When I was in the depths of my acne journey, the awareness that I gave to my skin wasn’t conducive to its healing. I now see that there are two opposing points of awareness we can give to our bodies when they are undergoing symptoms of massive transformation.

My acne really began to heal — and the vitality I always longed for in my skin began to manifest — when I completely shifted my awareness from that of frustration and distrust, to that of compassion and gratitude.

The way that we relate with our bodies holds a lot of stake in what manifests on and within them. Our attention isn’t everything, but it is a very important and very fundamental piece of the pie.

It is a choice to relate with our bodies on a foundation of distrust in them, however this path is scattered in frustration, bottomless exploration, and unfruitful distraction. The roots it grows are incredibly shallow — they aren’t getting the nutrients they need and they will cause a collapse during the first strong storm. This path ultimately leads us to complete dependency upon systems outside of ourselves. It requires us to give our power away as we believe that someone or something will come in to save the day (spoiler: they never will).

It is also a choice to relate with our bodies on a foundation of compassion. This tender path is one of bubbling gratitude and curiosity, as we tune into the signs symptoms arising in our bodies with an inquisitiveness as to what they are here to teach us — where they need us to make shifts, big and small. This path grows very deep roots, extending to the core of universal consciousness, connecting us all at the singularity point of love. On this path, we don’t take it all so seriously, as we recognize that the nature of reality is change and that our bodies are no exception to escape transformation. We ultimately hold an unwavering gratitude for our bodies, as we recognize how precious and vulnerable they are. We remember their impermanence, and thus long to show them the same kindness that we would show anyone else we dearly love. On this path, our bodies are our greatest teachers — showing us where we need to make adjustments in order to live our authentic essence and inherent beauty.

Within compassion, a forgiveness is held — forgiveness of ourselves for ever taking the body for granted, and a forgiveness of the world for ever leading us to believe that we are flawed and don’t belong.

We do belong. We have never been flawed. We are an inherent beauty beyond manifests in or on the body, and all the while, we have the choice to work with the signs and symptoms of imbalance to get back into balance in a more sustainable, authentic way. For ourselves, and for those we love.

Which path will you choose today?

Much love,

Meagan