Do you love your body?

Do you love your body?

If you’re like most of us, the answer is probably uhhh, no...does anyone actually love their body?

I don’t know, but I think it’s worth trying, even if it feels overwhelming and very far away.

It takes so much energy to criticize yourself. Do you even realize how much energy you waste fighting with yourself everyday?

This month in Radiance Collective we are engaging in deep conversation and embodied practice around loving, celebrating and reclaiming our bodies.

Why? So we have more energy to live our lives! Love our people! And care about way more important things!

Here are some questions we pondered last night:

• Why don’t you love your body?
• Who benefits from this?
• What would happen if you stopped fighting with yourself?

I invite you to take a few breaths with each of these questions or a few minutes journaling on them.

I want to acknowledge that there are a million reasons why you don't love your body. You’ve been told and shown again and again that you are not lovable, desirable, don’t fit the mold. Or that you do, but only to be an object for someone else’s enjoyment.

I get it. It makes sense that this is really fucking hard.

But here’s what I also know. There’s a reason why women’s bodies have been shoved away, shamed, objectified and we’ve been made to feel icky about our bodies, flesh and desires. Do you feel that ickiness creeping in even as you read these words?

That ickiness is called shame and it’s an incredibly powerful tool that has been weaponized by patriarchy to attempt to bind, silence and control the vast power that women hold.

That’s right. Your body has been so controlled because it and you are powerful beyond measure.

So here is your choice – you can either choose to practice loving your body just as it is right now or you can keep fighting yourself. What will you choose?

If you’re ready to practice loving your body, here are some ideas. I say practice because this isn’t something we just do perfectly all the time.

Pick one of these to try this week:

• Strut to a song every morning (playlists)
• Tell yourself you are a sexy bitch in the mirror
• Leave love notes to yourself around your room
• Celebrate one area of your body everyday

Literally everything that I help women with becomes easier when we direct some focused energy towards loving our bodies.

Do you realize how much easier everything becomes when you stop fighting yourself?

How much easier eating becomes, how much easier socializing becomes, how much easier managing your money becomes, how much easier listening to your own wisdom and setting boundaries becomes? Not to mention the priceless feeling of freedom in your body!

I know this is hard, but trust me, it’s worth it.

If this helps, drop me a line to let me know 🤗

Alyssa