A Body Gratitude Practice

I have an idea. What if, instead of looking for flaws in our bodies, we practice gratitude for the strength in our bodies? What if we found a way to appreciate the bodies that carry our hearts and dreams around, create everything from works of art to bowls of spaghetti bolognaise, grow new, precious human beings in our bellies, hug loved ones when they hurt, read words that educate us and allow us to move through this world and experience the fullest expression of our lives.

Our bodies are miraculous.

And yet, many of us spent much of our time disappointed — or worse — with them. Frustrated that this part isn’t small enough or this part isn’t big enough or this part isn’t supple enough. We criticize our thighs and our necks and our noses and our breasts and our bellies. It’s exhausting and, frankly, kinda’ ridiculous.

Loving your body begins by focusing on the beauty of what it can do, rather than measuring it against some arbitrary ideal of how it looks. Against the backdrop of the daily onslaught of media messages and diet culture, this is easier said than done. It takes intention: we need to develop a practice of body gratitude. Begin your day by writing down three things about your body for which you are grateful. There are no rules: you can be grateful that  your body nursed your babies, notice the nice shape of your fingers, or acknowledge, with gratitude, your ability to hear birdsong on a spring morning.

The key? As with any gratitude practice, your body gratitude practice must be consistent. If you are coming off of a lifetime of body shaming, diet culture and “compare and despair”, this is not going to be easy. 

Do it anyway.