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BODY POSITIVE PARENTING
Sarah Thunell | Body Liberation-Oriented Parent Coach
Thank you to everyone who has and will participate. You’re leaving a trail for others to find themselves.
Inspire a dino collage!
Themes may include:
🌀 Embodied Movement
🌸 Sensory
🌜 Being Held with Care
🍓 Eating Without Shame
💨 Bodies Being Funny
👒 Expression Through Clothes
Questions about this project?
Email Sarah: bodypositiveparenting at gmail dot com
GALLERY
I remember how super soft it was, my favorite black and white polka dot shorts romper from the preschool days. It was that thick cotton little kid clothes are often made of, with big chunky buttons I could do myself.
I relate to my memory of that garment as an example of an inherent appreciation of beauty — in the eye of the beholder, of course. I wasn't assessing current trends or what clique of people wears x or y. I didn't care about the number on the label yet. I had no context for polka dots, other than enjoying the bold contrast and feeling energized with it on.
The memory of myself wearing it comes to me almost like a gif, just a few seconds' moving image of me in the add-on room springing toward the door. I remember FEELING the beauty of the garment. The beautiful thing energized me. Then there was a part two to this where my little kid self knew to take that boost outside. She wanted to feel it in motion.
- Sarah @bodypositiveparenting
I relate to my memory of that garment as an example of an inherent appreciation of beauty — in the eye of the beholder, of course. I wasn't assessing current trends or what clique of people wears x or y. I didn't care about the number on the label yet. I had no context for polka dots, other than enjoying the bold contrast and feeling energized with it on.
The memory of myself wearing it comes to me almost like a gif, just a few seconds' moving image of me in the add-on room springing toward the door. I remember FEELING the beauty of the garment. The beautiful thing energized me. Then there was a part two to this where my little kid self knew to take that boost outside. She wanted to feel it in motion.
- Sarah @bodypositiveparenting
"One summer we had a thunderstorm and it rained a lot while it was warm out. Water pooled in my parents' ditch and my mom let me swim in it, in my clothes. I got really muddy. Afterward I took a bath and washed off all the mud. I remember just basking in how awesome it felt to be warm and clean.
"That's still one of my favorite feelings in my body, washing off the sweat or grime from a really fun activity."
- ANON
[Image description: This is a collage with a yellow and green brontosaurus toy in the center. There's a speech bubble that says, "I got really muddy," and under it, the text, "and washed off all the mud." Behind the dinosaur are some light brown textured squares and a photo of a muddy puddle. The background of the entire image is a gif of milky bath water with flowers floating in it. End image description.]
"That's still one of my favorite feelings in my body, washing off the sweat or grime from a really fun activity."
- ANON
[Image description: This is a collage with a yellow and green brontosaurus toy in the center. There's a speech bubble that says, "I got really muddy," and under it, the text, "and washed off all the mud." Behind the dinosaur are some light brown textured squares and a photo of a muddy puddle. The background of the entire image is a gif of milky bath water with flowers floating in it. End image description.]
"As a kid, I usually felt most at home in my body while wandering--off on a little adventure through the woods. I spent most of my time climbing trees, running through the brush, splashing in the creek with my best friend Ben—not a care in the world for the ticks mom would have to pluck out of my hair later that night. It’s hard to tap into exact memories of what it felt like, but I think I’ve come close in my “adult” life while hiking—and, more recently, while wandering around town. When hiking, there’s usually a point when my face starts getting really hot, my heart’s pounding in my ears, and everything inside of me feels so loud. But then there’s a pause in the noise. I stop. And I can hear, smell, see, understand everything around me: the ferns, the birds, the chipmunks cackling; the sun and trees waving. And a big smile. I get to be a part of this."
@taylor.j.sutton
[Image Description: A collage of a dinosaur with watercolor leaves framing it and a photograph of a forest river. Image text includes: climbing trees, running through the brush, splashing in the creek with my best friend Ben, the ticks Mom would have to pull out of my hair later, the ferns, the birds, the chipmunks cackling, the sun and trees waving, off on a little adventure through the woods, I get to be a part of this. End ID.]
@taylor.j.sutton
[Image Description: A collage of a dinosaur with watercolor leaves framing it and a photograph of a forest river. Image text includes: climbing trees, running through the brush, splashing in the creek with my best friend Ben, the ticks Mom would have to pull out of my hair later, the ferns, the birds, the chipmunks cackling, the sun and trees waving, off on a little adventure through the woods, I get to be a part of this. End ID.]
"Goodnight hugs"
-ANON
-ANON
"My grandmother would hold me on her lap in her rocking chair and sing a song about peace."
-ANON
-ANON
"Being on a train for the first time and listening to all the new sounds/ new feelings/ new scenery."
-ANON
-ANON
"I begged my mother to let me buy a very frilly but impractical pair of lace socks. They were hand wash only. I was maybe 7 or 8. She conceded only after I agreed to wash them myself. I loved them."
-ANON
-ANON
"The plan was just to have some snacks and drinks and swim. I wasn't going to go in the pool at first cause I had imminent period cramps, hadn't shaved and f***ed up some self tanner a while back. A hot mess haha.
But it was also super hot in full sun. So to avoid heat stroke I put on my bathing suit and got in. I didn't have a single moment of being body conscious. That's never ever happened when I was wearing a bathing suit before! It took 29 years but I was finally just able to be comfortable in my body!
Which was definitely helped by how cute my bathing suit is. It's a black romper WITH POCKETS
Whenever I felt awkward in the convo I could just stick a hand in my pocket while I was in the pool! And then I used one of my kimonos that I love as a cover up when we were out of the pool to help with sun and also for peak outfit"
-ANON
But it was also super hot in full sun. So to avoid heat stroke I put on my bathing suit and got in. I didn't have a single moment of being body conscious. That's never ever happened when I was wearing a bathing suit before! It took 29 years but I was finally just able to be comfortable in my body!
Which was definitely helped by how cute my bathing suit is. It's a black romper WITH POCKETS
Whenever I felt awkward in the convo I could just stick a hand in my pocket while I was in the pool! And then I used one of my kimonos that I love as a cover up when we were out of the pool to help with sun and also for peak outfit"
-ANON
"God probably the most fun "wooo all the twirls I can do
like a seafairy" would be maybe ages 8-12?
Growing up where I did there are lakes everywhere. So
every summer all summer all anyone would do as a kid
would be to hang out at the lakes. Being in a bathing
suit was always uncomfortable. I mean thigh chaffing
for sure, but also general body insecurity.
But once you were in the lake it was really freeing.
Most people here are good swimmers cause you have
to be. The water here is called cedar water so you can't
see in it at all. So I would just spend hours with my
friends in the water swimming, diving, doing weird
twirls and swimming from one side of the lake to the
other to see friends on the other side of the
neighborhood. That felt great, especially knowing how
strong you could be to do that all afternoon and even
open your eyes in the cedar water and sometimes see
the fish swimming by."
-ANON
like a seafairy" would be maybe ages 8-12?
Growing up where I did there are lakes everywhere. So
every summer all summer all anyone would do as a kid
would be to hang out at the lakes. Being in a bathing
suit was always uncomfortable. I mean thigh chaffing
for sure, but also general body insecurity.
But once you were in the lake it was really freeing.
Most people here are good swimmers cause you have
to be. The water here is called cedar water so you can't
see in it at all. So I would just spend hours with my
friends in the water swimming, diving, doing weird
twirls and swimming from one side of the lake to the
other to see friends on the other side of the
neighborhood. That felt great, especially knowing how
strong you could be to do that all afternoon and even
open your eyes in the cedar water and sometimes see
the fish swimming by."
-ANON
"When my friend @meganmeganfefifofegan and I were probably about 6, I remember running up a neighbor's steep-to-us driveway, and then back down super fast with our umbrellas, trying to catch a little air.
I liked when it rained in San Jose. It was much more assertive than the Seattle rain I'm used to now. One time my umbrella spokes popped and startled me to tears on the way to school. I didn't like that, to be fair. But this day I was Mary Poppins. Smooth, joyful, in charge, and literally flying, as far as I could tell.
Also probably soaking wet and in sandals."
- Sarah @bodypositiveparenting
I liked when it rained in San Jose. It was much more assertive than the Seattle rain I'm used to now. One time my umbrella spokes popped and startled me to tears on the way to school. I didn't like that, to be fair. But this day I was Mary Poppins. Smooth, joyful, in charge, and literally flying, as far as I could tell.
Also probably soaking wet and in sandals."
- Sarah @bodypositiveparenting
"Mom’s poppies grew so tall. They grew taller than me, their blue-green branching leaves round and lobed, and their blossoms solitary, silky, long and broad and brave at the top.
The dry California heat beat up the grass, cooked it until brown—Mom, out there, daily, with the warm hose, dirtying her white, rubber shoes. Running up the water bill.
So one day, she grabbed a handful of wildflower seeds from a crinkly, white packet and threw them out in the pea-shaped yard in bulk. The tree by the street had birthed roots that dug up the sidewalk next to my cement handprints. The tree bothered mom, but I loved the green ceiling of leaves over the maze of poppies. I opened my green-ceiling eyes and charged into the thicket with my disposable camera. Yellow, orange, red above me.
“Can’t find me,” I shouted, and Mom said something like nope, she couldn’t. My best friend, @Meganfefifofegan from seven houses down the street, showed up and she was taller than me but still not taller than the poppies.
I said, “Can’t find me.”
And Megan, she said, “Can’t find me.”
And Mom said, nope, still can’t find you.
I puzzled my way through to our curved, shallowly inclining driveway with the roses, red, pink, and yellow, and fragrant along the side before our neighbor’s short, wooden, braided fence.
Mom held her own camera and she, with her auburn hair, said, “Say ‘Poppies!’” I took a picture of her, too, so we both were in pictures with our cameras.
“Poppies are the California State Flower,” she told me, and I ducked back into their April glory, back to playing explorer in the garden while Mom picked aphids off the roses."
- Sarah @bodypositiveparenting
From a creative writing exercise to use abundant, sensory adjectives.
The dry California heat beat up the grass, cooked it until brown—Mom, out there, daily, with the warm hose, dirtying her white, rubber shoes. Running up the water bill.
So one day, she grabbed a handful of wildflower seeds from a crinkly, white packet and threw them out in the pea-shaped yard in bulk. The tree by the street had birthed roots that dug up the sidewalk next to my cement handprints. The tree bothered mom, but I loved the green ceiling of leaves over the maze of poppies. I opened my green-ceiling eyes and charged into the thicket with my disposable camera. Yellow, orange, red above me.
“Can’t find me,” I shouted, and Mom said something like nope, she couldn’t. My best friend, @Meganfefifofegan from seven houses down the street, showed up and she was taller than me but still not taller than the poppies.
I said, “Can’t find me.”
And Megan, she said, “Can’t find me.”
And Mom said, nope, still can’t find you.
I puzzled my way through to our curved, shallowly inclining driveway with the roses, red, pink, and yellow, and fragrant along the side before our neighbor’s short, wooden, braided fence.
Mom held her own camera and she, with her auburn hair, said, “Say ‘Poppies!’” I took a picture of her, too, so we both were in pictures with our cameras.
“Poppies are the California State Flower,” she told me, and I ducked back into their April glory, back to playing explorer in the garden while Mom picked aphids off the roses."
- Sarah @bodypositiveparenting
From a creative writing exercise to use abundant, sensory adjectives.
"I was really fortunate to have a family that encouraged me to try out many different hobbies and sports when I was kid. After several tries, the one that really stuck for me was soccer. Once I joined a team and started playing regularly, I felt invincible. It felt so good to feel strong and capable, not to mention to be around others who enjoyed it as much as I did. Being able to feel my body grow stronger with the more work I put into it felt extremely freeing for me."
-ANON
[Image description: In the top half of the image, the text "I felt invincible," a gif from a low angle in the grass shows kids in uniforms running after a soccer ball. The bottom half of the image is white with vector grass along the bottom, a soccer ball graphic, and a blue dinosaur, some kind of theropod. End image description.]
-ANON
[Image description: In the top half of the image, the text "I felt invincible," a gif from a low angle in the grass shows kids in uniforms running after a soccer ball. The bottom half of the image is white with vector grass along the bottom, a soccer ball graphic, and a blue dinosaur, some kind of theropod. End image description.]
"Between the ages of around 6-9 every summer we had season passes to White Water in Georgia. This meant running around barefoot feeling water and pavement and in my bathing suit feeling the air on my skin and swishing down slides and standing under the waterfall mushrooms and floating in the lazy river and splashing in the wave pool with my friends."
- Gillian Cooper @mindfully.active
- Gillian Cooper @mindfully.active
"My mom loves candles. We all had our favorite scents and there would always be one burning somewhere nearby. When we had finally burned through the wick my mom would save the jars with their remaining wax until we had a few with complementary scents (like vanilla and pumpkin spice or lavender and lemon). Once she had a few candles with a good scent combination should would put a big old pot on the stove, place the jars with their remaining wax inside, add water, and then bring the water to a simmer. The wax would melt out of the candles and rise to the top creating this wonderful smelling simmer pot. Once everything was cool she would take out the layer of wax - which was always fun to play with - and recycle the jars. She usually did this once the air got crisp and dry outside and I always think of that big simmer pot as soon as the cooler weather hits."
-ANON
[Image description: A collage of various images sits over a pumpkin orange background. A pot simmers in the top right corner and a person is pouring melted wax in the top left. An orange candle burns in a dark space in the bottom left. A blue and orange T-rex stands in the foreground with delicate black outlines of pumpkins, vanilla flowers and a candle are overlaid on the collage. White text reads "My mom loves candles." End image description]
-ANON
[Image description: A collage of various images sits over a pumpkin orange background. A pot simmers in the top right corner and a person is pouring melted wax in the top left. An orange candle burns in a dark space in the bottom left. A blue and orange T-rex stands in the foreground with delicate black outlines of pumpkins, vanilla flowers and a candle are overlaid on the collage. White text reads "My mom loves candles." End image description]
"When I stayed with my mom's mom, 'Momo,' I got to use her jetted tub. I made a game of trying to block all of the jets at the same time, letting the pressure force my hand away, and again.
Cleaned and pajama'd, I'd carry a hairbrush down the hall to join Momo in the living room. I sat on her lap. She brushed my hair slowly, while we watched I Love Lucy, saying, 'Mine used to be this color.'
With the gentle swoosh of each stroke I felt warmer, sleepier, soothed.
Warm, sleepy, soothed.
Warm, sleepy, soothed.
Warm, sleepy, soothed."
- Sarah @bodypositiveparenting
[Image Description: A collage with an orange triceratops in the center, close up of red hair as the background, orange rose in the bottom right, watercolor leaves under the triceratops, and a gif of a comb going through hair in the top left. Text reads, "She brushed my hair slowly, saying, 'Mine used to be this color.' Warm, sleepy, soothed. Warm, sleepy, soothed. Warm, sleepy, soothed. Good care is passed down too." End Image Description.]
Cleaned and pajama'd, I'd carry a hairbrush down the hall to join Momo in the living room. I sat on her lap. She brushed my hair slowly, while we watched I Love Lucy, saying, 'Mine used to be this color.'
With the gentle swoosh of each stroke I felt warmer, sleepier, soothed.
Warm, sleepy, soothed.
Warm, sleepy, soothed.
Warm, sleepy, soothed."
- Sarah @bodypositiveparenting
[Image Description: A collage with an orange triceratops in the center, close up of red hair as the background, orange rose in the bottom right, watercolor leaves under the triceratops, and a gif of a comb going through hair in the top left. Text reads, "She brushed my hair slowly, saying, 'Mine used to be this color.' Warm, sleepy, soothed. Warm, sleepy, soothed. Warm, sleepy, soothed. Good care is passed down too." End Image Description.]
"My very earliest memory in my whole life was of cooking. Age 3, in the kitchen surrounded by extended family prepping for Thanksgiving. My grandmother was prepping a ham, all studded with cloves and pineapple. She assigned me the role of pressing the cloves in."
-ANON
-ANON
"Maybe 4 or 5 years old, lying on my back underneath my great aunt's Christmas tree. Staring up through the branches and seeing the lights from a different perspective, and the rest of the world sort of blocked out of that space."
-ANON
-ANON
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