One of the things I noticed recently when I was ill was how lack of activity impacted on my sense of self. My body identity has shifted in the last year – I’m overall much more at ease in my own skin.

However, after a few days in bed, that progress evaporated for a while, leaving me deeply uncomfortable with my physical self.

I notice that primarily I experience my body through what I’m doing. Time outside, walking, being in water, dancing, and playing music all have a strong positive impact on me. Physical affection has a huge impact. When I experience my body through joyful and affirming activities, I feel good in myself. Times when I have been physically limited and when I have experienced my body primarily through pain, I have also had a really poor self-image.

I suspect it won’t just be me. Lack of body confidence and a poor self-image undermine confidence and make it harder to do all sorts of things. Being in your body in a cheering way can help with that, I’m finding.

While all sorts of activities might help with this, there’s an obvious case for Druidry. Ritual activities in particular offer us the opportunity to show up bodily in a good way. Solitary ritual has plenty to offer, but standing in circle with other people is especially powerful. Looking back at my own history with ritual I recognize that those group spaces have been good for my mental health and body confidence.

Feeling accepted is really helpful for body confidence. Being in a wilder place can help with that – the natural world does not judge, shame or ridicule. Nature is full of diverse shapes and being immersed in that can help us be more at ease with ourselves. Harsh judgement of human bodies is very much a human issue. Spending time on Druidic activities can give us room for kinder and more natural approaches to ourselves.

Being a Druid in the world means being present and embodied. Nature is in us, and this invites us to be more at ease with ourselves. As natural beings, we have every right to feel comfortable in our own skins. It’s human cruelty that results in humans suffering with low self-esteem and lack of body confidence. This is something we can dismantle in our own heads, and in the wider world.

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