To support our work in healing body shame and reclaiming body sovereignty I offer a monthly Goddess Guidance mindfulness reflection. For each goddess, I offer a reflection on what insights/challenges/gifts are being we might embrace on our Body Sovereignty Journey. Feedback and comments are welcome!
Pele (pay’lay) is the volcano Goddess of the Polyneisan people. According to legend, she appears to people as a beautiful young woman just before her volcano is about to erupt, or as a gnarled old women who lights her cigarette with a snap of her fingers. Her appearance signs a need for awakening.
What message does Pele have for you? Where have you been lulled to stillness or numbness? Are you asleep to the needs of your body? Sometimes body shame can become too much to bear and we retreat deep inwards, or we go outwards, disconnect and leave our body behind. When we fear our bodies, it can feel easier to simply stop paying attention. But when we retreat from the discomfort, the pain of bodyshame and resist healing, we also lose touch with all that is pleasurable and comforting in our body. Pele invites us to reawaken to our body. To remember and reclaim our body sovereignty and the power that resides within us.
Today I will awaken to my body and embrace it’s creative power.
Sydney is a body image therapist providing online counselling grounded in Health at Every Size (HAES) principles. Heal body shame by reclaiming Body Sovereignty and once again experience peace, trust and respect in your body. To learn more about Sydney and her approach, check out: www.sydneybell.ca or send an email: sydney@sydneybell.ca