Recently I experienced something quite intensely that I hadn’t in a while: I found myself comparing my body to others.
It felt uncomfortable and frustrating.
Having put in a lot of work over the last 10 years since my eating disorder to value things other than appearance, I thought I’d done the work to not experience those kinds of feelings so strongly. But for various reasons I found myself shifting into a mindset that I didn’t like.
I’m sharing this because even though I choose not to focus on aesthetics with my clients or myself (because we are worth so much more than that), the power that social norms and unrealistic beauty standards have on us is so strong that it can still have a huge impact. It’s not a one-off thought change, it’s an on going process to actively go against the grain and rewire the information we have been fed for so long.
So, if you do find yourself comparing your body to others, please know that you’re not alone. But rather than staying in that mindset, can you do an activity that gets you out of your head and actually makes you feel good? Opening up and talking to someone about how you feel can also be hugely beneficial.
For example, I talked to my partner about how I was feeling and then I headed to the gym and lifted the heaviest weights I could to show myself that I am strong and powerful and that my body can do amazing things. Guess what, I came out of the gym feeling very differently to how I went in. My body hadn’t changed, but my mindset had drastically. I didn’t go to punish myself, I just did what I enjoyed and to prove that my appearance is only one part of who I am.
Your activity doesn’t have to be movement related at all, just something that you really enjoy and takes you away from those unhelpful thoughts whenever they decide to creep in.