[CW: Mention of weight fluctuations]
Loving yourself is a radical act, especially when that includes loving a body that is fat.
Over the past 10 years or so my body and I have been on quite a journey. I discovered the body positivity movement and that was one of my first forays into online activism and social justice. But it was deeply personal because I carried a lot of wounds around my weight and size. I released a lot of society’s expectations, family expectations, and rejected the diet industry.
My body has fluctuated a lot since then as well. Pregnancy in particular started a rollercoaster of weight fluctuations. But through it all, I stayed pretty body positive. In fact, pregnancy and nursing gave me a lot of respect for what my body could do, despite some difficulties through both.
I’ve also fluctuated between loving my body, loving my body and wanting it to change, being okay with my body and wanting it to change, and moments of frustration that I’m at my highest non-pregnant adult weight.
This morning while in the Akashic Records, I heard “Love your body and it will turn to a deeper love of yourself”. It was a reminder that I need to love my body unconditionally. Treat it gently, take good care of it (regardless of my composition), do things that make me feel good.
The body is the container that holds our truest self, our energy, our vibrancy, and the way we connect with others. I have heard people use the idea of the body being a temple as a way to shame and say that we therefore need to spend all this time keeping it beautiful and pristine (meaning: eat a certain way and work out so you look like a model). But that’s a lie! Our bodies are beautiful, pristine temples ALL THE TIME. Yes, give it a good cleaning regularly, take care of it as best you can. But the main purpose of a temple is that it holds something sacred. It is what it contains that makes it a temple, not what it looks like.
So, love yourself. Love the body that holds the sacredness of you. It is the perfect body for you at this moment. It may change as you change, and that’s okay too.
