Have you ever considered where the body shame and health shame came from? I’m here to tell you those are not your original thoughts nor did they fall out of the sky randomly one day.
No, my friend, they came from relationships – relationships with those we’re often really close to that have unprocessed hurts, wounds and traumas.
That can be hard to accept. That those closest to us didn’t have the ability or capacity to work through their ‘stuff’ and it then got projected onto us.
So ask yourself, ‘where did the intersection between your body shame and food & nutrition happen AND what can you NOW offer that part of you.
For example: if you often heard that you shouldn’t eat so much sugar because you’ll get diabetes, consider looking up the facts around how diabetes works.
OR
maybe it’s the idea that smaller body sizes are better. You then have the opportunity to look up where that thought in our culture originated, where did it come from, when it did it start.
What I think you’ll find is that many times our shame isn’t founded upon facts, but on other people’s unprocessed stuff.
Health and Body Shame Start in Relationship
Body image issues don’t just fall out of the sky, they start somewhere – many times in relationship.
Begin to ask yourself – ‘where in relationship did we get the arrow around it’s better to be smaller, if you eat too much sugar, you’ll get diabetes, etc. that caused the intersection of body image and food / nutrition? And then, think about what you can offer that part of you now, such as facts around how diabetes actually works or research who decide which body sizes are better.
If Body Shame is Healed in Relationship, Who’s Holding the Shame?
Maybe you’re saying to yourself, ‘I understand inherently that my body isn’t bad, but still still just isn’t landing for me’. Sit down, grab some paper and a pen, be a compassionate witness and ask yourself, ‘What part is holding the shame around what your body looks like and what part holds the shame around your health.’
