Ep 86: Plan to pause with Geordy Henderson
Today I’m in conversation with Geordy Henderson chatting about her experience as a dietitian and what she’s dreaming into for our profession
Geordy is a HAES and non-diet Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) based in Australia. Her work focusses on both supporting youth with eating disorders and families in the area of pregnancy and postpartum nutrition.
This year she has launched a new project. After experiencing burnout over and over again in her studies and career, Geordy noticed that other dietitians were feeling a similar type of way. This has led to a passion for creating a space where dietitians are encouraged to rest, to slow down when they feel called to and to turn to connection over competition. This is where Plan to Pause was born.
In this chat we talk about many things, including:
Geordy’s burnout
moving out of dietetics and coming back to it again
clarity of values
the importance of pausing, and
an exciting space that Geordy is opening up and holding for dietitians around pausing and resting.
Let’s dive in.
Links, resources & mentions
Plan to pause the retreat for dietitians
The power of the pause Dietitian Values Podcast Ep 32
Values as a space to ground in Dietitian Values Podcast Ep 61
Episode Transcript: Plan to pause with Geordy Henderson
Laura Jean 0:28
Hello, and welcome back to this week's episode of The dietitian values. And it's that time of the month when a guest is joining me. And these are some of my favourite conversations because I just love being in conversation with people doing things differently and also being in connection. And so today I have Geordy joining me who is a fellow Australian dietitian. And I wanted to bring Geordy on to chat about her story and also to chat about some pretty cool dreaming that she's dreaming into for our profession. And I would love to hand it over to Well, firstly, Geordy, thanks so much for being here.
Geordy Henderson 1:17
Thank you.
Laura Jean 1:18
And I'm going to hand it over to you to introduce yourself, like whatever however you want that to look and sound like, there's no rules here around how you introduce yourself. So who you are whatever lands for you. And then maybe tell us a little bit about your story. Like what's brought you to where you are in this moment.
Geordy Henderson 1:36
Cool. Thank you. Um, so yeah, I'm Geordy. You can find me over on Instagram at Geordy.Rita. Connect with me there. And I'm a dietitian. I am also a mother. And I'm dreaming into a few different avenues, I guess in terms of dietetics and also, yeah, a brand new part of what I'm doing is Plan to Pause, which we'll get into today. But a little bit of a backstory. Taking me back to studying dietetics I was very much a very hard worker at uni. classic, A type personality high achiever. And I think a lot of people in our profession can relate to that. I graduated a bit over five years ago, and at that point in time, I was really passionate about working with people in community, working in outpatient community nutrition, and also along the preventative side of health and, group work. So I dove straight into that, getting a job out west. So you know, nine hours west of the Gold Coast where I was living and had to live away from my partner. So that was about six months. And that experience was brilliant, because I got to work with a few different groups within the community. And that's where I started working in pregnancy, nutrition, postpartum nutrition, and also introducing solids and working with little ones, infants in that area. And that grew that passion area to work along that spectrum from pregnancy through to postpartum and introducing solids with families. Although while I was running these groups, they were very much weight centric, and diet focused, and only had that really small Introduction to Health at Every Size and what that meant. And that was definitely not something that I implemented into my practice or knew enough about to even get into that.
So while I was working there and implementing, working with groups that I was really passionate about something wasn't sitting right within the dietetic community, within all of the nutrition knowledge that I'd learned. And something wasn't aligning, I didn't have the words then, I didn't have the words to describe that my values were not aligned with the work I did. And I think, you know, many dietitians who now work, or are starting to delve into the Health at Every Size realm, and that world can relate to maybe a feeling of just unease. Perhaps they're not sure why it's not sitting right with what they're doing. So then I moved back to the Gold Coast to live in my partner while he was studying. And I worked a few private practice roles, and it was within those roles that I really started to question what I was doing, I was working in weight loss, chronic disease management, and I was really not enjoying it. I felt really drained, I felt overworked. I was seeing back to back clients, it was really short turnaround for appointments, not many breaks, it was real hustle culture in the allied health practices that I was working in as well, and it left me really burnt out. And I left dietetics altogether at that point. So I wasn't even two years into the profession. And I just thought being a dietitian isn't for me, which is pretty funny looking back to it now, because, you know, I've come full circle, and discovered a lot of things along the way.
I left dietetics for a bit, I fell pregnant, became a mom in that time as well. And that slowing down, that was so necessary during motherhood, allowed me to reevaluate all of what I've learned up until that point about myself and about what being a dietitian meant. And it really ignited this passion to work in that space of pregnancy and postpartum nutrition. And I also started to have a keen interest in working in disordered eating and eating disorders. I was starting to learn more about Health at Every Size and the non diet approach. And that felt, right, it just clicked for me. It just felt like the way to work with humans where I could make a really positive impact on their life, and I didn't have that uneasy feeling anymore, that I was doing something wrong, and that I was pushing too hard. Yeah, it, it changed everything. And so I went back into dietetics, after having a whole new outlook on what that world is. I started doing a bit of training in eating disorders and disordered eating. And that's when I started to meet dieticians, who weren't just grinding, clients in and out and trying to do things as efficiently as possible. I say that in quotation marks 'as efficiently as possible'. And with the ultimate goal of you know, how many clients can I see in a day and how exhausted and burnt out can I get by the end of the week or month. There was less competitiveness, and there was just this overall compassion with the trainings that I did, with the supervision, I started to partake in. A culture of encouraging people to take care pf themselves, not just our clients, but obviously us as dietitians, and each other and I started connecting with other dietitians online as well, who were doing things differently. And I came across your work as well Laura and that spoke to me so much about implementing my values, and it wasn't separate values, that's the first time I thought about values as not separate in terms of my personal life and my professional life. Actually, I had these core values. And I'm still in the process of really knuckling down discovering what those are, and the moving parts of all of that. But it's not separate. And actually moving forward, how can I use my core values to curate a life professionally and personally, that's aligned to that, that really spoke to me. So that brings me to where I'm at now, I've been doing work in eating disorders, and also specifically with youth in the headspace centres, and bits and pieces of project work in not for profits, because that's what I sort of had a little bit of a background in. And now moving to a space where those projects are ending, and I'm working more for myself. So, yeah, that's me. That's where I'm at. Yeah.
Laura Jean 8:55
Excellent. Thank you so much for sharing. And I think that a lot of dietitians can see themselves, hear themselves, and feel themselves in that story. And sadly, a lot of ex dietitians, who probably won't even hear your story, could probably relate. We lose so many dietitians to that disconnect. I think, what you shared there, which you didn't really necessarily have words to wrap around it, but that feeling that there's something not right. And unfortunately, I feel like the message, because it's just our cultural message, is that often people internalise it as an individual that there's something wrong with me or I'm not cut out for this, or I'm just not a match for dietetics. Right? Versus the reality, and I love that you're coming back to it and figuring it out, that actually it was the values of the situation. And now when you come back in with your own values and bringing those and your your humanity back into the space you can find that space for yourself in the profession. So I love that you're back.
Geordy Henderson 9:57
Yeah, and I'm so so happy to be here. And now I couldn't imagine not being a dietitian and have met, locally here and online, so many incredible dietitians. to think that I would have missed out on that. If I hadn't come back. Yeah, it's pretty sad.
Laura Jean 10:15
Yeah, yeah. And we end, we just do lose so many dietitians as a profession, and amazing passionate dietitians who just, there's no support to find this space, or there's just that feeling of disconnect, and no one to support them to wrap words around it. So I like that you're back. And that you were able to find a space. And I think, I can't remember what words exactly you used there. I don't know. I don't think if you said life changing. But anyway, you used to a term there, which like really stood out to me, I should have wrote on my whiteboard around like when you found this different way of doing it, really the Health at Every Size there non diet, weight inclusive type approach, which often does be a bit of a light bulb moment, I think, for a lot of dietitians who feel that feeling of disconnection. And I think it's a lot of the reason so many dietitians that I've spoken to, and you probably have too in that area, where it's like, the only reason I'm still a dietitian, is because of that non diet space, because it is very much humanity and values driven.
Geordy Henderson 11:21
Yeah, yeah, I absolutely agree. And actually, I just thought back to, when I was on a student placement, I was at a children's hospital, during my placement, and I just remember the team of dietitians that I was working with how stressed they were and how under the pump their days were, the client lists, the load and the expectations to work in that environment. I did have serious mental health issues myself and anxiety while I was going through it, and I could see them all suffering. And I remember leaving that just thinking I could never work in a hospital full time, I could never cope with that, I don't have the capacity for that. And the reason I'm piecing this together is how you said, you know, we so often blame ourselves as an individual, that it's my fault that I can't keep up or I'm not cut out for the profession. And that was the feelings that I had during that time. And it's so interesting to now learn and speak to so many dietitians that have actually felt the same and look at the culture within those work environments with a whole new view.
Laura Jean 12:35
Absolutely, and I think because there's such a culture in dietetics, of really we have a culture, broader than dietetics have hierarchies, but then obviously, in health, there's hierarchies and in within dietetics, there's the hierarchy of like clinical, acute clinical dietetics being kind of the pinnacle, like it's what's put out there, regardless of how we all feel as individuals. Early in my career the lead dietitian at the hospital here used to ask me, when I was going to come and work in acute clinical and i used to always say 'I'd rather scoop my eyes out with with a spoon' then so sorry, bit graphic. But just like that was my feeling against going into the clinical space. But because it is put up as the top of the ladder jobwise and if you don't want to do it or can see it's not the fit for you, then it's seen as there's something wrong with you, or you're not cut out for that. And often, it's neither, like it's neither good nor bad or right or wrong or higher. There's no hierarchy, it's just that when you know yourself, or when you have that insight, that it is not a space for you. And what I find sad about it is that then there's a lot of people that feel there's no space for them at all in dietetics. And so if you can't see yourself in that acute clinical space, then for a lot of people, it's like, well, what is there, the only other alternative is private practice or business stuff. And again, same thing, if you're not driven by the traditional trappings of private practice, like that kind of approach, then that can feel not like the space for you too, which is why we see so many dietitians leave, which is always very sad, which is why I do what I do. part of my my kind of dream around changing the story or changing the narrative. But yeah, I love that you're back in dietetics and that things have shifted for you. and I know you mentioned you don't feel like you've locked your values down, which is fine. Also side note because values are always changing and it's an evolving process, right? It's an uneasy kind of thing. And how does it feel for you because what I'm hearing and correct me if I'm wrong and I'd love to hear your take on it is sort of like, the values have always been there but perhaps you couldn't quite put your finger on it. And, now that you feel like you have that awareness, or you're working on that, specifically, how has that shifted things for you by bringing the values and just really naming that or centering those? has that shifted things for you, in your business in your kind vision for what you want to be doing? And how you want to be showing up?
Geordy Henderson 15:29
Yeah, it's shifted everything. I mean, I think like most people who live in the world that is a capitalist society, very driven by traditional markers of success, whether that be a certain salary or income or that job title, and I was definitely caught up in that. So going back to and discovering what my core values are and following that, it's changed how I fill my day, it's changed. In that really basic way it's changed the way that I look at my day, what's most important, and, and then, planning further as to what that looks like, in my life in general. As a broaderway to describe that.
Laura Jean 16:30
Yeah. So there's that overarching look at where you want your life to go, but also just in the day to day where you're choosing to put your focus and resources.
Geordy Henderson 16:41
Exactly, yeah. Yes.
Laura Jean 16:44
And I think that, that can become...do you feel like that shifted or do you feel like motherhood has impacted or played a part in that as well?
Geordy Henderson 16:53
Oh, absolutely. And I don't think my values have actually shifted so much, it was more I wasn't honouring what my values were, pre-motherhood, they're very similar. I've always valued the connection with my immediate friends and family to be so important to me, and now that just extends into motherhood and the connection I have with my kid now. But it's more that, honouring that. And I think, in some ways, motherhood has highlighted to me that, you know it sounds cliche, but how fleeting time is. you can't really get it back, you need to slow down right here in this moment, otherwise, you're going to miss it. So that has been a huge lesson. And motherhood has allowed me to stop and reevaluate how fast I was going through things and how I wasn't taking space or time to reflect on what I'm doing right here and how I'm spending my time. And I haven't got that down, it's been far, far from perfect. That balance or trying to, you know, tilt into the different moving parts of motherhood and work and all of the things, it has been lesson after lesson. And just recently, it's shifted again. I mean, you know, when you have a newborn, you're so in it, there's no other way to put it, you're so in motherhood, and you don't have as much choice, and I think as my little one's growing up, and he's two and a half now. So still, you know, I'd still say I'm not a seasoned mother. But they gained a bit more independence. So you get back into work and things start to tilt and shift again. Just recently, we've had bouts of sickness, we've had COVID, and strep throat infection, all the different things, you know, coming home from daycare, and being around family at Christmas, and all the things and we got really sick, like between our family over and over and over again, that classic like story. And again, it's a reminder I have to step back and go, Okay, what's important? Where do my values lie? And what do I need in this moment? It's just been right here in my face that lesson, yeah.
Laura Jean 19:24
Over and over and over again.
Geordy Henderson 19:26
Yeah, yep, exactly.
Laura Jean 19:29
You know, nearly nine years in, my oldest turns nine in a week when we're recording this. Yeah, it's over and over and over again. Yeah. But that's a really nice segue into something that I would really like to chat to you about, which is pauses and get to why that's a really pertinent topic for us. But as far as you, in your own experience, like I know I found motherhood a huge pause right, huge pause for me, but for you I don't know if that if that felt similar for you or what came up for you. But what do pauses look like? And how do you either cultivate them? So like create meaningful, actual planned pauses? And then also, how do you respond? Or what's your process or what are you cultivating as your process? Because maybe it's still a work in progress, aren't we all, To respond to those external kind of pauses?
Geordy Henderson 20:26
Oh, oh, I mean, well, I'm nowhere near an expert in this, but it's something that I'm definitely practising. And I think it's, it's important to just break down first that a pause is anything from taking a moment and a breath, taking a longer pause, you know, that pause might be when you first become a mother, and you're in that newborn phase, and everything else is, and I guess that's more of that external shift of, we need to pause everything else to focus on this little life that is feeding from us. So it's any of that and in between, there's no right or wrong way to do it. And I think that's really important, because we can so easily, or I definitely find myself, falling into this trap of when you need a break, and you just go go go, and then you desperately need a break, you can have this fixed idea of what that would look like, or what a pause would look like. And it doesn't have to look like any specific thing. And often, it's not pretty. So what I've learned and what I've implemented into my life, and motherhood has definitely helped me do this. And then it's also when I've gone back into work and working in eating disorders, and working out, seeing clients and things like that as well, where can I implement those little pauses, and that's where I guess that's come from. Otherwise, if we don't plan for it, if we don't curate that space for it, it's not going to happen, because most of our external environment is encouraging us not to stop, just to keep going. That's not just in the dietetics profession that's in well, motherhood, it could be as well, just to, to go go go and to do more and be more and all of the things. So if we're not curating and deliberately taking the time and the space to pause, it's not going to happen.
So I found when I haven't taken that space, and this has happened, many, many times, I'm feeling exhausted, and feeling burnt out, I'm feeling I don't have, first the time to rest and rest my nervous system and feel grounded. And if I don't do that, then I don't have the space to then reflect on where I'm heading. And where I'm going. And I find myself lost in this, completely off path and misaligned from what's important to me and what my values are. And that has played out in many different ways in my life, definitely. Pre motherhood in working as a dietitian, and that journey before then. And then since motherhood and then going back into work, now, I still find it creeping up that expectation, that internalised message to keep going and do more and be more and, and produce and push and push and push. So the more I can then take a pause. And sometimes that pause is, longer than a moment, sometimes it needs to be a day or a week, or if I've got a sick kid even longer than that. And it gives me the space to get to rest and then and then reflect on Okay, where am I going? And what's next? Yeah.
Laura Jean 24:27
And do you feel like there's a difference or is there anything that feels different, or that you're working on differently on pauses, where it's a choice? So like, I'm gonna take a moment and pause here it's not so much external. I think many moms can relate to the sick kiddo thing where you've got a plan and you've got to change it last minute. Bbecause there's the pauses, we plan and we plan for that pause to be there, right? We've adjusted things and we've shifted things and moved things. We've got, in our mind, we know it's coming, versus the pause that's thrust upon us. That feels like hat we are out of luck. We don't have control over the control, I mean control is an illusion, but where it's a real visceral feeling of no control? What comes up for you around that?
Geordy Henderson 25:14
Oh, so many things. I mean, the plan to pause, I guess is more of, I'm curating that space more and more now, because I can see how valuable that has been in my life for that place to reflect. Whereas that external forced pause, changing plans, and I mean, we all felt that during COVID, of course, and lock downs, and all sorts of things were cancelled and rescheduled and what was forced into the space of pause. It's, yeah, it's a different challenge. And through motherhood and all that happening I've been able to develop flexibility and adaptability, you kind of have to, otherwise you're just gonna keep struggling with that, like you said over and over again for at least, you know, going on nine years, if not longer.
Laura Jean 26:29
Yeah, it's like adapt or perish kind of situation, isn't it? Not that you have to be a mother to build flexibility around pauses, but I definitely think it's a good training ground. It's like the CrossFit of pause training in motherhood, because of that. I mean, I myself, I took like, four years, I had a four year pause with my first two kiddos and it was chosen. And then also parts of it weren't. But it was such a great time to do that. And also there was that constant, you know questionning. I think the thing that often can get in the way or where the resistance comes up for people, and I don't know if you can relate, but around almost a fear thing that, if we pause if we're not continuing momentum, that we have this fear of whatever, insert our own personal things in here. Like, maybe wewe fear that we'llmiss something, as far as learning some new knowledge, or we fear we'll lose all the work or efforts that we've put in, you know be visible on social media, or whatever it might be. But there's sort of that fear, and it's almost like our own personal kind of magnifying glass over whatever we fear, like whatever kind of need we're trying to meet. And we can have that fear that when there's those external pauses that, that thing is going to be realised, right. Like, we're going to get left behind. We're not going to get where we want to go, we're going to lose our finger on the pulse, current knowledge of dietetics or whatever field we're in or Yeah, that kind of piece.
Geordy Henderson 28:17
Yeah. And like, all that effort, and productivity is gone. It just vanishes when we take a pause. I think that is, yeah. And like you said, it looks different for everyone. But that fear is real. And I think it's, for me, that fear was definitely there. I think even in the way that I originally was in dietetics, working in private practice, just before I left dietetics all together, in that I I only wanted to work part time, I just thought you know, full time loads too much. I don't have the capacity to do that. And even that in itself, I thought that that pause in between the week that I was somehow behind. Yeah, I think that was a really natural thing to feel then and it takes a lot of breaking down and dismantling those beliefs that we hold around what makes us enough and successful and productive and whether it's worth not taking the pause.
Laura Jean 29:41
Yeah, it's just an interesting piece because I think my natural tendency is to pause and to be slow but I know that it's not always comfortable, it's still not comfortable for me, even though sometimes it's probably more comfortable than it is for other people. But yeah, that fear piece I think is a big one. But I love that you have been been working on that, working on responding and so much so that it's coming into your dream or your vision for where you want to take your work. So I'd love to hear what are you dreaming into and, regular listeners to the podcast will know that dreaming and pausing are some of my my favourite things, but definitely dreaming. So, tell me what you're dreaming into around pausing, around work and business, around dreaming into for dietitians, and for dietetics as a whole.
Geordy Henderson 30:41
I think this dream, it really started with talking to other dietitians that were coming into my life. And dietitians, who I've been friends with since we studied together at uni. when talking to all of them around the common stressors that were coming in, and it was interesting when I started on Instagram, about a bit over a year ago, 18 months ago, maybe. And over that time, I've had quite a few new grad dietitians reach out to me, 'I like what you're doing on Instagram' or 'do you mind if we chat a little bit more about that? Or how did you start that? Or how did you get into this area that you're interested in'. And when I started chatting to them, again, and again, it came up how stressed they were, that level of stress, and burnout, and even the fear of burnout before they'd even gotten into their career was prevalent across all of these different dietitians working in all different areas, dietitians who are working for themselves. And that's when I started dreaming into what's going to help? Because, and I think we've touched on these conversations me and you Laura like a little while ago, what's going to help these dietitians who are coming into the dietitian world and felt very similar to what I did and wanted to leave for whatever reason. But one of those really common things was stress and burnout or fear of burnout. So I've been thinking and ruminating on that for quite a while, that's been there in the back of my mind. And then as I transition into running my own business, I have again seen the importance for me, to it's now all in my control, the boundaries I set and where I slow down and where I pause and make sure that I don't burn out. Because it's all up to me now, which is kind of a scary thing, too, in a way. It gives you a lot of self responsibility. Right?
Laura Jean 33:05
It's the both and, right? It's completely liberating and also pretty scary.
Geordy Henderson 33:08
yes, exactly. Yeah, that's exactly how I felt. And so I was like, Well, what can I put in place for myself to plan to pause because I myself, and then a lot of my dietitian friends that I talk to, when we get in that planning mode, we're often planning professional development, we're getting supervision, doing extra training and education and seeing our clients. then if you're running a business on top of that, or if you're working in hospital, or private practice, you've got your paperwork and your notes, there are so many things to do. And we just keep adding to the list, it just keeps getting higher and higher and higher. And the place where I was wanting to connect with people face to face, I wasn't feeling drawn to conferences or trainings. Because I was like, that's just another thing to do. Another thing to fill my brain, which is already kind of full. I'm getting very particular about what I want to consume. And if a training is right for that, I'll go go to that, of course. But it wasn't really the place to connect and to unwind. And I thought, I would really love a retreat or a space that's online, where I'm encouraged to rest and reflect and take that time and perhaps connect with other dietitians who are going through a similar reflective practice or wanting to slow down and have more rest. And like what is that physical space and that's where I started dreaming into what I've now coined as plan to pause for dietitians. And now looking into the future and broadening that out from okay, what's this little space that I can create like a local retreat and maybe an online community. What if we could have, these retreats and these spaces everywhere for dietetics, for dietitians, and it's encouraged, and it's a known thing that you can go to plan to pause, perhaps, or other collaborative projects around that. And that's a place to rest and reflect, and it's encouraged and it's normalised within dietetics. To do that, and just to slow down naturally, that's where the dreaming has kind of taken me now.
Laura Jean 35:37
Well, I love it, you know, I'm 100% on board. In some of our very first conversations, I think the first thing we connected over was I was dreaming into a little bit last year, having that craving for some sort of space or place to actually connect in person and to meet up with people. But same like not necessarily, with that strong focus on learning something new, or I suppose just with that typical, you know, quote, unquote, dietitian culture, overlaying it, you know, our kind of, like, default culture. And we hold space right for people with our work. And so spaces where we can be held, or just spaces where we hold each other and spaces where we can show up, and rest and pause, and just be in connection. And as much as you know, we're talking about how the clinical and traditional workplace spaces can feel toxic one of the really great things when I worked in the health system was the connection, because you often had meetings, and you had PD and you had journal clubs, or whatever, you know, so you're constantly meeting up with the other dietitians in your team or in your region, in your area. And I loved that piece of that role. And so, obviously humans, we gravitate toward connections, but I think health professionals or dietitians, it's so embedded across our training and our career, that then when you go out into private practice, it's kind of missing. And then when you overlay, that kind of almost culture of competition, on top of that, then it can feel like there's not really a space to connect as much as peers and friends. And just those kind of spaces.
Geordy Henderson 37:31
Exactly. And I think as well, I'd love to just point out, as, you know, as someone who's going into my own business, that there's a lot of support and space held now, you know, for entrepreneurs, but it's still that focus on work on business. And even though it's something you're so passionate about, and it's something you want to pursue, there's still that element of having to do something and be something more than just being. And I really want to emphasise that about this space, and that's why I like it to sit out outside of and alongside things like business coaching and training and also clinical supervision and professional development and conferences. It's just kind of that space in between and outside of it for connection and just to be human.
Laura Jean 38:32
Yeah, I think that's what it really recognises is the different facets of us as humans like we are dietitians. Yes. And connecting in spaces with other dietitians can be really nourishing and it's nice to do it in a way where yes, dietitians is part of it but it's not the focus like you said and it's not about being better and learning something new like PD is and it's not about you know focusing on your work like supervision can be or you're building and growing like business coaching can be it's this space I suppose that's really open I think. so, plan to pause is what you're working on, which I love and so at the moment you are dipping your toe in and just kind of seeing what kind of lands for people, but what do you hope to see or dream into reality or bring to fruition. what's your plans? In the planning of pausing....
Geordy Henderson 39:36
So, the plan to pause is, in the short term, I am planning a retreat. And I'm really excited to curate this space for dietitians to come. Be together. enjoy good food, take time out and relax and unwind. And there will be a reflective piece to it a workshop hosted by yours truly, Laura Jean. I was first thinking, Okay, I'll just get a feel for is this retreat something people want? Or is it just me? Am I the only one. So I started asking around and the feedback I've got is just incredible. I mean, we've started planning the retreat for the end of April. So the 28th to 30th of April, just south of where I am in Coffs Harbour, Sawtelle, New South Wales, in Australia, and hopefully, we get the interest, you never know, it's the first time but the feedback we've got that people really, really want this space. which is just amazing to hear, and just cements that feeling that I had. And also what I'm working on is creating an online community as well. And I want that to be a space where there's collaboration. So there's already people doing incredible work in this area. Working with dietitians, with very similar values and very similar dreams of what they want in the dietetic profession. So I don't know what that's going to look like yet. I'm feeling into it and seeing what it might entail, but maybe some form of online retreat and online space for dietitians to connect in the same way.
Laura Jean 41:43
And I think that the retreat, well, I'm super excited about it, and very honoured to be involved with it as well. But like, I went on a retreat, just personal retreat, like in 2022. It was like a meditation, yoga one anyway. But what I found what I find really interesting with that, which I think that your retreat really kind of fills a gap around, is for people who work in the Health at Every Size, non diet, weight inclusive space, a lot of the kind of more mainstream retreats are really steeped in diet culture, and really steeped in stuff you've got to filter through. It was definitely not a trauma informed space, let me just put that out there. I really enjoyed it had fun with my sister, we went on it together. But to be able to go to a retreat where I know there's that alignment, that values alignment I'm really excited about it. Because I think, one there's that dietetics piece, you know, a space where dietitians can connect and also just a space where people who work in that space, and I know, it's not exclusively for Health at Every Size, non diet dietitians, but knowing it's run by somebody with that values and mindset, and kind of show up and know that it's not going to be all the diet talk or the little bit of like, harmful wellness culture showing.
Geordy Henderson 43:10
Yeah, yeah. And, and there's no pressure to like, participate and do all the things. Yes, we'll be offering yoga, but it's up to you, you take the time as you need as well. And I think that's what I felt was really important is to just create the space for people to go and be there. And then having them pick and choose what they'd like to do and spend their time doing while they're there. Yeah, creating something that's really comfortable to rest.
Laura Jean 43:47
Yes. Yeah. And it's a great I think it'd be really great tool, or great opportunity for people who aren't as practised or as comfortable with just independent resting or actually carving that time out. sometimes and I was actually talking to a human that I work with just last week about this. even though I'm a big homebody, like even if you're a big homebody introvert and you would like to do your resting time at home if you aren't practiced at prioritising the time, if you need to flex that muscle of actually keeping that time set aside, actually carving that time out, something like this is great because you book in, and it's a set date and it's a weekend, and obviously the vision is that people continue to cultivate and plan to pause through their day to day life, but sometimes it's easier to get started by having something that's organised, it's on the calendar, it's booked in. it feels a little bit more concrete, it's something outside of us as well and you know 'if I don't show up there's a consequence'. Like Geordy's not going to come and hunt you down or anything but there's a consequence of not honouring that time versus when we plan it independently, we plan an afternoon off and then we fill it with admin work versus if you've booked into retreat for a weekend. You're less likely to kind of push that off the plan.
Geordy Henderson 45:09
Exactly. And I was actually speaking to yet another friend about this when I was first dreaming it up. And she said, Oh, amazing, I need that. And that's what I've heard a lot is I need that space. And then follow it up with. And I said, you know, it's not, it's not going to be a place to be working on your business, or to keep doing things or there's not even going to be any structured learning as such, or professional development. And she, she said 'I'm going to really struggle with that, I'm going to really struggle to slow down and just be there'. And that's why I think it's so brilliant because on her own she finds it really, really difficult to do that. Yeah,
Laura Jean 45:59
And doing it with other people who are trying to do the same thing. And doing it at a set time. And also doing it just a little bit outside of, it won't be very far outside of your normal day to day life, but for other people, and for myself coming along, rather than it being about trying to find the space around kids and stuff like that, you're just taking yourself out of your normal day to day, just for a moment just for a few days. And I think the more that you get practice, and the more you get that experience of doing it and experiencing it for ourselves, then it's like, Oh, I really do need this. And yeah, I love that this will just give people who maybe do find it tricky, who aren't great at getting that time, what it feels like to just sit back, to exhale. Yeah, just pause and slow down and be? I'm super pumped about it and you know that because I've told you, but for everyone listening sounds amazing and I'm super pumped. Apologies to people who are not in a location that facilitates you attending an in person retreat in Sawtell. But, as you heard, Geordy has plans for international potentially, online who knows?
Geordy Henderson 47:18
Oh yes. The sky's the limit.
Laura Jean 47:21
Exactly. And speaking to, like, you know, you said there won't be any professional development. And then people might wonder didn't you say Laura is doing a thing. I'll just really briefly speak to what my involvement with Geordy is or what I'm envisaging, and we'll probably nut it out a bit more. But I"ll be supporting people around their values, because I feel like values offer a space to pause, to ground in, to pause from, it's a space, it's the tools, and I've talked about it here. And I'll drop the episode that I've done around pausing in the show notes, so people can have a listen to that around, because that will probably be the kind of angle we'll be talking about at the retreat, it won't be aboutknowing your values for as a tool for your business,etc, but really as a space to ground in, and a space to choose from.
Geordy Henderson 48:11
Exactly. And when I say it's not professional development, as such, if you're engaged in supervision, and especially if you do work in eating disorders, your supervisor would say it's probably one of the most valuable pieces of professional development or personal development is taking the time to rest reflect and in this case, specifically reflection around values. it's essential in terms of professional development. So you could look at it through that lens for sure.
Laura Jean 49:03
Yeah, I think that's a that's a good bit of nuance is that because often we think that professional development is learning outside of ourselves. But really, if we think of the words like it's developing as a professional, which is really developing as a human, because there's no separation between us as a person as a professional. So it's really just development as a human. And well, that's like all of our values, in my opinion. So yeah, I think you're right there. And probably the nuance which we kind of labelled professional development because we call it CPD, which is like external learning. So it's not necessarily that it's not development, but there will be no test. But yes, I think we will be developed afterwards. Well, I'm really super excited about it. So if anyone is interested, curious, just wants to have a sticky beak when this episode drops, in the show notes will be all the details for it and where you can go and find all the details for plan to pause retreat. the retreat itself is called plan to pause?
Geordy Henderson 50:08
Yeah, it's the dietitian, retreat.
Laura Jean 50:11
Yeah. And it will be late April in Coffs Harbour or just outside of Coffs Harbour. So that is going to be super exciting So I'll put all the details for that, plus all of the details for getting into connection and conversation with Geordy, if you're somewhere else in the world, and you just want to tell Geordy about how much you need this in your space or place, then feel free to do that, too.
Geordy Henderson 50:36
Because I love to hear it. I love it.
Laura Jean 50:40
And I love hearing about your dream. And really we were only chatting about it probably like less than four months ago. And so I love that you've like drempt further into it, and you're taking action on it, even though we're talking about pausing and resting. I still really appreciate, I think that part of that it then gives us that space to then take action from right, to get super clear that when we do take action, it's really where we want to go, rather than just all that busy action, that distracts us and makes us burnout and pulls us away. That actually, when you pause when you plan, when you get in that alignment, then it's that real action that takes you where you want to go.
Geordy Henderson 51:24
Exactly . in a nutshell it's a space for dietitians to rest first and foremost. As that is what I'm hearing, the dietitians need. It's that room. it's then that the space to reflect, to have the space to reflect, then move on, to recenter. And recenter is really about, are we heading in the right direction when we hit go again?
Laura Jean 51:56
Yes, yeah. And that's where the values can really play such an important part because it's a space to ground in with that reflection and recentering coming from there. So one of the questions that I like to ask people, connected to one of my favourite quotes, because in the work that we do when we're doing things differently and changing things, is that we're planting seeds for a forest that we may never get to spend time in. So maybe we never get to spend time in our lifetime in the dream of, you know, dietitians frolicking around in meadows of flowers resting....But what is the seed that you would like to plant, or seeds can be more than one, for those listening or for dietetics as a profession, what's your seat?
Geordy Henderson 52:46
I would love to see dietitians go into uni and to graduate knowing that there are, actually let me rephrase that. I would love to say dietitians, going through their uni degree and graduating with the skill of self compassion, first and foremost, as a natural of being and the natural skill to have cultivated is self compassion first and foremost. Then I would love it to be normalised that within the dietetic profession, there is space to rest and reflect regularly just as a part of what we do.
Laura Jean 53:39
I love it. And not to completely tangent the conversation way back into another depth or direction, because we probably could go back in there, but in the Australian dietetics course, and I assume it's still the same, it was like this, 20 plus years ago when I trained, but one of the big things we used to keep was a reflection journal. Do you still have to do that?
Geordy Henderson 54:03
yes, yeah.
Laura Jean 54:04
So, you know, it's in the, it's in the curriculum, but to take it beyond lip speak. That's what just popped into my head when you said that, you know, it's something that we are encouraged to do. But then it's like, once you're graduated, or once you pass, it's almost like one of those tick boxes, but yeah, I think there's an opporunity to embed it and normalise it, you know, because it's there, there's that whisper of what it could be,
Geordy Henderson 54:26
Yeah, and it's the same and instead of that being a place of to judge yourself or your worth or your success, for it to be a place to grow into the human that you want to be.
Laura Jean 54:45
Well, that is the perfect note to wrap us up. Because that's exactly what we're all about here. And I think that is really the potential of the space that you are dreaming into and planting seeds for and taking action into breathing into being. So I love it. So thanks so much Geordy for chatting and for sharing your dream and for sharing, and for just putting it out there, and saying, Yeah, I'll hold this space. Because that's how we change things right in our profession and for us as humans, is by doing it differently, and actually doing it differently. So I love it. And I'm super excited about April. And so if you're interested or keen, head to the shownotes or go reach out to Geordy - Geordy Rita on Instagram, but what's the plan to pause handle?
Geordy Henderson 55:45
Yeah, so it's @plan.to.pause
Laura Jean 55:50
Excellent. And I'll put that in the show notes as well. But if you want to go check that out. Do. AndI'm sure Geordy would be excited to be in conversation with you about it.
Geordy Henderson 56:04
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Excellent.
Laura Jean 56:08
And maybe we'll connect, for some people listening, we'll connect face to face in April and I'm just super pumped even about that part of it, just being in that in person connection with people
Geordy Henderson 56:20
Me to I'm really excited. And yeah, just to to be in person and dietitians that I haven't met face to face before.
Laura Jean 56:31
Yes, absolutely. And on the beach.
Geordy Henderson 56:34
Yeah. Hopefully it doesn't rain. But if it does, I'm sure we'll find something else to do.
Laura Jean 56:39
Being on the coast is nice, though. Particularly up your way where it's till warm. It's not like going to the coast close to me where it's like cold, so still warm even with the rain in your part of the world. Excellent. Okay, Geordy, well, I'm gonna let you get on with the rest of your day. And for those of you listening, thank you so much for sharing your time with us. And we'll let you get on with your day. And absolutely, go connect with Geordy and check out the show notes for all the links, for all the things and perhaps use this, if you needed a sign to take a pause for yourself today. or plan a pause for the week or for the last weekend in April if you're in Australia. Okay. Thanks, Geordy. And until next time, bye for now.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai