When did I stop loving my body?

I have been thinking a bit about the idea of ‘Body Love’ since the weekend and how fully (or not) I love my body and how this impacts me.

I was away for a few days with my family, to help celebrate my Dad’s 70th birthday. We did a short hike with the kids to Cathedral Cove. I knew there would be a lot of people there and I didn’t want to change into my swimsuit on the beach. So I chose to wear a sporty 2 piece swimsuit I own as a replacement for my underwear.

I didn’t mind being seen in public wearing it but when my husband felt inspired to take some photos of my three daughters and I on the beach I felt a wave of horror move through my body.

The idea of my body being so revealed and captured in a photo made me SO UNCOMFORTABLE.

“How interesting” I thought to myself.

I took a deep breathe and reminded myself that choosing to be part of some fun photos with my girls was far more important than my personal discomfort.

Can you relate to this discomfort?

Why do we find it so hard to love our bodies, just the way they are?

My body:
* Is healthy
* Gave birth to 3 babies
* Can swim 2km in the ocean
* Plans to do a 5 day hike at the end of the year
* Supports me each and every day

So why do I look at it with such judgement? Why do I feel it needs to be different in some way? Why does it really matter of my body has wobbly bits?

“How interesting”

My good friends Emma Wright  is passionate about the power of body kindness and releasing women from any shame, hate, guilt etc they may feel about their bodies.  I encourage you to check out her work and you may even like to check out this webinar, Love Your Body – Change Your Life, I ran with her last year.
Her voice popped into my head on the weekend and helped me to embrace our little photo session.

Here is my favourite happy beach photo …