You and Your Body are One

You and your body are one. You cannot survive without your body. However, most of American’s do not have a positive relationship with their body. It is hard to have a positive relationship with our bodies for many reasons; the media is certainly one of reason. However, because many of us do not take good care of our bodies in ways that benefit us, our bodies often hurt or feel too heavy or sluggish. In order for our bodies to feel good, we must learn to feel good about our bodies.
I am the process of re-writing WRITING YOUR WAY HEALING AND WHOLENESS: SIMPLE EXERCISES FOR EXPLORING YOUR PAST AND HEALING YOUR FUTURE and I have a chapter in this self-help journal on YOU-YOUR BODY IMAGE. It is summer time and a time when we are inundated with health and beauty articles about slimming down for the infamous bikini. I thought, since there is no way to escape the media summer blitz about the body, that I would share most of the this chapter with you in order to give you some solid tools to work with your body.
First, let us start with your family of origin, the family in which you were raised. We experience messages from our first family about our bodies, our looks, our health, our eating habits, and the importance of exercise and self-care. What were the messages in your family?
What two words would you use to describe your mother’s body?
What two words would you use to describe your father’s body?
What words do you remember being said about your body? How did those words make you feel?
What were the messages about the food you ate? What were you allowed to eat or not eat? Was there enough food? Were you forced to clean your plate? Are there stories in your history around food and abuse?
When was the first time your remember feeling ashamed of your body?
Now, how do you allow those messages to control your daily life? Are you blaming those from your past about the way you are taking care of yourself today? If you are, it probably is not working well for you. It is time for you to step up to the plate and take responsibility for loving yourself. There is no better day to start than today. What will you need to do today to begin to feel better about yourself by the end of the day? That is the most important question and action that you take on your own behalf. If you do not start with the small steps that at doable then you will not get to where you want and need to be with your body.
In order to work with your body find stories and books that encourage you and that can help you keep putting one foot in front of the other on your journey to learn to love your body. For instance, this morning the news covered a story of a 38-year-old woman that knew she needed to do something to provide for herself and with the economy being as bad as it is, she decided to join the military with her two adult children. In order for her to enlist, she had to lose 80 pounds. It took 18 months to lose the weight, but she did it and was able to join the military creating a career and lifestyle for herself where she will always have a job. Use her example to help yourself dream and build active plan to love your body. It needs your love. Do not deny it one more minute.