How Boudoir Has Helped Me Feel Comfortable in My Body

Growing up, I was very self-conscious about my body. I didn’t like any part of it. I hated my butt, my skin, my stomach – all the things. As a teenager I wouldn’t even eat at school. I’d skip food until I came home and binged, and then exercised the rest of the evening. It was a very unhealthy relationship I was in with my body. Fast forward to having kids- things did not get better. I found more and more to dislike about myself, and my self-esteem was non-existent.

I started my photography journey soon after I had my first child. I was shooting all genres, boudoir included. I noticed after my first boudoir photoshoot that I was thinking, “Dang! She looked freaking good!” Because she did! And then I had my 2nd boudoir photoshoot… And my 3rd.. And 4th… And I was thinking the same thing each time – “She looked SO beautiful!” At the same time these women were telling me their insecurities, and I just couldn’t see how they didn’t like those parts of their bodies.

Now I have been shooting boudoir for 7 years, my insecurities about my body have melted away. And until recently, I didn’t know why. I now realize, no matter how cliché this may sound, that we are our own worst critics. We pick apart ourselves and don’t realize how beautiful we are from someone else’s point of view. After having heard thousands of insecurities from women, I know that we are almost ALL insecure about the same things. And on all of those women, I thought the parts they hated were beautiful. I just could not see their insecurities the same.

And after realizing that we are all human – we all have stretch marks, we all have cellulite, we all have skin texture, fat, etc. – I have learned to shed the insecurities I had in my own body. And I didn’t do this consciously, it happened naturally over the years of doing hundreds of boudoir shoots.

Moral of the story? Be gentle to yourself. As hard as that may be. I know this won’t happen overnight. I hope viewing Boudoir Photos of allllllll body types helps you to learn what I’ve learned from Boudoir. This is why I think it’s so important for boudoir photographers to showcase ALL types of bodies on their sites. So you can see that women who likely have the same insecurities as you look DAMN GOOD regardless.

Setting up your own boudoir shoot can certainly fast-track this body-love lesson. If you’re ready to learn more about booking your own shoot, use the button below to set up your free phone consultation where I’ll walk you through all of the details.