Let’s chat!

Have a question about retreats, looking to collaborate or want to hire Mary to speak? Fill out the form and we’ll get back to you shortly!

WANT TO KNOW THE 5 STEPS TO KILLER CONFIDENCE?

Enter your name & email and I’ll send you the guide!

Follow On

Instagram

Instagram post 2250556946300192283_197479737

Cheers to wearing tight clothes & crop tops after 10 years of living in sweatshirts because I hated my body so much 🙃 feelin’ really proud of myself; how are you doing with your body confidence/ self love journey?? ☺️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
👉swipe left for bloopers lol!

Instagram post 2248894478972667033_197479737

I can’t believe how a few tweaks can make me look like a totally different person (swipe left to see) 😳⁣
⁣
Society makes us believe that we’re not worthy, wanted, or attractive unless we have big pouty lips, an hourglass figure that’s thin but not too thin, long lean legs, not to mention perfect skin, no hair except for on our head (with perfectly waxed eyebrows and big full lashes, of course) and ⁣
⁣
Did I miss anything? 🤔⁣
⁣
The hyper-sexualization of women is real.⁣
⁣
The shitty thing is that we start to internalize these expectations and start expecting it from ourselves.⁣
⁣
If we have a “bad hair day,” we hide it with a hat. If we don’t shave, we apologize for it. We spend HUNDREDS of dollars on hair, makeup, nails, facials, treatments, etc and if we still feel inadequate, we spend THOUSANDS of dollars for a cosmetic procedure.⁣
⁣
Anyone who says “well no one is physically FORCING women to do those things” ⁣
⁣
Well when you treat women like trash when they don’t comply, that’s a form of forcefulness (just look at how women are treated in politics 🤷‍♀️).⁣
⁣
I truly don’t know what the solution is because it’s such a catch 22 for us. But what I do know is that becoming EDUCATED and AWARE of this has helped me make more empowered choices when it comes to MY body, how I treat it and how I see myself as a woman in this world.⁣
⁣
It’s a loaded topic, but I’m so excited to hear what you all have to say 👇👇👇⁣
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#womenempoweringwomen #feminist #effyourbeautystandards #bodypositive #mybodymychoice

Instagram post 2248118755030975715_197479737

Yesterday I was listening to an interview with @ddlovato on @ashleygraham ‘s podcast and Demi talked about how working towards body acceptance has been more helpful to her than trying to “love” her body.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I mean that’s the exact premise of my TED talk: let’s stop focusing on body IMAGE (whether it’s positive or negative) and let’s embrace our life EXPERIENCE instead.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But Demi’s words made me realize what a poor job I’ve been doing on Instagram in particular.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The first thing you see on Instagram is the IMAGE, and if that’s captivating enough then you might read the caption.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s the sad reality and in the midst of trying to “keep up” on this platform, I lost a little bit of my true message.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
We already live in such an image-driven society and sometimes it feels like “body positivity” is another thing to fail at.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I don’t want to contribute to that.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I will still talk about body image a lot, but I also want to talk about self love BEYOND just our bodies.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Thank you for letting me evolve and evolving with me. And thank you @ddlovato for opening this up for me. 🙏
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What are your thoughts on this? Are you here for more self love BEYOND just our bodies?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#bodyacceptance #selfacceptance #selflovejourney

Instagram post 2246917642596356429_197479737

Hi, it’s me, Mary! This is an old pic but I wanted to introduce myself to anyone who’s new and share some fun facts about me! 🙃
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1️⃣ During my teen years, one of my biggest fears was that guys wouldn’t find me attractive if I gained weight. In recovering from an ED and working on my self-worth, I realized that any man who doesn’t like me unless I’m a size 4, doesn’t deserve me at ANY size 💁‍♀️ I also did a loooot of work to realize that I wasn’t put on this planet to be eye candy. I wanna be soul food. 😍
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2️⃣ Russian was my first language. In pre-school I barely knew any English so when me and the other kids played “House” they’d make me be the dog because all I’d have to say is “woof” 🐶 BUT in Russian, dogs say «гаф» (pronounced “gaff”) so then the kids started making fun of me and telling me I couldn’t even speak dog 😂😂
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3️⃣ I always have a hard time answering “what do you do?” because I do a lot! 😅 I just graduated college with a Bachelor’s in Economics but my full-time “job” is hosting self love retreats for women and sharing my message on social media! Actually the day of college graduation I was speaking on the @tedx stage which was like the best thing to ever happen to my career. 😭😭 Just search Mary Jelkovsky on YouTube to watch it!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So where are you from? What do you do? Tell me a fun fact about YOU 😍👇
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#bodyimage #selflovejourney #healingjourney #tedxspeaker

Instagram post 2246152738952042188_197479737

Some gems from @retreatsbymary 🙌
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There are 7 days left to join my next Self Love Retreat in Zanzibar, Tanzania March 18-24th
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Daily self love workshops with me 💕 paddle boarding the calm Indian Ocean 🌊 accommodations at a beautiful beachside resort 🏖 a community of like-minded women and so. much. more. ♥️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Because YOU are worthy of so much more than you’ve been giving yourself. 🙏
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
👆That’s a fact 👆
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Apply for the Zanzibar Self Love Retreat through the link in my bio! See you in Africa 😉
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#selfloveretreat #zanzibarretreat #communityovercompetition #selfworth #selfconfidence #selflove #bodyimage

Instagram post 2246057266920899215_197479737

✨ QUIT COMPARING AND START CREATING ✨
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Confession: I compare myself to other people. Sometimes it’s someone on social media who seems to be killing it at life, other times it’s looking at all my close friends who are married, pregnant, or making millions. 😅
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
We all do this because it’s human nature. We are social creatures who are wired to look at other people to feel like we belong.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I read somewhere that it’s impossible to be comparing if you’re focused on creating. I’m not sure the exact science behind it, but I think it’s because it involves the same parts of your brain, so you physically cannot do both at once.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So this year I set out to tap into my creativity more.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✨ Dancing; whether that’s twerking in Zumba or dancing in my underwear at home. 💃🏽
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✨ Writing; for myself and not just for Instagram captions. 😇
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✨ Podcasting; Tea Time with Mary is always unplanned. I just speak from the heart and it literally feels like the message is downloading from up above. 🙌
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✨ Painting; A couple months ago I felt compelled to paint nude bodies. So I signed myself up for art lessons and my first project was a painting of my naked self. 🙃
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I never considered myself a creative person, but my little sister says, “If you create, then you’re creative!” 😭😭😭
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Art can heal you by tapping into parts of you that you never even knew existed… It’s fucking beautiful. ♥️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Do you consider yourself a creative person? How do you tap into your creativity?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#createcultivate #creativeentrepreneur #artofinstagram #nobodyshame #bodiesarecool #nudeart