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Mia Kolb 10/24/22 Mia Kolb 10/24/22

6 Ways to Foster Body Positivity

What comes to mind when you think of the word body positivity? Is it about moving and nourishing your body in a way that honors it? Feeling empowered in your skin and doing things that feel good physically and mentally? Or is it about shunning unrealistic beauty standards and ideals engrained in our society by diet-culture and media?

Yes, yes, and yes.

According to psychologist Susan Albers PsyD,

“Body positivity is a social movement that advocates for the acceptance of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, or physical abilities.”

Practicing body positive behaviors and attitudes has been shown to reduce shape/weight control beliefs, body surveillance, and internalizations of the thin ideal while also significantly increasing body satisfaction. It has also been shown to increase body appreciation, self-compassion, and intuitive eating while significantly decreasing disordered eating and negative self-talk.

With that, insecurities, doubt, and inconsistent feelings towards our bodies and how comfortable we are in them is normal. Body positivity is not something that you try one day and you instantly love yourself. Body image issues are a challenge to overcome and operating from a body positive standpoint is a practice that takes consistency, kindness, and patience with oneself.

So where can you start?

1. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others and Focus On Yourself.

This is all about refusing to participate in the external and instead shifting your focus inward.

Our society today is all about drowning ourselves out with external factors, who has what, who is doing what, what show can I watch to tune out my thoughts, etc.

Stopping the subconscious cycle of ignoring ourselves and instead sitting with ourselves, we can begin to start operating from a foundation of self-love and self-priority.

This can start with something as simple as doing things you love.

· Examining your values.

· Focusing on what you want in life.

· Focusing on pushing outside your comfort zone.

· Making a self-care plan.

· Starting a gratitude journal.

· Competing with yourself instead of others.

· Setting boundaries and getting used to saying no without explanation.

· Making choices based on what you want, not on what others may expect.

· Focusing on your mental health.

· Wearing clothes that you feel comfortable and confident in.

· Breaking habits that no longer serve you.

· Writing words of affirmation on your mirror.

Whatever you choose to focus on, make sure that you are central to it.

2. Think Healthy, Not Skinny.

Honor yourself with exercise you enjoy and food that makes you feel good. Instead of punishing yourself with hours of cardio that you absolutely HATE but do anyway, find activities that bring you joy. Just because your friend loves running, doesn’t mean you have to.

When you subconsciously body check, bring awareness to it, and shift your focus to what you like when you see yourself.

Take notice of diet culture messages disguised as fitspo.

Focus on the pounds you lift, not the pounds you weigh because health comes in all shapes, sizes, and abilities.

Think of food in terms of nutrients, memories, connection, culture, taste, and joy - instead of calories. Food nourishes the body, but it also nourishes the soul and all foods fit in a healthy lifestyle.

Buy clothes that fit you, donate the ones that don’t, and stop the habit of allowing those jeans from last year in the back of your closet to take up space in your mind because “you need to lose weight to fit into them again”.

The point of life is to have experiences, try new things, learn about ourselves, contribute to the world around us, and make connections. Not to constantly try to make ourselves smaller.

3. Compliment Others Freely and Believe Compliments You Receive.

Do you ever feel yourself figuratively moon walking out of the room and cocooning yourself in your blanket of safety and self-deprecation whenever someone gives you a compliment?

We’ve all been there.

What is it about compliments that make us feel so vulnerable and *gasp* seen? And yet our immediate inclination is to respond awkwardly or deny the compliment as an unconscious act of self-protection.

Unfortunately, this form of self-protection robs us of the potential of human connection and keeps us from allowing the kind words of others to really resonate.

The best way to practice receiving compliments, let alone believe the genuineness of them, is to practice giving others compliments freely.

See a woman at the grocery store wearing a cute dress? Tell her!
Has a friend really been there for you lately? Let them know what a great listener you think they are!

Once you realize that the compliments you are giving others take courage to say, and you mean them, you’ll realize that the compliments you receive from others come from the exact same place.

4. Cleanse Your Feed.

Unfollow people who don’t spark joy and follow people with positive messages.

Instagram and tiktok have connected us with anyone you could possibly imagine, but it has also enabled comparison to be right at our fingertips.

You know the feeling, your feed is a constant barrage of beautiful people, traveling to beautiful luxurious destinations with seemingly perfect skin, perfect bodies, perfect faces, perfect outfits, and perfect hair. Even though you know the lighting was edited, the waistlines shrunk, the skin airbrushed, it still works.

You might even tell yourself that you follow this person for their fashion sense, their travel tips, or their workout guides. But the truth is that you’re watching their lives and comparing it to your own.

And thus begins and ends the cycle of feeling inadequate and insignificant.

If you feel this while looking at someone’s feed, UNFOLLOW.

Instead find accounts with diverse bodies of all sizes, artists that inspire you, authors that you love, cute animals, funny people whose personalities are infectious, and other women/men/nonbinaries who are body positive.

Social media should be a space that makes you feel happy and inspired, not one that makes you feel anxious and bad about yourself. The great thing is you have all the power to curate that space!

5. Shift Your Language.

The way that you speak to yourself matters. There is power in words and the language we choose to use can also shift our perspectives. You are the architect of your reality. You choose your thoughts, your perceptions, and your reaction to external forces. You are that powerful!

Take notice of how you talk about food, exercise, and appearance. We are permanently subscribed to the narrative in our minds, so make sure that you’re living in a positive one.

We are our own worst critic when we should be our own best friend.

It can be something as simple as a passing comment about yourself, “I’m so stupid” when you’ve made a mistake.

Or you may have had some dessert or take-out and enjoyed a lazy day off from work, and then the next day you are berating yourself and giving yourself a hard time and forcing yourself to work out to make up for your “bad” day.

Instead, shift your language so it comes from a place of compassion and kindness for oneself. You made a mistake because you’re human, you needed that day of self-care and rest so that you could show up better the next day.

6. Surround Yourself With Like Minded Positive People.

It’s not just social media that influences how you think about yourself. The saying is true, you are who you surround yourself with.

Building a positive feedback loop with friends and nurturing a culture with friends where positive comments about personality, achievements and each other’s bodies are common will create a more accepting relationship with yourself.

If you surround yourself with people who openly critique their bodies, make comments about being “bad” or “good” for eating food, talk about exercise as a punishment or a way to make up for eating, engage in conversations about other people’s bodies, engage in fat-shaming and most importantly – make you feel bad about yourself, it might be time to surround yourself with more positive thinkers.

This does not mean ending friendships with people who are also struggling with body image issues, self-love, and body positivity. But it is imperative to surround yourself with people who are willing to grow and learn along with you.