By Tara Van Dam
5
1111 ratings
The podcast currently has 22 episodes available.
For the first time, the Wholistic Joy Podcast goes "round table" style in this important, upsetting, and necessary subject of body image. As we share our own stories and struggles around body image and the misery it has caused and continues to cause in our lives, we come away with ways that we can move forward and break the binds that keep us from living at our fullest and most beautiful selves.
“It is strange to think about how much of it seeps into our everyday, even if you’re actively trying to remove yourself from it.” – Jenna Monroe
“Who were you before the world told you you were too big or too fat?” – Rebeccah Brooking
“We’re just constantly having to agree to an arbitrary standard that we can’t necessarily change our body to meet.” – Tara Van Dam
“We are pushed into this sense that we have to wear a costume at any given time depending on what it is that we are supposed to be accomplishing” – Brianna Anthony
These provide just a glimpse into our conversation; one that is vulnerable, authentic, and honest. Find hope and comfort through the words of others who walk the same difficult path as you.
Please share with anyone you feel would benefit from hearing this and, as always, giving it a good rating, a positive review, and a subscribe will greatly influence how this message is able to reach the hearts of others.
Find me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
Music by from Pixabay
“Personal growth is so important, but then we forget to apply it to our marriages or we don’t know how,” Beatriz Vargas
In this episode, I am joined by certified coach and podcaster, Beatriz Vargas. We begin our conversation discussing the importance of having a "why" behind what you do. We discuss the power of having a life purpose behind your job and roles.
We then go on to talk about the work that Beatriz does, focusing on marriages and wives in particular. What do you do when you want to work on your marriage, but your spouse is figuratively absent. We then extend this topic to include the other relationships in our lives.
The message that we are left with is that if we continue to work on ourselves and move toward personal growth, our relationships will grow alongside. Of course, there is one significant caveat and that is that what we learn and how we grow needs to be applied to the relationships closest to us.
Beatriz Vargas is a Certified Change the World Christian Coach and Wife Coach. She is also the host/creator of the Grace Fueled Wife Podcast where through her show, courses, and coaching, she helps women partner with God to transform their marriages even if their husband's aren't showing up. Her mission is to improve the quality of marriages by helping wives to be fueled with grace.
When she isn't podcasting or working with clients, Beatriz spends time with her husband and her 2 children in NYC.
To reach Beatriz:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/thegracefueledwife/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gracefueledwifecommunity
Website: www.beatrizvargas.com
Find me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
Music by from Pixabay
“When you are beaming with light, that’s the best way to help someone with their darkness.”
On this episode, I talk to fellow South African and friend, Lee Buckton. With spirituality, wellness, and music at the front of his life, Lee is always seeking. In fact, this curious nature brought him across the Atlantic and to Atlanta where he runs his own, thriving dog training business.
We talk about how curiosity and continually seeking helps you to grow and discover your true self. He shares the importance and meaning around staying in alignment with your vibrational set point and how to manage difficult emotions.
Through his insights and efforts, Lee has found a way to always return to happiness and hope even when things are dark. He shares these tools, also giving specific reference to the burden that comes with being an empath.
To find Lee, you can follow him on IG: @leeashtonbuckton or @dogtraineratl
Find me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
Music by from Pixabay
“It’s being able to wake up and know that you’re doing what you’re suppose to be doing…and that you found something that lights you up when you do it,” Ben Swafford.
Another week, another beautiful conversation.
Today, I share reflections with Ben Swafford. Area manager, trainer, and ERYT for CorePower Yoga, Ben's life moved from saying cheers as he poured drinks, to saying Namaste as he teaches yoga. His life is all about movement, on his mat, his snowboard, his paddleboard, and anywhere else he can.
While an energetic life has always been core to who he is, this energy has found an outlet that is of deep service to others. He describes himself as an Atlanta native, rooted in kindness, strength, acceptance, and love, where one of the greatest gifts he hopes to give others is the gift of yoga and all that it can offer.
In this episode we talk about how yoga came as a surprise, highlighting how life can turn toward light and possibility even when you least expect it. We discuss the importance of always staying in the seat of the student, open to learning and growing forever, and how transformative it is to discover what you are meant to be doing.
Find me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
Music by from Pixabay
On the show this week, I am joined by professional stuntwoman and deep thinking yogini, Sadiqua Bynum.
Sadiqua is a former UCLA gymnast whose aspirations are to inspire and encourage others to see the light that is inside of them and express the ways in which individuality should be celebrated as this allows us to figure out who we really are.
We explore the journey she took in uncovering who she really is, the questions she had to answer, and perceptions she had to extinguish. It wasn't always a simple matter of self-reflection, but she realized that by doing the work, making some mistakes, and allowing herself opportunities to learn, there is so much to gain.
We also talk about the role that yoga has played in this journey as well as how she is working toward creating a space for others in her field to find the confidence to shine in their true identity as well.
Lastly, she gifts us the concept of active patience; something she is working on that is transforming her experience of life.
Find me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
Music by from Pixabay
Do you struggle with listening to your own voice and trusting what that voice is saying? Is your mind overrun by the opinions of others and the influence those opinions have on you? Do you struggle with vulnerability?
Today on the show, I talk to Caroline Smith, certified yoga instructor and wellness coach. Through her coaching business, Heal Love Connect, she helps clients using mindfulness, reflection, and action to break through bad habits, form new habits based on their unique needs and goals, and create a life they love.
Together we talk about the work she has done on learning to trust and listen to her own voice. This has been a lifelong process for her, showing up in all areas of her life. She also shares her reflections on the work she is currently doing on vulnerability to living more openly.
Connect with me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
Music by from Pixabay
In this episode I reflect on the experience of taking my 4 year old daughter, Maya, to her first ballet class. This was a magical, proud, and beautiful moment - definitely one for the mom books. However, it also took me down memory lane in terms of my own ballet journey as a child.
I started ballet as a way to correct my feet. I was born with a pretty severe case of "pigeon toes". As a result, my options were either to break my legs and reset them or to start ballet super young and do the work to turn out my legs slowly.
Of course, if you know anything about ballet, turn out is key. Sadly, my body just wasn't built this way. I did not have the bone structure to allow for good turn out. As a child ballet student, I was constantly being criticized, judged, and disciplined for my bad technique. Sadly, I did not know at the time, that none of this was my fault - it was something I could not change. My ballet teachers did not understand this either and so didn't hold back on pointing out my flaws.
To make matters worse, I was also constantly being called out for being the "fat" kid in the class. I was in no ways an overweight child. Not by any stretch. But I never had the typical petite ballet body either. This was another thing that my ballet teacher never failed to point out to me. Let me just note here that I was between the ages of about 8 and 12. Pretty impressionable.
As I sit here in my 30s, with decades of body issues that I am still dealing with, I can't help but wonder what role these early criticisms had on me as a child; a hurt that I still seem to be carrying today.
Find me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
In case you didn't catch last week's episode, this is the new and slightly different Wholistic Joy Podcast. It is self-reflection on the go: real moments, real stories, real life. I keep things raw, unedited, and, as I said, real.
In this episode I talk about how hard it is to do the things we know are good for us, like exercising, eating healthy food, and other acts of self care. I then go on to discuss my favorite night out - the SSB night in - and bring up the yogi principle of brahmacharya, or moderation. Moderation sounds pretty boring, I know, but living life moderately may actually be a significant key to living a life of peace and contentment.
I share my experience of disconnecting from moderation through over indulgence and what I have to go through to recover afterwards. Is it truly worth it? Probably not, but we are masters at forgetting this truth in the moment.
Find me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
I go through periodic blue days. They come about every other month or so; I wake up and I am just feeling sad. Everything gets harder to do and I find my healthy habits slip far out of my control. I have just come out of another blue period and in this one I realized something, I believe to be, profound. What if these blue days are my heart's way of forcing me to purge all of the unwanted emotions that I have "kept under control"? Kind of like your body getting rid of bad food. What if, instead of trying to make myself feel better, what I 'm supposed to do is feel, temporarily, worse?
In this episode I share the experience of my "blue days" and how my body forced me to purge.
Find me:
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
Music by from Pixabay
Meditation: What I ask of you is to be selfish; to give to yourself exactly what you need; to fill yourself up with self-love, abundance, and care. I ask you to be selfish, because you, as any other, deserve to feel the fullness of your own heart, soul, and life.
Website: wholisticjoywellness.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wholisticjoywellness
IG: www.instagram.com/wholisticjoywellness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WholisticJoy
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wholisticjoywellness
Music by from Pixabay
The podcast currently has 22 episodes available.