Body Grief and Gratitude

A Relaunch into an era of healing and hope!

We are BAAACK, and grateful as ever in this mess we call life! This time you can expect to see and hear from me at a normal cadence and I am so thrilled about it. I have so much in store for you. Everything from identifying when you are in Body Grief, to coping mechanisms as our bodies change, to interabled relationships, to healing our inner advocate to building community as we grieve the loss of our bodily autonomy and so much more. Below you can get a good feel for what is to come this summer and beyond!

I am thrilled to know that you are joyfully entering your healing Era and purposefully gliding into this community; Body Grief With Jayne Mattingly!

You are most likely here because you opted into the free digital download “How to Know When I am in Body Grief?” or because you are fatigued from your loss of Bodily autonomy and desperately crave being a part of a community. 

What is Body Grief?

Body Grief is a universal experience, and this newsletter is a look into the process and healing of the experience of living in a body. Body grief is a sense of loss—loss of freedom, loss of control, loss of safety, loss of hope. And as with any loss, we can only reach a place of acceptance once we have learned to grieve: a cyclical, and often lifelong process that requires awareness, sharing, storytelling, patience, deep feeling, and the choice to live with our grief.

My own sorrow and sadness with my body during my illness and disability opened my eyes to not only my mind’s relationship with grief throughout my life, but also my body’s relationship with grief; what I have come to call Body Grief. 

After receiving my Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and working in the Eating Disorder field I noticed how Body Grief is truly universal, many of my clients were experiencing the grief of missing their old selves, their identity, what they used to be able to do, be, look like, eat, feel like, etc. As I continued to dig into my Framework I noticed that friends, family, and colleagues alike were identifying with Body Grief. In regards to aging, injuries, sexual assault, mennopause, racial inequity, disability, gender dysphoria, cancer, auto immune disease, mental illness, the list goes on and on. 

With professional research and lived experience of 19 brain and spine surgeries and a total hysterectomy in the past 5 years I can confidently say that this framework of Body Grief will and has helped many heal! 

I am connected to Body Grief to the core. I initially birthed this framework when I felt the intense feelings of sadness and sorrow that comes with living in a body that isn’t “cooperating” as society says it “should”. 

As a leader in the Disabled, Chronic Illness and Body Image community, I value compassion, gratitude, and standing up for inclusivity and injustices that are often overseen due to ableism and systems of oppression. What truly drives my passion is remembering that there may not be a purpose to all of my pain but that sharing my story will help at least one person feel less alone in their own Body Grief. Let’s get vulnerable while simultaneously breaking barriers for those who are left out and unseen in this ableist focus world! 

Here is what you can expect from the Monthly newsletter:

• one free monthly written newsletter of the following…

• A series of Letters to Your Body to help Heal your Inner Internalized Ableism

• Personal Essays

• Event Recaps

Here is what you can expect from the Joining Body Grief and Gratitude Community:

• A Packaged Community in addition to the Monthly Newsletter for $7/month

• Every week I will be answering questions Directly from you Via Video about ALL THINGS…Body Grief, Body Image, Chronic illness, Disability, Interabled Relationships, you name it, I got you! 

• You will also have access to extra written newsletters and Premier access to Art sales, and The Book Pre sale! 

• This Package is all about building community! Body Grief would be non-existent if it wasn’t for systems of oppression and solitude, pain and loneliness it brings… So let's rebel and create a community!

I want to get to know you, I want to lift you up and cheer you on in this journey… it won’t be perfect but it will be beautifully messy. And I am here for all of it!

Please Share with a friend, family member or colleague who you think would benefit from diving deeper into their own Body Grief journey or navigating their internalized ableism (as we ALL HAVE IT)!

Please make sure to mark this email as Safe Sender and add Jayne@jaynemattingly.com to your address book to ensure my emails go to your inbox (and not spam)! 

Ps This is where you can find me on social media! 

IG

TikTok

Threads

I look forward to you here and getting to know you! 

With Gratitude!

Jayne