I’ve been friends with her
For ten years on Facebook
And every two years I see
Her showing off
Her latest project
Her body
She’s on a new diet
There are new before and after pics
There’s the formula
To her newest weight loss
In hashtags
#fat #nocarbs #willpower
And I love her
I love her for showing up
As she is
In her process
She gets the thumbs-up
The “way to go’s”
The “keep it up’s”
But I’ve seen how this body-project goes
I’ve seen it in her
I’ve seen it in hundreds of women
“Keeping it up”
turns into
“I can’t keep it up”
turns into
“I’m being bad”
turns into
“I’ve failed again”
turns into
Shame
Turns into
“What’s wrong with me?”
And my heart breaks for her
As she looks for approval
Striving for that aspirational body
Desperate to just feel good in her own skin
She’s been working
On her body
Like it’s a fix-it project
her whole life
She’s been
Struggling
Restricting
Willpower-ing
Bio-hacking
her way to
the body she wants
or the body she was told to want
And my inquiry
My invitation
My plea
is this
Let go of the project
Release the fixing
The curing
The not-good-enoughing
The shaming
And self-blaming.
Let go of the body-project
The body-management
The body-controlling
And step into your NOW BODY
Body-wisdom
Body-listening
Body-compassion
YOUR PRESENT BODY
Current Body
Feeling Body
As-is body
I know it’s hard
There are so many reasons
it’s hard to be in your body
But it’s there
Here
In our bodies
We can find
Body-peace
Body-respect
Body-trust
Body-liberation
And it’s here
That we can shift
From having our body be a project
To our body being our home
~ Nina Manolson
NinaManolson.com
Nina Manolson, MA, is the founder of Body-Peace®.She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body—as it is.
She is known for her deeply feminist, anti-diet, body-peace® approach. She brings her 30 years of experience as a therapist, Body-Trust® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a respectful and trusting relationship with their food and body.
Nina’s Body-Peace® work is all in service of helping people get off the diet roller-coaster, and into a compassionate and powerful way of eating & living which creates a positive long-lasting change in and with their bodies. Her courses, coaching, poems and Body-Peace APP positively change the conversation that women are having with their body.
Start your Body-Peace® journey with this free masterclass that will help you understand and shift your relationship with your body.
