The Body Image Episode: Learning to Love the Skin You're In
Nov 24, 2025Episode 7 · 24 November 2025 · 41 min
With Layne Beachley AO & Tess Brouwer, featuring Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer
About this episode
If you've ever caught your reflection and felt a sting instead of pride, this episode will hit home. In this deeply personal conversation, Layne and Tess open up about their lifelong journeys with body image β from chasing impossible standards to finally learning to see their bodies as allies, not enemies. Layne shares how years on the pro surfing circuit turned her body into both her tool and her torment, culminating in a cosmetic procedure she deeply regrets β and how her father's reaction became the wake-up call that taught her the difference between performing confidence and embodying self-love.
Tess reveals her own decades-long battle with food, control and comparison β from teenage body shame to postpartum healing β and how self-worth, not willpower, changed everything. Together they unpack how body image is shaped by culture, childhood, trauma and the stories we tell ourselves. They explore why 'bouncing back' after birth is the wrong goal, how to quiet the inner critic, and what it really means to ask: 'What would love do now?' Because this isn't about getting your old body back β it's about coming home to yourself.
Powered by AIA
Calculate your AIA Vitality Age in less than 5 minutes, and get a better understanding of your health.
Key takeaways
- Self-love starts where self-loathing ends. Layne's healing began when she stopped building herself up with false validation, forgave her body for not being perfect, and thanked it for surviving. Real change follows acceptance, not punishment.
- Your environment shapes your energy. Fill your fridge with real nourishment, skip the mirror after dark, and delete the apps that feed comparison. Self-care isn't another task on the list β it's a design choice you make for yourself.
- Worthiness comes first. You'll only change when you believe you deserve to. Every act of self-care β from eating breakfast to saying no β begins with the decision that you are worthy of being put first.
- Forgive your body for the past. Tess shares how pregnancy and recovery helped her rewrite the story that her body had failed her. When she finally loved her body, she found it could love her back.
- Ask the love question. In any moment of doubt, frustration or shame, pause and ask: 'What would love do now?' It's the gentlest, most powerful way to reset how you treat yourself β sometimes that's rest, sometimes effort, always compassion.
Chapters
Tap any clip to jump the player above to that moment.
Transcript
Auto-generated, may contain minor errors. Expand a section, or tap “Play this clip” to jump the player to it.
00:00Introduction▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (00:00):
00:49A listener's wake-up call: 'I'm not broken, but I'm not okay'▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (00:49):
02:51Honour where you are, then choose your next move▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (02:51):
05:59Worthiness comes before change▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (05:59):
09:02Tiny habits and love notes to yourself▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (09:02):
12:46Today's topic: body image and self-love▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (12:46):
13:02Tess's earliest body memories▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (13:02):
15:19Where the 'fat' story began▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (15:19):
18:40Layne's body-image turning point▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (18:40):
21:59The liposuction and a road trip with Dad▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (21:59):
26:28Falling in love with her body▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (26:28):
27:57Control, the accident and refusing to eat▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (27:57):
29:51Pregnancy and the birth of self-love▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (29:51):
34:38The bounce-back myth and what would love do▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (34:38):
37:15Three tips for body compassion▾
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer (37:15):
Frequently asked questions
What is this episode about?▾
Layne and Tess share their lifelong journeys with body image and self-worth β from chasing impossible standards to learning to see their bodies as allies. They cover Layne's deepest regret, Tess's long struggle with food and comparison, postpartum healing, and the daily reframe 'what would love do now?'
What was Layne's wake-up call around body image?▾
On the pro surfing circuit Layne came to see her body as both her tool and her torment, and eventually had a cosmetic procedure she deeply regrets. A road trip with her father β whose own wife had died after cosmetic surgery β became the moment she stopped seeking false validation and started embodying self-love.
How did Tess heal her relationship with food and her body?▾
Tess describes years of food preoccupation, control and comparison rooted in a lack of self-worth. Through therapy, self-forgiveness and ultimately pregnancy and birth, she learned to trust and love her body β discovering that worth, not willpower, was what changed everything.
Why do they say 'bouncing back' after birth is the wrong goal?▾
Layne and Tess reframe the cultural pressure to 'bounce back' as a form of self-punishment in your most fragile state. When you love yourself, there's no need to bounce back β you nourish and heal slowly, with love, instead of whipping yourself toward an old body.
What is the 'what would love do now?' practice?▾
It's Tess's top tool: in any moment of doubt or shame, take a breath and ask what someone who truly loved themselves would do β how they'd act, eat, move and speak to themselves. Sometimes the answer is to go slow, sometimes to go hard; it's about meeting your body wherever it's at with compassion.
What practical tips do they share for body compassion?▾
Three: put self-love and self-worth first; design an environment that makes self-love easy (nourishing food in the fridge, no full-length mirror after dark, fewer comparison apps); and do the inner work to spot your emotional triggers β getting therapy on the bigger issues rather than chasing a quick fix.
Guest
Layne Beachley & Tess Brouwer
Hosts β seven-time world surfing champion Layne Beachley and Awake Academy co-founder Tess Brouwer
An honest conversation about body image and self-worth β and learning to come home to the body you live in.
