Self Love Begins With You

As soon as I realized that people were seeing themselves in a much more confident and empowered light after a boudoir session, I was hooked. My heart sang and I knew this was a big purpose in my life’s path-and it still is! I’ll always offer boudoir sessions, and those are a great fit for so many folks! But…I knew there could be more to it. I knew I had more to give. My heart, mind, and feet told me to keep exploring, to find that extra bit of light to help others work through their shadows and find a healthier relationship to their bodies. To help foster acceptance, as well as radical love, for themselves. From here, my newest offering, self love sessions, were born! I am in love with these, and look forward to all the amazing folks I’ll get to meet and work with through these journeys.

So what are self love sessions? Let me quick you a quick run down:

Feelings of self-love and empowerment are unique to each human. It’s not up to me, or anyone else but you, to tell you what light to see yourself in. It’s up to you to decide how to accept your body. With self-love sessions, I’m here to empower you to make your own decisions around that. I’m here to collaborate with you - to give you a safe space free of shame, and the narrative of shame our bodies are subject to, to explore different parts of yourself on any given day with absolutely zero judgement from me. They are about showing up and exploring who you want to be in that given moment. It’s a journey into how you feel about your body, how you feel about yourself, and then in turn showing love and acceptance to yourself along the way. Documenting and photographing your beautiful self and hiding nothing- showing as much love to one part of your beautiful being as another. Your body is your home, and it deserves your love. YOU deserve your love.

Self-love empowerment sessions look a little different from traditional portrait and boudoir sessions. They involve going deep, asking yourself lots of questions, exploring what the answers feel like, and talking through all of that in a supportive space. All of which culminates with a unique and creative photography session that celebrates your own divine individuality.

With these sessions, we work to embrace not worrying about what ANYONE but you thinks about your body, and how it should look. I can help advise you on what has worked well for others, but ultimately, I’m here to empower you to make your own decisions for these sessions. I’m here to collaborate with you, not decide for you- you are in control of that. Maybe you bring that favorite outfit that makes you feel like a badass, or you might bring some lingerie with you, or maybe you simply bring your favorite sports bra and cozy shorts. Maybe you want to strip away all the bullshit and get totally bare while facing and working through your feelings around that. It’s about showing up and exploring who you want to be in that given moment. Whatever that “looks” like doesn’t really matter. It’s less about sexy photos (which isn’t a bad thing- sexy photos are also super empowering for lots of folks and I’m always down for helping you see, celebrate, and feel empowered through those!) and more about how you feel- throughout the journey and when you look at your photos.

Want to learn more? You can find more information and full details on the process of a self love session on my new website- www.wildeselflove.com! It’s full of all kinds of good information, inspiring stories, and the experiences of some of the incredible humans I’ve had the opportunity to work with on these sessions. I’m so excited for you all to learn more about these, and hope to work with your wonderful self on one soon!!

I’ve included a few highlights from some recent sessions here, along with a few words from each of them around their experience. Full blog posts for each of them, including some interviews with them, can be found on my new website’s blog!

Caralynn

"Before, I was happy to accept a lack of discomfort in my body as my norm. Simply ignoring the things that used to bother me felt like such a step forward that I never expected to feel anything better than that. Working with Amy in this process, however, moved me from a place of content negligence, to joyous celebration. Parts of my body that used to hold tension and anxiety like my neck are now being relieved not by ignoring them, but by showing them extra love and care. Amy brought so much wisdom, enthusiasm, and intuitiveness to this experience, and I will definitely be carrying her knowledge with me in my every day life."

Jordan

"Call me weird - I’ve always loved my scars. I love the stories they tell, and how they show the adversary overcome. But because I’ve been told that they’re ugly, or should be kept hidden, I became used to the idea that I should conceal them. That they make others feel uncomfortable, that it’s not ideal for “women” to have scars on their “perfect skin.” One day I just woke up, to the same routine of trying to cover my scars with creams and balms, until I asked myself one morning “when are you ever going to be happy with this skin?” It was a question I hadn’t asked myself before...why do I do this everyday? And then I decided that today was the day, and every today ever after - I was going to learn to love the skin I’m in. I’ve learned to love all sorts of things about it; the gritty texture, the way it smells after a shower, all my smile lines and wrinkles, how it warms and protects me in the sun - it tells my story, but it’s also just a piece of my life. It does not define me, but I like to think that it does REFINE me. Amy was just absolutely wonderful to work with. From the very start she created a safe place for open communication, and allowed space for vulnerability. Amy really has the eye for beauty that not many people are capable of seeing it themselves, and she brings it out and captures it beautifully in these photographs"

Kara

“Self love is something we all need to partake in more often. As a trans woman there is no harsher critic than your own mind and this session melted all of that away. It shown light on the joy, strength, beauty, and sensuality that makes up who I am as a human. Thank you Amy for helping me show the world just how amazing and full of joy I am! I am worthy and my body is my home! "

Nicole

"I've been struggling with self-love as long as I can remember. Living in a fat body is not easy in our world. I always thought that once I got to a particular fitness goal or number on the scale that it would come with automatic self-love, but that is not the case. I'm working on loving my body in the here and now, during the ups and downs, and while it's difficult, it's the only body I get. I am proud to inhabit this body. Working with Amy on this Self-love session has been one of the most eye-opening and rewarding experiences of my life. She not only took amazing, beautiful pictures, and made me feel like an absolute rockstar while doing so. She helped me really dig in to what self-love meant to me as well as provided suggestions on how I can continue to love myself even on my darkest of days."

Ready to book your own experience? I’d love to speak with your wonderful self! Shoot me an email via my contact page and let’s chat!