Bodies change. They are supposed to.
Our bodies. They bloat, they stretch, they lose weight and gain muscle, lose muscle and gain weight. They sag, get injured, they scar and recover, they scar and don't recover. They protect us, they hold emotional pain, they play, they climb, they pump oxygen and blood.
In other words, they do a lot and it's all part of the joys of having a body. But when it comes to changes in weight and/or appearances, I hear a lot of critical language being thrown around.
While this is a common conversation for me to have with clients, I've been having it a lot more with people because of the pandemic. With lockdowns that prohibit our regular activities, heightened stress, less breaks, and more responsibilities, it's no wonder that our bodies have shifted in ways that feel negative but are really a means of caring for ourselves.
It makes sense that many of us have found comfort in food, feel too tired to work out, or have found cooking shortcuts in order to get meals on the table.
Ideally, we'd allow for these normal processes of change and acknowledge the function of this stage in our body's lives, but instead many people are being judgmental towards themselves. That makes sense too. We are inundated with images of what our bodies "should" look like and there is a ton of marketing about how the pandemic has impacted our bodies and how we need to "fix" that. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with your body changing, and remember where these ads are coming from - a multi-billion dollar industry.
(In other words, they don't make money with the "you're fine just the way you are, and let's celebrate that!" model.)
I know it's much easier said than done. But maybe instead of shaming your body for not fitting into a piece of clothing, you get a piece of clothing that fits your body. Maybe you reflect on what your body has done for you to help you survive an incredibly stressful experience, which is also a collective trauma.
This is really hard work, especially in a world that profits off of us not feeling good enough in our skin - and I'm still learning too. I just bought the book The Body is Not an Apology in order to get even more perspectives on our relationships to our bodies.
As for you, what I'd love to know is:
Sending you courage, care, and self-love,
Stephanie
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