Welcome back to my self love tips. I hope you’re finding them useful, let me know if you are?
Just as a caveat before I start about this body acceptance, I want to explain that it’s not a lesson in body love just yet. This is because I think you need to accept and appreciate your body before you can truly love it.
Also, don’t worry, I am not going to say “as long as you’re healthy” at all when talking about body acceptance (or love, for that matter). Healthy bodies are not the only ones that deserve to be accepted, respected and loved. Unhealthy bodies need the same amount of acceptance, respect and love. No body is more deserving than another.
With that in mind, let’s begin.
Body love was particularly hard for me for a number of reasons, including the fact that I felt like it let me down a lot of times for being “too fat”, “too ugly”, “too unsexy”, “too sexy”, etc. – especially in Magaluf “didn’t wake me up in time” (read here if you don’t understand but would like to, ⚠️ it’s not an easy read for most).
With all those false accusations against my body floating around, body acceptance had no choice but to come first and this is how I did it;
- I got really grateful for all my body does for me. You don’t have to be fit and healthy to be grateful. You don’t have to be a certain shape or size. You can get really grateful right now.
Things I am grateful to my body for (I am cutting myself off at 5 as there are so many things);
1. My heart is beating. I am alive.
2. I can move my body in any way that I choose.
3. My body heals my sicknesses and pains (sometimes not alone but that doesn’t matter)
4. I can dress my body in whatever way I choose, to suit my own style.
5. My body allows me to feel pleasure, pain, cry, laugh, get goosebumps (goosebumps are magical to me!)…
- I apologised to my body for everything I had done to it/ thought about it. For the restriction of food, feeding it too much, for ignoring my basic instincts (such as hunger, satiation and nerves that indicated a lack of safety) because I believed I knew better, for trying to poison it, for blaming it for things that were not it’s fault, for pushing it to hard with exercise, for calling it “fat”, “ugly” and “useless”. I said sorry for it all, promised to do better and work on treating my body better daily.
- I decided to accept my body for the size, shape and fitness level it’s at. I appreciate that this changes based on where I am in my life and I trust that all the cues my body gives me are legitimate needs.
- I understand that my body and mind should be a team, sending signals to each other to allow me to live for as long as I can as safely and healthily as I can.
I am sure you have read/ heard this in loads of places but “Your body is your home.” You need to respect it even more than you respect the house you live in as there is no moving from your body.
Next time, we will talk about taking this acceptance and turning it into love. In the meantime, what does your body do for you that you don’t appreciate?
Disclaimer: This will not make you want to pose in your skimpies. That is, and will always be, your choice.
Self Preservation to Self Love 