Wild Self – of Scars, Skies, and Water

“The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”

— Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D (Women Who Run With the Wolves)

I am so honoured to have photographed such a stunningly gorgeous, honest, vulnerable and powerful wild woman!   Most of us struggle with body image, I know I do.  What is it like as we grow older, post child rearing, as the years go by, still keenly aware of emotional or physical injuries lodged deep in our skin, our bones, our hearts?  It is hard to stand naked in front of ourselves and shout ‘Yes!’ to the skies, Yes, to ourselves.  Yes to our beautiful bodies, pain and all, age and experience and all.  It is hard, isn’t it?  And yet, if we go there, if we walk tentatively down our own steep, crumbling banks, noticing how life persists in clinging, in growing, in reaching, down towards the cool pool within, where the gentle sun warms….If we gingerly approach that edge…we can find that place of release, of self-acceptance, and of profound beauty.

“I was taught from a very young age that my body was not my own. Told in subtle and not so subtle ways, by both my parents… by a trusted elderly neighbor… and by society… that this body I was born into was for a man’s pleasure. And so the abuse began.

I went into this photo shoot with the intention of facing some of my darkest places and dislodging the stuck parts inside. I loved the idea of entering the water to wash away some of these old stories…. These outdated thought patterns that kept me held in abuse and self- hatred.

And now, as I look at these beautiful photographs and observe the effects that two years without almost any yoga has done to my body…. I try my best to breathe through my inner self critic.

I feel inspired… to let go of the self-hatred and love my body back into the shape I feel more comfortable with.

Most important of all… I choose to reclaim my birthright… This body… This body is my own.

Thank you, again for the opportunity you have given me.”

Wild Woman at the lake ~ exploring her edges of vulnerability

the cool waters at the centre of our body
can we find that forgiving patient self love here at the lake, the trees cling to steep banks,
roots exposed, hard rock and soft earth crumble
trees fall, all feeds and is fed, death, life, transition

Injury and healing
earth body mirrors our body
as we learn to love and cherish our core
we become stronger

in awe, Belinda

#wildwomanproject #rewildingphotography #wildwander #wildself #scarsskiesandwater #deepscar #beautifulbodyproject #bodylove #selflove #thatisadoor #clarissapinkolaestes #shiningfromtheinsideout