Choosing to See My Curves and Fullness As “Voluptuous”

Many people I coach are unhappy with their appearance.

I have a history of being unhappy with mine.

Until recently.

Mindfulness coaching and yoga have helped me immeasurably in this regard.

Ahimsa, a main tenet of yoga, means do no harm.

Choosing unkind words to describe my body does harm.

I am fully committed to no longer doing this.

For me, this was the relatively easy part.

The hard part- pivoting to believe I am beautiful or love myself or think I look good/great. This is a work in progress.

Two approaches I have found helpful— passing through neutral and having fun with words.

Passing through neutral allows you to get started.

To stop criticizing yourself, stop seeing the bad, and literally aim for neutral.

Not the ultimate goal but huge in getting you there eventually.

It turns out that choosing thoughts that feel neutral about yourself aren’t that hard to come up with

“I look ok for my age”, I look “pretty good”, not bad, “better than average”…

The second tool is almost as easy….having fun with words.

As those who work with me know, using words in creative and inspiring ways is one of my favorite coaching tools. It is an effective way of shifting perspective, transforming your beliefs, and having fun - all at the same time.

In this spirit, I will vulnerably share that I am at this moment having fun describing my current 52-year-old post-covid body as “voluptuous.”

The word voluptuous makes me smile, giggle and laugh. It immediately switches me out of self-criticism and opens my mind to notice other things about my body - like how it is strong, wise, birthed 3 children, carried me up many mountains, taught many a yoga class, and also includes cute toes (one body part of mine I have always liked.)

Is there a word you could use to describe yourself that might switch you into a different mindset when you look at yourself?

Have fun. Words are a powerful tool.

And if feeling bad about yourself is your go-to when you look at yourself, reach out to coach with me on body image.

Spring cleaning negative thoughts about yourself and your body is liberating.

It can literally catapult you to creating new versions of yourself followed by a life that you love.