Your Body Will Forgive You. Just Ask.

If you’ve struggled with your weight for a long time, it may feel hard to love, or even like, your body. When you feel at war with your body in this way, releasing weight feels much more difficult than it needs to be.

Anger, shame, and self-hatred add an emotional heaviness to what may already feel daunting. While the weight release journey holds challenges in the best of situations, these challenges lessen when you develop a more loving and respectful relationship with your body.

You don’t have to wait until you reach your goal weight to make peace with your body. You can experience peace now and when you do, your journey (and your body) lightens.

Your relationship with your body is as real and dynamic as a relationship with a person. You communicate with your body through your thoughts, feelings and actions. If you feel shame towards your body or mistreat it, your body absorbs that energy.  It then becomes harder for your body to release weight. On a meta-physical level, this negative energy is received by your body and internalized in your cells. This toxic energy acts as glue, holding on to excess weight. When you release these toxic thoughts and feelings, you release their grip, allowing the pounds to release as well. Your thoughts, your feelings, your body – they’re all connected.

Think of it this way. If you feel resentment towards someone for hurting you, and they never have apologized or acknowledged what they did, doesn’t that get in the way of the relationship? If they later offer a kindness and you still harbor resentment towards them, it may be hard to lovingly receive their gift. It’s the same with your body. It’s much harder for a body to receive good health when it is filled with the energies of self-hatred, anger and resentment.

In any strained relationship, deciding to make amends opens the door to resolution. So, too, it is with your body. Here’s one thing you can do to restore your relationship with your body to wholeness and balance:

Apologize to your body and ask for forgiveness.

If someone you love has mistreated you, doesn’t it feel comforting when they offer you a sincere apology? Don’t you feel more confident in your relationship? It’s the same with your body. When done with sincerity, an apology can begin to release the energies of shame and anger you’ve held toward your body and that, energetically, reside within it.  It’s a relationship. And all relationships benefit from hearing- “I’m sorry.”

Apologizing to your body can help you begin to make peace with it. It helps restore your relationship to one of respect and affection. It’s about taking responsibility for your actions and attitudes—anything from those times you overate and felt physical discomfort to self-critical thoughts you have when you try on jeans in the department store dressing room—that have hurt you and your body.

An apology can help you begin to forgive yourself as well.

 A Loving Ritual

To begin to restore harmony in your relationship with your body, here’s a beautiful way to write a letter of apology and ask for forgiveness. Set aside about one to two hours for this practice.

•    Start by cleansing your body. Take a luxurious bath or soothing shower. Apply lotion on your body if you desire. Put on soft, comfortable clothes.

•    Then, settle yourself in a quiet, comfortable place. Create a soothing atmosphere. Perhaps light a candle or sip herbal tea.

•    Have beautiful paper and pen. It’s best to write by hand, rather than use an electronic device. A hand-written letter is more personal and keeps you connected with your heart energy.

•    Then, write a heartfelt letter apologizing to your body for ways you may have mistreated, neglected or spoken badly about it. Be sure to not criticize yourself in the process. You’ve had your reasons for why taking care of your body has been difficult. Be gentle with yourself.

•    Complete your letter by offering appreciation. A simple and sincere, “Thank you for all you do for me” further deepens intimacy and connection with your body.

•    Put your letter in a safe place. You may choose to keep it to re-read but know that the energy held within your letter is received by your body. In the same way you might write a letter of apology to a friend, there’s no need for you to read it again. You may choose to, but writing it is enough.

•    After you ask your body for forgiveness, take a moment to say to yourself: “I forgive myself for how I mistreated and neglected my body. I’m learning to take good care of myself and I’m doing the best I can.”

Writing a letter of apology to your body is a powerful first step. You’re human and you will stumble. That’s okay. Continued heartfelt apologies:  A simple, “I’m sorry” when you catch yourself speaking badly or when you’ve mistreated or neglected your body in any way, can help ground you.

An apology becomes a reminder to acknowledge slips in your weight release journey and let them go. You then free yourself to simply carry on.

What will your letter of apology say?

(Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1yKXSL3)