First Steps: Becoming More Comfortable with Your Body
It is not uncommon for people who are trying to find a place of peace within their bodies to struggle with feeling physically comfortable living in the body. It is a strange paradox that for most of us, society compels to constantly try to change our bodies while also pressuring us to believe that living life to the fullest requires being fully in touch with our physical bodies. When we first start to accept that perhaps we do not have to change our bodies in order to feel good about ourselves, there is a big “… now what?” situation that can occur. The goal of this post is to provide a few simple suggestions of first steps you can take to feel more comfortable in your physical body.
Savor Body Care
When I first start talking about body acceptance with clients, it is not uncommon for folks to share with me that they go to great lengths to avoid touching or acknowledging their body, and that broaching the idea of this is quite painful. Unfortunately, neglecting touching our bodies is not going to magically make our body image issues disappear. If you are tying to go on a path towards body acceptance, acknowledging your actual body, skin and flesh plays a significant role. Here are some areas you can try to pay more mindful attention to:
Take time to use body lotion or oil after you bathe. Not only will this make your skin feel nicer to the touch, this is a legitimate way to show your body some love. Try to challenge yourself to do this slowly, really rub in whichever product you use and feel indulgent.
Consider adding an additional step to your routine, like dry body brushing. Body brushing is said to help increase circulation - personally it makes me feel more invigorated and alive! Exfoliating our skin a few times a week is another way to show kindness to our bodies.
If it would bring you joy, put some effort into wearing a scented product of your choosing. It may be easier to love and appreciate your body if you feel like it smells amazing. Be honest with yourself about what smells good for you (not others) and follow your intuition.
Supportive Movement
Our culture has indoctrinated most of us to believe that exercise for health or appearance’s sake is of the highest priority. For many people this causes poor relationships and self expectations around movement, perhaps thinking that only the hardest workouts are required or that any sort of low impact movement is pointless or lazy. It can also make us feel bad about ourselves for not engaging in movement in the way that is modeled in our culture. This is a hard thing to reframe, but a good way to start with intuitive movement for improving body image is taking it slow with basic movements.
Explore stretching and light yoga movements. These are not things that you need to be “good at” in order to do. I would suggest that if you do not have much knowledge around stretches and yoga, look into free resources to follow. Youtube is a great source for this, including finding movements that can accommodate your personal physical needs. I always recommend Yoga with Adriene for folks looking to incorporate this kind of movement into their day to day.
Spend time in an environment that feels good for your body. Some people feel great taking in some sun, others prefer being immersed in water to feel most in touch with their bodies. Time in the bath while alone can be a nice way to connect with your body. Going for a stroll, feeling the breeze touch your skin - these are simple delights that can help you to feel more grateful for your body.
Get Tactile
Pleasurable sensory experiences can really help us to feel more in touch and connected with our bodies. It can often be a challenge to incorporate the idea of pleasure with our bodies if we do not like our bodies very much. I implore you to think about how engaging with the body around sensory/tactile pleasure can be a positive experience and to give this a try.
This may seem silly, but think about dressing yourself purely for comfort. This may be something that only feels approaching while at home at first, but try it out. Does the structured nature of denim make it uncomfortable to you? If so, ditch jeans. Would it feel better to go without a bra sometimes? Try it out. Allow the material that is touching your body everyday to feel supportive and comfortable. Be open to trying different fabrics/styles of clothing.
Going to get a massage from a massage therapist is a great experience, but the cost can be prohibitive to many. Self massage at home can be a nice way to connect with your body. You may want to consider investing in a device that can help you, or looking some techniques for untangling knots and providing relief with just your hands.
Feeling open to intimate touch? Try to make a point to masturbate more often, figuring out what feels good for your body sexually. This will help your relationship with your own body and will improve your ability to be present and intimate with partners.
I hope that you are able to utilize some of the ideas in this post to improve your growing relationship to your body. Taking care of your body has endless physical and mental health benefits. Great empowerment can come from being more comfortable in your body today rather than putting off body care for a future version of your body.
