A LOVE LETTER TO EVERY WOMAN THIS VALENTINE’S DAY

Dearest love,

You are enough, you are worthy, you are beautiful… beyond any stretch mark, acne scar, bump of cellulite, or squidginess you may feel, you are enough.

There is not a single moment in your life that your body hasn’t been through with you. Every fall on the playground, every tear that’s fallen down your cheek, every heart break, every success, every high, every low. Every hug, kiss, and touch. Every summer you covered up, and every winter you hid behind baggy clothes. Every laugh shared with friends, every night you had too many espresso martinis, every workout you’ve loved, and every workout you’ve pushed through, the millions of steps you’ve taken, journeys you’ve been on, the hours it spends sitting whilst you star at a screen, and hours you’ve spent tearing it apart in front of the mirror…

Your body has been there with you, through it all 💗

Someone once said to me ‘Your body is the only true home you get in this life’ and that’s never left me. From a young age we’ve been conditioned to conform to what society perceives as beautiful - from toxic diet culture that had you starving yourself, to beating yourself up that you didn’t have the flattest stomach or Pamela Anderson boobs, or J Lo’s booty (and now the horrific return of skinny culture in ‘SkinnyTok’ form). You’ve been through it all, and expected your body to keep up with every diet, crazed exercise regime and toxic pill or mindset you subjected it to at the time.

You’ve lived in this home your whole life, but how often do you actually pause to appreciate the miracle it is that you live in?

I share this not to make you feel bad, but to give you a moment to reflect.

Your body pumps every drop of your blood through your liver 20-25 times a day to filter and cleanse it so you stay healthy. Your lungs breathe on average 20,000 to 22,000 breaths per day (without you even having to think about it once). Your legs have taken between 100 million and 140 million steps by the time you reach 50. Across your entire lifetime, your body carefully matures and releases only around 400 eggs, each one selected with extraordinary precision. And your heart beats around 100,000 times every single day, pumping blood through more than 60,000 miles of blood vessels, without asking for praise, rest, or permission.

It just keeps choosing you.

Your body shows up for you every single day, without asking and yet if I had asked you (before you started reading this letter), what the first thing you’d say about your body was, I can almost guarantee it would be something you ‘needed’ to improve.

This breaks my heart. Every single day I speak to women who tell me they’re ‘too skinny’, ‘too fat’, ‘too short’, ‘too tall’. Who hate their thighs, or their arms, or their smile lines, or their lack of tan. I hear ‘If only I had bigger lips, brighter eyes, a thinner waist… then I’d be happy with my body.’

But if it were your last remaining days on this planet, looking back at your life…what do you think you’d be grieving more?

The meals you didn’t eat. The ice creams you skipped. The dinners out you declined. The beach days where you stayed wrapped in a towel instead of wearing the bikini. The moments you sat on the sidelines, sucking in your stomach, worrying about how you looked instead of being present in the memory.

Or the times you let your body be seen. The laughter that shook your belly. The food you enjoyed without earning it. The photos you’re in — not because you looked “perfect,” but because you were there.

I’m not going to lie to you, I’m not a fan of toxic body positivity, I think that is also another massive issue. I believe you need to look after your insides; your health, your biomarkers and organs - they all matter. They deserve care so you can live a long, full, wonderful life. However, you can love your body and be working on it at the same time.

I’ll say it again: your body is your home. It is your miracle. Without it you wouldn’t be here. There are people all over the world that would give anything to have a beautiful, able body like yours… ‘flaws’ and all.

So pause, right now, and just say out loud, five things you love about yourself and your body. Don’t skip this part, no matter how hard or uncomfortable it feels.

That belly roll you constantly squeeze - thank it for giving you your beautiful children.

Those thighs you see jiggle when you walk past the mirror - thank them for being strong enough to carry you wherever you wanna go.

Those wrinkles you see in photos of you smiling - thank them for all the amazing memories that created them.

Those arms that wave back at you - thank them for being able to wrap around the ones you love most in the world.

‘You are wonderfully and fearfully made’ - to paraphrase Psalm 139:14. You were put on this earth, crafted with purpose, care and attention. The odds of you being born are 1 in 400 trillion, making your existence nothing short of a miracle.

So please, don’t waste your time here criticising the beautiful body you’ve been given, that has carried you through your entire life.

Go out there and LIVE in it. Care for it. Respect it. And let it be the place you finally come home to 🫶

If you are here reading this, I want you to know that you are exactly where you are meant to be. It is my heartfelt wish that every word in this letter resonates with you and allows you to look at yourself and your body through my eyes, with more grace, love and compassion than you ever have before. I want you to know that you are your body are beautiful, just the way you are <3

With all my love,
Sheree xo