We're entering a season of newness over here at b'well- in a few weeks we will be moving our office location and we're already looking ahead to the fall, when we will have a lots of new offerings, from groups to workshops to Death Cafes (more on that to come!)
New can be exciting. New can be intimidating. New can be energizing. However it feels, there is inherently, a tinge of the unfamiliar.
Are you aware of how you hold and respond to "the unfamiliar"?
Not surprisingly, many of us cling to what we know when entering into something new and there's a fine balance to this: we need some sort of grounding in order to remain open to change however, if we cling too tightly we will not be able to enter into our next adventure with curiosity and creativity.
To put this into one of my favorite frames, our nervous system's job is to filter between the familiar and the unfamiliar and based on what it's perceiving it puts us into a more open or more guarded state.
I can really speak to this experience as one of our new offerings is a project I've been hesitating on for the last two years however, I've now reached a place where there's enough room for some c(uriosity) & c(reativity) that it's really starting to roll...
Starting this fall I'm going to open our first online Reconcile + Reconnect Cohort that will allow people all over the place to start the work of healing their relationships with their bodies and eating. Sound great, right? Why hesitate?
B'well's mission is very much based in community, real, in-person connections and especially when it comes to Intuitive Eating & Body Relationship work, this real-life/real-time connection is crucial. The idea of taking something "to the internets" hasn't felt fully aligned with how we operate. However, I've become increasingly aware that most of the misrelation we've created between size and health is truly in part a reflection of the (valid) fear of showing up for judgment and shame. I have also been struck by how many people I speak with about Intuitive Eating counseling share that following Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size Instagram or Facebook accounts has been a major part of their support when their immediate community feels drenched in diet and "wellness" culture.
The other piece of the hesitancy puzzle has been that online courses and clubs are often set up as a "if you can pay the price, you're in" kind of deal and that kind of exclusivity flies in the face of what we do at B'well. TBH, I still feel this way, which is why it is incredibly important that this offering is economically accessible to all and not presented in my pajamas. Promise.
Once I used these hesitancies to navigate rather than roadblack this project, the energy started to flow. To say I'm excited to share this content and to connect with people from all over is an extreme understatement so please stay tuned for more information coming soon.
While everything happening at B'well may feel like newness, all of the doors we're literally and figuratively about to open come from seeds- ideas, questions, connections, early efforts- we planted earlier, which is right inline with this mid-summer season when, for those of us here on the east coast are surrounded by full bloom, full growth.
Is there something you started in the planting and tending season that is now coming to fruition? Harvest time is up next- have you made space for the new?
Photo by Honey Yanibel Minaya Cruz on Unsplash