Much of your body image pain does not come from the body itself.
It comes from the voice.
That is constantly judging it.
So before you try to fix your body,
Let us gently meet.
The one calling it broken.
Perhaps you have stood before a mirror.
And within seconds.
Begin judging yourself.
To be.
Too small,
Too old.
Not attractive enough.
Not how you used to look.
Or not how you believe you should look.
If this has caused you pain.
Let that pain be acknowledged.
You do not have to deny it to discover.
The deeper truth.
Of who you are.
So take a slow,
Gentle breath.
And allow your body to settle.
Feel the support beneath you.
And for a few moments.
Turn away from the image of your body.
In mind.
And experience the body directly.
Feel the movement of breathing.
The pressure where your body meets the chair or floor.
Perhaps it's warm,
Tingling.
Maybe there is some tightness or softness.
And before the mind says,
Beautiful Lord!
Unattractive.
That is simply sensations.
Alive.
Changing.
Present.
Feel them.
The body you criticize is often an image held in the mind.
But the body you directly experience.
Is sensation.
Moment.
And breath.
But notice the difference.
Judgment?
Versus actual experience of the body.
Now gently bring to mind something you don't like about your body.
Perhaps your shade.
Your skin.
You awake?
Are the signs of aging.
Notice what the inner critic is saying.
It may sound like your own voice.
But much of what it says has been learned.
Through comparison.
Through cultural expectations.
Through comments from others.
Through images repeatedly placed before you.
The inner critic.
May believe.
That if it judges you first.
You can protect you.
From being judged.
By others.
So you do not fight it.
Simply recognize.
This is a thought.
This is a judgment.
It is appearing.
And it is known.
Now ask quietly.
What is aware of this thought?
God knows this sensation.
What is present before the judgment appears.
What is present while it is here.
And after it has passed.
Do not search for an answer in the mind.
Or in words.
Simply notice.
The silent knowing.
Already present here.
The body is known.
The thought is known.
Even the feeling of discomfort is known.
Yet,
The awareness that knows them.
Is not made more worthy by praise.
Or less worthy by criticism.
Awareness has no shape.
No way!
No edge.
No flaw.
Now place one hand gently on your heart.
Upon a part of the body you have often criticized.
And silently say,
This body does not need to earn my kindness.
This body has carried me.
Through every difficult day.
I can care for this body.
Without making it.
The measure of who I am.
Feel the difference.
Between judgment.
And care.
Judgment says you must change.
Before you can be accepted.
The nearest stair says.
.
.
You are already worthy of tenderness.
And from that tenderness.
I will care for you.
The next time your inner critic appears.
Bye,
Guys.
And ours.
Is this a direct sensation?
Or a judgment about my party.
And take one breath.
And feel your body from within.
In this moment.
Your being requires no correction.
Your essential nature does not need to be improved.
Your body appears in awareness.
As a living expression.
Appearing within awareness.
Rest as that open,
Silent awareness.
Let the body breathe.
Let every thought come and go.
You are not merely the image you see in the mirror.
You are the awareness in which the mirror,
The body and every judgment appear.
Nothing to prove.
No perfection to achieve.
Only this living body held in kindness.
And known in awareness.
