
The stories we tell our bodies are full of complexity, emotions, fear and conditioning.
The beauty is that the Stores our bodies tell us are for real and in need to be heard.
I use to be a False Positive….
I used to have a fit, well toned Body, but inside of me I never felt slim enough, fit enough, never with the the right weight or in the right shape.... I so dislike my body, and I lived in in 24/7 no stop.
I used to appear happy with my shape and with my weight but inside I dwelled in a constant war
I never was happy in my body….
There was always something missing, a sense of lack, dissatisfaction, reasons not to be at ease.
I had a body image that did not match my real body
My body was always criticised, blamed, bullied, judged, under minded. Torture and control were my weapons to punish it.
I avoided to look at it as much as possible, but when I looked at my body on the mirror, all what I saw was imperfection, bits of fat here and there, unwanted curves.
I insulted my body, blamed it for not looking my ideal standards, for not being the image of beauty that I had inside, although this image was not even created by me, It was adopted from others.
This body dissatisfaction gave me reasons to fight against my body, against food, against eating. I lived from battle to battle In order to have a body shape and weight that even when achieved was never good enough, I dieted, fasted, exercised like crazy, pretended I was not hungry, avoid gatherings where I knew there was food, and more.
This is what I call a False Positive: I had a very good looking body but I was in permanent war inside, I did not see my body as the magnificent tool that it is, I was always invalidating my beauty, neglecting my own perfect imperfection. My mind was not aligned with my Body. I was a false positive, good outside, at war inside.
I was a follower of body standards that as a good girl I had learned from society. I blindly followed these standards through a set of rules as a religion, and in doing this, I forgot to see what a gift my body always has been.
(This is a chapter of my relationship with my body. Because after years I in fact, become overweight but this is part of my Body Story to tell in another time).
People who are False Positive like I was, travel a very fine and dangerous line, since very often as the years go by, the body responds in a very counterproductive way, catching up with the unconscious belief system.—a 'False Positive' path—a seemingly perfect body masking an unhealed psyche and a harmful mindset.
Yet, through these misalignments mind-body came some questions: Could I break free from being a false positive? Could I forge a new relationship with my body, filled with gratitude, kindness evolving into love? and with this enquiry comes the opportunity to explore the power of mindset and the power of conscious actions to transform Body Shame into Love and Pride.
If you have some features of being a False Positive, I can give you some suggestions from lessons I have learned in my journey From Body Shame to Body Love.
- Appreciative Observation: Deliberately look into the mirror with acceptance rather than judgment. Give yourself permission to contemplate your body without judging, validating or invalidating. Start with acceptance even if you still don’t feel body love. Acceptance is a very good start towards appreciation and gratitude
-Movement with Mindfulness: Engage with any kind of movement as a celebration of your body, practice body presence, remember how much complexity there is in simple exercises.
-Self-Forgiveness: Recognise your self-criticism as part of your journey. Bringing awareness to the self-rejection open the possibility to forgive yourself.
-Keep checking thoughts, feelings and beliefs: The mind is so powerful that can create physiological response into your body. Depending on the quality of your thought you can create stress, cravings which can distort your natural rhythms and body weight.
Shifting negative thought towards positive ones facilitates a healthy physiology.
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