Home→Forums→Emotional Mastery→Body Positivity & Gratitude
- This topic has 20 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 3 weeks, 5 days ago by Helcat.
-
AuthorPosts
-
April 12, 2024 at 1:13 am #431623HelcatParticipant
Hi Everyone!
Something I have been struggling with during pregnancy and post birth is body positivity.
I’ve been overweight in the past, but rarely received comments about it. Just the occasional enquiry about whether I was pregnant or not.
During the pregnancy, a lot of people made comments about my size. And I struggled to accept my body at the largest it had ever been.
Because I’m breastfeeding and have injured my leg, I’m having a hard time losing weight.
In the past, I coped with childhood abuse, by taking solace in that I didn’t look like my biological mother. But with my post baby body, I look more like her. That thought is painful.
I figure that I need to work on body positivity and gratitude.
Anyone is free to join in if they would like to.
Wishing everyone all the best! ❤️🙏
April 12, 2024 at 1:40 am #431624HelcatParticipantHi Everyone!
I’m glad that my son is happy and healthy.
I’m lucky that my husband is supportive and likes my body no matter what it looks like.
I’m glad that I can breathe and I know how to take care of my allergies.
I’m glad that I can walk and hold my son. Even though it’s painful and I need to rest.
I’m glad that I don’t dislike having curly hair anymore because my son has curly hair too. I want to be a good role model for him and not be negative about my appearance.
I’m glad that I’ve learned a lot about how to manage my pain.
I have hope that my leg will heal with physiotherapy and I will be able to walk on uneven surfaces again and I will be able to walk a bit longer in the future.
I’m lucky to have an excellent acupuncturist who can help me with managing my pain.
I’m glad that my husband tries his best to help.
I’m lucky that we can eat healthily and that there is a lot of information about healthy diets out there.
I’m glad that even though studying is difficult with everything going on, I got my exam finished.
I like my eyes. I’m glad that I found a hairstyle that works for my hair type. I like my skin. I was lucky I didn’t get any new stretch marks during the pregnancy. I’m glad that my feet went back to normal and I can wear my old shoe size again. I’m glad that I can wear one of my rings again.
I’m glad that the experience of having a child will make me a stronger person.
I’m glad to learn from my son about taking care of myself. When he’s tired he sleeps. When things get too much for him he stops exercising. If he gets frustrated he cries and then lets things go. I’m glad to have the opportunity to learn to process my emotions faster.
I’m glad that I found comfort in God.
I’m looking forward to spending time with my friends and family. I’m thankful for the good relationships that I’ve nurtured with them.
I’m thankful for being able to look at the countryside. I’m glad that my son gave me a few moments to write this.
April 12, 2024 at 11:59 pm #431657HelcatParticipantHi Everyone!
I had a good day yesterday. It has been really busy and stressful recently, so I focused on relaxing and played video games while the baby was napping.
I got a good grade on my exam, hurray!
My husband has been ill recently so we’re focused on being strict about eating healthily. I’m really enjoying it, dinner was nice yesterday.
And I won’t let him watch the baby at night on the weekends anymore because sleep deprivation is bad for his health. I’m trying not to add to his stress either.
Our son has been doing really well with his developmental milestones recently. He’s getting much better at taking a bottle.
I love how happy and smiley he is just doing everyday things. Grabbing his own foot is the most entertaining thing for him right now. It’s a shame that we lose that as adults. It would be awesome if happiness as simple as grabbing your foot and rolling around. With burgeoning questions of I wonder what my feet taste like?
One of my dogs was reluctant to interact with the baby. She was jealous because she was so spoiled and things changed with a baby at home. It was really important for the dogs to accept him, so I’ve been giving them praise and cuddles whenever they are kind to the baby. I’m thrilled that the reluctant dog has finally started accepting the baby. The baby seems to really like the dogs. He keeps trying to pet them and laughs at their shenanigans. I think that she’s starting to realize that the baby is just going to be another source of love and affection for her.
I’m focusing on taking care of myself more too. I neglected myself for way too long. Time to do my hair, nails and skincare routine again. I’ve been thinking about wearing makeup too.
I know my body is just trying its best every day to function, heal and look after me. I need to listen to it more and be grateful towards it. Thank you body, for always being there for me! Perhaps, my body has been trying to tell me to rest and I haven’t been listening.
Wishing everyone all the best! 🙏❤️
April 13, 2024 at 4:51 am #431661TeeParticipantDear Helcat,
those are all great affirmations for improving body positivity! Yes, we often focus on our imperfections and what is lacking, while forgetting and taking for granted what we have.
Very long ago I was very unhappy with my own body, but as I got older, I realized that health is the most important. And I was grateful to my body for serving me so well. Nowadays, with my health (i.e. movement) limitations, it is harder, but I am not blaming my body. I know it’s not my body’s fault that things turned out the way they are, and so I am trying to work on my mind, to help my body too.
I am glad that you are finding more and more acceptance of your body every day, loving it, and taking care of it. Also it’s wonderful to hear that your husband is a great support, both in taking care of your baby, and in every other aspect of your life.
And congratulations on finishing your exam!
April 14, 2024 at 5:30 am #431681HelcatParticipantHi Tee!
Thank you for your kindness. Definitely! I find it especially hard when my mood drops. It’s really easy to slip into a negativity biased mindset. And I’ve had difficulty doing gratitude journals then, usually giving myself the day off. But I’m trying to do it during difficult days too.
Yesterday ended up surprising me and being a more difficult day for example, because of pain and anxiety. Today is a more difficult day too because of pain.
Truer words haven’t been spoken. Well done on not blaming your body! This is something that I struggled with for a long time. It is not an easy feat. The truth was that my body has been through a lot at a fairly young age and it breaking down was inevitable because I didn’t look after it properly.
If you have any insights you would like to share about the mind and the body connection and things that you find helpful please feel free to share them. If desired. Of course, it’s fine if you don’t want to. ❤️
Wishing you all the best! 🙏❤️
April 14, 2024 at 5:45 am #431682HelcatParticipantHi Everyone!
I had a really nice morning both today and yesterday.
I’m glad that my friend is feeling better. It was really nice to see them again. (When either of us are ill with something contagious, we avoid each other to prevent passing it on.)
My friend cooked a lovely meal for us yesterday. It was good for the baby to socialise.
My husband is a really good father. It’s nice to see him enjoying it. I’m also thankful that he is patient and understanding with me. It was very kind of him to massage my back to help with the pain.
It is nice to talk to people. (Both here and in person.)
I’m glad that our marriage is in a better place because we put aside our differences to work together to raise our child in a healthy way.
I’m thankful for the practices that helped me to do that.
It is lovely and sunny outside. I love being outdoors. The breeze is nice. These sunglasses are very helpful.
Wishing everyone all the best! ❤️🙏
April 14, 2024 at 11:52 pm #431698HelcatParticipantHello Everyone!
I ended up having a chill day yesterday despite the pain. I tried hard to take care of my body to try and manage the pain I was in and rest. I’m thankful that I know how to do this.
Today, the pain is a little better. Which is something to be thankful for. But I’m not out of the flare up yet, so I will have to be careful to manage things because it could easily get worse if I do too much or get stressed.
I’m thankful that I got the day to rest yesterday.
I’m glad that I got some sleep, I was exhausted.
I’m thankful for the beautiful sweaters my friend knitted for my boy.
I’m thankful for the moments of peace while he naps. He is very cute when he sleeps.
I’m glad that I had a good day yesterday.
It’s nice to be greeted by the pets in the morning. They are very cute too. Oh and I got a good grade on my test!
Wishing everyone all the best! ❤️🙏
April 16, 2024 at 6:20 am #431742HelcatParticipantHi Everyone!
Today I’m reconnecting with my core muscles and practicing diaphragmatic breathing. It’s been very relaxing.
I’ve been trying really hard to relax. I’m thankful for the opportunity. I was lucky to get a nap yesterday too.
I think I might be losing weight but is hard to tell. I see it in my face, that is usually how I tell. It could be the mirror though. I will just keep going and we will see.
I have been finding it difficult to squeeze in my physiotherapy exercises. Yesterday, I made the effort to find the time. I will try to get into the habit of doing them every day because it is really important.
My favourite thing with my son is that he laughs and smiles when I give him kisses.
It’s nice just to hold my husband’s hand or get a hug.
We made melon jelly, it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out.
Wishing everyone all the best! 🙏❤️
April 17, 2024 at 12:23 pm #431809HelcatParticipantHi Everyone
For a long time, I was unable to express anger, instead I repressed it. In more recent years, I have been in touch with my anger but it has been disproportionate. I’ve been working on the link between anxiety and anger recently. I’m thankful that I had two days where I didn’t feel any anger.
I had fun watching a stand up comedian on Netflix.
It has been beautiful outside recently. It’s nice that the days are longer and warmer.
I’m looking forward to taking my son swimming for the first time.
I really enjoyed my soup and a sandwich for lunch today.
I’m thankful for my acupuncturist helping me with an issue with my core after the surgery. I’m hopeful that physiotherapy will help.
My son started fake coughing. I didn’t know that babies did that. He had me worried for a bit there. He’s such a character. I think his first word is going to be boob. 😂
He’s growing so quickly.
The dog who took months to warm up to him now let’s him ride her like a horse. It’s beautiful to see. He already loves dogs and tries to pet them and they give him kisses. They’re going to be excellent companions.
It’s nice spending time with my husband and relaxing.
I definitely feel like taking care of my body more is helping. I’m glad for that.
Wishing ya’ll all the best! ❤️🙏
April 18, 2024 at 12:49 pm #431850HelcatParticipantHi Everyone
Today was a unique day. My son has been teething like crazy and kept waking me every 1-2 hours. Hopefully, the medicine will help him to sleep through the night. He is certainly in better spirits after taking it. I’m glad that he is starting to feel a little better.
My emotional regulation was a bit lacking because of the sleep disturbance. Some anxiety and anger arose.
Thinking about how my son is feeling helped me to focus. And reflecting on my own experiences of teeth issues over my life. It must be tough for a baby. Then I tried to figure out how to help him.
A local mum was kind enough to help show me a shortcut.
And my neighbour was kind to get some things to help with my son’s teething. It was nice chatting with her too.
It was nice being together as a family at the end of the day.
Wishing ya’ll all the best! 🙏❤️
April 19, 2024 at 9:56 pm #431885HelcatParticipantHi Everyone
After 2 days of being woken every 1-2 hours he has finally gone down for the night again. Teething put him off his bottle and it was hunger disturbing him.
Thank God for naps…
Thank goodness he’s sleeping better again.
Increased pain, increased anxiety, some anger.
I hope he’ll be in a better mood during the day because his sleep wasn’t disturbed.
I’m glad that I will get to sleep again.
April 21, 2024 at 3:35 pm #431909HelcatParticipantThank goodness for naps, massages and my husband! Absolute life savers.
Dinner was lovely.
It was amazing seeing my son use his seat on his stroller for the first time. I think I was as excited as he was. He kept staring at everything and didn’t want to sleep like he usually does.
My cat let my son pet her. This is a pretty big deal because she hates children. I think she enjoys playing with his toys.
My sister was really great with my son. It was nice to see her.
Taking better care of myself is a work in progress, but it does seem to be helping me feel better about my body. I always like having my hair cut. It makes me feel like a person again.
April 26, 2024 at 2:28 am #432070HelcatParticipantHi Everyone
On some days it is hard. Yesterday was a hard day. There have been a few hard days recently.
I am thankful that my baby slept well last night, and I’m glad that I managed to get back to sleep after difficulties with pain and anxiety.
It was nice taking him swimming for the first time. He was very brave, had fun and tired himself out. I was a very proud mama! Still am.
I’m glad that he managed to drink a good amount of formula yesterday (he is still learning ).
I need to get back into the habit of doing my physiotherapy exercises. I will try very hard.
I’m glad that today is a quiet day and I get the opportunity to rest.
I look forward to seeing my friends at the weekend.
I’m glad that I found some information about my final exam and assistance. It’s helped to ease my anxiety about it. I think that I can still pass this module. My grade might not be good, but that it okay. I have a lot going on and I just need a basic pass.
I’m thankful for my husband, he’s really awesome in so many different ways. I’m glad that he is able to tell me when he feels stressed.
I finally managed to make a jam that didn’t burn and set well.
Wishing ya’ll all the best! 🙏❤️
April 26, 2024 at 2:36 am #432071HelcatParticipantI can look in the mirror again now. I think that’s progress. During the third trimester I stopped looking in my mirror. I feel like I’m in a better place with my appearance. I just need to sort out this hormonal acne next.
April 26, 2024 at 11:22 pm #432095HelcatParticipantHi Everyone
I’m glad that I had a good day yesterday. I was able to rest and relax.
The bad thing about brains is that they tend to try and bring you back to a baseline and anxiety has been my baseline, so it started trying to find things to make me feel anxious again. Fortunately, I managed to notice that happening and reel it in.
My sons bath time was funny because he figured out that he can kick water. He kicked water everywhere!
My husband made a really nice gravy! He’s an excellent cook.
It was nice to talk to my sister.
I’m glad that I did my physiotherapy again.
I’m starting to believe that my husband is attracted to me again which is nice. He didn’t do anything to make me believe otherwise. I was just being hard on myself because of the pregnancy.
Wishing ya’ll all the best! 🙏❤️
-
AuthorPosts