How Spiritual Practice Transformed My Body Image

We actually just have to change within ourselves. And I will tell you this. And that's what kept coming to me over and over. Practice, practice, practice. It doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter. Make it up. Make up your own religion, make up your own spirituality. Make up your own rituals. Make it up. Make it authentic. Make it unique to you and your needs and what you have. Respect everyone else's, but make your own up. Don't listen to anyone else's. That's for them. What is it for you? What do you need to practice? And what I mean by practice is any activ that connects you with source, period. Hey, badass.

Welcome to Keeping It Real, the podcast where we ditch the nonsense, say it like it is, and redefine what it means to feel good in your body and your life. I'm Misty Tripoli, creator of the Groove Method, and I'm here to help you move, dance, and live authentically and unapologetically.

So if you're ready to break free.

From the societal expectations, embrace your truth, and find your own unique groove, you are in the right place. So let's keep it real, let's keep it wild, and let's keep it moving. Welcome to today's empowering episode where we are going to confront one of the toughest battles that many of us face, our body image and our self worth. I'm going to share with you my unapologetic journey of self discovery, moving beyond societal pressures and the crippling voices in our heads. Through humor, movement and a little raw authenticity, I'll challenge us to shed those stories of not enough and embrace our truest selves. So get ready to shake off all those doubts and step into your power. Let's get started.

So I just introduced you to my spiritual practice because this is why I love coming to these conferences, too. And it's like I'm so fascinated by the mudras and these ancient, delicious, beautiful spiritual practices. They're amazing. And there's so many of them. There's a lot. And you can't really learn them all. You can if that's your goal in life. But what I've also found is a lot of those practices intimidate me and scared the shit out of me. So a lot of what I realized through my own healing journey and this beautiful life I've been able to live is that this body image thing affected me. And some of you have been through it, too. I suffered from bulimia for 16 years. Nearly killed me, and I didn't care. I Had the liposuction. I lived in LA for 15 years. I went to that fucking doctor and I listened to him and I believed him. And I cut my body open and I did those things. I've been there, and some of you have, too. But it wasn't the cutting open. It was the bulimia. And as I sat through this, as I was telling you, like, I was like, well, I can't talk about that. They talk about it as I'm sitting there. I'm like, what am I going to say to them? And I do trust spirit, and I trust that I am spirit, and I trust that I'm the channel for spirit, just as you are. And as I sat there, it just kept coming to me. Relax, Misty, relax. It's practice. And that's what I have to share with you tonight. And that is the thing that freed me from bulimia. And it wasn't some ancient practice. It wasn't some weird, energetic thing I'd learned. No, I'm serious. Because those things do work. But it was none of that. I was little stupid Lala in LA land, trying to be pretty, cutting myself open, hanging out with the movie stars, thinking I was cool. That was my life. And I will tell you, the thing that did the work was that a deep yearning inside of me. And you all have it, and you all notice that, you know, something's just not right. This just isn't right. I was not born to hate myself. God damn it. I wasn't born to hate myself. I know I wasn't. I didn't know it then, but I had that deep yuck inside. I just never was okay with me. And of course it was the body, you know, now that I've got most of the body stuff, even though it's still an issue, it hasn't gone away, it's still there. But now there's other layers, because, you know, the spiritual journey, it just takes you deeper, right? So what called to me with this deep darkness of, like, I got to the point where I didn't want to live. I just basically said, if my life looks like this five years from now, just take me now. Because it all boiled down to what my ass looked like and how much money I had and how I looked in my jeans, because I swear to God that when I walked into a room, I was so sure that every single person was analyzing my shape, you know what I'm talking about? And dear God, of course they're talking about it. And they're laying asleep at night and going did you see Misty's ass today? She must have put on ten pounds, right? But I was losing my life over something nobody cared about. Nobody. When I woke up to this, this is what was so cool, is that the practice made me wake up, okay. And then I saw. I was like, holy shit. You want to know what the practice was? Well, dance was part of it. But before that came along nothing. Bam. It was doing absolutely nothing. It was sitting on my ass in a big fat green chair, contemplating my own existence. That's it. No one taught me how to do it. Amen. No one taught me how to do it. It wasn't some class I had to go to. It wasn't some type of technique I had to go and master. It was none of that. It was that I finally woke up and became curious about what made this meat suit animate. And I went, shit, let me sit down for a minute. Check this out. I'm not kidding, Serious. You know, the first day was like a minute and I was like, yeah, all right. I got things to do. I gotta go, you know? And then the next day, it was like a minute and a half, and I was like, yeah, I got things to do. I gotta go. And it eventually got to a place where I sat into that chair. And that daily practice of going to that place of just wonderment of my own existence became my haven. It became my church, it became my Jesus. If that's what y' all believe in or whatever. I don't really care what y' all believe in, but it became my savior. And it's really fascinating because a lot of people have these little mini wake ups where they have little epiphanies. I had this thing where I literally, in one moment, all these days and days of buildup of this practice of just sitting there doing nothing. I wasn't trying to meditate or anything because I didn't know how. I remember sitting at this table and I was looking at my boyfriend at the time. So I looked across from this wonderful, beautiful man. That was part of my awakening process as well. And it literally was like someone just went up behind me and went. And I went, holy shit. What? Where am I? What am I looking at? What is this? Holy shit. I'm in a body. And then I could see through it. I could see him. I could see his soul. I could see his. And then I was like, what is this construct? Oh, my God, I'm in a construct. And it was like the ghost and the machine and it became this wild. The first two weeks were the most powerful and lonely I think I'd ever been because no one understood me anymore. I started to talk, and people who thought I was crazy, they would always say, oh, yeah, she's just out there. I'm like, no, really. No, seriously, There's a soul inside of you and your energy and ha. You don't even understand. Listen to what you're thinking about. What are you talking about? Listen to what's coming out of your mouth. Oh, look at. You know. And I became so aware of everything that I was hearing, and I was like, are we aware of what we're doing? And everything just became very real. And I got to this place where I became very spiritually superior, and I developed this beautiful. I am now awake. I can conquer all. I have no more emotion, and I will not be affected by my emotion. And I really did. I went through this place where I just became. Nothing affected me. It was, like, impenetrable. I was like, wow, this is amazing. My mom was like, you're cold as ice. I'm like, I'm not cold as ice. I'm neutral. I'm neutral. You can't get a rise out of me. It was a crazy place. And what was cool is all the body image stuff disappeared. It. Bam, gone. Boom. Okay. Which was, like, the most beautiful place to be to not look in the mirror and go, ugh, what's that shit? Yeah, it's hanging lower this week. Oh, and the boobs. I don't know if you go through the same thing, but then what was interesting. And Tara, oh, I love you. You are amazing. And what she was talking about, and I have to disagree about the thing that you said. I don't know where you are, and I love you, but I will tell you, I know better. I know what they're trying to sell me. I know exactly. I am not stupid, nor are you. I know exactly what they're trying to do. I can see right through it. But it still affects me. I have not yet, from the two weeks, from that moment of my awakening when I had to step outside into the real world again, and I got bombarded by those 3,000 images a day. Even though I've turned my television off, I haven't owned one, and I don't know how long. I don't watch television. I don't read magazines. I don't look at newspapers. I do everything I can to protect and build a fortress around my environment so that I don't have to have that stuff in my life. Amen. Turn this off. Like I don't care how spiritual you are. I don't care. I don't care how much you think. Think. It doesn't affect you. Yes, it does. Every one of you stood up. And I tell you what, they've even done studies where they put girls into a room, a waiting room, to take a test. And they put fashion magazines in that waiting room before the test. And another group without the magazines. Who do you think scored higher on that test? The. No magazines. Because they walked in feeling bad about themselves. Insecure. Not good enough. And I will tell you what I still. It is a day today, day to day. And Liz, you've got the right shirt on. Can you stand up and show everyone your shirt? Do you see what it says? Warrior. And that is exactly, exactly what I had to turn into. Because after I thought I was free, and then I walked back into the world and realized, no, I'm not. I thought I had this. Nope, you're not. And so I kept going. How can I actually free myself from this? And I actually really don't know if we can until the actual system changes. We actually just have to change within ourselves. And I will tell you this. And that's what kept coming to me over and over. Practice, practice, practice. It doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't matter. Make it up. Make up your own religion. Make up your own spirituality. Make up your own rituals. Make it up. Make it authentic. Make it unique to you and your needs and what you have. Respect everyone else's. But make your own up. Don't listen to anyone else's. That's for them. What is it for you? What do you need to practice? And what I mean by practice is any activity that connects you with source, period, whatever that is. If that is getting down on your knees. Get down on your knees. If it's like me, I put my headphone on and I go to the beach and I dance my ass off. And I will tell you, I become a channel with creative energy. And it's the most powerful thing I've ever experienced. That's why I wanted to share it with you. The groove. Get you up. Just move your body. Do it your own way. Feel your own flow. Get in there. Do your thing. Connect. Align. Atone yourself at one mint with the creative force of the universe. It runs through you. It is you. It's in every cell of you. And you need to do activities that stir it up, that connect you to it, that make you develop an intimate, loving, connected relationship with it. And I will tell you that will be your only salvation for this. And I'm a firm believer. Practice. Make up your own practice, but practice. Because I know it is the only time that when I leave that for at least an extended little period of time after my practice, it doesn't affect me. But that's why I have to keep practicing. Because after just a short period of time, the world gets a hold of you and tells you you're not good enough and you don't have enough and you aren't enough. And I will tell you what. I'm a warrior. But it still gets me every day. I have to practice. Be a warrior for your own life. Be a warrior for your own spirituality. You are a spiritual being. This physical body is just a floppy little meat suit that you're going to be in for a couple more years. You might as well fucking enjoy it. Move it. We wiggle in it. Have fun in it. Have fun in it. Party your ass off in it. And if anyone says that your way is not the right way, Thank you, Alex.

Alright fierce ones, that's a wrap for today. Thanks for keeping it real and grooving with me. If you're loving this vibe, be sure to subscribe, share and subscribe and leave a review so that we can keep this movement alive. Remember, this journey is all about you. You owning your own truth, trusting your instincts and living boldly. Stay true, stay wild, and most importantly, keep being unapologetically you. So until next time, let's keep it.