The Blessing of Affirmations
April 9, 2013 by Debra Hennesy
Filed under Activism, Anxiety, Body Dysmorphia, Body Image, Eating Disorders, Empowerment, Expressive Arts, Expressive Arts Therapies, Fat Talk, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Freedom, Healthy Communication, Healthy Coping, Livin in the Moment, Media Literacy, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Prevention, Recovery, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Spirituality, Stress Management, Treatment, Weight Stigma, Wellness, Wellness, Writing and Poetry, Yoga, Yoga and Meditation, Yoga Therapy
When you look in the mirror, what’s the first thing you say to yourself? If you are like most women, it’s not something kind or complimentary. Most of us are WAY too hard on ourselves, and the media doesn’t help with that. Think about it…can you recall ONE company that promotes happiness with what IS [...]
Bodies Die But Connect Spirits Forever
March 30, 2013 by Angela Mensah
Filed under Body Image, Depression, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Healthy Coping, Livin in the Moment, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Recovery, Role Models, Sharing Feelings, Spirituality
My birthday has never been celebrated in the traditional sense because there was always a Lent and Easter celebration. I suppose as a child I felt left out but as an adult my birthday is meaningful in a non traditional way. A long time ago I started a tradition of giving my mother a gift [...]
Dancing Again
March 25, 2013 by mamaV
Filed under Dance, Dance Movement Therapy, Eating Disorders, Exercise, Expressive Arts, Expressive Arts Therapies, Featured, Freedom, Loving Your Body, Recovery, Role Models, Self Esteem, Sharing Feelings, Spirituality, Treatment, Wellness
This Guest Post graciously submitted by Mandi Degner. Last week, I finally took a long and honest look at myself in a mirror for the first time in my available memory of life. I didn’t hate her. I didn’t yell at her. I didn’t tell her she was ugly. On Tuesday, I just looked. On [...]
Meet Becca — Pioneer, Visionary, and Environmentally-Friendly Taxidermist
March 23, 2013 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Art Therapy, Body Image, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Loving Your Body, Mindfulness, Moms & Sisters, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Care
Real Deal exclusive interview with Becca: a Pioneer, Visionary and Environmentally-Friendly Taxidermist. I first met Becca about a year or so ago, when we both attended a production of NORMAL THE MUSICAL in Charleston, SC. Becca offered feedback that — to this day — has served as a catalyst for some new programs for our [...]
#RealDeal Applauds First Lady Obama — “Health Not About Size or Weight!”
March 21, 2013 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Activism, Body Image, Empowerment, Featured, Loving Your Body, Media Literacy, Role Models
First Lady Obama, #RealDeal applauds and salutes you!! THANK YOU for lending your voice to help others learn that HEALTH is not just about size or weight and for stressing that every person’s body is intended to be different. It is time to put an end to weight obsession! From PRWire dated March 18, 2013 [...]
Ugly Ducklings Supporting NORMAL
March 19, 2013 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Body Image, Empowerment, Featured, Loving Your Body, Media Literacy, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care
The Ugly Ducklings have come forward to help NORMAL and our mission of educating about mental health, eating disorders, body image, self-acceptance and stress-management through arts and mindfulness programs. We are so grateful!! The Ugly Ducklings is an initiative inspired by Jennifer Morrison of Once Upon a Time. A few weeks ago, Jennifer gave her Twitter supporters the [...]
Reclaim Your Body, Grow Into Your Edges, Change The World
March 12, 2013 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Activism, Activism, Advocacy, Body Image, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Loving Your Body, Media Literacy, Politics, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Compassion
There are moments in life where the light bulb goes off and suddenly a thousand tiny dots are connected in the flash of an instant. This moment happened for me over the weekend at BEDA’s 2013 conference in Bethesda, Maryland, as I sat and listened to Carol Munter speak. I had only ever heard of [...]
Neutralizing Your Response to Your Body
March 12, 2013 by ANAD
Filed under Anorexia, Binge Eating, Body Image, Bulimia, Bullying, Disordered Eating, Eating Disorders, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, HAES, Healthy Communication, Healthy Communication, Healthy Coping, Loving Your Body, Parents, Recovery, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Sharing Feelings, Talking To Kids, Weight Stigma, Wellness
There are thousands of messages in the world that tell us that we are not perfect enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough. Most of these messages originate with the media. The media has been shaping our cultural norms for decades. The media preys on our humanness, our desire to fit in, our desire [...]
Emma Bell’s Painfully Powerful True Body Image War Story
March 12, 2013 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Body Image, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Guys, Healthy Communication, Loving Your Body, Moms & Sisters, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Talking To Kids
The talented and generous Emma Bell shares with Real Deal her painful story of being bullied … When I was 6 years old I got in trouble for kissing my ‘boyfriend’ in preschool during reading. We thought we’d get married. When I was in 1st grade I serenaded the boy I liked with a rousing [...]
Worth the “Weight”?
March 4, 2013 by Debra Hennesy
Filed under Anxiety, Body Image, Depression, Eating Disorders, Empowerment, Exercise, Expressive Arts, Expressive Arts Therapies, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Healthy Communication, Healthy Communication, Healthy Coping, Loving Your Body, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Recovery, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Sharing Feelings, Stress Management, Weight Stigma, Wellness, Wellness, Yoga, Yoga and Meditation, Yoga Therapy
I never thought I could learn so much about myself from a cactus! Upon a recent trip to Arizona, I learned something about the Saguaro cactus (the really tall ones that can have a bunch of “arms”, once they are 75 years old). They can shrink and expand, based on how much moisture they hold [...]
