Women, what is it that we really loathe when we loathe our body?
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Women, what is it that we really loathe when we loathe our body?
Every woman in this world could say that at one point or another in her life she has been affected by body image. Whether it be that she loathes a certain area or just plain old hates her body shape in general, it happens, everywhere. Even beautiful women, who are seemingly flawless, will be able to offer up a body part they dislike, a curve they despise, or a feature that is lacking, as matter of course in conversations about their bodies.
The reality is that women, from birth are imposed upon by society’s ideal body type. What’s attractive, what’s appealing, what’s going to make you the envy of others, or get the boyfriend you desire. There is so much emphasis on the body pushed upon us from day dot and what follows of course is the individual (and group) focus in the search for bodily perfection.
This search takes an extraordinary amount of focussed effort and dedication. Under the extreme lens created by social media, it has become a preoccupation to the point that some women have given their lives over to it, compromising friendships, relationships, work and health. Their pursuit to meet the ideal is endless… no point of true contentment and settlement ever attained. Get one part ‘right’ and another part will pop up, demand attention to be perfected, honed, sculpted, re-arranged.
But what if body image/body hatred runs much deeper than surface appearance? What if the body image that is imposed on us, and that we can easily fall victim to, is a smoke screen for the real lack of acceptance that is going on within us? In our own bodies?
What if it is not actually about the body at all, but a complete distraction from the Being within the body – the real source of beauty and deep contentment when it is connected to, moved and breathed in the body. This turns our relationship with our body on its head. It reveals that the body is here as a marker to show us in return how we live/treat it.
And what if we made this our focus instead of succumbing to the victimhood of ‘the perfect body’.
What if the real loathing of our body comes from a deep lack of acceptance of ourselves along with the irresponsibility of knowing we are not honouring it in full in every moment. Ice-cream, chocolate, cigarettes, binge eating, no exercise or lack of regular exercise, alcohol, drugs, not getting enough rest when we need it, not honouring our sleep cycle, dishonouring our period cycle – all of these things have an impact on our body. And no different are the approved choices of brutal exercise regimes and harsh dieting. They equally disconnect us from our beauty, as they emphasise a perpetual and agonising refusal to accept the grace of our being.
It is so easy to blame the external pressures of life as being the reason why we smoke, why we need to take the edge off after work or after a full day at home with the kids with a glass of red, why we don’t have time to exercise our body or prepare a meal that will nourish rather than bloat us or make us feel heavy.
It’s easy to write all this off, ignore it and then conveniently ‘hate’ or ‘loathe’ our body and blame the external world for the pictures it imposes on us. And it is increasingly easy to seek quick fixes through surgical approaches that were once only available to the mega-rich and famous. Laser clinics sit beside supermarkets, cosmetic medicine clinics are easy to access in our suburbs and towns.
But if we are affected by the picture, is this not revealing of the lack of acceptance we ourselves already carry? If not, we could look at it for what it is and know it is a lie. Yes, the ideal body is a lie. It does not exist, for how can it when every single woman born in this world has a different shape, different angles, different curves.
Were we born wrong? No, we were born perfect. What we do thereafter, and how we live is up to us, and yes, our daily choices will affect our body, so is it possible that striving for the unattainable picture is actually a cunning disguise for not responsibly caring for ourselves and ignoring what beauty truly is and how it is a living principle, not a sought after ‘look’.
"A woman’s body will always be beauty-full to her, if she but allows who she is on the inside to model it."
Serge BenhayonEsoteric Teachings & Revelations Volume I, ed 1, p 548
The external pressures will not stop. The magazines and Instagram versions of perfection will still assail you with their pore-less messages, but always allow yourself to look and feel deeper into what you are being exposed to. Hear the siren song behind the image that calls you to abandon that which is most dear, the essence of your Being, the eternal part that is the most ‘you’ you can ever be – the truth of your beauty.
"Your daily deeds and chores do not add up to your worthiness for the loveliness was there at the birth of the day."
Serge BenhayonEsoteric Teachings & Revelations Volume I, ed 1, p 539
True beauty comes from within and cannot be defined by body shape or size.
Women, we need to drop this body image thing once and for all by firstly renouncing the lie that there is any such ideal body out there - period. We need to accept our own body shape in full, and wholeheartedly embrace the responsibility of loving and caring for it, to the best of our ability.
When we stop feeding into the lie of the perfect female body, we give permission for other women to see the lie for themselves. This is how we end the destructive cycle of body image and the multitude of self-harms in its name. Do not go to war on the image makers. Reclaim the essence of your Being and ignite the beauty you are and always were.
Filed under
Body image, Health, Menstrual cycle, Self-worth
