Body Respect

One thing that I learned recently from my own grappling with the question of how to make myself like my body is that I simply don't need to. As much as it would be nice to be able to love my body at all times it could easily turn into another "should" and if there's one thing that I learned about Shoulds is that it's just another trap that sets me up to feel bad about myself because I yet again fail to live up to some kind of unachievable standard.

The one thing that I can come on board with pretty much every time I think about my body however, is respect.

There are so many reasons that I can think of to respect my body and I find that it's really helpful to really think about the specifics, particularly those that feel like a given, like the fact that my body developed from only two cells that came together into an incredibly complex, intelligent and adaptable mechanism that has faithfully supported me in the past 47 years.

One other way into body respect, is not a purely cognitive one but rather a somatic one. By dancing and moving mindfully the body, which i believe has its own consciousness, gets to know itself. I don't know about you but, when I move and my awareness is completely engrossed in the movement I get to feel the pleasure in noticing the fibers of my body moving and then I get to feel pride in my body for being able to give me such pleasure.

I'm sure you can come up with your own reasons and ways to find respect for your body and I would love to hear them. I always like adding new perspectives to my repertoire.