Physical expression of ourselves and of our emotions is a normal part of life. We use our bodies to express ourselves all of the time.
But we don’t always do so in a healthy way.
Our bodies will always need to move and eat, and we can use these two requirements in ways that can help us more easily express our emotions in a physical way.
Unhealthy, unhelpful physical practices…
But quite often we find ourselves in an unhealthy and unhelpful environment, following toxic practices with regards to our bodies, our diets, and the way that we move. We follow practices that aren’t truly benefiting us but are actually keeping us in a state of stress and anxiety.
We continually practice physical expressions that don’t reflect our values or who we truly are, and these practices feed our negative emotions, rather than help us express and release them.
Bad food habits…
We follow the latest fad diet or the latest fad exercise program in order to achieve society’s expectations or the expectations of those closest to us, when what we should be doing is focusing on what’s best for our bodies, our minds, and our souls.
We need to be nourishing ourselves physically, which in turn nourishes us mentally. We need to express ourselves in healthy ways through the food that we eat and the movements we make.
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Toxic exercise culture…
We need to start with finding healthy ways of movement that feel right for us, experimenting with different options. And we need to understand the difference between society’s expectations of “exercise” and a gentler concept of movement to give us what we need both physically and mentally without completely wearing our bodies down.
And what about when it comes to food? Between fad diets and unhealthy binging, our use of food to feel or express our emotions can become extremely dysfunctional over time.
Finding healthy alternatives…
We need to work on finding the ways to make food work to our advantage, making food a friend rather than a foe and a bad habit we avoid confronting at all costs.
We need to break free of the food stigmas that have surrounded us and plagued us throughout our lives.
This is definitely easier said than done. But, when you work at it and talk through it with a community, it can get a little bit easier. Come share your struggles, your ideas, and your own advice with us over in our Weird and Nerdy Moms community.
We could all use some love and support to break free of society’s unrealistic expectations.
