In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Isy, what age she would like to go back to, and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up, and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.
You can READ the interview transcript HERE
10 Facts About Isy
(at the time of the project)
1. 60 years old
2. it has literally taken her whole life to find the joy and the freedom that she is in right now. She feels more vibrant now than she ever has in her life.
3. Isy has two grown children.
4. Isy lives on the far south coast of New South Wales. In paradise called Wallaga Lake.
5. Isy has had a long journey with pain, which started at 17 after a domestic accident that broke her spine in multiple places, and she’s spent her life moving through that and into pleasure and joy and freedom.
6. Isy has been a bodywork therapist for 30 years, but her primary modality now is something called Family Constellations, which is basically clearing ancestral trauma and family patterns, which everybody's carrying.
7. Isy was born in the UK and came to Australia on a working holiday after her PhD in Africa and fell in love with it.
8. Isy studied primatology and psychology as an undergraduate, and then went on to her follow up with her Honors and then a PhD, studying monkeys in the African savanna to show that learning had to be playful to be effective.
9. Isy spent 25 years working with the Gyuto monks of Tibet and feels that self-love is the absolutely most beneficial thing we can do not just for ourselves, but for our family, our relationships and humanity as a whole.
10. Isy’s soul's purpose is to hold workshops in the group field, because she really feels it is in that collective space, where we come together, not just to heal our own patterns, but to actually be there in witness and support of other people also healing their patterns.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
(auto-generated)
Hi, you're listening to the My Body, My Story podcast.
I really did go back and tell myself, it's going to be okay. You are going to get through, and you are going to be more glorious and more radiant than ever. It's true.
This is the 45 over 45 chapter where we celebrate Rule Breakers and role models, the women who inspire us to live life our way and to show their sensuality beauty, soul, and true essence. Here we talk about what it's like to be 45 Plus, adjusting to the changes that come with time, and we listened to the stories about participants. If you have an interesting story, we'd love for you to participate. You can email us at info@aleksandrawalker.com That's Aleksandra spelled with a K S. Or visit our website aleksandrawalker.com
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the My body My Story project and today with us in the studio Isy. And while she's sitting in the makeup chair, and Chitra is doing makeup for her. I'll be asking her a few questions. Hi, Isy, how are you?
Hi. I'm good. I'm excited.
So let's start and tell us 10 facts about yourself.
I'm 60 I feel more vibrant now than I ever have in my life. I have two grown children. I live on the far south coast of New South Wales. In paradise. I've had a long journey with pain, which started at 17 After a domestic accident that broke my spine in multiple places, and I've spent my life moving through that and into pleasure and joy and freedom.
And I know that you are a coach, spiritual teacher, what is your main thing you do in life.
I've been a bodywork therapist for 30 years, but my primary modality now is something called Family Constellations, which is basically clearing ancestral trauma and family patterns, which everybody's carrying, basically. But really what that's doing is carrying what is in the way of your lifeforce and bringing you to so much more joy and fullness and reaching your own potential in life.
So or do you use some specific methods or
so the method is called Family Constellations. But I do it in my own way, having lived a long life of many influences. And but it is a process that is best done in a group. So yeah, I started like a group therapist. It's Yes, it's more I would call it more personal development than therapy. It's really a choice to move into more vibrancy in your life, more empowerment, rather than somebody having, you know, a lot of trauma that they might need to see a psychologist for. Yeah.
So you say you live in on the south coast, was it always like you were born there or where you were born?
I was born in the UK. I came here on a working holiday after my PhD in Africa. And, and I just fell in love with it when I first came here. And a few years later, I emigrated with my little boy and made a home here and found this incredible blue, beautiful place on the far south coast under the credibly sacred Gulaga mountain sacred to the UN people. And there's a little town there called Tilba, which a lot of people have heard about Tilba Tilba. Yeah. And that's where yeah, that's where I've made home for the last 25 years. And now I live just down the road in this little place called Wallaga Lake, which is five minutes walk from the city.
And you said you did PhD in Africa.
That's another interesting story. Yeah, again, that was it followed on from my degree in psychology, and I studied primatology and psychology as an undergraduate, and then went on to on my follow up with my honours and then a PhD, studying monkeys in the African savanna. Studying play behaviour to show that learning had to be playful to be effective. And it's still really how I feel about the education system and about learning thing really and about living our lives in joy. And, you know, my life has very much gone from moving from the painful parts of life into a lot more joy. And, yeah, I really believe that it's a possible thing, no matter where you are in your life, no matter what challenges you face, to be able to have the courage to just be with what is to be with that, and allow that and to not hide it, to move through those parts so that you can move into authenticity with your pleasure, and your joy. Love connection, sexuality. Yeah,
that's interesting. So let's move to this podcast subject - our body and ageing. And first, I want to ask you What does ageing means to you?
I feel more alive now than I ever have. And sure that's a life in personal development. But I feel that in ageing, I have more joy and more freedom less responsibility. Now my children are have grown and I don't feel constrained by my age. I feel that it has added to who I am. Yeah,
it's, it's we're talking about mental state. .. that's what you Feel like?
Yeah.
Emotional, emotional, mental, state and the ageing body?
Well, again, it's accepting what is I'm not interested in, I realise for some people, it's what they need, but I'm not interested in like the Botox path. And that I'm, I just want to be natural, who I am authentically who I am. And I feel the best anti ageing drug is Eros, your lifeforce, and I have plenty of that.
That's really, yeah, it's really important energy, I think, to keep us women vibrant and alive and keeping interest to live. And I think the age definitely, at some point, it changes direction or intensity. And so I think it's quite important to find a way to still have it in your life.
Yes, yeah. Well, I there's lots of techniques you can use to help run your energy in a way that really encourages you to feel your body. Yeah, I call it embodiment. It's, that's something that some people understand. But not everybody that's like living through the body. Rather than ignoring it, or hoping the ageing process won't, won't catch up with you know, it will, it will. Yeah,
but what do you think generally not even related with age, but generally, the body insecurities or body image issues? What's the main cause or causes of for that?
I believe that it's the very oppressive narrative of cultural norms fueled by you know, family often, you know, different cultural things or have a different viewpoint, but I still think that generally, the, the oppressive cultural norms are what, start that and then it's fueled, of course, by negative, repetitive negative self-talk, which just feels that disbelief in self and not seeing one's own beauty. And, yeah, I, I really feel again, that it's coming back to what is really true and clearing these old patterns that we have in our psyche, whether they're from the cultural narrative, or from family ancestral stuff, where your own upbringing
it's like a multi layer complex. Do you believe that the person itself has to have growned for that seed of that the society plants, the seeds of insecurity into the ground. And if this ground