Tips for Cultivating Compassionate Body Image
No one is immune to body image concerns, it is basically a rite of passage for being human. In a world obsessed with body perfection, the concept of body neutrality emerges as a breath of fresh air. It advocates for accepting your body as it is, without judgment or excessive focus on its appearance. Body neutrality isn't about dismissing your body, it isn't about constantly trying to find 'the good', it's about acceptance. There can be a lot of freedom that comes with that acceptance but how do we take steps towards this type of work?
I'd love to share with you a few of the steps I take for myself but also when I'm working with clients to begin the healing process with their body image.
1.) Recognize the goal: So often I have clients come into my office and feel overwhelmed by the task of 'fixing' their body image or trying to 'love' their body. One of the first concepts I offer them is "Maybe you don't have to." Maybe you don't have to love your body right now, maybe you don't have to accept whatever it is about your body that you don't like. If you have spent your life fighting against your body, it is unfair to set a goal to love it. It's too big of a jump. Instead, let's work on tolerating. How do practice handling the distress and discomfort that comes from being attuned with our bodies? If we focus on creating some distress tolerance around body discomfort, it creates a solid foundation to build on and often feels much more attainable.
2.) Practice mindfulness: How do we build distress tolerance? Mindfulness! Engaging in mindfulness practices like meditation and yoga to connect with our bodies can be a challenge (becuase our bodies can carry a lot of trauma) however it is important in this journey to be able to connect with the vessel that is our physical body. This is a perfect time to bring in help like taking a body neutral yoga class or listening to a body compassion mindfulness recording.
3.) Find community: One of the very questions I ask clients when they want to start this journey is: do you have friends or community in your life that are doing this work too? It's so important to have people in your corner who are giving up diet culture and focusing on nurturing their bodies! Having a variety of body shapes, sizes and differently abled bodies in your community helps expose you to bodies outside of what diet culture says is 'the goal'. Be critical of media messages and advertisements. Recognize that these often perpetuate unrealistic beauty ideals.
If these three steps are igniting something in you, we would love to hear from you! Drop a comment below or click here to sign up for our workshop coming up in a few weeks all about cultivating compassionate body image!
