Raw Beauty, Detail
Copyright 2014 by Janet Hovde
“Women! Love your bodies. Love every part. Every curve, every fold, every line, every so-called blemish is a part of what makes you uniquely you and uniquely beautiful. Women glow, shine, radiate beauty whatever our shape or size. Love it all!” This quote is printed here with permission of artist Christina You.
Her words stopped me in my tracks. Love myself as I am? Now? My post-breast-cancer-surgery body and not-unusual post-chemo weight gain has been an awkward experience reminiscent of adolescence. I regularly manage to pull myself out of discomfort and back into compassion toward myself . . . but Christina’s words offer me a proactive approach in my relationship with my body.
I’ll share with you some of my usual affirmations, combined with new ones created after visiting Christina’s website.
I am beautiful-wonderful.
I love myself.
I love every part of myself.
I honor my scars and sags and wrinkles.
Would you like to add any of your affirmations to this list? Who do you know who might benefit from this post? I invite you to share it using any of the buttons below. Many blessings to you!
This is good, Janet.
I was just saying that I am so frustrated because I lost five pounds and then I gained it right back within a week. This struggle of weight has been very taxing on me, so reading your words was very helpful today. Thank you.
I love that image, by the way! I am making a quilt for my niece’s wedding (shhh, don’t tell her!) and I have been trying to find a way to incorporate some hexagram flowers from my great grandmother’s old disintegrated quilt into a new one in order to preserve its existence. So one idea I had was to create random appliqué circles over a background of thin stripes of quilted rows. Inside each circle would be a hexagram flower from my great grandmother’s quilt. This image is helpful and affirming. Thanks!
Sending you love Janet as you navigate this journey, but I’m very inspired by your efforts and the affirmations you’ve chosen. I’m fond of the organization loveyourbody.org and on it one of the questions they ask is “What if I didn’t have to change anything about myself?” That was a game changer for me.
Oh this is a timely post considering my latest blog blurb. Thanks Janet. I needed this.
Thanks for this important reminder Janet! This is an area I really struggle with so some affirmations might be helpful. Here goes: I love myself just as I am. I am grateful for my strong, healthy body. My body serves me well.
That is a powerful affirmation: I love my scars and sags and wrinkles. I think of my body as a story – I can point to different parts and remember, oh, yeah. And as a body, it all fits together into a bigger story. Having said that, I do my fair share of cursing the aches and paints of it too. And know life could be easier if I lost some weight. But, here I am and having a good life!
I read this blog post last night and then thought about it during yoga class today. A couple of people there were making uncomfortable comments about their bodies and their abilities. Because of your blog post, though, I was able to stay in the high watch of my own self love. Thank you for this gift! ♥
Janet, thank you. I want to live your post. Every day. It’s easy for me to forget my basic goodness, that I can see, hear, walk, run when I focus on a little osteoarthritis or an ache here and there. (I’m also working with a little weight gain after 3.5 years of treatment.) Yet when I really think about my astounding body, I’m deeply appreciative. What I love about this post is your call to join together to celebrate ourselves, just as we are. <3