Corsets have done so much more than just train my waist. They’ve helped me reshape my body awareness, how I perceive myself, and made my mind-body connection so much stronger.
- Let’s start with the basics: appetite, posture, digestion, and breath.
- Appetite: When I’m not wearing my corset, I tend to eat more, be hungrier, and snack and nibble a lot more throughout the day versus when I am wearing my corset. There are times where I will wear my corset from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed. And on those days, I don’t eat as much as I normally would had I not been wearing my corset all day. Wearing a corset has made me more aware of my hunger. Am I really hungry as in growling tummy, or am I bored or in my feelings? I’ve had conversations with folks who wear corsets who have similar thoughts on whether or not wearing a tight corset disrupts your body’s hunger cues, and doesn’t send signals to your brain (or your brain doesn’t send signals to your stomach?) saying, “Hey we’re hungry, feed me!” I don’t know if there’s any correlation between wearing your corset super tight and your brain not sending signals that you’re hungry. It’s a theory, so don’t quote me.
- Posture: When I’m wearing a corset, and I slouch or hunch over for a long period of time, my upper back starts to hurt. The corset sort of forces me to stand or sit up straight and have good posture. Wearing a corset has really made me become very aware of my posture, and if I don’t straighten up fast, I know I will be in pain later.
- Digestion: This is a very controversial one, because a lot of people will say that wearing corsets has either really helped their digestion, or messed up their digestion drastically to the point where they’re getting constipated and aren’t using the restroom regularly. But corset training has helped my digestion. When I’m wearing a corset after eating, the compression from the corset seems to help move things along; however, I don’t tighten it up as much as I would had I not eaten. Corsets made me become more aware with the noises and movements my body makes after eating certain foods. I never really paid attention to any of it until I started wearing corsets. Because of the compression, I notice the little wiggles and waves my organs make after eating, or how some sounds are slushier and others sound like gurgling. Wearing corsets while I’m digesting my food lets me know where my food is along its journey. It sounds really weird, but knowing and feeling the process brings me closer to my body, and makes me appreciate how amazing my body truly is. For more information on corsets and bathroom issues, check out this blog post.
- Breath: I’ve always been able to breathe perfectly fine with a corset on, so long as it was the right size and shape for me. In the past I did wear more tubular, or less hourglass, shaped corsets, which not only did nothing for my waist, but squeezed me in the wrong places. I’ve worn sizes that were too small which also contributed to not being able to breathe properly, due to the placement of the corset laces, and where the tension was. If you can’t take a full breath, your corset is either the wrong shape or wrong size. For more information on corsets and breathing, check out this blog post.
2. Learning to accept my asymmetrical body. Now this one is a little difficult for me to talk about, because I’m a very shallow person and looks mean everything to me! 🙂 For what it’s worth, as a content creator, I get told all the time what’s wrong with my body. So when I’m editing my videos, I take notice of everything “wrong” or start to notice the little things that I never would have noticed had I not been made aware of by strangers online. But if it weren’t for my corset training (and deciding to share my journey online), I never would have realized my left foot goes inward when I walk, or that the left side of my waist pinches in more. These aren’t serious asymmetries that take over my life in any way; however, it’s at least interesting to make note of, should something happen in the future, I know the left side of my body is a bit unbalanced.
3. Calming down my nervous system. I’ve went into this idea before in this blog post, but to summarize, wearing my corset gives me a sense of grounding. Rather than being in my head, overthinking with social anxiety, and worrying about what I can’t control, the corset reminds me to be in the present. It is a physical construct that keeps me in the moment and in tune with my body. I also have this theory (which I’ve read about in books, too) that the pressure from the corset pushing down on certain chakras leads to a more grounding or safe feeling… but that’s for another time!
4. Feeling my emotions vs. suppressing them. Corsets have really enforced my overall relationship with my feelings and emotions by making me aware of what I’m going through, rather than ignoring the situation at hand. For reference, feelings are the mental awareness from the thoughts you have, and emotions are the bodily symptoms of those thoughts. I think a lot of our feelings are intuitive, rather than just from the mind. And that intuition comes from the gut (a gut feeling, getting butterflies, etc) which then sends signals to our brain and we (usually) have a thought, which turns into an emotion we feel in the body. Anyways, all that to say, having a corset on does something to me internally and forces me to feel my feelings/emotions and be more in tune with my body.
5. Slowing down is a peaceful luxury. People always ask me, “How do you get anything done in that?” or “What do you do all day, just lay around?” And although I can do just about anything whilst in my corset, it’s a lot slower. I’m more careful when I’m in my corset, I rush less, I allow myself to slow down, and I’m able to just sit with myself in peace. Which is honestly a true luxury in this day & age of hustle culture.
Corsets have helped me become more aware of my body, and wearing one teaches me more about it everyday.
Until next time,
♡, S