We all have a relationship with our body that started at the beginning of our existence. A relationship that is constantly evolving. We all have a body love story.

What is a body love story?

It is your story. It might not be a tragedy, and it might not be a Disney princess love story either.

No, it is a story of trials, tribulations, and triumph. Of shadows and light, patience and kindness.

Your body love story is a collection of narratives about how you feel about your body. Starting from a very young age to where you are in life now. Our earliest memories of body shame or not being in peace with our bodies left us with a feeling that "something is wrong with us." These feelings are further reinforced by messages we received from culture, society, politics, and our families. If we constantly consume images of toxic and impossible beauty standards, it can be easy to compare our bodies to those pictures. It can be easy to create our body love story based on those filtered and airbrushed images. AKA conscious market manipulation. Powerful industries like the $78-billion dollar-a-year diet industry, the $380-billion cosmetic industry, the $50.67-billion cosmetic surgery industry became giants from contributing to the idea that we are not good enough. We are not beautiful enough. Thin enough. Curvy enough.

Do these statements sound familiar? Are they part of your body love story? Yeah. These industries pump a lot of money into making these beliefs subconscious in us so that we buy more of their products. Therefore, their products claim to make us feel more beautiful, and according to them, our beauty determined how lovable and worthy we are.

These messages perpetuated by beauty industries and social media are a lie. These messages are far from the truth, and they don't have to be our story.

We get to decide what our body love story will be. We are loved beyond measure for being exactly who we are, as we are.

It is important to know where we might have embodied certain beliefs about how we feel about our bodies, but it is equally important to remember that we can take back our narrative once we acquire that knowledge. It won't be easy, but we can take steps to gain back our body peace.

So let's start constructing your body love story.

Here's an example;

Can you recall the moment you first felt conscious of your body?

Was it something you noticed? Was it something someone said?

When are you aware of your body? How it moves, how it looks, how it feels.

How did this awareness affect how you move your body in certain spaces?

What is a goal that you have, and has your body image affected how you have pursued this goal? The size of your body, your age?

When do you feel the most joy in your body? What are you doing? Who are you with?

What do you want your body love story to be?

Take as much time as you need to think about these questions. These questions are not meant to fix anything; you don't need fixing. These questions are a jumping-off point where you can start reclaiming your body peace. Remember, just on the other side of your story is a blank page waiting for you to fill it with a narrative full of love and acceptance. That blank page is waiting for you to fill it with the story of you and your body's relationship. It may not be a head over heels, love— but it is a true partnership—a brave one.

It is a true love story.