Self-Love + Body Image

Self-Love, a Lifelong Journey

Dedicated to Ninja – who always knows exactly what to say.

As a women living in 2019 in America I struggle with body image. If you don’t, please write a book and give seminars because the rest of us need to know your secrets. It’s just the way it is, we are conditioned by everyone around us that we should look a certain way. We hear people (beautiful people) talking bad about themselves from a very young age. We see them as so beautiful, yet if they say those bad things about themselves…..what does that make us?

As far as problems a human being can have, self-love and body image are pretty low on the Richter scale. But it can be hell on earth for those of us living it every day. It all comes down to our relationship with ourselves, to the inner dialogue we experience on a daily basis. Every other relationship in life, is a byproduct of the relationship we have with ourselves.  

Today self-love may sound farfetched, so we can start with self-acceptance. “I am ok just the way I am.” If self-love feels too far away that’s ok. It was once too far away for me and somedays it still is. A major part of yoga is meeting yourself where you actually are. Not a mind invented image of what you should be.

The self-love journey has its ups and downs. We have to work to meet ourselves where we are in the present moment. A baby learns to first crawl, then walk, then run. But sometimes even as adults we need to go back to crawling. Little babes are pure love. So in this lifelong journey of self-love we are simply returning to our true nature.

Some of the best advice I’ve read is from Marianne Williamson. She says to allow every act to be an act of self-love. That every bite of food can be an act of love. We have the choice to be nourished by nutrient rich foods and if the foods we eat are not, forgive, forgive and forgive! Don’t beat yourself up about it! Everyone eats potato chips and cake sometimes. But hey, if crap makes you feel like crap, maybe eat it less often. She goes onto say that, moving your body is an act of self-love, not punishment. That the point of exercising is more to feel good and that by doing so, one is more likely so see their body in a positive light. We can feed ourselves and move our bodies in fun ways not to fit into some category of an image, but because we simply love ourselves too much to not to.

We get to work to learn to love all the parts of ourselves. The places of darkness inside of us are not evil, they are the cracks where the light gets in. When we are miserable with something this can be the catalyst for real change! This is what Rumi talks about when he says the “wound is where the light enters.” When we examine the darkness inside of us, what we hate – we get the chance to heal, to change. To see what is there and shine the light of awareness, then acceptance and eventually love on it. If we could all learn to accept and love all the parts of ourselves, imagine how peaceful the world could be. When you love all the parts of yourself and allow your light to shine, you give everyone around you permission to do the same!

A major lesson in this life, is that we are not our bodies. They are houses for our spirit and we should take care of them in loving gentle ways. Let yourself love YOU so much that every act is an act of self-love. From the food you eat, to the people you surround yourself with, to your environment, to how you feed your soul. 

The light in me sees and honors the light in you,

Namaste

Larissa xoxo