After recently watching the Unwell episode on Netflix that tackles the essential oil industry, I felt like it was as good a time as any to talk about my own experiences with Young Living — how I got involved, why I left — and offer my two cents with regard to multi-level marketing companies in general and the eerie similarities between MLMs and the diet industry. Useful links: New Yorker article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/how-essential-oils-became-the-cure-for-our-age-of-anxiety Vanity Fair article: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/09/the-dream-podcast-preview The Dream podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dream/id1435743296 Illegal Tender podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/illegal-tender/id1486637630 Business Insider podcast episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-essential-oils-investigation/id1413374332?i=1000486466107 Is it an MLM: https://isthisanmlm.com/ John Oliver & Samantha Bee videos: https://youtu.be/s6MwGeOm8iI https://youtu.be/lLBmElR0Luw Netflix UnWell https://www.netflix.com/title/81044208 #Unwell #Netflix #YoungLiving #YoungLivingEOs #AntiMLM #AntiMultiLevelMarketing #AntiNetworkMarketing #MLMScams #AntiMLMCommunity #NetworkMarketingScams #AntiMLMmovement

For the first episode our new podcast, Hello Body!, we recently hopped on Instagram Live to chat about our "origin stories" and how each of us transformed from being diet- and weight-obsessed to embracing intuitive eating and food and body freedom. Melissa is a registered dietitian and certified personal trainer, and Katy is a certified health coach and yoga instructor, as well as the author of the book Worth It: A Journey to Food & Body Freedom. We are two friends who share an interest in non-diet approaches to health and wellness, including Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size®. Find Melissa at shamelessnutrition.com. Find Katy at worthitwithkaty.com. Follow the podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/hellobodypodcast.

This week I get out of my chair and show you one of my favorite "pandemic buster" yoga poses: the standing forward bend (Uttanasana). My own body image recovery has benefited immensely from a yoga practice. Yoga allows me to get out of my head and tune into the amazing muscles and bones that make up my body. If I can't muster up any love for my body, at least I can observe it with appreciation and gratitude. Daily practice has also been immensely helpful during this time of uncertainty and anxiety because it helps to keep me in the moment. So today I share some of the physical and mental benefits of the forward bend — and why inversions are so great during this stressful time at home. I hope you get something out of this video! This definitely helps me become more confident with teaching others and sharing the benefits of this practice. Let me know if you'd like more of these types of videos. 🙏🧘‍♀️❤️

Happy International No Diet Day! I thought about all the things I wanted to say about dieting during this pandemic, and realized the video would end up being 45 hours long and nobody would watch it. 🤣 So instead I will just ask you this: If we lived in a world where you never had to worry about being judged or shamed for your body size, what would you do differently when it comes to self-care? What if all of your food and movement decisions were based on how your body felt rather than how it looked? That's all! Hope you're doing well. Have a great week!

Has your anxiety been flaring up during this time? Mine sure has, especially when I have to go to the supermarket. I've noticed that when I'm there (and often for hours afterward), I have trouble filling my lungs completely and end up gasping for breath. This week I revisit the topic of the extended exhale, an easy hack for our nervous systems, especially when we're feeling anxious. I talk about the vagus nerve, and how our exhalations can send a message to our brain (and the rest of our autonomic nervous system) that we are safe and calm. Not only does this help with our anxiety, but it promotes increased health with our heart and our lungs and our organs. A drop of calming essential oil on your face mask is also a great reminder to take deep breaths — I can't tell you how much this simple act has helped me when I'm out in public navigating this new normal. OK, folks. Hope you're doing well and keeping it together as we endure this crazy uncertain and lonely time together.

This week I describe what's been working (and NOT working) for me during these crazy weeks of quarantine. I also talk about the "NOT NOW, BEARS!" feeling I've been having about most of the emails I've been getting — nothing seems to be landing with me right now!   I am not the kind of person who starts manically cleaning the house during a time of crisis. I'm the type of person who grabs the Pringles and camps out on the couch with phone in hand reading the worst case scenario articles ad nauseum because .... I don't know why! But that's just what happens and well, I here to own it. After I did that for a few days and felt like total shit, I realized it was time for me to take care of my WHOLE self and reach for the tools I have available to me. Since then, I've been focusing on my little family and examining my levels of grief and gratitude with equal measure. What's been working for me: • Yoga & breathing • Being outside in the woods with my family • Oils, and lots of them What's NOT been working for me: • alcohol • Facebook & reading the news • doing nothing There you have it. So now it's your turn: What's been working for you? What's NOT working for you? Let me know if what's landing with you these days. Are you having trouble with all the noise out there? I'm trying to stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible (and honestly Facebook has made that very difficult for me these days). But I also crave connection and want to be able to help this community in any way I can. So, what does that look like? Maybe some Zoom meet-ups are in order? Let me know! Much love to you and yours right now. ❤️

Thank you for alwasy sending me your "Worth It" messages, memes, articles — I love that you think of me when you see body positive messaging! I just wish these messages weren't so radical that you only think of one person!