A Ritual for Getting Dressed

Or, how to figure out what the hell to wear to your photoshoot (and other places, too.)

Your perceptions of your body are ever-changing; they are not set in stone! This is an exercise and ritual to see what it can feel like to prioritize a feeling over how you think you should look. Ride the wave, and see where it takes you!

Don’t wear crazy patterns!

Don’t wear white! It’ll be too bright!

Don’t wear black! It’ll make your head look like it’s floating!!

Don’t wear something too tight!

Don’t wear something too baggy!

DON’T WEAR ANY DISTRACTING LOGOS!

WEAR WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART SING. It’ll change the way you show up. It will change the way you move.

STEP 2

𓆙 Open your eyes, choose a garment, and put it on. Do not look at yourself in a mirror! If you’d like, you can look down at your body, but ideally, it’s best if you close your eyes again.

★ Now, with your eyes closed, zoom your way into the sensations you are feeling on and in your body. Notice the weight and texture of the fabric. Notice the fit (is it loose and does it feel good? Is it tight and does it feel good?) Try to make as many observations about how your body feels in this garment. Is it a vibe? Do you feel like a certain character? Does an old memory appear? What comes up for you? Take as long as you’d like. Be gentle. This is a meditation.

STEP 1

❁ Stand in front of your closet

Close your eyes

Take in a deep breath

What do you need today?

How would you like to feel?

Try to be very specific!!

STEP 3

.✫･ﾟ Now note the overall feeling you’re receiving. This part takes practice but it can and should be fun to try and put words to it. Sometimes there are no words but you just KNOW and that’s ok too. Does the information you find align with the energy you want to embody today? Or maybe you’ve arrived somewhere else that has surprised you and that feels GOOD. Once you’ve given yourself some time to reflect, go check yourself out in the mirror!

✫･ﾟ How does it feel to see yourself? Does it align with the vision you had in mind? More often than not, there is a small gap between how we feel and what we think we look in the mirror. This gap is SO NORMAL but can be a little bit of a jolt if not totally upsetting. Sometimes, it’s a good surprise! Give yourself the grace and space to feel it all.

Consider these thoughts…

What does comfort, mean to you? Are you open to prioritizing it?

What does it feel like? Can you see yourself moving towards it?

Imagine the clothes on your body are a sacred uniform! Meant to protect you, shield you, and guide you through the shitstorm that says you have to dress a certain kind of way to be perceived as good enough/hot enough/thin enough/ masc enough/femme enough etc (the list goes on). I know it’s so much easier said than done to just get dressed and not care what anyone else thinks, but this is why I want you to hone in on the sensations, and devote yourself to choosing an outfit that simply feels good on your body.

With practice, you will get better and better at this—and even on the days when it feels hard, I promise you—you will find a way to make it work.

Consider choosing garments that enable you to move freely. Literally and metaphorically speaking. Any chance you can give yourself to feel more free, the better. A lot of folks think they have to dress up for their picture to be made. Sometimes dressing up is powerful and an access point for embodiment. Other times it can act as an inhibitor and make you feel like the pressure is on. Only YOU can know what makes you feel free. Trust your inner wisdom, and allow yourself to have fun with it.

Keep the stakes low. This is about YOU, and the clothes are secondary!

Lastly, You are confronting a million stories past present, and future all happening at the speed of light when you see yourself in an image. This is a miraculous phenomenon that we often do not pause long enough to consider. Do not shame yourself for having harsh thoughts—we’ve been programmed since day one to edit ourselves and how we look—to poke and prod until what we see looks like what the world tells us it should look like. But guess what? This is your Embodied Portrait Session. You make the rules.

In the end, what matters most is how you choose to BE in the moment.

I’m so excited to see how you show up—It’s going to be beautiful.

The content of this page is deemed proprietary and constitutes confidential intellectual property. Please respect the process and privacy of this content and refrain from sharing it publicly.