Oftentimes, women have a complicated and difficult relationship with their bodies—one that social platforms like Instagram have only made more confusing with the influx of filters and strategic posing.
Thankfully, women worldwide have been brave enough to share those intricate relationships to create a safe space for others to feel less alone, sharing poignant thoughts and raw images to show just how beautiful all bodies are.
A new trend, titled ‘Love Letter To My Body‘, was started by @thisisfindingbalance, and called for anyone to join by sharing the thoughts that come with loving your body for the beautiful thing that it is—no matter shape, size or colour.
Reality star Millie Mackintosh, who recently welcomed her first child, was one of the women to write a candid letter to herself.
“Over the years I’ve been my own worst critic and had a love/hate relationship with my body,” she wrote. “My hope in writing this is that I can remind myself how lucky I am to have the body I live in and to treat it with more respect and kindness.”
“Writing this has made me realise how much I’ve allowed for my mind to bully my body,” she finished. “Our bodies are rooting for us all the time, constantly working to keep us alive, strong and thriving. Even if the mind decides it doesn’t love what it sees in the mirror, the body will always love us back again… This exercise has uplifted me in ways I didn’t know to be possible.”
Another moving post came from @phoebegreenacre, who apologised to her body for “all those years of trying to change you.”
“I’m sorry for all those years I looked at you, wishing I could mould, shape, and distort you into something you were not,” she wrote. “Thank you for sticking around, and persevering. We got there in the end.”
Another powerful letter came from @goodnessgracie__, who apologised to her body for “letting hatred grow and branch out, for poisoning my mind and warping what I saw in the mirror.”
“I’m sorry for letting others outside my body dictate it’s worth, that tore down my confidence,” her letter read. “I’m sorry for opening my body up for judgement and letting others score something that should never be scored.”
The trend is a powerful reminder that our bodies are to be celebrated, not torn down and that instead of criticising, we should be thanking them for all that they do.
