The Body Positive Institute now has workshops and ongoing groups scheduled from March through May 2012.

Be Body Positive Daylong Workshops

Spend an intimate day in a small group setting with one of The Body Positive's Co-Founders, Connie Sobczak or Elizabeth Scott, and learn how the Intuitive Health™ Model can transform your relationship with your body to one that is guided by love, forgiveness, joy, and celebration.

During The Body Positive's introductory workshops, you will immerse yourself in a process of self-exploration and creative activities to learn about the Intuitive Health™ Model competencies. We examine societal and familial messages about health and weight; how to become the expert of one's own body and improve physical health through intuitive eating and exercise; why cultivating compassion for oneself and others leads to improved self-care; the power of declaring authentic beauty; and the importance of developing a supportive Body Positive community.

This workshop will allow you to:

• Define physical health with real measurements of health rather than arbitrary numbers
• Restore trust in your own body and in your ability to know how to care for it
• Give yourself permission to deeply and truly love your human self
• Expand your definition of beauty so you can include yourself and all people
• Build a Body Positive community to support your self-love and body esteem

REGISTER HERE

Upcoming workshops will be held on Saturdays from 10am to 5pm in Berkeley, CA or San Rafael, CA on the following dates:

These workshops are open to women and men, ALL ages 18 and over. Space is limited to 25 people per workshop.

Fee: $175.00

For more information or student discount, email Connie Sobczak

Please note that additional workshops will be scheduled in locations other than the San Francisco Bay Area upon request. We will post information about those that are open to the public.

Monthly Group for Be Body Positive Workshop Past Participants

You asked, and here they are - finally! Past participants of Body Positive workshops are invited to join Connie Sobczak for monthly two-hour discussions. Topics to be discussed will be inspired by your needs and interests. These monthly discussion groups will begin on January 19th, 2012 and continue on the third Thursday of every month through May. Check back later for next session's schedule.

Location: Albany, CA
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Fee: $30 per group, with a discount offered when signing up for groups in advance

Space is limited to 10 people, and an RSVP is required.

For more information and registration, email Connie Sobczak

If you want to join the monthly discussion group but haven't participated in any of our past workshops, see above to sign up for an introductory day with The Body Positive.

Support Group for Young Women in Recovery

The Young Women's Recovery and Empowerment Group begins on Thursday, January 26th and continues on the fourth Thursday of every month.

This eating disorders recovery group is offered monthly to young women of high school and college age who are looking for community support in their recovery. Melanie Bandera-Hess, M.A. is a registered MFT intern supervised by Elizabeth Scott. Her monthly group will provide creative activities to teach The Body Positive competencies, helping participants build momentum for their recovery with a solid body image and healthy, peaceful relationship to food.

Contact Melanie for more information - 707-235-7859

Read what people have to say about The Body Positive workshops:

"This workshop made my BODY POSITIVELY more comfortable to live in."

"I appreciated the opportunity to have an environment of honesty, and to validate/appreciate my own strengths and beauty."

"This workshop was beautifully helpful. I feel much more comfortable in my own skin. Thank you! It was definitely a fun way to spend a day."

"Transformative doesn't even begin to cover the journey that is this workshop. This is an experience that all of us need to experience at least once in our lives, because I feel like this is what I've been looking for before knowing I was even searching. It answered the question I hadn't realized I'd been asking - Am I allowed to love myself, just the way I am? The answer is a loving, resounding YES!" - Cristin Seppa, October 2010 workshop participant, Saint Mary's College Body Positive leader

"The Body Positive workshop has given me the tools to start a 'revolution' on my campus. A revolution towards 'self-love' rather than self-hatred...promoting change that results in holistic health. Thank you so much!"

"I was thrilled from the first moment and I continue to feel excited about connecting with a movement that represents the ways I feel about beauty and health."

"This workshop helped me find the words I needed to combat the negative voices. It helped me find positive uplifting words to describe my body. This workshop taught me that it is okay to accept and love my body the way it is, and to grow and change with my beauty."

"Whether you're just beginning the journey to positive self-love, or you've worked on this for years, this workshop has a lot to offer."

"This workshop helped to give me the permission I hadn't learned to give myself. I found the group process, both large and small groups, to be a profoundly supportive and loving way to learn about and then internalize the message. Thank you from my heart!"

"I am very impressed with your model, and its potential to change people's lives, including my own. I think you are really onto something - a radical paradigm shift, but at the same time something so simple and elegant and 'intuitive'. Love yourself and your body - it will not only allow you a chance to take care of yourself and find genuine love and happiness in you, it will give you a chance to see and develop it in others. Peace, love, and happiness - what else do you need?"

"Something close to a miracle happens at Body Positive workshops."

"I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the men and women at my Body Positive workshop. I have gained wisdom over the past two days that I've never received in many years of therapy! I was finally allowed to explore myself in a deep way but connect my very different experiences to other people's experiences. What a gift."

Click below to watch "The Body Positive Speaks" video and hear what people have to say about The Body Positive

Tailor a Body Positive workshop or lecture for your women's, parent, or community group, school campus, or office

The Body Positive's workshops can be tailored to fit the needs of many settings, from women's groups to college campuses to corporate offices. The workshops can be structured to fit a variety of time frames, from a one-hour lecture or brown bag lunch, to in-depth three-hour seminars, or to an extended day workshop.

Topics can be chosen to fit your particular needs:

• Identifying and challenging cultural myths and old patterns regarding health, weight, and concepts of beauty
• Learning scientifically-based information that leads to improved health and sustainable self-care behaviors
• Exploring individual body stories to discover how current relationships to bodies, eating, and exercise were formed
• Identifying the obstacles that prohibit sustainable, joyful self-care, and acquiring tools and resources to overcome these obstacles in order to develop a more positive relationship with one's body
• Exploring how self-love leads to improved self-care
• Creating communities based on a shared positive body image
• How parents can support their children in growing up with positive relationships to food, exercise, and their bodies

For more information about bringing The Body Positive's workshops and lectures to your college campus, women's group, parent group, or business, please contact The Body Positive.

To learn more about our other services, click on Creating Body Positive Campuses, Personal Coaching, and Continuing Education.