Loving Your Body: Embracing an Attitude of Gratitude and Acceptance

How do we love our bodies? The loving comes from accepting and embracing your body as it is now. Embracing an attitude of gratitude for all your body has given you and continues to offer to you will show it love. But, how can you do this if your body does not feel, look or operate the way you want it to and/or the way it used to? Bringing in unconditional love and acceptance at these times is essential for establishing a healthy relationship with your body. One thing that is certain is that your body will continue to change and evolve in new ways each day. When your body aches, it is calling for more love and tender care. It can be a challenge at times to send love and acceptance  to those painful places. It can be all too easy to slip into a state where you want to tell the pain to shut off, stop, move away. However, it is in the greeting of this pain, the honoring of this pain that you can listen to what it is communicating to you. You can stop and take some time to give it the tender love and care it needs. When this is received, the pain can feel more free to release as it has been honored and listened to. 

It has been proven that we hold traumas and pains in our body. PTSD- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is something that we may ruminate with in our minds, but it is something that is actually held in the body. When your body aches, its root is often coming from a trapped trauma in the body. If you can be with this pain and allow its roots to be revealed, you can then begin to release and let this pain out. It's not a pretty process but it's essential for moving through these pains into a more peaceful released state of being. What we know is that love, care, release and a state of being in the NOW can soothe and release the traumas in the body. 

There are many ways to love and accept your body as the body holds many different meanings and roles within our culture. It is an amazing beautiful complexity of operating systems that can support our ability to thrive and survive. The body is linked to image, health, movement and stillness. It can be seen as a physical temple that houses our soul. It can be a vain symbol of strength, sexuality, and weakness. 

The body requires many vital components to support a healthy sustainable state of being. How you care for and feed your body will have an effect on your emotional well-being and the longevity of your health. How are you caring for your body today? Are you feeding it healthy nourishing foods and drink? Do you know what types of foods support your unique body? Is your body getting rest and relaxation? Is it getting enough movement? Is it receiving enough loving statements and attitudes from you? 

Take some time today to bring awareness to what your body is receiving from you. Take some time to bring awareness to what your body is asking from you. Dive into your relationship with your body and see what it needs and what you bring to the table. When your body feels and looks "good", it can be easy to love and care for it. It's at those times when you may find yourself comparing your body to other images of the ideal, that it needs unconditional love and acceptance the most. It's at those times when it may not do what you want it to that it will need this love as well. 
 
I invite you to give your body a big ole bunch of loooooooove and acceptance today. 

~ Rooted Living Wellness Coach Liz Myers, MA, PCCI

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