Physical Self-esteem: Accept Your Body
We do not want to look at ourselves in the mirror, we are terrified of taking pictures and we even use editors on the computer to remove “the ugly” from our body in the images. Fashion, social pressures, comparisons … are all intimate enemies that do us a lot of harm and are eliminating the little love we have for our body.
The body, understood as the place that a physical entity gives us and allows us to act on the external world, is a more than important part of us, together with emotions and thoughts they form a “whole”, that which differentiates us from the rest. The current beauty canons and the erroneous perception of what health is lead us to hate that shell that surrounds us.
Understand the body
In order to offer our bodies all the respect it deserves, a good idea is to start by understanding it. He is not a ruffian who wants to hurt you, but usually behaves perfectly and in his complexity you can find a great ally. especially if you know how to interpret their signals.
Even when we do not take sufficient care of it, the body is that barrier or that shield that protects us from the attacks of others. Many times we are the ones who harm that special friend by eating what is unhealthy, dieting excessively or not putting too much intensity in the sport we practice …
That body that you hate so much and do not want to see reflected in the mirror, that you hide by turning off the light in intimacy with your partner or that you avoid showing by wearing certain clothes is the one that will accompany you for the rest of your life. You have the power to change or improve it, but that is sometimes incompatible with your loving it.
The body and fashion
The media, advertising, and society are powerful enough to make a girl stop eating to look like a model or a guy hang out at the gym lifting weights to be as attractive as Hollywood actors.
However, the meaning of “beauty” (as far as the body is concerned) is quite relative and changes over time. For example, in the Renaissance, beautiful women were those who today need special sizes. In Arab culture, girls who are too thin are not the most sought after by men to marry. And like these we could give dozens of examples.
Beyond what fashion dictates, the truth is that the body is the best technological machine we have. That you would change some part, of course, everything can be improved. But that is why we do not have to despise what already is.
Do you like your body
Most people are unhappy with their body. The thin ones would like to be bigger, others would like to have a more slim body, the tall ones are tired of seeing the world from above and the short ones of having the feeling that they are not taken seriously.
If you have answered “no” to the question of do you like your body? That you know that you are like a large part of the population and we invite you to give way to other questions: why don’t you like him? What leads you to not be happy with him? How can you improve him? Are there areas that you do like?
To change a certain part of the body, you have to think if that modification is really necessary. Identify the reason for wanting this change, is it because you do not like it in itself or in comparison with others? In any case, if you intend to turn the task of change into a serious matter, it is best that you consult a professional and let them advise you.
Start accepting your body
Accepting does not mean sitting idly by and nothing changes. It means starting the day loving you and understanding the beauty that you hide and also the one that you show. An exercise that can help you is to stand in front of the mirror, if possible without clothes, and analyze every inch, paying close attention to what you see and the sensations it offers you.
You may feel some rejection at first, but after the first few minutes you will get used to it. Put your gaze on the hair, on the face, on the torso, on the legs. Stop at what you like best: your nose, your shoulders or your eyes.
Later find the areas that are not to your liking. But this time instead of criticizing I propose another attitude: accept. It may seem easy in theory but not so easy in practice.
Do you have eyes that allow you to look at yourself? With a mind that allows you to evaluate? With a nose that allows you to breathe? With legs that obey you? With skin that feels through the caresses ?, with a beating heart? Find the right and appropriate perspective for your body, not the judgment that we are made from advertising.
Apart from observing yourself, one way to reach out to your body is to pay attention to what it does. This has to do with staying with him in the shower and not going mentally to what you are going to do next, doing sports and feeling your heart race or walking and having those feelings of freedom that it gives us in movement.
Finally, don’t forget about all those people who wish they had a body like yours. Of course there are. Accept your shapes, your irregularities, your reliefs and your sizes. You are not only the container that surrounds you, you are also your thoughts, your ideas or emotions.
