body image – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Body Shaming Yourself

Have you ever looked back at a picture of yourself from a few years ago and thought, “I looked good.” But you know that at the time you thought you weren’t good enough. The day of the picture you told yourself you had a bad hair day, thick arms, or weight to lose. We get caught up in body shaming ourselves in little ways, never really thinking we are good enough at the time.

Aside:

I selected the picture here at random. It’s from 2014 or earlier. This is an example of a picture that I see now and think I look fine, but at the time I thought I had all sorts of ways to improve myself. Now, when I catch myself thinking I don’t look good, I try to look at myself from the perspective of Maggie from five years from now. I’m pretty sure she’s thinking I look great.

Sharing What’s Good

Not long ago I read an article about how women meet up with friends and complain about themselves. They never show up and say, “I look great today,” or “I’m having a great hair day.” Part of that is societal. […]

Be kind to yourself

With My Grandmas. Blue-eyed Barbara to my left.

Earlier this year my step grandmother passed away. Barbara had been my grandma since I was six, and she’d done the job well. She loved my grandpa and my family. She would openly talk and tell stories of my biological grandma. Barbara was independent, a lover of theater, music, and the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team. She loved the beach, dancing, and socializing. Her blonde hair was always done and her eyes were always a brilliant blue.

A couple of weeks before she died, I was visiting with her. Though she had failed significantly, you could still have moments of conversation with her. Her baby blues were so striking against the backdrop of her pail skin, so I mentioned how beautiful and blue her eyes were. She responded, “I never liked my eyes. I never even thought they were really blue.” I was a little stunned. That’s not a debate anyone else had. Barbara had blue eyes. End of story. It made me sad. For eighty-five years she hadn’t enjoyed her own eyes as much as everyone else that looked at her.

I think that […]