Love Your Body (for real)
Last week was the 14th Annual Love Your Body Day . After 20 years of recovery from an eating disorder, I can genuinely say I love and appreciate my body. Early in recovery I learned that practicing active gratitude toward my body was a way to counteract some of my negative core beliefs and messages I received from the media.
Now, I’m not so deluded that I actually believe these first attempts at gratitude will counteract deep-seated, entrenched feelings of body hatred. In fact, research supports that body image often doesn’t improve until about 18 months into recovery from an eating disorder (Clausen, 2004). Why does it take so long? One theory is that it takes this long because it takes time to build positive body image experiences. If this is true, then it stands to reason that building more positive body experiences sooner may result in a faster path to a healthy body image. One possible way to do this is through a daily practice of body gratitude through a loving kindness meditation. Loving kindness meditations have been shown to be helpful in improving positive emotions (Fredrickson et al., 2008), so it makes sense that they would improve feelings toward your body.
Stand in front of the mirror and say something like this:
I am grateful for my body. My body is strong. My body is healthy. My body is at the weight it is supposed to be, so I do not need to try to change it. My body takes care of me. My body is my friend and I thank it.
Try different variations that resonate with you. Other thoughts may enter into your head. Just notice them without judgment and return to your script. Also, if it’s too difficult at first to do in front of a mirror, you can simply say the script to yourself with your eyes closed. Remember, you may not feel better about your body in that moment or even that day, but with each repetition you may add to your collection of positive body experiences. As this collection grows through this exercise and other encounters, a positive body image may be closer than you think.
