On
this edition of Lighten Up!, we talk about loving ourselves, which
is neither as trite nor as easy as it sounds.
“I love myself, I think I'm
grand/When I go to the movies I hold my hand/I wrap my arms around
my waist/When I get fresh I SLAP my face!/I’m a
nut!”
Do
you know this song? Coach MK learned it from Deanne Graves in
junior high! In 1991!!! Back then, self-love made you a nut. The
cultural conversation around this concept has shifted massively in
the ensuing 20 years, to the point of NOT loving yourself being a
source of shame. We are still trapped between the right answer and
the true answer, “I love myself” being the ‘right’ answer and, “I
am perpetually frustrated by my body” on the other. We aren’t sure
that weight loss and cosmetic procedures like facelifts can be acts
of self-love, and we have shows like The Biggest Loser and Botched
to prove it.
Which
makes Valentine’s Day REALLY tough. Quitter’s Day is a thing now, a
shame-laden mid-January marketing pitch to keep sales momentum from
New Year’s going strong into a month centered around a holiday
celebrating romantic love….another type of love we aren’t
comfortable having for ourselves….and we are NOT going to talk
about that on this podcast because I may melt. Seriously, I’m all
for people doing whatever solo I JUST DO NOT WANT TO KNOW!!!!!!
That’s why we hired Coach Sarah, tell her about your
vibrator!
Note from Coach Sarah: [no
comment]
"It would appear there has been a
positive shift in how we talk about body image," writes Moya Lothia
McLean for Vice, "with emphasis placed on the non-aesthetic
benefits of exercise, such as increased cognitive functioning, how
it can alleviate depressive symptoms, the improvement it has on
cardiovascular health and so on. But the associations of exercise
with fat loss and a specific body type are still there too, under a
new guise." OH YEAH, we feel that - running is ALL ABOUT SELF LOVE
and self care, right? Well, maybe, but when its overt or covert
purpose is to change your body, that connection becomes somewhat
tenuous.