De-colonizing Body Image
Thinking-Reflecting on body image. On how to de-colonize my way of thinking-viewing my own body and others’ bodies. More specifically, Womyn’s bodies. I have never been comfortable with my own body, its “physical look”. Always thought of my body as “too big” and how I move in this body, the types of clothes I wear, not feeling comfortable with “exhibiting” skin. And then, when I see other muxeres in bikinis, “looking good”, no matter what “size” they are, and feeling proud for them, of how amazing it must feel to be comfortable in your own body, to wear whatever you want. – This has been a difficulty for me. And where does this view/perspective come from?
From being cat-called & not wanting attention
From feeling “fat” and equating that to “can’t show skin”
From society’s view of what is “good” (i.e. skinny) versus “bad” (i.e. fat)
And at the end of the day, none of that matters, because it comes down to how I think and feel about myself. Those self-deprecating thoughts that lead me to feel sad & depressed. Whenever I catch myself thinking “negatively” I like to do a ritual that helps me heal from these sentiments and ground myself into the here and now, into my physical body, because my body IS A TEMPLE:
Go to my altar
Light some Copal
Give thanx to my ancestors & guias for having my back, for the protection & for being present.
Smudge myself con el humo de copal, my entire self
And then smudging the specific body parts where I sent negative thoughts, to cleanse & heal from the harm I caused my mind, body, heart & spirit.
Take some deep breaths, and say to myself: “I love my body, I love myself, I am more than enough and I choose to let go of society’s expectations, of the negative energy I imposed upon myself, and replace that with LOVE & SELF - COMPASSION
Because there is nothing more powerful than to acknowledge the negativity we impose on ourselves, to connect with our ancestors, with fire medicine, and choose to heal our wounds. For us, for them, and for the next 7 generations. Because everything we choose to do here and now can heal past wounds & send positive energy to All Our Relations.
