Body of Mine

Dear, Dear Body of Mine,

I write these first lines in haste, almost shocked that this letter took so long to come through.

Dear body of mine. You have been with me from before my very first breath.

My dear body. I know how often I have all kinds of thoughts about you,

judgements over parts of you,

opinions over your dimensions

and resistance to your intentions.

But today… right now… in this moment of this day,

I remember I’d like to also say… “thank you”...

if i may.

Thank you for the skin that is a shield to the world,

My first boundary.

Thank you for the eyes that witness it all,

My first cameras.

Thank you for my brain that reads, scans, perceives

Thank you for a heart that loves, laughs, and grieves.

Thank you for the lungs that filter and fuel,

Thank you for my glands, each one a gem and jewel.

Thank you for my my fingers, my hands, and toes and feet,

Thank you for the mouth with which I breathe and speak and eat.

Thank you for the systems that love me day and night,

Thank you for my cells, so full, compact and bright.

Thank you thank you thank you…

And may I go one step further?

In the container I created with my gratitude today… is there enough space for…

“I’m sorry”?...

For judging. For hating. For shaming.

For fearing the words of others as you adjust through my phases of life, even at times being willing to

starve you,

hurt you,

cinch you tight…

just to fit into what I thought was ‘right’.

You're so much more than what meets the eye, even mine.

You've been with me through every moment, rain or shine.

The witness to my trauma,

my healing,

and everything in between,

of every day, all the way back to the womb, serene.

I am sorry

and I thank you again.

I don’t know every step of the path forward.

But I open myself today

to become aware of a way...

To be shown

what it really means

to love you.

What it really means to re-learn your wisdom.

What it really means to be a guardian to the magnificence and uniqueness that is

this

one

Body of mine.

***

Invitation to action: For one week, make it your mission to take time to appreciate the things you love and are grateful for about your own body. This is a seemingly simple practice that has the power to open a whole new dimension of self love - this is something we all deserve!