Mar 26 2024 21 mins
Today I'm celebrating the one year anniversary of my podcast, Flight of Freedom. I started this podcast after recovering from 40 years of various eating disorders - mainly anorexia but also periods of orthorexia and excessive exercise. When I recovered, my life changed profoundly. I felt compelled to share my story and let others know that recovery is absolutely possible.
I began a year ago with no listeners and I'm so proud that my podcast is now ranked #3 out of top eating disorder recovery podcasts! I'm so grateful to my regular listeners who tune in every week. And if you're new here today, welcome! I hope I can support you on your own path to freedom.
This is episode number 53. Over the past 52 episodes, I've shared my story as well as invited guests to share their insights. Moving forward, I'd love your input on what types of guests and topics you find most helpful. Are there specific questions you have around recovery? Would anyone like to share their story on a future episode? Please reach out and let me know.
The focus of today's episode is on finding your inner strength when battling an eating disorder. I like to think of ourselves as a cast of characters - we have so many different "parts" or aspects of self within us. When I was sick, my scared inner child and cruel inner critic took centre stage. They drowned out my self-compassion, playfulness and wisdom.
So I invite you to get out a journal and take inventory...what are YOUR main parts? For me there is the scared self, inner critic, loving self, inner child, perfectionist, parent, fun self, shadow self and more. I identified over 14 different parts! See which parts have leading roles in your inner world. Often only one or two take up most of the space, leaving little room for the rest.
The key I've found is to intentionally re-cast the show and give more stage time to parts like self-compassion, play and curiosity. If my scared inner child starts freaking out, I bring in my inner parent to soothe her. When my inner critic gets mean, I tap my loving self to infuse kindness. This takes daily practice to retrain your brain - but it WORKS.
You already have so much strength in you to have survived this illness. Now it's time to harness that grit and determination to write a new story of freedom. Start getting curious about which self-parts are running the show...and which parts you'd like to see more of. You get to decide who leads your inner cast going forward!
I hope this has been helpful. Thank you for being on this journey with me. I'm sending so much love to you. Recovery is possible for each and every one of us!
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I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories. Whether you're on your own journey or supporting someone through theirs, share your experiences and tips with us. Together, we can create a supportive community that celebrates each step towards recovery.
Website Juliatrehane.com
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