Rise Within by Lacey Nedjelski

04/06/2026

My mother died last week. And with her death comes layers of complex feelings.

I cry for hole in my heart. The woman that chose life, to bring me here to this planet at this time. I cry for those that are left behind that wish she was still here.

I cry for the things she never got to deal with. The truths she hid away from because it was just to painful to talk about.

I cry because in her last days, she didn’t ask for me. Not wanting to repair the rift that happened because I wouldn’t repeat family cycles.

I cry for the part of me that won’t ever get to know the woman that the outside world got to know. The one who gave without conditions.

I cry for the pieces of me that won’t ever get an apology - from any of the people in my family.

Grief is sneaky and seeps into places you thought you have already healed.

My mother’s death has left me wading through frigid waters, trying to keep my head above. Core wounds coming out to play, while the mother/grown woman inside of me soothes these stories with truth but allowing them to have their time.

But I have learned a lot through this time.

I am not like my family.

The way that I have been treated by them shows me I am not like them - and helped me to really see who I am.

Estrangement leaves unspoken words and understanding, and even though this has all been so awful, I can look back and know for certain that it was never me. Being estranged, I knew when the time came for her to pass that it would be different - but I didn’t think I would be erased. Despite always being made to believe there was something wrong with me - I’m the scapegoat and I’ll own it.

But in saying this. I am also saying that for the first time in my life I’m taking some time off. To be with myself and heart. I know some say just get back at it, don’t wallow in your pain - but that’s not what this is.

At my mother’s funeral someone reflected on how busy she was all the time. Running from this thing to the next - and that’s me. I do that. And I know that comes from a sense of needing to show the world I’m worthy in some weird way. So I need to recalibrate, get right with my head and heart and come back renewed and ready ♥️

03/25/2026

One of the most common things I hear in a session is “I’ve never heard this before” or “why don’t more women talk about these things?”

How is it that so many women are walking around in bodies they don’t understand? Experiencing pain and discomfort - and yet afraid to talk about it with their girlfriends or mothers because vag*nas and vul*as are still taboo and shameful?

I’m here to talk about the uncomfortable things. To teach you how to listen to your body and show you that there’s another way.

Gone are the days where we keep it quiet, or normalize symptoms, or to carry it alone.

But leaking, painful s*x, cycle issues and chronic tension are not things we are just meant to live with. These symptoms are your body’s way of communicating with you. It’s your body asking you to listen.

The work I do didn’t come from a textbook. It came from my own body and lived experience. (Yes I do have teachers and mentors)

From trying to make sense of horrendous periods, a leaking bladder, deep aches and pain where I should have been feeling pleasure.

I know what it’s like to have things feel off and not know where to turn.

So I kept searching, learning and listening.

And now, I’m about to step even deeper on to this path.

In a few short weeks I’ll be studying with my mentor - expanding into a framework that takes a look at the four domains of health and how we can bring the body back into true alignment.

This work has already changed me. How I show up. How I listen. How I trust and understand what I feel in my own body.

And I’m so excited to see how it will deepen with each woman that walks through my door.

You deserve to feel at home in your body. You deserve to know that things feeling off doesn’t mean it’s the way it has to be.

Let’s not stay quiet about these things. Let’s talk about it and bring it into light. In the light we demolish shame and when we get rid of shame the real healing can begin.

03/13/2026

Every single person has a story - and your story is wha brought you here to this very time. No two stories are the same, though we share the same threads. Your story is yours, own it. Love it. ♥️♥️

03/11/2026

I believe in showing up fully, in the messy, soft, stubborn, curious and wildly alive. I believe in leaning into the discomfort, following curiosity wherever it leads you and trusting that the body knows way more than the mind ever will.

I love deep and meaningful conversations, long walks/hikes that leaves your lungs burning and contemplating if I’ll make it to see another day, the smell of soup simmering on the stove and the kind of quiet that hits after the world finally slows down for the day. I believe in rituals that feel good. Boundaries that protect your energy and people who challenge you to grow while still holding you close with love.

I don’t believe in small dreams - they might as well be wild and crazy! I don’t believe in apologizing for taking up space - anymore. I do believe in cultivating your own life - the one that lights you up from the inside out. And never settling for less than what you need to thrive.

Tell me, hate one little ritual, or obsession or even belief that keeps you feeling alive and like yourself?

03/11/2026

03/10/2026

There’s something that’s so deeply nourishing about women gathering with other women. There’s something deep within us that knows we aren’t supposed to do life all alone.

For most of the history as we know it, women lived in community with other women.
We talked while we worked. We shared stories. We witnessed each other through our births, heartbreaks, celebrations, and the ordinary days between.

Being together wasn’t a special event. It was simply just part of being human.

And yet many of us know that it’s “normal” to now move through life feeling really stretched thin and disconnected from the world around us. We hold so much responsibility and are still craving that space to slow down and breathe.

This is why spaces like this matter.

Not because it’s extravagant or fancy but because we are creating a pause in everyday life.

A moment to sit with other women. To exhale. To laugh. Share stories. Reflect. To feel supported and not feel like we need to hold it all together.

Spring is a beautiful time to do this!

The earth begins to wake up. The days grow longer. Something within us wants to naturally reset and reconnect with what matters most.

So .wisewoman and I are creating a day for us to do that!

A gentle space to gather, relax, connect and recharge before the fullness of summer arrives.

If this speaks to you, we would love to have you join us on Saturday March 29th and the investment is $75.

Send me a message if you have questions or want your spot saved! ♥️

03/05/2026

Sometimes I need to take a moment to pause and think about how wild it is that this is the life I get to live.

Sitting with women, listening to their stories, witnessing their bodies slowly soften back into safety.

Bodies that have held so much. Stories that have been carried in silence. Tension that lived beneath the surface for years, sometimes decades.

And then, when we sit in quiet, something shifts.

The breath begins to deepen. The shoulders drop. Maybe even a tear comes that didn’t have permission before.

There’s so much power in being seen, not needing to perform, explain or try to fix anything.

I’ve been there. And I still find myself in this space sometimes. Even having the tools in my belt, I still am human and get sucked into those tightly formed spaces and need the same grace of presence from another practitioner. To witness and hold me into my own becoming.

No advice. No rushing. No expectations but just pure presence and what is in that very moment.

These moments remind me again and again that healing isn’t something that we can force. It’s something that unfolds when there’s enough space for the body to exhale.

And truly, there’s something sacred about it.

Just being human together.

Love you 😘

03/04/2026

This is blood.

On white sheets. Unedited. Unapologetic.

And I refuse to whisper about it.

We’ve been conditioned to hide it. Wad it up in toilet paper, and pretend it doesn’t happen. Be ashamed. To believe it’s dirty, inconvenient even.

But look at it!

It blooms.

Soft at the edges. Dark in the centre. Like a flower opening. Like wings. Like the womb is speaking her own unmistakable language for us to see.

This is not a stain.

This is release.

This is the bodies intelligence shedding what is no longer needed. Clearing. Making space. Beginning again.

And somewhere along the way, we were taught to be ashamed.

Shame about the blood.
Shame about the tears and discomfort that comes with it sometimes.
Shame about the rage. The tenderness. The deep ache that rises without asking us permission.

But in this space - the work I hold - nothing that comes to the surface is wrong.

Not the grief.
Not the trembling.
Not the mess.

This is the whole purpose!

To come back to wha truly matters. To sit with what’s real instead of what’s socially acceptable. To move what the body has been carrying for years - sometimes decades- without judgement, only love and reverence.

Women holding women.

Not fixing. Not silencing. Not pathologizing what’s ancient and wise.

Just witnessing. And there’s so much beauty in that.

In the bloods. In the fluids. In the courage it takes to stay present when everything in us was taught to hide away.

This is the ancient work I was called to do.

To normalize what’s always been sacred. To challenge the lies that our bodies are problems to fix. To remind us that we are not broken.

We are cyclical.
We are powerful.
We are holy.

And this?

This is what reclamation looks like.

www.laceynedjelski.com

03/02/2026

I hear the 90’s are making a come back.

The days of low rise jeans,
rib flares and hip bones
Thigh gaps
Hunger disguised as discipline
And disordered eating renamed as “wellness”.

Only now it’s sleeker. Easier. More socially acceptable.

Weight loss pills and injections are mainstream.
Trending. Normalized. Marketed like self-care and can be purchased through our favourite influencers.
People claiming to lose weight by their products they are pushing, and secretly taking a little something on the side - but hey, we need to make a sale. Body positivity quietly pushed to the back burner, and skinny once again being back “in”.

I’ve watched so many public figures lately, looking frail and depleted. And this is being served to us as beauty? As aspiration?

Desires come in many shapes and forms but the reality of living online is this - we are constantly being shaped by what we see.
Repetition becomes normalized.
Normalization becomes preference.
Preference becomes belief.

And suddenly…without even realizing it…we are measuring ourselves against something we never even consciously chose.

In a world saturated with influence, I choose to question what’s being sold to us.

I used to think body positivity as toxic.
I thought it meant complacency.
Avoidance.
Settling.

But I understand it differently now.

To me, body positivity is not about refusing change. It’s not about abandoning health. It’s not about never wanting to grow, strengthen or evolve.

It’s about learning to love and accept yourself, as you are in this very moment. While you live, while you change, while you care for your body in ways that feel honest and nourishing to your system.

It’s not about withholding worth until you’re smaller. Not about withholding tenderness until you’re more “acceptable” Not believing that your value fluctuates with your measurements.

It’s about refusing to abandon yourself in the pursuit of being desired.

Your body is not a trend. It’s not an era. It’s your home. It’s your history. Your living, breathing place of existence.

And no trend - past or present - gets to decide how you belong to yourself.

And before you come at me 👇