June 23, 2014

Vanessa Millar is a Body-Love Coach + Yoga Teacher + Holistic Health Coach + Reiki Practitioner on a mission to help women find acceptance, connection and love, in their own skin. Vanessa has experienced her own personal struggles with body-image, self-esteem and emotional eating, leading her through periods of anxiety, depression, bulimia and binge eating. Having made an inspiring recovery, despite facing some incredibly heart-breaking challenges, she feels blessed to be able to share everything she knows and everything she has learned with women, just like her, all over the world.

Vanessa works with women 1:1 as a coach, healer and yoga teacher and is the creator of The Body-Love Revolution eCourse. A unique 6-week online course aimed at encouraging women to find their own voice and transform their relationships with food and their bodies. The first round of the course is underway with more dates to be announced soon.

Vanessa lives by the ocean in Western Australia with her two daughters and blogs regularly about body-image and wellness at learngrowheal.com.au.

Let’s start off nice and light…what are 3 things about you we may not know?

• I love to sing, probably not very well. I once auditioned for a T.V. talent program (Red Faces, Hey Hey It’s Saturday) as Scary Spice singing “Wannabe”. We didn’t make it on the show. I have no idea why not.

• I have a double degree in Accounting and Banking and Finance that I am sure I am putting to good use in my life as an entrepreneur, somehow.

• I have a slight (read: kinda crazy) obsession with beards.

Digging deeper now, describe your why that’s driving you to do what you do…

I struggled for such a long time with my own hatred for my body. It kept me from living fully, from embracing who I am and what I have to offer this world. I punished myself, starved myself and I suffered endlessly, needlessly. Body image issues and eating disorders are increasing at an incredibly alarming rate. There is so much pressure placed on women these days to live up to the media and society’s standard of beauty and success and when we feel like we don’t/can’t get “there” we feel un-worthy, un-loveable and useless.

I am on a mission to help women see their own beauty, free themselves from body-hate, and start living a life of their dreams. I want to change the way we speak to ourselves and each other about our bodies, quit the shaming, the judging and show a little love and acceptance instead.

That’s why I created my eCourse, The Body-Love Revolution to give women hope that they can love their bodies with no diets, no restrictions, no fear and all love. I am so blessed to be able to spread this incredibly important message.

Keeping a happy balance between your mind, body and soul is challenging for most of us. How do you prioritise this balance of wellness in your busy life?

Oh yeah. It is really tough. Life is busy and the first thing that slips is always our own health. But the answer is simple, we need to make our wellness a priority, a non-negotiable.

But our goals have to be realistic, achievable. Don’t try to take on every single wellness tip that has ever existed, it will drive you mad (trust me, I know). Stick with the basics, with what works for you and your lifestyle and enjoy it. If it’s a chore, then it’s not serving its purpose.

You have won $10,000 to spend in one day. The rules are that you can only buy things that will improve your health &/or progress your business…what would you spend it on?

Oooh great question. I would book a luxurious soul nourishing yoga retreat overseas that I could take my little ones to. Then I would hire a virtual assistant and a business coach to help me grow my business so I could spend more time at yoga retreats (and maybe even host my own).

Comparisonitis – we’ve all experienced it. What are your strategies for dealing with this icky feeling?

THIS quote by Theodore Roosevelt, “Comparison is the thief of joy”. It sums it up perfectly. Each moment we spend comparing ourselves to others is a moment wasted, but I know it is a hard habit to break.

My tips on kicking comparisonitis to the curb are firstly to remember that you are seeing the other persons’ highlight reel. It’s everything they want you to see and nothing they don’t. This is so important to understand when you are looking at your own warts and all, behind the scenes of life.

Secondly, beauty, success, love, fame and fortune are infinite. Just because she has it, doesn’t mean you can’t, or don’t already.

Lastly, dare to be unique! We often get jealous of others simply because they are brave enough to show the world exactly who they are. So just be YOU.

 

What’s been your biggest challenge in your online/business journey, and what one piece of advice would you like to pass on to other female entrepreneurs?

It has definitely been comparing my journey to others and rating my success by the number of “likers” or “followers” I have on social media. I have to continually remind myself that my business journey is unique, that it will unfold exactly as it is supposed to and that as long as I am passionate about what I am doing, I am already successful.

My biggest piece of advice for anyone starting out would be to look to others in your industry for inspiration but the minute you feel “not good enough” switch off, unfollow and come back to why you are in business and who you are doing it for. Really connect with that then head back to your creativity cave and just continue to make awesome stuff.

Your ‘perfect day’ in a snapshot is…

Oooh daydream time…

A sleep in and buckwheat pancakes and chai tea in bed. A hike through the bush with my kidlets and a picnic lunch with all the best salads and raw desserts. An afternoon nap followed by an evening swim in the ocean and dinner at my favourite restaurant with all my best friends.

…Ahh bliss.

In this moment I am…

Dreaming: of continuing to live a life that rocks.

Feeling: endlessly grateful and full of love

Loving: the unconditional support and guidance of the universe

What a gorgeous lady! Wanna send Vanessa some lovin’ or ask her a question? Leave a comment below 🙂

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