Soul Session | Meredith | Tara Lilly Photography
Soul Session | Meredith | Tara Lilly Photography
Meredith’s Soul Session took place somewhere that makes her feel strong, her Crossfit gym. Check out her thoughts and inspirations for a soul session below!
“On the eve of a very stressful professional opportunity, my mind was distracted, not only by the pressure of the job application window I was working with, but by an event that was coming up – a photo shoot for a project my friend Tara had asked me to be part of.
Talking to Tara on the phone, pre session, she asked me what I was nervous about. Through silent tears, I told her I was afraid of being in front of the camera “on purpose”, and that I was afraid of being in a position where I would have to celebrate my body.
This is a theme I have struggled with since I was young. There was a time I was all bony hips and awkward limbs, with no curves, and all I wanted was grow into my woman body. As I got older, the curves and bumps came in, but they were too big or too jiggly or not in the right places. I never saw my body as a thing to celebrate, because I felt like I wasn’t supposed to celebrate it unless it looked a certain way. I was supposed to hide my body away and work on changing it into something better.
Tara asked me to bring clothes I love, to a place I love and celebrate myself. When we started, I was terrified. She asked me to list three things I loved about my body. I said I liked the colour of my hair, and then stopped. I couldn’t name anything else. I could name a flaw with each and every part of my body, giving myself a reason not to love it.
She told me to close my eyes, take three deep breaths, and focus a place that I felt strong in. From there, slowly, I let it all go. She had me move, and stretch and feel every part of my too-big, too-jiggly, unproportionate body.
The session took me from a place I felt comfortable in, to a place I felt exposed, to a place I felt strong. Literally, figuratively, and emotionally. At the largest my body has ever been, I moved, I paused, I smiled, I laughed, I closed my eyes and held my body close. And then, I opened my eyes, my arms and maybe, my soul.
This is my soul session.”
-Meredith