Skinny Dipping and How to Love Your Body Naked

I just got back from a week of vacation with my family. We headed North of Montreal to the Laurentians, it’s a beautiful area of mountains and lakes.

I grew up in Montreal, and as a kid, we spent every summer and weekend in the Laurentians in a close-knit community…so it’s familiar and deeply nourishing for me.
While I was there this past week, I did something I do every time I’m there. in the summer. I went skinny dipping.

First thing in the morning, the women of the community hike over the mountain together, get hot and sweaty from the climb – end up at this pristine and un-developed lake – get naked, and go for a swim.

I don’t know when the tradition started, but this goddess ritual has been going on for many, many years. My daughter joined in for the first time this year.

This year, my husband brought up an important question.

He asked me: “Given how women tend to compare their bodies to each other and judge their bodies harshly, how is it that the women here have always felt comfortable enough to skinny dip together?”

Basically…

What makes us feel safe enough to bare our bodies with each other, and love ourselves naked?

I love this question and I want to share with you what I know profoundly impacts our ability to feel deeply comfortable with our bodies.

 

1. Who you hang out with

If we are around people who are constantly judging their bodies, nit-picking about their thighs or tummy, two things start to happen.

One ~ We assume our bodies are being judged as well, and that makes us feel less at ease with ourselves.

Two ~ We start to believe that criticizing ourselves is the normal way to be and we start to accept our self-judging voice as though it were the truth. It’s not.

 

2. What you say to yourself

We can create harmony or dis-ease within ourselves depending on what we say to ourselves.

Try it for yourself right now:

Give yourself a doozer of a judgement, go for it…try “I’m fat,” “My thighs are too big,” or whatever mean thing you tend to say to yourself.

How do you feel?

Now, give yourself a true loving statement. “I’m beautiful,” “My hair is so lush,” “I’m deeply lovable,” or whatever kind and compassionate thing you can think of.

Now how do you feel?

When we lob nasty statements at ourselves, we create an internal stress response. When we offer loving statements we create a relaxation state.

Between a stress response or relaxation state, it’s certainly going to be the relaxation response that leaves us feeling more positive and comfortable in our body.

 

3. How you treat your body

Our body is our home, and quite a magnificent home at that!

Just like our home it needs maintenance…decorating, tidying and TLC. To really enjoy the palace in which we live, we have to give it attention, and treat it with respect.
If we feed our bodies food that really makes it feel truly vibrant and we give it opportunities to deeply rest and heal, then we create an environment that makes us feel comfortable.

The more comfortable we feel in our bodies, the more we can love ourselves naked.

If you’d like to change what you say to yourself and how you treat your body, but know you need support to make that happen, please be in at Nina(at)SoulfulMom.com, I can help.

And, if you’d like to jump into a self-care intensive, please join me for my 7 Day Smokin’ Hot Mom Detox. We’re starting on August 5th, but please register now so I can get the grocery list and recipes to you asap.

 

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