If you can listen to the wisdom of your body,
love this flesh and bone,
dedicate yourself to its mystery,
you may one day
find yourself
smiling from your mirror.

—Marion Woodman

Imagine looking into a mirror and smiling.

Many women avoid looking in the mirror, or when they do their eyes immediately fixate on the body parts they don’t like.

As a living, breathing, sensing creature, how do you imagine your body feels to receive the thoughts that arise when you look into the mirror?

When you attune to and love your body, it is possible to have a completely transformed experience as you gaze at your reflection in the mirror.

Like the Earth, the body (as nature) contains many mysteries. What might it be like to see your body as nature herself? How might that change the feelings you have about your body, and your body image?

Attentive listening happens effortlessly when we love another person, but it is often absent as an inner experience. We are quick to offer attention, love, and dedication to another, and slow to direct the same to ourselves.

If you’ve ever had a chronic physical ache, pain, or illness, you may have discovered that even doctors are sometimes at a loss to know exactly what is happening in the body, or what to do to heal it. These experiences of the mysteries of the body invite us to tune in and listen. Tune in to the sensations and discover if they are sending a deeper message.

What needs to happen for you to find yourself smiling from your mirror?

Invitations for reflection, exploration, and action:

• What wisdom is your body speaking to you at this particular time? What is this wisdom asking of you?
• Identify at least one characteristic of your physical body that you appreciate or love. How can you show more appreciation or love to this part of your body?
• What causes you to smile when you look in the mirror? (Note to self: do more of that!)

© Vicki Tidwell Palmer (2021)

Coming Home to Myself: Reflections for Nurturing a Woman’s Body and Soul (©1998)
By Marion Woodman and Jill Mellick
(Reprinted with permission)

*This post is from the Coming Home to You Series. Visit this page for the backstory of the CHTY Series.