My Life as an Eating Psychology Coach: Arielle Brown

What made you want to become an Eating Psychology Coach?

I decided to become an Eating Psychology Coach because the entirety of my college career and young adult life, my thoughts, emotions and behaviors were ruled by the shame I’ve felt about my body. I was caught in a toxic cycle of binge eating and chronic dieting that fostered a lot of self-rejection, self-punishment, and a lack of self-trust. I didn’t have an eating disorder, however, I knew that I had a preoccupation with the shape of my body as an indicator of my worth as a person was unhealthy, and that there was something going on beneath the surface. The Institute for the Psychology of Eating was the first and only place I found that acknowledged our relationship with food and body as a powerful doorway into the deeper and more intimate realms of our way of being.

What do you love about being an Eating Psychology Coach?

What I love about being an Eating Psychology Coach is that I can start from a place with clients where they feel like their body is the problem. But from that place, we dive deeper into what the client is truly desiring. Often, our desire to lose weight or change something about our body is not what we truly want. There is something we believe that will change for us in our lives once we have the perfect body. What I love is helping women discover what it is that they are truly desiring, and help them refocus their energy into that realm, which in turn, actually supports that body in being able to naturally unfold into its most authentic form, because the woman is living the life she truly wants.

What does your practice look like?

I work with women who want to learn how to tap more deeply into their desires and sexuality so that they can discover and ask for what they truly want. I have found that negative body image and rejection of the body in it’s current form cuts us off from our true desires. The reason for this is that when we refuse to accept our body as it is in this moment. We refuse to inhabit it, which means that we aren’t able to actually feel what we truly want. We aren’t in touch with the powerful intuition that we as women have in our bodies. I work with women who are want to reconnect with this part of themselves, and do so both in person or via phone coaching.

How did your education at the Institute prepare you to work successfully with clients?

One of the most powerful things that the Institute did to prepare me for working successfully with clients was to remind me that all of the wisdom I or my client could ever need already exists inside of us. As a result, I operate from a place of being present and clear in my body when I’m working with clients, so I can see what wisdom naturally wants to flow through me. I constantly remind myself that it is not me who is doing anything. It is the Universal Intelligence that is flowing through me. My client is already whole and capable of supporting herself. I am simply there to hold space for her and help her to remember her strength.

What was your favorite aspect of the Training?

I would have to say that the live graduation event at the end of the Training was definitely my favorite part. It was so incredibly nourishing, inspiring and powerful to be in the presence of so many people all passionate about the same thing, all wanting to make a difference in the world. I am so grateful for the tribe the Institute has created through this work, and love continuing to see it grow as I’ve attended more of the live events over the past couple of years.

How has being an Eating Psychology Coach impacted your professional life/financial well-being?

Becoming an Eating Psychology Coach has been a powerful piece of the puzzle for me in my professional career. I am currently working with women around their relationship with food, body, and sexuality in a way that I haven’t seen anyone else explore yet. The wisdom offered in the Institute’s program opened me up to the healing and transformative power of pleasure in shaping the life we truly desire. And the fact that I am able to bring that into my work with women in terms of their relationship with food and body has been such a relief to my clients. So much of the industry of food and body is centered around restriction, control and shame. I am a breath of fresh air in the professional realm of food and body health.

How has being an Eating Psychology Coach impacted you personally?

On a personal level, being an Eating Psychology Coach has helped me become more free in every aspect of my life. So much of my energy used to be focused on judging the shape of my body. I cut myself off from the things that I truly wanted, because I believed that I didn’t deserve them until I achieved this “perfect” form that I was striving for, but never actually achieved. Now, not only do I focus my energy on that which brings me to life and joy, but I’m able to encourage other women to do the same through living by example.

What do you see for yourself in your future as an Eating Psychology Coach – where is your work evolving towards?

My work is definitely evolving towards working with women in terms of their relationship to their sexuality. Women have been so conditioned to shut down their desire for fear of being shamed as a “slut” and not wanting to be objectified, that many of us have put our sexuality into permanent hibernation. Our power as women is intimately connected with our ability to inhabit our body as sexual beings, and when we don’t do that, our ability to attract and create what we want in our lives becomes severely diminished. My work is moving towards empowering women around having a pleasurable relationship with food, body and sexuality.

Why would you recommend the Training to others?

I would recommend this Training to others because it takes into account every aspect of what it means to be a human being on this planet. Our relationship to food, sexuality, work, money, intimacy, pleasure, discomfort, etc. All of these things are inter-connected. To allow for true transformation and healing in one realm of life, all others need to be addressed as well. The Institute does this with beauty, grace and wisdom. It is something that I continue to model in my work every day.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Having your own business, and walking your own path, is one of the most challenging and rewarding things a person can do. My personal journey of starting my practice and growing my business after graduating from the Institute has taught me so much, and I continue to learn and grow every day, because that is what is important to me-to become the most actualized, expressed, and authentic version of myself that I can. My advice: Be kind to yourself. Make self-care your number one priority, and grow your practice from there. Allow for the wisdom of the Universe to flow through. Always remember that every experience, no matter how seemingly difficult, is there for your growth and ultimate happiness. I wish you a magical journey!

NAME: Arielle Brown, Creator of Authentic Body
BUSINESS: Arielle Brown Authentic Body
WEBSITE: www.ariellebrown.com

BIO: Arielle Brown is the creator of Authentic Body. She works with women in their relationship with food, body and sexuality through a desire-based coaching practice. She has a B.A. in Clinical/Counseling Psychology, is a Certified Eating Psychology Coach, and an Orgasmic Meditation Coach & Practitioner.