I’d like to say something out loud: you’ve been taught to not like your body.

Various systems and companies and institutions and people in your life benefit from you not liking your body. That’s just fact.

Not liking your body is a huge obstacle to getting on a yoga mat or sitting still with only yourself. In those moments, you’re being asked to turn inward to the very places you’ve been taught are bad or not worthy or unacceptable.

A good bit of this comes with affirming a trusting relationship with our bodies — not just mind→body, but also body→mind. This relationship is a two-way street. Our minds need to be receptive to listening to our bodies, and then make decisions that support what’s being heard.

what's your relationship with your body like?

Our relationships with our bodies can feel intimate and vulnerable and scary; there’s no other relationship like it.

Among all the personal development work I’ve been doing, one of the largest challenges I’ve adopted this year was to disengage from treating my appearance as a primary source of my identity. I have long-seeded body image issues, as do many of us, but this past year, I took on a mission that really tested those: I quit smoking.