Show your body some TLC this Valentine's Day. Photo: Getty Images
In the midst of showing undying love and affection toward our spouse, significant other, kids, mom, friends and anyone else for whom Hallmark makes a Valentine's Day card, there is one person sorely missing from that list: you.Sure, giving heart-shape chocolates, red roses and singing cards to our loved ones is certainly well-intended, but what if this Valentine's Day was different? What if it wasn't all about everyone else? What if we had a little love fest that was all our own and the heart of all hearts started within our bodies? A sort of romantic revolution, if you will!
Not to get all cheeky with clichés like "you must love yourself before you can love others," but how many of us truly adore, admire and respect our bodies? Just the way they are? Flaws and all?
Only about 10 to 15 percent of women, according to body-image expert and author of "Love Your Body, Love Your Life," Sarah Maria, who also says it's truly shocking that the vast majority of the current American population is dissatisfied with their bodies.
"One of the most pervasive cultural myths that is adopted by women is that they should somehow be different from how they are," says Maria. "This belief is internalized, and they spend their lives trying to be someone, trying to be perfect or better in some way. This is projected onto their bodies, and creates nothing but perpetual suffering and addiction."
For most women, that suffering begins with their weight, age or specific body parts (breasts, hips, butts and thighs top the list). And it's not surprising that society, media, peer pressure and Hollywood play a significant role in promoting the idea of a "perfect body" or even a "better body." Studies even show that when women see images of people they think have the ideal bodies, they feel more dissatisfied and ashamed of their own.
"This false belief drives people to chase after an illusion that does not exists, all based on a delusion that something is wrong with them to begin with and they need to change the way they look," adds Maria.
So if 90 percent of women don't like their bodies, the question then becomes, why? How can we be so critical about the very body that allows us to do what we do every day? The strong legs that run, jump, walk, hike, climb or bike. The beautiful arms that multitask at work, plant in the garden, care for our homes and give others a much-needed embrace. And the powerful core that bears our children, keeps us strong and holds us upright everyday. Our bodies are really amazing machines when you think about it. We just tend not to.
