Bodies

It’s summertime and that means an abundance of pool parties, Fourth of July shindigs, and good times spent in the sun. Very often, these celebrations come hand-in-hand with alcoholic beverages. Unfortunately, our drinking habits can have long lasting effects on our health and happiness.

I understand that feeling good is far more important than looking good. But it's hard to not get caught up in the frenzy to lose all the baby weight when that's the only thing everyone seems to comment on post-delivery.

Whenever [my last therapist and I] got to talking about the ways that being fat had shaped my romantic experiences, or the ways that racism or xenophobia had shaped my family’s life, she would get this far-off look. Like, she wanted to believe me, but that she was grappling with this belief that I was choosing to see life this way.

Take everything personally and think the worst of any situation? Overwhelmed with your job or at school? Say self-deprecating things about yourself, or think the same of other people? If you can relate to any of this, it’s a sure sign you need to take better care of yourself, because happiness and healing truly comes from within.

From my earliest memories of splashing my siblings at the community swimming pool, I had an idea of what lifeguards looked like — young, tall, and lithe, with tanned limbs and form-fitting swimsuits meant to accentuate the athleticism of their bodies.

I'm proud to be where I'm at in life, even if it means spending more time buying bunion-cushioning shoe inserts and various vitamin supplements than it does staying out late with friends getting sushi and drinks. What is somewhat bizarre to me, however, is how the signs of getting older have crept up on me. Big time.

Prescribe, refer, repeat — that was the drill for several years. It wasn’t until I started to explore the impact of childhood adversity that I saw the big picture, and it began to make sense.

Avoiding intimacy with food can lead to numerous food-related issues such as mindless eating, overeating, eating without enjoyment, and distracted eating. So how do we create intimacy with our food again? How do we, in a sense, make love with it by being fully and completely present?