Variety is The Spice of Life
This month we are focusing on loving and appreciating our bodies just as they are, right now, today. Especially as women, we are bombarded by messages about how our bodies SHOULD look, and we berate, punish, and torture ourselves for not measuring up.
Instead of trying to force our bodies to fit a mold it wasn’t made to fit, it’s time to celebrate the fact that there is so much variety in our bodies! It makes the world beautiful, makes each of us beautiful! Any time we try to eliminate variety, we are eliminating beauty and individuality.
One of my daughters will sometimes come to me feeling very sad and say, “I wish I could be like her,” And I always say, “But that would be so sad! Because then the world would have two of her and none of you! We need one of each of you.”
While she’s talking about personality traits, we do the same things with our bodies. How many times and you thought or said, “I wish my body looked like hers?” Unless you are one of the rare few, I’d say if wishes were fishes then beggars would eat. Or if I had a penny for every time we thought that, we’d all be millionaires. It’s time to change that, don’t you think?
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This article and the video below are taken from the Stunning Style Weekly Style Snack! Join us Wednesdays at 1pm ET on the Stunning Style Facebook page or the FREE Capsule Wardrobes for Classic Style Facebook Group.
Every BODY is Different
Like many women, I fell for the lie that that only beautiful tummy is a tapered tummy with a tiny waist. How do I get that? Not to worry, the internet will tell you! Do these exercises, eat these things, lose this much, and yours will look like hers!
And then I learned about torso length. Women who have that tapered tummy with a tiny waist have a gap of up to eight inches between the bottom of their rib cage and the start of their hip bone. What’s between there is soft tissue, muscle, and organs. That muscle can be tightened and whittled. But guess what? I have less than an inch between my ribs and hip bones. My torso is basically all bones. Can you whittle and tighten bones? Not without a knife!
A tsunami of relief crashed over me and tears came to my eyes! I could stop! I could stop trying to force my body to look like something it was never going to look like! My middle will never be whittled the way a bikini model’s is, and I didn’t have to beat myself up for it anymore! That was the first time I accepted a part of my body just as it was and that it could be beautiful despite not matching up to the “ideal”.
Every Body is Beautiful
That was the beginning of my pursuit of learning about my body shape. If I could release that one, what else was there? The more I learned about my body and its shape, proportions, abilities, limitations, unique features, the more I came to love, appreciate, and give it grace to be. Just be what it is. And give it what it needs! The right kinds of activity and exercise to make it strong so I can live a fully active life, the right foods to fuel it so it can function and feel great, and enough sleep so it can rest and heal.
Learning to dress for my body shape means spotlighting my best features with clothes that were meant to fit my particular shape. Understanding that different styles of clothes are made for different body shapes was another life-changing discovery. For all the times I berated my body for not looking the way someone else did in a particular style of clothing, it WASN’T ME!!! IT WAS THE CLOTHES! And those clothes weren’t meant for my shape.
It’s so freeing, and it’s the path to loving your body again, or maybe for the first time ever! I
“I’ve had a shift in mentality. Dressing to flatter the shape I have vs. trying to hide my ‘flaws’. Big difference!” – Carolyn C.
“The biggest benefit of this course is that April ALWAYS emphasizes my body shape is perfect for me, and how to dress it to flatter it. I have learned how details can make or break my look.” – Peggy G.
