Summer, how I miss you. It’s time for family barbecues, beach days, and fruity poolside beverages. However, for other folks, spending more time in shorts and swimwear isn’t always an enjoyable experience. It has the ability to elicit negative feelings about one’s physique, self-doubt, and low self-esteem. If this sounds familiar, we’ve put together a list of tactics to assist you in overcoming negative body image throughout summertime so you can feel confident and develop emotions of self-acceptance.
What Exactly is Negative Body Image?
People who are unhappy with their appearance have a negative body image. This frequently causes distress, alienation, and a desire to change their body. Negative body image is also associated with your perspective of how your body appears to you and others, which may differ from how you seem. It is also firmly established in culturally influenced notions about how bodies should look and what body shapes are acceptable. Unfortunately, poor body image can emerge at a young age. According to research, children in elementary school exhibit indicators of body dissatisfaction.
Social media impact frequently exacerbates the problem by delivering messages of stringent beauty norms and unrealistic body standards. It’s tempting to compare oneself to social media photographs, especially when your peers are following similar trends and goals. Internalizing an ideal body and negative body image can exacerbate mental health, self-esteem, and overall well-being problems. Body dissatisfaction also contributes to various physically and emotionally harmful habits, such as restrictive eating patterns and excessive exercise. Negative body image is also linked to mood disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, relational issues, and suicidal ideation.
Identifying Summer Triggers
As summer approaches, we may begin to hear messages about acquiring a “bikini body” or “beach body,” as well as how to eat in preparation for summer vacations, weddings, and pool parties. It’s tough to avoid social media messages, and it’s even more difficult not to compare ourselves and feel like we might be doing more. The slacks and sweaters disappear as the weather warms and shorts and T-shirts take their place. Increased body exposure undoubtedly serves as a trigger for many people, reinforcing negative body image emotions.
Investigate your triggers for negative body image and begin to notice when they arise for you this summer. Making you aware of how certain settings, clothing, or social media messages affect your body image and self-perception is the first step toward finding solutions to those triggers.
How to Develop Body Positivity and Self-Acceptance
There are various techniques for cultivating a healthy body image mentality and practicing self-acceptance. There are many messages promoting body positivity on social media. While feeling good about our bodies is a great objective, it may seem a long way off for you.
Accept Body Neutrality
Begin with the neutrality of the body. Body neutrality alters your body’s perception from hatred, disgust, or dislike to admiration and respect. You may respect someone without liking them; the same is true for your body.
Try speaking gently to yourself and your body. Are there any portions of your body that you appreciate? Your heart pumps blood to your organs and extremities, your lungs assist you in breathing, and your digestive system converts the food you eat into nutrients that keep you alive. We spend so much time dissecting our bodies while they work hard for us. Practicing gratitude for all of the wonderful things it does can assist in alleviating self-hatred.
Respect Your Body
Another step toward more self-acceptance is to recognize that you are more than your body. Try focusing on aspects of yourself that have nothing to do with your physical appearance. Is your compassion what makes you a good friend? Do you use your imagination to come up with innovative ideas at work? You have many excellent interior traits that make you valuable beyond your physical appearance. If you’re having problems coming up with these attributes, enlist the assistance of a trusted friend or family member.
Wear Comfortable Clothes
Wear comfortable clothes that fit you, even if it seems obvious. When you’re wearing uncomfortable clothes or trying to fit into a size that’s too small, you’re more inclined to obsess about your body, generating even more distress. Similarly, we will not feel our best if we wear excessively big and baggy clothes. Take your time to find the “just right” feeling.
Instead, take control of your own comfort. Choose clothes that make you feel wonderful so that you may spend your time thinking about things other than your body.
Surround Yourself with Positive People
This task is challenging to complete alone, so seek help from friends, family, or online communities that are more accepting of all bodies. Find people who value you for your interior qualities rather than your outside appearance.
It can also be beneficial to share your difficult experiences with others, and joining together as a community can make you feel less alone. Try looking for people and communities with different body types as well. The more you are exposed to other bodies, the easier it is to realize that each body is unique and is not what defines your worth.
The Importance of Media Literacy and Social Media Management
People are constantly bombarded with detrimental images and messages emphasizing thinness or techniques to achieve the “ideal body.” Seeing these messages daily might have a negative impact on your body image and self-esteem. It is critical to counteract negative messages with more positive and helpful ones if you want to improve your relationship with your body.
First, edit your social media feed to have more control over which photographs appear as you scroll. If you see yourself becoming agitated or anxious when encountering a specific account, click the mute or unfollow button. Simultaneously, broaden your social media feed to include a larger range of body shapes and sizes. Find nutritionists, therapists, and personal trainers who encourage body acceptance and positivity. Furthermore, it is vital to apply a critical eye to media messaging and understand that many posts are filtered or altered. Remember that if someone promotes something that appears to be a quick fix or too good to be true, it most often is.
Kim’s Final Thoughts…
Summer brings up a lot of conflicting feelings regarding body image, especially with social media messaging and increasing skin exposure. This time of year is ideal for addressing negative body image and seeking support to promote self-acceptance and body positivity. Practice thankfulness, self-compassion, and concentrating on what your body is capable of on a regular basis. Every body is unique and deserves to be loved and accepted. Be kind to yourself. This journey toward good body image is a never-ending one, and you are not alone.
