This week I joined a conversation about self-love. It set me thinking.
How often do you pay attention to the needs of your body or focus on what it does for you every day? Do you ignore it? Do you take your body for granted? Find that you are too busy for your self-care practices? Criticise or make judgement about imperfections?
We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. I think back to my twenties and the poor food choices, the late nights, the lack of awareness and care.
I’m 58 years old now, 5 years clear of breast cancer. I have never felt healthier. I feel connected to my body, and I allow it to guide much of what I do. Nobody knows my body and it’s needs more than my body! I’m forever amazed by all that it does for me!
So, when was the last time your praised that amazing body of yours?
Our bodies are not perfect, the images we see on tv or magazines are not real. We all have different shapes, experiences that contribute to who we are and our abilities and strengths.
I’m truly grateful for my body. Is it perfect? No, but every wrinkle, every scar holds an experience that makes me who I am today. Self-care is my way of showing love and gratitude to my wonderful body. I’m in awe of all the incredible ways it takes me through the day. Its not just the obvious things like the movement of joints and muscles or the information from our senses, there are the thousands of systems and processes going on behind the scenes. Our body is forever removing toxins from our organs, digesting food and taking the nutrients, keeping us safe from infection and disease. There are so many amazing functions going on at any given time in the body. It is truly awesome.
Showing our body self-love and gratitude for all it does every day to keep us functioning and healthy.
You may already be very self-aware, or it could be there is more to understand. Perhaps spend some time with your body really connecting with it, marvelling at its beauty and all that it does for you, understanding its needs. Just observing and noticing to see what messages your body provides. What signals are there?
What time in the morning does your body let you know its hungry? Perhaps with awareness you will know when to have your first meal of the day. If your body is tired, perhaps a full-on high intensity work out at the gym is not the right answer. A gentle walk or yoga session may be what the body yearns. Are there certain foods you eat; certain drinks you know mean you won’t feel so good the next day? Perhaps this is your bodies way of telling you not to eat or drink these things anymore?
Its great to create some self-care habits based on the feedback from your body. How does your body feel when you drink enough water, eat nourishing foods, do practices to reduce stress, get enough sleep? Be curious and discover what supports your body in thriving.
Just paying attention and allow your body to guide you.
One practice that I love to do, and it always leave me feeling so full of self-love is a body gratitude practice. I started this practice a few years ago as I began to realise how my amazing body had coped with the surgeries, the chemicals and the radiotherapy. How it had healed and repaired itself after everything it went through. I’m sure there are many gratitude practices out there. This is the one I do. It feels intuitively the right one for me. It cultivates respect and gratitude for my body, it stops me from judgement by focusing on all the positive aspects.
Body gratitude practice
This is a practice I do in the shower or bath; you could do it anywhere really. I like that I’m naked and I can see all of me. I found it tough to do
this at first. It didn’t feel natural. It has grown into one of my favourite practices. I soap myself with beautiful smelling oils and lotions, allowing acceptance, no expectation or judgement, just gratitude, I send love and thanks my body:
Thank you brain you for all your curiosity, creativity, suggestions and ideas, for my sense of humour and for processing all that has happened to me.
Thank you eyes for showing me the beauty in the world, the smiles of my loved ones, the words of my favourite book. For seeing clearly.
Thank you ears for allowing me to hear the world today, the birdsong, my favourite music, the words ‘I love you’.
Thank you mouth for the experience of taste, for the joy of delicious food and wine. The sensation of a kiss and the voice that sings.
Thank you, heart for your strength, for pumping the blood and oxygen around my body. For your capacity to love and open to others.
Thank you, lungs for the breath that keeps me alive, allowing me to breath in the air of nature, deep breaths when I exercise, the explosion of laughter.
Thank you to my arms for their strength in carrying, lifting and in holding me and others tight.
Thank you to my digestive system for taking the nutrients from my food to keep me healthy, for supporting my body’s health.
Thank you skin for protecting and shielding my body from harm. For allowing me to feel the touch of another or the warmth of the sunshine.
Thank you legs for carrying me throughout my day, for supporting me in running, walking, my yoga practice enabling me to travel and see the world.
Thank you, body for all that you do to keep me healthy. I’m so grateful that you are my body. I send love and gratitude to every cell, every organ, every limb. All my body.
Much love
Jennifer