Early Bird Enrollment is open until July 10th, 2025.
After July 10th, pricing will resume at the standard rate of $149.
How often do we hear the phrase "just love your body!" as if it's something as simple as switching on a light?
If it were that easy, wouldn't we have done it already?
Is it possible to love your body unconditionally in a world that's designed to make you hate it?
What does unconditional self love look actually look like?
Is there a world outside of diet culture?
The Everybody Is a Babe Workshop is a 4 week course where we examine the mechanisms that create & perpetuate body shame and work to develop tools to counter those harmful narratives with fun and engaging presentations, thoughtful exercises, group activities, and readings.
By using different methods of compassion to deepen our self-awareness and awareness of the world around us, we will attempt to bridge the gap between what our values are and how we view & treat our bodies.
The first half of the workshop seeks to answer the question of why so many of us deal with body shame. When did it become a bonding experience to dislike or want to change our bodies? We will examine systems and institutions that benefit from our body shame, and the mechanisms by which they operate. I hope that together, we will try to imagine a new world for every body, ourselves included.
The second half of the workshop is devoted to self-work, reflection, and to introduce new ways of thinking about food, movement, and our own behaviors. I believe that as we do our best to shift the paradigm, we also have to survive and learn how to feel good in a world that tells most of us that we are not worthy of it. I encourage all of us to be in the pursuit of collective liberation!
If you are exhausted with diet culture and ready to try something new, this workshop is for you.
Schedule
Note: Workshop classes begin at 9am PST/12pm EST, and are between 2-3 hours long.
SUN 8/10: WEEK ONE
My Body Precedes Me: Origin Stories and Imagining a Better World
SUN 8/17: WEEK TWO
It Goes Deep: Capitalism, Racism, Class and the Indoctrination of Diet Culture
SUN 8/24: WEEK THREE
What's On the Other Side of Shame: Intuitive Eating, Making Peace with Food, and Joyful Movement
SUN 8/31: WEEK FOUR
You Deserve Very Much to Feel Like a Babe: Self Talk, Boundaries, and Reframing
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the workshop meet and what do I need to join?
This is a virtual workshop that meets once a week on Zoom for synchronous classes. Classes will be between 2-3 hours long. You will need a notebook or somewhere to record your thoughts and participate in the exercises. The workshop starts on Sunday, August 10th at 9am PST/12pm EST, and meets weekly on Sunday at the same time.
I also recommend that you have someone in your support system (a therapist, close friend, partner) that can help you decompress or further process some things that may come up for you during this work. Often when excavating our personal relationships with diet culture, we realize the pain goes beyond just the surface- issues with food or body image may be a component of the pain we have, but sometimes the most painful stuff is hiding in the stories we've been taught by those closest to us.
Will you offer this workshop again?
I run this workshop when I have time, and it is looking like a once a year occurrence. So, hopefully!
What is the refund policy?
If you change your mind before or after the first class, you will be refunded in full. If you are unhappy with the workshop after the second week, you are welcome to withdraw and will be given a 50% refund.
Are there scholarships available?
Yes! I accept applications on a rolling basis, so there are quite a few applicants from previous cycles, but if you need financial help, please reach out and I will do everything I can to help. Doing this work shouldn't be prohibitively expensive, so I have tried to price the workshop fairly. If you're able to pay 50%, please let me know in your application, it would be much appreciated. Though scholarships are awarded to many different kinds of people, preference is given to BIPOC, trans and non-binary folks, people in bigger bodies, and people with disabilities. Please fill out this questionnaire to apply.
Is this the same workshop that you previously offered?
Yes, this is the same workshop. If you attended previous workshops or have had coaching with me, you have access to a 75% off discount code via the facebook group. You can also reach out to Vanessa to get the code or learn about other ways you can enroll again.
Is this only for fat people? Or women?
Not at all. Body shame lives in people of all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages. While the workshop does have a focus on marginalized bodies and primarily centers fat experiences, I find that examining and working to dismantle our internalized anti-fat bias is something that benefits our collective liberation. Regardless of our own size, we are conditioned to see larger bodies as a moral failure and to fear fatness—usually under the guise of beauty, desirability, and "health". Those fears and anxieties lead to body shame, body dysmorphia, and disordered eating for people of all sizes.
I have found that using my own experience is the most helpful and honest way to facilitate this work. If you are somebody, you are a babe! And you deserve to feel radical body love!
If I take the workshop, do I have to attend the synchronous classes or will they be recorded?
If you can make it, you totally should! Most folks say the group hangs are the best part! But if your schedule doesn't allow for it, or if Zoom freaks you out, that's 100% OK. I will post recordings to this website the following day (just make sure you log in at the top right to access the recordings!)
Are you a medical professional?
Nope! I am a singer/songwriter/poet who is also a fat person! I have studied different healing modalities for my own growth and body healing journey (and upcoming book!) over the last 15 years, and I am constantly asked "what worked for you?" This workshop is meant to be an answer to that question. I intend this work to be a collaborative experience; to share my experiences, epiphanies, and mistakes, introduce concepts and texts from actual professionals while you build community with other folks who are on a similar journey. Consider me your cheesecloth for body positive concepts, exercises, and books. This workshop is intended to be educational– not to treat physical or mental illness. Please consult a licensed service provider if you need help.
If you are battling an active eating disorder, are in recent recovery, or feel that participating in discussions about food, exercise, or body shame may disrupt your healing rather than help, please consult with your recovery team before enrolling.
What principles are you going to cover?
This workshop is strongly anti-diet. With very rare exceptions, I believe intentional weight loss is incredibly damaging and is essentially a prescription for disordered eating. I believe in creating a new approach to health where weight is a neutral component. You are more than welcome in this space even if you are pursuing weight loss or thinking about pursuing weight loss—in fact, I highly recommend this workshop to evaluate if intentional weight loss is truly serving your long-term goals. While openness & vulnerability in this group is foundational, openly discussing active weight loss pursuits is antithetical to this work.
In this workshop, we examine the current systemic and cultural treatment of marginalized bodies, the historical treatment of marginalized bodies, how fatphobia is a mechanism of white supremacy, how capitalism plays a key role in body shame, how intersectionality is essential to this work, and how we might imagine a new world for all bodies. We begin with an external lens initially, because it’s important to see how oppressive systems manipulate us to be consumed with our own perceived failure–ultimately, none of us should need a workshop like this, and yet, so many of us do. That alone should be a red flag that there is something deeper going on.
The second half of the workshop is devoted to self-work, reflection, and to introduce new ways of thinking about food, movement, and our own behaviors. I will be using the principles of HAES, intuitive eating, joyful movement, mindfulness, meditation, and CBT to guide us through the Great Unlearning!
What if I have don't have any negative body issues?
First of all: BABE! WE STAN! YES BODY LOVE! YES RADICAL SELF LOVE!
This workshop is geared more toward folks who will be learning new tools, rather than seasoned self love pros, but sometimes a refresher can be helpful!
Is this workshop good for teenagers?
I would have loved to attend this when I was in high school, it might have saved me from some really harmful behaviors.
While I believe this workshop would be beneficial for any teen, my recommendation would be to have a parent join with their teen. The anti-diet language and approach is still considered fairly radical, and teens struggling with body image need all the support they can get! You do not need to pay for a second enrollment. Together, you can discuss and decide what is relevant and helpful for your teen. During the community connection hour, participants do talk in their own groups unmoderated, so this may be an activity that you would want to be present for or opt out altogether. Additionally, the facebook group is not heavily monitored either, and adult topics may occasionally pop up.
These things are easy to opt out of, but it's best if you give me or my workshop coordinator a heads up that you/your teen is under 18.