How Diet Culture Armors Your Body and Using Hanna Somatics to Soften Again with Aimee Takaya

Happy Satiated Saturday! 

Did you know being entrenched in diet culture for decades can affect your bodily expression? One way this can show up is through tightening and sucking in your belly for years. I know this was something I used to do and sometimes have to remind my belly that's not something we need to do anymore. 

When you've received messages about how your body is supposed to look, your body can start to try to shape itself to the images you show it and the messages it's receiving. If you've been told you're supposed to have a flat belly over and over again, you may have found yourself trying to make your belly as tight as possible. 

This sucking in has been sending a constant cue of danger to your body that can slowly be rewired as you learn to breathe deeply and soften your muscles.

In this week’s episode, I chat with Aimee Takaya, Hanna Somatic Educator, Somatic Yoga Teacher, and Transformation Facilitator, about how she found her way to Hanna Somatics including navigating food sensitivities, disordered eating, and dieting, the effects of sucking in your belly all the time, and how to reshape your body's expression and the way it holds tension.

You can also read the transcript to this week’s episode ​here​: https://www.stephaniemara.com/blog/how-diet-culture-armors-your-body

I hope you enjoy the somatic practice included at the end of this episode! 

With Compassion and Empathy, 
Stephanie Mara Fox

Keep in touch with Aimee here:

Website: https://www.freeyoursoma.com/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/aimeetakaya/