The conversation behind all the food I bought, and swallowed, was
this self loathing a really negative, unkind, and fully awful tone. I kept
putting myself down. This is a reality that women are presented with (men too). It is so toxic. It kills us. It celebrates the worst in our society.
How can someone with so much knowledge and compassion for
others, be so preoccupied with psychologically damaging themself
everyday? Well, it is nothing to be proud of, but it is happening. I have
a partner, who celebrates every single inch of me, I have a (knock on
wood) strong and flexible body. And yes, I have cellulite, and dimples,
and now, I have some love handles....does this mean it’s OVER?
No more Yoga? No more tights? Bikini? Shall I wrap it all up? Do I have
to look like I did before? Fact is some of us spend this lifetime severely
hurting ourselves. I would like to clarify here, that I am not talking
about eating disorders. I am talking about IMAGE disorders. When
instead of accepting ourselves as beautiful and healthy, the tune
is negative, and mean...
This is SO disturbingly
painful. It is so genuinely
challenging to heal, and
alter this vision. It starts at
home(our first institution),
then spreads like wildfire
in school, and just comes
with you your entire life at
work, in movies, at the gym,
on social media....
HOW DO WE CHANGE
THIS TRADITION? HOW DO
WE RISE AND EMBRACE
OURSELVES AS WE ARE?
HOW DO WE CELEBRATE
ALL THE THINGS THAT
COMPOSE US?
Well, in my experience, it always helps when we have support.
When we stick together, and we raise our voices, and sometimes
our fists, and and we reclaim our bodies! We owe it to younger
generations, to know better, to feel better. If we spend time eating
healthy food and implementing it into institutions from hospitals,
to jails, school cafeterias, making sure that inner city or poorer
neighborhoods also have the same access to healthy local food.
If we spend time demonstrating all bodies as beautiful, all shapes,
sizes, then we can slowly begin to change the tradition of what is
beautiful. Who is beautiful. What is healthy. Who is beautiful and
healthy.
I believe as long as we are alive, it is such a tremendous opportunity
to keep walking, dancing, climbing, and biking, swimming, running,
skipping, and MOVING. As long as that is happening, we can
collectively change the idea that if you do Yoga you will be skinny,
and if you work out you will be skinny. Skinny might not happen. But
healthy most likely will.
Being here, on the island of Folegandros, one is exposed to all sorts
of bodies, young, middle aged, older, and old. All these people chilling
in the water doing their thing, some walking like goats on the cliffs.
I have this privilege to work with people and I am so blessed to be
able to do it here too! I was petrified of putting on my bikini, of putting
shorts on, in fact I didn’t even bring shorts. But a friend here gave
me some, and I had to get over all of my insecurities if i wanted my
legs to get a tan too...i would have to expose them. I am sharing this,
because the beauty industry has been so loud, and so invasive in my
psyche. I am 46 years old, and instead of embracing all the wrinkles,
and white hair, and cellulite, and kilos I put on, I spend so many hours
putting myself down. I am not doing the YOGA. The minute I am
dressed, the tune changes. I am much more confident.