Your Body is Your Best Friend
Years ago, I met a man at an airport bar in Ohio who worked with The Limited on mannequin design. He told me they hired models to help shape the proportions — the mannequins were based on real people. I’d never thought about it that way before. I remember wondering if he was silently sizing me up — comparing me to industry standards I’d never agreed to in the first place.
That memory came rushing back the other day while I was mall walking with my dad. We kept passing by Rihanna’s Fenty lingerie store, where the window featured chrome mannequins — curvy figures, even a “dad bod” male form. It struck me how far we’ve come in normalizing body diversity. And later that same day, I stumbled on a post by Jon Hillstead, where he shared an epiphany: that his body is his best friend.
That phrase lingered.
Our bodies are there from our first breath to our last. They carry us through joy and illness, heartbreak and healing. They’re with us when we fall in love — when our hearts race, our skin tingles, and we feel like we’re glowing from the inside out. Even when we criticize them, starve them, numb them, or ignore their needs — they still show up for us.
Before I dive into the benefits, I just want to say this:
Your body is a living miracle.
Every breath, every heartbeat, every time your immune system fights off a virus without you even noticing — it’s performing thousands of invisible acts of devotion. Your liver is detoxing you. Your gut is absorbing nutrients. Your cells are repairing themselves while you sleep.
And somehow, through it all, you’re still expected to worry about thigh gaps and laugh lines?
Nah.
This body is doing sacred work.
Here are five beautiful benefits of seeing your body as your best friend:
1. You become kinder to yourself.
You start to shift your inner dialogue from criticism to compassion — and that kindness ripples outward.
2. You move from shame to gratitude.
Instead of resenting what your body isn’t, you begin to thank it for what it’s carried you through.
3. Healthy choices feel nourishing, not punishing.
You eat well, rest more, and move your body not to fix it — but to support your friend.
4. You learn to listen more deeply.
Your body speaks — through fatigue, tension, hunger, and joy. Befriending it means finally hearing those messages.
5. You begin to heal — emotionally and physically.
When you make peace with your body, the rest of you can breathe easier, too.
Maybe this is the reminder you needed:
You don’t need to earn your body’s love.
It’s already loving you, just by being here.
So maybe, today, you say thank you.
