404-997-8814 [email protected]

My Body’s Favorite Things | Holistic and Body Positive Products I Love!

38 Flares Filament.io 38 Flares ×

I used to invest a lot of money in  trying to impress people with my exterior appearances.  It was the norm for me to get acrylic nails with original hand painted designs every weekend (to match my outfits for the week).  I very rarely missed a Saturday of going to the mall and purchasing shoes with the perfect handbag to match.  I also made sure that the new growth from my scalp didn’t go to long and reveal my “nappy roots”, so I kept the perm fresh EVERY 4-6 weeks.  There is nothing inherently “wrong” with any of these practices, but they were unhealthy for me, because I was risking my physical and financial health in order to maintain an image.  I had no problem routinely exposing my body to toxic chemicals, to keep my nails super long and my hair super straight.  I had no restraint when it came to spending money on the clothes, shoes, and handbags because I was substituting self confidence with expensive things.

I don’t judge that version of myself for those actions or choices.  As a matter of fact, they taught me MORE about myself.  I learned that every action is tied to a reason and a desire.  Underneath all the spending and investing in my outer image, what I was REALLY searching for was the feeling of confidence and self assurance.   Deep down inside, I wanted to like myself. I wanted to feel beautiful, sexy, and loved in my body.  I was just going about in a way that was destructive and not fulfilling.  No matter how much money I spent on the outside, the inner woman was unhappy, insecure, and disconnected from my own body.

As I continued on my journey of self discovery and body love, I began to learn about what it meant to love myself.  It began with my natural hair journey and then it evolved into a quest for holistic health and wellness as the years went by.  I learned to love my inner self, and that lead me a loving place with my body as well.  Now, I understand that my beauty is not defined by outward adornment: shoes, clothes, manicures, and makeup.  Those things are now tools of self expression that I use to convey my feelings, creativity, and emotions about myself.  I love myself with or without them.

Along this journey of self discovery and building my body relationship, I have learned to CELEBRATE my body in a variety of ways.  I now invest in products and practices that will support a healthy, loving relationship between my body and self.  I choose them because they help me to move forward to becoming a better me, inside and out.  So I want to share some of these things with you, in hopes that they may help your body relationship as well.  In this series “My Body’s Favorite Things” I will be highlighting the creators of some of my favorite body loving products.  I invite you to explore them for yourself and feel free to reply to me and let me know about your own experiences with them.  I’m always happy to connect you with new body positive tools for your holistic health and body relationship!

 

Enter Below to Win Body Goods!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The following two tabs change content below.
Ivy Cooper, The Body Relationship Coach™ is a professional health coach and body image expert. She offers education, empowerment, and encouragement to help people build health, loving relationships with their body and self.

Latest posts by Ivy LaArtista (see all)

  • M is for Mirror | Embracing the Beauty In Others - 08/01/2015
  • Netflix OITNB Early Release May Ruin My Self Care Saturday - 06/12/2015
  • How I Manage My Challenging Body Image Moments - 06/10/2015
  • Yoga On The Mall | My First DC Yoga Week Experience - 05/09/2015
38 Flares Twitter 29 Google+ 4 Facebook 5 Pin It Share 0 StumbleUpon 0 LinkedIn 0 Email -- Buffer 0 Filament.io 38 Flares ×