Small Steps

Doing social justice work and learning can bring up a lot of feelings and trauma. As we continue to do this work for the long haul, it's also important to also make our care and healing a priority. This episode covers how to also take care of yourself so you can continue to do social justice work, heal and not burn out. This is part four of five in a social-justice focused series.

Important Note: This series is not a substitute for any informal or formal social justice education. See the Mentioned in the Show section of episode 90 to see the people I've worked with and learned most of my social justice knowledge from.

Small Steps in the Show:

• Check in with yourself, perhaps more often
• Reflect on ways you've taken care of yourself
• Invest in your rest care and joy
• Investigate and get clear on what impacts your care and mental health
• Get support around your healing
• Extend yourself kindness and compassion as you do this

Mentioned in the Show:

Small Steps #32 with Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #33 "Doing the Work" Part 2

Small Steps #90 Ways to "Do the Work": Setting Up

Small Steps #91 Ways to "Do the Work.": Gathering Information

Small Steps #92: Ways to "Do the Work": Media and Money Audits

Dr. Tee Williams

The Nap Ministry on Instagram

Small Steps #83 Noticing, Feeling and Creating Joy

Small Steps #88 with Melody Li

Inclusive Therapists

Therapy Den

Small Steps #60 with Yin Li

How to find a therapist from Asians Do Therapy

The Cosmos

The Mixed Space

Beyond Guilt, Beyond Shame: White People Processing Racism Facebook group

Get the full show notes here!

Follow Aimee on Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

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Interested in working with Aimee? Find out information here.

Edited by Eilise Bonebright

As we learn more about social justice, it can be helpful to look at some major things in our lives: the media we consume and where and who we spend our money with to see if that's aligned with our social justice values. This episode covers what to ask while you're looking at your media and money and how to intentionally adjust in a way that aligns with where you're going. This is part three of five in a social-justice focused series.

Important Note: This series is not a substitute for any informal or formal social justice education. See the Mentioned in the Show section of episode 90 to see the people I've worked with and learned most of my social justice knowledge from.

Small Steps in the Show:

• Get clear on what media you're consuming and where you're consuming it
• Ask questions about the media
• Intentionally diversify your feeds, media and more
• Consider unfollowing/unsubscribing/moving away from people in media that don't align with your values/stance on things anymore
• Do a similar audit on companies you shop with (in person and online), businesses/establishments you frequent and services you use
• Ask questions about the companies, business and services you use
• Consider diversifying who you're shopping with
• Consider sharing your views/concerns with companies/businesses you've been using that have some room for improvement/are taking steps or are trying to take steps
• Consider changing your buying habits/where you buy if certain companies don't align with your values/stance on things anymore
• Extend yourself kindness and compassion as you do this

Mentioned in the Show:

Small Steps #32 with Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #33 "Doing the Work" Part 2

Small Steps #90 Ways to "Do the Work": Setting Up

Small Steps #91 Ways to "Do the Work.": Gathering Information

Dr. Tee Williams

Unroll.me

Progressive Shopper Plug-in for Chrome

Women Owned Business Certification

B Corporation

Bookshop

Indiebound

Buy Nothing Groups

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Interested in working with Aimee? Find out information here.

Edited by Eilise Bonebright

Dominant culture has rewritten history or made what actually happened harder to find. And as we continue our work in social justice, we've got to seek out this information, concepts, ideologies and more. This episode covers how to find that information, apply critical thinking as you read and search, and more. This is part two of five in a social-justice focused series.

Important Note: This series is not a substitute for any informal or formal social justice education. See the Mentioned in the Show section to see the people I've worked with and learned most of my social justice knowledge from.

Small Steps in the Show:

• Consider researching listicles first to find information/resources
• If overwhelmed, focus your search based on last episode
• Do your research and due diligence
• Save information in a place/form that works for you
• If you're doing this with other folks, see if you can all gather and share things, or share what you've all already learned/read as resources to help each other
• Find a time to read and process this information
• Extend yourself kindness and compassion as you do this

Mentioned in the Show:

Small Steps #32 with Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #33 "Doing the Work" Part 2

Small Steps #90 Ways to "Do the Work": Setting Up

Small Steps #75: Deciding What to Believe around Health Studies, Media + Reports

Dr. Tee Williams

Get the full show notes here!

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Interested in working with Aimee? Find out information here.

Edited by Eilise Bonebright

More time passes from the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others and the uprisings that sparked an increased awareness and openness to talk about racism, systemic oppression and social justice. "Doing the work" of learning these systems and contributing to change is lifelong. This series talks about ways you create a helpful framework to continue your learning and taking action. This is the first of five episodes in this series.

Important Note: This series is not a substitute for any informal or formal social justice education. See the Mentioned in the Show section to see the people I've worked with and learned most of my social justice knowledge from.

Small Steps in the Show:

• Define your values and your whys
• Define a starting point to focus on, check back in with yourself to see if you feel like you can handle more or different information
• Check in with how you learn best
• Pick a time of day/day or days of the week you want to set aside for this work
• Decide how you're going to spend your time each day/week
• Find community to do this work with
• Recording what you're doing each day/week
• Extend yourself kindness and compassion as you do this

Mentioned in the Show:

Small Steps #32 with Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #33 "Doing the Work" Part 2

Values exercise

Dr. Tee Williams

Self-Paced Foundations for Social Justice Course

Andrea Ranae

Michelle Cassandra Johnson

Skill in Action

Chrissy King

Small Steps #18 with Chrissy King

Susanna Barkataki

Honor Don't Appropriate Yoga Series

Susanna's upcoming book

Get the full show notes here!

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Interested in working with Aimee? Find out information here.

Edited by Eilise Bonebright

This episode talks about the essential fact that Black lives matter and the importance of Black voices in the Wellness World, why I started this podcast and what's in store for the podcast in the future. Also a new podcast series is coming up later in July/early August that I talk about here.

Mentioned in the Show:

Small Steps #14: Being Biracial and My Vision for Wellness

Small Steps #1 My Health Journey

Small Steps #55: What I Learned after a Year of Podcasting

Lestraundra Alfred of Balanced Black Girl

Small Steps #36 with Lestraundra Alfred

Kayla Nedza of the Wellness Glow Up Podcast

Small Steps #58 with Kayla Nedza

Dr. Shena Young

Kindred Medicine Podcast

Kindred Medicine

Shohreh Davoodi

Redefining Health and Wellness Podcast

Diversify Dietetics

Naaya Wellness

Reclamation Ventures

Dive in Well

The Cosmos

Small Steps #87: 5 Things I've Been Working on Recently

Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #32 with Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #33 Doing the Work Part 2

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For those of us targeted identities, it can be hard to find places, spaces and people to work with who really see and can hold space for all of us or the parts of us that we hold especially dear. While "good enough" has been the norm, more and more people are coming together to, in their professions, make it clear that we can work with people who really see and understand all of us. In this episode, I talk with Melody Li and the importance of a culturally affirming and social justice oriented therapist, and her directory to find other like minded therapists.

About Melody Li

Melody Li (she/her) is an immigrant, therapist of color and mental health justice activist. She created Inclusive Therapists, a social justice-oriented mental health directory and therapist community that centers the needs of marginalized populations. She's also the cofounder of the Austin Counseling Collective, an intentionally diverse group therapy practice. Melody also co-leads the Austin Therapists of Color community.

Small Steps in the Show:

• Get clear on the relationship you want with your therapist and what you want to do in therapy
• Check out the Inclusive Therapists directory
• Check a therapist's website, social media and other web presences and their copy.
• Ask for referrals from friends that you trust.
• Look to see what therapists are talking about resources and communities that are important to you and seeing if you can work with them or if they can refer you to someone.
• Bring your past experiences with other therapists with your current therapist
• Talking about your experiences with your trusted communities in person or online

Mentioned in the Show:

Buy my Enamel Pin

Donate to Black Lives Matter (National)

Find and donate to a Black Lives Matter Chapter near you

Donate to Black Visions Collective

Donate to Reclaim the Block

Donate to the Free Black Mamas National Bail Out Fund

Donate to the George Floyd Memorial Fund

Donate to the I Run with Maud Fundraiser

Sign the Justice for Breonna Taylor Petition

Small Steps #32 with Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #33 "Doing the Work" Part 2

Inclusive Therapist's Matchmaking Service

Melody's Website

Follow Melody on Instagram

Inclusive Therapists Website

Follow Inclusive Therapists on Instagram

Get the full show notes here!

Follow Aimee on Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

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Interested in working with Aimee? Find out information here.

Edited by Eilise Bonebright

A more personal episode, I'm sharing 5 things I've been thinking about and working on during this time. I also share small steps that I've taken and am taking as I work through them.

Small Steps in the Show:

Internalized Capitalism/Rest/How to Show Up at this Time

• Recognizing how much of a thing that was that i work with, how big and old of a pattern it is for me
• Reminding myself in the moment and not in the moment that my worth isn't tied in what i make or produce
• Telling myself that it was okay to rest and that's also liberatory
• Recognizing what tired feels like in my body and how overworking has manifested itself in my body
• checking in with myself and how i'm feeling physically and emotionally and NOT stuffing that down
• Finding things that are fun to do that are just for me (knitting, reading fiction, watching shows)
• Working on my social media boundaries that might fuel the internalized capitalism
• Constantly reminding myself that i'm a whole ass person who has to also take care of themselves
• I always am worth taking care of myself
• Reminding myself of what's true for me and my life (h/t Dr Tee)
• Reminding myself that what i do in enough, i'm not doing this work alone
• Reminding myself that rest is important for me and to continue to the do the work longer term
• Just because i'm not able to show up full force now doesn't mean i can't and won't later
• Having kindness and compassion for myself

Clothing and Fatphobic Thoughts

• Wearing the "bigger" clothes and just doing what I need to do
• Allowing myself to dress how I felt that day
• Remembering that these voices were internalized things, that no one is saying this to me right now
• Getting curious about that voice and knowing it wasn't really mine
• Reminding myself that my appearance isn't the most important thing about me
• Extending kindness and compassion to myself as voices came up

Comfort Foods

• Listening to what I really wanted to eat and trusting that
• Noticing when those judgy thoughts came up and getting curious about where those came from
• Remembering that I have other choices to make with other meals if any weird feelings came up
• Stating what I needed when my body did have reactions
• Taking action when my body did have reactions (adding in supportive foods, taking it easier on other things, adding in more water and rest, recognizing stress is a big factor as well)
• Checking in with myself and what i need
• Separating my body size and my worth
• Understanding, realizing and accepting that being a larger body size isn't a bad thing

Mentioned in the Show:

Buy my Enamel Pin

Small Steps #1 My Health Journey

Small Steps #79 Taking Care of Yourself in Uncertain Times

Small Steps #80 Tips and Tricks for Working from Home

Small Steps #81 Ways to Lower Stress and Anxiety

Small Steps #82 How Are You?: A Self Care Check-In

The Nap Ministry on Instagram

Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #32 with Dr. Tee Williams

Small Steps #83 Noticing, Feeling and Creating Joy

Steph Gaudreau

Steph's Knitting-Focused Instagram

Small Steps #84 with Amanda Martinez Beck

Steph Gaudreau's blog post on Body Neutrality

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Journaling is a popular suggestion as a small step on this podcast and beyond as a way to get in touch with yourself. But if you're new to journaling or have a block around it, figuring out where to start can feel confusing or overwhelming. In this episode, I talk with Jess Song about how journaling can help and how to make journaling a more approachable practice.

About Jess Song

Jess Song is Korean-American born in, raised by Brooklyn, NY. Jess is the founder of Back to Self and is committed to bridging cultural gaps in emotional health. She's spent 15 years working with underserved immigrant/diaspora/2nd-generation populations, and learned there is an unexplored gap in the way we process, communicate, and navigate our emotions--especially the difficult ones.

With Back to Self's journaling workshops, Jess aims to reset this cultural and generational gap by bringing counseling, healthy communication, and healthy relationship frameworks into a daily, accessible practice.

Small Steps in the Show:

• Learn to sit before journaling
• Check in with yourself first
• Consider a visualization of being in a room to sit with yourself
• Be more okay with being uncomfortable
• Create a routine or ritual around it
• Consider committing to a set number of pages everyday
• Have a definite thing that starts and ends the journaling time
• Observe more and narrate less
• Identify your fuzzy words
• Observe yourself with compassion and know you don't have to solve the problem
• Stay present with the facts
• Consider journaling in a different format (audio or video)

Mentioned in the Show:

Buy my Enamel Pin

The Artist's Way

The Cosmos

Jess's Website

Follow Jess on Instagram

Get the full show notes here!

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Interested in working with Aimee? Find out information here.

Edited by Eilise Bonebright

Adding a bit more flavor to our meals can take what's on our plate from meh to WOW. Especially if you're cooking more or a newer to cooking, it can feel a bit overwhelming to figure out how to make your food and also make it realllllly tasty. This episode covers 5 possible ways you can add more flavor to your food and make cooking a bit more fun.

Small Steps in the Show:

• Choose just one of the five ways to start with that feels accessible for you
• Try doing a way for 1-2 meals a week
• Experiment and see what you like
• Consider adding this technique to more meals if you like it
• Please extend kindness and compassion as you figure things out

Mentioned in the Show:

Buy my Enamel Pin

Small Steps #1 My Health Journey

Small Steps #75 Deciding What to Believe Around Health Studies, Media + Reports

Penzeys

The Spice House

Jacobsen Salt Co.

Spiceology

Oaktown Spice Shop

How to Make Your Own Spice Blends

Small Steps #35: 6 Steps to Stop Feeling So Hungry All the Time

The Big Fat Surprise

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A major part of moving away from diet culture can be embracing the bodies we currently have, regardless of our body's size or how "acceptable" diet culture deems it. And in that journey, looking at and realizing our internalized fatphobia can come up and be a lot. In this episode I talk with fat activist Amanda Martinez Beck on fat activism, fatness, the systemic things that affect fatness and how we can embrace the fact that our bodies (and all bodies) are good.

About Amanda Martinez Beck

Amanda Martinez Beck is a fat activist, author, speaker and coach. She co-hosts the Fat & Faithful podcast along with fat activist J. Nicole Morgan and is the co-founder of the Ruah Storyteller Podcast. She is also the author of Lovely: How I Learned to Embrace the Body God Gave Me. When Amanda isn't watching Frozen II with her husband and 4 kiddos, she's sharing her work on Instagram and in her Facebook group, All Bodies Are Good Bodies.

Small Steps in the Show:

• Imagine what you would say to the younger version of yourself going through a hard time and have compassion for yourself.
• Eat what sounds good to you, regardless of how "healthy" diet culture deems it.
• Get support from a professional if you feel like you can't eat or it's unsafe.
• Read the Fat Girl Bill of Rights and use them as comforting things
• Diversify your feeds and media to show larger bodies and bodies that are a different size.
• Look at the levels of Fat Allyship and listen to the Fat and Faithful podcast (links below) to see where and how you can support folks in larger bodies.

Mentioned in the Show:

Buy my Enamel Pin

Small Steps #17 What is Diet Culture?

Amanda's IG Post on Fat as an Accessibility Issue

Amanda's IG Post on Internalized Fatphobia

NEDA directory for eating disorder support

Free & Low Cost Support from NEDA

Amanda's IG Post on Fat Allyship

Fat and Faithful Podcast episode on Fat Allyship

Amanda's Website

Work with Amanda

Fat and Faithful Podcast

Buy Amanda's Book, Lovely: How I Learned to Embrace the Body God Gave Me

The Good Body Etsy Store

Join Amanda's Newsletter (to get the Fat Girl Bill of Rights)

Follow Amanda on Instagram | Facebook

Get the full show notes here!

Follow Aimee on Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

Sign up for the Wellness Wednesdays Newsletter

Interested in working with Aimee? Find out information here.

Edited by Eilise Bonebright