I want to talk about body image. This is something that can be a dreaded topic and makes us all feel a lot of different feelings. It is so much easier for us to pick out all the negatives and skim over the positives.
There is something I've been mulling over all month. An activity we did at a women's conference I attended was to write everything we don't like or are insecure about with our bodies/physical appearance. Then we had to find someone we didn't know (it was a room of 4000 women) and we had to share our list.
The lady I was paired with was about 25-30 years my senior. As she shared her list, I listened. I heard her. Then she listened to me. There were no judgments, just holding space for each other. After we had both finished she made an interesting observation. We had a lot of similarities in our lists, yet we both would have made the assumption that the other person would have no, or very few, body image concerns.
Would you ever tell another person the things you tell yourself? Likely not. I believe that if we don't accept ourselves where we are at, we won't accept ourselves when we get to the 'ideal size' [I don't believe there's an ideal size, it about health, not size]. I want to constantly be getting healthier and making better decisions, but I don't want to beat myself up for how I'm created - small chested, large chested, curvy hips, slim hips, where I carry my weight...whatever it is.
Clothing has a profound impact on how we feel in our bodies, but it's not everything. You can learn all the strategies for feeling more balanced and enhancing the features you love, which will help, but that is only part of the story. You also have to work on the inside. On your mindset and attitude towards yourself.
I want to challenge you with something this month. It's the month of love & romance, so choose one part of your physical self that you are having trouble loving and every day this month show gratitude for it. Then see where you are at in 30 days.
As an image consultant and wardrobe stylist I love working with people to use style and clothing to present themselves authentically and in a way that allows them to 'Dress to conquer your world'.
Have a LOVEly month my friends,
xo
~Shelby
Commentaires