Dear Body,
First I want to start off with telling you I am sorry. I am sorry for the times I spoke bad about you, the times I did things I knew would hurt you, and for constantly comparing you to others. I did many of these things at times when I did not know any better and honestly I did them because I did not care about you. I viewed you as expendable and not worthy of love.
But as time has passed, I began to see you as you really are. Someone that deserves love, appreciation, praise, and is so worth taking care of. Now I want to say thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me, thank you for keeping me moving each day, and thank you for the life you have given me. I may fall back into old patterns from time to time, but I won’t stay there long because I know how lucky I am to have you.
Love,
Tamara
Have you ever written a letter to your body before? This was the first letter I have written and it was a bit more emotional than I was expecting! As I was writing it, I teared up and had to pause a few times before I could finish. I think what got me so emotional was thinking about how mean I can be to myself, especially when it comes to my thoughts about my body. At the same time, it also made me realize how far I have come. When I was younger I was constantly criticizing my body, saying such things as “You are fat” or “You are ugly”. I rarely, if ever, said anything nice. But now I find myself being more thankful than critical. Now I am not going to say those mean, negative thoughts never cross my mind, but I would say the positive thoughts I have outweigh the negative ones. Which I find exciting because that means I have made progress in this area of my life!
Now it is your turn to write a letter. When writing your letter, be fully honest with yourself. You will get the most out of this exercise if you do not hold back. Remember, this letter is for you and no one else. When writing your letter, here are a few prompts to get you started:
- How have you treated your body?
- What are you thankful for?
- What do you say about your body?
- What will you do differently when it comes to your body?
This exercise may not be easy, but it is well worth the knowledge/insight you gain from doing it, which is important because we are all working towards becoming the best version of ourselves!