Hi there! My name is Mariama, also known as Mari. I’m a Mindful Eating & Embodiment Coach on a mission to help the world cultivate a peaceful, loving relationship with food & body. I believe that being the most authentic version of yourself begins with healing your relationship with food & body.

At 7 years old, I became hyper-aware of outer appearance because I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. At 13 years old - the start of my thigh gap obsession era - I understood that I could manipulate food and exercise to maintain a ‘slim’ figure. Through my teenage years and early 20s I went through a whirlwind of phases in my food and body relationship that entailed:

• Fasts, cleanses, and diets like paleo, keto, vegetarian, vegan, high-fat/low-carb, low-fat/high carb, no added sugars

• Skipping meals or eating very small meals to ‘feel skinny’

• Taking a pharmaceutical drug - Spironolactone - that stopped my menstrual cycle and prevented me from gaining weight

• Obsessively working out when I felt myself gaining weight

• Experiencing dramatic shifts in weight

• Body dysmorphia resulting in constant dissatisfaction with my body and an urge to change it constantly.

• Binge eating episodes

• Fearing and condemning foods

The challenges I’ve faced in my food and body relationship aren’t unique.

Underneath the surface of these food and body challenges is an ocean of information around trauma, self-limiting beliefs, and old stories.

These challenges go far deeper than controlling food and body. Food and body are simply the mediums through which your inner world’s pain and turmoil expresses itself.

In the midst of blossoming into an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, I began learning from various mentors about cognitive behavioral change, eating psychology, somatic practices, and internal family systems (IFS)/parts-work. As I applied these methodologies to myself in combination with my integrative health lens, a shift began to occur.

Fast-forward to the present day, binge eating episodes are rare, I feel immense peace in my food & body relationship, and I love helping others cultivate their ideal relationship with food, body and Self.

Outside of this work, you can find me dancing, hiking, daydreaming, and exploring the many things this world has to offer.

Photography by William Schwerd