In our programs, workshops and retreats, we witness the power in naming our body story. “ They were cutting a path through the mainstream with their body stories, kind of the way water cut the Grand Canyon. In her TED talk The Beauty of Being a Misfit, Lidia Yuknavitch says: Men’s stories are missing altogether, though we can see that they do not escape suffering. The world needs to hear the body stories of fat people, people of color, disabled people, queer and trans people, and people with high weight anorexia (yes, there is such a thing!). The answers we seek will not arrive until everyone is included. In her recent article Why We Need More “Hunger” And Less “To The Bone”, Melissa Fabello writes “my eating disorder story-and the collective story of those like me-has become the only story.”
We find ways into the truth that were previously hard to articulate. When we hear stories such as Gay’s, we begin to see possibility. The stories highlighted in mainstream culture center on young, white, thin, cis women. This is precisely why memoirs like Roxane Gay’s Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body are desperately needed. Part of this reclamation includes unearthing the portions of the story that have been buried by shame, self-blame and isolation. When we go into our body story through the lens of body trust, we get to choose the narrative instead of having the story narrated for us by the weight-biased world we live in.
What experiences have affected this lifelong relationship? How has your relationship with your body morphed and changed over time? Your body story is more powerful than you may know.Īsk yourself this: what has come between you and being at home in your body? The part of you that’s been minimized and silenced by diet culture and our patriarchal society begins to show up, speak up, take up space, and reclaim what is rightfully yours. When we investigate and shine a light on the experiences we’ve had living in our body, something deep within begins to shift. Exploring your body story is a powerful catalyst for healing and reclaiming the body trust that we believe is a birthright.