In episode 115, I speak with the amazing body confidence coach, Cliona Byrne. After spending much of her life obsessing about her body, her looks, her weight and her outward appearance, Cliona came to an epiphany. She asked herself, "At what point am I going to be happy with me?" That question prompted a journey that not only changed her life, but allowed her to become the adult for others that she needed when she was a teenager. Now when she looks in the mirror, she sees the real and wonderful her. When we can see ourselves for who we are, things start to change. Trust me, this is a truly remarkable conversation.
I was totally spellbound as I listened the wisdom and felt the incredible energy of the amazing Cliona Byrne. She wasn't always so confident and radiant as she is now. She used to stand in front of the mirror, suck in her tummy, and emotionally beat herself up for how she looked. Her bitchy inner critic (as she calls it) used to love to tell her that she needed to lose weight.
She said, "I’ve since slapped the microphone out of that bitch’s hand."
Cliona used to believe that her life would be 10x shinier, happier, and more fabulous once she hit her goal weight. Long story short, that didn’t work. She also had a crooked bite for the first 20 years of her life and had to wear a brace for 4 years in her late teens and twenties AND had her jaw broken and re-aligned. As you can imagine, her body confidence wasn’t anywhere near the bikini wearing level it is now. She used to hide from the camera and felt uncomfortable in her body at family gatherings. She was the person who wore black baggy clothes to hide herself and spent the whole time feeling fat.
Over time Cliona started to see a confident woman looking back at her in the mirror, as she saw the real her. She started to actually like the way she looked! She began wearing whatever she wanted (that includes a bikini), She stopped being afraid of the camera, and finally felt that shiny happy feeling she thought she would feel once she lost weight and had the surgery to fix her jaw. It turns out that she didn’t need to change herself to get that feeling, she just had to change her relationship with herself. She has now become the coach for adults, parents and teens that she needed when she was a teen. This is a powerful and life-altering conversation, not to be missed.
To find out more about Cliona, go to her website.
Thanks to Pietro and the team at Fitii for sponsoring this podcast. Go to the website
My website is www.andrewjobling.com.au