Body Vitality, Safety, & Self-Image
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Seeing Your Beauty as Your Body Changes
The body changes because it is alive. Faces develop history. Weight, strength, skin, hair, mobility, and shape move through seasons. Yet the images surrounding us often present beauty as a narrow, edited condition we must achieve and then somehow prevent from changing. When we compare a living body with a manufactured standard, we are not…
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Does Your Brain Have An ANT Problem?
Dr. Daniel Amen, a world renown brain expert, has a clever metaphor for what stops many of us from being more free, empowered, and loving. He says many of our brains have ANT problems.
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Your Body Needs a Rhythm, Not a Rescue
Many of us wait until energy crashes, pain shouts, or overwhelm makes action impossible. Then we attempt a rescue: a perfect routine, a surge of discipline, or a total retreat. The body may be asking for something less dramatic and more dependable—a rhythm. Rhythm makes room for expansion and contraction. It includes focused effort, ordinary…
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Care for Your Body Without Starting Another War
The wish to care for the body can arrive in the language of battle: fix it, make it comply, get the answer, stop wasting time. A body that has already experienced pressure may hear even a sensible plan as another declaration of war. Friendship with the body is not passivity. It is a working relationship…
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When Body Shame Is Carrying Anger
Body shame can look like agreement with the people who judged us: they said the body was wrong, and now we repeat the sentence internally. Underneath, there may also be anger that our humanity was reduced to thighs, weight, skin, age, clothing, or someone else’s standard of beauty. Anger is not always a problem to…
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My Husband Is Humiliated By My Weight
I was wondering if you could help me. I feel so ashamed and embarrassed about my weight. I don’t like going out. I have over 100 lbs to lose. My husband loves to share his humiliation about how I look. For a long time, I believed all the negative and hurtful things he said about…
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Trying To Support My Friend, And She Snapped at Me!
My best friend just had a bad experience. She’s okay, but it was frightening, and I was pretty worried about her, too. I know she’s stressed, but when I was offering support, she snapped at me! I do understand, but I don’t like being treated that way, either. How do you balance boundaries with compassion?…