Love your body

I've written a post about caring about my body in the context of Christianity, but I would like to briefly return to this topic following a wonderful discussion we've had last night at women's group meeting. We have more people than I've anticipated and I'm so glad that it went so well. So here are a few strands of thought from yesterday.

1. One of the girls coming to the meetings is a medic. She said something that really struck me. She said that by being train to be a doctor, and later being an actual doctor, you get to touch human bodies in completely asexual way. Our bodies gives us this incredible opportunity to feel things and other human bodies, but when we think about 'touching', it usually has some sex-connotations of one sort or another. I thought that this was the major flaw in our society. We look on our bodies as sexual objects. I myself so often end up being occupied with whether I look good in this or that dress, whether my cheeks are rosy enough, whether these shoes help my legs look longer and whether this top is not revealing too much. Everything spins around the idea of attractiveness and 'sexy'. But I don't really think much about my body as simply 'my body.' As this extraordinary device that makes it possible for me to go through life and do all these incredible things.I don't need to waste time putting makeup on, dressing  up, doing my hair, etc, because this is not what my body is for. I can do so much more useful things with it.

2. Sometimes I would like to do something physical, like run a marathon or go climbing, or something of that sort. But my body does not want to do what my mind wants it to do. It gets sore after even minor physical activity. Or is just to tired. Anyway my mind does not seem to match my body. But maybe the problem is that mind cannot dominate body. Mind and body are one, and body cannot be suppressed by what is going on in my head. Body enables me to carry out the intentions of the mind, but what use would mind have without the body? I've come to realise how important the balance between the two is a couple of months ago when severe headaches started to interfere with my studies. The doctor only told me to go swimming regularly. And guess what, it helped. Spending hours and hours studying led to neglecting the needs of my body and it was not happy about it at all. Now I can proclaim this truth - your mind is not an obstacle that prevents you from doing what you want. You need to listen to your body more: it knows what it's doing.

3. I've asked the girls to think about one word to describe their bodies. I was firstly glad that they haven't used words such as 'disgusting', 'ugly', 'could be improved' and so forth. But one of them said a word that I've also thought about when I was thinking about my body. This word was mine. My body is mine and this is as accurate a description as it can get. Bodies are so often subject to public criticism that it's so important to remember that ultimately they are ours, not anyone else's. Mine.

Yes, it was a fruitful discussion. I love how we come together and discuss what is important to us: young, attractive, ambitious women who really do want to make a difference. And you start making a difference by changing yourself - your attitudes and thinking. I've learnt so much from all these women coming to the meetings. I value myself much more and can appreciate others more as well.