Your Body: How to Cultivate a Loving Relationship with Yourself

 So what about your relationship with your body? So what about it? Are you having this awesome healthy joyful relationship with your body? Or… Do you think you are fat, maybe too fat? Do you think you are skinny, maybe too skinny? Do you criticize yourself when you take a look in the mirror? Are you ever satisfied? And what about your relationship with your body in relation to others? What did or do they say about you and your body? Do you remember? The things people have said to you? Remember how it felt? And what do you remember better: the negative or positive things people told you about your body? And what about the images you are bombarded with daily in the media? What do they tell you? How does it affect your relationship with your body? And is that what you want for yourself?

One of my amazing divine sisters sent me a picture yesterday. A picture with her and some friends. This was her comment: “A very very ugly picture of me. I don’t want this anymore. Look, I look horrible, I look like an elephant. Don’t you dare tell me that I am ok and that I am beautiful – that will not help me, of course. I just look disgusting, awful, horrible. I am going to lose weight big time.” Followed by a picture with a plate of some lettuce, avocado, and cucumber she just made for herself.   Sigh…   I was at the hairdressers. I complimented her on her beautiful hairstyle that suited her. Her reply:” No, it doesn’t. I have a bad hair day.” When I was talking about it with her, we found that just a few of her clients were happy with their hair. The people with straight hair would love to have curly hair. People with curly hair aren’t happy about it. No, they would love to have straight hair. The hairdresser concluded that no one is happy with how they look. They all want to look like someone else.  And the person they want to look like and they adore isn’t happy with their body and wants to look like someone else.   Sigh…   Isn’t it crazy? Isn’t it crazy that so many people (men and women!) don’t like how they look?

Let’s stop it. All of us. Including me! Because, yes, I can also relate to what I wrote previously.   A few years ago, I saw an eye-opening Dutch documentary called ‘Berperkt Houdbaar’ (translation: Limited Shelf Life) by Sunny Bergman. A documentary about beauty and how we look at ourselves and each other. A documentary about the effects images have, showing the ‘perfect body types’, on how we feel and how we see ourselves. It was eye-opening to understand that people who see pictures of ‘perfect body types’ daily are easily negative about how they look. It was eye-opening to see the whole process of photoshopping and to understand that nearly every picture has been photoshopped. It was eye-opening to see how Sunny, a beautiful woman, had an appointment with a plastic surgeon. He was telling her what she definitely needed to do (and that was a lot!) and the way he told her wasn’t uplifting at all.   So yes, let’s stop all craziness. Let’s embrace our beautiful divine bodies! Let’s celebrate the diversity. Let’s celebrate!   And trust. Trust that when we totally embrace our bodies, it will have a beautiful impact on our own lives and the lives of everyone else!   Here are some things to consider:

• Little babies love every inch of their bodies. They have no guilt, no shame, and no comparison. You were like that. We were all like that… before we started to listen to the opinions of others. Before we started to compare ourselves with others.

So… can you embrace every inch of your body, like a baby does?

• Throughout centuries there have been different views on what was beautiful and what wasn’t. Different ideas for men and women. Sometimes being curvy was fashion, sometimes not.

So… why let yourself be imprisoned just by an idea that is changing all the time? Why not tell yourself that you are perfect, just like you are?   Some ideas that can help you, if you want to embrace your body:

• Look at a baby. Look how freely they move. How they love every inch of their body. Feel their divine wisdom and know, from your heart, yes this is how I want my relationship with my body to be. Learn from the baby and feel the gratitude that you lovingly connected with your beautiful body again.

• Relax, open your mind, Take a piece of paper and a pen with black ink. Write down everything you can think of, regarding your body. Be open. Let all the negative stuff leave your mind and write it down. When you feel tears? Let them go and keep on writing. When you finish, go outside and set this paper on fire. Let it burn, let it all go. Let the fire purify it.

Perfect! Take another piece of paper, a pen with blue (!) ink and write how you want your relationship with your body to be. When you are ready, reread it, add if necessary, take it all in. Feel happy. Go outside again and burn it as well. Embrace your renewed relationship.

• Read these beautiful loving words about your relationship with your body (written by Louise Hay) daily.

“I Love My Body. My body is a glorious place to live. I rejoice that I have chosen this particular body because it is perfect for me in this lifetime. It is the perfect size and shape and color. It serves me so well. I marvel at the miracle that is my body. I choose the healing thoughts that create and maintain my healthy body and make me feel good. I love and appreciate my beautiful body!”

• I would also love to recommend to join the ‘Achieving Your BestLife’ class by Alee Attoe or “A Confident You” by Michelle Shaffir. These BestLife Creation Society classes will empower you and help you restore the ultimate relationship with yourself and stepping into your power.

• Or listen to the exercise on the video: