Practicing Loving-Kindness & Body-Image Resilience

Disclaimer, this is not an article to shame and banish pop culture. You’re talking to a dedicated Bachelor Nation fan. But, if we want to get medicine into the heart space where we need it most, it can help us to understand why the attack on women, and specifically body image, is so prevalent.  

As we get clear on why so many of us wrestle with 100% befriending our bodies all of the time, I want to share with you (as if we are accountability buddies) that I have not fully arrived but am learning to love myself and this body I inhabit. This is a season where I am a 28-year-old young professional who is continuing to heal from a long-standing battle with acne and its scars, coming off of meds, starting new supplements, and working with naturopathic doctors. Plus, the after-effects of trauma stored in the body from pandemic-era times. (Book rec: The Body Keeps the Score).

Truth: Divine love sees you as beloved, cherished, and held. Each of us is invited to be free in every way, including body image resilience.

To be honest, I thought I would have found abundant peace over all of this by now and with clear, radiant skin. Rather than throw in the towel on the ‘loving myself’ journey, I’m committed to standing with you—wherever you feel insecurity, doubt, pain, or not enough. You are free to embrace all facets of yourself and you need to know you are innately worthy and belong, today. 

The following are practices to support this journey out of an abundant belief in the power of love, because yes, the love you pour out is for you too. Think of me as a fellow sister journeying with you (zero hierarchy or ‘arrived-ness’ here), providing ideas rather than mandates. Continue to customize your ‘loving yourself’ journey, so that it resonates with you. I’m alongside you, sis! Holding so much compassion and space for both of us.

Loving-Kindness Practices to Embody Freedom

Value Stacking with Abundance

I used to track workouts weekly. But the ‘mindful movement log’ title, which seemed within the self-love category, began to drain rather than inspire. A trusted counselor made a suggestion. He said, “What if you reframe it to be an added value log?” Brilliance. Cue the freedom confetti. 

Q: How do you add value to taking care of and relating to your body? 

Here’s what my added value list looks like these days: 

• Walks in nature before or after work
• Taking a movement therapy & meditation class (called The Class)
• Cooking a meal to Spanish flamenco music
• Prioritizing less caffeine and an earlier bedtime 
• Yin yoga as an embodiment practice
• Artist dates to nurture my creative side (Book rec: The Artist’s Way)
• Taking my 3-year-old niece to the beach
• Weekend garage sale hunting with my roomie 

What are your authentic value stackers? Less pain and drain with more abundant gain—what lights you up and inspires your fullest expression? Permission to continue adding and stacking, friend.

Tap Into the ‘Playful’ Version of You

The little kiddo version of you—the one who loves to dance around the house, wear jelly shoes (remember those!?), and who has temporary tattoos all over her arms—she is free and fearless. Step by step, as we learn to love well like she does, we can reconnect back to this innate state of being. How can you nurture this kid-like side of you today?

Why? A connection to our present self and our little kiddo self can heal the relationship we have with our hearts and our bodies too. The more we are connected to the spiritual, ever-lasting part of us; the freer we are to hold space for embracing the physical. How can you tap into this ‘playful’ version of yourself? Playful fun is the body image resilience energizer.

Prompt: Perhaps journal or meditate on your purest likes/dreams/favorites/etc. Do you like watercolors? Rollerblading? Finding a new record to dance to? The practice of ‘delight’ is a powerful art form to bring us back home to the present and ourselves.

Practicing ‘Kind Eyes’ 

How often do you catch yourself sort of glancing at your reflection in the mirror? Really think about this for a minute, is your heart-space open to seeing yourself with loving eyes, a kind gaze? I couldn’t answer this question the way I wanted to, so I customized a sticker on Etsy for the top corner of my mirror that reads, “This is what wholeness looks like” (phrase credit: feminine wholeness coach, Morgan Day Cecil.) 

Morgan writes, “When a woman can create a loving world within her own body and mind, a world that can withstand external criticism and internal critique, there is no limit to who she can become.”

What is a mantra that authentically speaks to you? Perhaps the phrase manifests in a sticky note placed on your rearview mirror or maybe a photo that reminds you of where you feel most alive and free? Ideas abound.