Itβs August. The month of going to the beach. The month of bikinis. The month we show our bodies the most. The month in which our body insecurities are most noticeable.
This issue with the body is something that has been going on for thousands of years, affecting all young and adult women. One of the topics that most lower our self-confidence.
Since we were born we have been bombarded with advertising. Advertising of the perfect body. Advertising of what we should be. And this idea of the perfect is rooted in our unconscious. It makes us think that we are never enough. That we should be something that we are not.
It makes us go looking for body X. But when we reach body X, we realize that we are not satisfied. And then we look for body Y. And when we reach body Y we want body W.
And how do you stop this cycle? How does our relationship with the body improve?
1. Donβt try to love your body right away
I believe that before we want to love our body we have to know it. We have to accept it.
I speak from experience. I am 1.53m and when I was younger I thought I could do exercises that could help me gain more height. I wore platform shoes so I would look taller. In other words, I didnβt accept my body.
Accepting my body started by realizing that people donβt like me because of my height. I realized that I didnβt accept myself because I was always comparing my body with other girls’ bodies. It was when I stopped comparing myself to other girls that I realized the beauty and unique things my body had.
2. When you start to take care of your body you will start to love it and accept it
One of the things that improved my relationship with my body was to start doing things with another mindset. Eat with love to the body. Train with love to the body. Hair removal with love to the body. Put cream with love to the body.
Think of your body as if it were your home. Youβre going to live in your body for the rest of your life!
For example, instead of training because you want to lose weight, try training with love. Train because you want to keep your body healthy. Because you want to improve your appearance. Try to train with love, not hate.
3. The biggest change you have to make is not in your body but in your mind
Whenever we have something we want to change in our life we find that change has to be always on the outside of ourselves. But the biggest changes always occur inside.
When you change your mindset and the way you perceive something, the way you see an obstacle, or in this case your body will change.
The problem is not your body. Is what you think about your body.
Loving your body and loving yourself is a full-time job for life.
Itβs a journey. Just as in a relationship we have to accept the other personβs flaws and imperfections, so in the relationship with your body, you have to realize that it will never be perfect.
Because nothing is perfect.
And we all have perfectly imperfect bodies.