Can improving your body image through changing your mindset help you find a balance between your mind, body and soul?
We live in a society that is repeatedly telling us that our bodies aren’t good enough. To be “accepted” by today’s society, you need abs, chiselled jawlines, perky bums, minimal body fat percentage and cellulite-free thighs; and if you don’t your not beautiful. WRONG! JUST WRONG!
I can’t speak for you, but I don’t live in an Instagram world with filters and the desire to have the body composition of an athlete, I live in the real world and have a real body. I like to eat out with friends and family, have a rest day here and there, do nothing but watch Netflix and chill, and not feel guilty!
Each body is different, beautiful, unique and should be celebrated not ridiculed for what it doesn’t look like.
Some of us have larger bodies, smaller bodies, big chests, small chest, thigh gaps, curves, apple shape bodies, petite bodies, tall, short, athletic, endomorphs, ectomorphs, metamorphs, and many more.
My point is our bodies come in all shapes, sizes and types. They also sit differently on the spectrum of health and fitness. Your weight does not dictate how healthy and fit you are.
Fitness assessments and finding your body composition is a more accurate way of telling how healthy and fit you are. That is what we should be focusing on, not how our bodies look. But I am getting off track here!
What is Your Body Image
Your body image is how you view yourself and is a combination of your physical appearance, beliefs, thoughts, perceptions and feelings around your awareness of self.
Body image plays a crucial part in finding an overall balance, how you view yourself influences every aspect of your life: how you interact and relate with others; your level of self-care and self-awareness; state of your mental health; and your physical health.
I am a true believer of putting your needs first; if you are not mentally and physically at your best, then it shows in how you treat and influence those around you. Self-acceptance is the greatest gift you can give yourself and one of the most significant factors in you a finding balance between your mind, body and soul.
“What lives in a person’s heart will overflow out of their mouth”
Here is a list of simple mindset shifts to help you on your journey of accepting your body as it is and improve your body image to find a balance between your mind, body and soul.
Educate yourself on the influence that social media has on body image
I am pretty confident that by now most of us know that 99% of what we see on social media has been retouched and filtered to the point that the model in the photo no longer resembles the actual model. If you were to meet the model in passing, you wouldn’t even recognise them.
Not to mention that most models have a unique physical structure of being tall and slim. Their workout routines and eating habits are incredibly strict because their body is their work.
Cull and unfollow anyone that makes you doubt your uniqueness or makes you feel bad about your curves or lack of. Now the fun part.
Diversify your social media feed with body image movements, celebrities and influencers that represent positive body image, makes you feel good about your body, encourages self-awareness and over-all balance.
Change negative self-talk to positive self-talk
Your brain doesn’t know the difference so by simply choosing “I love how strong my legs are” instead of “I hate how muscly my legs are” your emotions and mood will represent the positive vibes. Think happy and cheerful mood, a rush of endorphins, a positive body image outlook all round.
Train your brain to believe the good things about your body. Stop always focusing on what you don’t have or what you think you want.
Daily affirmations and gratitude journaling can help transform your negative self-talk into positive self-talk. Give it a go!
Surround yourself with positive body image people
They say you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with so choose carefully. Looking back now, I can see how true those words are.
It may feel like a harsh change to make, but if you surround yourself with openly negative people, it will affect your ability to create a positive body image.
If you are surrounded by people who criticise you, makes fun of you or gives off negative energy then it can easily rub off on you and emphasise your already negative self-talk. Nobody needs that energy in their life.
So, surround yourself with people who make you feel good about yourself, encourage you to go further and be the absolute best version of you.
Appreciate how your body functions instead of how it doesn’t look
Despite the way you have treated your body, it still functions. As we speak, there are millions of microscopic systems working to carry out functions necessary for everyday living. Your vital organs, heart, kidneys, skeletal system, respiratory system, integumentary system, reproductive system, nervous system, I think you get the idea. Your body is kind of amazing.
So, why are you cutting it short by focusing on what it looks like? When you start to eat to fuel your body instead of feeding your emotions, exercise for health benefits instead of as a form of punishment for eating and focus on what your body can do and not how it doesn’t look, you’ll find a balance between your mind, body and soul.
The flow effect of looking after your body is incredible:
- reduce your risk of a heart attack
- have a lower blood cholesterol level
- lower the risk of type 2 diabetes
- have lower blood pressure
- have stronger bones, muscles and joints and lower risk of developing osteoporosis
- better recovery
- more energy
- better mood
- help block negative thoughts
- improve your sleep patterns
- changes the levels of chemicals in your brain, such as serotonin, endorphins and stress hormones
SIDE NOTE: I used to HATE my body. I am 154cm and put on weight incredibly easy and quick. My body type is what you would call an endomorph, so my natural set point is higher than most. I have a higher percentage of body fat with less muscle mass, and because of my physical makeup, my body is very sensitive to calorie consumption.
As you could imagine this makes it quite an uphill battle to have a positive body image when you live in a society that tells you your body isn’t beautiful unless you have abs, a tiny frame, or a “feminine” body shape.
A few years back I went to Borneo to climb Mount Kinabalu, 4,000 metres above sea level. I went up, and I went down faster than most people are even capable, keeping up with the lead tour guide, and even surpassing him! I am asthmatic and had no issues; I wasn’t affected by the change in altitude; my recovery in the following few days was great. My body got me up and down that mount with ease. MY BODY! No abs needed and a slightly higher than average body fat composition.
Practice self-care that promotes positive body image
Do you feel strong and powerful when you lift heavy at the gym? Do you feel like you can take on the world after a hot yoga session? Do you feel ready to take on the day after running on the treadmill listening to your favourite podcast? Or re-aligned with your body after a massage? I know I do!
Self-care to you might mean being physically active (outside of walking your dog and running around with your kids at the park), having a pamper day (putting on a mask, soaking in the bath with candles and a good book) or dancing around naked. Whatever tickles your fancy!
As long as you re-connect with your body. Show your body that you appreciate all the wonderful things it does for you. You only have one body and mind, why wouldn’t you take care of it?
I hope this blog post has inspired you to love you as you are and provide you with actionable mindset shifts to help you on your self-acceptance journey. It can be a long and painful journey, but self-acceptance will lead you to find a balance between your mind, body and soul.
Are you on your journey? Do you have any tips or mindset shifts that I didn’t mention? Please comment below and share your experience, you never know, your comment might be the missing link for someone reading this post x
Great article and tips! Love it!
I am so glad you enjoyed this post, Claudia! Cheers for reading x
I was really in need of this! I’ve gained weight recently and this is exactly what I needed! I will definitely put this post into play 😌
If you ever need someone to talk to Genasys, don’t hesitate to flick me an email or DM me ok x
“Appreciate how your body functions instead of how it doesn’t work,” yessssss! While on and getting off of birth control, I had horrible body dysmorphia and I got through it primarily by continuing to praise what I could do rather than what I didn’t look like. This post hit home, hard.
Tiffany, thank you for sharing, I am really happy that you were able to overcome such an emotionally touch time.
I really enjoyed this article, it’s such a great reminder that self-acceptance is so important!!
Thank you for reading Kate, sometimes we need a little reminder every now and then that we are enough and our bodies deserve our love 🙂
Absolutely agree with you. Most of us are so influenced with social media even the friends around us. The only thing we can do is love ourselves and say to ourselves we are beautiful how we are.
Absolutely Yasinta, we have one life and one body, why waste it on unrealistic expectations of others?
Very insightful. There’s so much pressure to have a perfect body these days because that’s pretty much all your see on social media and in the media in general, which is really sad. Even if you’re thin, someone is bound to say that you still need to improve. So where do you stand? As you said, just love yourself for who you are and what you look like. It will take work but so worth it. Cheers for this post.
It is very sad, isn’t it? Although, there are many positive body image movements taking over social media now. I see a bright future for the next few generations on what a healthy and fit body looks like. Thank you for reading
Thank you for this, I have been working so hard to change my negative self talk. It is getting easier now, but at first it was such a challenge.
That is great news, Jody, often the hardest part is starting. You’ve got this, girl! x
This is such a great article! I battled anorexia for ten years and all of that time was spent in a fog caring so much what other people thought Beauty was. It’s is definitely important to be able to identify negative influences in social media. That way you can actively choose not to engage with those thinks or let it effect the way you feel about your body. You can maybe look into writing about eating disorders, it’s a lot more than just anorexia and bulimia. Many eating habits are disordered. Anyways, great article, keep writing!
Thank you so much for sharing Dona, I will definitely take your suggestion on board. I hope over time you have realised how amazing your body and you are and no longer allow those thoughts to rent space upstairs x