If you’re familiar with my book Transforming Your Body Image, you know that it is the chronicle of my own journey from feeling “Fat and Ugly” to being okay with my body just as it is and helping others to do the same. I wrote there,
“As long as I keep my focus on being healthy, my self-image is not tied to my weight. My weight still fluctuates, but it’s not the end of the world, because I’m busy being the best person I can be!”
This is absolutely true…AND there’s more to the story. I have good days and I have bad days. There are days when I look in the mirror and think, “I look really cute today” and that is a HUGE miracle, because for 20+ years I thought I looked hideous. But there are other days when I look in the mirror and think, “Who dressed you? You look so washed out. I wish these pants looked better on me…” and more. Feeling better about myself doesn’t mean feeling perfect. It means that I can look in the mirror and feel positive about what I see. But there are still days when I’m not completely in love with what I see.
Then there are times like the last couple of days. It has been a perfect storm of body appreciation. On Tuesday night, I played in my closet with a friend, creating new outfits out of the same old clothes – she put things together that I never would have imagined. She got me looking at the same clothes in new ways. It was amazing.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m working through a workbook that’s about opening my heart and inviting in love. Yesterday’s exercise was about appreciating my body. The instructions were to stand naked in front of the mirror and focus on each part of my body. At each part, I was to apologize to it for the negative thoughts that I’d held about it, tell it something I appreciate about it, and then thank it for something – from the feet to the calves to the knees to the…well, you get the idea. I’ve done mirror work before but something about the way that this exercise was laid out and explained felt completely new to me and I felt my energy changing as I did it.
By the time I got to my face and head, I had a thought that was so new – so completely revolutionary – that I actually started dancing around in my bedroom in front of the mirror…and that thought was:
“I HAVE A YUMMY BODY!!!”
WOW!!!
Later in the day I stopped in to my friend’s consignment clothing store (see why she’s the best person to play in my closet with?!) because she had just received several fitted blazers that were exactly the type we had determined I needed in my professional wardrobe — hello, miracle! As I was trying them on another customer came into the store and these two women – one a good friend, the other a person I’d never met – started commenting on my “luscious” curves and what a beautiful womanly body I have. All of this without me saying a thing about the work I had done that morning.
Truly amazing. What a miracle.
Do you have any suggestions about things that help you to feel good about your body? If so, I’d love to hear about them in the comments! And don’t forget to head up to the “Share Your Miracle” tab and let me know about the miracles that have been happening in your life!
If you’re interested in the mirror exercise, you can find it on Day 32 of Calling in the One by Katherine Woodward Thomas. If you’re interested in my book, Transforming Your Body Image, you can find it here.
2 comments
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alison dodd
January 27, 2011 at 12:40 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
(i think i might have just sent you something that i barely started)…anyway…thank you for all of your work on these topics and sharing so openly…
i had bulimia for over 20 years…so obviously have had body image issues….
i dont hate my body anymore…but the funny thing is that 2 days in a row i can look in the mirror (or even 10 minutes later!)and see a wide variation of size…this i have accepted..
but the thing that is most important for me is to not have anything on that is tight around my belly…that can make me feel fat all day long…but something that fits well or is even loose can help me feel great no matter what size i am at at the moment! it is all about how i feel not what my brain wants to tell me!
lots of love to you for all your brave work!
alison
Leah Carey
January 27, 2011 at 4:20 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for your insight Alison. Oh how I understand what you’re saying about seeing two completely different things on two consecutive days! It’s interesting that you choose loose fitting clothes so that you can avoid feeling fat – I’m the opposite. I usually want my pants to fit close to my body because my perception is that if they’re at all baggy I look 10 times bigger. I guess it’s good that we’ve each developed our own kind of coping mechanisms! 🙂
Sending you a hug,
Leah
Michelle Phillips blog » Blog Archive » The Miracle of a YUMMY Body – Guest Post
January 28, 2011 at 10:02 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
[…] is re-posted from my friend Leah Carey’s online Miracle Journal. Her original post is here; you can find her full journal at http://www.leahcarey.com/blog. She posts a miracle every day on her […]
Michelle Phillips blog » Blog Archive » February 14 – The Most Beautiful Date You’ll Ever Have
April 8, 2011 at 10:51 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
[…] she recounts the miracles she finds in her life each day. I’ve re-posted her entry “The Miracle of a YUMMY Body” – about loving her own body with all its feminine curves – on my blog; also […]
The Miracle Journal » My 37 list
June 5, 2011 at 8:42 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
[…] Remind myself frequently that I have a YUMMY body! […]
The Miracle of a YUMMY Body – Guest Post | MichellePhillipsBlog.com
January 21, 2013 at 3:27 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
[…] is re-posted from my friend Leah Carey’s online Miracle Journal. Her original post is here; you can find her full journal at http://www.TheMiracleJournal.com. She posts a miracle every day on her […]
February 14 – The Most Beautiful Date You’ll Ever Have | MichellePhillipsBlog.com
March 6, 2013 at 7:30 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
[…] she recounts the miracles she finds in her life each day. I’ve re-posted her entry “The Miracle of a YUMMY Body” – about loving her own body with all its feminine curves – on my blog; also […]