An Ode to My Belly

"The source of your heat is the softness you keep tucking in."

I was pondering, as I do, about what to write for my solo Substack this week when I came across this post from model Khrystyana (who I love, btw). When I was in New York in April, I walked right past her and had a mini freakout moment because I think her work in the body image realm and as a model is incredible. Models, they’re just like us!

Okay, back to my point:

I’ve been really trying to actively challenge myself to not fix my pants when my belly feels more exposed than I feel comfortable with it being - whether that’s in a yoga class, out in public, or standing alone in front of my own bathroom mirror. This is a hard ask for someone whose comfort zone is snatched and tucked in as compactly as possible. But it’s been on my mind a lot as of late, and I’ve been wanting to dare myself to step outside of this comfort zone and let my belly exist however she is in any given moment.

In her Instagram post, Khrystyana says:

“The source of your heat? It’s the softness you keep tucking in. The belly you were told to hide. Unbutton it. Let it breathe. Let it blaze. You don’t shrink in the heat — you rise in it.”

Now, these are the types of posts I want to see daily on my IG, baby! This stopped me in my literal tracks and got me thinking: the belly we were told to hide is the source of our heat, the source of our inner fire, the source of our knowing and intuition. The power that lives in our bellies is that of life-making and instinctual knowing. How could something so dynamic be deemed as a negative trait depending on how she appears to society’s judgmental eye?

Now, my looming question is why was I taught that my belly is not sexy, that my belly is not good? What is it about my belly I feel I need to hide from myself and others? This thing that holds so much power and wisdom is the very thing us women are taught to feel shame for… or at least this is what I was taught in my own body image story.

Reclaiming our love for our bellies feels like a radical act in a society that tells us to shrink to fit the unrealistic mold of today’s body standards. Showing the parts of our body that we’ve been conditioned to hide takes courage and vulnerability. And it’s not easy. (Trust me, I know.) But the more I’ve personally chosen to embrace the parts of me that I’ve felt safer hiding, the more I’ve been able to break free from past voices, personal fears, and come to a place of acceptance with my body.

This soft home to my inner knowing and potential to create life one day is no longer something I am ashamed of. She is a part of me, and however she chooses to ebb and flow over my lifetime, I vow to embrace her ever-evolving essence.

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In editing an upcoming conversation that will be dropping July 22nd, I pulled this quote I’d said because I think it’s very relevant to this conversation:

“M y belly is on my body, has always been this way on my body, and I don't want to know what I would have to do to make it go away. At this point in my life, I am not interested in making it go away. She's here to stay. She's with me. I love her now. I’ve radically accepted the fact that this is the body that I live in, and this is the belly that I have. She’s mine, and she’s great.”

And these words ring so true for me - she is mine, and I’m working to embrace her every single day of my life from here on out.

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We literally get hotter with the heat when we embrace our bodies, when we wear that bikini, when we let our bellies breathe, when we remind ourselves we are sexy now just as we are as our bodies continue to evolve and change. This is a blazing hot act of revolution against a culture that tells us to get smaller and to hide our perceived “flaws.”

Let’s revolt against patriarchy, the beauty industry, and diet culture together this summer, shall we?

xx Megan

PS: You guys are going to LOVE the conversations I have coming your way! They're leaving me empowered and inspired, and I’m so excited to share them with you here ❤️‍🔥

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While I’m not a licensed therapist, registered dietician, or medical health professional and cannot speak to body image topics from a clinical, trauma-informed place, I am an expert of lived experience. I’m an academic of my own body, and I’m passionate about facilitating conversations with other humans about their relationships with their bodies. I believe it’s important to continue conversations about healthy body image in creative spaces as a means to heal individuals as well as the collective whole. But just know the information presented in this medium is not professional mental health advice or medical advice, and any questions or concerns you have should always be directed to your healthcare provider.