If you haven't heard about or tuned into the Netflix docuseries, MOVE, now's the time! MOVE takes you through the lived experiences of dancers around the globe, and offers a visceral experience of movement that brings transformation and healing- both individually and collectively. These dancers are not motivated to lose weight or change their bodies- their dancing is about passion, healing, emoting and liberating from oppression. The series does a brilliant job of addressing social identities such as race, gender, class, and sexual expression within the context of dance. Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, Co-Founder, Clinical Director and Head of the Exercise+Sport team at Opal talks with Josh Spell, LICSW, Primary Therapist and Exercise Experiential therapist at Opal, as well as a former professional ballet dancer and consulting therapist for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Kara and Josh offer their reflections on MOVE, tying the themes of the docuseries into the work of healing one's disordered relationship to movement that often comes with the territory of an eating disorder.

If you want to hear more from Josh, talking about body image in dance, yoga and fitness, please consider registering for his upcoming seminar on January 14th at 10am PST. Link here: Body Image in dance, yoga and fitness: Am I contributing to the problem? 

Links:

MOVE- Netflix

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos   

Thank you to our team...

Editing by David Bazzi

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Administrative support by Camille Dodson

Originally released in 2018, we felt this interview was worth repeating! At a time where sports and athletics are turned upside down due to the pandemic, a silver lining is that it's creating new time and space for both athletes and coaches to learn and become more centered in what is most important and enduring in athletics. In this conversation about the influential position a coach has on an athlete's life and performance, Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi LMFT, CEDS and Carter Umhau, LMHCA interview Sally Revere, head Cross Country and Track & Field coach at Lakeside High School in Seattle. Sally offers practical advice on how she addresses food and body concerns on her team, as well as addressing the power of coaching from a whole athlete perspective. Kara and Carter bring in questions about temperament as it relates to sport performance, and how a coach can facilitate a sense of community and joy on their team. If you are a coach or an athlete, you don't want to miss this episode! Sally offers incredible wisdom and inspiration from her 30 years of coaching experience.

Resources:

Letter to Coaches From a Mental Health Therapist, by Kara Bazzi: http://www.opalfoodandbody.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Letter-To-Coaches.pdf 

Compulsive Exercise and Eating Disorders, by Caroline Meyer et al: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/erv.1122/abstract 

Perfectionism versus excellence: https://wp.me/a5Br2M-7To 

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos 

Thank you to our team…

David Bazzi for editing.

Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support.

Aaron Davidson for the original music  https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Let us re-introduce you to Shilo George--- our guest from episode 57 (which is a worthwhile listen too!!) where she shared honestly about mental health and food concerns as a "super-fat, indigenous, queer woman".  Shilo is a Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho and Scottish international speaker, trainer, and owner of Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting. Today Julie Church, Opal Co-Founder and Nutrition Director reconnected with Shilo for a little update and some great nuggets of wisdom arose.  Asking for help. Eating in the pandemic. Reframing the things that challenge us. And honoring Native American culture and history, especially during this Thanksgiving/Thanks-taking week. 

Links:

Shilo's Instagram 

Shilo's Linkedin where you can find more about Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting

Book: Rethinking Columbus

The Uprise Collective 

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos 

Thank you to our team…

Thanks to David Bazzi for editing, Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support, and Aaron Davidson for the original music  https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

How does being marginalized impact a person’s health and physiology? Dr. Lindo Bacon, who has spent their career advocating for social justice at the intersection of weight and health, joins this episode to share about their newest book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming it for the Better). In conversation with Opal Co-Founder Julie Church and host and therapist Carter Umhau, Lindo shares how their experience of  being other-ed for their gender identity led them into their research on interpersonal neurobiology, and why self-help won’t save us. 

Links:

Learn more about Dr. Lindo Bacon and their work at https://lindobacon.com/

Dr. Lindo Bacon on Instagram: @lindobacon

Twitter and Facebook: @LindoBaconX

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos   

Thank you to our team...

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

Welcome to the first ever episode of The Appetite. Clinicians from Opal: Food+Body Wisdom, an eating disorder treatment center in Seattle, Washington, will meet every week to discuss all things body, food, movement, and mental health. Today you will meet the three women who founded Opal: Psychologist Dr. Lexi Giblin, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Julie Church, and Family Therapist Kara Bazzi. Today’s discussion and future conversations will be facilitated by host and Opal therapist Carter Umhau. In this episode we introduce ourselves and Opal, and suss out how the themes that come up in the treatment of eating disorders might speak to one’s appetite for life at large. Connect with us: www.OpalFoodandBody.com www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/ www.twitter.com/opalfoodandbody

What does it look like to center narrative in racial identity work? Aiko Bethea is the principal and founder of Rare Coaching and Consulting, which offers executive coaching to leaders on their diversity, equity, and inclusion journey. She joins host Carter Umhau and Opal Co-Founders Lexi Giblin and Julie Church today in a tender and empowering conversation around what diversity and inclusion work can look like when narrative and shame resilience are part of the process. Aiko has been working with Opal Co-Founders Lexi Giblin, Kara Bazzi, and Julie Church over the last year to reflect on and analyze Opal’s systems to make them more actively anti-racist.

Links:

Follow Aiko on Instagram: @rare_coach

And check out her website at https://www.rarecoaching.net/ and follow her on Linkedin. 

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos   

Thank you to our team...

Thanks to David Bazzi for editing, Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support. 

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

How do you know when it’s time to let go? On this more reflective and personal episode of The Appetite, Opal Co-Founder’s Lexi Giblin, Kara Bazzi, and Julie Church join host  Carter Umhau to explore themes around loss, grief, accepting change, and letting go. Inspired by an announcement from Carter about her departure from the podcast, the crew reflects on where The Appetite has been and where we’re headed next! 

Links:

Stay in touch with Carter Umhau, LMHC via www.carterumhau.com andwww.piththerapy.com

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos   

Thank you to our team...

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com and www.piththerapy.com

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Editing by David Bazzi

And support from Camille Dodson

Links:

Find Alison on Instagram @alisonmdesir and learn more about her here: http://alisonmdesir.com/ and here: https://www.oiselle.com/pages/alison-desir

Check out Alison Mariella’s Meaning Through Movement events on fitness and mental health: https://www.meaningthrumovement.com/

Find out how you can be a part of the virtual relay, Womxn Run the Vote: https://racery.com/r/womxn-run-the-vote/ and on Instagram @Run4AllWomen

Check out the Harlem Run Club: http://www.harlemrun.com/about and on Instagram @HarlemRun

Read Alison Mariella’s article called Ahmaud Arbery and Whiteness in the Running World: https://www.outsideonline.com/2413115/ahmaud-arbery-murder-whiteness-running-community

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos   

Thank you to our team...

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

How does Opal think about anti-racism work within eating disorder treatment?  After a bit of a hiatus following the murder of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, this episode breaks the silence on what we’ve been learning and implementing within the walls of Opal: Food + Body Wisdom around anti-racism. Co-Founders Julie Church, Lexi Giblin, and Kara Bazzi sit down with host Carter Umhau to discuss what Opal’s been up to the last few months and how treatment at Opal hasn’t been adequately anti-racist in the past and what they plan to do about it. They’ll share a bit about their own process, how they see the need for anti-racism work within the eating disorder field, and touch on what this looks like in the HAES, RO DBT, and sport worlds. 

Links:

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos   

Thank you to our team...

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

Has your relationship to food changed since the pandemic began? Whether you’re snacking more, eating a different variety of food, or finding yourself restricting or bingeing due to high emotions, we imagine a lot could have shifted. While a mainstream perspective might tell you to use this “opportunity” to “take control of your diet,” we have a very different perspective. Opal Co-Founder and Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD and host and therapist Carter Umhau, LMHC are sharing their insights on the difference between emotional eating and binge eating, why you should give yourself grace right now (and always!), and how to reframe the expectations you may have right now for your eating. They’ll be walking through specific scenarios that may have impacted your eating, as well as explaining what is happening in your body right now due to the collective stress of the coronavirus. 

Connect with Opal: 

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos   

Thank you to our team...

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Camille Dodson @opalfoodandbody.com

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com