I look around, smiling at the diversity of the 100 or so women sharing the space with me. Among us are grandmothers, mothers and daughters, of all different sizes and from all kinds of places. People have travelled from Perth, New Zealand, Hong Kong and beyond to meet in Sydney for Dr Libby Weaver’s Beautiful You Weekend.
It’s the nutritional biochemist’s signature event and I’ve been invited along to experience it for myself, to see whether the intense weekend is as transformative as the reviews say it is. Dr Libby is an international speaker and bestselling author of eight books; I hope her wise words nudge along a few of my unhealthy patterns and propel me into living well.
Dr Libby walks out to long applause, which she modestly brushes off, asking us to kindly stop and saying, “I’m here for you.” She stands in the centre of the room and shares her story: how she grew up in Tamworth, spent 14 years at university and completed a PhD in biochemistry and nutrition. As she tells of a few intimate moments from her life, I gather this woman has both a brilliant mind and an enormous heart.
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She explains that, over the next two days, we’ll be exploring her three pillars of health: the biochemical, nutritional and emotional. She speaks of her program with vigour and excitement, and her kind, whole-hearted manner begins to soften any tensions I’d felt about this weekend — and, perhaps even deeper, any tensions I’d had about my body. I start to feel the unpleasant, yet always present, self-worth worries begin to dissolve … Already, it feels as though I’m being woven into a safety net in which wisdom, healing and understanding can be shared freely and with ease.
Dr Libby’s husband Chris Weaver takes over while she has a break. He explains why he’s involved in the show, saying that having a masculine energy to provide direction and goal-setting helps to solidify the learning.
When Dr Libby returns, she launches into in-depth yet straightforward explanations of the central nervous system — the sympathetic nervous system (SNS, our fight-or-flight response) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS, our rest, digest and repair zone) — and how it affects us. Renaming our bodies “our Earth suits”, she explains that most of us today live in an SNS-dominated world. We’re constantly rushing from one place to another, experiencing high stress, adrenal fatigue and massive burnout. When we feel stressed, she says, the body produces extra hormones like adrenalin, which can be wonderful, but not when continually cycled around the body.
“The only thing scientifically and medically proven to communicate ‘I am calm’ to our bodies is deep diaphragm breathing and an extended exhalation,” Dr Libby says. She explains that this is the direct route back to our “green zone” — a calmer state — and that spending most of our time here rather than in the fight-or-flight zone is extremely important for health.
Dr Libby shares that everything in the body is feedback and that we should see it all as a gift. She reminds us that, if we could truly see how amazing we were inside, truly see all the perfectly orchestrated complexities at play, we would be extremely kind to ourselves. This is how Dr Libby works: by shedding fresh light on just how magnificent our inner workings are, she helps instil in women respect and love for our hard-working bodies.
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She goes on to explain that the body is made up of 50 trillion cells; that the heart beats 100,000 times every day and pumps 75 litres of blood through 96 kilometres of blood vessels. I also learn that every 10 years we have a whole new skeleton because each day the body is rebuilding and remodelling its bones, plus every three months we have an entirely new blood supply!
We hear about sex hormones, the body’s elimination and detoxification phases, and signs and symptoms to look for that indicate the liver needs some support. I find this section fascinating. My liver appears to have been working overtime and my hormones are lazy — they both need a little bit of loving.
Chris takes the next session on beliefs and behaviours, teaching how our behaviours express our beliefs and how to catch yourself in your patterns. I must add here that, whenever Chris steps in after Dr Libby’s sessions and as she takes a short break, he first turns the music up and leads us in play: dancing, singing, a massage train and laughing. It’s a wonderful way to reset the room, increase energy levels and dissolve any tired or restless feelings.
Day one ends with restorative yoga and guided visualisation. Usually I love both, but it’s 5pm and the room is freezing. I find it too cold to relax and soften my muscles, instead wanting a more dynamic practice to keep me warm. I leave inspired, though, my brain brimming with both knowledge and exhaustion.
At 7.30am the next day, we say our hellos, sharing a feeling of absolute aliveness, and start to practise qi gong and tai chi. Dr Libby takes us through four different poses slowly, then we put them all together in a flow.
The first session kicks off with a Q&A, followed by an exploration of food and nutrients. Dr Libby shares ways we can support and optimise the nervous system, the liver and its elimination and detoxification phases, sex hormones, beliefs and behaviours and food and lifestyle habits.
We close in the late afternoon with a big dance-off, enjoying free-form expression, fun and laughter together. It’s a beautiful way to end a transformative, empowering and inspiring weekend dedicated solely to me!
Dr Libby will be touring her Beautiful You Weekend event on the below dates:
Christchurch, NZ – November, 2017
Sydney, NSW – February, 2018
Auckland, NZ – June, 2018
Burleigh Heads, QLD – June, 2018
