Love Your Body

by Emily Jasper on December 16, 2009

Ballet shoesThis is for all you out there who need to find something to love. Confidence is key. We hear that all the time. But while you may be confident about your personality, do you have something about your physical body that you love?

For me, I was reminded the other night watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show. If you haven’t seen it, well, it gets as decadent as possible. There’s a whole song dedicated to the muscle groups of a man-made hunk.

In watching, I usually pull up the subtitles so I can sing along. Singing along usually results in dancing. And then I realized I still have my arch.

One thing you may not have known about me is that I took dance classed for 15 years. During all that time, I was in some form of ballet class at least twice a week, sometimes up to four hours a week. Throw in the jazz, tap, modern, hip hop, and lyrical classes, and I lived in the studio. As part of my training I worked on creating an arch in my foot that would lead to a natural pointe.

The pointe extends the legs, creating length for all those fabulous extensions. Additionally, if you to ever go to pointe shoes, your foot has the muscle strength to mold the wooden shank to the arch.

I love my arch.

The reason I love my arch is because it is an illustration of the years of dance, the hard work putting in hours at the studio. It’s a reminder that you can utilize something so small to add grace and poise to your stature. It’s a piece of the girl I was and the woman I’ve grown to be.

Another woman in my life told me she loves her big, blocky hands. That they were built for work, and that she is proud of the labors they have completed. People love their ears, the front crooked tooth, the cowlick that gives a funny wave to their hair. People are identifying those little unique things that make them special.

Do you have a piece of yourself that you love? That symbolizes the essence of you?

Photo from iStock.