Cecily // Body Appreciation Session // In the Studio
Cecily - She/Her
“On a sunny Tuesday morning there was a safe space and a kind, revolutionary eye that could see beauty within my loose skin and scars. It was quite possibly one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in my life, but it was SO VERY empowering.
It has taken 42 years to wholly love myself through the sexual trauma, medical trauma, social conditioning of self hate, obesity, self harm, anxiety and rejection. Self-love shouldn’t feel like an act of rebellion, Self-love shouldn’t have to feel radical. Self-love should be among the first forms of communication we are taught. It’s vital, it’s not a passing notion. We are entitled to it, we do not need to earn it.
Thank you Shawnee for this experience, embracing my vision of copper foil (and the mess that followed) and helping to normalize ALL bodies. Thank you for being an inspiration and a passenger in my journey to self-love.
I’ve never felt so authentically me or as comfortable in my skin as I did that day in your studio.”
Warrior Body | Warrior Skin
by Cecily
There has been decades-long practice
of learning to loathe you.
You have put me through battles
I never could have imagined fighting.
When my innocence was stolen.
When my immune system became compromised.
When my nervous system malfunctioned.
When my reproductive system was lost.
When my spinal cord was infiltrated.
You have failed me so many times,
how could I ever love you?
But.
There has also been decades-long proof
that we somehow could defy the odds.
Time and time again we evaded death.
We overcame every challenge.
We found the light within,
despite what seemed
like never ending darkness;
and yet,
I struggle to love you.
Today I honor our fortitude.
I embrace the battlefield of scars.
I celebrate the victories of all women
who championed before me
and those
who will follow after me.
I will guild you in gold
like the trophy you truly are.
I will highlight all of the the flaws
I have been conditioned to loath.
I will not be ashamed.
Together we will surpass all comfort zones,
entering into the land of vulnerability and
Exposing us to a new world of BRAVE.
We have fought every one
of these battles together.
and we have prevailed.
I love you,
my warrior body.
I love you,
my warrior skin.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Deep Skin
by Cecily
Undress yourself.
Reject the fabrics designed
to lift,
to separate,
to compress,
to conceal.
Take a long, loving look at yourself in the mirror.
Trace the lines of your body.
every curve,
every scar,
every dimple,
every hollow,
every bulge,
every valley,
every mound.
Be most mindful of those parts
where you hold shame.
Live there for a moment.
Breathe.
Take this journey over and over again
until you no longer hesitate the first touch.
Chart that path just as early explorers
once charted the stars.
This is your map Home.
It is uniquely yours and
It will lead to radical self love.