I wrote this post because I realized I don’t know a woman out there who hasn’t wished something about themselves looked better or different. And I bet if you took a moment to think about it too, you probably don’t know of anyone who hasn’t felt this way either.
As women, this has seemed to become our (new) normal: Feeling unhappy and constantly wanting to change the way we look. We are blasted with so many daily messages to purchase a cream that makes our bodies better or told if you don’t look like Beyonce or J.Lo that you’re not pretty enough. Or we get into relationships and that broken person we dated told us how much we don’t look as great as they think we should. The nerve right? And that’s not accounting for all the experiences we’ve had in elementary and high school about our bodies. No matter how it’s sliced, these kind of body messages can feel like a chop to the gut every time.
No wonder it seems hard to feel like you love the way you look.
Well listen, today is a new day. If you choose to, you can make a small step towards learning to love your own body. That means being thankful for every lump, bump and hump. Every wiggle and jiggle. Every beautiful inch of you. Every freckle, every beauty mark, dip and groove. You can choose to love it all starting right now.
After all, you only have one body, and it’s always going to be yours; so that in itself is worth appreciating.
So let’s jump into several ways that you can begin celebrating your body:
- Change your mindset:
Sometimes we all need an attitude adjustment called self love. If you take a moment and ask yourself why you want your body to be different in the first place, usually you’ll find that it’s tied to some level of validation from yourself and others that you hope to get (things like feeling happier, loved, cherished, appreciated, etc.). When you think about it, those are core self love issues, and not direct body issues. So, you simply need a mindset shift love. Working on how you view yourself is what can turn everything around for you.
Solution: Affirmations are an amazing way to turn how you view yourself around. If you practice saying to yourself every morning “I deserve to love myself and my body for who I am and what I look like,” then in no time it will become your reality. And for all of my beautiful realist women who think affirmations sound crazy, remember, you are what you think of yourself. Everything you do and say will become your reality; so in this case, it’s worth choosing to love your body as your reality moving forward.
- Stop comparing yourself to other women based on how you look.
In order for you to start appreciating your body for what it is, you’ll have to stop judging yourself and other women based on their bodies. When we compare, we subconsciously send the message to ourselves and others that value is based on looks. And once this becomes ingrained as a value, it can be hard to break. Not to mention, it’s an incorrect and self-deprecating value to adopt about yourself. You, and every other woman out there, is worth much more than what’s merely on the outside.
Solution: Stop subscribing to tv shows or social media feeds where you do body comparison. Honestly, it’s like torturing yourself day in and day out when you compare your looks and body to other women. Plus, if you know that sifting through Instagram can make you feel bad about yourself because you simply don’t look like America’s Next Top Model, then you have to choose to shut it down for your own sanity. REMEMBER: It’s your absolute right to shut down anything in your life that encourages you to hate yourself.
2. Try to do things that make your body feel good or help you feel good about your body.
Your body is so much more than simply a body. It’s a place that holds all of your emotions, and not to mention it’s the lovely throne that houses your organs that keep you living and breathing day by day. Another way to put it is that your body is your sanctuary. It’s a beautiful and special place that should be cherished. So try to do things that will encourage you to get in tune with what your body is saying and who it really is.
Solution: I always encourage my Helloxlove tribe to work on their mindfulness. To spend time sitting in their selves and getting in tune with how they think, feel, breathe, experience pain, and to purely listen to their bodies. The more you take the time to get to know your body, it makes it so much easier to love because you realize it’s an extension of you and has value to you.
Another (fun) way to develop body love is to start doing some kind of small task daily that cherishes your body. So maybe that could be a foot massage, or putting on a face mask. And if you’re up for a great girls night out, you could take a pole or belly dancing class that teaches you to love your body and how it moves. Essentially you just want to do things that will start sending the message to your self and body that it’s important to you.
- Get in the mirror more often
How much time do you really stand in the mirror? Do you take time to stare at yourself and admire what you see? I promise if you ask that to yourself or any other woman you know, the answer is the same: you probably never spent time staring at yourself in the mirror. Or better yet, you look in the mirror when it passes you by or need to brush your teeth lol. More often than not, most women actually tell you that they avoid the mirror at all costs because they don’t like what they see. But no matter how it’s sliced, the truth is if you take the time to look in the mirror and appreciate every inch of you, you’ll get to the point of loving your body in no time.
Solution: Spend one minute each morning standing in the mirror naked. Then take another minute and get dressed in front of the mirror. Doing this lets you experience different views of yourself and appreciate each and every aspect of your body.
I would actually recommend that one of the easiest times to stand in front of the mirror is directly after you get out the shower because you’re already naked. Then, all you have to do is just take in all of the glory from what you already see. Once you’re dressed, do a double take again and tell yourself “girl I look good.” As you start to do this daily, you’ll begin to appreciate what you see daily.
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Overall, it’s my mission to help you love yourself and the way you look. Self love is all about self-acceptance for a reason! So I encourage you today to take a small step towards accepting your body.
Want to work on how you view yourself? I can help you do just that in two easy ways:
- Worth Journal: https://heygirlhey.org/product/worth-journal/
- One on one coaching: https://heygirlhey.org/schedule-a-coaching-session/
