If you want to safeguard your overall mental well-being, then feeling good about your physical self is more or less essential. But what are the best ways to build up body confidence? Let’s consider a few worthwhile strategies.
Focus on What Your Body Can Do
Body confidence can often be improved immediately with the help of a simple shift in mindset. If you’re worried about what you don’t like about your body, then try to shift your attention, consciously, toward the things that you do like.
If you’re worried about physical features over which you have very limited control, like the shape of your skull and the thickness of your hair, then you might focus instead on functional things like movement and musculature. In the long term, function might be considered more important than aesthetics, and the good news is that function is something that everyone can work on, with the help of the right exercises.
Curate a Supportive Social Media Feed
If you’re constantly being bombarded with idealised images of other people’s bodies, then you might develop a distorted perspective on your own. The images you see on Instagram are often manipulated – and even those that aren’t represent a highly specific section of the population. Which is a way of saying: don’t compare yourself to the people you see on the internet.
Wear Clothing That Supports and Comforts You
If you aren’t wearing the right clothing, then you won’t live up to your potential when it comes to looks. Everything you wear should fit you properly, without being so restrictive that you can’t move around and go about your day.
As well as your clothes, of course, you should think about your underwear. Paying a little more for properly fitted bras might help you to feel and look that much better, whatever outerwear you pick out.
Practise Positive Self-Talk and Mindfulness
Mindfulness is, simply put, the practice of paying attention to the present moment. By doing this regularly, you can shift your focus to where it’s needed, and avoid dwelling on the emotions and thoughts that cause you to suffer.
If you often find yourself lost in a stream of negative thoughts about how your nose is too big, or your legs are too stumpy, then it might be that all that’s required is a little bit of self-compassion and meditative practice, so that you can move your attention to something else.
