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{image via @yourbeautifullife}
For most of us, the thought of spending an entire month in a love-fest for our bodies is a little daunting. Heck, an hour of doing so might be a little daunting. Both research and talking to anybodyanywhere confirms that the majority of us are pretty uncomfortable in our own skin, and going from that to loving our bodies feels like quite a stretch. And who wants to spend an entire month stretching? Besides yoga teachers and gymnasts, of course…
I’ll be honest: when I first heard about February’s Love Your Body Month, I cringed a bit. I’m a believer that you don’t have to love your body to treat it well. And I believe that, for some, trying to love your body can actually detract from the process of treating it well.
Sound strange?
It’s because so many people get frustrated with what feels like an impossible goal — loving a body they’ve been conditioned to hate — that they throw in the towel altogether. Love my <insert derogatory remarks about said body> body? Pffsh… never. I might as well <insert self-destructive or unkind behavior> forever.
[Hear me out in more detail on why you don’t need to love your body in this post.]
So I was ready to ignore Love Your Body Month when I realized… maybe there’s another way of thinking about this.
Hear me out.
Rather than thinking of the month like a command of your feelings (“You must feel love toward your body in February!”), think of it like a suggestion of action (“Hey, how about trying to treat your body as if you loved it?” or, “Let’s practice showing loving kindness toward our bodies, no matter how we actually feel about them.”).
Does it feel any different?
To me, there’s a huge difference. You can probably come up with a few people in your life that you didn’t necessarily love, or perhaps even like all that much, but you treated them with respect and dignity. You would never talk disrespectfully to them or take actions that would harm them in any way. You didn’t love them, but you could co-exist peacefully and treat them kindly.
So maybe you can’t get on board with the idea of loving your body just yet – or maybe you never will (that’s actually okay!) – but I do urge you to participate in Love Your Body Month anyway. And if you choose to do so, here are five ways that you can act lovingly towards your body (no matter what emotions about it you may have):
1. Watch your language. Notice how you’re talking about your body to both others and yourself. If you tend to complain to your girlfriends about your flabby arms or your ears that stick out, try dropping it this month. This doesn’t mean you won’t think about how upset you are about certain traits, but fight the urge to vocalize them. Fat and other body shaming talk is cyclical. Stopping the negative noise can really alter the environment and, ultimately, lead to healthier perspectives on our bodies.
2. Challenge your body to try one new thing. I’m not talking about P90X (that’s still a thing, right? No?) or anything that pushes you beyond your limits. It could be taking on a new yoga pose, allowing your body to try a food you always assumed you’d hate, or getting a massage for the first time.
3. Develop a self-care ritual. I know things are too chaotic in my life when I start to skip parts of my morning or evening routine. Taking care of our bodies – even through “simple” things like rubbing lotion on each morning or flossing each night – can be the first things to go when we’re feeling stressed. But that’s when we need to be treating our bodies the best – if we expect them to operate well for us. Creating a routine or ritual is a great way of combating the urge to put everything else before you and your body.
4. Sit with your body (and no one or nothing else) for three minutes every day. Meditation and mindfulness are good for your brain, but they’re also great for your body. It can decrease cortisol levels (a hormone that’s basically toxic for your body when in excess), improves sleep and eating, and even reduce cold symptoms!
5. Write a letter to your body. Okay, I know. It sounds cheesy, but give it a try. Take ten minutes and share with your body anything you feel grateful for, what your hopes and dreams are, and, maybe, how sorry you are for talking such trash about it all the time. Only write what feels genuine in the moment. The idea isn’t a love letter to your body (you can imagine how I feel about those), but rather to open up a dialogue between your mind and your body. You’d be amazed – once you start writing to your body as another being, it becomes much harder to be cruel. It might take a while, but you’ve got to start somewhere.
If you’re participating in Love Your Body Month in some way, I’d love to hear about it.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.