How to Find Self Love & Acceptance Through Healing Cultural Shame ⋆ Earth and Water

Finding your self love and acceptance is so much more than healing your insecurities and finding your confidence. It’s the most beautiful journey of self discovery that we can embark on. It means falling in love with who you are in this life, appreciating the story that is you and embodying your full potential as a creator of your own reality.

Self-love and acceptance are fundamental aspects of our well-being and personal growth. In a world that often places emphasis on external validation and conforming to societal norms, it can be challenging to cultivate a deep sense of self-worth. However, it is important to remember that we are all unique individuals with our own strengths, weaknesses, and experiences.

When we struggle with self-love, it’s often a result of the cultural programming that has shaped our beliefs about ourselves. Society bombards us with messages about what it means to be successful, beautiful, or worthy. These external standards can create unrealistic expectations and perpetuate self-doubt.

To foster self-love, it’s crucial to start by recognizing and challenging the negative narratives we may have internalized. This is a journey of self-discovery and self-compassion. It involves acknowledging our insecurities and embracing our imperfections as part of what makes us human.

Practicing self-care and self-compassion are essential in this process. Taking time for ourselves, engaging in activities that bring us joy, and surrounding ourselves with positive influences can help nurture a more positive self-image. Learning to appreciate our accomplishments, no matter how small, and celebrating our individuality can also contribute to building self-love.

Furthermore, cultivating a supportive network of friends and loved ones who uplift and validate us can play a significant role in our self-acceptance journey. Their encouragement and understanding can serve as a reminder that we are worthy of love and belonging just as we are.

Remember, self-love is a lifelong practice. It requires patience and consistent effort to rewire our thinking patterns and embrace our authentic selves. But with time and dedication, we can overcome societal expectations and develop a genuine sense of self-love that allows us to thrive and live life to the fullest. So be kind to yourself, embrace your uniqueness, and remember that you are worthy of love and acceptance.

In this episode, Becca Briggs takes us through her career as a nude model and the things she had to overcome to fully embrace her body and the art she creates with it. She now sets out to help us all find the same confidence and courage to put ourselves out there fully as well.

Beginning –

We jump right in discussing her nude modeling career and how it helped her find love and acceptance for her body in a world before body positivity was a heavily talked about subject.

Healing how you feel about yourself when you look in the mirror is different from healing how you feel about yourself in front of other people. They’re really two different directions for healing to go. Dealing with other’s judgements, projections and beliefs on top of trying to learn how to feel good about your body.

You can’t wait “until” anything to be happy or you’ll get there and it still won’t be enough. You have to learn how to love yourself BEFORE you lose weight, fix your teeth or whatever whatever you think is going to make you love yourself more.

12:08 –

“discovering” or “finding” yourself suggests you were somewhere to be found outside of yourself. You were always there. You just had to realize it. “finding yourself” really just means cleaning out all of the junk that other people, society, culture, etc gave you to reveal the core YOU underneath it all.

When you find things that resonate with you, you can allow it to simply be a part of you rather than having it define you.

15:37 –

Practicing unattachment to everything is the best that we can do for ourselves and others. Starting small with learning how to be unattached to our emotions. Taking a step back and trying to look at things from a grander viewpoint.

Our emotions are there to guide us. We just have to practice listening to them. They help protect us and when we feel those big emotions of fear, anger, anxiety, what have you we should always take a step back to “am I safe” or “am I unsafe?” Once we decide which, we can more easily choose how to navigate the situation.

Noticing your inner dialogue and asking yourself if you would say such things to someone you loved.

19:58 –

The need to prove yourself is a confidence trap. True confidence lies in no need to prove oneself.

Getting comfortable sharing photos of yourself online. You do run the risk of everyone else’s opinions of you and your art form and that can be very hard and uncomfortable. It puts you in a vulnerable position.

Remember projection is a thing.

31:01 –

You have to date yourself. Sitting with yourself and spending time with you is how you figure out who you are and nourish your self love and confidence.

The stigma behind certain words and how they were used historically. Language is fluid and ever evolving.

There are definitely risks to putting yourself out there. The double standards we have for men and women.

Our culture sexualizes bodies but not every culture does that. We’ve tied shame to simply having a body and blocked our sacral chakras through it. So many people can’t even be comfortable with their body’s existence alone, much less with someone else present.

A lot of these beliefs, shames and insecurities have been passed down from generations before us, genetically or otherwise.

42:00 –

Finding confidence and self love happens in levels. You’ll heal it a little at a time, think you’re done and then have to do it again. The fact that you’re noticing this movement shows that you’re doing the work and moving through it. Those who are unaware are simply sitting in one place, they have no back and forth pace. Becca gives us a great ripple analogy here.

About Our Guest:

Becca Briggs is a certified life coach, whose mission is to guide others to reignite their creative passions and purpose and help them break through their personal blocks and the pressures and expectations from others, so they can finally live true to themselves and their inner desires. Using a variety of powerful modalities and insights, she guides her clients to change their unhealthy patterns, stop giving their energy and power to the wrong areas, and start living more confidently, authentically, and unapologetically.