When All the Inner Work Finally Lands With Danya Nissan

In this episode of The Body Image Revolution, I sit down with my client Danya for one of the most honest and powerful conversations I’ve had on the podcast yet.

We talk about what it’s like to be deeply self-aware, to have done years of healing, certifications, therapy, embodiment work… and still feel like there’s a gap between what you know and how you actually feel in your body.

Danya opens up about her journey through eating disorders, spirituality, healing, comparison, family dynamics, body image, and ultimately what shifted for her inside The New Sexy Awakening. This conversation is raw, nuanced, emotional, and deeply human.

We explore grounded confidence, redefining beauty, learning to exist in your body without constantly questioning yourself, and what happens when healing stops being performative and actually begins to land.

I know so many women are going to see themselves in this one. ♥

Learn more about Danya by visiting her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soydanyanissan/ 

The New Sexy Awakening is now taking applications. It's a 5-month, intimate journey for self-aware women to go beyond body acceptance, fully embrace their bodies, and feel sexy AF.

For more details and to apply: www.rebeccasigalacoaching.com/the-new-sexy

I would love to hear from you on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/rebeccasigalastudio

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Hello, hello. Welcome to the Body Image Revolution. I wanna describe something that I think a lot of you guys can relate to. I personally relate to it. It's this really specific type of struggle when someone has a very deep level of self-awareness, but then the reality is that things are not quite matching up to where you want them to be. There's like a gap. You're like, "I know this stuff. I help other people with this stuff. I should be further along by now." And that's exactly what we're gonna be talking about here today in this really special conversation with my client, Danya. And I honestly cannot describe how special she truly is. She is such a beautiful soul. I'm so glad that we connected years ago on Facebook of all places, and she began coming to my mini courses. And after years, literally, of coming to my mini courses, following me, having conversations here and there, she came to the one that changed everything for her. It was called The Self Care Revival, and that was last year. It was 21 days. And after she went through that, she decided to embark on a deeper body image journey in the New Sexy Awakening, which is my signature five-month program. And when I say deeper, I mean deeper. this is a woman who had done years of inner work beforehand, and we're gonna talk about this today because she really shares so much just authentically and honestly. And she had literally done, like, every course, every certification, every healing experience you could possibly think of. Danya's actually a coach herself who works with body image and embodiment. She also teaches yoga and facilitates workshops where she lives in Mexico City. But even with all this knowledge and experience, she felt like there was that gap, like something missing because sometimes she would still look in the mirror and be clashing with her inner critic, or she'd go to a family function and start comparing herself. She'd go back and forth between, "I should just accept myself or accept my body fully," or, "Maybe, maybe I should try to change it." The outside voices and the noise was loud, and it wasn't just in her head. It's the culture all around her. So she kept thinking, like, "I thought I was past this already," which is exactly that struggle I was talking about in the beginning, this, deep level of self-awareness, and then you're just like, "Why am I not there yet?" But instead of, staying stuck there and beating herself up for not being as far along as she wanted to be, Danya didn't do that. She allowed her intuition to guide her, and she came into The New Sexy with such curiosity and openness, and she took her healing to a totally- other level. I deeply admire Danya. She's an inspiration. She has so much passion, so much curiosity, and sensuality, and fervor for life, and it's contagious. I'm guessing you'll catch some of that as you listen in. I hope you enjoy

Rebecca Sigala 3:07

where do we begin?

Danya Nissan 3:09

You tell me it's your podcast. This is gonna be such a good, good conversation.

Rebecca Sigala 3:17

There's so many beautiful starts on your journey. Like, do we start years ago when

Danya Nissan 3:27

I think I'd like that.

Rebecca Sigala 3:28

Okay. Amazing.

Danya Nissan 3:30

I think I would very much like to speak about that child, your body

Rebecca Sigala 3:34

story

Danya Nissan 3:35

and my body story and because it, it's context and it speaks, uh, a lot about, I know of course you work with women who struggle with body image and

Rebecca Sigala 3:46

well, struggle is like such a loaded word. I think. cause most people who would come to me, they don't say that they struggle with body. No. I mean I think they're like you where it's like you've done so much work and are confident in so many ways and so it's hard to, I guess, face or admit that like this is something that they still struggle with after all these years.

Danya Nissan 4:13

It's very normalized.

Rebecca Sigala 4:16

Right. And then it's like, oh, well I don't like this body part, but that's fine. Because that's how every single woman relates to their body.

Danya Nissan 4:27

Correct.

Rebecca Sigala 4:27

okay. So. Little Danya I have in my mind that picture that you shared, I don't know what week it was. And beautiful, cute little girl. Where was she at? like what was it like for you as a child? What messages did you internalize about yourself and about bodies?

Danya Nissan 4:51

So specifically, at that age, I was around, well, I changed schools when I was little, when I was like six years because I was very bullied at my first school that I went to. And I think initially it started there that I started to feel kind of, ugly, different, different, not belonging.

Rebecca Sigala 5:17

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 5:17

So I changed schools and of course there's, like, in this other school, there were so many beautiful girls. I'm not gonna call them like women now. They're women, but they were girls. And at the time and in my household, the messages I received were always surrounding, body like how you should be. To be loved, how you should look to be important, to be valued, to be, you know, it was like, if you're not doing this, if you're not looking like this, there's something wrong Right. About you.

Rebecca Sigala 5:54

Right, right. There's a certain also intensity that I've noticed in Hispanic culture that focuses on that, do you see that as well?

Danya Nissan 6:06

It's not so much. It is. And yes, in Hispanic

Rebecca Sigala 6:10

culture, yes. I mean, there's so many beautiful things about Hispanic culture. I'm not, not saying that's all there is, but, but

Danya Nissan 6:17

for

Rebecca Sigala 6:17

sure, it seems like there's a lot around femininity and, appearance

Danya Nissan 6:22

for sure and more in Colombia and Venezuela and those places. Right. In South America, so much more than in Mexico. and it's pretty normalized to just do surgery at a very young age,

Rebecca Sigala 6:37

right? Like nose jobs and

Danya Nissan 6:39

everything. Boob job, everything. Nose job. But job to Yes, yes. To make your,

Rebecca Sigala 6:46

like

Danya Nissan 6:46

your parents

Rebecca Sigala 6:47

support,

Danya Nissan 6:48

thinner

Rebecca Sigala 6:48

parents support their daughters doing that.

Danya Nissan 6:51

Yes. It's pretty normal. I mean, I'm not the one living there. I live in Mexico City, but I do have friends who are from Venezuela and I do have neighbors who are from Columbia and uh, so it's pretty much normalized.

Rebecca Sigala 7:06

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 7:06

And the tele novellas, you can see them and they would

Rebecca Sigala 7:10

tell

Danya Nissan 7:11

you how it's like.

Rebecca Sigala 7:13

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 7:14

Even in Mexico, so, so yes, I, I do remember a lot of, like

Rebecca Sigala 7:18

performing,

Danya Nissan 7:20

a lot of, performing, a lot of, you have to be smiley, not smiling. I'm not gonna say smiley. Like, I, I remember my father many times saying, why the long face? Why the long face? Right. Because I was like, my, my parents got divorced and my father got with a new girlfriend and my mom was, the boyfriend. And I felt so alone in those times and everything so much was about appearance.

Rebecca Sigala 7:52

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 7:53

And, and I was so angry inside of me with how things were, yeah. How things were, were taking place.

Rebecca Sigala 8:02

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 8:03

And I couldn't,

Rebecca Sigala 8:04

that makes sense.

Danya Nissan 8:06

I don't know, like my safe space were diaries. I have over 40 diaries, I think because it was my safe space to express. And

Rebecca Sigala 8:15

it was kind of like, just, just bottle up your emotions and like put on a pretty face and

Danya Nissan 8:21

kind of Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 8:23

Yeah. I, I know what that's like

Danya Nissan 8:27

for so many years it was like that. And even in my, in my home with my grandma and my, my cousins and I love them and you know, I love my family.

Rebecca Sigala 8:37

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 8:38

But

Rebecca Sigala 8:40

for, I feel that,

Danya Nissan 8:41

yeah. But for a long time it was like kind, kind of the different one or the lonely one, or the, the deeper one. Like, I want to understand life. I want to go deep. I want to, to,

Rebecca Sigala 8:54

and you were feeling at the time that that also translated to your body and your appearance.

Danya Nissan 9:00

I took everything out on food and bulimia and, I had anorexia nervosa like nervous. What age did you

Rebecca Sigala 9:10

struggle with that?

Danya Nissan 9:12

It started since 12. Wow. Since I was 12. It started since I was 12 and I used to take pills. I remember artichoke pills to make peepee, you know, to, to make the fat go away. And it went away through, going to the bathroom and Oh

Rebecca Sigala 9:28

my gosh. Yeah.

Danya Nissan 9:29

and at one time? I, I fell like I lost consciousness.

Rebecca Sigala 9:34

Oh my gosh.

Danya Nissan 9:34

And I fell and I hit my head and I opened my head and my mom came. I don't think I knew

Rebecca Sigala 9:40

about that.

Danya Nissan 9:41

No, I don't think you knew. And, and I opened my head and she took me to the doctor and, Like the doctor told me for the first time. Okay. You have anorexia osa, which is anxious of Yeah. Anorexia. And you have bulimia and, you have to take this, like, otherwise your kidneys will fail. You have a 99-year-old kidney right

Rebecca Sigala 10:05

now. 99-year-old. Oh my

Danya Nissan 10:06

gosh. Yeah, he told me that.

Rebecca Sigala 10:08

So you went to a treatment center or what did you do from there?

Danya Nissan 10:13

So he gave me, I don't know how much amount of electrolyte, like so many, like four liters. I remember you have to drink this for in these two hours and we're gonna have to, for a year. I had to be in like checkups, constantly checkups.

Rebecca Sigala 10:31

Gosh.

Danya Nissan 10:32

And I didn't know, you know, at the time. So it was kind

Rebecca Sigala 10:34

of

Danya Nissan 10:34

like

Rebecca Sigala 10:35

outpatient treatment in a way, like you were being closely monitored.

Danya Nissan 10:40

I was being closely monitored. Yes. Um, I never went to a clinic. I went to see the clinics. I did, and I have friends who went to clinics and I felt that I didn't belong there. Mm-hmm. No. Um, so I started the journey kind of on my own with, with therapy. Not without therapy. With therapy. The therapist that I used to go, I, I went with her for 12 years and she is, uh, she's not an regular psychologist. She's more like core energetic. It's, it's a field. It's,

Rebecca Sigala 11:15

uh, cool. Yes. And when, how old were you when you started that?

Danya Nissan 11:18

I was 12 until two, four.

Rebecca Sigala 11:20

Wow. Wow.

Danya Nissan 11:21

From 12 to 24. And um,

Rebecca Sigala 11:25

that's amazing that your parents facilitated that as well.

Danya Nissan 11:29

Mainly my mom.

Rebecca Sigala 11:30

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 11:31

My mom facilitated that. My mom, my, my dad wasn't much of a, like, he didn't much agree of the type of, of therapy it was,

Rebecca Sigala 11:40

right.

Danya Nissan 11:40

He wanted more, like mainstream but it was, it was very, like, that's where I learned to, you know, like ancestral healing and uh,

Rebecca Sigala 11:55

wow.

Danya Nissan 11:56

And healing with my body and, you know, imagining you just energy healing as well. And, and wow. I remember I could be able to, to yell in the sessions and, and, and punch pillows and like one session she told me, imagine yourself, you're in front of the bathroom and you're just, you're throwing up. And it was a very. Intense session and she just, you know, she laid the ground for me to, to sustain me there and to tell me what do you see? What do you feel? What's going on? You know, in, in this experience. Yeah. What's happening. So, and I still remember that because it was very, very powerful for me. And to be held and to be seen. I also went to therapy. To regular therapy.

Rebecca Sigala 12:50

Wow. That's a lot of therapy for a young girl.

Danya Nissan 12:54

Yeah. To regular. Yes. And um, and I started to read more that, that was when I was older, when I

Rebecca Sigala 13:03

was Do you feel, do you feel like the therapy was what helped you move out of the eating disorders or was it something else? Was it a combination?

Danya Nissan 13:13

I think it was a combination of, of everything. Like the, the good thing, the great thing about the first therapy that I went to, it was, it's very, it was very embodied. Like it didn't stay just in Yeah, it

Rebecca Sigala 13:23

sounds very

Danya Nissan 13:24

body rationalizing or, or speaking or, you know.

Rebecca Sigala 13:28

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 13:29

It was very felt.

Rebecca Sigala 13:31

and then what were your twenties like with your relationship

Danya Nissan 13:34

with your twenties? My twenties. So I remember I flew, like the first time I said I'm gonna, like, I'm gonna allow myself to eat a full box of Tim Tams, you know the Tim Tams? Mm-hmm. And the cookies. Tim Tams.

Rebecca Sigala 13:48

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 13:49

I was 21 years old. I was living in Australia and I had my book next to me to write my journal next to me. And I have my package of Tim Tams and I said, let's do this. And I started. To eat the cookies, the full box of cookies. Wow. And to allow myself to feel what is, like, what is satisfaction for me. O obviously in that place, I didn't feel what is satisfaction for me, because I was, I was healing another thing, I was healing the thought that if I eat this, I'm never gonna stop. Or if I have this, it was very

Rebecca Sigala 14:31

intentional.

Danya Nissan 14:32

Very intentional. And it was for me, I'm gonna allow to eat this. I'm gonna allow to the uncomfortable feelings, feelings and emotions and fear of, of being fat and fear of, you know, all of this to come up. So I started writing and writing and writing, and I ate and I wrote, and I ate and I wrote, and I didn't throw up. And I wrote, and I wrote, that was kind of like my letting out. And that was the first time I experienced like, okay, this is happening. I'm,

Rebecca Sigala 15:16

it could be okay,

Danya Nissan 15:17

Uhhuh. And then I was running, I remember I was, a lot of healing happened during that time. For me, it was a full year that I spent there also before I went to Israel. And, um, and mm-hmm. And it began with me being the first time alone and me dancing in the, in the, in the, that I was, But here it was very like, kind, kind of intentional. I had, I remember I had two roommates. One was Mexican and one was Italian. And the Italian roommate, she was very skinny, very tall, and she ate everything, everything. She had the full pizza, she had the full pasta. She had like, literally, and she didn't care. She didn't have in her mind or Interscope like whatever. And she was so skinny. And I was like, why? What can this happen? Right? Like I was, and, and she told me one day I asked my body what it wants. Do you want salty or do you want sweet? And then I listen and yeah. And listening to that was so beautiful. It's,

Rebecca Sigala 16:28

it's such a simple but profound thing. Yes.

Danya Nissan 16:31

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 16:31

It's like what we start with.

Danya Nissan 16:33

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 16:34

Listening to our bodies. Wow.

Danya Nissan 16:37

So simple, so profound. And um, it reminds me that when we spoke about, it's not that, you know, that the word fat or the word skinny are so embedded in, in everything and our everyday culture and, uh, we, we only think that certain types of body suffer or have struggles or

Rebecca Sigala 17:00

Yeah, yeah.

Danya Nissan 17:02

But in all, like we all do. We all do.

Rebecca Sigala 17:06

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 17:07

Yeah. And, um,

Rebecca Sigala 17:08

I feel like that was like, like over time together, something that you I don't know, tell me if I'm wrong, but like it really felt more and like had more empathy for

Danya Nissan 17:21

Yes, completely. yeah, because I, in my mind as a young girl, as a girl. For me, it was like you being tall and skinny and having blue eyes, that means you have everything figured out.

Rebecca Sigala 17:36

Right, right. Like, okay, yeah, I know that you, you know, you think about this insecurity or that, but like you must know that you have this, like, it must be better than my situation or

Danya Nissan 17:49

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 17:50

How I'm feeling about myself. But it's not really the case.

Danya Nissan 17:54

No, it's not. It's not.

Rebecca Sigala 17:57

So, okay, so then you started like really healing.

Danya Nissan 18:01

Yeah.

Rebecca Sigala 18:02

Sounds like a beautiful journey so far. Not easy, but

Danya Nissan 18:08

not easy.

Rebecca Sigala 18:08

Beautiful.

Danya Nissan 18:10

Yeah.

Rebecca Sigala 18:10

And then, then what happened?

Danya Nissan 18:13

Then I had another roommate, like the Mexican roommate, and she was like, she was okay and she started to eat and she started to gain weight and she was okay with it. And she was like, you know, very, and you're like,

Rebecca Sigala 18:26

what?

Danya Nissan 18:27

Yeah. What's happening here? What's going,

Rebecca Sigala 18:32

that's super rare.

Danya Nissan 18:35

Yes. So, and I started logging in, in my journals, all these experiences that I'm having and how they could be translated to what I am experiencing.

Rebecca Sigala 18:50

Mm-hmm.

Danya Nissan 18:51

And then I went, run. Yes. And, and one day I was running around the river and, and like something hit me and I said like, I am nature. You know, I'm part of nature, I am nature. And my nature is to change and to shift and to accommodate myself. So in order for me to heal, I will have to change things in my life. And then, but not just here, you know, like, like a whole body experience. And, uh, I started taking mindfulness classes and that was the first time that I began to understand how the stress also affects, like the whole body system, the whole system, nervous

Rebecca Sigala 19:36

system, everything.

Danya Nissan 19:37

And yes, and, and I began to, to understand how, if I had learned so many things that were wrong or fears that I had, I couldn't unlearn them and bring new information and new codes like it. For me, it was very spiritual, everything, very, yes, new codes into my system, into my cells, you know, new information now that Jody dispenser speaks about lot of this, but I was 21, this is 16 years ago, and, and I think it's. It's an intelligence we have inside of us. And so I went to take yoga classes and dancing classes, and I remember crying in so many yoga classes and I said, yes, you are released. Release free your stories, free your stories from your body

Rebecca Sigala 20:31

and,

Danya Nissan 20:32

and in, in dancing classes I felt so empowered and so beautiful. And so because I dancing has been forever for me is it's an expression of my soul. So it was very beautiful. And then I came back to Mexico and the reality hit. I started to learn in intuitive eating and I chose to, to go to the health coaching IIN to integrative nutrition. The diploma, the, yes. So I took it. And then I began to understand more about food and the different diets and how it affects us and all of that. I began my first yoga certification also. The time and everything started to build up for me to, to heal, to understand food in a different way, to understand my body in a different way

Rebecca Sigala 21:35

point. When you started the certifications, were you thinking, I want to help other women with this, or was it no more about, or men, but was it or is more about your own healing?

Danya Nissan 21:45

My own. My own healing. No, I never thought I would teach yoga. I never thought I would be Wow. Um, more involved in this body image path

Rebecca Sigala 21:55

world.

Danya Nissan 21:56

Yes. Some world as I am. No, it was not the goal. Like, it, it was not the, I started for me because I always wanted more. And wanted to, to know more, to, to feel more, to understand, more to in, in a very, but not, not more in a very rationalized or worldly way. Like I had a craving for spirituality and a craving for

Rebecca Sigala 22:25

Right. Like, this can't be it. There has to be something more to this.

Danya Nissan 22:29

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 22:30

I've talked about that before, feeling that way.

Danya Nissan 22:33

Yes. So, That's basically how it began. And, um,

Rebecca Sigala 22:38

wow.

Danya Nissan 22:38

And of, yeah. I started to read more and experience

Rebecca Sigala 22:43

more. And then you started to help other people.

Danya Nissan 22:47

I, I started to teach yoga. I started with, uh, the first thing I did about nutrition was yoga and Ayurveda and like eating with, uh, Ayurvedic perspective, inspiration. Mm-hmm. And I had a group of eight women, beautiful women, and I left for Israel.

Rebecca Sigala 23:10

Mm-hmm.

Danya Nissan 23:10

I had a, I, I remember I had a boyfriend at the time and, uh, he wanted to get married and I wasn't ready. And, uh, and I said, I'm gonna go to Israel.

Rebecca Sigala 23:24

See? Yeah.

Danya Nissan 23:28

So I was, yeah. I went to Israel and, uh, another, another, um, very transformative, like a difficult and, and dark time happened for me in Israel. A very difficult time. And that's when I, I, I think I, I hit rock bottom because I was, you know, with my life I was very much like wondering, not like, wondering like, let's see where this takes us or let's see where this

Rebecca Sigala 23:58

like curiosity.

Danya Nissan 24:00

Yes, curiosity. And and I don't know if the word was running away, but hurting myself in different ways.

Rebecca Sigala 24:08

Mm-hmm.

Danya Nissan 24:09

Know I started to experience with drugs and ayahuasca and, uh, all these mm-hmm. Other experiences and, um, it messed me up a lot, so I'm so

Rebecca Sigala 24:24

sorry.

Danya Nissan 24:25

Yeah. I know. There I, I'm not against it, but it's

Rebecca Sigala 24:29

Right.

Danya Nissan 24:30

Like,

Rebecca Sigala 24:30

but your personal experience.

Danya Nissan 24:32

It's

Rebecca Sigala 24:33

not

Danya Nissan 24:34

overwhelmingly good. It was very tough. It was very, very tough. I had to help, like I had to get help. Um, like, and for that I did, I had to recover for two years.

Rebecca Sigala 24:44

Wow.

Danya Nissan 24:45

And

Rebecca Sigala 24:46

you also didn't tell me this Danya.

Danya Nissan 24:48

I know. It's actually the first time I speak about it that like openly.

Rebecca Sigala 24:53

Wow. Um, thank you for sharing that or,

Danya Nissan 24:57

yes. Um,

Rebecca Sigala 25:01

so then where did you find yourself with your relationship with yourself and your body after all of that?

Danya Nissan 25:08

So first of all, like I was very thankful it happened because it was like a message from, from Hashem, from God, from universe. Like to say it's like, okay enough. You know? Like, let's mm-hmm. let's bring yourself back to you. Yes. Yeah. so I was very grateful for that. Secondly, that I could heal. Um, well, I, I had something inside of me that I couldn't heal. that I, I was holding on to, and I couldn't speak for, for a long time.

Rebecca Sigala 25:41

Like,

Danya Nissan 25:42

and

Rebecca Sigala 25:42

couldn't actually speak.

Danya Nissan 25:44

I couldn't actually speak about it for a long time. It was, oh, speak

Rebecca Sigala 25:47

about it. I thought you said I couldn't speak. I'm like, oh my gosh.

Danya Nissan 25:50

No, I couldn't. I I lost track of reality for

Rebecca Sigala 25:54

Wow.

Danya Nissan 25:54

Quite a long time.

Rebecca Sigala 25:57

So, sorry.

Danya Nissan 25:57

Yes, yes, yes. It's not cool, not good at all. And, uh, but I got in the right hands and, um, yes, yes. I said, like, I told my parents, like, I, I have, I, you tell me what to do, where to go. Like, I'm in your hands because I have

Rebecca Sigala 26:17

Right. Like, felt like you were starting at square one in a way, even though you had done all that healing in

Danya Nissan 26:23

your twenties. I had no, I had no relation with reality. Like I had no, I like, no, my

Rebecca Sigala 26:29

gosh. Like,

Danya Nissan 26:30

so no contact

Rebecca Sigala 26:30

like dissociated.

Danya Nissan 26:32

So, yes, and I don't know if many people speak about this when they go to, through experiences like psychedelics or ayahuasca. Mm-hmm. Right.

Rebecca Sigala 26:42

Well, people talk about good experiences, but I'm sure that, I don't know, I haven't really dug into it so much. it's important to know that everyone does have different experiences and some are not good.

Danya Nissan 26:55

Yes. I've had good experiences too, but like the last

Rebecca Sigala 27:00

one was

Danya Nissan 27:01

that were very bad. No. No.

Rebecca Sigala 27:02

Okay. So then where, where are we in your timeline? How old were you?

Danya Nissan 27:07

27. 28.

Rebecca Sigala 27:10

Okay. And then you went through another healing process?

Danya Nissan 27:13

I came back, yes. I came back to Mexico. I went through another healing process. I said, okay, that's it. Um, I started to work with my family. I said, okay, it's a safe place. It's a, it's structured, it's a business. Like I don't have to figure things out. It's very, I needed like to be contained.

Rebecca Sigala 27:31

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 27:33

And that's where, yes. So I began that and. I never stopped learning. I never stopped learning like yoga. I did another, like four more trainings of yoga, you know, and I,

27:47

of

Rebecca Sigala 27:48

course

Danya Nissan 27:48

I was like,

Rebecca Sigala 27:49

of course you would do four more trainings. Yes.

Danya Nissan 27:51

And then I started also learning about energy healing and then I started learning access consciousness. And then I read and learned about intuitive eating and, uh, food energetics, which is another topic that I loved. And, and like I've never stopped truly learning about body and, and our relationship to the world around us and within ourselves. And then, uh, I took the, a very cool course also with the psychology of eating from Spain, not, not the one from, uh, Mark David. And I read Mark David's book on the nutrition with, what's the name of the book? He's got a Be be Beautiful book, nourishing Wisdom. That's his name. And to apply it and to make, create meditations for other women and to create kind of spaces for other women to experience also this kind of healing. And like you

Rebecca Sigala 28:51

started doing that, you're saying?

Danya Nissan 28:52

Yes. And to me, like I I, it was more focused on the nutritional part, on the part of the, of intuitive eating and

Rebecca Sigala 29:04

Right.

Danya Nissan 29:04

You know, to, to get in touch again with our inner cues and what would it mean and all of that. Yeah. And then it became more of a, like a whole experience, like a holistic experience like we do in The New Sexy, like exactly like that. Right. It's like sexuality, but it's also your team, but it's also your story, but it's also intuition. Very

Rebecca Sigala 29:27

holistic. Like

Danya Nissan 29:28

it

Rebecca Sigala 29:28

touches all parts of your life. Yes,

Danya Nissan 29:30

yes.

Rebecca Sigala 29:31

That's beautiful.

Danya Nissan 29:32

Yes. Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 29:35

I mean, this just touches on little parts of your journey. It's not even close to the whole story, but you've been through a lot and it started from a young age internalizing certain messages about not feeling like you belong, not feeling beautiful, like struggling with that, and then your eating disorder and all the healing you did and all the learning you did, and then hitting rock bottom again, and then building yourself up. It's like, whoa. Like you have been on a journey right before you reached out to me. Where were you? How did you feel about yourself?

Danya Nissan 30:17

I felt like I had built something strong for myself. Yeah. But at the same time, I felt very lonely.

Rebecca Sigala 30:28

Mm-hmm.

Danya Nissan 30:29

Because this journey has always been very lonely for me. Very, even though I starting from the

Rebecca Sigala 30:36

beginning.

Danya Nissan 30:37

Yes. Even though I have people that love me, even though I have people that, that care for me and has been a very lonely journey. And the body image work, or the work that we do with you before, um, it, it's not that it wasn't there, it was there, but kind of like I, I didn't have a space to fully land it. And express it and experience it.

Rebecca Sigala 31:08

What does that look like? Because it sounds, it's like, I, I totally understand it, but like in a tangible level, when you know so much, you have so many certifications, you're helping other women with it, you've healed so much also, and there's certain places where you do feel really good and confident and in your body, like what was actually happening in your day-to-day life where it wasn't landing.

Danya Nissan 31:37

The daily conversations were always the same. With my family, always the same. I have to lose weight. You look so good, but you lost weight. Oh my God, you look like a balloon. You're inflated. You're like, for, for real, right? This is the daily conversations that happened. That still happened, and. The whole work that I've had has helped because, you know, I feel free to eat what I want and to choose what I want to eat, not just eat what I want you to choose to have the freedom to choose and to see, and that makes me, that gives me such, you know, such freedom and understanding about me. but at the same time, I was listening and I still listen to all these messages.

Rebecca Sigala 32:22

Yeah. Like all the noise around you.

Danya Nissan 32:26

And my grandma, I love her. And she's like, she's gorgeous. And, but she says things like, I eat this much. And I'm like, a balloon. And, and she's like, you know, she's 90 years old, 90. And she is saying this and she's full of life. And, and inside,

Rebecca Sigala 32:48

like, so those comments and those messages, especially like coming from people who you love and respect so much, like still impacted you and it made you like second guess yourself maybe a little bit Completely, completely,

Danya Nissan 33:00

completely. All these messages like, oh my God, she lost so much weight. She looks so good. Oh my God, she was ugly before. Now she looks beautiful. Yeah. And messages. Yes. Yes. They so like

Rebecca Sigala 33:15

her, the comments, the second guessing, like what did you think about your appearance? Do you remember?

Danya Nissan 33:24

Yes. Yes. No, I remember. It is like you've done for me. I'm gonna say it like how it came. Okay. It's like you've done so much work, you have to show that you've done so much work on yourself that you're not gonna fall into this. Okay. But inside of me, it, it felt very like, crackling. Like Am I enough? Am I good looking like, will my father love me? Will my mother agree with if I am a bit more overweight than her, or don't have her way with my, like, all of this still happen for me inside. and I had so much judgment also around me and I, around other people's bodies. And

Rebecca Sigala 34:06

So Like comparison and stuff?

Danya Nissan 34:07

Yes. Comparison and Yes. And always looking for. Am I gonna look better or worse? Like, am I gonna be better or worse? And with my, with my sister-in-law, I still, you know, I still,

Rebecca Sigala 34:24

yeah,

Danya Nissan 34:27

I do that still like less, I'm more aware of it. Yeah. It's like, instead of being automatic,

Rebecca Sigala 34:33

it's just like an automatic

Danya Nissan 34:34

Yes. And it's like, I feel right now that I'm speaking about it, it's kind of a, a defense mode maybe. do you mean comparison? Like am I, am I being like, what would happen if I allowed myself to not compare for once?

Rebecca Sigala 34:53

Like

Danya Nissan 34:53

at

Rebecca Sigala 34:54

all

Danya Nissan 34:54

or at all? Yeah. What would, what would that be? Yes. Oh

Rebecca Sigala 34:58

my gosh. Okay. So. I think, like we were saying in the beginning, like all those things are so normal that you wouldn't necessarily think, okay, I'm gonna go to a program like the New Sexy, put my a hundred percent in this and see what comes out of it. What made you want to reach out to me

Danya Nissan 35:21

The first time I, I went to a class of yours was three years ago. You showed me, you remember? You showed

Rebecca Sigala 35:30

me. I know. It was so like, it just, I was going through some of my past classes. I'm like, oh my God.

Danya Nissan 35:35

Danya. Yeah. And you were showing us the pictures where there were different types of women and different types of, of, of bodies. And I remember saying that time like. Whoa. She knows what she's doing and I wanna do that. And, and I want to bring this and I want to create courses and I want to, I, because I remember saying that I even do picture, I wanna

Rebecca Sigala 36:00

this in a world too.

Danya Nissan 36:01

Yes, yes. I love that. And that's it. like I didn't reach out that time. I just went through the three days. Yeah. We

Rebecca Sigala 36:07

just like, became friends on Facebook and

Danya Nissan 36:10

Yes. And I started following you and your journey and, um, your boudoir sessions, which I love. And, and the sensuality and the, you know, and the sacredness and the, the, like the whole healing experience. And then I, I really, and then you created the 21 days

Rebecca Sigala 36:31

Yeah. The

Danya Nissan 36:31

self care revival. Yes. And I said like, I knew, like before I was starting there, it's like Danya. Are you sure?

Rebecca Sigala 36:41

Like this is gonna open something up?

Danya Nissan 36:43

Yes. Yeah. Like, are you sure? So I took it and then I reached out to you. And again, Danya, you sure? Like, um, It like, I don't know. I was freaking out and I, as I told you, like you did it,

Rebecca Sigala 37:03

what was the 21 days like?

Danya Nissan 37:05

I did the whole 21 days. Yes, it

Rebecca Sigala 37:07

was, yeah. You were, you put yourself in it.

Danya Nissan 37:10

Yes. I liked them very much. I loved more The New, Sexy,

Rebecca Sigala 37:17

you know. I'm glad

Danya Nissan 37:18

because it's No, of course, because

Rebecca Sigala 37:24

it is different, different focus. It's,

Danya Nissan 37:26

yes. Different focus. It's like a teaser. But I really love, I enjoyed a lot how reading other people's comments.

Rebecca Sigala 37:38

Right, right. How, and you probably, you probably like, I don't know if it was conscious at the time, but you're like, okay, this is like a group of women who care about the same things that I do. And like if you felt alone in that before, it makes sense that you'd be like, I want more of it.

Danya Nissan 37:55

Yes. And I loved how you guided every exercise in very, like in a very, again, contained way.

Rebecca Sigala 38:05

Mm-hmm. What do you mean by. Compliment me more.

Danya Nissan 38:10

Yes. No, of course, because I've taken, so, like, I've taken courses and many courses

Rebecca Sigala 38:17

doing courses.

Danya Nissan 38:18

No. Or, or even given the course,

Rebecca Sigala 38:20

queen

Danya Nissan 38:21

I, or even given, you know, like I, I always wanted to give, oh, if I'm going to, I wanna give you information. But oftentimes I gave like the, the full plate with the soup and the dessert and everything all together. And for me, that has been, um, like an ability that I, I've had to, to work on, just to bring first the food, then the soup, the salad, the, the plate, the dessert, you know, to

Rebecca Sigala 38:51

allow, it wasn't like, it wasn't like, oh, here's everything all at once. It was like, here's something that feels contained, that feels like I can actually focus on and something I can implement.

Danya Nissan 39:03

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 39:04

That's good. That makes me happy. Okay, so then we talked and you started considering The New Sexy. Yes. What made you decide to join? Ultimately,

Danya Nissan 39:15

it's an, it was an intuitive choice. Like, like I

Rebecca Sigala 39:21

did.

Danya Nissan 39:22

You have

Rebecca Sigala 39:22

fear?

Danya Nissan 39:23

I had fear, yes. I had a lot of fear because it meant, sacrificing time for something else.

Rebecca Sigala 39:30

Mm-hmm.

Danya Nissan 39:30

It also, I knew that it was gonna be for the, for my full pregnancy, you know? Yeah. For my second son.

Rebecca Sigala 39:38

Yeah. And I love that it kind of aligned like that actually. That's

Danya Nissan 39:42

beautiful. Me too. And, and I said like, I knew inside of me that I had to take it now that now was the time to do it.

Rebecca Sigala 39:51

Mm. But not right away for sure. At.

Danya Nissan 39:56

No, no, not, not, I don't know if not right away. Um, of course I was very scared of the commitment and like, what, what am I gonna have fun time? Right? And to go, because I even told you before,

Rebecca Sigala 40:11

do you remember like what you were thinking that you wanted to get out of it in the beginning?

Danya Nissan 40:17

I remember I wanted your experience, your guidance.

Rebecca Sigala 40:23

Wow. That means so much.

Danya Nissan 40:28

Yes, I remember that.

Rebecca Sigala 40:30

When did things start to shift for you and how,

Danya Nissan 40:35

when I allowed myself to open and not come, like you told me like, oh, I already know so many things, like I'm not gonna learn anything else and blah, blah, blah. I,

Rebecca Sigala 40:45

I actually never really got that vibe from you.

Danya Nissan 40:49

No. Um,

Rebecca Sigala 40:50

maybe there, maybe there's a little bit of that, but I didn't, I didn't feel that from you.

Danya Nissan 40:55

No, I think the one that was questioning herself was me. You know, like if you're doing this, that that was a, a big fear if you're doing this is because you don't know enough. You know, that was a voice and it's like, what? No. And you told me one of our calls, you don't need this, but you, like, maybe you can choose it. You know, like, you don't need, you don't need it.

Rebecca Sigala 41:19

Wow.

Danya Nissan 41:20

That's really

Rebecca Sigala 41:21

powerful.

Danya Nissan 41:22

Yes. I didn't know it was gonna be an, an awakening. I know you called The New Sexy Awakening, and I'm gonna use the word awakening, but I didn't know it was gonna be an awakening of like my previous years to be seen.

Rebecca Sigala 41:39

Hmm.

Danya Nissan 41:39

Or to, and I know. It is not that everybody knows the, the full story or, or all, all of us carry stories, right? Like that's the one that went through, and even you, but uh, even me, especially

Rebecca Sigala 41:53

me,

Danya Nissan 41:54

you mainly you here that you created it, but Yes, but I, I felt very safe. I felt very safe.

Rebecca Sigala 42:03

Hmm.

Danya Nissan 42:04

To bring.

Rebecca Sigala 42:05

Yeah. I felt like even like when you would like challenge things. Yes. It wasn't from a, it wasn't from a place of like really wanting to understand yourself more and like understand if there is a different perspective in a different way. Yes. It wasn't like, no, Rebecca, you're wrong. It was like, but I feel this way. Like, how could this be true?

Danya Nissan 42:33

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 42:33

How could this other thing be true?

Danya Nissan 42:35

Yes, yes. So it was okay for me to bring my judgments and we spoken about it, you know, like it's not,

Rebecca Sigala 42:40

yeah.

Danya Nissan 42:41

Body image is not just about self love and self care and

Rebecca Sigala 42:46

bubble bath,

Danya Nissan 42:48

bubble

Rebecca Sigala 42:48

bath,

Danya Nissan 42:49

like love yourself and no patience and no, it's a deep work. It's deep work. It's a, it's a deep daily practice.

Rebecca Sigala 43:01

Was there, I guess my first question is, was there a moment that was more challenging than others?

Danya Nissan 43:09

Um, yes. When we spoke about diets, it was very challenging.

Rebecca Sigala 43:17

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 43:18

Like I was still very much into, people can choose to diet, they can choose, they're free, they have free will.

Rebecca Sigala 43:27

They definitely can.

Danya Nissan 43:28

cause they can. Yes. And And also about the beauty industry, like when I ask you, but manicure and pedicure isn't that beauty industry also and or right.

Rebecca Sigala 43:42

Yeah. So I need to hear like how you feel about both those things now. So how do you feel about diets? How did you move through, first of all, how did you move through that moment that was like challenging such core beliefs for you?

Danya Nissan 43:56

I think sometimes I get triggered when people still want to diet, but not, well, not, not because of the diet itself. You know, the diet. It's just a diet. It's just a way of eating. Yeah. It's just a way of. Just landing food. There's kosher diet, there's Ayurvedic, there's vegan, there's vegetarian, there's, but

Rebecca Sigala 44:18

maybe now you're like, you're like thinking about their relationship with themselves.

Danya Nissan 44:22

Yes. It's more about that. It's more about choose to eat whatever you want to, you want to diet. Diet. Just make sure you have a relationship with how you do things, with why you do things with, with what's, what

Rebecca Sigala 44:36

are the intentions?

Danya Nissan 44:37

Yeah, the reasons with, what's the intention with how are you gonna treat yourself along the way? What do you expect that it will come out of it? What do you think?

Rebecca Sigala 44:46

Yeah,

Danya Nissan 44:47

it will happen afterwards and like all of these, which I think

Rebecca Sigala 44:51

that's, that's like a beautiful shift because I feel like it goes from like just know, like knowing about diets and knowing like, okay, it's okay for people to go on diets and like you can versus like. Ooh. Like, how am I feeling in my body? Am I listening to my body? Am I in relationship? Am I engaged with my body? I think that's really special that that's, that's the perspective shift that you had, which I think is maybe even like less scary to people. 'cause people are like, oh my God, am I gonna like, uproot every single belief I ever had about all of these things? And it's like, it just kind of shifts the focus a bit. Yes,

Danya Nissan 45:29

it does. Yes. It shifts the focus. And, and, and also about sizeism, you know, the size. I think it shifted for me too.

Rebecca Sigala 45:36

Yeah. Wait, tell me.

Danya Nissan 45:38

Uh, even though we didn't speak much about it, or, or like specifically like in the

Rebecca Sigala 45:43

coaching calls,

Danya Nissan 45:44

yes, but, but yes, because for. Like the thoughts that I'm having is like, okay, if I'm within this range of, of sizes, I'm okay if I'm more than that. Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Sigala 45:58

I used to feel like that too. Totally. Oh my gosh. There's so much I relate to you on. It's ridiculous.

Danya Nissan 46:05

And, and,

Rebecca Sigala 46:08

uh, I have to hold it back sometimes. I'm like, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. So the, the, the sizes, okay. So you used to, how did you used to feel about it? There need to be certain range and now how do you feel about it?

Danya Nissan 46:23

I used to compare myself a lot with my mom because my mom's very, very, very thin and, uh,

Rebecca Sigala 46:30

and she's your mom?

Danya Nissan 46:31

And she is my mom. and she wants, she joins a lot of my programs. Like she loves them.

Rebecca Sigala 46:37

She does. That's

Danya Nissan 46:38

she does. And, and she wa she was the one who told me once, I'm skinny and I struggle with my image also, like

Rebecca Sigala 46:45

mm-hmm.

Danya Nissan 46:47

and she, of course she is a lower size than me, and for me that was very hard and very difficult to accept. You know, very difficult to, yeah, because then I said this, this was a really realization for me in The New Sexy, like, okay, she's the sexy one. I'm the smart one, or yes. And uh,

Rebecca Sigala 47:07

and then,

Danya Nissan 47:08

and then how do you

Rebecca Sigala 47:09

feel now?

Danya Nissan 47:11

And now during pregnancy, she commented a lot of on on the clothes that I got and like, this is too big. And now they barely fit. Right. And it hurt. Like it, when she commented it, it, it did hurt. It is not that it didn't, it did right. It got me. Um, now it feels, it feels, uh, the, the best sentence that I've come along during The New Sexy that I'm allowed to exist in my body as it is.

Rebecca Sigala 47:44

Yes. I was thinking about that moment when that thought was internalized for you. When you were on vacation and you were several months pregnant already and you were with your family and you wore a bikini. And at first, I don't know, I, I think I remember like maybe in the first couple days it wasn't super comfortable, but then like as the time went on, you felt comfortable in your skin and you felt comfortable in the bikini. And it was like you were telling yourself, I'm allowed to exist as I am. So much so that you told, like, I just remember this moment you told me, you're like, I, I actually felt beautiful.

Danya Nissan 48:27

Yes. Yes. And I don't know, for me, it's like if I can show, like other women that it's okay to be comfortable and that it's okay, you know, to, to exist, allow Yes. And to allow our bodies to change mm-hmm. In whatever way.

Rebecca Sigala 48:47

Yeah. That's amazing. What were like some other big wins that you've had in the last five months?

Danya Nissan 48:57

Um,

Rebecca Sigala 49:03

what

Danya Nissan 49:06

that I, I don't know. I remember the, the win that I said when I went to, with my father shopping and he told me the word fat and ugly together. Like, why do you always want to look fat and ugly? Because I was wearing something and

Rebecca Sigala 49:21

like He literally called you then?

Danya Nissan 49:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, because I was wearing something that, for him it was bigger or Yeah, oversized. And uh, and I just took a deep breath and I didn't take it in, you know, I didn't take it personal. I just understood that's. That's, that's how his brain is ingrained. That's how he's building in inside him. Like,

Rebecca Sigala 49:48

wow,

Danya Nissan 49:50

that

Rebecca Sigala 49:51

doesn't

Danya Nissan 49:51

make

Rebecca Sigala 49:51

it about me. I think it's really hard to even understand what a big win that is for you. Like that is everything to do with these deeply ingrained beliefs and the impact of your family and all these systems. And like the fact that instead of internalizing that you were like having empathy for him.

Danya Nissan 50:16

Yes. For him and for, for my grandma and for so many other comments that I have received.

Rebecca Sigala 50:22

Yeah. Yeah. You brought a lot of notes. Oh my God.

Danya Nissan 50:30

Yeah. And I know a lot of women can relate to this.

Rebecca Sigala 50:33

Yeah. A hundred percent. Oh my gosh, a hundred percent. Anything else that sticks out to you?

Danya Nissan 50:40

That I wasn't looking for approval from my husband on how I looked.

Rebecca Sigala 50:45

Hmm. Wow.

Danya Nissan 50:48

I think I didn't say that. I don't think you shared that with me. No, no, no.

Rebecca Sigala 50:55

Wow.

Danya Nissan 50:56

but I, like, before I would have, you know, asked of him like, tell me I'm beautiful. Tell me I'm gorgeous. Tell me I'm, um, ful. Right. I welcome your comments. Right. But, but

Rebecca Sigala 51:10

yeah, of course,

Danya Nissan 51:12

like I didn't need him to tell me that I was beautiful.

Rebecca Sigala 51:16

Wow.

Danya Nissan 51:17

Or that I was building something beautiful or creating life, or that I was, you know.

Rebecca Sigala 51:25

Wow. You really built something within.

Danya Nissan 51:30

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 51:32

Whoa. What made this different than anything else? all the other courses and certifications and healing that you've done.

Danya Nissan 51:43

I think it's about what you spoke at the beginning and you continue to tell us about this. Grounded confidence.

Rebecca Sigala 51:50

Grounded confidence,

Danya Nissan 51:52

yeah. Which I kind of call silent confidence because it's not a confidence that's Yeah. That's performative or I'm okay. All this. Well, um,

Rebecca Sigala 52:03

I'm fine. I'm strong.

Danya Nissan 52:05

Um,

Rebecca Sigala 52:06

fake it till you make it kind of confidence.

Danya Nissan 52:08

Yeah. No, no, I never agree with that. By the way. Fake it till you make it

Rebecca Sigala 52:12

the worst.

Danya Nissan 52:15

Don't agree with it. Um, uh, I didn't expect it to happen. I think it happened because I was allowed to express and I was allowed to share, and I was allowed to, um, to bring things, topics up as they were even in the, in the challenges that we had.

Rebecca Sigala 52:36

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 52:37

And the

Rebecca Sigala 52:40

how did you, like when you're like, oh, I think this is ugly, or, you know, or like, I don't, I can't think of other things, but like things that just maybe someone else might be afraid to share or express in a group like this. Like how did you feel like they were received?

Danya Nissan 52:59

I felt, of course, I felt resistance to share and, but at the same time, for me it was like, no, this is a safe space. Like,

Rebecca Sigala 53:08

yeah,

Danya Nissan 53:09

and you made it safe. Like you made it safe. It's not like, no, she's beautiful. No, it's not like, it wasn't like, you know, never a response like that. Okay. It's like what? and I ask you many, many times also like, what does ugly mean? What does, what is ugly? What is the definition of ugly? What is, and and we spoke about beauty being subjective then.

Rebecca Sigala 53:37

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 53:39

And not just one definition of beauty.

Rebecca Sigala 53:42

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 53:43

And we spoke about, yes. About now like, I was like, because I also felt like, now am I allowed to say you're beautiful or no? Because I also struggle with that like

Rebecca Sigala 53:56

Right.

Danya Nissan 53:57

Am I allowed to? How do

Rebecca Sigala 53:58

you feel about that now?

Danya Nissan 54:00

Uh, and and then, and then we spoke about beauty being subjective and it is like, yeah, you can, you can call something beautiful. Why not? Like yeah. You can call something beautiful.

Rebecca Sigala 54:12

Yeah. Because beauty exists outside of beauty standards.

Danya Nissan 54:17

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 54:19

Beauty just exists to deny that. Like I think it's, I was learning with, um, Raizel Devora and in Bereshit, like when they, the story of creation, for those who don't know, there's beauty. They talking about how Hashem like made the trees of the field, I believe, I'm not gonna quote it exactly, but the first thing was like to be beautiful to see there's no beauty standards then. And like that's like. Important that beauty is important because it reflects something so deep.

Danya Nissan 54:57

It's so important that, that there is a sefira for beauty, which is tiferet.

Rebecca Sigala 55:02

Yeah. But we're not talking about like societal beauty.

Danya Nissan 55:07

No.

Rebecca Sigala 55:09

It's like the body, mind, soul stuff. Like, I loved the conversations that we had about spirituality together, so, and how you bring it to the Jewish world as well. And the workshops that you've given.

Danya Nissan 55:22

Yes, yes. That also

Rebecca Sigala 55:25

what was, like, obviously there's like different parts of The New Sexy, there's like the calls and the modules and like the exercises and the things that you do, the journaling, like what was your favorite part?

Danya Nissan 55:40

I love doing the body timeline. I loved it so much. I have my,

Rebecca Sigala 55:47

whoa,

Danya Nissan 55:48

uh, I don't know if you can see it. Yes. But

Rebecca Sigala 55:53

that you finished like the, this last call, you were like, finish the modules.

Danya Nissan 55:59

I finished everything. I finished every writing. The only thing that I didn't start was to curate your closet because I want to wait. no, but actually I did curate. No, you

Rebecca Sigala 56:10

actually did start that. You were like letting go of clothing and

Danya Nissan 56:13

Yes, yes, I did. I did. I did curate it. No, no. Yes. I actually,

Rebecca Sigala 56:18

was it like, what was the experience of going through the modules? I think people are kind of nervous about that.

Danya Nissan 56:25

I think it's very, it's part of the work. I do think it's part of the work. Yeah. I do think it's part of, sitting with you and not being, not making you speak a lot about perfection. Right. Like not making it perfect for me. I had a mentor, who taught me how to put goals for, for the week. She taught me how to set, compassionate goals.

Rebecca Sigala 56:48

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 56:49

And she helped me a lot with, uh, setting my calendar up for The New Sexy, Awakening for the experience and me being committed to, okay, now I have time. I'm gonna be sitting in a cafe, in a coffee shop. I always went to a place that I liked. That's one thing that I did. I always went to a place that I liked. I I had a frappuccino or a coffee or a cookie, something that the, the ambience was good for me. I listened to the class. I always took notes 'cause I'm a note taker. You're a note taker. And, uh, yes,

Rebecca Sigala 57:28

even in the call, sometimes,

Danya Nissan 57:30

even in the call, sometimes I translated everything, from English to Spanish and, and brought it into my language, into my experience.

Rebecca Sigala 57:40

Beautiful.

Danya Nissan 57:41

And, that was, I think that was a thing that took the most time for and then the, the questions sometimes in the same sitting at the cafe, I could write the questions and answer them. Sometimes I had another date with myself. Mm-hmm. You know, those were dates with myself. That's what I like. They are dates with myself.

Rebecca Sigala 58:01

I love that.

Danya Nissan 58:03

So it's not, it wasn't

Rebecca Sigala 58:04

about that. They were like, they were enjoyable. Right.

Danya Nissan 58:07

Yeah. They, they were like, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the ambience, I enjoyed the, and I, I wrote in places I loved. I'm not sure again if you're gonna watch this, but this is for the new sexy

Rebecca Sigala 58:19

Ooh.

Danya Nissan 58:20

So

Rebecca Sigala 58:21

yes. I love that.

Danya Nissan 58:22

So all my notes, that's

58:23

gorgeous.

Danya Nissan 58:24

My notes are, are here and

Rebecca Sigala 58:27

Wow.

Danya Nissan 58:28

Yes. And it's kind of five months. Five months and color. That's beautiful. And this is, that's beautiful. This is what I do. This is like, I, this helps my mind.

Rebecca Sigala 58:43

What would you say is like the difference of like what you would get out of the modules versus the coaching calls?

Danya Nissan 58:50

I think they came hand in hand, at least for me because I always finished the module and I wrote on the group, I finished this and this is what came up and, and I want to speak about this. And,

Rebecca Sigala 59:01

and then we would,

Danya Nissan 59:03

yes. And the module that I enjoyed the most doing with you was a module where you showed us how to, uh, amplify our beauty, beauty concept. And you showed us, uh, the

Rebecca Sigala 59:17

definition of beauty.

Danya Nissan 59:17

The definition of beauty, and you showed us also the, the PowerPoint presentation and showing us, uh, women with, yeah. Yes. With the acne or with the stretch

Rebecca Sigala 59:28

marks,

Danya Nissan 59:29

chaps, all of it. And me being able to be, again, honest and raw and saying, no, this is not beautiful for me. This is like, okay, what do you first see? Right? Like what? And, and, and writing it. Yeah. And, and knowing that. Okay. Wow. And, and how you one time said that how the women relate to their bodies and their stripes or their cellulite might have not even to do with it, but with the story behind, right? Like with

Rebecca Sigala 59:59

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 59:59

How they were being treated or during their birth, or if they had a partner Right. At what stage of life they were in. Yes. like the, the story they told.

Rebecca Sigala 1:00:10

Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I love that too, because I feel that it really mirrors my experience of like redefining and expanding my definition of beauty. Like, everyone's like, oh my gosh, like you just see the beauty in everyone and that's so cool and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, but I didn't always like, this is actually something that I intentionally practiced because of the photography work that I did. And I wanted to create safe spaces and I wanted women to feel beautiful. And so the slideshow and like the prompts that go through it is kind of what I did.

Danya Nissan 1:00:51

Yes. So that's, so I really love that very much.

Rebecca Sigala 1:00:56

That's amazing. I loved having you there. Like you were just like. Such a, first of all, like breath of fresh air. Just the honesty I, I love so much. And the directness and also just like loving and kind and you supported other women on their journeys and that was like such a, like in the community was such a beautiful thing to see. And you really gave it your all.

Danya Nissan 1:01:28

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 1:01:29

Not as a performative perfectionist thing. It was just like, I'm here.

Danya Nissan 1:01:34

Yes. It, it was, I'm here.

Rebecca Sigala 1:01:37

And then I remember one time you were like, I've arrived. And I'm like, yes, you also had the most beautiful like quotes. I wish I remembered all of them. But on the last call you said, I went from feeling alone to alive

Danya Nissan 1:01:53

cause it was the first time that I could be able to, to speak of this body image work and, you know, and be able to contribute and be able to be contributed to. And not just the lost voice, like

Rebecca Sigala 1:02:09

the nitty gritty of it. Like, like actually have these discussions.

Danya Nissan 1:02:14

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 1:02:15

That's really cool. Did you like the fact that there are other women? That it was a group.

Danya Nissan 1:02:20

I loved it very much. I loved, it was intimate, I loved, there were other women I loved. There were, um, I would have loved more to know more of their stories because I'm just very curious, curious about knowing Yes. And, and hearing their stories. I loved when Perel opened up and she shared what she shared. I really, I really appreciated that. And, uh, yeah, and you know, and like inside of me it was like, no, please come more. Be share. Like, I want more. No, I want like,

Rebecca Sigala 1:03:01

totally. I get it. We're on the same page. what would you say to someone who, like maybe who's like you, who's done so much work and has come so far on their journey and still feels like there's, you know, that inner critic or the comparison and maybe they're considering The New Sexy, but then they're thinking, oh, I'm like, I already know all of the that, or like, it's not really gonna help. What would you say to them?

Danya Nissan 1:03:30

That it's a completely safe space to, to grow and to be open about this and to, To embed this work even more, even deeper, even.

Rebecca Sigala 1:03:40

Mm-hmm. Yeah. What do you think is gonna be like, different for you moving forward? What, what do you want? What are you excited for and you're about

Danya Nissan 1:03:53

to give first? I'm excited. Yeah. I'm about To give birth. And very soon, um, uh, right

Rebecca Sigala 1:04:01

now we already like coached on things for after birth, which I thought was really special.

Danya Nissan 1:04:06

Yes. Like the weight, the weight, um,

Rebecca Sigala 1:04:09

yeah.

Danya Nissan 1:04:09

Thing.

Rebecca Sigala 1:04:09

Wait, what was the, takeaway from that for you?

Danya Nissan 1:04:13

Again, that I'm not, like, I, I don't wanna be bothered, but by a number on a scale, like I want to be felt first. And seen and, and felt like, I want to feel, how do I feel in my body? What's coming up for me? What do I need right now? What do I, what type of self exercise? You know, there's gonna, I'm gonna have a baby again. I'm gonna have a waking up.

Rebecca Sigala 1:04:41

Right. It's

Danya Nissan 1:04:41

taking it from

Rebecca Sigala 1:04:42

your head to, to your heart and to your relationship with your body.

Danya Nissan 1:04:47

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 1:04:47

Being in your body

Danya Nissan 1:04:49

and being patient and being okay. Being patient and being, like not by two months. Because when I had my first son, it's like, when am I gonna fit in my jeans again? When I then I was asking my friends that, yeah. And some of them told me never, and some of them told me Yes. You know, it's like, it, like, it doesn't matter if I fit or, or, or, or don't. Right. You don't. It is like. I, I don't have this now. I don't have this question. Like, it's not the first question that pops into my mind. Right,

Rebecca Sigala 1:05:23

right. And I think you also even told me like, you weighed yourself at one point and the number was so neutral that you were like, I would even post it on Instagram. I don't

Danya Nissan 1:05:33

care. Yes. It was very neutral. And that's why, because yeah, because it, it felt the weight is such a big issue for, for

Rebecca Sigala 1:05:41

yeah.

Danya Nissan 1:05:42

For 99.9% of people in the world, not just women, both men and women.

Rebecca Sigala 1:05:48

Yeah. What else are you excited for?

Danya Nissan 1:05:53

I'm excited for continuing my book. Yeah. Yes. I'm excited for, continuing workshops with my friend.

Rebecca Sigala 1:06:03

Mm-hmm.

Danya Nissan 1:06:05

I'm excited both,

Rebecca Sigala 1:06:06

both surrounded with embodiment and body image work.

Danya Nissan 1:06:10

Yes, yes, yes, yes. But yes, with the body image work. Yes. Yes. And I'm excited. I don't have everything figured out. I have to tell you. I don't have like a, a timeline for after birth. Um,

Rebecca Sigala 1:06:24

that sounds probably good, even to just surrender.

Danya Nissan 1:06:30

I know I have my number one guide, which is Hashem, God, you know, like beautiful.

Rebecca Sigala 1:06:36

I love that.

Danya Nissan 1:06:38

Like he is my number one. And, um, I, I was just before here connecting, uh, to you. I, I wrote him a letter and, uh, yes.

Rebecca Sigala 1:06:48

yeah.

Danya Nissan 1:06:50

It's scary because too, that's, that's also scary that the, the unknown, you know, the unknown of being, uh. A stay at home mom for a few months or what? Like, how, how

Rebecca Sigala 1:07:02

Yeah.

Danya Nissan 1:07:02

Would that look, you know, it's,

Rebecca Sigala 1:07:04

I feel like this sense coming from you, like this sense of trust in yourself also.

Danya Nissan 1:07:12

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 1:07:13

and like your intuition.

Danya Nissan 1:07:15

Yes. And letting go, uh, trust and uh, like I don't wanna rush into things too quickly.

Rebecca Sigala 1:07:23

Right, right. Like, you've always got your own back. I'm

Danya Nissan 1:07:30

still working on it. I have to tell you.

Rebecca Sigala 1:07:34

It's an ever evolving journey.

Danya Nissan 1:07:37

Uh, but yes, yes.

Rebecca Sigala 1:07:39

I love that. And I think it's so honest to be like, I'm still in the process.

Danya Nissan 1:07:45

Yes. Because that's

Rebecca Sigala 1:07:46

exactly

Danya Nissan 1:07:47

coming. Yes, yes, yes.

Rebecca Sigala 1:07:50

It's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I know that a lot of women are going to relate to different parts of it. I know that. I definitely do. you know, the societal messaging, the family messaging, the religious messaging, which we didn't even go into, but like it's all so strong that it doesn't feel like there's another path. And having these conversations, sharing these stories really gives women another option.

Danya Nissan 1:08:21

Yes.

Rebecca Sigala 1:08:22

If they want it, you know,

Danya Nissan 1:08:25

there is another option.

Rebecca Sigala 1:08:26

You don't need it, but if you want it,

Danya Nissan 1:08:30

it's here.

Rebecca Sigala 1:08:31

It's there. Yeah. Thank you so much. It's been such a honor to go on this journey with you and I've just immensely enjoyed it. And having you there has been very, very special. I really love how this is not just something that it never is. 'cause there's always a ripple effect in every person's life, whether that's just their partner or their kids or their students, but like, just knowing how passionate you are about bringing this to the world gives me so much joy and I can't wait to see what comes for you.

Danya Nissan 1:09:12

Me too. But for now, it's like you said to my children, right? I, I, I used to, to question what is all this work going to do for me? What, you know, because I question about the, the business industry, it's not that I,

Rebecca Sigala 1:09:27

yeah.

Danya Nissan 1:09:28

Is not, um, it's, it's such an internal work and I know that I have, uh, children and my son and, and I am able to hold him on a bodily experience or, or to

Rebecca Sigala 1:09:46

Yeah,

Danya Nissan 1:09:46

speak to him about food and just to be present with food and to respect him and

Rebecca Sigala 1:09:54

Yeah. And there's, and he's so little, so it's not even like you've

Danya Nissan 1:09:57

had

Rebecca Sigala 1:09:57

so many opportunities yet, but like, yes. Like that's going to be so impactful and completely different from how we were raised,

Danya Nissan 1:10:06

I hope. Yes. And now it's like, how cool to have a mom like this also cool.

Rebecca Sigala 1:10:14

I know. People always tell me that. They're like, your kids are so lucky to have you. And I'm like, believe me, like, I'm sure I'm messing up in other ways.

Danya Nissan 1:10:21

I'm messing. Of course, of course. But they are Rebecca, they are. So it's okay to see that. Thank you

Rebecca Sigala 1:10:29

so much. Thank you so much. It was really sweet. I was going through like reels with my daughter and there was like, oh, moms are like this. And they were like talking about like diets or like calories and things, and she goes, oh, that's not like you. That's not like you, that's or like your body size, or You should just lose a little bit of weight. I'm like, that's so nice. It's so nice that she doesn't feel that pressure from me. But it's not that she won't feel it from the world. It's not. It's just, it's

Danya Nissan 1:10:56

not.

Rebecca Sigala 1:10:56

How do we relate to that?

Danya Nissan 1:10:58

Yes. Because you said at one point something very important. It's how we co-exist with it. Mm-hmm. Because it will still be there. It's not going anywhere.

Rebecca Sigala 1:11:10

Yeah. Thank you, Danya.

Danya Nissan 1:11:14

Thank you.