{article written by: Ciaran August, photos by: Teri Hofford}
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.Thich Nhat HahnWhat does Buddhism have to do with loving our bodies? Everything.
People, in my experience, look at Buddhism as a religion when indeed it is more of a practice, a way of looking at the world. The difference between how our regular selves view the world compared to the mindful approach view of the world:Think about this, every day our bodies wake up, our hearts and brains have been working overnight to maintain a sleep cycle; a steady breath, a constant heartbeat and temperature. The blood courses through our veins in a ballet of effortless survival. How amazing is that? As you sleep, your body is like, “I got this bro, don’t worry about it, you keep lusting after a Channing Tatum in a ballet tutu feeding you pop rocks, and I will keep your brain nourished with oxygen and your kidneys working.” But all we can think about is how terrible our tummy rolls are or how our bum has failed us fitting into our pants.
In a World where we have to run around in bikinis after performing the immense miracle of baring and bringing a human life into the world, a la Karadashians, what if we could wear our stretch marks as badge of honor?What if we could step back in amazement at how our bodies house a little life for 9 months and that they know what to do if we can only be calm and present for experiences?What would happen if we let our partners see us, stretch marks, wabbly bits and all?What if, as men, we allowed our partners to worship our bodies, hairy backs, beer bellies and all?What if we were allowed to express gratitude for this amazing machine that does its best against all odds to keep us alive and happy?
There was a time, and there still are times, when I look at my own size 22 body and feel the shame of sitting in meditation with beautiful thin yoga bodies. There’s been times when I hear myself saying I have no right to be here and take up this space with “real” practitioners. These are the lies I’ve been told and tell myself daily; that real women have long hair and maybe don’t look as queer as me. But the truth is we are all looking out at the world worrying about other people judging us when other people are also looking out at other people judging them.
So, how do I start becoming more mindful of my body?If you’re still reading, you’re probably interested and I found a lot of practical exercises and resources on Dr Christopher Germer’s website. I found these exercises to be extremely helpful in my own journey, so here is your jumping off point into transforming your life and your view of your body.