19 Jun Boosting Your Self-Esteem | Austin Boudoir Photography

Nobody should feel like they aren’t good enough or worthy. Unfortunately, in our society – hating our bodies is so completely widespread. It affects all genders, sizes, ages, races. It’s time to retrain our negative thoughts and how we feel about ourselves. It’s beyond time!

Try identifying your negative beliefs. Challenge those beliefs and ask yourself these questions: Is it true? Is there evidence? Most likely, those beliefs are not true. It’s just what we’ve been telling ourselves for YEARS.

How about giving NEUTRALITY a try? Instead of negativity, or even positivity, body neutrality is a much easier goal to attain. Being positive alllll.the.time is just not realistic. Can we simply accept ourselves for who we are? Accept our body for what it is — it is what it is. This body is literally the meat sack we travel through the world in, as gross as that is. It’s the truth! Our body is not good or bad. It just is.

Body neutrality is a much more realistic goal, for me at least.

Think of your best friend. That perfect person you adore? They have flaws, too. EVERYONE does. But you wouldn’t dare speak to or about them the way you do about yourself. There’s no way you’d do that! Give yourself grace and work on just accepting yourself and your body as a factual thing. This is my body; it’s not good or bad. It takes me through this world from one place to another. It hugs my loved ones. It does my job every day. It cares for my children, nieces/nephews, students, etc… It lovingly prepares food for my fur-babies. It does so much for me!

YOUR HOMEWORK

Take a few minutes to sit down in a quiet place, with your favorite pen & journal — if you don’t have those things, add getting them to your homework list first. Prepare a warm cup of coffee, tea or hot cocoa. Turn on some soft, relaxing music if you’d like. Write out a list of things you’re good at and what you love most about yourself. Write down what your body does for you and your loved ones every day. Writing a gratitude list every day is a really wonderful way to start the day! If you can’t commit to every day, make it a weekly activity, or at the very least monthly.

If there are people in your life who are toxic and don’t build you up, avoid them. You don’t need that negativity in your life. That includes social media feeds that bring you down… Unfollow them. The relationships in your life should be encouraging and positive.

The biggest secret to having a better body image and self esteem? It’s a choice to do this work. It’s a conscious choice to be kind to yourself. When you find yourself slipping into that critical and negative self talk — don’t forget to stop, take a deep breath and ask yourself — IS IT TRUE? IS IT REALLY TRUE?!