THE JOURNAL 

Everything Begins in Your Body

body safety healing negative body image negative body image recovery nervous system safety self-compassion healing self-worth the diet culture the diet industry trauma trauma-informed self-care Feb 18, 2026

Why Your Relationship With Your Body Shapes Your Entire Life


Everything in your life begins in your body.

Not in your willpower.
Not in your plans.
Not in your discipline.

In your body.

In how safe you feel inside yourself.
In how supported you are.
In how much you listen.
In how much you trust.

Your body is where life happens.

It is where you feel joy.
Where you feel pain.
Where you carry history.
Where you experience connection.
Where you sense danger as well as safety.

It is not “just a physical thing.”

It is your home.

When Your Body Feels Unsafe, Life Feels Harder

We all know this in simple ways.

When you’re hungry, tired, dehydrated, overstimulated, overstreched —
everything feels heavier and harder.

You’re more reactive.
Less patient.
More negative.
Less resilient.

Feeling “Hangry” is real.

Not because you’re weak.

But because your nervous system is under strain.


The Body Shapes How You Think and Feel

When your body feels unsupported, your mind adapts.

It becomes:

More critical.
More anxious.
More controlling.
More tired.

Not because something is wrong with you.

Because your system is trying to cope.

Why Discipline Fails Without Safety

Most women know what supports health:

  • Regular meals
  • Enough water
  • Gentle movement
  • SleepRest
  • Nature
  • Less overstimulation
  • It’s not a secret.

So why is it so hard?

Because consistency does not come from motivation.

It comes from relationship.

Healing Your Relationship With Your Body

If you constantly criticize yourself…

If you shame your body…

If you speak harshly to yourself…

Then taking care of yourself will feel unnatural.

Imagine trying to care deeply for someone you constantly judge or even despite...

It doesn’t work.

Most Change Starts in the Wrong Place

Many women try to change through:

  • New diets
  • New routines
  • More rules
  • More discipline

Without changing how they relate to themselves.

So nothing lasts.

The Cycle of The “All In” and The Collapse

You recognize this:

Start strong.
Push hard.
Get tired.
Having a "fuc*-it moment"
Falling off.
Feeling ashamed.
More self-judgement.
Restart.

Over and over.

This is not lack of character.

It is lack of safety.

How Negative Body Image Affects Your Life

When you feel bad in your body:

→ You think negatively
→ You feel emotionally heavy
→ You live in survival
→ You shape your identity around “not enough”

Over time, this becomes your reality.

The Sage Perspective on Embodied Change

Lasting change begins here:

How you relate to your body.

Not how you control it.

Because when safety grows, care becomes natural.

A Gentle Closing

You don’t need more pressure.

You need a kinder relationship with yourself.

And then, everything will grow from there.


Camilla 🌿