Here are some wise words from Jade Beall (JadeBeall.com) an award-winning photographer, author of “The Bodies of Mothers”.

“How is it, that over many generations now so many of us have agreed to believe that our bodies are something shameful, unworthy, imperfect? In need of change.  Not worthy of our love or praise. Some of us have bought into the idea that we constantly need to change and buy things and make ourselves look anything like ourselves in order to be seen as lovely.  The bare bodies of women are objectified as sexual by default in our culture. 

We have come to think of this thought process as normal, and I am here to remind anyone wishing to reclaim the power and sacredness of our skin that our bare bodies are so much more than the single story of sex.  Some of us as new mothers have agreed in our cultural crapy and forced idea that we must be sexy as a new mother and that our bodies must resemble each other in thinness and tightness, with breasts reaching for the clouds and thighs that resemble the photoshopped legs of our sisters in ads because, in a world that is not this one, cellulite doesn’t exist.  It’s much too easy, with these stories of not enough circulating around; to agree to believe the untruth: that we are not enough.

These bodies: complied of 100 trillion cells that by magic arrange themselves to create the masterpiece of us!  These bodies have the ability to grow, birth and feed another human! These bodies that so many of us deny love to for nearly our entire lives.  

Find yourself, and be that, trust your heart and be that and remind your sisters that they are so incredibly divine in the perfection of their bodies.

Jadebeall.com

I am covering my face in this photo because when I was breastfeeding my toddler now 3 years ago, I had to close my eyes and ears to the opinions of brainwashed minds wishing to unload their opinions on me.  I had to go inside and listen to my son’s innate need to connect to his source: me. I had to listen to my own body and soul.  I sit upright, proud, heart open and vulnerable and unapologetic with my messed hair and sweaty skin and soft belly.  I am wild and I am myself and I listen to the mysterious rhythm so much more glorious and powerful than the opinions of humans that struggle to listen to their hearts. That magic that made and birthed my son!  That magic that guides me effortlessly if I can remember to align with the beat of my own heart.  

Find yourself, and be that, trust your heart and be that and remind your sisters that they are so incredibly divine in the perfection of their bodies.”

I resonate with Jade’s work, the courses I run are not airbrushed quick fixes, they are real and authentic, we dig deep, we look at the messy stuff, get the emotional support we need, we learn to empower ourselves and that it is then reflected in how we observe, communicate and connect with our children, in a way that will empower them too.  We do not need “fixing”, we need only to bring consciousness to those elements that prevent us from seeing how innately beautiful we are.

Thank you Jade.  I am grateful for your courage and your generosity.