How To Improve Your Body Image

meditationmental healthHolistic wellnessBody Image

Jul 12

As with most things in life, improving your body image is a complex thing. It won’t happen overnight, nor will it happen by just doing all of the things in this article once and then hoping that the problem will go away. It will take commitment and patience but with time (and perhaps the support of a professional if you want), you will be well on your way to loving that beautiful body of yours.

To help you on your journey, this article will cover what a “positive” and “negative” body image actually is. And then guide you through four simple steps that you can take to start improving your own body image today.

What do we mean by “body image” exactly?

Body image refers to someone’s beliefs and perceptions of their own body. This can include:

how you feel about your body shape, features, height, weight, etc.
how confident you feel about your overall appearance
how comfortable you feel in your body

In general, someone’s body image can range from positive (confident and satisfied with your body) on one end to negative (insecure and dissatisfied with your body) on the other, and everything in between.

Someone who tends to lean toward a negative body image may feel dissatisfied about one or more aspects of their physical appearance. Oftentimes, these negative feelings can stem from seeing their body in a distorted way that doesn’t actually match reality.

They might compare themselves to others constantly and always feel like they aren’t good enough when doing so. They might lack confidence in their appearance, feel embarrassed or uncomfortable about their body.

Someone with a tendency toward a positive body image on the other hand understands that their self-worth isn’t tied to how they or others perceive their appearance. Their body image usually remains stable and optimistic over time. They love and appreciate their body for what it does for them.

Having a positive body image doesn't necessarily mean you need to love every feature of your appearance. It just means that you understand that how confident you feel about yourself and your worth, has nothing to do with the perception of your physical appearance.

So how do we improve our body image?

To make things easier for you, we’ve broken the process of improving your body image down into four steps.

Identify what aspects of your body you are insecure about
Figure out the origins of your negative body image
Identify what circumstances trigger your insecurities
Learn how to break the cycle and replace it with positive behaviors/thoughts

Let’s take a look at each individual step.

Identify what aspects of your body you are insecure about

When we take the first step towards wanting to improve our body image, the first thing we’ll want to do is identify what exactly it is that we’re insecure about. What is it that is making you feel negative?

You might feel really negative about your hair, your skin or your weight but really love your eyes, your legs and your smile. So sit down and make a list. Write down everything single thing about yourself that you feel insecure about and everything that you do like about yourself.

This might feel really intimidating when you’re getting started but knowing what it is exactly that your negative body image consists of will help you understand what you need to work on in the following steps.

2. Figure out the origins of your negative body image

So after you’ve identified which aspects or features you’re insecure about, you can move on to figuring out where these issues are actually coming from. A negative body image doesn’t just form for no reason. Usually there are experiences in our past that cause us to feel insecure about a specific feature of our body.

Maybe there was a situation in your past where a stranger commented on your appearance and you’ve never been able to forget that comment? Maybe a caregiver used to criticize you for something as a child because they were insecure themselves? Maybe you’ve been following an influencer on social media that constantly talks about how they are trying to prevent X from happening and so now you feel insecure about having X.

Go through the list of things you wrote down in Step 1 and see if you can pinpoint an origin for each of the different insecurities. Some might be a specific event or comment that you can remember, some might just be “this goes against the female beauty standard that is portrayed in the media” and for some, you might have no idea where the insecurity stems from. And that is okay too.

It’s never 100% necessary to know exactly where your negative body image came from. But for many of us, understanding the “why” behind our insecurities can be the first step in realizing that a negative body image is just a subjective perception that we accidentally picked up along the way and not an objective reality that we should carry with us forever.

And this can be a great tool in helping us break the cycle of our identification with these negative thought patterns.

3. Identify what circumstances trigger your insecurities

Once you’ve figured out A) what you’re insecure about and B) why you’re insecure about it, it’s time to identify when exactly your insecurities are triggered in your day-to-day life.

What happens right before you feel negative about your body? Do you feel good about yourself until you see that Instagram influencer post a bikini pic? Are you okay until you have lunch with that one friend who constantly complains about how much weight she’s gained?

We all have different circumstances that can trigger the thought patterns associated with our negative body image. So the key here is to learn to notice when it’s happening and then figure out exactly what may have caused them.

Once you’ve identified all your current triggers, you’ll be able to move on to Step 4 - which is either removing the triggers altogether or - if you can’t do that - learning how to deal with the negative thoughts in a healthy way instead.

4. Learn how to break the cycle of negative thought patterns

First, you’ll want to try to remove as many of the unnecessary triggers as you possibly can. That might include things like:

Cleaning up your social media from anyone who makes you feel negative
Cutting out those people who have a negative influence on you and your mood (or at least limiting contact as much as you can)
Getting rid of any clothes that make you feel bad about yourself and wearing comfortable ones instead
Avoiding any media that portrays unhealthy body images (magazines, TV, movies, etc.)

However, there will inevitably be triggers that you won’t be able to remove completely. Maybe you get triggered by a close family member that you can’t cut out of your life, the act of looking at yourself in the mirror or the thoughts that arise when it’s time to eat every day.

In those cases, the key to improving your body image is regaining control over your negative thought patterns by strengthening your positive ones. Here are some tips to help you do just that:

Improve your mindfulness and the awareness you have of your thoughts with things like meditation, yoga, journaling, etc.
Don't fear the triggers that you can’t avoid. Avoidance will only breed more avoidance and make you fall deeper down the rabbit hole. Instead, see them as an opportunity to learn how to break the cycle of your negative thought patterns.
Realize that your body is a miracle of nature and it deserves to be appreciated for all that it does to keep you alive..
Practice positive thoughts/talk instead. For every negative thought you have, write down a positive affirmation that you can say when you notice a negative one creeping in.
Put those affirmations and reminders anywhere that you tend to get triggered (e.g. post-it notes on your mirror or fridge, wallpapers on your phone, etc.)
Every morning, read that list of things you love about yourself that you made in Step 1
Create a self-care routine that emphasizes appreciation and gratitude for your body
Increase the amount of activities that make you feel positive about yourself and your body (working out, dancing, taking a walk, spending time creating, etc.)

However, remember that the goal is never to feel 100% great about yourself at all times. No matter how positive your body image will become, it’s absolutely normal to have a bad day here or there. The goal should always be to figure out how to counterbalance the negative voice that pops up in our heads with a more positive one.

As you can tell from the article, this process will require both commitment and patience but if you really give it your all and you stick with it, you will start seeing improvements in how you see yourself. Over time, those negative thoughts in your head will fade and be replaced with love, appreciation and gratitude for yourself and your body.

Looking for more support?

If you’re interested in getting extra support, we also provide lots of resources for you to dive into this work in a safe, supportive way in The Self Care Space. We have an entire month of our self-guided program dedicated to improving body image as well as live workshops, guided meditations, visualizations and much more to help you become more self-aware of your thoughts and heal from your past.

We also have amazing advisory board members who specialize in this area and will be there to answer your questions in the private community or at our members-only live events.

Whichever route you choose, we just want you to know we are proud of you for showing up for yourself in the first place! Body image is an incredibly important topic and you deserve so much recognition for wanting to learn more about it!