Love the Skin You're In
Inspired by the Trees
Since moving to South Gippsland, I've stepped onto a new creative path of making sculptures from the wood around my home. It began when collecting firewood and getting drawn in by the beauty of the natural shapes of the branches. The firewood pile became smaller and smaller and the wood-working pile slowly filled the shed to the rafters!
Firewood collection continues to be a laughable exercise, as I stand pondering each piece of wood from every conceivable angle :)
My mind will often see body shapes in the wood and I marvel at how the various twists and turns, knots and gnarls have come to be. It very much reminds me of the quote by Caroline Myss:
Firewood collection continues to be a laughable exercise, as I stand pondering each piece of wood from every conceivable angle :)
My mind will often see body shapes in the wood and I marvel at how the various twists and turns, knots and gnarls have come to be. It very much reminds me of the quote by Caroline Myss:
“Your biography becomes your biology. This biography includes the totality of your choices, the things you feed your body – your thoughts, your actions, your food – the things you feed your life."
Your Biography becomes your Biology
It's fascinating to think that a tree's shape tells the story of its life; the direction of the wind, the nutrients in the soil, the trauma of a lightning strike or the support of a surrounding forest. A twisted trunk is not a flaw, but a record of persistence: the tree leaning toward light after being shaded for years, or bending with the wind instead of breaking.
Just like a tree, some of us will carry scars from accidents or broken limbs and fractures. We are born with birthmarks, freckles and one-of-a-kind fingerprints. We grow worry furrows in our brows and wisdom wrinkles from smiling eyes. We get stunted in certain areas of our growth and shoot upwards in others, housing different levels of flexibility and strength. compensating, leaning away and towards, constantly adjusting to the physical and emotional climates we find ourselves in.
It would be ridiculous to shame a tree for the way it has grown, yet we rarely meet our own bodies with true compassion. What if, instead of judging ourselves harshly, we became curious? What if every ache, curve, or holding pattern was seen not as a problem to fix, but a story to listen to? As you know through kinesiology, our bodies remember everything; the joys, the fears, the rage, the grief, the love. And yet, like trees, we are not static. We can heal. We can soften. We can stretch toward the sun of our own awareness. Not by forcing change, but by accepting what is here now and honoring the body as it is, not as we think it “should” be.
Our bodies are expressions of a natural intelligence at work. An intelligence wired to survive and an intelligence that wishes to reach it's fullest expression; to fruit, flower, blossom, protect, contribute, create...
With the right nourishment, kindness and care, we can grow in beautiful ways.
Just like a tree, some of us will carry scars from accidents or broken limbs and fractures. We are born with birthmarks, freckles and one-of-a-kind fingerprints. We grow worry furrows in our brows and wisdom wrinkles from smiling eyes. We get stunted in certain areas of our growth and shoot upwards in others, housing different levels of flexibility and strength. compensating, leaning away and towards, constantly adjusting to the physical and emotional climates we find ourselves in.
It would be ridiculous to shame a tree for the way it has grown, yet we rarely meet our own bodies with true compassion. What if, instead of judging ourselves harshly, we became curious? What if every ache, curve, or holding pattern was seen not as a problem to fix, but a story to listen to? As you know through kinesiology, our bodies remember everything; the joys, the fears, the rage, the grief, the love. And yet, like trees, we are not static. We can heal. We can soften. We can stretch toward the sun of our own awareness. Not by forcing change, but by accepting what is here now and honoring the body as it is, not as we think it “should” be.
Our bodies are expressions of a natural intelligence at work. An intelligence wired to survive and an intelligence that wishes to reach it's fullest expression; to fruit, flower, blossom, protect, contribute, create...
With the right nourishment, kindness and care, we can grow in beautiful ways.
Planting Yourself in Unconditional Love
The freedom of the tree is it's inability to compare itself with another tree. The pine tree for all I know, is not pining to become an oak, nor the gum tree longing to be a little more like the frangipani. I don't think the rose cares less whether it has thorns or not, nor the majestic boab feel self-conscious about it's magnificently bulbous trunk.
We all crave to be loved unconditionally and I think that our bodies are no exception. If you do find it a challenge to find the beauty in yourself as you are, I have a little unorthodox suggestion up my sleeve. It is simply an invitation to spend some time amongst the trees.
Let their forms speak to you and tell their stories. Appreciate the beauty born of difference, the wildness of their variations, the freedom in which they carry themselves - as they are. My hope is that you will find yourself more and more, planted in the soil of unconditional self-love.
You may even begin to feel, that just like the trees,
your body too is an expression of loving intelligence.
We all crave to be loved unconditionally and I think that our bodies are no exception. If you do find it a challenge to find the beauty in yourself as you are, I have a little unorthodox suggestion up my sleeve. It is simply an invitation to spend some time amongst the trees.
Let their forms speak to you and tell their stories. Appreciate the beauty born of difference, the wildness of their variations, the freedom in which they carry themselves - as they are. My hope is that you will find yourself more and more, planted in the soil of unconditional self-love.
You may even begin to feel, that just like the trees,
your body too is an expression of loving intelligence.