Hello beautiful soul. My name is Massey Armistead and this is my story:

Growing up, my life looked like a fairy tale. I was raised in a wealthy neighborhood in Nashville. I lived in a beautiful home, I had a prestigious education, and there were opportunities all around me. But if you looked more closely things weren’t as perfect as they seemed. Both my parents struggled with addiction and one of my siblings had cancer. So, while I had been given a lot I lived in a home of chaos and emotional insecurity.

The way I handled this was to try to make myself disappear through perfection. I developed the belief in childhood that the way you look and appear is in direct correlation with the type of person you are. I was a child who focused my energy constantly outward. “How can I stay out of the way and become a calm in the storm,” was the recurring thought in my head. I was vigilant in my observations of others and their reactions. I was petrified of disappointing my family or of needing and wanting anything outside the ordinary.

In school, I was rewarded and awarded over and over for my attitude and overall niceness, which only reinforced the idea that ruffling feathers or stepping out of the “niceness box” I had put myself in wasn’t safe.

Then the rebellion came. I started drinking and partying early. I was the one in my friend group that instigated drinking and going to parties. My new identity became revolved around being the party girl, the fun girl, and the funny girl! I had had enough playing nice. This persona carried me through high school, college, and even into my professional career as a Realtor.

But underneath the fun “woo-girl” persona was the part of me who wanted love, validation, and connection. I had abandoned myself so long ago, even if I had wanted to, I had no idea how to start the process of connecting to myself and my body again. During all this, I was either obsessively dieting or binge eating every meal. I felt so distant from myself and my body. I had no idea what it needed or wanted from me. Deep down I knew things needed to change but I was so scared of the emotions that would arise when I stopped escaping and coping the ways that I had for years. So I carried on living a life of self-neglect.

Then on a vacation, I was struck by a full on panic attack. I was terrified. I hoped it was a fluke but the following week I had another, then another. My anxiety was a wake-up call from my body to return home to myself. I did not have the option to ignore what I was feeling physically or emotionally any longer. I found a therapist and the journey of learning to trust myself again began.

This was a slow and steady process of looking at the source of my anxiety and how it may have started years ago as a child. I was learning so much about myself, I could finally hear my heart in my chest beating again. It was calling to me, it wanted to tell me more.

So I started following my heart’s invitation. Things that I repeatedly turned away from and mocked now attracted to me like a magnet. I had been a self-proclaimed atheist for years but I was suddenly interested in connecting to my spirit guides, meditation, and breath-work. Before I knew it I was a certified yoga instructor, a reiki practitioner, a tarot reader, and in a master’s degree for poetry! I had finally begun setting boundaries with people in my life from a place of love and intention, which I had never done before.

I had all this new knowledge and no idea what to do with it. Until one day I had the idea to put all my body acceptance practices together in one document. It was like a dam had broken open. I couldn’t stop. For one week straight I poured my heart into this project. When I was finished, I wanted to do more. I wanted to share this knowledge with women one-on-one so I became a certified self-love coach.

I cannot wait to support you and hold space for you on your journey. Whether you want to build your relationship with self and grow your self-love or you want to create a deeper relationship with yourself and spirit through a spiritual practice, I am here to support you.

We all have such bright lights inside of us and I want to empower you to know that it is safe to let it shine.

XOXO

Mass