Episode 23: Diet Culture and its Relationship to Systems of Oppression w/ Dr. Sand Chang and Aisha Nash

Nov 6

May 27, 2021

Show Notes

On this episode of Students of Mind, Jayde interviews Dr. Sand Chang and Aisha Nash for a second installment of the body image series. This episode dives deeper than ever into the dark history of diet culture and the violence it perpetuates across the board, but largely the bodies of those in marginalized communities.

First Dr. Sand Chang, a Chinese American nonbinary Licensed Psychologist, DEI consultant, and somatic psychotherapist, shares their perspective on exactly how diet culture has been a tool of social control, the importance of sharing relevant identities and lived experiences with clients, eating disorders in the LGBTQIA+ community, limitations of the DSM criteria, and how they advocate for and support their patients.

Jayde then sits down with Aisha Nash, Anti-diet Yoga Teacher, as she talks about her lived experience dealing with diet culture, disordered eating, and negative body image. Aisha provides an inside look into how the dominant yoga culture in the west is filled with toxic body image and disordered eating behind closed doors. Aisha also gives a quick history lesson in how colonization and anti-blackness is at the core of diet culture. Lastly, she shares how the pandemic has ignited a cultural shift where online communities are rising up to provide more equitable, accessible, and inclusive opportunities for people to practice yoga. Today she is an anti-diet yoga teacher who shares how yoga can be a form of body liberation.