Embracing your body, with all its unique features and imperfections, is a journey of self-love and acceptance. This exploration delves into the art of body positivity, offering insights on how to cultivate a loving relationship with your own physical form.
Are you unhappy with what you see in the mirror?
If you don’t feel uniformly positive about your appearance, you’re not alone.
- 55% of women and 42% of men in the US report dissatisfaction with at least one aspect of their appearance
- Changing your appearance is unlikely to permanently transform your body image
- Adoption of these body image-improving strategies is likely to make you both happier and healthier.
The goal of body neutrality is to just not really think about your body
A body-neutral perspective allows for any and all people to be beautiful because the focus is on inner beauty and not physical beauty
- Instead of trying to convince yourself that you love your entire physical self, you can make a decision to not care as much about every aspect of your physical appearance
- We should view the process of body image discovery as a journey and, above all, seek to take care of ourselves – body and mind
Links & Books
For direct support in improving your body image, consider meeting with a counsellor who has experience treating eating disorders and body image concerns.
- If your concerns focus primarily on your relationship with food, you might want to seek a registered dietician who has what’s known as a ‘Health at Every Size’ (HAES) orientation.
What to do
Reflect on your values
- Nichole Wood-Barcalow, a psychologist in Ohio who treats patients with body image and eating concerns, suggests that we should take time to consider what it is, exactly, that we value.
- Focus on functionality
- Our bodies are much more than a façade; they serve vital functions that allow us to live our lives and experience our worlds.
How to love your body
You can start to change your relationship with your body by considering what you truly value – beyond physical beauty – and how you can best live in accordance with your values.
- One aspect of living your values can be to accept your own and other people’s bodies – focusing on the aspects of your body that you genuinely appreciate and the ways your body enables you to experience the world.
