I woke up like this

In an era of perfectly airbrushed images, Photoshopped waist lines and Facebook fame, we are more and more exposed to an unrealistic expectation of beauty; a goal that is impossible to attain. Our relationship with our body diverts away from wholesome nutrition and good health to a destructive obsession to look a certain way, regardless of how it affects our health and wellness. If I am to be completely honest with you all, no matter how much I try to preach good health and positive body image, it is something that I myself have been struggling with for years and especially now, that my body has experienced pregnancy and going through the waves of motherhood. I continue to find myself cycling through disordered eating patterns and lack of self-care so what can I tell you that is body positive? You’re not alone. There are ways to nurture a positive self image. Feeling body positive may change from day to day. One day you may feel like you can conquer the world and stand tall and some days, you may want to hide under layers and layers of clothes but for me, surrounding myself with people who accept me and love me through thick and thin (literally) and teach me every day that my worth in this world does not equate to a narrow waistline but to my ever growing heart and mind is what fuels body positivity. As easy as it may be to say that the affirmations should be coming from within…YES! But in order to reach that space, it takes a lot of time and positive self-talk as well as a positive surrounding. I often find myself binging when something terrible or stressful is going on in my life or I feel a certain disconnect with my environment. Is that something that might resonate to be true in your case? Ask yourself. During a chat with a good friend yesterday, she told me a line that she had heard from her mentor which caused a ripple in my conscience. "Many women bury their feelings and their burial ground is their body." It spoke to me because it is true. Food has been a coping mechanism for me, just like thousands of others to avoid dealing with the real problems in that we may be facing. Let’s make a promise to identify the feelings that surface causing us to stray to lead us in a positive direction, towards good health and not just vanity. Each and every day may we wake up, stand in front of the mirror and see the beautiful vessel that holds all the stories of our lives, may we be kinder to ourselves and others around us. Let us walk over to the mirror and put on that bright red lipstick, tousle our hair and own each and every imperfection that we see. May we change what we can and accept and love what we cannot. A body that holds the power to create and nurture a living, breathing person...A body that holds the weight of our consciousness and our lives cannot be anything short of perfection, right?