Body Scapegoating
For several years I have been following Ashlee Bennett, AThR on social media and I have had about 100 “aha moments” based on her posts. I have thought for years “if this person writes a book, I will be first in line to purchase it.” Well I am happy to report that Ashlee gave 2021 the gift it needed by releasing The Art of Body Acceptance.
The Art of Body Acceptance and my cool plant and rock :)
I could not contain my excitement. First off, I know that you might be thinking “I don’t do art.” Same. If you are anything like me you probably have an inner perfectionist that has a lot to say about art projects. This can make the creative process pretty unenjoyable. This is exactly why I need to be in the creative process. It’s why you need to be in it too.
So stay with me, even if you have always believed that art is “not for you.” I want to walk you through an exercise found on page 81 that helps give a visual to a process called body scapegoating. You might be wondering what Body scapegoating is? This is something we do all the time without realizing it. I think doing this art prompt will really help you to visualize it (picture below for reference).
First, draw a figure on a piece of paper that represents your body.
Second, draw two lines dividing the page into thirds.
In the top section write all the thoughts you often have about your body.
In the middle section write the emotions these thoughts bring up for you.
Connect these emotions to where you feel them in your body- I know that is the world’s hardest thing for some to identify. Really close your eyes and scan until you locate the place this feeling seems to originate from.
In the bottom corner list all the current stressors in your life- current or past that impact you today.
List the emotions these stressors bring up and write them under the life stressor you listed.
Notice any overlap?
Now reflect- Is it possible that you are actually taking thoughts and feelings from your life and “scapegoating” them on to your body?
Activity Sample- Shared with permission
If you answered yes to that last question or even a tentative “maybe”, I hope you can allow that to help you inform the way you treat your body moving forward. Of course, you would want to transmit these feelings onto your body. It feels like if you do that you will have a plan of action and it is a plan of action that our culture encourages you to participate in. Focusing on changing your body is a distraction and it is one that everyone around you participates in so it seems harmless and above all else, helpful.
As an eating disorder specialist in East Texas that works with clients throughout Texas and Louisiana I try to help clients have compassion for the ways in which they have scapegoated life stress and difficult feelings onto their bodies. I also encourage them to come back home to their body and build a relationship of mutual trust and understanding with their body. For so many, they have moved far aways from trusting their bodies for most of their life. Instead they have relied on eating plans, diets, exercise regimes, and even an eating disorder to keep them from feeling the feelings they would have to experience if they focused on the things that have happened (or are happening) in their life. If you want freedom from this cycle, contact me today. I will work with you to dig deeper than body blame and shame.
Need more proof that it is deeper than your body? If you are like many of my clients you might be saying “Nah, my body issues really are about my body but thanks, Celeste!” Here is my biggest indicator- have you ever woken up and felt okay about your body, you didn’t even think about it that day, but several hours later you feel like you look the worst you ever have and couldn’t even bear to leave your house? What changed in those hours? Not your body. It was your emotional state. Let’s dig into that.