Love the skin You're IN

I love love loved this article I just found on the Peaceful Parenting site.
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/08/lizzi-miller-beautiful-real-woman-on.html

The photo:

is what caught my attention.  This woman is beautiful.  But what makes her exquisite is how comfortable, confident, and happy she looks in her own skin.  It made me think about how many of women I know, many of whom I am good friends with, that have similar bodies.  And how many of them are uncomfortable in those bodies.  But, why?  There is nothing about this woman that looks 'wrong.'  Not a single thing I think she needs to work on.  So why do we feel like we have to kill ourselves to reach some ridiculous ideal?  Have you ever actually seen on of the lingerie models wearing normal, baggy, clothes?  They look sick, and they rarely glow like this beautiful model.

It made me feel okay about the little pouch I know I get when I sit down.  Seeing it on someone else made me realize it really doesn't look awful at all.  But we never get to see this in our culture, and so we are led to believe that it is ugly.  I truly believe if there were more women like this in magazines and on TV body shame would not be running rampant.  If we only see certain physical traits on ourselves we begin to think they are different and wrong.  Because we have been told for most, if not all, of our lives that our bodies are not acceptable, we hide them.  We wear tankinis, loose clothing, and briefers to cover up or distort what we really look like.  As a result the image of the 'imperfect' body is further hidden. 

As this model, Lizzi Miller, said "As I got older I realized that everyone's body is different and not everyone is skinny naturally--me included! I learned to love my body for how it is, every curve of it. I used to be so self-conscious in a bikini because my stomach wasn't perfectly defined. But everyone has different body shapes! And it's not all about the physical! If you walk on the beach in your bikini with confidence and you feel sexy, people will see you that way too."

So be confident and stop hiding.  There is beauty in every stretch mark that brought you your child, and every slightly saggy part that once grew to support a life.

What I also loved was that the poem I added a few posts back was at the beginning of this article. 

My goal is to raise my daughter appearing confident and happy in my skin, and to never give her a reason to think that appearances should make, or break, your mood.  Even if I'm not feeling a hundred percent confident that day, that is the image I want her to carry throughout her life.