Appreciate Your Body

Our bodies are miracle workers, every day.

Not everyone gets the same opportunities as we do. We need to appreciate that.

Why is it so difficult to appreciate our bodies?

Appreciating our bodies might sound foreign, that’s normal, it is only becoming new to this century that we should look at our bodies as vessels, as something that holds beauty, instead of squishing it.

Society has told us over and over again, that our bodies are not worth it. Whether it be by the photographs that we saw in magazines or the ideas passed down by parents and friends, we were taught that in order to be “normal” we had to find every flaw that our body had.

I thought I was alone. I thought I was the only one that did this as a young child. Turns out, most of my friends did too, we just never told anyone we did it. Because we were taught that we had to find the flaws, but it was “un-lady like” to tell people about them. Talk about a contradiction?

This is what we learned to do. We learned that life is about losing weight, don’t believe me? What industry is “killing it” right now? Weight loss. What industry has you captivated to watch the next person’s journey to a smaller body? Weight loss.

The weight loss industry is gigantic, and it is the very industry that sways society into believing that that is what our ultimate goal has to be.

I 100% disagree.

I said it.

I disagree that we should be focused on weight loss.

I know what you are thinking:

but you are all about being the healthiest and best version of yourself.

I am. But that doesn’t mean that I have to care what number is one the scale. Because the number can be low and someone still might be extremely unhealthy, either physically or mentally.

This is what society wants us to think. This is how we have been raised and taught to think of ourselves.

If that is how we have been shown to think of ourselves, that is why we can’t appreciate our bodies, because we are too busy trying to change them.

Each body is going to go through different stages, you might gain weight because of a pregnancy, and it might take a while to lose it. And that’s okay.

I am not saying that you shouldn’t be losing weight, but when we approach life in a healthy and safe way, our bodies do follow. I am proof of that, but that story will be for a later date.

How can we unlearn the under appreciation?

Unlearning is one of the hardest tasks that our society has lead us to doing. Whether it is unlearning racist and sexist thoughts, or unlearning how we think of ourselves, it is a task that many will find challenging, but it is necessary nonetheless.

Unlearning to verbally abuse your body comes in steps and strides. It will not come quick, there will be moments where the negative self-talk comes creeping in, but it is achievable.

List a few daily affirmations

Be proud when you accomplish something

Engage in mindful movement

Meditate

Be surrounded by joy

Choose joy

Slow down and understand what your body is doing is beautiful

Look in the mirror and see beauty

Find your center