design? In Jenna's words, it's " the contract your soul makes with the Universe about who you came to be, and what you came to do." - it's contains elements from astrology, the chakras, the I Ching, the Kaballah - And if that sounds fancy, it's actually very practical and useful. It takes the complication OUT of self-care and any idea of person...
Feb 19, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 10
SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. Welcome to Episode 8 with Eating Psychology Coach Kathleen Donhardt. Kathleens work AND personal experience is around weight issues connected with the trauma of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and suicide. Her mission is to hold space for women to discuss the "elephant in the room" to help them break free of shame and guilt that is not theirs to carry. Her business, The Light Elephant Coach, is a platform for speaking publicly about sexual abouse, and...
Feb 05, 2018•59 min•Season 1Ep. 8
BEING A "FOOD WEIRDO" AND LIVING ON PURPOSE. Welcome to the 7th episode of the Free Spirit Academy Podcast with Holistic Detox Counselor and Colon Hydrotherapist Michael Perrine. If you'll recall a couple of episodes back, I spoke with another colonic guru - Gil Jacobs. And you're probably thinking...what is with this girl and poop? And that would be a valid question ;) All I'll say is that when something changes your life - you share it. That's been true for me with kundalini yoga, intuitive ea...
Jan 21, 2018•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 7
DIETING AND DEADLIFTS ARE NOT THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT YOU. Welcome to the 6th episode of the Free Spirit Academy podcast with Eating Psychology Expert and Body Image Mentor Lu Uhruch. This interview took place a couple of years back on my YouTube channel but it's too good not to bring to the podcast. Before I officially met Lu, I stalked her on Instagram. I could not get enough of her bold, clear, body-loving, shame-softening, words of wisdom. She is one of the most unusual women I've e...
Jan 14, 2018•52 min•Season 1Ep. 6
BREAKING UP WITH BODY DRAMA FOR SELF-ACCEPTANCE AND EXPRESSION. In this conversation with Marika, we'll be diving into her journey from hiking the pacific crest trail to motherhood to quitting her job for the entreprenurial life as a health coach, Buti yoga teacher and many other adventures along the way. We'll talk about... ...freedom within boundaries and questioning belief systems about family and the way we believe we're "supposed" to live. ...why comparison is a massive waste of time. ...ho...
Jan 03, 2018•49 min•Season 1Ep. 3
YOU CAN'T HATE YOUR WAY TO A BODY YOU LOVE. In this second episode of the Free Spirit Academy podcast I'll be talking to Life coach, author, and face of the Perception Trainers channel on YouTube Ali Washington. Before we dive into this conversation, I want to give a heads up that this interview took place over a year ago on my YouTube channel. It was SO fantastic however that I did my best to bring it to the podcast, even though the sound quality won't be as high as some of the more recent inte...
Jan 02, 2018•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
