Love Your Body

The writing prompt that changed how I feel about my body.

From the moment we’re born, the way we see our bodies is influenced by the people around us; what we see, what we hear and listen to, everything. Doctors. Family. Songs. Media. Magazines. It’s literally everywhere.

I’ve struggled with my body image my entire life. Thankfully, I’ve always been healthy. I was an athlete in school, although the physical demands of softball and field hockey are immensely different, so my body fluctuated with the seasons. Story of my life.

Never happy with what I look like, I’ve dieted off and on since high school. Even now, though I’d like to think my mindset has changed because I’m intentionally working through it, it’s ingrained in my brain that when I look at myself in the mirror when I get out of the shower –or anytime, for the matter– the first thing I want to do is pick apart my body. “Oh, look at this roll here or this love handle over here… Gross.” Or, “Man, I wish I had bigger boobs.” Or, “I wish my thighs weren’t so saggy.” I could keep going. I’m the smallest I’ve ever been in my adult life and I’m still finding flaws with my body. Proof that weight loss does not equal happiness with myself.

Can you relate? Any of this resonating?

Stop it. Just stop, right now. We are all more than just what our bodies look like. Think of the time and energy we’ve wasted tearing ourselves apart. And where has it gotten us? Nowhere! It’s made us feel like crap about ourselves. And chances are, other people, who we’re so worried about judging our appearances (at least I do), they don’t spend half the time thinking at all about what we look like! They love us for who and what we are to them.

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to see myself through someone else’s eyes. Why can’t I start seeing myself that way? What if, instead of thinking about all that’s wrong with me, I think about all that’s right with me?

After listening to a fantastic podcast about self love and body positivity, I tried something a little different in hopes of changing my perspective. I took out my journal and starting writing what I love about my body. To begin with, it was all surface level, like I love my long legs, my hazel eyes that have flecks of every color. But the more I wrote, the more meaningful it became, and deeper in I went. My body has created another human being. How flipping awesome is that?! That same body produced the most nutritious food for my beautiful baby boy for the first three months of his life (more on that in the future). It has repaired itself from sprains and countless other injuries, allowed me to do basically anything I wanted to for the entirety of my life. And all I do is bash it. That’s not fair. Not fair to me, to my body, to anybody. No matter what it’s looked like, how it’s been treated, it’s always been there for me. It’s never failed me. Not once.

My perspective, my self narrative has changed from this one journal exercise. Each morning when I look in the mirror, or when I catch myself getting ready to speak ill of my beautiful and strong body, I stop myself from the negative talk. It’s a work in progress, and it’s not going to happen overnight. At this point, I’m simply noticing that negative self talk more. My next step, when I feel I’m ready and like it’s natural, will be to replace the negative with positive. Baby steps. I’m trying to reverse 34 years here, so I know it’s not going to happen immediately.

I urge you, with all of my heart and being (and my body, too!), to try this one for yourself. Set aside 10-15 minutes when you’re alone, and just start writing about what you love about your body. See where it takes you. Don’t stop until you feel ready to stop. Let it out on the page. Let the feelings and words flow, and show your body the love it deserves. It really is amazing, and it’s time we start acknowledging our beauty and the awe our bodies are deserving.

If you feel comfortable, leave a comment below to let us know how this exercise went for you. What did you learn? What did you notice? Did it change your perspective? I can’t wait to hear from you!