By Alessandra Kelly
Confidence, especially body confidence, brings forth one of the most controversial conversations of our time. Many individuals have experienced teasing, bullying, or some form of negative commentary about their physical appearance. In addition, many forms of social media continuously promote images of women and men with the “ideal” physique. Therefore, the display of these unachievable bodies makes many individuals feel self conscious of their body.
Like many others, I have struggled with body image issues, especially as a student in high school. However, during quarantine I thankfully found some videos demonstrating the practice of self love. The videos promoted the idea of loving yourself in every stage you’re in, even while attempting to improve yourself. With that, I finally realized the issue. Individuals seeking to better themselves often focus on a singular task: becoming aesthetically beautiful. To be considered “perfect,” people feel the need to reach their end result. Therefore, people ridicule themselves during the process of becoming healthier.
I remember I would critique myself and my flaws while being extremely harsh. I realized that I couldn’t just wait until the end result to feel happy with myself. I learned to love myself through the process by introducing myself to some healthy practices along the way.
Self Love Practices:
People often focus on the future, whether they maintain a healthy relationship with themselves or not. Many individuals still tend to think ahead as each person has a final destination set in their mind. Remaining in the present moment allows you to be happy with yourself now.
Write yourself self affirmation notes, however, avoid comments based on your appearance. Focus on celebrating your personal triumphs and your inner qualities.
Self care remains the most important process to achieve self love. Truly focus on yourself, you need to love yourself first before you can love someone else.
- Fueling yourself properly by making healthy eating a daily routine, as well as physical activity
- Avoid watching numbers on the scale
- Avoid harmful comparison
- Communicate with others to stop commenting on body image
Helpful Resources:
TED Talk
My journey to self love / Dr. Andrea Pennigton