It’s not your body that’s the problem.
It’s the story you’ve been told about it.
Most of us inherited myths about our bodies long before we ever questioned them. Myths fed to us by patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, purity culture — all systems that benefit when we’re busy controlling our bodies instead of taking up our lives.
Here are five of the most insidious lies I’ve been working to unlearn. Maybe you’re unlearning them too.
Myth #1: A smaller body is always a better body.
This is the patriarchy at work.
When we pour our precious energy into shrinking, weighing, measuring — we give away our power, our focus, our joy. These systems thrive when we aim to keep ourselves small, because it keeps us from questioning the world around us. From creating art. From leading revolutions. From living fully in these bodies that were never meant to be confined.
I no longer believe my worth is measured in inches or pounds. My body isn’t here to be small — she’s here to be alive.
(Check out The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor for more on this subject)
Myth #2: Beauty equals worth.
This lie is older than any of us.
Colonialism taught us that only bodies that look close to Eurocentric ideals — light skin, small features, thinness, able-bodiedness — are beautiful. Everything else is othered, deemed less valuable, less worthy of love and reverence.
Even for those who chase and reach these standards, it’s a false sense of power built on sand. Because bodies age, skin changes, beauty morphs — and suddenly they’re scrambling to hold onto something they were told defined them.
I’m done running in that rat race, chasing an ever-moving target. I’ve found my worth in who I am, not how I fit into a colonial beauty hierarchy.
Myth #3: Discipline means ignoring your body.
Diet culture and hustle culture are the same thing, different names.
They both teach us to override our bodies’ stress, hunger, exhaustion — to keep going, to achieve, to produce. We’re told that ignoring ourselves is the ultimate discipline.
I don’t buy it anymore.
Now I believe the greatest discipline is listening. Trusting my body’s signals. Respecting her needs. Saying yes to rest, water, movement, stillness — whatever she’s asking for.
Myth #4: Bodies are private, not sacred.
This one runs deep.
I have a memory that still makes me cringe. I was in 8th grade, sitting in a room full of kids at church camp. They were teaching us about women’s bodies — shockingly progressive for the time, with conversations about sex and birth control beyond abstinence. But when they put illustrations of women’s bodies up on the screen in front of boys, my insides screamed: How dare they show them that? How shameful. How humiliating.
I don’t remember the rest of the week.
That moment lodged into me: my body was something to hide. Something to be embarrassed by.
But now? Now I see my body as sacred ground. Not private in the sense of shame, but intimate, holy, deserving of my deepest respect and awe. The place where the divine meets the human.
Myth #5: I have to earn rest, pleasure, softness.
This one is the hardest for me.
I can tell other women all day long to rest, to play, to savor life. But I have to hold myself accountable every single day to practice it.
Lately, I’ve prioritized painting for fun over putting my clothes away. (Literally!) I’ve had those nagging thoughts: Maybe I should practice more so I can monetize this hobby… But I shut them down and remind myself: play is productive for its own sake. Joy is its own form of creation.
And that’s enough.
How Embodiment Helped Me Reclaim My Body Story
I didn’t rewrite these myths just by thinking differently — I had to live differently.
Embodiment is what changed everything for me.
By slowing down enough to hear what my body was trying to say. By learning to trust her signals instead of overriding them. By treating my body like an ally instead of an obstacle.
Through small, sacred practices — placing my hand on my belly when I felt anxious, dancing in my studio just for the joy of it, savoring food without guilt — I began to come home to myself.
I stopped seeing my body as a problem to fix and started honoring her as the sacred foundation of my entire life. This is the deeper work of embodiment: reclaiming your power, your joy, your softness, your right to exist fully as you are.
What myths about your body are you still unlearning?
If you’re feeling the pull to explore this more deeply — to truly honor your body as sacred and begin rewriting the story you’ve been handed — I’d love to invite you to learn more about our embodiment photography sessions.
And if you’re craving even deeper transformation, with the support of community — my upcoming Embodied Liberation cohort will be a space where we unravel these old narratives and reclaim new ones together.
✨ Join my email list here to be first to know when doors open. I’d be honored to witness your reclamation.
