Using Mindfulness For Body Confidence

Using Mindfulness For Body Confidence_LittleSoapCompany.co.ukOk, so let’s get this out there straight away. You don’t need a better body. You are beach ready already. You are perfect as you are. Your body is, quite simply, amazing. For some of you, knowing all of this is enough and you are empowered to go forth into your life with confidence and ease. But because we are all individuals with our very own minds, for some of you this actually isn’t enough. And you know what? It’s ok not to be totally in love with your body. So many magazines,  books and blogs are giving us conflicting information right now. Either we should love what we have, lumps and all, or we should be striving for perfect abs, perfect legs and perfect skin… where does it end? Women are literally bombarded with constant messaging about what their body should look like, when what we really need to be doing is teaching ourselves how to be confident in our own skin. How to be confident about making changes we want to see. How to be confident enough to know that we maybe really are enough, just as we are. Today’s post is all about how we can use mindfulness for body confidence. Enjoy!

What is mindfulness?

We’ve written before about mindfulness and how being present in the moment can help to improve your current situation. Whether it is work, home, fitness- being present in the moment helps to centre our thoughts and to encourage a sense of calm from within. It’s about  pushing away the ‘noise’ of everyday life to focus on the truly important aspects of life. For some, it can mean taking time out to do an activity such as yoga, meditation or even colouring. For others it’s taking a walk, reading a book, or even deep breathing whilst doing the hoovering. The point is that being mindful in your life is personal to you. It really only means that you carry out your life with purpose and you are mindful of your actions. Living with intent.

How can mindfulness help with body confidence?
Using Mindfulness For Body Confidence_LittleSoapCompany.co.uk

It really doesn’t matter how you look. How you feel on the inside is going to be reflected in your outward appearance anyway, and just because someone tells you that you have the perfect body for that little skirt doesn’t mean you’re ever going to wear it if your body confidence is at zero. But wouldn’t you just love to wear whatever you liked, what made you comfortable in the hot weather? Wouldn’t you love to have the confidence to feel great, no matter what? Well, maybe you can.

When we are truly mindful, we are doing two things. We are being present in the moment, as already explained, but we are also approaching situations with no judgement. It certainly takes practise,and the key is to start small. Incorporate daily mindfulness reminders into your life; set your alarm if you need to, to remind yourself to stop and literally smell the roses. Take notes about the things that you appreciate and like about your body. Remind yourself that you are perfect as you are. Over and over and over again. Start to observe your body, thoughts and feelings without judgement.

It’s all about what’s going on inside…

When we are mindful, we start to shift our attention away from what we look like, to what’s going on inside instead. We’re more able to recognise the ways that we’ve been conditioned to think and feel about our bodies, and we’re more likely to make better and more informed decisions about food and exercise too. We slow down. We think things through. We appreciate what our bodies can do and we make decisions based on our own thoughts and feelings, rather than those of others.

By slowing down and taking stock of what we have, we can slowly build up our inner confidence and start to face the world feeling empowered, strong and resilient. And slowly but surely being ‘beach ready’ is going to seem like such an absurd thing to strive for. Being calm and at peace with yourself is surely the most desirable place for us all.

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