I’m delighted to feature this gorgeous human being on the site today – please meet Vanessa Millar!  Today she talks PCOS, trusting your inner wisdom and why she’s mad for a beard (particularly the man variety…).  Let’s chat with this beauty who is better known as the ‘Body-Love Coach!’

What does fertility mean to you?
To me fertility is about cultivating the perfect conditions for growth, way more than just making babies. In order to grow as women we need just the right amount of nourishment from food, movement and self-care. When we get that right, thats fertility. That’s wellness.

What is one ritual or practice that you do that connects you back to yourself as a woman?
I am absolutely loving my weekly African Dance class. There is something about the beat, the rhythm and the freedom of movement that makes me feel feminine and strong, like a lady warrior. I’m sure the booty shaking and shoulder shimmy-ing helps too.

If you could tell your teen self 1 piece of advice about health/fertility/hormones, what would it be?
To trust your own intuition. We are so impressionable (and hormonal) as teenagers that we take the word of “experts” even if it doesn’t feel right to us. Your gut instinct is rarely wrong, so go with that. Don’t want to take that pill? Don’t do it. BUT make sure you educate yourself, connect with your body and understand how your cycle works. That information is gold, girl!

Would you change something you did in previous years with regard to fertility and health?  If so what might that be?
Hells yes! When I was 19 and diagnosed with PCOS I felt like I was doomed to fatness for my entire life. With next to no accurate information about how to manage my condition I took to punishing my fat ass at the gym, starving myself, and taking handfuls of laxatives after every binge. What I thought I was doing was fixing PCOS by getting thin (I was told if I lose weight the other symptoms would disappear). In reality I was completely denying my body of nutrients and love. I was throwing my hormones into even more of a hot mess and destroying my digestion.

If I could go back and do it all again I would approach my diagnosis with love, kindness and forgiveness. I would see my body as a beautiful gift worthy of love and respect and I would choose to nourish it, to be patient with it and give it exactly what it needed to heal.

What ignites you?
I am crazy passionate about helping women fall in love with their bodies. I want all women to see themselves as beautiful, incredible, gorgeous souls with the world at their feet. I want us to join together to relieve some of the pressure that is put on us by the media and society to conform to a certain type of beauty and embrace our own uniqueness. Let’s change up the way we speak to ourselves and each other about our bodies, quit hating, judging, shaming and instead celebrate our rockin’ bods in their perfectly imperfectness.

What’s your one essential health item?
Coconut oil. Oh my lordy, I think I have a jar of it in every room in my house. It is the only thing I put on my skin, the only oil I cook with and it also fixes creaky doors. Who knew?

Favourite food?
Chocolate! Raw or Carob. There really is nothing better than that gorgeous brown bean of love.

Favourite movie or book?
Picking a favourite book is like picking a favourite child (Olivia, if you are reading this it’s you, haha just kidding). I am such a self-help junkie and my fav’s are Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection and Geneen Roth, Women, Food and God.

Oh and if I’m watching a movie you can guarantee its a romantic comedy, what’s better than crying, laughing and falling in love all at once?

Cheesy addiction? (ie boy bands or soap mags)
I am obsessed with beards (on men, of course), there is nothing better than a strapping lad with hair on his face. Swoon.

Morning or Evening routine?
I love a morning routine. A little yoga, some meditation, a good shower and cup of apple cider vinegar, ginger and lemon before the kids wake up makes for an amazing day ahead.

Vanessa Millar is a Body-Love Coach + Yoga Teacher + Reiki Practitioner on a mission to help women find acceptance, connection and love, in their own skin. Vanessa has experienced her own personal struggles with body-image, self-esteem and emotional eating, leading her through periods of anxiety, depression, bulimia and binge eating. Having made an inspiring recovery, despite facing some incredibly heart-breaking challenges, she feels blessed to be able to share everything she knows and everything she has learned with women, just like her, all over the world.

Vanessa received her holistic health coach training with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, is a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Australia and holds a Level II Reiki Healer Certification.
Vanessa works with women 1:1 as a coach, healer and yoga teacher and is the creator of The Body-Love Revolution eCourse. A unique 6-week online course aimed at encouraging women to find their own voice and transform their relationships with food and their bodies. The first round of the course is underway with more dates to be announced soon.
Vanessa is extremely excited about starting the revolution, an uprising of body-love sisters determined to change how we speak to ourselves and each other about our bodies. It is her mission to bring women together and raise awareness about the unnecessary pressures placed

Connect with Vanessa on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or over at her gorgeous website.