Today I spoke at the 20th annual North Country Women’s Health Conference at the beautiful Mt. Washington Hotel. I had an opportunity to meet some really interesting people and hear some other speakers, too. Here are a couple of my favorite things from the day:
#1 – Loretta LaRoche was the keynote speaker for the day. She said two things that I thought were amazing. One was that “Life is not a stress rehearsal.” Isn’t that fabulous?!
The other is really profound – she said that in our culture food is “demonized, spiritualized, or medicalized.” Wow!!! You can bet that I’ll have more to say about that after I’ve digested it (pun intended…)
#2 – The response to my “Transforming Your Body Image” presentation was quite positive. This was a relief because I was presenting the material in a new way. I knew how I wanted it to go in my head, but the first time with a new format is always a bit nerve-wracking. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good. Which leads me to…
#3 – The first session I attended this morning was with a young woman named Haley who was presenting information about eating disorders. It was a really helpful segue for me to get into the right mindset for talking about body image later in the day. One thing she said that really struck me was that a big factor in the development of eating disorders is perfectionism. And there is something that I can be hugely grateful for – of all the ways that perfectionism has haunted me, I never developed anorexia or bulimia. Thank goodness! (Side note – I knew Haley when we were kids and it was one of those funny “Oh, wow, we’ve really grown up, haven’t we?!?” moments for me.)
What an interesting day. If you were at the conference today and are reading for the first time, welcome! I’m glad you’re here. Please head down to the comments and post your favorite experience or moment from today!
And if you’re a regular reader and/or weren’t at the conference today – please head down to the comments an post your favorite experience or moment from today, too! 🙂
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maureen
May 9, 2011 at 10:23 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
thanks for being at the conference today. I did enjoy your presentation. I feel it was a great day for everyone that was able to go. we have many things to ponder over, giggle about, have become learned about.
Leah Carey
May 10, 2011 at 6:44 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks Maureen. I’m glad you were there and I’m thrilled that you’ve joined us here! 🙂
Barby
May 10, 2011 at 6:18 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Leah, It was a truly informational and enjoyable day.
You made me cry, for your youth.I know from my own experience
that you will never truly heal until you can forgive the
person who caused you such pain.
I hope to be at the next Women’s Health Conference.
Leah Carey
May 11, 2011 at 6:51 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for sharing Barby. It was a really great day! I hope to see you there next year. 🙂
The Miracle Journal » Being seen
June 23, 2011 at 10:32 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
[…] increasing. Yesterday, I met a woman in a shop who said that last month she’d been in the workshop I did at the Mt. Washington Resort. She made a point to tell me what a big difference the workshop had made for her and – this […]