We learn pretty quickly in life that if our bodies aren’t “perfect” then generally we should be ashamed and try to fix that. And though there is so much more effort toward body positivity than there was before it doesn’t mean in today’s society we don’t struggle. Trust me- it’s easy to look at an Instagram model’s (possibly Photoshopped) waist line and wonder if you should buy one of their awful pretend shakes or crush our guts in a waist trainer to feel better. BUT! There is a way to try to combat those crunchy awful feelings the world enforces when we think about our bodies: When those bad thoughts strike PsychologyToday.com says to ask yourself these questions….
- Where did I learn to tell myself these things?
- If I didn’t believe this thought what would be different about me?
- If a young child or my best friend said these things about themselves what would I say to them?
Often times just getting out of that original idea and into a more thought provoking reality about where these awful judgements are coming from helps. Ask what life could be like without those negative thoughts and remember how we would NEVER let people we love say that about themselves sooo… why would we allow ourselves to think them? We might be mirroring what we saw our parents do or what TV told us was good or bad. Without those thoughts maybe we could be free to be happier and live a fuller life. And if we would want to protect people we love from thinking bad things about themselves… isn’t ourselves “people we love” too? I sure hope so!
You are beautiful don’t ever forget that. <3
