After many years of trying to:

• Eat less

• Move more

• Get in control of our eating and our bodies

we finally GAVE UP TRYING because intentional weight loss in the form of diets and regimes ARE SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN TO FAIL 95% OF THE TIME, but leave us feeling like failures.

Plus, we knew from our own lives that trying to lose weight and deciding to eat less NEVER led to sustainable change. EVER. It just made us feel crazy around food and dissatisfied with our bodies that were only ever doing the best they could.

Now that we know better, we do things differently…

Things we DON’T DO at IEWIN:

• Restrict our eating through dieting or food plans

• Focus on weight loss/gain

• Punish our bodies with gruelling exercise regimes

• Assume that we know what’s best for other people

Things we DO at IEWIN:

• Learn how to cook and eat more real food, because it makes our bellies happy

• Feel our bodies from the inside with yoga and meditation, because we eat what we need when we feel what we feel

• Learn practices that help us to lean into discomfort and stay present with the sensations that arise in the moment.

• Connect authentically with others who can support us as we transform our daily habits and unconscious beliefs.

Our 4 key practices

slow, mindful movement for a deep release of tension.

lying down, breathing and feeling your body to access states of deep calm and bliss.

a return to cooking and eating whole, natural foods that nourish our bodies and minds.

authentic sharing in a safe and boundaried space for a deeply connected group experience

Why do we cook and eat plant-based foods?

We eat what we want, when we want, in any quantity. No one at IEWIN will ever weigh you, put you on a food plan, or tell you what to eat. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions when it comes to diet. Any dietician or nutritionist worth their salt knows that what to eat is a highly complex and individual question that depends on a whole host of ever-changing factors, some of which are beyond our control.

We have tried many ways of eating. We have binged on processed foods. We have completely abstained from flour and sugar for months at a time. We have juiced veggies and fruits daily. We’ve over-exercised. We’ve laid on the sofa. We did some form of “eat less/move more” for years and it never bought us peace.

In our experiments, we have learned the truth about our bodies and the food we habitually consume. We have worked hard to educate ourselves about how to prepare REAL FOOD (i.e. whole foods and natural, unprocessed foods) rather than rely on convenience food because big food companies cannot be trusted when it comes to our mental and physical health. The food industry exists to drive profit and consumption, at the expense of our own wellbeing.

We can, and do, continue to eat processed foods when we want. But we can’t deny that what we put in our bodies matters and our bodies were designed to digest natural, earthy foods. They were not designed to process highly stimulating substances that are modified and engineered to be highly palatable and potentially addictive to our vulnerable brains.

If you’re curious about how to incorporate more plants into your diet, while staying curious about developing a way of eating that brings satisfaction and comfort to your unique body, then IEWIN is for you.

Why do we do yoga and body meditation?

We know that exercise is hugely beneficial for our physical and mental health, especially when we practise activities that we genuinely enjoy and make our bodies feel good.

However, it’s possible to do physical exercise while remaining completely disconnected and dissociated from our bodies and how we feel inside. Indeed, many of us actively seek out distractions (like the TV screen at the gym) so we don’t have to feel our bodies whilst we move them.

Connecting with how we feel inside is the most important practice we can do if we want to eat what we need in a sustainable, relaxed and easy-going way.

We practise slow, mindful yoga and lying down body meditation in order to:

• reconnect our brains and our bellies by putting our attention on our digestive system.

• release old, built-up tension from our bodies

• create the conditions for a para-sympathetic dominant nervous system, enabling us to learn new things, heal, digest, and feel calmer and safer in ourselves.

When we understand that disordered eating only exists because we habitually disconnect and dissociate from our bodies (an adaptive behaviour we learned to survive), the only way to fully heal our dysfunctional relationship with food is to get back in touch with the mechanisms that are designed to regulate our eating without our conscious control. The mechanisms communicate with us through the here-and-now bodily language of sensation.

In our experience, this takes time, repetition, and expert guidance. But it’s as simple as lying down and breathing.

Why do we do circle work?

It can be a lonely journey to completely revolutionise the way you eat and the way that you relate to your body, especially when the dominant culture presents a severely dysfunctional relationship with food and body as the norm.

Circle work is the simple, ancient and profound practice of sitting with others, in circle, listening to each other as we share how we feel. Having a boundaried space in which to process our feelings and witness the authentic sharing of others creates a group that feels safe and connected to each other.

Connection is the truly healing balm that our hearts long for. It is the loving connection that makes IEWIN a powerful community that changes people’s lives. Brene Brown defines connection as:

“the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”

Circle work provides the space and the framework for connection to grow and flourish during our workshops and retreats.