Avoid offending media.
What we read and watch has a huge impact on how we feel about ourselves. Because of this, I am very particular about the magazines and websites I will look at. Fashion and gossip media are right out. I avoid TV programs that are blatantly image-focused. I try to avoid ads. Any shows I do watch are online and I’ve installed an ad-blocker.
Consciously seek out media that reinforces positive self-image.
I gravitate towards travel, wellness and entrepreneurial media and magazines. I love reading about the interesting things that people, and women in particular, accomplish.
Stay away from shopping centers and department stores.
Those places are insecurity dens. Everything from the lighting, to the music, to the shiny floors and the golden ratio clothes mannequins is designed to make you feel dirty and inadequate. It’s a highly successful form of manipulation. Because when we feel inferior, we are much more pliable to the whispering suggestions of display windows. Shopping centers aren’t only sucking your money, they are also sink holes for body confidence.
Avoid conversations about appearance.
Whenever someone starts to talk about the way they look in a disparaging way, I deflect. I prefer to focus on how the person is feeling. Have they been sleeping well? Have they been feeling fitter and stronger since they started exercising? How are their energy levels? Getting caught up in a conversation about the way someone else looks, whether they have put on weight and so on, inevitably leads to thoughts on our own appearance. Which can be unhelpful if we’re trying to feel better about ourselves.
ouch your body gently.
Think about the last time you got a haircut and the hairdresser massaged your head. Or the last time you got a spa treatment. Or your obliging lover gave you a shoulder rub. Or the last time someone gave you a really good sink-into-it hug. Touch is an incredibly powerful way of reinforcing the way you feel about your body. And if you’re touched gently, with love and care, you will feel incredible. So, try to practice gentle love and care with yourself. Wash your hair the way the hairdresser did. Wash your face the way a beauty therapist would. Give yourself a massage when you’re applying moisturizer. It feels good. And it reinforces a positive, kind relationship with your body.
Meditate.
Meditation is an incredibly effective tool for clearing away unhelpful thought cycles. 10 minutes. 5 minutes. 1. Whatever. Just sit, close your eyes and breathe. If you want you can breathe on a body acceptance affirmation such as “I love and accept my body just as it is right now.”