During this time of separating ourselves from others, we have a unique opportunity to make one very vital connection – a connection that can improve our physical and emotional health, but one that many of us have neglected or even damaged.

Let me first say that we humans are made for connection. We are made for relationship. Many of us spend at least a little time cultivating some form of connection – with God, our significant other, our children and friends. I think the majority of us recognize that relationships need attention, intention and forgiveness in order to thrive.

There is one relationship that can contribute to extraordinary health, but it is the relationship we often neglect: our relationship with our body.

Call me crazy, but I will challenge you to cultivate a relationship with your body by asking it, “Hey, how are we doing today? What would you like to eat? How do you want to move? How can I better serve you?

Over the past several years I have been developing a loving relationship with my body after decades of shame, punishment and deprivation. I have pivoted from perfectionism and self-loathing to being very intentional, loving, and uplifting.

Consider your inner dialogue with your body for a moment. Are your thoughts and words toward it harsh and critical? Can you imagine calling your best friend a “fatty” or disgusting or ugly? How long would that friendship last? Yet, how often do we think about and talk to our bodies in a way that would never be considered healthy in a friendship and would actually destroy a relationship?

What if we became friends with our body? What would it look like to lovingly partner with our body instead of piling on condemnation? What if, when a health issue surfaced or a bit of weight gain or fatigue troubled us, we responded as a friend? What if we saw a troubling area as an open door to go deeper into the relationship, attending to what our body really needs in this very moment? As opposed to withholding, shaming, or punishing?

Our body responds to our words, our thoughts, our love and our hate. Our body will live up to the blessing or the curse. It will respond to what we direct toward it.

So, as your life slows down a bit right now, you have a great opportunity to get to know this amazing body that God has given you as a vessel on this earth!

I challenge you to embody your body!

Begin to get comfortable in your own skin. Get so in touch with what your body needs that a new diet or hard-core exercise program is no longer your go-to answer, but instead, the two of you decide what’s best together!

Here are some steps I lead my clients through:

1. Start by thanking your body for all that she/he has done.
2. Write a letter to your body expressing your gratitude and perhaps even asking for forgiveness.
3. Give your body a voice by having her/him write a letter back to you!
4. Finally set your heart and your intention on reconciliation. Offer it to your body in any way you have felt separated or divided. Invite ALL of you into love, unity, and wholeness.”

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So, choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.” Deuteronomy 30:19

~Tracey Keller, Eating Psychologist & SoLive Board Member