Did it hurt when I was not listening?
Darling soul, I ask this in a spirit of enquiry not accusation, are there moments when you have been less than kind to your body this season?
Were there times you laughed at it in front of others and jiggled bits and talked of ways to reduce it or change it's shape? Were there times you told you must work harder or be something different for the new year? Where there times you said that you needed to pay off a debt of food?
All of these things are normal. And also… they don't have to be.
When we talk about body image we are constantly bombarded with messages that our anatomies need to be different in order for us to achieve love, or harmony or be peaceful with ourselves.
And most of us have been trying to bully ourselves different for a lifetime.
What I have found to be true is this:
My body deserves kindess no matter what shape she is. Every body does.
Criticising myself only makes my body want to protect itself against me.
I am going to need to eat food every day for the rest of my life.
I have a human body.
You're not going to find these to be miracle cures that offer you quick-fix solutions to decades-long berating, but with practice and dedication, the more you practice these four thoughts, the more having a body will feel… well… normal. Rather than a project to be fixed.
I know I am never going to look like a billboard (photographer spoiler: most of them don't look like that either) but I also know I am never going to look anything less than human.
The more I work to normalise accepting my body is ok for existing, the more I create space for other people to be, just as they are.
And this is what happens for you too. Your friends see you, your nieces, daughters, cousins and siblings see you. Existing. Not needing to shrink your light or your love. And they see this could be possible for them too.
And more possibilities.
When you ask your body what it has been trying to tell you, what do you hear? It is in these moments that we find gold.
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