How to Show Your Body Some Love

The weather might be cold right now, but warmer days are just around the corner. I find this time between New Year's Resolutions and sunny beach days to be the window in which body insecurities creep up. I don’t know about you, but I start to see an onslaught of marketing emails from my favorite clothing brands for spring break necessities and that gets me thinking of summer travels. While images of bikinis might be floating through our heads, the reality is days still feel short and temperatures are still lower than we want them to be, which means finding the motivation to take care of ourselves can be hard to find. 

So, in this time where leaning into media messaging seems so easy, let's actively practice some body love. 

Reframing your perspective can be a small but mighty change. When you shift how you look at something, it changes how you talk about it and when we can change the internal dialogue that can change how we feel! Voila, improved relationship with yourself and your body. Obviously it is much harder to implement than that run-on sentence makes it sound. Start by paying attention to how you talk about things to others and to yourself. For example, rather than saying “I have to go to the gym”, try “I get to move my body today”. Let’s try it again: “I feel lazy for taking a break”, “I am going to listen to my body and honor what it needs”. One more for good measure, “Eating healthy feels so limiting” can be “I am giving my body the good fuel it needs”. 

When you try implementing this change yourself, be mindful of what you say to others too. The words we use have a lot of power over how we think and feel. If you can use more positive language, you might begin to notice a more positive outlook. 

Look for things to love about your body. When you walk past a mirror, is your first instinct to criticize? Would you ever do that to a friend? Didn’t think so. Let’s try to actively counteract that self critic. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, think of something you are grateful to your body for. As someone who grew up in the nineties, strong legs were not en vogue. It is easy to look at your body and want to see something different. Rather than mourn what we don’t have, let’s celebrate what we do. I wake up and I thank my legs for allowing me to climb mountains and take my dogs on walks every day. They get me up and down stairs, around new cities, and through my favorite workout classes. What part of your body can you love a little more?

Focus on when you feel strong. When was the last time you felt strong or powerful? Was it doing something you didn’t think you could? Was it finishing a challenging hike? Was it something momentous like birthing a child? Even just writing that list, I find myself amazed at what our bodies are capable of. Next time your body does something powerful, acknowledge it. Pause and reflect on the accomplishment. Thank yourself. 

Practice self grace. I know this can sound cheesy, but be your own best friend. Treat yourself how you would treat someone you love. Next time you start the internal shame game, notice it and pause. Ask yourself, would you say this to your partner? If the answer is no, practice not saying it to yourself either. Then go a step further. This part can be challenging. Offer yourself compassion. Tell yourself it’s ok and reflect on what you might change next time. Then move on.