Stretch Marks
Proof That You Were Built to Hold More
I recorded this as audio for anyone who’d rather listen than read.
Sometimes the body hears things the eyes skim past.
An image keeps coming to me: the transformation of a woman’s body.
In high school and college, I was running track, dancing, holding every muscle tight. Firm. Controlled.
Now in my 40s, as I let go and shift priorities, I’m noticing those muscles soften.
And I’m kind of… LOVING it.
I like the softness. It feels intimate. Loving. Warmer to the touch.
Could this softening be a preparation for who I am becoming?
I’ve been working with my husband on a new launch. We’ve been collaborating in a way we never have before. So much union. So much momentum. Energy we’ve been talking about for almost 13 years.
And here we are. Living it. Naturally.
We had a really great week. Especially yesterday. Strong results. Clear lines.
I was on a high. I was openly and intentionally receiving it all… expanding my capacity to receive abundance.
And right before sleep, the thoughts started to creep in.
Critiquing. Analyzing.
“This isn’t enough.”
“We still have to do more.”
“This might not work.”
The next morning I woke up and said, “I think we need to pivot.”
He paused.
“Wait. What just happened? There’s momentum. We are not going to block it.”
His words were like oxygen to my dimming flame. My life force returned and I could see clearly again.
THIS is my pattern.
Expansion feels unsafe.
Receiving (in this magnitude) feels unfamiliar.
So I contract. I reach for scarcity. Control. Overcorrection.
And then I kinda just hang out there… for way too long.
Then an image comes to me.
My body after giving birth to my now ten-year old daughter, Nora.
The loose skin, the little stretch marks. I remember looking at them saying, “Wow, these marks are such a wonderful gift. They will remind me what my body can do.”
I mean, look at what it can create…
I saw the connection between what my body had lived and what my life was asking of me at this moment in time.
How do you create room for something new to grow without understanding that stretch marks are the point, not the problem?
When we expand, we stretch.
And when something new is being born, discomfort is part of the creation.
So the next time you feel expansion, abundance, that high…
Expect the contraction (aka the step before the next stretch… and eventually the birth ;).
So it doesn’t surprise you.
So it doesn’t run the show.
So you can lean into it, without living in it.
So you can meet it with, “Of course you’re here.”
And keep expanding anyway.
And notice…
What happens when you over-identify with contraction? Do you begin to believe you’re stuck?
What happens when you over-identify with expansion? Do you start chasing it?
And what becomes visible when you stop separating one from the other?
Can you see it—the whole system, one living organism designed for growth?
Designed to stretch you. Contract you. Expand you.
Adorning you with marks that prove your power—your lived expansions.
So what do you say ladies?
Let’s go collect more stretch marks!
Power Move:
The next time expansion feels scary and that familiar contraction whispers "this isn't safe," remember: your body already knows how to stretch.
Those stretch marks aren't scars.
They're proof of your capacity to hold more love, more success, more life than you ever thought possible.
Expansion leaves marks. Let them feel beautiful.