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Episode 207:
Show Notes
In the 207th episode, a warm introduction sets the stage for a rich exploration of yoga's transformative power. Dr Lucy welcomes listeners with her signature blend of enthusiasm and curiosity, inviting them to embark on a journey of self-discovery and wellness. With a focus on yoga, she introduces Emma Walkinshaw, a seasoned yogi and cherished member of her business community, whose passion for the practice shines through her every word. As they dive into their conversation, listeners are treated to a dynamic exchange of insights, myths debunked, and practical tips, all aimed at demystifying yoga and empowering individuals to embrace its benefits. With Dr Lucy’s expert guidance and Emma's invaluable wisdom, this episode promises to inspire listeners to embark on their own yoga journey with confidence and joy.
Understanding Yoga: Emma explains that yoga encompasses not just physical movement (Asana) but also a philosophy that includes principles like non-attachment, kindness, and body cleansing. It aims to quiet the mind and create a meditative state through the synchronisation of movement and breath.
Myth-Busting Yoga: Dr Lucy acknowledges common misconceptions about yoga, such as the belief that one needs to be thin or wear specific clothing to practice. Emma emphasises that yoga is inclusive and accessible to people of all body types, ages, and fitness levels.
Benefits of Yoga: They discuss the myriad mental and physical benefits of yoga, including stress relief, improved sleep quality, and regulation of the nervous system. Emma highlights yoga's ability to induce a state of relaxation and mindfulness, promoting overall well-being.
Getting Started with Yoga: Emma advises beginners to start with gentle yoga classes and communicate any concerns or limitations with instructors. She recommends exploring options like chair yoga or Yin yoga for those who prefer a slower pace or have mobility issues. They stress the importance of wearing comfortable clothing and modifying poses to suit individual needs.
Incorporating Yoga into Daily Life: Dr Lucy and Emma discuss practical strategies for integrating yoga into daily routines, such as dedicating short sessions or combining yoga with other activities like swimming or walking. Emma shares her "21 Minutes of Morning Magic" program as an example of a brief yet effective yoga practice that can be easily incorporated into busy schedules.
Body Love and Self-Respect: Emma addresses common body image issues and emphasises the importance of cultivating self-respect and acceptance. She encourages listeners to take care of their bodies without judgment or comparison, fostering a positive relationship with oneself.
Embracing Aging: Dr Lucy and Emma share insights into embracing the aging process and appreciating one's body at every stage of life. Emma shares her personal journey of navigating through menopause and learning to respect and honor her body's changing needs, highlighting the importance of self-care and self-compassion.
Visit Emma’s Facebook page: 21 Mins Morning Magic & Inspiration and click to join the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/21mmm/
For more information about Real Life Medicine and our programs and special offers: www.rlmedicine.com
Episode 207:
Transcript
Dr Mary Barson (0:04) Hello, my lovely friends. I am Dr Mary Barson.
Dr Lucy Burns (0:09) And I'm Dr Lucy Burns. We are doctors and weight management and metabolic health experts.
Both (0:16) And this is the Real Health and Weight Loss podcast!
Dr Lucy Burns (0:23) Hello gorgeous ones. Happy Tuesday morning. How are you my friend? I am joined, not by Dr Mary this week, but a glorious, glorious woman, who I just totally love, like I love her. We met her in a business group. As you know, Dr Mary and I often talk about how we go off to learn, we sort of go to this kind of business club so that we can learn how to do the things that we need to do to run a successful business just like you need to do the thing that you're learning the things that you need to do to run a successful life and health business if you like. So I have met this most fabulous woman, her name is Emma Walkinshaw. She's like seriously good stuff. Like honestly, I just wish you could all just be her friend like I am lucky enough to be. But today, we have a fabulous talk and I can't wait to get into it. So gorgeous Em, welcome to the podcast.
Emma Walkinshaw (1:20) Oh, thanks, Lucy. I'm so happy to be here! I was delighted to join you and of course, we've just had the lovely joy of seeing each other on the weekend at the business conference, which is always great to see each other face to face. But I have been an avid listener of your podcast for quite some time. I love all the knowledge you and Dr Mary give to women and to everyone who listens. I know yes, men are also interested in this too. But since I'm a woman, I always refer to women. So I am. I am one of those women that listen every week to your beautiful information. Oh, thank you.
Dr Lucy Burns (1:57) You're welcome. You're welcome. Well, lovelies, as you know, Dr Mary and I love talking about lifestyle medicine qnd you know, we talk about a bit of meditation. But there are a few things in our repertoire that are actually not our genius own. I know, it's hard to believe. But I'm humbled to admit that yoga is not my strong point. It really isn't and it is Emma’s. So, most of you would have the understanding that yoga and movement are good for you. But maybe you're a little bit frightened of it. So I thought we'd have Em on the podcast, to myth-bust yoga, and give you really actionable practical steps about why it's good for you and how you can introduce it into your life. And here newsflash, you don't need to be a skinny mini, size six wearing Lululemon or Lorna Jane to do really good yoga. So Em, I would love it if you could just maybe, maybe give me a little bit of an insight, maybe the history of yoga and tell me a bit more about it.
Emma Walkinshaw (3:03) Well, yoga is 1000s of years old and you're right before we hit record, we did say it's not just Asana, which Asana is the movement part of yoga when yoga is a philosophy, so it's not a religion, it's a philosophy. And almost it has a set of sutras, they call it which are kind of almost like little laws that you live by. So for instance, one of the sutras is all about the law of non-attachment. So not being attached to things. And that's also not being attached to our body as well, knowing that it's this beautiful vessel, but not having an attachment to it. The other one is, it's all about treating yourself with kindness is another big part of the yoga philosophy. The other one is cleansing the body and there are lots of little practices that yoga has like, for instance, the neti potty where you will pour liquid into one side of your nose or saltwater and clear out the other side of the nose, or breathwork is another way that you cleanse the body. What else is another philosophy of yoga, there are so many of them there is there's many of them. But it's not just doing a downward dog or doing a headstand, that's actually not the aim of yoga is to quieten the mind. And they say it's actually a moving meditation. When you get into the flow and with your breath of yoga, it's actually the movement to lull us into that place where you have a little gap between your thoughts. It's not all about you're not all in your head. So that's the Asana part and I fell in love with yoga. I've practised yoga very solidly for 10 years. So in my late 30s, I really ramped up the yoga practice. I had a trip to India in 2016, which really deepened my understanding of yoga and in India, it's not like how Western yoga, they really do incorporate all of these beautiful elements that I'm not what we see, perhaps on Instagram or Facebook, but we're watching people in very skimpy little outfits doing some very jazzy yoga, which is that's a form of yoga, but it's accessible to everybody.
Dr Lucy Burns (5:13) Yep, you know, you're right. Like I, if I think of yoga right now, in my brain, I think, oh, when we go to Noosa, my kids will go down to the park where there is some, you know, 20-something-year-old, you know, lovely woman, who probably weighs 50 kilos, who is showing them how to do yep, downward dog, and child pose. And I go– ah, there's no way my knees would cope with that.
Emma Walkinshaw (5:43) Yeah. So it's not necessarily that, and you know, what's very even popular, and I've ran this even online for, you know, a few corporate clients that have an office, and I'll go into zoom, and we'll do chair yoga, you can literally sit in your chair, and do yoga, it doesn't have to be what we think that we've seen, because it scares a lot of people off. And it actually is a very gentle movement, and it releases a lot of the tightness in the body. And when you can use that beautiful flight lead with some breath work and some meditation, it's great for the nervous system, you know, getting you out of that fight, flight freeze, getting you into that rest and digest, helps better with the sleep connecting with who you are. There are so many more benefits than, you know, it being an acrobatic workout.
Dr Lucy Burns (6:33) Yes, exactly. I love that. So yes, and we, you know, we talk about that a lot. But in this busy world, we're often tense, we're often up in our head worrying, you know, hashing over the day or the week's events. And spending all that time with that sympathetic is what we call it, the sympathetic nervous system, the frightened flight. And this is another way to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. So let's say people go– Oh, that sounds good. So, but you can't just run off and start doing or maybe you can, I don't know, can you just run off and start doing yoga? Like, how does it work? Like, what would you do? If someone was sort of yoga-curious? How would they approach it?
Emma Walkinshaw (7:19) Now I might, I'm just gonna say it Luc, I'm gonna say it. Yoga at a gym is very different to yoga at a yoga studio. So if you were curious about yoga, and thinking about perhaps the integrity of yoga, if you can find a yoga studio that has a beginner class, that potentially could be very helpful. And letting the teacher know that you are a beginner, and perhaps how you feel, and I had a yoga studio for almost four years only just sold it a year ago. And I would always do a little pre because it was a boutique studio, and I had reformer pilates and all of that. So I would often do so you can find somewhere where you can actually have a chat with the teacher or the owner of the studio. And let them know how you feel. Because often, you're doing intrigued me all of the time. But some would come and say to me, I'm not good at yoga, and I am a beginner when they are potentially probably better at yoga than me and have been practising longer. But the idea of a true Yogi knows they're always a beginner, I say I'm still a beginner. So that's the ethos. So knowing that you are a beginner, if you can find a little studio, explain to them perhaps your fears to the teacher, and just take it really gently, don't feel pressured that let's say the because in a class, sometimes there can be someone who's a more advanced practitioner, there is no competition in yoga, you go to your own pace, but a gentle class would be very helpful. Without a doubt, even there's a yoga class called Yin Yoga. It can be a little bit annoying, though, I will be honest because you hold each pose for five minutes. And the idea of a yin practice is yes, it really gets into that rest and digest but you've got to sit with your thoughts and you can be in a simple cross-legged position, or you as a yoga teacher would always say get into the most comfortable position. And then it's actually sitting with your thoughts while you're in that pose till they tell you to change so it can be a very slow class which can be actually really frustrating because you want to be moving where that's the whole practice of yoga is actually sitting with your breath and your thoughts. So yin yoga is a great place to start being mindful that you are going to have to slow right down and be with your thoughts or beginners class can be really helpful too and when it comes to what you wear, you don't have to be in your like you mentioned you don't have to be in your Lululemon or your Lorna Jane or wherever the latest greatest is, just be comfortable. Yep.
Dr Lucy Burns (9:48) So yeah, t-shirts and trackies could do. Yeah, yeah. So interesting. I guess it was a little warning that you know if you're going to do yin yoga, you're also going to have to sit with your thoughts. But it's interesting, isn't it that in this current day, our current society, that's actually not something we're used to doing very often.
Emma Walkinshaw (10:13) We’re not. Even being in a yoga room with your phone in the waiting room, and not beside you, while you're on your mat can be really challenging for some people.
Dr Lucy Burns (10:23) Yeah, yeah. I remember telling my kids once that, you know when I was growing up, there weren't mobile phones, and when we did get a mobile phone. They were that Nokia and the only game you could play was that snake game, like it was boring. So no, I'm frightened.
Emma Walkinshaw (10:45) Whereas now we've got this sense of entertainment. And I say, you know, often I'd say, you know, people say -can I bring my phone? And I'd say– well if you feel you must, but if you didn't go an hour without it, and I would say, can somebody wait an hour for you? Can you actually if it's six o'clock at night, we're stepping into a yoga room? Can someone wait til seven for you to get back to them? And often they'll go, oh, yeah, they can? Because they can. You can actually have someone wait an hour for you. Yeah, totally. But it's, it's the untraining of that part of us that I feel is also a great gift of the yoga practice.
Dr Lucy Burns (11:21) Yeah. Which is really, I mean, it's so interesting, I look and I can see that moving forward, kids of today are rarely without their phones, they're rarely without some form of stimulation. Whereas we growing up, I mean, we spent a lot of time being bored and it's not foreign. So you just develop a tolerance for it.
Emma Walkinshaw (11:44) And appreciation, it's okay, just to kick the can down the road. You know, when we were a kid, what did we use to do? I don't know, we used to just fluff around, I don't know what on our bikes or whatever we didn't need to have, it was okay to have a bit of gaps of time or a bit of whitespace.
Dr Lucy Burns (12:02) Yeah and nowadays, and this me this was one of the things that came from our business conference was that people go, you know, you get all your best ideas when you're in the shower, because there's space and time. And so potentially, I'm imagining, I don't know if this happens to you Em, you know, do you get all your best ideas when you're doing yoga?
Emma Walkinshaw (12:21) Yes, I have actually had some great solutions, in yoga, or in shavasana at the end. So we always finish the yoga practice with shavasana, which is essentially the corpse pose, they call it not a great, not a great, but the corpse phases where you're laying, or you're sitting in us still and often a little bit of breath work, the lights are out. And I would just not talk if I'm leading, I would just not talk and let people be in stillness. And often that and even I don't know, if your listeners believe in this Luc or they're a little bit open to but often people intuition or even a loved one that's even, you know, gone over to spirit, they'll have a little message.
Dr Lucy Burns (13:00) Yep. Right? Yes, yes, yes. So the brain is open.
Emma Walkinshaw (13:04) Yeah, the brain, the body, the mind is open and that is really helpful because also, when you've got the wriggles out, so when someone comes in their finished work, they get into the yoga studio. They get the wriggles out, and even if it was a year in practice, even if we've been in, we're holding the pose for five minutes, we've had a chance to go through that phase where you know, the mind starts, which is the teacher puts you in the posture. You go- I hate this posture, you're all the talk that you have in your mind, then you go, or No, I can feel I can feel that releasing in my left side. Now you know, this talk that you have, and then you kind of weave in and out. So by the time you've got to the end of the yoga class and get into shavasana, you're actually ready to be still. Because if you were to put somebody straight into shavasana at the start of the yoga class, they get the itches and the scratches because they haven't had a chance to decompress the thoughts of the mind. So by the end of the yoga practice, people are more than happy to fall into their shavasana because they've knocked the top off of that frantic energy and that is what I love about yoga. And I teach yoga, Hatha, which just means sun or moon. So I say they come in at the start of the class, and they're, you know, they've had their day or you know, it's at the start of the day, they might be getting ready for the day, you know, the to-do lists might be running or all of that, then we get into a little bit of a gentle movement of flow. So it could be it's yoga, you know, some yoga classes or whatever is almost like a little gentle flow of dance. It's very gentle. We get this to this little lull where you're moving the energy, and then we climb the mountain. So you might get to kind of a peak pose that the pose might be, it could simply the peak pose could be tree pose, where you're just balancing and as we know, about on some days, I would say on some days, I couldn't balance for love or money, or the days I could balance and it's often what's going on in your mind, or have I had a coffee? Am I too tired? Am I too hungry? Am I too thirsty for what's happening with balance? On other days I could balance but it will be perhaps the peak pose will be a balancing posture. And then you come down the other side of the mountain in the hatha yoga class and you do some other postures and you end up on the ground where shavasana happens. But I described yoga, and Hatha classes as having the entree, the main and then the desert. And shavasana is the desert, where you actually get to be in the sweet spot, the sweetness of life, but you leave feeling quite full, there's a real fullness because you've done your breath work, you've done a bit of meditation, you moved a bit of energy. And this can be in a very gentle class Luc, I'm not talking with you know, we're even, we may not have even overly broken a sweat, but we've moved the energy. Yes, yes. And there's a spaciousness in the body from the postures. Fascinating.
Dr Lucy Burns (15:54) It's so interesting, because as you said, I don't do yoga, but I swim and swimming for me is a similar state. So I'll start off and I'm, particularly if I've got stuff on my mind, swimming up and down. So we haven't done and after a while, I've either come up with the solution, so I don't need to think about it anymore. Or it just drifts off and so I guess it's similar. But I wonder if, you know, so many people will say, I've tried meditating, but I can't meditate my brain’s too busy. And so maybe doing yoga first will help that settle and then they can do their shavasana which is that stillness bit?
Emma Walkinshaw (16:37) Yeah or like you've just explained, they're Luc, go for your swim, and then try your meditation, your shavasana or go for your walk, and then try meditation. Because when we've got that energy in the body, or the mind is racing, we need to just let the pressure valve off a bit and then we can centre.
Dr Lucy Burns (16:56) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love that idea of centering.
Emma Walkinshaw (16:59) Yeah and that's why Asana was originally, so yoga, the philosophy of yoga, Asana, that movement part was actually designed so people could meditate. So that was purely what was designed. But originally yoga was just meditation. It wasn't even the body movement. But then they said, Well, I can understand now people need to kind of move some of that energy so they can centre and ground.
Dr Lucy Burns (17:24) Yeah interesting. So the whole point of the poses is so you can actually meditate. Yeah. Amazing. Amazing.
Emma Walkinshaw (17:33) I love that. I love makes sense and it works. Yeah, yeah.
Dr Lucy Burns (17:37) Yeah. And that's the whole thing that yeah, it works. So if someone was starting a yoga practice, like how often I know, people have guidelines and rules, how often should they do it
Emma Walkinshaw (17:47) As often as you like, but I think it's, it's not thinking that you have to do it for one hour, five days a week. It can purely be and as you know, loose, I run a little program, a free group called 21 minutes, the morning magic, which is seven minutes of yoga, seven minutes of meditation, and seven minutes of journaling and that's three mornings a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. And that's nearly seven minutes of yoga each day and that could be enough.
Dr Lucy Burns (18:15) Yeah, absolutely.
Emma Walkinshaw (18:18) And it could be incorporated after your walk or after your swim. A little bit of gentle yoga, which is your breath, work a bit of movement, and then your shavasana, your meditation. Yeah, right. But it doesn't have to be for hours.
Dr Lucy Burns (18:31) Yeah, I think that's what people get frightened of that it's going to be hard that it's going to be for hours that they're going to be bored. You know that again, that they don't have the right clothes. And that there's all these different sorts, you know, in yoga, hot, whatever. Hot yoga, yoga Nidra. Real yoga. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yoga where I have to stand on my head. Hard yoga, soft yoga, I don't know. So many yogas. It's a bit overwhelming. Yeah. Yeah. So I love that. So if anyone was wanting a little, I guess, a little taster of yoga, then they could just come and join your free group.
Emma Walkinshaw (19:07) Absolutely. I'll give you the link Luc to put in the show notes or wherever you put that. But people are welcome. Absolutely. Come and have a little and the yoga that I do, the seven minutes is very gentle and let's say yes, I do sit on the floor. But let's say that you can't sit on the floor, sit in a chair. It's okay to sit in a chair. It's almost giving yourself permission to adapt. And of course, because it's in a Facebook group, I can't see you. It doesn't matter. I've had people message me and say when we were doing our seven minutes this morning, I was just in shavasana and that's all we had the energy for. And then I did the meditation and the journaling. With the meditation, I always give a mantra which is or affirmation that is just a simple this morning was “I am Courageous”, was our symbol because I find in that seven minutes Yes, it goes quickly, but often the mind wanders. So I give just a very simple I am statement just to bring you back to the moment and remind you to hang on a moment, I'm anchoring my statement back in. And it's really just to have before the day starts a little break in that traffic where you don't start your day, checking your emails, looking at the news, looking at text messages or social media that you actually just start with the first 21 minutes just for you and the 21 minutes, you know, they say it takes 21 days to change a habit. I thought –What about in 21 minutes? What can we do with 21 minutes? And I often say if someone cannot find 21 minutes in a day for themselves, that's a concern.
Dr Lucy Burns (20:42) Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, we often talk about the power of small steps. And I love the fact that it's 21 minutes, which is just seven, like seven minutes. So seven minutes of journaling, seven minutes of meditation, seven minutes of yoga, like, that's doable and you don't even have to do it every day.
Emma Walkinshaw (21:01) No, not even every day. And even if on the other days, you just got the seven minutes in, and then you can tick the box and say I did good today.
Dr Lucy Burns (21:11) Yeah, absolutely. So if our listeners are currently driving in the car, and they forget to go to the show notes, if they were just searching on Facebook, they would just look for 21 minutes of Morning Magic, is that of morning magic.
Emma Walkinshaw (21:21) Right? Yes, they would. It's yeah. And you'll see and of course, Emma Walkinshaw there. So they will see that but the official page name is 21 Morning Magic and Inspiration. Okey dokey. Excellent woman some morning magic. So to one 21 minutes the morning magic and inspiration. And they can come and request to join the group and come in. Yeah, come and join me and I'll see you live. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Dr Lucy Burns (21:46) And I think that would be so good and I think Em, you know, what I love is again, I know, people get worried that their yoga teacher is going to be unrelatable. And I think that's probably just coming back from social media, because I think everybody is, you know, not it's not 21 minutes of morning magic. It's every 21-year-old yoga teacher. Whereas, you know, I think you're a woman in your late 40s. You're not a stick, as I like to say, it's always said to people Dr Mary and I, we're not sticks, we are of course HOTIs - Healthy On The Inside, just like you. And so as a beautiful woman in her midlife who's a HOTI but not wearing Lululemon. I think it would be really helpful for people to have a crack and have a taste, and have a try of yoga in a really non-threatening easy peasy way.
Emma Walkinshaw (22:42) Yeah and you know, when I became a yoga teacher, so I started, like I said, practice solidly for 10 years and then in 2018, I decided to study to be a yoga teacher. And I can remember thinking to myself, I was a size 14 at the time and now I'm probably a size 16. So at the time I was size 14, I remember thinking to myself, I'll become a yoga teacher when I'm 10 kilos, lighter. And then I had the thought, but what if I never get 10 kilos lighter? I'm never going to be a yoga teacher. So I did it anyway. Yep.
Dr Lucy Burns (23:16) Yeah. And it is. I mean, again, you know, we've talked a bit about dieting in the past and diet culture, but that's what diet culture does for women. It says you can't do this until you're thin enough. Yes. And you can't do it, because other people will judge you and you can't do it. Because, you know, of all the reasons, you know, everyone will think you're too fat to be a yoga teacher, or you're too fat to teach health or you're too fat to, I don't know, ride a horse. And at the end of the day, give those those judgies, you just give them the bird.
Emma Walkinshaw (23:55) Absolutely. Yes, you do. And you know, the other thing that I have loved over the years of teaching yoga, is I have been surprised and delighted so many times at what a woman's body can do. And you know, I have probably been from time to time a little bit judgmental, but I’m going to oppose that, although maybe that's not accessible to them. And they have nailed it, for instance, and everyone listening will know this, what about women who can still do the splits, no splits, you can do the splits. And it's a little bit like that in yoga. There's this memory that comes back and let's say you know, I even know for myself, you know, being a size 14, now, so 16. There are things in my body that just have muscle memory from being a teenager and a kid and I can still do those postures and this is what happens for women. And I love it because I love it when they get so surprised and delighted to go –oh I still got it! Because they have because what did you say, they’re HOTIs.
Dr Lucy Burns (24:52) Yes, they’re HOTIs, healthy on the inside. And you know, I think that it's about having a crack, isn't it?
Emma Walkinshaw (24:58) Yeah. And enjoy Your beautiful body as it is.
Dr Lucy Burns (25:01) Yep. And it's interesting because I know you and I have spoken in the past about body love. And now you had a summit, the Body Love Revolution Summit. But what do you say to women who feel that self-love or body love is out of their reach? Like, it's, you know, they might say to themselves in sight? Well, it's alright for you, you don't have my legs or it's alright for you, you don't look like me or it's alright for you. It's just not a phrase I like, what are your thoughts on that?
Emma Walkinshaw (25:31) I know that well Luc, because I would say that I still sit even though I teach this, and I talk about this, and I love this work, I know that there can still be those inner critic thoughts that creep in as much as you're trying to override it and sometimes you just can't. But what you can get to is self-respect. So self-respect isn't necessarily self-love. Respect is, I'm going to take really good care of it, feed it well and move it. I might not love it, but I'm going to respect it. And that, for me is at least a little step, close up. And I also acknowledged that it's still okay to have a desire to want to be in a smaller body. That is not a bad thing. It doesn't mean that you go well, now I'm doing this body love thing so I'm just going to accept myself and let myself go, because that's not respect, when we go, Well, I'm just going to eat everything. And I'm going to eat things that we know are not helpful and that don't make us feel good. But you know, what the heck, just let it all go. It's not about that. It's saying, I am not quite loving myself. But your favourite saying can't hate yourself thin, Luc one of my favourite sayings, but can I respect myself for wellness? I believe I can. Yeah. Do I still desire to be in a smaller body? Yeah, on most days, however, I'm not there now. But I am not going to miss out on this big beautiful life and let it because in the past my own body stuff, you know, this is firsthand experience. I know this journey. Well. I've let it almost affect my relationships. And little things, I'm sure a lot of women will identify with this, you get invited to a party or a gathering and some people there that you really like and want to go. But the sheer fact of thinking I've got nothing to wear or nothing fits me. So you say no. So you let you almost stop life. So if you can at least get to the respect bit and your energy is good. And you know, you're taking really good carry yourself. You're a little bit more self-compassionate.
Dr Lucy Burns (27:46) Yeah, totally, totally. And I think I love that bit that you referred to earlier, where you just, you know, women's bodies are phenomenal. You know, lots of us have done incredible things. Not everybody, but lots of us have birth children. Like that, in itself is pretty amazing. Lots of us have done hard stuff and you know, this aesthetic that we've been conditioned to believe we need is just rubbish, totally rubbish.
Emma Walkinshaw (28:15) It is. I think is now as a woman in menopause, I've had moments where I've regretted not enjoying my 20s and my 30s. So I've made a really strong decision to say I will not do that in my 40s and now I'm in my late 40s. You know, I'm at the back end of the decade, or I'm 48 of my 40s. And I think I'm not going to do it again and it is really quite foolish to want to be back at 20 or 30. I've had my time in the sun net, and it was wonderful. And I loved my 30s and that was wonderful. And now I choose to make the most of 48, because 48 It's wonderful. Yeah, absolutely. And this 48 isn't anywhere else. You know, it is a size 16rR right now, but it's always in flux and flow. And as long as I'm respecting it we’re on the way.
Dr Lucy Burns (29:05) Do you know what I mean, you mentioned earlier that you were at one stage a 14, and you've probably hated your body then too. So it's like we've got this idea that I'll only love it once it gets to a certain size. And so before then it does, it's not worthy of it. And that doesn't work. I mean, we know that because often, people often come to me and they go, you fine. Yeah, I was as fat as I was when I was 20 and in 20 they hated themselves because I also you know, and I'm using, you know, air quotes, fat, and now they go I can't believe that I can't believe I spent all that time heading on myself. And now I go so stop hating on yourself now because it hasn't worked. It hasn't worked. Whatever you thought it was going to do. It hasn't worked.
Emma Walkinshaw (29:56) So and it's such an allusion too. It really is, because you couldn't look at someone and really, often if someone even shares their size, that's an illusion itself. I mean, and you know what Luc, the dress I'm wearing right now if I were to show the tag, it's actually a small, I am not small, this dress is small. So it's just an I've got a dress in my wardrobe, that’s 2XL. I've got a dress in my wardrobe. It's a medium. So all of that is it and that's what is a little bit of around the story that we tell ourselves and this size, we think we need to be appreciating and loving and I feel like doing right by yourself. So your energy is good. You are going to the bathroom regularly, you're not feeling bloated, and all of those markers are more of an indicator of your wellness than potentially your dress sizes.
Dr Lucy Burns (30:51) Absolutely, absolutely. And I think, you know, looking after your own body, the way you would look after your child's body, or the way you look after your dog's body, you feed it in nourish it, you care for it, you pass it, you know, you tell it, it's been good. Your reward, you know, again, reward it's always tricky because people are conditioned to use food for reward. But you know, you just love it. I know it feels hard to self-love. And again, for us, I think at our generation, we grew up with people that go, Oh, she loves herself, you know, it was a slur. And now we're just so I do I love your phrase of self-respect, giving your body and your mind the respect it deserves. Yeah.
Emma Walkinshaw (31:36) And it is that too. And you know that you're not feeding yourself junk food, but that's also for your mind and your body doing things that aren't trashy to yourself, I think isn't the thing. You're coming from that beautiful place of self-respect, which is eating really good quality food. And I've been raised by parents who have always really rated food a lot. So I remember you're on a couple of instances. And this is what my father's always said to me. And both of my parents, my father don't drink, they don't drink. And I remember, blueberries would be $9 a part or something and my sister did all their $9 a part and he said, You got to be kidding me. And he said there are people out there who will spend 20 bucks on a bottle of wine. It's if you want the blueberries for nine bucks buy the blueberries for nine bucks. Yeah. And thinking that you know that's what we'll often do is when I've always been shown that self-respect is feeding yourself really good quality of food. And if you can think about if I'm happy to spend whatever on a bottle of wine or even chocolate, spend the nine bucks on the blueberries you know, and I remember another time when bananas were crazy expensive. Remember the floods years ago with bananas, Yeah, but just going if you want them bananas spend the money because you're worth it. Yeah, you're actually worth it.
Dr Lucy Burns (32:54) Yeah, absolutely. Yes. Thanks, Maybelline for that. But yeah. Oh, L'Oreal whoever. But yeah, you totally are. You totally are. Yeah. All right, gorgeous ones. So 21 Minutes of Morning Magic and Inspiration is the name of Emma's Facebook group. It's free to join if you would love I would love you to head on over and you know, just have a crack at some journaling. As you know, we're big fans of journaling, some yoga, and a little bit of meditation and to see how you feel brilliant. Good.
Emma Walkinshaw (33:25) Everyone's welcome come and join.
Dr Lucy Burns (33:27) Excellent, All right Em, thanks so much for your wisdom and your generosity and yes, I look forward to catching up with you soon.
Emma Walkinshaw (33:36) Thank you Luc, most appreciate it.
Dr Lucy Burns (33:39) You're welcome all right, my lovely listeners have a fabulous fabulous week. I can't wait to see what's in store for us this week. It'll be you know, the usual looking after ourselves moving our bodies eating well, probably a swim. I don't know. It'd be a cracker anyway. Alright, gorgeous ones. Take care. Bye for now.
Dr Lucy Burns (34:00) The information shared on the Real Health and Weight Loss podcast, including show notes and links, provides general information only. It is not a substitute, nor is it intended to provide individualised medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, nor can it be construed as such. Please consult your doctor for any medical concerns.
