Episode 80: Inhabit with Special Guest Debra Benfield

Inhabit means to live in our bodies, not in our heads. When we learn to be present in our bodies, to move out of the obsessive thinking and into our feelings, we can learn to identify and meet our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. First, we must be aware that we are in the obsession, in the thinking, in the head. Then we can use our breath to bring our awareness into our body and explore what we are experiencing in our bodies.Debra Benfield is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist (RDN), as well as a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian, and IAEDP-approved Supervisor (CEDRD-S) with over 30 years of experience in the field. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher, Certified in Curvy Yoga, Accessible Yoga, and Trauma-Sensitive Yoga. Debra also participated in 2 years of training in Presence-Based Coaching which she integrates into her offerings. Debra is committed to offering respectful, compassionate care with the intention to create a partnership with you as the expert of your own body. She has discovered the transformative power of somatic practices and yoga along with embodied/intuitive eating principles. With a focus on trauma-informed care and nourishing your inner child, she offers individual and family nutritional therapy, as well as group programs, workshops and retreats. Debra will start where you are and believes in small steps to support your whole-person well being. Debra supervises her RDN associates with the same philosophy and intention. She also provides professional supervision, coaching and professional development. Debra is committed to supporting best practices in both preventing and treating disordered eating for health and behavioral health care providers and founded the Winston-Salem Eating Disorder Coalition. She also is creating community for those who are on the path of Body Liberation by offering a free monthly Book Club that is open to the public. Debra’s professional background includes providing medical nutrition therapy as a clinical nutritionist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine for many years and was a faculty member of the School of Medicine for 10 of those years. While at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, she was responsible for a wide range of tasks: nutrition education of medical professionals and patients, clinical nutrition services, research, and administration. She was also in private practice part-time during those years with a transition to full time private practice in 2005. Debra’s experience also includes being a chief clinical dietitian in a clinical setting, a clinical nutritionist for North Carolina School of the Arts, and RDN in an addiction treatment center as well as a behavioral health center. [email protected]  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★