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Who Am I?
Mission & Vision
Background
Professional Qualifications
Who Am I?
I am the mother of two beautiful daughters and four gorgeous step-children who inspire me everyday to create communities where it’s normal for people to feel empowered by and rejoice in the magnificence of their own natural bodies. I want my family, all of our friends, their families and communities to not waste any time thinking and worrying about how they look, instead placing all of their energy and love into creating exhilarating lives, including caring for themselves with love, compassion and trust.
I am an energetic professional speaker, presenting a range of seminars and workshops with an inspiring message about the crucial, and often overlooked role that body image plays in our self care and health enhancement practices.
I am a consultant who will work closely with your people to create a coordinated and empowering conversation about the importance of positive body image on the health and wellbeing within your organization. Productivity will rise as people feel free to connect with and take care of their bodies and in turn, their whole selves, and buy out of our weight-focused culture.
I am a Breathwork Practitioner who brings awareness of the embodied experience of emotions, appetite, energy and movement. I help individuals and communities to understand the language of their bodies, enhancing connection and trusting in its wisdom.
I am a woman and a professional whose work is inspired by my personal experiences, my formal qualifications and ongoing studies and my great desire to create paradigm shifts so all people are free to celebrate and look after their own unique, magnificent bodies.
I am a capable, open-hearted women who has experienced poor body image and disordered eating from the age of 16 years and through my 20s. I know the energy drain that weight preoccupation brings and the dark and lonely place it is. I also know the joy and liberation that comes with accepting and loving my body and myself. There are many paths from body shame to body love. I want to shine a light on the path that worked for me.
My Vision:
People of all shapes and sizes celebrate their bodies, listen to and recognise the body’s sensations and feelings, trusting in its wisdom.
Whole communities celebrate body diversity, use empowering and respectful language when talking about all bodies and understand the importance of positive motivations related to enhancing health and self care. Individuals within these commmunities feel supported to embrace and rejoice in their own unique body to build health, vitality and wellbeing, motivated by self-care, compassion and feeling great about their bodies and themselves.
My Mission:
– To empower people of all shapes and sizes to celebrate their uniqueness and love their bodies and themselves – creating health, vitality and wellbeing through connection with and compassion for themselves and others.
– To empower people of all shapes and sizes to listen to their bodies, understand embodied sensations and feelings, trusting in the body’s wisdom.
– To encourage all people to embrace their body’s stories with love and appreciation.
– To create healthier communities by inspiring individuals of all shapes and sizes to make health-enhancing choices that are motivated by self-care, connection and body esteem without feeling deprived or punished.
– To create a paradigm shift in our culture that currently uses weight as a measure of health. This will be achieved by sharing quality, evidence based information about non-dieting approaches to healthy weight management and the Health at Every Size® model
– To inspire people to develop a critical eye when consuming popular media, helping them to understand that they can buy out of the dominant culture that currently perpetuates unachievable and stereotypically lean appearance ideals as a symbol of health and wealth.
– To collaborate with like-minded people to create communities where body diversity and health are celebrated.
– To support like minded people by developing networking events where knowledge, experiences and ideas can be shared, developed, encouraged and celebrated.
– To share my ideas, experience and knowledge through a series of high quality seminars, workshops, presentations, articles, blogs and books.
Professional Background
You’re in good hands with Louise Wigg!
Louise believes passionately that when it comes to health, you’ll get more gain if there’s no pain! And that fit and healthy people really do come in all shapes and sizes.
After experiencing poor body image in her teens through to her early 30s Louise developed a personal interest in body image and eating disorders. This led her to pursue her Master’s degree in Women’s Studies with her thesis on ‘The development of body image in children and adolescents.’
Louise is involved with creating change within communities and empowering community members through a range of roles and experiences including:
- Management Committee of Body Image & Health Inc. (1998-2002)
- Conducted a two-year research project called ‘Fitness for Every Body’ at the Winning Edge Fitness Club in Melbourne, designed to create a body image friendly fitness facility. This project included (1997-1999)
- Engagement of managers
- Conducted training for fitness instructors and members,
- Conducted an audit of ways to create a more weight inclusive facility,
- Developed a subjective fitness assessment questionnaire to replace skinfolds, girth measurements and BMI. Bringing the focus back to health and how we feel rather than weight or shape.
- Comprehensive pre and post member evaluation.
- Co-author of the Body Satisfaction Training Program aimed at fitness professionals based on Fitness for Every Body.
- Project Manager of Body Image in the Bush Project (funded by Victorian Dept of Youth Affairs) involving community consultation and body image education including community forums and professional development featuring Dr, Rick Kausman and Professor Susan Paxton throughout rural and regional Victoria. (2004)
- Ministerial Reference Group, assisting Minister Jacinta Allan (Youth Affairs) throughout the Parliamentary Inquiry into Body Image (2004)
- Project Consultant for the Fad Diets Won’t Work Community Conversations Project in 2006
- Assisted Dr. Rick Kausman to coordinate his ‘If not dieting Health Professionals Training’
- Current Project Leader of the Upper Yarra Body Image Working Group
Louise is a Breathwork Practitioner and has developed the Body of Love Program which combines her knowledge and experience in promoting positive body image with helping people to connect with, understand and trust the sensations and feelings in their body.
Louise has more than 20 years experience presenting training, seminars, workshops and writing articles. She is currently writing her first book about creating weight inclusive environments.
Formal Qualifications
Bachelor of Education, majoring in Physical Education & Home Economics
Master of Arts, Women’s Studies
Breathwork Practitioner & Thrive Coach
Professional Development
- Accredited QUIT Faciltator (Cancer Council)
- If Not Dieting Health Professional Training (Dr. Rick Kausman)
- Beyond Diets Facilitator Training (Victorian Centre of Excellence in Eating Disorders)
- Eating Disorders Online Training (Centre for Eating & Dieting Disorders) 2016
- Body Project Australia Faciltator (Eating Disorders Victoria) 2018