How’s your relationship with your body?

When you think of your body, do you feel supported, empowered, and nourished? Or do you feel betrayed, let down, or frustrated?

How would your body describe its relationship with you? Would it feel appreciated, loved, respected, and well-cared-for, or would it feel neglected, abused, and unwanted?

When you look at your body, does it physically reflect the status of your relationship?

Because what you have going with your body is a relationship in every sense of the word. Your relationship with your body is the longest—and most important—of your life. There is no reconciling from that divorce!

Many people have a negative catabolic relationship with their body. At best, they ignore it and at worst they are constantly critical, neglectful, and downright abusive in how they treat it. How long would a person stay healthy in a relationship like that? Is it any wonder it begins showing up overweight, aching, and breaking down with illness?

Who do you think started that catabolic relationship—you or your body? Unless you were born with a condition, chances are you hurled the first insult—whether a verbal assault, or less than nourishing food, or lack-of or too-extreme movement.

The good news is you have the power to create a better relationship. In fact, you have total control over the quality and type of relationship you have. It can be wonderful, loving, supportive, and fun—or not—all depending on what you do consistently from this moment forward.

But it is you that must first change for your body to show up differently. Regardless of the physical condition you’re in, you have to decide you want to reconcile, and examine your reasons why you want to call a truce to the war.

And then begin doing what you would do in any relationship to repair the damage. You might begin shifting the words you use when examining, or talking to or about your body. Instead of being critical, look for things to compliment.

Look for all the ways it’s supporting you, instead of focusing on all the ways it’s letting you down. Become more aware of what you’re feeding it, and begin to choose more nourishing foods. Pay attention to how much you move it—is it enough or too much? It will tell you what it needs if you will begin to listen.

Trust that your body wants nothing more than to have a positive anabolic relationship with you, and will knock itself out to respond to this change in relationship. But if the abuse has been going on for some time, be patient. While the changes will begin happening immediately, you may not see the difference for a little bit. It took time to get where you are and it will take a little time to get to where you want to be.

What would be the benefits of changing your relationship with your body? How different would you feel if you treated your body the way you want to be treated? What difference would that make to your health and well-being?

Together we can do it!