How To Heal Your Trauma To Manifest Your Most Abundant Life | Melissa Wood-Tepperberg

Melissa shares the intense emotional landscape of her childhood, marred by financial strains and the chronic instability of a dysfunctional family environment.

Melissa grew up in a low-income, chaotic household with divorced parents and four siblings, constantly feeling the need to take care of everyone else.

Melissa's life as a child was deeply affected by the family's precarious financial situation, which she describes as fostering a scarcity mindset. She bore witness to her mother's stress from the economic hardship, which left an indelible mark. The scarcity of resources was tangible, as evidenced by the hurt and embarrassment she felt from having to cycle clothing with her sisters to give the impression of a more ample wardrobe due to only being able to afford one outfit each for school.

As the middle child, Melissa felt a strong sense of responsibility from a young age, often acting as a caretaker and taking on household chores to ease the stress on her parents.

Tasked with the weight of adult worries, Melissa stepped into a caretaker role within her family. As the middle child of five, she felt it was her duty to alleviate the household burden. She handled numerous chores and helped her siblings with their homework. Her initiative extended to creating chore lists on a chalkboard, but this often led her sisters to view her as bossy, an unintended consequence of her attempts to bring order to chaos.

Melissa experienced emotional neglect and abandonment, with her parents frequently absent or preoccupied, leading to feelings of shame and embarrassment.

The absence of her parents in pivotal moments left Melissa grappling with neglect and abandonment. She relates the pain of being forgotten at school events like Parents' Day and softball games, where she had to cloak her hurt and fabricate reasons for her mother's absence. These episodes of neglect, including being left alone with no ride home, sharpened he ...

Melissa Wood-Tepperberg bravely shares her journey through self-destructive behaviors and how she reached a personal crisis that forced her to seek change.

Melissa turned to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as binge drinking, binge eating, and purging, as a way to numb her emotional pain and feelings of inadequacy.

Wood-Tepperberg describes how, consumed by inner pain and feelings of inadequacy, she spiraled into a pattern of binge eating and purging. She also engaged in binge drinking and briefly experimented with drugs. Desiring to model but facing industry pressure to lose weight exacerbated her struggles. Her adeptness at hiding her pain from others was indicative of her internal turmoil.

Melissa's self-destructive behavior escalated in her 20s, leading to a personal rock bottom where she felt complete disgust and hatred towards herself.

During her 20s, Wood-Tepperberg hit her lowest point. She details late nights of heavy drinking and "raging," which often uncovered anger issues. She recounts how after being out all night, she would return home at sunrise only to end up purging, a cycle that led to a profound moment of self-disgust and self-hatred.

Melissa recognized that her destructive patterns were unsustainable and that she needed to make a change, but she struggled to be fully honest with her therapist and herself.

Lewis Howes notes that Wood-Tepperberg’s behaviors were out of alignment with her inner child's desires, the neglect of which manifested physically and emotionally. This deep disconnect reached a head when Wood-Tepperber ...

Melissa Wood-Tepperberg’s journey of hitting rock bottom and subsequent rise to wellness exemplifies the transformational power of integrating meditation and movement into daily life.

After her rock bottom moment, Melissa began to seek support and make the difficult decision to prioritize her own wellbeing, even though it was unfamiliar and challenging.

Melissa Wood-Tepperberg describes a significant moment where she chose a different path for herself, marking a move towards self-improvement and the need to ask for help. She acknowledges that her first thought upon waking is usually negative, but she now knows how to steer herself out of that mindset through a cultivated practice and connection with a higher power. Melissa notes that she has shifted from focusing on removing things from her life to adding things that could help her feel more at ease, such as seeking the assistance of a health coach. Lewis Howes points out that Melissa acknowledged two potential paths—continued destruction or reconnecting to self—and she chose the latter, beginning to make better choices.

Melissa started meditating daily, which helped her reconnect with her true self and find a newfound sense of peace and clarity.

Melissa attributes the beginning of her healing to starting a daily meditation, which helped her see herself for who she truly was, love herself through difficulties, and find peace and clarity. Meditation also became her tool for combatting stress and anxiety, which manifested physically. After feeling out of alignment with her true self and hating herself for her actions, Melissa realized that by bringing calm to her mind through meditation, she could feel regulated and less stressed.

Incorporating movement and fitness into her routine, in a more intuitive and mindful way, further aided Melissa's journey of self-discovery and healing.

Melissa describes how her approach to movement changed, integrating practices like Pilates and yoga, creating an "inner dance" and achieving a flow state rather than self-punishment. Through daily meditation and movement practices, Melissa listened to the still, small voice guiding her decisions, which Howes likens to God and her inner child. Melissa also notes that consistent practice aids her in self-discover ...

Melissa Wood-Tepperberg's journey to building a wellness brand has been marked by her authentic, vulnerable approach, which has deeply resonated with her growing online community.

Melissa's authentic, vulnerable approach to sharing her story and her practices resonated deeply with her growing online community.

Melissa has consistently chosen to share her personal struggles because she believes in the importance of being transparent and authentic with her audience, an approach which she feels is necessary to truly connect. This vulnerability is a significant aspect of her mission to “wake people up to their inner strength.”

Melissa recounts the beginnings of sharing her movement and meditation practices, starting out with just her phone on a $24 tripod, without fancy lights or editing. Her content is diverse, including workouts, meditations, and recipes designed for different stages of life, showing that her brand is relatable and geared towards being human and approachable.

Melissa Wood-Tepperberg describes doing large in-person classes that combined exercise, meditation, and speaking, where she allowed her speech to come through naturally, unscripted, indicating her commitment to authenticity. By sharing her practices in a real and accessible way, whether it be through her website offerings or speaking engagements, she has allowed her community to join her on her journey toward wellness.

Melissa's willingness to be transparently human, rather than projecting perfection, allowed her to build a loyal and engaged following.

Melissa discusses the importance of the feelings and unique experiences her subscribers get from her workouts. She recounts how she started sharing online, emphasizing her desire to be genuine and share real moments, practicing alongside her audience, rather than attempting to project an image of perfection.

She speaks to her inclination to share her own experiences and perceptions, focusing on strength found through vulnerability—contrary to the often superficial display of perfection on social media. This transparency in sharing not only her successes but also the difficult decisions to expand her business, which led to unhappiness even despite success. It is reflective of her genuine approach to connection.

Melissa's mission to "wake people up to their inner strength" became the driving force behind her business and the content she creates.

Melissa's central mission is to inspire others to discover and tap into their inner strength—a philosophy she applies to herself daily. From her speaking engagements, like the one at South by Southwest, to ...