Developing a Sense of Self with Dr. Julie Hanks: D&D Fitness and Nutrition podcast

I recently sat down with Danny, co-host of the D&D Fitness and Nutrition podcast, and had a conversation about developing a sense of self. We cover a lot of topics, ranging from eating disorder recovery to parents doing their own healing work. It is a dynamic conversation you will enjoy listening to!

Here’s a snippet of our conversation you’ll hear when you listen in:

Danny: How can we go from a place of being critical of ourselves and our bodies to a place where we are comfortable with our bodies? And preferably without [changing the way we look].

Julie: If you think about baking a cake, being healthy and fit is like the icing. Having a well-developed sense of self is the cake. Icing tastes good, but it tastes better with the cake. It takes a lot more work and ingredients to bake a cake. That’s the work you’re talking about. That looks like developing a sense of self and seeing yourself as a multi-faceted human being—not as a body.

Too often we define ourselves as a body, but we’re so much more than that. For me, getting my advanced degrees was part of that process of saying, “I am more than a body.” I have a mind that knows a lot about something. That’s cool! I have relationships with people I love.

You can put your physical body in its place so it’s not the only thing that defines you.