The Reflection: Every Body Belongs

As we move through this season, and as National Eating Disorder Awareness Week approaches later this month, we find ourselves reflecting on something larger than awareness alone. We are reflecting on belonging.

Eating disorders affect people across all bodies, ages, genders, abilities, and identities. Recovery does not have a single look or follow a single timeline. And yet the invitation does not stop there. It widens into all the places where people are trying to heal.

Belonging sits at the heart of recovery.

Healing happens when all kinds of bodies are allowed to take up space. Bodies of different sizes. Bodies with different abilities. Bodies shaped by trauma, illness, strength, grief, resilience, and change. For some, recovery is about food and body image. For others, it is about substances, mental health, trust, or slowly loosening years of negative self talk. Different stories. The same human longing underneath.

None of us are perfect.

Our bodies are not perfect.

Our behaviors are not perfect.

Our families, neighbors, and communities are not perfect.

And still, we belong.

Healing is not about fixing every flaw or eliminating every struggle. It is about learning how to hold more than one truth at a time. We can notice what is not working and also honor what is. We can feel discomfort and practice compassion in the same moment. We can move through awkwardness, loneliness, fear, and disappointment while staying connected to ourselves and to one another.

This is part of being human.

Belonging does not mean the absence of boundaries. It means learning how to care for ourselves with honesty and kindness. It means knowing when to say yes, when to say no, and when to pause. It means choosing support that fits who we are, not who we think we should be.

When we practice this within ourselves, something quiet begins to spread. We show others that struggle can be named without shame. That growth does not require perfection. That healing can be slow and still meaningful.

Belonging grows this way.

Gently.

Relationally.

One person at a time.

This month, and always, we are committed to creating spaces where every body belongs. Where recovery is honored in all its forms. Where being human, in all its complexity, is welcome.

That is the work.

And we are glad to be in it together.

This reflection is offered as part of our ongoing writing at Beyond the Mirror Counseling & Wellness.