Learning to love your body

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has loved their body all their life, most of us have to learn to love it.

For me it’s taken many years, in fact most of my life to appreciate and feel grateful with the body of have, and the freedom it’s gives me.

It was especially true after losing my baby daughter. I blamed myself for years - that my body couldn’t protect her, it couldn’t be the safe place she needed to grow. It had failed.

It was easy to hate my body because deep down I always had.

The hate was a disconnection - not really caring about how I treated it. My truth had been that my body wasn’t good enough, I had never felt comfortable in it and that there must be something wrong with me. I could punish myself through my body, or try to find some control by what I ate when everything was out of my control.

I always wanted from it, what it couldn’t be. The common; thinner, taller, bigger in some places and smaller in others. When I wasn’t pregnant anymore, I desperately wanted to be carrying a baby. I couldn’t have what I wanted and that was my fault.

It was a dark time and maybe something you can relate to at some stage of your life?

This come back to mind recently as I’ve been pushing my body really hard and not treating it as well as it deserves. Nearing the end of my home renovations I had to pick up a paint brush to paint a couple of rooms. It took me many days and my body ached - muscles I never knew existed. Then moving items and unpacking what seemed like multiplying boxes and sorting everything back into its place (while trying to ascertain what ‘sparked joy’ and what needed to be given away).

I had very little sleep for well over three weeks and to compensate I found sugar and tea in all its glory to boost my energy levels!

Thankfully, I’m older, wiser and know it’s not sustainable and able to recourse.

The journey to loving your body takes time, for everyone.

It begins with noticing what you love about it, acknowledging how it supports you in life. And reminding yourself this often during every day.

Our bodies make life possible. Aren’t we lucky!

Listen to your body, what is it telling you…