Create a more positive body image

In today’s society, it seems to become harder and harder to feel good about yourself and have a positive body image. How we feel about ourselves affects everything – our work, home life, and relationships with others.

We can also easily pass low self-esteem down to our children. Follow these steps to begin your journey to a positive body image today.

Be grateful
If you have a healthy, working body, then you are lucky. Write a list of everything good about your body, and what it means to you. If you have good hearing, you can listen to music and birdsong. If you have good eyesight, you can look at a beautiful view. Perhaps you are creative, so the use of your hands allows you to sew or knit or paint. Your feet allow you to walk, run and play sports. There is always something to be grateful for.

Stop the negative talk
Never, and I cannot stress this enough, talk about your body in a negative way. There may be parts of you that you wish were different, but unless you can change them through lifestyle and diet, then you need to learn to love them! This is particularly important in front of children, who absorb and replicate the behaviour of those around them. You wouldn’t want a child to talk about themselves (or others) in a negative way, so don’t teach them that it’s acceptable behaviour.

Accept positivity
Learn to take a compliment! Often when we receive a compliment, we find it hard to accept. This belittles its value. If someone tells you that you look good; smile and say thank you. (This takes a bit of practice, particularly for British people!)

Let go of negative influences
Years of conditioning from the media and sometimes from other people, can really damage body image. Magazines featuring countless images of celebrities of all ages looking amazing are a prime example. The reality is that these pictures have often been edited to make the subjects look slimmer, younger and generally more ‘conventionally’ attractive. Don’t buy into this. You must never allow yourself to feel inadequate by measuring yourself against fake images. They are an illusion. If you cannot help comparing yourself to people in magazines, don’t buy them.

If there are other people in your life that talk negatively about your appearance, you may find that you need to let them go. No-one has the right to make you feel bad about yourself. It may be that someone did the same to them at some stage in their lives, so try to understand and forgive them, and move on if you can.

Take care of your body
Body image can be extremely damaging, or hugely beneficial. Eating healthily and exercising regularly will make you the best that you can be, which brings with it a confidence and body positivity that is hugely beneficial and will affect your life in so many ways.

Try this simple exercise to increase your body positivity.

Close your eyes now and take a few slow, deep, rhythmical breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth in a circular breathing motion. Calm your mind as you continue to breathe slowly and deeply. After a few minutes you will begin to feel centred.

In this relaxed state, make a serious promise to yourself to learn to love your body and to look after your health and well-being for the rest of your life. Connect with a strong desire to love yourself, and feel it resonate through every cell in your mind and body. Promise yourself that you will make healthy choices, create a strong and happy body to live in, and avoid negativity. Repeat to yourself, slowly and steadily, the following words over and over in a slow, steady mantra:

I choose to be fit and healthy.
I love my body and the wonderful things that it can do.

Do this for 10 or 15 minutes, or longer if you prefer. This can be a very emotional experience when you practise it for the first time. If you feel the need to cry, let this happen and understand that you are letting go of years of negativity. Be kind to yourself and love your body from this moment onwards.

All the best,

Glenn

P.S. My hypnotherapy recordings and books can help you learn to become more positive about your body image. Click below to find out more: