Includes index

Naming your body grief -- The role of perceived body betrayal -- Dismissal: I am not okay -- Shock: this is really happening -- Apology: sorry for being me -- Fault: playing the blame game -- Fight: at war with what is -- Hopelessness/Hope: there is a way forward -- Body trust: I believe in me

"A path to making peace with your ever-changing body At one time or another, all of us have grieved our bodies as they once were. Getting older means we're no longer as quick or as strong as we used to be. A chronic illness or disability wrecks our plans and sense of self. Maybe no matter what strict diet we follow, we still fall short of society's forever-changing beauty standards. And so we blame our bodies for having betrayed us-when this couldn't be farther from the truth. Yet this is Body Grief: the sense of loss and sorrow of living in a body that changes, often without our say. In This Is Body Grief, Jayne Mattingly offers a healing path through Body Grief so you can feel at home in the skin you're in. Having navigated Body Grief as both an eating disorder recovery coach and as a newly chronically ill and disabled person and advocate, Mattingly walks readers through the range of complex emotions that encompasses this experience with intimate understanding and compassion, starting with dismissal, shock, and anger. Ultimately, she shows your body has never been, is not, and will never be against you. Self-love begins when you learn to trust and work in tandem with your body as it is in this very moment. Although the journey through Body Grief may not be linear, This Is Body Grief shows it's possible to feel at peace with the skin you're in"--