Honour my belly?

What a concept! No one has encouraged me to do that before. In fact, our culture wants to me to hide my belly. No longer! Belly bold: belly beautiful.

I attended Lisa Sarasohn's one-day workshop held in Thunder Bay just recently.... She tells her own story and the stories of other women. Her book surprises me. Her book makes me chuckle. Her book gives me belly laughs. Her book sobers me. Her book makes me realize that my problem is not with my belly but with my culture.

The Woman's Belly Book is a real gem. I encourage you to begin what Lisa calls "a belly-celebrating adventure." What we do to our bellies we do to ourselves. What we do to ourselves we do to the earth.

--Marjut Vahtola
Resting Frog Yoga Studio
first published in the Chronicle Journal
Thunder Bay, Ontario, June 2006

Body, Beautiful

I was avoiding the mirror as usual one day as I was getting out of the
shower. My daughter, who had magically grown to be a tall, long-limbed
six-year-old, came into the bathroom and considered my familiar
hulking form. As I was toweling off, she pointed to my stretch marks,
now mostly faded to a silvery white, but just as plentiful as ever.
"What's that?" she wanted to know. I explained how she had grown in my
tummy and stretched the skin, leaving those marks.

She gave me one of those I-am-your-amazing-guru looks and said, "I'm so
glad I was born. I love this life!"

Yes indeed. And I hope with all my heart that her body treats her as
well as mine has treated me. I know, all too well, that many women are
not so lucky. That 95-pound figure I had in college is long gone now,
but I have gained an appreciation for what my body can do and all it
has given me. My children's strong beautiful bodies are a reflection of
the beauty and grace that are still mine, and always will be.

--Elizabeth M. Browne

Excerpt from "Body, Beautiful," first published in the July 2006 issue
of Western North Carolina Woman, used by permission.