Body of evidence

Journalling can feel like medicine for the mind-but words on the page can also bring the focus back to the body and become a celebration of the self, says Jackee Holder

- Jackee Holder

Our bodies host a long history of dos and don’ts. Growing up, what were you told you were not allowed to do with your body? Often, those early rules are still playing out the way you live in your body today. ‘Thou shall smile, even when your gut is telling you otherwise,’ ‘Thou shall dress appropriately, even when it’s not what you want to wear.’ In your journal, draft a list in response to all those body rules you grew up with that have been broken, or that you are now ready to break. Write a new list of body commandments for your body. Body pleasures you can savour. Maybe it’s a treat of a massage once a month, or a long-haul trip alone.

When it comes to our own self-care and wellbeing, often the first things to be sacrificed from our to-do lists are those very things that nourish the body. I like to take this journal prompt a step further by writing one or two of my new list of body commandments directly onto my skin.

But I recognise it doesn’t take much in our busy lives to slowly disconnect from the body, so here are a couple of additional body journal prompts to work with this month…