Posts Tagged “Guest Bloggers”

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

Ally Rae Pesta is a yoga teacher, run coach, eating disorder recovery coach, speaker, and published author. She’s been in recovery for ten years. Her passion is to empower individuals to find purpose beyond their body and reclaim their relationship with their body, movement, and food. Her memoir, Beyond My Body: Recovering From a Complex Eating Disorder, Reclaiming Movement, and Finding My Worth, launched on World Mental Health Day, October 10th. Visit her website allyrae.co to learn more or buy her book here. 

Why did you write Beyond My Body?

I have always loved to write. Since I was five years old, I dreamed of writing a book one day. Fast forward to 17 years old, lying in a hospital bed, where I wrote in my recovery journal that one day I would write a book about this. Although it took me ten years to finally write and publish my book, my truest why still remains—write it for my 17-year-old self who wanted so badly to feel seen, heard, and understood. 

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

Audrey McKinney (she/her) is a rising senior at Purdue University, where she studies Nutrition and Dietetics. Audrey is passionate about helping people find healing from their eating disorders. By sharing her story, Audrey wishes to provide hope that recovery is possible!

Megan Fiscus, eRYT200, YACEP, is a yoga instructor at The Emily Program’s Columbus, Ohio outpatient treatment center. They were trained through Yoga on High, a Columbus-based YTT. They received 300-hr training there as well, including Meditation TT, Trauma Sensitive TT, Pranayama TT, iRest Yoga Nidra, and other trainings, but the organization was sold before Megan received their 300-hr certification. Since then, Megan has entered into an IAYT program and is currently engaged in becoming a certified yoga therapist.

Megan has worked with a diverse group of populations, including infants and the elderly. Megan has been an instructor at the YMCA and yoga and fitness studios, and most recently has been working for BalletMet as a movement and Wellness instructor in collaboration with Reynoldsburg City Schools. In addition to working full-time at The Emily Program, they teach after-school yoga for elementary-aged children. They are also an artist working in many different media, especially oil painting. They have been a figure model for 12 years and are the director of the Figure Art Program at Wild Goose Creative, an art gallery specializing in community art and engagement. Megan has aspirations to become a therapist specializing in Trauma and Restorative practices.

As we celebrate the second anniversary of the Juneteenth federal holiday, we recognize how the Black community continues to fight for true racial equity in America. Solidarity and action behind the observance of Juneteenth are crucial for dismantling the systemic injustices and oppressive cultural discriminations facing Black Americans.

In this blog, QuJane` Gordon-Gulley, LPCC-S, a therapist at The Emily Program’s Cleveland Outpatient treatment center, discusses Juneteenth’s historical and personal significance and shares stories illustrating the role that food freedom has played in shaping her culinary practices and connecting her with her heritage. QuJane`leaves us with a Sweet Potato Pie recipe inspired by longtime honored family traditions and ancestral guidance.

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

Melissa L. Johnson is a licensed marriage and family therapist, adjunct professor at Bethel University, and the founder of Impossible Beauty, a blog and podcast dedicated to redefining beauty as “the life of God at work in us and among us” (impossible-beauty.com). Melissa’s writing and podcast interviews seek to uncover what true beauty is, what it is not, and how we go about finding beauty in a broken world. Melissa is releasing her debut book with Bethany House publishing in June 2023, entitled Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless.

In this blog, Melissa tells us about her new book, Soul Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, how her eating disorder inspired her to reconsider her definition of beauty, and how others can join her in deconstructing harmful societal beauty ideals. 

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

Farheen Ahmed is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park, studying Neuroscience on the pre-medical track. She is originally from Virginia and spends almost half of every year in Houston, Texas. In her free time, you can find her working at her research lab, volunteering for Rock Recovery, hanging out with her friends, or reading romance novels. Farheen struggled with an eating disorder throughout her high school years and can proudly say she is a recovered survivor.

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

Jenna is a graduate of Elon University and will soon be completing her Master’s in Medical Social Work. She has always been passionate about traveling and raising awareness for eating disorders. Jenna is an advocate for body positivity and Health At Every Size^®. She runs a recovery Instagram for anyone looking for recovery support. 

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

Megan Bazzini is a writer⁠—an aspiring YA novelist, cringe-worthy poet, and mental health essayist. She’s also a business school grad who has lived in LA, Hong Kong, and Milan. Now she’s returned home to New York, where she is a proud chihuahua rescue mom and works in technology strategy. Megan’s eating disorder recovery mantra is, “Keep going. Recovery is worth it.” You can follow her on Twitter (@BazziniBooks), visit her portfolio, or read more of her work on her blog, Butterfly Mind.

Eating disorder recovery is about recognizing the eating disorder thoughts and ultimately separating from, standing up to, and ignoring them. I eventually felt my personal progress had stalled in recovery, which made me self-conscious. I feared that I failed, and increasingly I withdrew socially.

I hadn’t known what being triggered meant or what it felt like before this difficult recovery hurdle. I became overly self-critical after hearing, “We’re so bad for eating X,” or “I didn’t eat today just to save room for Y.” It dredged up hot shame—my anorexia nervosa and its usual whispers. Recovery was antithetical to these common diet comments, but I knew I should be social and keep diet culture thoughts to myself.