How Do You Feel About Your Body?
Special shout out and thanks to Lanie for the great pose!
I have been studying the work of Dr.(s) Lindsay and Lexie Kite. In their book, More Than A Body they reference a study of women who were asked, “What do you feel about your body?” The responses were not surprising per se but still alarming. The majority of respondents focused solely on their body’s appearance. They mentioned body parts that they liked as well as things they would want to change but well over 80% only included visual references when considering how they felt about their body. Mind you, the question was not…how do you think your body looks?
Body image is a bit of a hot topic right now and I am sure this is probably one of many blog posts I will write on the subject but I think it is sad to consider that nearly all of us, when thinking about our bodies, go right to the mirror as our measuring stick. It feels like an auto response. We don’t even realize we are doing it.
Our bodies are so much more than what they look like! I remember studying anatomy and physiology in college and being so amazed at all of the systems and how they interact with one another. Our bodies are truly a miraculous creation. Do you realize that without your body, there would be no life? I know that sounds so obvious to say, but seriously…our bodies should be worshipped for what they are doing well before they are criticized for appearances.
Recently I have become aware of a body acceptance movement and while that sounds lovely, it is still driven by appearances. The solution, in this particular movement, is to show all body types as beautiful, attractive, sexy…choose your adjective. But I would like to question is..how did we ever get so shallow as to only look at appearance as the road to body acceptance.
True body acceptance, in my opinion, would include taking in all of what our body does (or does not) do for us. Taking appropriate time to thank God for what our body can do and then getting to a place of figuring out life with limitations that our bodies may have. Realizing that [in most cases] it is our choices that have gotten our bodies where they/we are. As I have done this work myself, I suggest that facing where you are not done in a judgy way but in a curious and compassionate way. (I realize that there are many people who were born with bodies that are not fully functioning and they could write a much more meaningful blog post about the power of body acceptance.) For those of us who have fully functional bodies but seem to be at odds with them, I’d like to offer that we face the realities of our body blessings as well as limitations.
I remember a time when I was running with a few women who were taller, younger and…faster than I was. I determined that I would train myself hard enough that I, too would be able to BQ (Boston Marathon Qualify) at our next shared marathon experience. I started into my speed work at the local track. I ran intervals and pushed myself to go faster and faster. I had my first real injury since starting running years before. I went to a sports medicine doctor expecting him to give me a pep talk, possibly an injection of some sort and encourage me to continue on with pursuing my goal. Instead, I got a talking to. He told me, ‘You can not run faster than your body allows.” He said, “If you are running in a group, the slowest runner sets the pace because that is all they can do.” He also told me to purchase a heart rate monitor. He said, “Your heart will stop you before you get injured. Stay within a healthy heart range and you will not get injured.”
At that moment in time, I needed to accept my body’s limitations. I realize, as I am typing this, that there are so many people out there who have limitations that are far more limiting than being able to BQ. It is important for each of us to take time for gratitude and to celebrate our capacities rather than only dwelling on our limitations. At the very least we owe ourselves the effort of equal brain band width going towards capacity+ limitations.
I so agree with the Dr.(s) Kite that we are [much] more than our bodies. I also want to emphasize that we are also our bodies. Our bodies are us. They house us; they teach us; they are life; and everything we experience as humans is dependent on our having…a body!
What better way to honor our bodies then to get out and move them and at the same time figure out all of this human experience. [aka: Active Life Coaching] I can help you do just that!
