By Deborah Dittner
Many women find themselves discontented with specific parts of their body. Some complain about weight issues, wrinkles or how the skin changes with aging, love handles, a double chin or simply the body shape in general.
Social media hasn’t helped such body image concerns focusing on the external appearance.
But you are not just a physical body. You are so much more working from the inside out. You are an emotional being, a spiritual being and a mental being all of which needs to be appreciated.
How can you learn to love you, your body, mind and spirit and appreciate all that you have and can give?
Let’s look at some possibilities and how you can improve upon them.
• Look at what your body does for you. Your body keeps you healthy by fighting off viruses and parasites through your immune system. Your lungs aid in breathing and your heart keeps pumping to keep you active. If you sustain an injury or an illness, your body begins the healing process. Appreciate the amazing work your body can accomplish. Feed your body whole, nutrient dense foods. Move your body to the rhythm of the beat through exercise. Allow your body the rest it needs to recover from the day’s activities.
• Bring forward your inner confidence. You may have had tough times (the loss of a family member or friend or the loss of a job) only to charge forward and bounce back even better. Your inner confidence pushes you emotionally and mentally as you find your inner strength. Dig deep and move forward.
• Have a good laugh at yourself and enjoy the day-to-day activities. Laughter is wonderful medicine. Many have recovered from significant illness by watching comedy and funny movies causing you to laugh. Laughter aids your emotional health and physical body. Sharing a joke not only makes someone else laugh but will feed your own soul by raising your feel-good hormones (serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin).
• Honor your unique experiences and talents. You may be an artist, a writer, a seamstress, a musician, a cook/chef, a gardener, an herbalist, a florist…the list can go on. Your talents allow you to create beautiful paintings, books, meals, flower arrangements, herbal tinctures and so much more expressing the loveliness of you.
• Recognize your emotional and mental toughness. You all have experienced difficult situations or had challenges that you conquered. Recovery occurred by sorting out the situation, seeking help in the matter and finally being able to move on in a better direction. This shows your resilience. You might be an excellent listener when a friend or colleague seeks advice as you know how to lift the spirits of those around you and guide others through compassion.
• Body, mind and spirit is a daily practice consisting of mindfulness and acceptance. What do you enjoy most about yourself each and every day? Journaling is a wonderful practice where you can simply be you. Write down five things that you are grateful for every evening before you go to bed and you are not to repeat the same things each night. As you show gratitude, you will notice how your life is full of love, happiness and not just your physical appearance.
Loving you, all of you, is the goal. Grasp hold of your individual combinations of insight, expertise, toughness and grace in all its forms. Embrace how you feel, how you look, how you think and how you give to the world around you. And remember to smile! You never know who needs a little pick me up with your smile including yourself. You just might make someone’s day special.
Deborah Dittner is a family nurse practitioner and health consultant. Her mission is to transform as many individuals as possible through nutrition and lifestyle changes. www.debdittner.com