Nourishment VitalityA love letter to my younger self and body
A love letter to my younger self and body. I often find myself wishing I could tell my younger self-things that you only learn through life experience.
I would talk to her about discerning what’s real, true, and meaningful from what she’s been taught to think or believe about herself or about life.
Would she listen? I’m not sure. I think we have to go through some of the experiences we do to really understand what’s for us and what isn’t. However, if I could spare her (or anyone) any unnecessary pain by imparting some of what have been the major lessons for me, I would happily do so.
I would talk to her about what it means to truly love her body and just how much it would change everything to see her body through a different lens. If I could task her with one mission, it would be to pay attention to all the thoughts she has about her body and start saying goodbye to the ones that cause her to feel less-than or desire to “shrink” in order to feel accepted.
I can already hear her objecting. Don’t we always object to the idea that we can love ourselves as we are now?
Participants in my workshops have asked me “How can I love my body like this? I don’t know if I can.”
After 49 years in this lifetime, I’ve learned so much; and of course, I still have so much to learn.
Learning to see the lessons in these struggles we have with loving ourselves is probably at the top of the list. There’s a story there for you and for Everything you’ve been exposed to has left an impression on your mind and how you relate to your body. That’s why, in order to truly find the path to self-love and body-love, you have to open the pages to YOUR story. When I tell my clients “the only way out is in, “I mean that in order to find healing, you have to go into your own individual stories and experiences to find what’s true and what healing looks like for YOU.
So I guess if I could travel back and tell my younger self anything, I’d invite her to tell her story to herself. I’d encourage her to pay closer attention to who or what has been “making up” her story about what’s valuable and to take over the pen. Instead of being influenced by media, advertisements, other’s lives, I would ask her to see and celebrate who she is instead.
If you can relate to battling with stress, body image, and self-love and want to start giving back more to yourself, I encourage you to take the time to write your own love letter to your body. You can also write yourself reminders to help your mind form more loving thoughts about your body…
For example, here’ what I would remind myself:
1. I am enough
2. My weight does NOT dictate my worth
3. Self-care is loving my body
4.Every thought about my body should be loving and full of compassion because that’s what I deserve
5. I get to eat and enjoy food without punishing myself later. Food is medicine, not the enemy
6. I deserve to believe and receive compliments – even from myself
7. Romance and love doesn’t have a size limit
8. Personal development is an act of love
9. I am grateful for this body
10. I accept, listen and learn from my experiences
11. I deserve kindness from myself
12. Don’t be fooled by the surface-level thoughts
13. My body needs rest and time to meditate
14. My body feels good when I move it daily, even small subtle movements
15. I have stronger more important beliefs that add value to my life than to waste any more time putting myself down
16. Loving thoughts add more value than judgmental ones
17. My ego will demand attention, ignore it
18. Play more
19. Try new things
20. Make no excuses and find a way
21. Timing is everything
22. Trust the process
23. Words matter
24. Be a warrior, not a worrier
25. Learn when to make things happen and when to let things happen.
26. Don’t let other people rent space in your head
27. Read
28. Travel
29. Put care and attention into the things and thoughts I love and want to see grow
30. Hard times do not last and they do not define me
31. Cherish and celebrate the good times
32. Humble yourself or the universe will do it for me
33. Think long-term
34. When I love, love with all my heart.
35. Always do good
36. Do not fear failure. Be bold, be brave, have confidence
37. Trust my intuition
38. I have a gift that demands to be shared – put my focus there
39. It’s ok to take a step back. It doesn’t mean I gave up, it means I’m mature enough to see that pursuing won’t benefit me.
40. It’s ok to say NO
41. It’s ok to say YES
42. Even the wrong path is part of finding the right path (mistakes are human and okay)
43. Everyone I meet has a story
44. Surround myself with people I respect, like to be around, and who give me energy.
45. Dare to be different — what other people think of me is their business.
46. My imperfections are perfectly fine
47. Start following my dream TODAY!
48. Count my blessings
49. Make your courage greater than your fear
50. To be truly content, do what you believe is great work
Take from any of the above or make your very own brand new list! I’d love to see what you come up with too. Share one or two points from your list with us below.