By The
Awakening Center’s Graduate Interns
What do you
like most about your body? We recently posed
this question to the students attending Loyola University’s Wellness Fair. Once
the students decided what they liked most, we asked them to write it on a
sticky note and place it on a poster of a blank outline of the human body.
Gradually, the body began to take on a form, created by sticky notes. “My
hair.” “My smile.” “My boobs.” “My strong legs.” “My unclogged arteries.” “My
forearms—they’re jacked.” “My skin.”
Unlike the photos of the body that
we see daily in the media—which represent an “ideal” body that excludes almost
everyone—our Post-it person was created through shared affirmation. It was
amazing to see how students who were reluctant to participate, or groaned that
there was nothing they liked about their bodies, embraced the activity once
they saw how many other people had chosen to affirm something they liked about
their body. The students created a new, ideal representation of the body that
included all sizes, races, genders, and sexual orientations. It was a body that
represented both the dignity of the individual and the joy of community. By
choosing to love their own bodies, the students contributed towards creating a
new ideal.
We invite you to answer this question
for yourself today. What do you like most about your body? What could
change if you took a moment every day to remind yourself of your answer?
All the spots for our Body
Image Workshop scheduled for October 25 from 1pm to 3pm have been filled;
if you’d like to be added to the waitlist you can contact Adriana Speiker at aspeiker@my.adler.edu. Or, Follow The
Awakening Center on Facebook or Twitter to find out about all of our upcoming
workshops, groups, and events.
Posts
