Your Body Story Matters
The stories that we tell about ourselves and our bodies matter. It’s a huge part of body acceptance.
and, exploring the origins of these stories can help you understand the why’s and the how’s of the way you interact with your body in the here and now.
The experiences that you’ve had in your body have undoubtedly shaped the relationship that you have with it. Additionally, it allows you to see how you (often) brace yourself to be interacted with and treated in the world.
There is also space for acknowledging what external narratives exist about bodies and how you were exposed to them. These narratives often come from family belief systems and culturally normative belief systems.
For example, an, unfortunately, “normal” experience in childhood is being warned to not eat too many sweets or “you’ll get fat”. As meaning-making machines, most children internalize this as “fat is bad.”
what then does a fat child start to believe? “I am bad”.
or, a thin child, “fat is bad. I have to stay thin to be ok."
Many people struggle with body acceptance because they had this belief in their past and it manifests in their present.
Many people can relate to being put on their first diet between the ages of 8-10 after receiving the message that there was something wrong with their body at that time. Internalizing that it wasn’t worthy of friendship, love, and belonging the way that was.
the story that they tell themselves then often extends into adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood; “I’m not good enough the way that I am”
You can see through these examples how external narratives inform the stories that we tell ourselves about bodies. And how these external narratives influence the experiences that we have in our bodies. Which results in how we treat or mistreat ourselves.
Body acceptance means understanding and embracing your personal story
Understanding your personal body story and how it was shaped can be an empowering activity to help you understand where your current belief system about your body came from and how it has evolved over the years.
It can help you zoom way out, as a mindful observer of your experiences, and begin to externalize and reject what isn’t aligned with your current value system. Or, what isn’t actually your belief- the beliefs about your body that were passed along to you without your overt knowledge or consent.
to be curious about what it has meant to live your life in your one and only body allows for curiosity around what it means to be you, to be resilient, to be vulnerable, and to be alive.
Your body story is valuable. It deserves to be told. It deserves to be heard.
To help you begin to understand your body story and reach body acceptance, I’ve put together a few activities and prompts for you to consider.
1. your body timeline
However you feel comfortable, create a timeline from your birth to the present moment.
Reflect on events, or periods of time, that has informed the way that you see and experience your body right now.
Include times that you remember learning about family or cultural beliefs about bodies. And, experiences that you had in your body as a result of that.
*Take your time with this. It can be an empowering experience, and also an emotionally draining experience. This is a great activity to do alongside your eating disorder therapist, body image therapist or support person.
2. Understanding the meaning of your body story
In a journal or any form of creativity, demonstrate the meaning that you’ve made about your body. With words, colors, shapes, or another form of expression, consider what meaning you’ve internalized about your body timeline over the years.
What have your experiences meant about your body, and/or you as a human in this world?
3. what do you wish you learned instead.
Look at the previous activities with curiosity and compassion. Write a letter to a younger version of yourself about what you learned about bodies and what you experienced in your body instead.
Allow yourself time and space to be with these prompts with curiosity, grace, and kindness. It’s important to grieve all that you have experienced and lost as a result of being at war with your body over the years.
The resiliency you’ve demonstrated through it all is real- and having to be resilient in a critical and body-obsessed world is exhausting.
Begin body image therapy to move toward reaching body acceptance in Pennsylvania!
If you’d like body acceptance support along your journey toward healing your relationship with your body, please reach out. We are a group of eating disorder and body image therapists passionate about helping people feel more at peace and trusting in their bodies.
Next week on the blog we’re going to be connecting the inner critic with your body story. Be sure to head back or subscribe to the Beautifully Badass Newsletter to grab tools and prompts to help you understand and shift your relationship with your inner critic.
🧡,
Looking for trauma therapy and/or eating disorder therapy in Pennsylvania?
Reclaim Therapy in Pennsylvania is a specialized therapy practice that provides in-person and online therapy in Pennsylvania for people struggling with Eating Disorders, Body Image, Trauma, Loss, and Grief. We are a group of trauma therapists who are passionate about helping people reconnect minds and bodies so that they can find peace and joy in their everyday lives. Call now for support!