and I said to my body. softly. ‘i want to be your friend.’ it took a long breath. and replied, ‘i have been waiting my whole life for this.'” -Poetry by Nayyirah Waheed
12 years ago, “frenemies” rather than friends was a much better description of my relationship with my body. I seriously don’t know why my body put up with me! I’d make a date with my body and then cancel last minute. I’d focus on her flaws and imperfections and then give a ton of unsolicited advice. I’d put her down in front of other people. I’d make a ton of demands regarding what I wanted from her, and rarely ask what she needed from me. You know, the worst type of friend there is.
I know I’m not the only woman in the room who can relate to this! Our body is the one guaranteed relationship we will have our entire life. But for many of us, a friendship is hard to imagine.
But what if we began, slowly and gently, to move from all the changing, reshaping, working on, covering up, correcting, airbrushing, filtering, losing, depriving, stuffing, numbing, shaming, criticizing, and pretending it’s effortless to…
Listening. Empathy. Acceptance. Play. Ease. Mutuality. Support. Encouragement. Respect. Strength. Adventure.
Our bodies have been waiting our whole lives for this type of friendship. If you tried to relate to your body as a close friend, how would you change the way you treat it?
With love,
-Cara
Team Luminary
