Deep Breaths & Dance Breaks

1. Take inspiration from Maria’s journey to finding her authentic self through her childhood, and find your authentic self in turn.
2. Recognize that diet culture is a systemic issue and that health encompasses more than diet and exercise. 
3. How to remove the pressure of exercising and repair your relationship with movement.

📘Resources

• Check out the Whole, Full, and Alive’s official trailer to know more about me and the podcast. 
• Release restrictive dieting, break free from body shame, & create habits that help you live fully! Sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!
• Download the Whole, Full, and Alive toolkit
• Download the Nike Run Club
• Listen to Rest Days
• Connect with me: Website | Instagram
• Connect with Maria: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn 

Maria Terry is a registered dietitian in New Orleans, LA. She was a former English teacher and school administrator before she changed her career to nutrition. Her goal as a dietitian is to guide you toward a better understanding of yourself and break through the all-or-nothing approach to what you eat. 

Connect with Maria: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn 

Thanks for listening! 💖 Stay tuned to my website for more episode updates and other exciting programs and resources.

1. The power of taking SPACE instead of filling every moment of your life with a stimulus
2. The impact of releasing emotions that have been stored in your body through somatic practices like breathwork
3. What it means to have a regulated nervous system, and how somatic breathwork helps you reach nervous system regulation

• Check out the Whole Full and Alive online course if you enjoyed this podcast!

• Whole Full and Alive episodes:
• Episode 1 - Wholeness: How to Feel Complete as You Are Now
• Episode 6 - Intuition or Anxiety: How to Tell Which is Making the Decision
• Episode 8 - Openness: Accepting Life As It Is, While Also Honoring Your Desires
• Episode 12 - Feeling It All: Reflections From 6 Months of Heartbreak, Change, and Adventure
• Episode 14 - A Healing Space: Things to Look For in a Therapist + More With Amanda Vasquez
• Release restrictive dieting, break free from body shame, & create habits that help you live fully! Sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!
• Connect with me and reach out to her to learn more about somatic breathwork on her website and Instagram 

📌Episode Highlights

• I've felt that I sounded too fiery in my past few episodes.
• People are often too critical of themselves. However, being whole, full, and alive means showing authenticity.
• My fiery side and softer side are both parts of me - and I feel no shame about being who I fully am.

• I felt like I lost my soul during the end of my time in New York and the closing of my last long-term relationship.
• The soul is the intangible essence unique to every person. I needed an internal sense of safety and regulation to save mine.
• On a recent retreat, I learned about the impact of somatic breathwork and started practicing it.
• Despite the constant travel and change, I found a constant, healing relationship in my somatic breathwork sessions with my facilitator.
• Somatic breathwork saved my soul. With it, I undid the limiting belief that I was inherently a bad person.

Caitie: “I feel like I could admit to mistakes that I've made in the past. I could admit to things that I feel shame about and know that I'm still good, that I'm still okay, and that I'm still lovable. These things are not actually unlovable about me. These things are actually things that I've learned from and grown from.”

• It’s rare for people to take the time to sit, be with themselves, and tune into their bodies.
• Too often, people try to fill every part of their lives. We end up suppressing our emotions and pushing through them.
• Taking space allows you to process, learn, and heal from your experience. It's in silence where intangible energy can be processed and exchanged.
• When you take space, you don’t suppress, ignore, or distract yourself from feeling your emotions.
• Another option is to have someone else hold space for you. 

Caitie: “Having space gives you the ability to digest your experiences. It gives you the space to actually integrate all the things that are happening to you in your life. And learn something from them, heal from them and kind of crystallize them into wisdom. That sounds a little cheesy. But having space allows you to really integrate all the experiences you're having in your life.”

• There are multiple ways to practice breathwork other than somatic. Some types use over-breathing or relaxed breathing techniques.
• When practicing somatic breathing, you first inhale and exhale through your mouth. This action stimulates your nervous system and helps you feel what needs to be released.
• Next, hold your breath for a moment. During this time, you might feel an intense download.
• Finally, go into the regulating phase. Inhale and exhale through your nose to regulate your nervous system.

• The first half of your breathwork allows you to feel the suppressed emotions that have built up within your body.
• If you don’t let yourself fully feel and integrate these emotions, your body will gravitate towards similar experiences. 
• I harbored feelings of deep sadness and unworthiness. Because of that, I tended to have relationships with people who treated me inadequately.
• Your body stores traumatic experiences. No matter how much you intellectualize or try to think through it, it won't be processed until you fully feel it.
• Somatic breathwork allows you to process and release that emotion that’s keeping your body in a survival state.

• As you practice somatic breathwork, you move from stimulation to relaxation of your body. A regulated system like this can help you feel soothed, safe, and at peace.
• When I started practicing, I found I was more able to be neutral and look at my life experiences without getting stuck.
• One of my facilitators was able to hold space for his parents. He talked about his parents' difficulties and how they loved him with grace and neutrality.
• Somatic breathwork can help you achieve a capacity for things to be good and bad simultaneously.

• After I released so much, I could fully receive each experience of my life. 
• Breathwork also helped me stop avoiding my body. I could further process the emotions within me and feel safe.

Caitie: “When you take space to really just breathe, and let yourself feel and be with yourself fully, you're open to receiving life, you're open to receiving presence.”

• I could see the world without the lens of trauma.
• Therapy can help you understand and process your experiences. It can help you navigate relationships, make decisions and create meaning.
• However, your body continues to remember and hold everything. Breathwork allows you to release what you've experienced.

• Somatic breathwork was my anchor throughout my travels.
• It changed my view of life and the world and helped me improve at holding space for my clients.
• Through breathwork, I learned to stop rushing and to slow down to create space.
• It's vital to trust that every person has an innate intelligence. Their body is trying to protect and regulate them.
• Don't assume you know what's best and push your agenda. Instead, assess the other person's experience and give more space for them to be able to feel and release.

• Processing Prompt: What do you want to receive?
• This question

1. Why you don't need a "detox" or "cleanse" to feel good in your body
2. How to “mute, unfollow, or block” people or pieces of content that encourage you to go on restrictive diets or shame your body
3. Why rigid diets are dangerous and ineffective

📘Resources

• Check out the Whole, Full, and Alive’s official trailer to know more about me and the podcast. 
• Release restrictive dieting, break free from body shame, & create habits that help you live fully! Sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!
• Connect with me: Website | Instagram
• Connect with Christina: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

📌Episode Highlights

• ‘Doing a detox’ is unnecessary because our bodies have their own cleansing systems.
• To feel more centered after a period of eating unbalanced meals, ask yourself: what was missing? 
• Learn to nourish your body regularly. 
• Devise a system that allows you to eat what you want while still getting balanced meals.

[10:42] Christina: “And so the detox isn't going to do anything for you, other than drain your bank account.”

• There’s no shame in indulging in a more spontaneous and flexible diet once in a while. 
• Honor the needs of your body. 
• Shame is a complex emotion that must be processed to achieve balance.

• If someone continues to make comments about their diet, body, or food — or worse, your diet/food choices or body — you can implement my mute, unfollow, or block framework.
• Muting the person looks like completely changing the subject.
• Unfollowing them would be walking away from the conversation and physically distancing yourself from the person.
• The block is the toughest one. This looks like straight-up setting a boundary and what this entails exactly depends on you and your relationship with the person. 
• Whatever you choose to do at the moment is right for you.
• Don't pretend to agree with someone if you don't.
• Engage with positive content, conversations, and people. 

[18:02] Catie: “If you're trying to heal your relationship with food, your relationship with yourself, your relationship with your body, get the F out of there! Prioritize yourself. You deserve better–especially if you're doing the hard work of healing right now” 

• It’s not shameful to show up as your authentic self during weddings. 

[23:00] Catie: “Let's not pretend that we don't get really moody when we don't have enough carbohydrates. Let's not pretend that our personality doesn't change when we're calorie restricting or hyper-focusing on the serving size of rice. It's really important to note that going on extreme and restrictive diets and shaming yourself into losing weight really does change your mood.” 

• Restrictive diets can only bring superficial and fragile confidence. 
• Dispel the myth that one must diet before attending a wedding.
• Body shaming is a problem that spans generations.

• Body image coaches have the skills necessary to assist their clients in healing their relationship with their bodies so they can make long-term nutritional changes.
• Consider how you arrived at your assumptions about your body image.
• It's essential to work with a professional who understands you.
• Spend some time experiencing and being in your body.

• To brighten your mornings, spend some time in the sun.
• Always make time to do what you love. 
• Learn how Christina prepares simple and nutritious meals in the upcoming Whole, Full, and Alive online course!

• Step 1: Recognize why a detox seems appealing to you.
• Step 2: Determine which habits can support you in regaining your center and feeling grounded.
• Step 3: Use the mute, unfollow, and block framework to set boundaries.  

Christina Constantinou is an Associate Dietitian at Full Soul Nutrition and a clinical dietitian. She's a registered and licensed dietitian, a certified Intuitive Eating Counselor in Training, and has a Master's degree in Health Communication and a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science. Her individualized approach to nutrition helps her educate and empower people's relationships with food.

Connect with Christina and learn more about her on Full Soul Nutrition’s website.

Whole, Full, and Alive is a podcast exploring the art and science of falling in love with your life, with your story, and with who you truly are — underneath your titles, your resume, your relationship status, and your bank account. 

Leave a review and share it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you enjoyed tuning in to this podcast, we'd appreciate it if you wrote us a review. You can also share it to help others feel whole, full, and alive. 

Have any questions or want to leave a suggestion? Come say hi on the 'gram @full.soul.nutrition. You can also sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!

Thanks for listening! 💖 Stay tuned to my website for more episode updates and other exciting programs and resources.

1. Failure, pivoting, and the winding road to becoming a Registered Dieitian
2. The difference between nutritionists, dietitians, and therapists.
3. Why we DON'T focus on the pursuit of intentional weight loss at our practice

• Check out the Whole Full and Alive online course if you enjoyed this podcast!

• Release restrictive dieting, break free from body shame, & create habits that help you live fully! Sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!
• Connect with me: Website | Instagram 
• Pursuit of Intentional Weight Loss - A study by Caitie 

📌Episode Highlights

• Take a quiet moment to be kind to yourself and spread that kindness with each other.
• Being kind to yourself can give you the energy to do things and build good relationships.

• Christina Constantinou is a registered dietitian with experience working in different roles. She is a clinical dietitian and fills an outpatient role at Full Soul Nutrition.
• Her Greek origins are a significant part of her identity.
• Many would describe her as a warm, cozy, and down-to-earth person. People often find themselves comfortable talking to her.
• Christina’s work as a dietitian brought out the best of these characteristics within her.

• As a clinical dietitian, Christina works in an inpatient setting at a hospital alongside doctors and other dietitians.
• She counsels patients whose treatments include diet and lifestyle changes. Usually, she would only have a short time with them.
• Christina works one-on-one with her patients for an hour each at Full Soul Nutrition. She discusses several different things regarding nutrition and better health.
• The counseling skills she honed as a clinical dietitian carry over in her outpatient role.
• Christina first was a relatively new dietitian when the pandemic hit. She learned to be adaptable and work well under pressure.

• Christina’s journey to becoming a dietitian was one of her biggest challenges.
• The first step is to take prerequisite nutrition and science courses in your undergraduate studies.
• The next step is to apply and match with a dietetic internship and complete hours of supervised work.
• To match for an internship, you have to apply to different offered programs and rank them. There's a 50% chance of matching with your preferred program.
• Lastly, you must pass your board exam to become a registered dietitian.

• One of Christina's terrifying moments in her journey was when she didn't match with any of her preferred programs.
• Fortunately, she found out that she could apply for programs that hadn't filled their spots. She applied everywhere she could.
• Christina matched with a program from home and moved her whole life from New Jersey to Missouri.
• Despite the change, she completed her internship and passed the board exam on her second try.
• Christina and I both found that the real learning starts once you begin your career as a dietitian.

• Christina had to move to Missouri at 21 years old and face terrifying challenges alone. Despite that, she found it was one of her best decisions.
• Christina’s struggles made her stronger. What she thought was the end of the career she dreamed of became the beginning of her journey.
• She learned to be more sensitive and find value in her experiences. It's hard to do what's best for you, but Christina persevered.

Christina: “Taking each day by day and really finding value in each of these experiences and everything that was happening in my life at that time. Professionally, personally, and spiritually, all of these things made me so much stronger. It made me such a better clinician.”

• Christina had thought she was an incompetent dietitian because of her failings. Similarly, I also faced failure in the form of other people's judgments. 
• Our failures don’t define our abilities as dietitians. Instead, it built our resilience and taught us to grow stronger.

• Dietitians vs. Nutritionists: dietitians must be licensed or registered to practice. However, nutritionists are not regulated.
• Dietitians vs. Therapists: therapists often work to understand the reasons behind your behavior, thoughts, and feelings. They take action to improve mental health.
• Dietitians won’t psychoanalyze you. Though there may be overlap, they focus on proper nutrition for better health.
• Dietitians educate their patients about nutrition and explore their relationship with food and their bodies.
• It’s okay to have a therapeutic relationship with your nutrition counselor. Working as a dietitian goes beyond teaching what’s healthy and not.

• Restriction of food is one of the most consistent predictors of weight gain. Focusing on weight loss can mean focusing on shame.
• Restrictions stop you from being your whole self. It promotes negative emotions rather than a positive mindset.

Christina: “If the end goal is supposed to be positive, how are we going to get there with all of these negative emotions and negative steps? So I think shifting the light and shifting the mindset of noticing and realizing that if you're going to be at your most positive and best self, you have to do so in a positive way and in positive mindsets.”

• Remember that weight is not a reliable indicator of health. It’s more important to look at behaviors.

Caitie: “Weight is not a behavior, individuals and an individual's body shape or size does not tell you anything about how they live their lives and how they do or do not intend to pursue health.” 

• Society today is fatphobic; this stigma negatively impacts your health more than weight.
• Stay tuned for part two of this episode, where Christina and I answer more of your questions!

Christina Constantinou is an Associate Dietitian at Full Soul Nutrition and a clinical dietitian. She's a registered and licensed dietitian, a certified Intuitive Eating Counselor in Training, and has a Master's degree in Health Communication and a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science. Her individualized approach to nutrition helps her educate and empower people's relationships with food.

Connect with Christina and learn more about her on Full Soul Nutrition’s website.

Whole, Full, and Alive is a podcast exploring the art and science of falling in love with your life, with your story, and with who you truly are — underneath your titles, your resume, your relationship status, and your bank account. 

Leave a review and share it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you enjoyed tuning in to this podcast, we'd appreciate it if you wrote us a review. You can also share it to help people learn more about the path to becoming a dietitian and achieving better health for yourself!

Have any questions or want to leave a suggestion? Come say hi on the 'gram @caitie.c.rd. You can also sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!

Thanks for listening! 💖 Stay tuned to my website for more episode updates and other exciting programs and resources.

1. What it means to "hold space" and why it's critical to find a therapist or provider who can do that
2. What is energy healing and somatic healing and why is it useful in conjunction with psychotherapy
3. What "the body keeps the score" means

• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

• Connect with Amanda: Website | Instagram
• Check out Amanda’s Feminine Rising program and tap into your feminine energy.
• Release restrictive dieting, break free from body shame, & create habits that help you live fully! Sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!
• Connect with Caitie: Website | Instagram

📌Episode Highlights

• Amanda is analytical and observant. For her, the world is infused with meaning that she enjoys exploring.
• She loves psychology and her role as a witness and observer of the world around her and its people.
• Amanda describes herself as creative and heart-centered. Her core principles include being service-oriented and a person of integrity.
• Simply being around her encourages you to empower yourself. 
• Amanda maintains positive energy by being grounded in her body and knowing she is safe. She doesn't let herself be swept away by negative thoughts.

• Amanda has a master’s degree in psychology from Columbia University. There, she combined spirituality and psychology. 
• She is also a yoga teacher and a Reiki master teacher. 
• She wants to help women reconnect with their womb space and in turn, reconnect with their bodies and feminine energy as well.
• The womb space is an energetic space located beneath the belly button, and is connected to a person's sexuality and sensuality.
• Amanda found her spiritual awakening in yoga and meditation. She thought of integrating spirituality with Western theory to bridge the mind-body connection.

• Understand that you are an energetic being more than your physical body. Everyone is interconnected in the universe.

Amanda: “We are beyond just our physical body. We are energetic beings. Everything in the universe from the scientific perspective is made up of particles of atoms and cells. And so in that same way, we are interconnected with everything that exists in the universe.” 

• Within your energy body are your chakra systems, also known as energy centers.
• The Sacral Chakra and the Root Chakra are under the belly button. These chakras are how you experience pleasure, joy, and different emotions.
• The Root Chakra is where we develop energetically from. The Sacral Chakra is associated with creation and life force energy.
• When shame builds up inside us, it can block the chakras and prevent us from fully enjoying life.

• Humans can create different defense mechanisms from pain. Unfortunately, this can also make it challenging to find and tackle the root cause of their pain.
• The unconscious realm is a space full of the unknown. In this realm, you might find the root causes of what troubles you.
• The chakra system and Reiki practice help you dive into the unconscious. 
• Diving into your body energetically discovers your body's record of experiences. You can honor and validate what you've gone through to feel wholeness.
• Energy and somatic work can help you clear out the stagnation that’s blocking your system.

• Amanda met many amazing facilitators from different healing circles. They had a beautiful way of holding a space where others feel safe and share their voice.
• Her naturally analytical, curious, and observant nature gave Amanda what she needed to hold space.
• Holding space means recognizing each individual’s reality and human experience. This space is where they are allowed and encouraged to share that.

Amanda: “I think that that's also what holding space is all about. It’s recognizing that there are infinite realities, which means that each person is living in their own world and has their own experiences. And when we hold space, we give them the opportunity to share what their human experience is like.”

• Amanda met someone who held space for others in their position of power. They were judgmental, dominated by their emotions, and failed to make others feel safe.
• It's from that person that she learned what to avoid. Amanda continuously strives to be aware and ensure she holds a safe space for people to heal.

• A person who’s holding space should be non-judgmental and empathic. They shouldn’t try to interject and bring in their own experiences and emotions.
• People need a space to be witnessed and share their experiences and emotions, not someone to instruct them.

Amanda: “Sometimes I think what people really need is that space to be witnessed, to really be witnessed in their process of feeling whatever it is that they need to feel without being given advice or judged or criticized.”

• Holding space means letting others have their emotional release and let go of the blocks in their bodies.
• Unfortunately, most therapists and professionals aren't trained to hold space.
• One such experience was in a master's program that tackled trauma. Despite being a class for therapists, the class felt unsafe for Amanda.

• Advice can be good and beautiful. However, projecting an agenda dictates how others should act and feel.
• When you hold space, be mindful of the line between giving advice and projecting an agenda. 
• You don't necessarily know what's best for others. Allow them to go through their process, trust themselves, and make their own decisions.
• You can better hold space for others when you're grounded in your body and have done your healing work. Be sure you're able to regulate your own emotions.
• People who hold space for others to emotionally melt and open up can leave a positive mark on others.

• One of the first things Amanda does in the morning is greet her dog.
• She makes sure to be present and focused while enjoying her breakfast.
• Her morning ritual includes walking her dogs. She takes the time to be mindful of her environment and connects with the sun's warmth on these walks.
• At night, Amanda’s rituals focus on winding down. She sometimes lights a candle and takes the time to reflect on her day.
• After going through the seriousness of her profession, she unwinds by watching a funny show and having a laugh.

Amanda Vazquez is the founder of The Psychospiritual Coach. She has a master's degree in Psychology from Columbia University, and is a yoga teacher, reiki master, and a student of indigenous medicine. She combines what she learned from western theory with ancient healing traditions to help others heal and reconnect with their bodies.

Connect with Amanda and learn more about her on her website and Instagram.

Whole, Full, and Alive is a podcast exploring the art and science of falling in love with your life, with your story, and with who you truly are — underneath your titles, your resume, your relationship status, and your bank account. 

Leave a review and share it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐If you enjoyed tuning in to this podcast, we'd appreciate it if you wrote us a review. You can also share it to help people learn more about tapping into their body's energy to find a new perspective on healing and holding space.

Have any questions or want to leave a suggestion? Come say hi on the 'gram @caitie.c.rd. You can also sign up for my nutrition coaching program and community, Whole, Full, and Alive, and get a FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call!

Thanks for listenin