Are You Sucking in Your Stomach Right Now?
I don’t think I let go of my stomach, you know, like, really let it pooch out until I was about 32 years old. That’s a good 25 years of sucking it in. Constantly. My back just spasmed remembering it.
“Suck it in.” What does that term feel like in your body? At the very thought did your gut tighten, your shoulders shoot back, and your mind drop to, “Oh, I HOPE my stomach looks flat enough?”
In my many years of coaching this has been a recurring theme. Some women care about their thighs. Others, their arms. Others, their nose. A few, their ankles. Yet, every single woman I’ve ever met seems to care quite intensely about the state of her stomach.
We believe we are only as good as our stomach looks.
We suck it in, firm it up, attempt to tone, tighten, and flatten. For what? What is the great offense our stomachs have committed to deserve such treatment?
ROUNDNESS. SOFTNESS. TENDERNESS.
Our bellies have committed the crime of womanhood.
They are round with the organs that create. Soft with the flesh that gives us our monthly cycle. They gently protrude with the parts that make us who we are. Creators. Visionaries. Connectors. Feelers. Wise Ones.
Yes, our bellies have broken the law that requires order and logic over freedom and permission. Structure and sacrifice over expression and exploring. Direct focus over cavernous curiosity.
When we suck it in, we straighten up and stop feeling. We lose access to the deepest parts of our knowing behind a wall of gripped, tightened flesh. (Click to Tweet!)
Right now, let your belly soften. Let it drape, unravel, roll out.
What does it feel like to let go of your tummy?
Where does the gripping go? Did a touch of ease arrive?
What else could you let go of in your life if you weren’t sucking in your stomach all the time?
How might you stand for your womanhood by giving your belly room to breathe?
You’ve been sucking it in for a good long time now. Believing flat, tight, and toned meant sexy, strong, happy, and certainly handled.
Enough with the clenching.
Enough of the tightening.
Only we can change our stomach stories, so let it begin now.
Ease up, breathe deep, settle in and for the first time in a long while, let your tummy take up all the space she needs.
XO,
Jamie