Did you used to put these pictures up?

For the first time in my coaching practice my jaw dropped.

I felt slightly unprofessional. Typically I listen without judgement. I breathe. I am present.

This time my jaw dropped.

What did my client do to make this happen?

I arranged for one of our private coaching sessions to take place in her home. She had struggled with nighttime overeating, so I wanted to see if there was something we could physically rearrange to make it easier for her. After our full session with beautiful discoveries I asked to peak in her bedroom before heading out.

At this exact moment she decided she was going to share a truthbomb with me.

She opened her closet door…

And this is what I saw…

She opened another door…

More of the same.

“I’ve been doing this my whole life!”

I used to plaster pictures of perfect girls all over my walls. They are those impossible ideals, girls that don’t even look the way they do in the picture when you see them in real life. They’re photographs but not very different from paintings, made to look however they want by an artful mouse and millions of advertising dollars.

At some point in our lives we both decided that we should look like these women.

And then my client decided she had had enough. It was time to start a new chapter.
So we began ripping.

With fervor, we ripped and ripped, three closets worth.

She ripped.

I ripped.

We giggled.

We squealed.

We laughed.

We freed ourselves.

She decided it was time for a new chapter.

Now it’s time for your truthbomb…

Did you used to put up pictures of models? Write clever phrases over them like “nothing tastes as good as thin feels”? Did it make you “thin”? Do you remember a time you ever felt great about your weight? When you got to that magical number did it feel like you thought it would? Likely not…

The job (though it may seem impossible at times) is to love yourself exactly as you are right now, at whatever weight you are. Not when you lose 10 or 5 lbs, but right now.

Your body needs to hear that from you. She deserves that. She takes care of you. Gives you energy, digests your food, does everything she needs to. With Mother’s Day this weekend let’s celebrate all that is gorgeous about our bodies. If you have daughters talk to them about how they feel about their bodies, what their friends say, and how you feel about yours.

Let’s feed our bodies (and our children) love. Let’s surround them with loving photos, not those of an imaginary ideal that doesn’t exist.

Try loving you for exactly who you are right now, and see what happens. Maybe instead of the magazine shots a mirror should go up. A mirror to remind you how fabulous, stunning, beautiful, luminous and smart you are right now, and at any weight. Just because you’re you.

Happy Mother’s Day to all and one very special mama, mine. 🙂