- Vitamin We by We Stories
- Posts
- Vitamin We #19: Relationship with Our Body
Vitamin We #19: Relationship with Our Body
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Editorial Team @We
October 30, 2023
(1034 words)
Hello everybody!
It’s spooky season! As we see the Halloween crawling hands everywhere, let’s talk about our tricky relationship with the body!
Growing up, we were taught that pursuing knowledge and wisdom is the most important focus as a student, and it’s an intellectual thing - something to seek and acquire from the external world.
We have seen memes like “Sleep is for the weak” floating around. Even those who are obsessed with all styles of dieting, fitness, & bio-hacking, most of them come from a utilitarian intention, seeing the body as a mechanical “meat suit” to achieve & perform what our mind plans to DO with it!
Is the body really a servant to our mind? i.e., Is it really a master-slave relationship when our hearts don’t need our minds to make commands to beat, our organs communicate and auto-correct with each other to ensure smooth operations (until they can’t), and muscles remember how to swim or ride a bicycle once you’ve learned them?
Or, maybe the body IS the subconscious, while our mind is like the CPU that runs the programs?
Today’s feature story is from Kara, who believes that all bodies are good bodies and is here to rebel against diet culture and advocate for self-love and body acceptance.
There are more mysteries to be uncovered when it comes to our inner universe - we hope this edition offers you some ideas to ponder.
Happy reading!
- Ponny, Editor
together with Kelly, Pol & Deva @ We Stories
Feature Story
»This is where we feature personal stories from creative souls! Do you have one to share?
“Life is too short to not feel good in the one body that works so hard to keep us alive each day!”
By Kara - Intuitive Eating Counselor, Body Positive Coach, Digital Nomad
"I'm not exactly sure where this journey is taking me, but I feel damn good about the direction I'm headed.
I'm rebelling against diet culture and advocating for self-love and body acceptance. Life is too short to not feel good in the one body that works so hard to keep us alive each day. I want to help pioneer the way we see ourselves - our body and our beauty.
Because we are so much more than a size; so much more than how we look.
We're dreamers.
We're lovers.
We're good friends and colleagues.
We're students and teachers.
We're all human. Don't we deserve to focus our precious energy and attention on our dreams instead of getting preoccupied with how our body looks or feeling shameful for certain food choices?
When we dislike our bodies, we tend to neglect it and our insecurities will cause us to engage in unhealthy habits. Self-love, body respect, and acceptance, on the other hand, lead to proper care and healthy, sustainable habits.
I've been put on this earth to show others how to love and care for themselves in a way that's empowering, uplifting, and valuable.
Our bodies deserve so much more than what we've been putting them through. "The more you love and respect yourself, the better you will care for your physical body.”
» We can feel the fire in you, Kara! You are so right, and please keep doing what you are doing - the world needs more people like you who are passionate about reconnecting us with what makes us human in the first place!
Celebrating our fruits of labor 🍇🌰🌽🎃🍠
*The Circle of Trust Bulletin*
Are you celebrating, launching, hosting, performing, minting, offering, or calling in collaborators or participants?
Let the world know! We want to feature your
Invitations/Humble-Bragging/ Shoutouts & Visibility Expansion!
REPLY to this Email with the what/where/when/how/CTA details in 1-2 lines with links, and we’ll feature them in our future editions of Vitamin We!
📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢📢
Wise Words from Book Mentors
» Book mentors = Powerful books that are almost as valuable as having a mentor IRL for your personal & professional growth!
By Maya Angelou
This is a 1969 autobiography describing the young and early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. Her eloquence and magic with words take you back to see the world through her eyes and experience how she felt as vividly as a movie.
Beautiful writings and heart-touching stories like these must be enjoyed firsthand - here are a few quotes on adulting, body confidence, and the power of our voices that might give you some food for thought today:
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.”
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
If the pretties were expected to make the supreme sacrifice in order to 'belong,' what could the unattractive female do?”
The intensity with which young people live demands that they "blank out" as often as possible.”
Anything that works against you can also work for you once you understand the Principle of Reverse.”
Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you.”
As I ate she began the first of what was later called “my lessons in living.” She said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and even more intelligent than college professors. She encouraged me to listen carefully to what country people called mother wit. That in those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations.”
“The caged bird sings with a fearful trill,
of things unknown, but longed for still,
and his tune is heard on the distant hill,
for the caged bird sings of freedom.”
Valuing the body comes from taking every action from a place of loving each part of our body AS IS because they are not only part of who we are; they are the extension of our lineages before us.
May we all remember the vastness of who we are and feel that we belong to the web of love and consciousness beyond what our minds can comprehend🌟
Happy Halloween and All Saints Day for those who celebrate them!
- Ponny
