104. Let's REWIRE...Our relationship with our body.

In the third episode of our Let's REWIRE series, I'm taking on the loaded topic of our relationship with our bodies. I'm recording on day two of my cycle, low energy and all, and I start by asking you to check your "relationship status" with your body. Then I look at how that status got programmed: through what our mothers modeled, the moments that stuck with us, and a culture with very loud opinions about women's bodies. I share parts of my own story, from my grandmother's first words at the door to being sent to ride the bike at gymnastics. I also talk about how I've rewired my way to a relationship built on respect, and why what we model for our daughters matters far more than anything we say.

Key Points

A three-part reflection to start: What's your current relationship status with your body? What relationship do you want your daughter to have with hers? And what was modeled for you in your mom's relationship with her body?Why so few mothers I meet describe their relationship with their body as healthy. It's much more often "complicated," critical, frustrated or resistant.How your relationship with your body today comes from programming you took in as a kid, before you had any say in itMy story: my grandmother greeting me with "Oh, you're fat," being one of two girls made to ride the bike after competitive gymnastics practice, and years of journals full of discomfort in my own skinWhere I am now at 44, in perimenopause and post-kids: a relationship built on respect, trust and appreciation, and how that came from rewiringWhy our kids co-regulate to what we embody. My physical reaction when my girls ask "Mom, are you pregnant?" says more than my words ever could.Why the body is our only guaranteed, forever home, and how that inspired the name change from the School of MOM to the Home of MOMThe period "talk" I got (a box of Tampax and a closed door), and how learning about cyclical living changed how I see the female bodyBeing honest about limits: even with the healthiest modeling at home, culture and social media will still reach our kids. We can still make what they see at home the stronger programming.The dual process of REWIRE: we rewire away from the old pattern and rewire for respect, trust, love, appreciation and confidence

Quotes

"Your relationship with your body today is a product of that programming that has been taught to you back when there was no consent available to you."

"This pervasive programming around self-hate, self-criticism, resistanc