Last update: 03 September, 2016
We do not want to look in the mirror, it depresses us to be photographed and we even use computer programs to eliminate the "defects" of our body in the photos. Fashion, social pressures, confrontations… are all our enemies that do us a lot of harm and that gradually eliminate all the love we feel for our body.
The body, understood as a place where our physical entity resides and which allows us to act on the external world, is an important part of us, together with emotions and thoughts they form a "whole", the one that differentiates us from rest. Current beauty standards and the wrong perception of health lead us to hate this shell that surrounds us.
Understanding the body
In order to offer our body all the respect it deserves, the first thing to do is to start understanding it. He is not an enemy who wants to harm us, he always behaves impeccably and in his complexity you can find a great ally, especially if you know how to interpret his signals.
Even when we don't treat it sufficiently, the body is that barrier or shield that protects us from external attacks. Often it is we ourselves who harm this very special friend of ours, by eating unhealthy things, following extreme diets or not putting passion into the sport we practice ...
That body that you hate so much and that you do not like to see reflected in the mirror, that you hide by turning off the light in the intimacy with your partner or that you avoid showing by wearing certain clothes is what will accompany you for the rest of your life. You have the power to change or improve it, but on some occasions this is incompatible with love.
The body and fashion
The media, advertising and society have the power to induce a girl to stop eating in order to look like a model or a guy to spend her life in the gym lifting weights to be as attractive as Hollywood actors.
And yet the meaning of "beauty" (as far as the body is concerned) is rather relative and changes over time. For example, in the Renaissance, beautiful women were what we now call plus sizes. In Arab culture, girls that are too thin are not the most attractive to men who want to get married. And like these we could give you dozens of examples.
Beyond what fashion dictates, what is certain is that the body is the best technological machine we have at our disposal. By changing some parts, of course, everything can be improved. But this does not mean that we must belittle what it already is.
Do you like your body?
Most people are dissatisfied with their bodies. The skinny would like to be more burly, others would like a more slender body, the tall ones are tired of seeing the world from up there and the lows are tired of having the feeling of never being taken seriously.
If you answered "no" to the question "Do you like your body?", Know that you are like most of the population and we invite you to ask yourself other questions: why don't you like it? what doesn't make you happy with your body? how can you improve it? are there any aspects you like?
To change certain parts of the body, you have to think about whether you really need that change. Do you find the reason why you want it: is it because you don't like it in itself or because you compare yourself to others? In any case, if you want to make it a serious matter, the best thing is that you go to a professional to ask for a consultation.
Begin to accept your body
Accepting does not mean keeping your arms folded and expecting nothing to change. It means starting the day loving yourself and understanding the beauty you hold within you and also showing it to the world. An exercise that can help you is to stand in front of the mirror, possibly without clothes, and analyze every inch of your body, paying close attention to what you see and how you feel.
You may feel some rejection at first, but after the first few minutes you will get used to it. Gaze at your hair, face, torso and legs. Dwell on what you like best: the nose, the shoulders or the eyes.
Then try to look at the areas that are not to your liking. However, this time instead of criticizing, we propose that you accept. It may sound easy in theory, but it's not easy in practice.
Do you have eyes that allow you to look at yourself, a mind that allows you to make assessments, a nose that allows you to breathe, legs that obey you, skin that feels beyond caresses and a beating heart? Find the right perspective to look at your body, without thinking about the judgments we receive through advertising.
Beyond watching you, one way to reach out to your body is to pay attention to what it does. Stay with it in the shower and do not mentally run away to what you will do next, to play sports and feel how your heart speeds up or to walk and experience that feeling of freedom that it gives us when it is in motion.
Finally, do not forget about all those people who would like a body like yours. Obviously there are also them. Accept your forms, your irregularities, your reliefs and its magnitudes. You are not only the shell that surrounds you, but also your thoughts, ideas and emotions.
“For me, sculpture is body. My body is sculpture. "
-Louise Bourgeois-
