LEB Workshop Assignment 5: Stomach/Waist

Hey there!

I’m getting back on track with the LEB (Love Every Body) Workshop :) This month's (April) assignment #5 is up: Stomach/Waist (previous assignment also posted here). How do I feel about my stomach/waist?

(Original photos posted here)

Well in short, we have an on and off again relationship *o* Sometimes I love it, and other times not so much. My stomach is one of the smallest measurements on my body. I like my waist to hip ratio. I have excess skin (IMO) around my stomach from weight fluctuations. Depending on the fit of my clothing, I can look quite pregnant or like I have an extremely flat tummy. My stomach has stretch marks. I have a pooch. It only seems to go away when I am on my best behavior, which apparently, is not often enough. LOL! Can you tell that I am full of laughs today?! Seriously though, my stomach is not drastically different than it was in years past. I’ve had a pooch all of my adult life. 

Overall I appreciate my tummy. I’m thankful that I don't go to bed without enough food to eat, that I don't have a painful disease (cancer comes to mind) tearing away at my insides, and that my tummy can kinda be molded into whatever I want it to be. I’ve never had an operation on it, and it bears no scars or permanent marks with the exception of a small birthmark. I have much to be grateful for.

How do you feel about your tummy?

Check out my blogmates linkups here.
Xx

LEB Workshop Assignment 1: A Letter to My Body

As previously mentioned here, I joined a fantastic body positivity workshop hosted by Leah over at JustMeLeah.co.uk. I missed the first two segments because I found out about it after it had already begun. I decided to make up the prior segments because I think they are essential to the process.

I thought that it would be fairly simple to write this piece, but actually it wasn’t. It was emotional. Each time I gave it serious and deep thought, and then began to write, I would feel sadness. I thought to myself, ‘Where is this sadness coming from?’ I think I know the answer. It was the realization of how I truly feel.  I feel that when I was growing up, I was ill-equipped to appreciate and understand my personal self-worth. I decided to write a letter to my body in the past, from the future.

Dear body,

I write this letter to you from the future.  Whenever you need to, pull me out, and read me. Always believe that you are beautiful, that you have value, and that you are a gift.

You will be viewed as physically unattractive by some people because you don’t fall into a certain weight range, because your hips are wider, because your legs are bigger, and even because you are covered in brown skin. 

Despite how you are viewed by others, you will learn to value yourself. Everything about you is unique, beautiful, and wonderfully designed. You will discover that everyone was not created to be the exact same size, to look the exact same way, or to have the exact same body shape. Endeavor to embrace the things about you that are different. From the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, each facet of you is a gift. Treasure the gift that is uniquely you. 

Let me tell you about you. You have full, thick, curly and wavy hair. Your skin is a beautiful hue of brown, and in the summer seasons it develops a glow. You have five fingers and five toes. You are shaped similar to a dewdrop, wider on the bottom than you are on the top. You have relatively good health as a child, and during your adult years. Your heart has no irregularities, and all of your organs work harmoniously together. You enjoy 20/20 vision, relatively good hearing, and almost perfect taste buds.  You bruise easily, but your bruises heal and eventually fade. Your arms and legs work just fine, and for 30+ years you will not suffer from any disabilities. 

Body, recognize that you are but a shell, or a vessel for the true person that resides within. Genuine beauty comes from that source, and radiates outwardly. Whenever you feel shunned, degraded, and even rejected by others because of your appearance, remind yourself: 

You are beautiful, you have value, and you are a gift.

Love,

Me 

This was a clarifying exercise for me, and I am happy that I decided to complete it. 

Check out Leah's post and the other lovlies that participated here.

LEB Workshop Assignment 3: Arms, Hands, and Shoulders

So a couple of weeks ago, while perusing BeauCoo, I came across a great workshop hosted by Leah over at JustMeLeah.co.uk.

The main idea of this workshop is to learn to look at our bodies in a new way, banishing negative ideas from our minds and choosing to focus on the great things about ourselves. 

I have long believed that too much time and energy is spent hating the gift that is our body. I began practicing what I like to think of as 'body love' about 12 years ago. I started by examining my body in it's entirety, frequently. I invested in great bath and body products, and regularly gave myself full body salt and sugar scrubs. I stopped wincing when I looked at myself naked in the mirror, and began smiling. Yes, despite stretch marks, bruises, cellulite, spider veins, and jiggles ;) - I realized that this is the only body that I have. There in began the journey of loving the skin that I am in. Like any journey, there have been ups and downs.

This workshop is sectioned off into 9 separate assignments. The first Sunday of each month a different body part is featured. Unfortunately I missed assignments one and two, which were featured December 1st and January 5th. However, I plan to run catch up posts ;)

The focal points for today's assignment is: arms, hands, and shoulders. It's quite fitting too, because as of late, my arms are probably my least favorite body part! LOL! However, assignment #3 encourages me to shift my focus. What do I love about my arms? What do they enable me to do? What about my shoulders and my hands? 
After some reflection, I came up with this list of random thoughts:

ARMS

• My arms enable me to embrace those I love.
• I like the skin color of my arms.
• I have one small scar on my right arm, and two on my left. Both were caused by a hot curling iron.
• I enjoy a good stretch.
• I like the fine hair on my forearms, and would never consider removing it.
• I am grateful for my arms.

HANDS

• I used to dislike my hands, I'm not sure why.
• I like the shape of my nails, and the way that they grow.
• I like to wear blue nail polish, every chance I get.
• I've had healthy nails my entire life, until recently. I slammed my thumb into a car door, and now the nail is in the process of coming off. Also, the nerves in my thumb are still healing so I experience pain when using it extensively.
• I have fine hair just under my knuckles. I like it. I like hair on my body! 
• My fingers are relatively small.
• My hands enable me to enjoy life through touch. 
• With my hands, I can: do my hair, my make-up (when I wear it), brush my teeth, wash up, get dressed, cook, clean, drive, clap, type, swipe, rub Patch (my kitty), touch my husband's face, and the list could go on forever! 
• I am grateful that I have hands!

SHOULDERS

• I've always loved the shape of my shoulders, and for that reason it's hard for me to stay out of tube tops in the summer ;)
• Sometimes I like a shoulder massage.
• I like to roll my shoulders back.
• I like the way fabric hangs off my shoulders.
• I am grateful for my shoulders!

Thinking about this assignment helped me to remember that I am grateful that I have arms, hands and shoulders. Some people don't, and they would give anything to have them. Yes, my hands, arms, and shoulders are part of me, and I love them.

XO