Rising Strong Wellness LLC

09/18/2026

Here's a light little read to ease into the weekend.
Yes... it's a long one. I really went down a rabbit hole on this.
Yes, I'm talking about Dolly Parton, tables, and communion. Again.
Yes, it's probably irreverent.
Yes, I used AI to make the image. The writing, the ideas, and the prayers are mine. That's where my creativity lives.
This is a completely unauthorized communion of difficult women, sacred bodies, and carbohydrates.
It's an essay about who the patron saints of the modern-day body might be, and what happens when you seat them all at one long dinner table. Gloria, Audre, Frida, Marilyn, Diana, Madonna, Dolly, and more. Nobody comments on anybody's plate. Everybody passes the bread.
These are my prayers for us all.

https://risingstrongwellness.substack.com/p/the-patron-saints-of-the-modern-day?r=gniru&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

09/17/2026

What is “Beyond the Room”?
The Whole Body Experience doesn’t end when we leave on October 10.
Beyond the Room is your virtual space to keep listening, learning, reflecting, and coming back to the conversations when you’re ready.
This is where Jackie’s full talk will live, so you can take it in more than once—or pause and return when you need to.

You’ll also find conversations and teachings about:
✨ Purity culture + the body
✨ The history and stories held in hair
✨ The gentleness of beauty
✨ Anti-bias reflections and worksheets you can use and share
✨ A HUGE collection of resources for continued learning

Think of it as the full conference experience, broken into smaller, more accessible bites.
No rushing to absorb everything in one day. No information overload.
Come for the room. Stay for everything that happens beyond it.

09/16/2026

We take the picture.
And almost immediately, we look at ourselves.
Do I like my face?
Does my body look okay?
Is that really what I look like?
Should I take another one?
It’s such an ordinary little moment—and yet so much can live inside it.
Most of us weren’t born evaluating ourselves this way. Somewhere along the way, we learned what was considered beautiful, desirable, acceptable, feminine, masculine, youthful, thin enough, polished enough, or worthy of being seen.

So here’s a little body-story prompt for you:
When you see a photo of yourself, what do you notice first—and who taught you to look for that?
You don’t have to share the whole story. Even one word counts. 👇

09/15/2026

Your story is not content to me.
As I collect body stories for The Whole Body Experience, I want to be clear about how I hold what people share with me.
When you trust me with a piece of your story—ordinary, painful, joyful, complicated, messy or unfinished—I understand that I’m being trusted with something human.

I’m not here to make it prettier, more dramatic, or easier for someone else to understand.
I’m here to witness it.

I believe shame loses a little of its power every time our story is met by an empathetic witness instead of judgment.
Some stories may be shared—with permission.
Some may simply be witnessed.

Because your story doesn’t have to become content to have value.
Your story matters. Your body matters.

09/15/2026

I can't interview every body. But I want to hear from as many as I can.
This week I'm heading into the community to ask strangers a few questions about what it's like to live in their body—the stories we carry, the things we've been taught about bodies, and what we wish other people understood.

But street interviews will only reach a tiny handful of people.
So I'm opening the questions to you, too.

I've created a short anonymous form where you can share a piece of your body story. No name required. No perfect answers. Share as much or as little as you'd like.

Some of these anonymous stories will become part of The Whole Body Experience on October 10, where we're gathering to listen, get curious about what we've been taught about bodies, and make room for stories beyond our own. With your permission, I may also share excerpts as we lead up to the event.
Because every body has a story.

And maybe part of changing the way we live together in bodies begins with hearing more of them.

Please feel free to share this with your friends!

The Whole Body Experience is built around a simple belief: every body has a story, and we understand our own bodies differently when we make space to hear from one another. I’m collecting anonymous body stories from people in our community—across ages, sizes, abilities, genders, races, identitie...

09/13/2026

No resting over here. 😂
The Whole Body Experience is less than a month away, which means I’m taking this work off the screen and into the community.
I’m hitting the streets, visiting local businesses, connecting with collaborators, hanging flyers, having conversations, and sharing the mission behind this gathering:
Every body has a story. And not every body gets the same freedom to tell it, live it, or be heard.
I want The Whole Body Experience to be something we build with our community—not simply something I promote to it.
So if you see me wandering around Grand Rapids with caffeine, flyers, and approximately 47 things in my hands…say hi. 😂
And if you know a business, organization, therapist, artist, community space, or human I should connect with, tag them below. 👇

Jackie Green

09/11/2026

This week in Yoga for Body Connection, we’ll continue exploring yantra—points of connection, the lines between them, and the space within—with a new question: What is the difference between being strong and becoming rigid?
Sometimes rigidity shows up in the body: a clenched jaw, lifted shoulders, bracing through the belly, muscles that seem to have forgotten they’re allowed to soften. Sometimes it lives in our thinking—the loops we can’t seem to leave, the need to figure something out, the patterns we return to when life feels overwhelming. Rigidity can be protective. We don’t need to make it wrong or force it away. Instead, we’ll get curious about whether strength can include movement, support, flexibility, and choice. Can I be rooted without gripping? Can I hold something firmly and still have room to move?
We’ll move slowly through a choice-centered practice using points of contact and connection as places to return when attention feels scattered or the body feels braced. Then we’ll give ourselves plenty of time to come down—ending with a long, intentional rest and a short Yoga Nidra.
If your body has been carrying tension, your thoughts have been getting stuck in familiar grooves, or everything simply feels like a lot right now, this practice is for you.
Strong, not rigid.
Rooted, with room to move.
Yoga for Body Connection
Sunday at Yogi Union · Donation-based · Come as you are.

09/09/2026

We are a month away.
I want this project to live.... like more than any other project I've done.
It's full of life behind the scenes and it's time to bring it all public.

We're gathering for leaning to the conversations and listening with our whole bodies. When we listen to stories... it opens us and it's hard to unheard them. This is how change begins.

Join me for The Whole Body Experience October 10th. We're coming together to celebrate bodies, create and reflect. Then... there's beyond the room. The hybrid experience and community where the work continues. There is a community guide being created with SO many resources full of journals, anti-bias worksheets to share and AMAZING talks from Jackie Blankenship as she share her story!

Link is in the bio. You can choose in person or virtual to just get the replays and content. You can choose your experience and what you pay with our community access payment options.

See you there!