Love and Respect Your Body

“You are fat and ugly!” Would you say that to a friend?  

I am guessing the answer is “No”. And if you did, you wouldn’t be friends for long! 

Then why say such things to yourself when you wouldn’t say it to others? 

Did I get you thinking? 

While you are at it, maybe you can answer another question:

“How do you feel about your physical appearance?”

This is not a simple or enjoyable question to answer for many of us. The majority of people have difficulties, complaints, or concerns about their bodies and appearance.  

People often suffer from a negative perspective and feeling about their body — believing it isn’t fit enough, worrying over certain features of my body, and generally feeling physically imperfect in many ways.

Breaking news: Human bodies evolve throughout their lives!

This simple fact is often forgotten when we’re overwhelmed with all the ads and messages telling us otherwise.

We’ve been brainwashed into believing that if we could “repair” our bodies to fit the status quo, life would be better.  So very sad. And simply not true.

However, life could be so much happier and better if we just started to love and respect our bodies just the way they are. 

So, how exactly do we love and respect our bodies?

Well, we’ll help you answer this question by decoding wellness through loving and respecting your body, to which effect, we have listed a few strategies to achieve this:

1. Make a decision
   
   It all starts with deciding to put forth the effort necessary to accept your body. Accept your feelings about it and stay committed to treating yourself with compassion and kindness.

   Feel free to tell your family and friends about your decision and ask for their support. Tell them you’ll stop focusing on or talking about your self-perceived bad body features and instead focus on taking care of yourself and feeling good in your skin.This can also help you develop a deeper awareness of how you talk about your body to others and yourself.
   
   

2. Get ‘Real’
   
   Many of us are uncomfortable thinking about or discussing our true feelings about our bodies and appearance with others in an open, honest, and vulnerable way.

   However, to truly change how we feel about our bodies, appearances, and lives, we must be willing to confront issues that go beyond food, exercise, and cosmetics.
   
   Body image concerns go right to the heart of how we feel about ourselves as people. Our body troubles are frequently a reflection of deeper difficulties we have with ourselves.

   We have a greater capacity to learn, grow, and heal when we’re willing to be honest about it, just like anything else in life.
   
   

3. Use positive self-talk to motivate yourself
   
   Start replacing blame and shame with gratitude and gentleness. Begin by observing the words that run through your mind concerning your daily appearance.

   Write down a list of particular things you enjoy about yourself, for example:

   • ‘I have a nice smile’
   • ‘I have nice eyes’
   • ‘I enjoy what my powerful arms can achieve’
     

4.  Show your body that you appreciate it
   
   

   Focus on nourishing your body, moving it, and providing it with joyful experiences rather than controlling your diet to lose weight or working out just to burn calories.
   
   Feel thankful for everything your body accomplishes for you every day, and also for the chances and talent it provides.

   Paint your nails, get your hair done, go for a brisk walk, or attempt a fun new workout. Do things that make you feel good about yourself.

   Pleasant inputs like these lead to positive feelings, which might help you have a better overall relationship with your body.
   
   

5. Stop comparing yourself to others
   
   Make it a rule not to engage in “diet-talk” or make derogatory comments about yourself and others.
   
   Unfollow or mute an account if a post on social media has a direct effect on your sentiments about your own body.
   
   You have power over what you’re exposed to and how your views are influenced.
   
   

6. Do one thing for your body every day.
   
   Every day, do something good for your body. Exercise, stretch, do yoga, go on a stroll, soak in the tub, get a massage, whatever you want to do.
   
   

   Just one thing! Do one thing for your body every day, no matter what, no matter how difficult the day may be.

   That’s a reasonable commitment that also ensures you stay in touch with your body.
   
   

Bottom line: 

My wish for you is that you recognize the value of having a body.

And I hope you’ll say “thanks, but no thanks” to all the messages telling you there’s something wrong with your size, color, age, hair color, and texture, or whatever else others in your life tell you to change in your body.

This is the only body that helps you do everything (literally!), so give it the love and respect it deserves.