7 months post 5th baby.
Recently, a friend introduced me to this exercise that I found so helpful with my on-going process of loving and accepting body for what it is. It only allows for positive and wowsers, was this hard! Like many women, I am extremely self critical when it comes to my physical appearance. Having had five children, I find myself faced head on with all of my body issue demons making the first few months post birth a challenge. I know I am not alone here. When pregnant, we can finally relax and not care about our belly sticky out - quite the opposite actually. We can celebrate it! A pregnancy is long and we have months to accept our changing body. Birth however, is relatively short and the appearance of our post natal body can be a shock to say the least...as if adjusting to a new baby isn't difficult enough! I have struggled with body image issues from very early childhood so with each new baby comes a period of despair over the kilos I have stacked on during pregnancy. Positive self talk and loving support from my partner gets me through this process of adjustment but still, I struggle with the chatter in my head.
What I would love to see is the post baby body displayed more. I would love to see it celebrated for what it has achieved! We make people and that is freakin amazing!!! We then go on to nourish them with our wonderful milk made just perfect for our baby.
So here it is. This Body. Loving and loved. And beautiful too :)
this body provides warmth and comfort that lulls active children into hours of blissful slumber
this body has nourished five children with perfect breastmilk
this has given birth to five healthy babies
this body drives the man she loves to a state of quivering ecstasy without so much as laying a finger on him ; )
this body has given birth unassisted in 18 minutes flat from start to finish
this body can function fully on four hours of interrupted sleep month after month, year after year
this body hasn't had a full nights sleep in eight years yet usually feels wonderful!
this body has healed itself of skin cancer
this body has created works of art that make people smile while carrying eight kilos of baby on her back
can enchant with graceful middle eastern dance
this body has birthed a nine pound baby with a compound arm in an hour and a half with no drugs
this body birthed a baby into her own hands
this body has produced many hundreds of litres of breastmilk and continues to do so
this body has prevented disease and illness in those she loves via breastmilk
this body tells me exactly what it needs to stay healthy
this body makes people!
this body plays beautiful piano music
this body has laboured for 24 hours with no drugs
this body can heal others
this body gave birth to an 8 pound 3 ounce posterior baby with a deflexed chin in an hour without no drugs
this body can sculpt and paint
this body has proudly been photographed nude by artists and exhibited in gallery walls
this body has warm and loving arms that comfort and console
this body has sensitive taste buds and adores food and lots of it
this body has eyes that see magnificent beauty in every day life and a brain that appreciates it deeply
this body is soft
this body is curvy
this body is the only one I will ever own and I will love it, honour it and treat it with respect
this body has eyes that see magnificent beauty in every day life and a brain that appreciates it deeply
this body is soft
this body is curvy
this body is the only one I will ever own and I will love it, honour it and treat it with respect
this body is loving
this body is loved
this body is mine