How to Improve Your Body Confidence and Image

There are many ‘self-inventory‘ quizzes in pop magazines that ask, “Do you truly love yourself?”

What the heck does this question even mean?

Obviously they’re not talking about a narcissistic trait but the question does raise boundaries about what is meant by loving oneself?

Personally, I think the better question to ask in this vein is “Are you accepting of yourself?” This suggests levels of self-compassion towards oneself which is a more accurate indicator of how you feel about yourself.

 

YOU’RE NOT PERFECT – GET OVER IT!

I’m sorry to be the one to give you the news… but you’re not perfect!

The fact is nobody is… least of all those who feel they are perfect as they have a bigger problem we can’t discuss here. We all have some things about ourselves we’d like to change – e.g. habits, forgiveness, confidence and looks.

Interestingly any of the above questions are metaphysical questions because it’s difficult to gage how you truly feel about yourself on the inside.

In fact, when you do ask someone to rate their level of satisfaction, love and happiness with them self, they often link it to their body. Yes, most people base their confidence and ‘love of self‘ or ‘acceptance of self’ on their body image.

Women tend to worry over body image more than men – although I’m sure we’ve all seen the men down at the fitness club who judge their attractiveness by the size of their… biceps. Maybe this explains why they’re so many mirrors on the walls… but I digress.

 

WHAT’S THE REAL QUESTION?

So I think the real question should be, “How confident are you in your own body?”

How you carry yourself often times translates to how others will perceive you and treat you.

If you carry yourself with confidence, others are going to treat you more positively because they believe you think of yourself that way. In essence, you project outward your sense of self-worth, so avoid sending out messages of confidence poverty!

Many people have body dysmorphia in that they don’t like some physical characteristic or attribute about themselves, and in extreme cases can obsess over it causing BDD – an anxiety disorder.

It could be their height, their weight, their skin color, a blemish, their lack of hair, their crooked smile, etc., that they dislike and because of this they feel ‘ugly‘ not only on the outside, but on the inside as well.

 

BODY IMAGE ISSUES AND IMPACTS:

Most issues surrounding one’s body image starts out in childhood or teen years because others may have made fun of them because of their looks or appearance, etc., and they allowed this ‘negative‘ label to stick with them mentally and emotionally as they matured into adulthood.

The high school teenage years for any gender are particularly brutal on egos and confidence as judgements are passed almost daily on fashion, weight and looks. Despite the heightened awareness of bullying in schools it still happens and the fault lies mostly outside school.

Interestingly, many times what people believe to be their ‘flaws‘, others don’t even notice!

When you lack body confidence, you’re more likely to avoid social contact with others. This could affect your ability to advance in your career, your social life in establishing friends and romantic relationships, and can also hinder you from getting out there and living life to the fullest because you believe people will be watching you under a microscope and magnifying all your flaws.

The fact is most adult people are much too concerned with themselves to spend that kind of time on others.

But instead of living a life of interaction, you’re more likely to embrace avoidance. What’s interesting is you tend to ‘magnify‘ your flaws outward, and people don’t even notice them – except you.

What they do pick-up on however is you lacking self-confidence.

How you feel about yourself and the confidence you project outward is an inside job 100% of the time. You can have cosmetic surgery, lose weight, take every beauty fad product, but unless you believe you’re worthy and accept yourself, you’ll continually carry that burden of lacking confidence.

 

HYPNOSIS AS ONE WAY FORWARD TO A BETTER BODY IMAGE:

Since it’s an inside job in that it’s mental, one of the ways you can develop the confidence you desire is using hypnosis.

So how can you do that Erika?

Well if you accept your sense of self-worth is dictated by the thoughts of yourself you’re putting into your mind then your priority for wanting to feel good about yourself is thinking good thoughts.

Basically, where your thoughts go, energy flows.

If you’re creating the wrong thoughts for yourself (defeating, negative or bitter ones) then you’ll get the negative perceptions of yourself.

Hypnosis will help your mind work to your advantage and foster the proper, positive perceptions you desire to possess. It works with your unconscious mind to help you treat yourself with dignity and compassion, so you can begin to feel happy with who you are.

Using hypnosis to help you feel positive inside it translates through to your outer self, and this shows through to other people who then feel at ease around you and see you as more attractive. If you’re interested in more information about my own online or in-office confidence and self-esteem hypnosis program then click here or contact me here.

Alternatively, you can get started on using hypnosis using a self-hypnosis product such as one to improve your body confidence here >>>

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES RELATED TO BODY IMAGE:

Eating Disorders and Body Image 

Body Confidence 

Confidence and Self-Esteem Hypnosis Service.

The Eight Habits of Highly Confident People >>>

Get in Tune with Your Mind for a Healthy Body >>>

Body Dysmorphic Disorder – BDD 

Library of Self-Hypnosis Downloads Products >>>

 
Erika Slater CH
Director
Free At Last Hypnosis